Matrix Games and Australian Design Group (www.a-d-g.com.au) are proud to announce that another update is now available for the official computer adaptation of the popular turn-based Napoleonic grand strategy game, Empires in Arms. The comprehensive update brings the game up to version v1.03.14. The update addresses dozens more issues that have become evident since the major v1.02 update in addition to adding multiple AI improvements and a few other overall enhancements.

Empires in Arms is the official licensed computer version of Australian Design Group's classic board game. Empires in Arms is a seven player game of grand strategy during the Napoleonic period of 1805-1815. Playable either solitaire against the AI or by e-mail. Corps level with full diplomatic options to allow players complete freedom to fight it out for control of Europe any way they want to.

Download the Empires in Arms v1.03.14 Patch (17 MB)

Will Wright's heavily hyped alien life simulation Spore is getting ready for its September 7 launch but if you own a PC and don't want to fool with buying the retail copy of the game you can go ahead and pre-load your copy on your PC right now via a download from Electronic Arts' online store.

The pre-loads will allow you to have nearly all of the game on your hard drive before September 7. When the game launches it will take about 30 minutes to decrypt the game from your hard drive and then you can start evolving your creatures to your heart's content. Keep in mind that this is for the game only; you won't get any of the extras in the retail Spore Galactic Edition. Mac owners can get their copy by going to the Green Tree Online web site where they state that pre-orders will get their download link and activation key via email. There doesn't appear to be any pre-loads for the Mac version.

This trailer shows off some of the unique factions and armies featured in BatteForge. Battleforge blends the action of real-time strategy with trading card strategy by bringing epic sized armies and gigantic creatures to life.

Download the BattleForge HD Trailer (167 MB)

If you are heading up to Seattle to attend the 2008 edition of Penny Arcade Expo and have a few dollars that you don't have any plans on spending, you might want to check out this special limited editon version of the DeathAdder PC gaming mouse from Razer. Only 400 of these will be made and they will be sold only at PAX starting tomorrow at the Razer booth for $60. As you can see from the picture it will have the PAX 2008 logo.

Razer will also be holding a mod contest at their booth during PAX, teaming up with Modders-Inc.. According to their press release, "They were given the SilverStone TJ10 ESA case, the Razer Lachesis, the Razer Lycosa, the Razer Piranha and the Razer Destructor to mod, with the finished mod being showcased at the Razer booth. Attendees will be able to vote for their favorite out of three at the Razer booth and those who voted for the winning case will have a chance to win the case. Attendees can also vote for their best modder at www.razerzone.com.

We last saw Lara Croft running into a jungle toward some ancient ruins in the last trailer, now we actually get to see what happens when she gets there. The trailer shows off some spectacular graphics and animations that will be found in Tomb Raider Underworld, and a first encounter with some exotic wildlife. The only question is, which is really the endangered species here?

Download the Tomb Raider Underworld HD Trailer #3 (47 MB)
Download the Tomb Raider Underworld HD Trailer #2 (46 MB)

Lego Batman may be heading to retail stores in September but is a CGI Lego Batman TV series possible? It is, according to Rich Ear, the game's producer at developer Traveller's Tales. Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz he states that a 20 minute Lego Batman short is in the works.

While the UK based Traveller's Tales won't be involved with the production of any such TV series (it's being handled by a US based company), Earl states, "they're basically able to utilize the assets, because our team has brought Lego characters to life." It should be interesting to see the final product, especially since there's been a ton of Batman animated shows in the past (the newest one, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, come to Saturday mornings this fall).

We're fast approaching the final phases before Spore finally releases. The developers give us the low-down on the Civilization Phase, which looks a lot like a trimmed down and Sporified version of SimCity. In this phase, players will need to build up their civilizations based on different themes like war or economics to compete with other rising tribes across the world.

Download Spore Civilization Phase HD Video (292 MB)
Download Spore Tribe Phase HD Video (55 MB)
Download Spore Creature Phase HD Video (28 MB)
Download Spore Cell Phase HD Video (225 MB)

We have a ton of PC games to play in the next three months or so and the first one out of the gate (we hope) is Mercenaries 2, the sequel to developer Pandemic's open world playground of death and destruction (While the original was published by LucasArts, Pandemic's new owners Electronic Arts will handle the sequel). Mercenaries 2 got a lot of attention when it was first announced at E3 2006 (and sometimes for the wrong reasons) but ahead of the game's release for the PC next week we wanted to pick five reasons we think we are going to love playing the game.

This isn't a review, by the way; just some reasons why we are eagerly awaiting to have this title in our hard drives this week. Some of the reasons are obvious while one or two are surprises.

Click on the image above to see more of "Five reasons why we think we will love Mercenaries 2"

This Mercenaries 2 trailer starts the way any good game should. This guy yearns for a mission that goes, boom, boom, and boom! Love the smell of napalm in the morning? The day just isn't complete until building explode with huge mushroom clouds? This trailer calls in the air strikes to satisfy those cravings.

Download the Mercenaries 2 Airstrikes Trailer (78 MB)

Anyone could come up with a lot of reasons for why Valve is such a successful company. Ask any two people what makes Valve so successful and they'll probably point to different things. Some will say their cabal style game design and free content updates. While others will point to the Steam platform, mod support and integration of top mod designers. Some may even call out Gabe Newell himself. Oh and don't forget Doug Lombardi, either. We could go on and on about just what made (and continues to make) Valve so very special. Though I doubt it's any single one of those things as opposed to many of them at the right moments in the right way. Or in other words, a lot of chance, determination and some vision.

What I do think can be gleaned from the success of Valve, is where PC gaming will -- or at least should be -- going over the next few years. Hit the image above to take a look at what I think their model of game design and business decisions has to offer the wider PC gaming market.

The last X3: Terran Conflict trailer emphasized the building aspect of the game. The latest video focuses on "Thinking" - as in devising strategies, playing through the story, its side quests, and making decisions that will significantly impact the universe. The trailer also clues us in on one of the main enemies you'll encounter, a mechanical race grown and evolved from old terraforming machines that earth originally sent out.

Download X3: Terran Conflict HD Trailer (101 MB)

How many times have we read a story about a murder or other crime out there that is blamed on the alledged criminal playing video games? From Doom to Mortal Kombat to the Grand Theft Auto titles, people and attorneys love that kind of blame game. In the real world we know crimes are committed for a ton of other real reasons but a attorney (not Jack Thompson) says that the 'blame games" defense can actually work in court.

In a story for the Palm Beach Post web site, llinois attorney James H. Waller states, "While I don't believe that violent video games tend to have any negative effects on otherwise healthy people, my job is to present ANY theory to a jury that would explain why my client did the things he did." He says placing blame on outside forces, including the playing of violent games, "humanizes the client and shifts the culpability." The defense works, he claims, mainly on "an unsophisticated, typically older, somewhat more rural jury pool or judge."

However, game publishers have to take a little responsiblity, according to Waller. "The manufacturers do everything they can to make sure that they are a household name, if not cartridge. Restricting supply to create buzz, sensationalizing their own violence to the media, doing idiotic things like leaving the "Hot Coffee" code in the game...the jury knows that a lot of kids today are playing this Grand Theft Auto game and that it's very violent or adult before we even walk into the courtroom."

The first Prince of Persia developer diary introduces fans to the team of developers working on the game. It also talks about what goes into different game mechanics like wall running, the new "roof running" feature and combat.

Download HD Prince of Persia Developer Diary #1 (278 MB)

Once again we are hearing from a team member from Crytek about how piracy affected sales of their 2007 PC FPS Crysis. Edge Online has a chat with the company's engine business manager Harald Seeley who said that pirates would likely not have bought the game if they were unable to find pirated copies.

Seeley is quoted as saying, "judging by, for example, the number of users who downloaded our patches, there were a lot more active players than there were unit sales. And I think we can safely say if they were still playing the game by the time our latest patch released, and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn't happen but probably would have had it not been possible to obtain the game illegally." A couple of months ago, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said that piracy was so bad, the company sold only one legit copy of Crysis for every 20 pirated copies out there. Despite these numbers, Crysis was still a profitable game for the developer.

Fans of classic Sierra adventure games have a reason to be happy. ADG Interactive faithfully remade Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire so that it works on today's computer systems using a point-and-click interface. Best of all, the game is completely free to download and play, so everyone can appreciate AGD Interactive's hard work. This is great news since it looks like Sierra's legacy game series (among other games) will be forever lost with no chance of revival after the Vivendi/Activision merger. It's good to see fans keeping the fire alive.

Download Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire Remake (85 MB)