Power Rangers creator Bandai Co. agreed to buy Pac-Man designer Namco Ltd. for about $1.7 billion (175.3 billion yen) in cash and stock to create Japan's second-biggest toy and video-game software maker. Both companies will merge Sept. 29 and be henceforth known as Namco Bandai Holdings Inc., and be led by Bandai President Takeo Takasu and Namco Vice Chairman Kyushiro Takagi.

Irth Online is a virtual world in which players role play characters in a free form, fantasy-based storyline. Players join Irth’s history at a period when a fragile truce exists among the far flung civilizations of the snowy Arcadians in the north, the southeastern swamps and marshes of Morbus, and the southwestern tropical region of Mezoteks – and determine the course of history for each civilization. Magic Hat Software's MMORPG Irth Online, scheduled for release this July, will have its first and only pre-launch public showing at E3 in Booth 6400 in Kentia Hall.

Simbin has released a new patch for the German edition of their racing game GTR: FIA GT Racing Game. This update brings your retail game to 1.4.0.0 and adds the new RaceMore feature, improves the in-game lobby, adds voting to boot people off, some memory leaks and the usual gameplay tweaks and big fixes. Read more for details ...

S2 will significantly improve the game - important features have been added, dynamic camber (improved simulation of suspension and different suspension types), highly detailed tyre physics and a damage model have been introduced. The LFS team has released an updated alpha demo for Live for Speed S2 offering you a training area, and the Blackwood track, driveable in 3 cars. This update adds various fixes and improvements including a new kind of differential which helps you to get the power down to the ground more effectively. Read more for download links ...

Blizzard has released yet another new Warcraft III map, this time called "Shrine of the Ancients"... Map info: "There once existed a shrine to the ancient gods of yore, but all that remains is a ruin of rubble, sand, and ore. Though legends persist of creatures from the sea, that have surfaced to guard the treasures of an era long before." This is a small sized map and the suggested no. of players is 1v1. It is based on the "Sunken Ruins" tileset. Go download it here!

Bold Games has released a new patch for Gabriel Entertainment's sim John Deere American Farmer, in which you create, build and manage a successful farm. This update brings your retail game to v1.02 and addresses a crash when loading save games, menu issue on certain gfx cards and a few game tweaks. Read more for detailed fix list and download links ...

SCEA's Santa Monica studio presents The Con, an innovative 3D fighting game exclusively for the PSP. In an underworld where illegal fighting tournaments exist and high-stakes gambling takes center stage, your skills as a fighter are matched only by your wits as an ex-con. Read more for details ...

In Battlefield 2, players will choose to fight for one of three military superpowers: the United States, China, or the newly formed Middle East Coalition. Armed with the latest modern weaponry, players can take control of any of the game's 30+ vehicles to engage in major conflicts with over 100 players in some of the largest online battles on the PC. Check these new screens and trailers ...

Five years ago Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas...a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

Another day, another batch of game trailers were released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for :

• Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana - Trailer #2
• Cold Winter - Multiplayer Trailer
• Pariah - Trailer (Part 2)
• Tomb Raider: Legend - Trailer
• Dragonshard - Trailer #6

Act of War: Direct Action is Eugen Systems' recently released RTS game with a storyline and game universe created in cooperation with Dale Brown. Atari has released a multiplayer demo featuring two maps (Fistful of Sand and The Last Battlefield), playable as the US Army over LAN/online, and in skirmish mode (thanks 3DGamers). Read more for download links ...

Alien Swarm: Infested is an upcoming action strategy game, using Valve's Source engine, featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad level tactics all in an overhead view.

Borderzone is a combat oriented game, combining elements of role-play and action. Players assume the role of Olaf, one of the few remaining humans on the planet Terra. Having to leave the safety of their outpost, gamers venture on quests and into battle, running up to five characters simultaneously and amassing weapons, skills and magic. The action and strategy of the non-linear plot unfolds in a pseudo-turn based format, leading explorers to various endings depending on which paths they choose.

Earlier today a game listing was spotted on Gamestop revealing an expansion pack for Rome: Total War, scheduled for October 17, 2005. PC Zone UK confirms this rumor as they are running a preview in their current issue. Here is a snip : "The expansion pack's called Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion and is set well after Rome: Total War spanning the years 364AD to 476AD. You can play as one of the Barbarian factions (including the Vandals, Saxons and Huns) and take revenge against the Roman Empire, or as the Western and Eastern Roman empires attempting to drive back the Barbarians. The big new feature is the addition of night-time battles, but lighter troops - including cavalry - can now also swim across rivers. There are also a load of new units to look forward to."

One of the PlanetBattlefield editors is currently attending a community event at the EA campus and during a presentation executive producers Scott Evans revealed that a Battlefield 2 demo is in the works and it is expected to be released Mid June featuring one map. No details whether this will be a single or multiplayer demo, but judging from EA's trackrecord, we can assume it will probably be MP. The official Battlefield 2 release date is set for June 23, 2005 in North America and Europeans will get lucky a few days earlier on the 17th.

Myelin Media today revealed details about the online gameplay in STACKED with Daniel Negreanu. The game will feature its own sanctioned multi-table tournament system called “STACKED Masters” and will also include involvement from the seven professional players associated with the game, providing the most in-depth online play and community experience for any console poker game.

Dragonshard will incorporate classic role-playing themes, a powerful and dynamic real-time strategy engine all woven together with a rich storyline involving a global conflict for an immensely powerful artifact with the power to change the fate of Eberron itself.

After Sony Europe renamed Wanda & the Colossus to Shadow of the Colossus over a month ago, SCEA is now following suit and had taken the name change on as well. The reason to to rename SCEI's upcoming action/adventure game is the same as before, "to better reflect the game's atmosphere and to avoid possible translation issues." Wanda is Japanese translates to "wonder" in English. Situated in the same universe as its prequel, the Collossus will follow a totally different story line.

THQ has released details of what people can expect for the upcoming first patch for Relic's 3D RTS Dawn Of War. While no specific release date has been announced yet, the new v1.3 patch is currently in Q&A testing, so it should not take too much longer. The new patch will address a slew of tweaks & unit balancing for all 4 races, game performance improvement, bug fixes, ability fixes and adds Observer mode, mod manager, friends list and plenty more (thanks RelicNews). Read more for detailed fix list....

Atari has named Marc Metis as its Senior Vice President, Marketing, effective immediately, it was announced today by Jim Caparro, President and Chief Executive Officer. Metis will be responsible for driving the marketing for all of Atari's interactive products and will oversee the Marketing team, including advertising, media buying and channel marketing, product marketing and publicity, and market research.