NEWS...

• Unreal Championship 2 Update on Xbox Live! - Epic and Midway have released a new update for Unreal Championship 2 on Xbox Live! that includes 4 new maps, plus 10 new models and combos.
• Burning Down the Xbox 360 - Dean Takahashi, of the Mercury News, had the chance to visit the product evaluation and reliability labs for the Xbox 360 at Microsoft’s Mountain View, CA, campus: " A guy named Rich Lee showed menditions. There is room for 120 Xbox 360s on the racks in this room, which can be heated or cooled as needed. I step in and feel the warm air blast me. The Xbox 360s stay in the pressure cooker for up to 72 hours at a time. There are about 1,100 components on the motherboard. A lot of stuff can go wrong a gigantic chamber where he can simulate all sorts of environmental co"
• Xbox 360 may not always have a hard drive - Microsoft's forthcoming next-generation console may not always ship in a configuration with a hard drive, key Xbox executive J Allard has confirmed, with developers being warned not to rely on the component for their games.  Speaking in the September issue of US magazine Game Informer, Allard said that the company isn't yet ready to announce details of possible multiple models of the Xbox 360, with the presence of a hard drive being touted as one potential difference between models.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Delayed [GC] - Here's the official statement from Nintendo: "Our development team has decided to take extra time to add some incredible new elements to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As a result, the game will now launch in 2006 globally. We recognize there may be some disappointed fans, however we firmly believe this additional time will result in a much more enjoyable gaming experience. GameCube fans will have a variety of Nintendo games to choose from this Christmas, including Mario Smash Football, Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness."
• Another Century's Episode 2 announced [PS2] -  Banpresto announced Another Century's Episode 2 for PS2, the sequel to the popular mech action game, the game will have characters from 11 anime series.
• Fight Night Round 3 PSP/Xbox 360 announced - Electronic Arts announced they will release a PSP version of Fight Night Round 3 in US in early 2006, simultaneously with the Xbox 360 version.
• 187 Ride or Die Goes Gold [Xbox/PS2] - Ubisoft announced today that urban-themed racer 187 Ride or Die is now officially gold, meaning the game is complete and ready to enter manufacturing.
• Chaos Field Confirmed for U.S.[GC] - Publisher O~3 Entertainment confirmed today it will bring Chaos Field to North America this holiday season, offering GameCube owners in the States a chance at MileStone's arcade shooter.
• Nintendo DS Price Cut On August 21 - Ahead of Monday's planned US release of the hit Japanese Nintendo DS "game" Nintendogs, Nintendo announced today that it will cut the price of the DS portable console starting on Sunday, Aug 21. The price will go down from the current $150 price to $130. The price drop will coincide with the August 22 release of Nintendogs and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.
• Game Boy Micro coming September 19 - The new handheld weighs in at a featherweight 2.8 ounces and measures 4 inches by 2 inches by 0.7 inches, which is only slightly larger than an iPod mini. Despite its diminutive size, the handheld will retain the full capabilities of the Game Boy Advance SP. The Micro will also feature an interchangeable faceplate, much like the Xbox 360 and Nokia cell phones. 
   

REVIEWS

• PS2: Darkwatch (4/5) / Darkwatch (8/10) / Darkwatch (7.9/10) / Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (2.5/5) / Enthusia Professional Racing (8.6/10) / Eye Toy - Play 2 (8.3/10) / Outlaw Tennis (7.1/10) / Shadow of Rome (8.1/10)

• Xbox: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (4.9/10) / Darkwatch (7.9/10) / Darkwatch (4.5/5) / Darkwatch (7.9/10) / Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (2.5/5) / Forza Motosport (8/10) / Juiced (7.6/10) / Metal Slug 4 & 5 (7.5/10) / King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Maniax (2.5/5) / Outlaw Tennis (7.1/10) / Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (8/10)
• Gamecube: Geist (C-) / Geist (7.8/10) / Geist  (7.8/10) / Madagascar (6.5/10) / Madden NFL 06 (8.5/10) / Sonic Gems Collection (3.5/5 )
• PSP: Death Jr (7.0/10) / Death Jr (7/10) / Lumines (92/100) / Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition (74/100)
• NDS: Another Code: Two Memories (78/100) / Electroplankton (8/10) / Nanostray (7.9/10) / Pac-Pix (7/10)
• GBA: Fantastic 4 (2/5) / Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (8.5/10) / Sigma Star Saga (7.2/10)

PREVIEWS

• Burnout Blowout: The Revenge! [Xbox] - The first major, noticeable overhaul made to the Burnout series is the singeplayer progression. The basic idea is still the same in that you always have multiple options of different race types to partake in to advance at any one time, essentially allowing you to skip the stuff you're not so great at or just don't like (for shame), but the overall availability of everything is dictated by the Revenge Meter.
• Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkachi [PS2] - The game modes are as varied as ever in Tenkaichi with all of the old favorites returning for another round. To start what was previously known as Dragon Ball Universe is now called Z Battlegate and acts as the primary story mode. There are 18 separate Battlegates from the perspective of different characters and each one is comprised of 10 sequences.
• Evil Dead: Regeneration [Xbox] - If you played Boomstick, you'll know that the gameplay mechanic was third-person hack n' slash. With a repetitive gameplay style, it's fair to say that Fistfull of Boomstick had a slim-to-zero chance of being decent…and it wasn't. THQ realized the errors of their ways and decided to lean on corporately owned Cranky Pants Games to bring a more standard, yet plot-driven third-person flavor to Ash and his zany misadventures.
• Gun: New Impressions [PS2/Xbox/Xbox360] - Gun follows a storyline in which you and Ned come upon the Missouri River where, on a steamboat, Ned must meet with a harlot. A creepy minister who looks too evil and talks too weirdly to be a man of faith, foreshadows trouble close by, and within seconds the ship is under attack. (The grim-faced preacher is voiced over by none other than Brad Dourif, aka Grima Wormtongue from the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies.)
• Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure [Xbox] - From what we've seen of Getting Up so far, you could break the gameplay down into three distinct parts: gymnastic navigation of the cityscape (ala Prince of Persia); the actual application of graffiti to the relevant spots; and a fairly robust beat-'em-up combat engine.
• NBA 2K6 [PS2] - The passing game promises much improvement over last year's game. There will now be two distinct pass buttons in NBA 2K6. The regular pass button will throw the ball to where the recipient is standing, as in every other basketball game on the market. The second button is your lead pass button, and that will lead the receiver toward the basket. As you can imagine, throwing an alley-oop is done by holding down aggressive plus the lead pass
• The Matrix: Path of Neo [PS2] - The combat system is what is going to win over most people. It's not quite as exquisite as God of War, but it's shaping up to be an adventure title that's going to come close to filling Kratos' sandals.
• Europa Universalis II DS Interview [NDS] - GamersMark has had a chance to conduct an interview with G.R Moore of Pocket PC Studios in order to learn more about their upcoming Nintendo DS, WinCE and Palm OS game, Europa Universalis II

MEDIA... 

• Condemned: Criminal Origins movie [Xbox 360] - Here' s a new movie trailer (45MB) for the first-person psychological thriller action game being created at Monolith Productions. The game utilizes F.E.A.R engine and here is a link to an interview with Jeff Hutt, who licenses the engine via Touchdown Entertainment.
• Darkwatch trailer [Xbox] - Capcom has released a new trailer for Darkwatch, their just relased FPS that blends the lawless action of the Wild West with the thrilling horror of vampire movies.
• From Russia With Love: Instanbul shots [Xbox] - EA has released new screenshots of James Bond 007: From Russia With Love featuring the Istanbul level in both its campaign and multiplayer variations
• Painkiller shots [Xbox] - Dreamcatcher and People Can Fly have released new screenshots of the Xbox version of Painkiller.
• Rhapsodia shots [PS2] - Here are some new images of Konami's Suikoden simulation RPG Rhapsodia, the game will be released in Japan on September 22, for 6980 yen.
• Biohazard 4 / Resident Evil 4 [PS2] - Here are some new images of Capcom's PS2 version of Biohazard 4 / Resident Evil 4, the game will be released in US on October 25.
• Tiger Woods PGA Tours 2006 [Xbox 360] - Here are some new images of EA's Xbox 360 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tours 2006, the game will be released in US in November 2005.
• Princess Crown shots [PSP] - Here are some new images of Atlus' Princess Crown for PSP, a remake of the classic Saturn action RPG, the game will be released in Japan on September 22.