Cinemaware Marquee announced that they will release in North America Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators, the turn-based Space RPG/3D real-time action game developed by Elemental Games. In Space Rangers 2 players will have an opportunity to test their skills not only in outer space, but on planets' surface as well. 3D real-time battles on planets is a new part of the game introduced to the players. By producing and upgrading war machines, gamers have a chance to defeat the ominous threat of the Dominators. Space Rangers 2 is due to ship in North America in March 2006 - press 'read more' for details.

Meridian4 sent over a press release announcing the signing of a second title with Polish developer Rebelmind, for their children’s adventure game: Great Journey – Mr. Penguin’s Letter. The game and story center around a ten year old boy named Tony "The Brave", who receives a postcard from a friend in Antarctica asking for help against an evil man that is polluting the clean landscape with a variety of trash. Check full story for details.

Nival Interactive announced that their 3D turn-based tactical game Silent Storm will be released for mobile phones, with Java support. Each campaign is broken into a series of missions, revolving around a single story line and following the original game version in terms of scope and content. The game has a variety of level configurations, changing special-ops venues (town, forest) and climatic conditions (now it rains, now it snows).

IDV announced that more game developers have chosen SpeedTree to ensure that their games will meet the new environmental standard SpeedTree is driving worldwide: The Multiverse Network (Kothuria: The World’s Edge, plus Integration with their dev platform), Funcom (Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventure), Microsoft/Bizarre Creations (Project Gotham Racing 3), nFlavor (Rappelz), Icarus Studios (Fallen Earth), Intelligent Soft (Ragnesis Online), Game Factory Interactive (Officers) and Frantic Games (1944 D-Day: Operation Overlord). SpeedTreeRT delivers low-polygon, highly realistic trees and plants, with adjustable wind effects, seamless LOD transitions, and an included library of hundreds of tree models from more than 100 core species. SpeedTreeRT includes SpeedTreeCAD, a Windows application used to create and edit animated trees in real-time.

Strategy First Inc. and Valve Corporation announced that two more games will be available soon via Steam: S.C.S - Dangerous Waters and Space Empires IV Deluxe - both titles will be released on February 7th. Those with an active Steam account will be able to pre-purchase the games beginning January 24 and save 10%.

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. also announced that Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Duel Academy for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance has shipped to retail stores across the US. Taking place in a futuristic Yu-Gi-Oh! world, GX Duel Academy introduces players to a whole new cast of characters and monsters, new cards and incredible dueling action. Press 'read more' for details.

Konami Digital Entertainment - America announced that Castlevania Double Pack has shipped to retail stores nationwide - the compilation includes two GBA titles: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. Created by Koji Igarashi and the creative team behind Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania Double Pack is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and has an SRP of $29.99. Check full story for details.

Ubisoft has released a new trailer for Faces of War, a World War II squad-based, real-time strategy game in the works at Best Way, developers of Soldiers: Heroes of World War II. Compared with the first title of the series, Faces of War will feature better physics and unit models, complex team AI and new tactical opportunities. New unit commands such as move to cover and charge position help team survival while new personal moves like climbing over fences and aimed-shots keep individual soldiers fighting. Previously known as Outfront II, Faces of War will be available in March 2006.

The second batch of screenshots from Samurai Champloo. showcasing illustrating the Tate and Trance modes from this PS2 game scheduled to ship early 2006. Samurai Champloo is based on the television series and introduces an innovative fighting system, a unique combination of music and swordplay, and a mysterious new character. Check full story for details.

Electronic Arts has released the second trailer for Rugby 06, the game currently under development at EA Canada and HB Studios for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC. Rugby 06 will challenge gamers to compete in a host of the World's most prestigious rugby competitions including the Six Nations, Lions Tour, Tri Nations, Guinness Premiership and the Super 14. Press 'read more' for details.

The team behind the Half-Life 2 Capture The Flag has released a new beta version of their popular mod. Enjoy!

The Long Range Patrol Clan, creators of one of the best Battlefield machinima movies, The Fallen One (locally mirrored here), have released a teaser movie showcasing their next project due to be launched in April/May 2006. Word is "YES, this is Battlefield2 folks! No, this is NOT Special Forces or any other custom mod. Most shots are visually enhanced. We use the Battlefield2 engine to tell a thrilling story about a soldier that gets trapped in the Iraqi desert. This teaser only shows a small part of the upcoming movie and most shots are not completely finished". Visit this dedicated thread for feedback.

Tale of Tales released the client of The Endless Forest, an online multiplayer game where everyone plays a deer. It features non-violent interaction but no chat-functions. All communication happens through deer-body-language. You can roar, you can sniff, you can rub a tree. As a screensaver, The Endless Forest offers a peaceful oasis where you can be your (deer) self for a moment, sleeping in the forest or engaging with other players.

Courtesy of SPEEDMANIACS.DE, we have a new trailer from TOCA Race Driver 3, showcasing the next chapter of the series scheduled for February 2006, for PS2, Xbox and PC. The game will offer more than 100 individual championships covering 35 different racing disciplines, new licensed circuits from around the world (including Avignon and Istanbul from the DTM 2005 season championship), and improved car physics - now tyre temperature, car weight, dirt buildup on the rubber, tyre-wear, engine temperature and radiator efficiency have a major impact on gameplay. The Pro Career mode features seven different career paths, each specializing in an individual motor sport discipline including GT, Off Road, Touring Cars, Historic, Open Wheel, Rally and Oval. Alternatively, players can jump straight into World Tour mode and experience some of the world’s most powerful cars and see those tires screech under full power in this fast fix of race gaming. There are two demos, locally mirrored here and here.

A playable demo of Mad Tracks is now available for download, allowing you to try out this arcade racing game developed by LOAD. Mad Tracks will be released by Frogster Interactive on February 23rd, 2006.