This morning revealed, and there are the first screenshots from Akella's Age of Pirates. Not much information available at this point, so read more to check out the goodies ...

Valve has just released a free demo of Half-Life 2. Featuring some of the amazing digital actors and physical gameplay that has made Half-Life 2 the leading contender for Game of the Year 2004, the demo takes players through some of the early levels of the game and later transports them to the area of the game known as Ravenholm. The demo will require a Steam account to install. Read more for download links ...

Topheavy Studios ships The Guy Game, the first-ever video game to feature hours of live-action video clips of topless women during Spring Break. Released in September for the PS2 and Xbox, The Guy Game matches players' wits against more than 60 attractive co-eds, all of whom are not afraid to grin and bare it. In addition, the PC version features exclusive new Spring Break footage not available on the console versions.

Today Microsoft announced the launch of the official Forza Motorsports website, but more importantly, the same statement also revealed Microsoft pushed back the release from its original February date, to April 2005. Head on over to the official website for all the latest info, an innovative car builder page enabling car enthusiasts to modify the look and performance of six cars – the Acura NSX, Nissan 350z, Audi TT, Silvia, Hyundai Tiburon and Volkswagen Beetle, the latest screenshots or Car Cultures, a page dedicated to the wide-range of cars and car cultures that make up Forza Motorsport.

In an interview on Pirates Ahoy, Akkela's Project Manager Renat Nezametdinov, reveals that the game formerly known as Corsairs 2 is now finally getting an international release under the name of Age Of Pirates, and not Sea Dogs 2 as previously anticipated. While Corsairs 2 was only intented for Russian release at first, the new project under the AoP name will be targetted for European and North American audiences. For more details read the full interview

Jolt Online Gaming today announced that it has secured 100 beta-tester slots for the next Face of Mankind closed beta-testing phase.

THQ and SCi Entertainment Group have signed an exclusive agreement naming THQ the North American publisher for the "Constantine" video game, licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics, and based on the Warner Bros. Pictures film.

Utilizing the next generation of the Invictus engine which incorporates its new real-time physics module, Cross Racing Championship (CRC) will allow the player to experience the thrills of high-speed on and off road racing across vast open terrains. The Demo offers three quick race game modes, a time trial mode, two game tracks and two cars with wide variety of tuning options, from the eagerly anticipated racer.

The first ever FIFA Interactive World Cup reached its ultimate climax on Sunday at FIFA House, Zurich, as eight finalists from all over the world competed on the virtual football pitch to become the overall winner of this video game tournament featuring Electronic Arts' FIFA Football 2005 on Xbox. After a determined and skilled performance, Thiago Carrico de Azevedo, 21, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeated Matija Biljeskovic, 21, Rockford, Illinois, USA to take the coveted title of the inaugural FIFA Interactive World Player 2004.

Electronic Arts today announced an investment in international game developer and publisher UbiSoft Entertainment. The investment represents approximately 19.9 percent interest in the company, shares purchased as a block from Dutch investment company Talpa Beheer B.V. to be completed upon obtaining antitrust clearance from the U.S. government. Financial terms were not disclosed. It is not apparent if this is part of a hostile takeover, but if approved, this would instantly make EA the biggest shareholder of Ubisoft.

Tony Tough 2 acts as a prequel to 2003's Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths. In this 3D point & click adventure game you get to Tony at the age of 13, and he has his first case to solve. Under development at ProGraph, and published by dtp, Tony Tough 2 is scheduled for release in April 2005. Not much info available at this point, but we do have the first screens...

Children of the Nile is the first and only strategy game where citizens who behave like real people are your primary resource. As their leader, you must build a place in which they can live and work, establishing a relationship of trust and cooperation which you then leverage to build a lasting civilization, and bring it to its cultural peak. The Children of the Nile Soundtrack (containing 17 tracks of music from the game, in MP3 format) and a Bonus Tune has been released, get them now ...

Black Bean is proud to announce the signing of a pan-European publishing deal for "Stalingrad." The deal was signed with the Moscow based publisher 1C Company. "Stalingrad" is being developed by DTF Games and uses a modified version of the game engine used in the successful game "Blitzkrieg", which was noted for the realism of its combat scenes.

The Sims 2 University is the first expansion pack for the highly-acclaimed The Sims 2, giving players of The Sims 2 the ability to watch their Sims become young adults and put childhood behind them as they settle into an all-new college town to live out their ultimate college fantasy.

3000AD announced “Universal Combat: A World Apart”, an add-on to the original Universal Combat title released in February 2004 by Dreamcatcher Games. This add-on has been in development for some time and is scheduled to be released in Q1 2005 via online distribution as well as various retail chains.

Boiling Point: Road to Hell, previously known as Xenus, will combine intense armed combat with exploration and interaction with a vast and seamless open-ended gaming world. Boiling Point: Road to Hell is in development by Ukrainian developer Deep Shadows and is scheduled for release in Spring 2005.

Sony Online has put up a note in the official EQ2 forums about a total blackout of the EQ2 servers. "All US servers and Innovation are currently down for an upate. We do not have a solid ETA available at this time, but will be updating you with progress hourly and will deliver a more firm ETA when we can. Worlds will be brought back online as they are ready. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes you and thank you for your patience while our folks here work to correct this issue." SOE is posting an hourly progress report, as they gradually are bringing servers back up after 24hours downtome

Atlus U.S.A. announced today that Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, the latest game in the popular RPG series, will be packaged in a special deluxe box set when it ships in the spring of 2005.

DeepSilver announced today that Egosoft's space sim addon X²: The Return will not meet its February release deadline and postponed it until a more vague Q2 2005 date. No explenation for the delay has been given by either publisher or developer, but they did release some new screens, so read more to check them out ...

Massive Entertainment has released a new multiplayer map or its sci-fi RTS Ground Control II: Operation Exodus. This Nashorn bonus map needs to be installed in the standalone copy in the game's Custom_Maps folder. Massive Entertainment will be releasing new maps every Friday for the next few months. Read more for download links ...