This SF Gate story says stacks of new releases for hungry video game enthusiasts mean it’s boom time for an industry now even bigger than Hollywood. The $10 billion video game industry, which generates more revenue than Hollywood, has never released so many highly anticipated blockbuster titles in a single season. It started in August with the game title Doom 3, followed by The Sims 2 in September, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in October, then Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Half-Life 2 last month. In November, sales of video games rose to $849 million, an 11 percent increase from the...

With the Doom 3 Expansion pack being announced early October, more details about it have finally been revealed. from PlanetDOOM More Expansion Details 09:32 PST | Cyric Gattsu dropped us a line to let us know that the January issue of Game Informer magazine has a bit more information on the upcoming DOOM 3 expansion, Resurrection of Evil. Here are some bits of info grabbed from it but be warned there may be a spoiler or two: * RoE takes place two years after the events in DOOM 3 * You play as a different marine this time around * Sent to assist Dr. Elizabeth McNeal in investigating a strange beacon...

Age of Empires 3; The New Age Cometh. Rumor has it that there is a new AOE in the making. Nothing much seems to have been confirmed, but it sounds promising! from PlanetAgeofMythology GameSpot Says AoE3 Isn’t a Rumor 18:17 | Gx_Xiphoid On its rumor feature, GameSpot says that Age of Empires 3 is more than speculation now given the clues put out by Ensemble Studios and its magazine coverage. There’s no new information here, but GameSpot predicts Christmas Eve will be the day that ES will officially announce the game. RUMOR #5: Microsoft-owned Ensemble Studios is preparing to announce...

Midway has announced that they will bring out a new Mortal kombat game every year! The next one will be called Mk: Shaolin Monks and will be a 100% action game. Now let’s hope it will be better than the special forces game on Playstation1 wich was also 100% “action”.

GTA: San Andreas has been announced by Rockstar for its rightful platform, the PC. It will be released next year on June 7th. Not that it matters, but its been announced for the xbox as well, to be released on the same date. You can learn more about GTA: San Andreas from their website here

Call of Duty v1.5 patch (CoD_1.5_Patch.exe) from: activision / size: 37.0 MB / posted: 16-dec-2004 / 8,078 downloads on gamespot about: The 1.5 patch for Call of Duty includes a new multiplayer map titled Tigertown – a small town located in Normandy, France which has been partially destroyed by heavy artillery. The environment is designed for Search and Destroy as American Airborne forces push their way up the town’s hillside to knock out a Flak88 and Tiger tank heavily guarded by the German Waffen SS. The 1.5 patch also includes new commands for enhancing scripting, mods and tournament...

1 World Of Warcraft – Vivendi Universal $49 2 Half-Life 2 – Vivendi Universal $54 3 The Sims 2 – Electronic Arts $44 4 MS Zoo Tycoon 2 – Microsoft $38 5 Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 – Atari $39 6 The Sims 2 Special Edition – Electronic Arts $44 7 Rome: Total War – Activision $38 8 Sid Meier’s Pirates – Atari $43 9 MS Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection – Microsoft $29 10 Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault – Electronic Arts $43

Funcom sent out a press release announcing that Anarchy Online will be “the first major western live MMO without a subscription fee.” At the same time Funcom is departing from the obligatory need to register with a credit card, making for an easier entrance and registration process. The free full version of Anarchy Online can be found here (the free game does not include any of the three AO expansions). In an increasingly competitive market for fantasy MMO games, Anarchy Online stands out as the superior alternative if you like online RPG’s and sci-fi. Not only will this new and...