Telltale Inc, currently working on comic book adaptation Bone, announced the worldwide launch of its character based poker game Telltale Texas Hold’Em!, in which the player squares off against four wacky characters, all with their own individual playing styles. The engaging PC title is unique among video poker games, focusing on the characters more than the cards.

CDV today announced that Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars has gone gold and is scheduled to ship in North America on April 26. Cossacks II will put gamers in control of one of six 19th-century nations as they wage war, secure alliances and work to economically and militarily defeat their opponents to become the dominant European power.

Midway Games today announced that their Sci-Fi action/thriller, AREA 51, has gone gold and will ship to stores for the Xbox and PS2 on Monday, April 25, 2005.

Due to continuous below-average sales, French publisher Big Ben has decided to close down its UK office. Open a little over five years, Bigben Interactive UK Ltd never really took off like its parent company had envisioned. The recent Dance:UK eXtra Trax sales were satisfactory, but its fate was already sealed, as it barely improved the weak overall sales figure during last year's Christmas period. One of the reasons given was the lack of console units available on the market during the last holiday season, which resulted in a below-average sale of game units.

Creature Conflict: The Clan Wars boasts an extensive single player campaign, where gamers get to chose which clan they are going to control and start the process of total domination – engaging in battles with the other clans and their leaders. Creature Conflict: The Clan Wars also supports a multiplayer mode: team up with friends on a single PC or across a LAN or internet connection and take on all rivals in a last animal standing competition!

Terrorist Takedown: Payback is a standalone expansion pack in which the player once againtakes on the role of GIs fighting against terrorrism. The expansion incorporates various gameplay improvements over the original title and adds 10 new missions, and lets you fly AH 64-Apache, control the .50 caliber humvee machine gun, or take aim with an antitank cannon. Terrorist Takedown: Payback will be in German stores in the next few days ...

Phoenix Technologies and Taito Corporation today announced that Taito and Phoenix collaborated to create an open, secure Windows-based game environment by integrating Phoenix Technologies' Security Software Developer's Kit (SDK) into the Taito Type X game system platform.

For the first time, Dead to Rights goes mobile, bringing its high octane brand of gritty noir action onto the Sony PSP. Featuring a new storyline, as well as new moves, weapons, and features, Dead to Rights is packed with action.

Bringing its heritage of being the definitive cricket game series, Brian Lara International Cricket comes ten years after Codemasters launched the original Brian Lara game and over five years since the series appeared on any platform. Brian Lara returns to game screens this summer in Brian Lara International Cricket for PS2, Xbox and PC.