ArenaNet and NCsoft announced today that their second Beta Weekend Event has begun a day early in order to accommodate the European and Asian players and giving them a full weekend of Guild Wars beta testing. All future Beta Weekend Events will commence on Friday mornings of the weekend in question.

Microids and DreamCatcher have signed a publishing/distribution agreement for the North American market for two titles, Still Life and Obscure. No specific release date was announced, but both are expected around Q2 2005.

SEGA Europe today announced they would be publishing Blood Will Tell, a modern-day action epic for the PS2, adapted from the classic Manga tale by Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy). Blood Will Tell delivers the ultimate samurai fighting experience, for one or two players, with intense 3D action from one of Japan's most celebrated storytellers.

While we already had a first trailer a few days ago, Electronic Arts today announced that EA SPORTS Rugby 2005 is under development as the newest ongoing franchise in the EA SPORTS lineup. The game, which features a host of gameplay and graphical upgrades, will deliver an authentic rugby experience and is scheduled for release in spring 2005 for the PS2, the Xbox, and the PC.

Vivisector: Beast Inside developed by Action Forms (creators of Chasm and Carnivores series) is a unique mixture of 3D Action/Horror. The game blends a thrilling interactive story with intense, high-adrenaline action and immerses players in a rich and fascinating storyline.

"Forza Motorsport" gives Xbox gamers who are passionate about cars and racing the opportunity to own, customize, and race their favorite cars in a realistic driving simulation. From sport compacts to LeMans prototypes, players use earnings from hundreds of races to buy upgrades and aftermarket parts so they can transform real production cars into high-performance race cars.

"Darkwatch" is an original first person shooter combining the Western and Horror genres to create a cinematic experience with unparalleled depth and game play variety. As half-vampire Jericho Cross, players must hunt down a powerful vampire lord whose undead minions have overrun the Wild West. The result is a stylistic premise blending western and vampire-horror milieus, and one injected with innovative concepts.

'Conker: Live and Reloaded' features intense deathmatch and campaign storyline modes via Xbox Live and system link, players can compete as one of six combat specialists across multi-mission campaigns covering Old War and Future War. Also included is the critically acclaimed single-player game, "Conker's Bad Fur Day," completely recreated for the Xbox with stunning graphics and unparalleled attitude.

Level the playing field with the EA SPORTS Hitter’s Eye in MVP Baseball 2005. With unprecedented control of your at-bat, the ability to move in the batter’s box and the power to read the pitch, master the art of hitting and own the plate with an unprecedented offensive toolbox. Along with an enhanced Dynasty Mode, you can take complete control of the team with the all-new Owner Mode.

Valve's SteamPowered website has been updated with details regarding yet another Half-Life 2 update which addresses some Steam issues, enables support for new query protocol in the HL dedicated server, and fixed a Source Engine spam issue. Restart Steam to get the latest update..