Square Enix today announced that Final Fantasy XII will be released on the PlayStation 2 in fiscal year 2005 in Japan and fiscal year 2006 in North America. In addition, plans to bring a Final Fantasy title to the PlayStation 3 are just beyond the horizon.

Bandai Games today announced ".hack//G.U." for the PlayStation 2. The latest iteration of the ".hack" series will launch in Japan and North America in 2006. Developed by Cyber Connect 2, ".hack//G.U." will feature a new cast of characters and an original storyline. The world premier of the teaser trailer will run in the Bandai booth at E3 every day at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM PST.

Grandia III is the newest title in Game Arts' role-playing series, coming to the PS2. Grandia III will use an all-new engine, N3, allowing for larger and more detailed environments. No specific European or North American release date has been announced yet, but for now it is scheduled to launch in Japan this coming summer.

Atlus announced today its unique line-up of videogame titles for the upcoming E3 taking place in Los Angeles May 18-20, 2005. Titles include Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, SMT: Digital Devil Saga 2, Samurai Western, SBK: Snowboard Kids DS, and Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Read more for further details, screens and trailers ...

Pro Cycling Manager will have more detailed animations, an experience system, stage editor and also several multiplayer modes. Cyanide Studio is using the GameBryo engine, and the Paris-based developer of Chaos League has also recently licensed SpeedTree for use in Pro Cycling Manager.

Vivendi today announced its multi-platform product line-up for the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Among the highly anticipated games will be Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft: Ghost, a tactical-action console game set in Blizzard's epic StarCraft universe.

Activision's E3 lineup includes titles based on popular entertainment brands like Marvel's Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, X-Men, Shrek, new installments in their best-selling Tony Hawk and Call of Duty franchises, and innovative offerings from id Software's QUAKE 4 and The Movies from Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios.

Activision Value Publishing and Krome Studios today announced a co-publishing agreement for the third installment in the TY the Tasmanian Tiger series. Currently in development at Krome Studios, the game will be available for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube and GBA in fall 2005.

Sony announced today the signing of Phoenix Suns power forward Amare Stoudemire to be the cover athlete for its all-new basketball franchise, NBA '06, due to hit stores in Fall 2005, exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and PSP.

2K Games today announced Snow, a real-time strategy game based on the greed driven world of a criminal empire. Scheduled for release in 2006, Snow is being developed for the Xbox and PC by Take-Two's Frog City Software studio.