Electronic Arts has now released the first retail patch for Battlefield 2, upgrading the 3D multiplayer action sequel by Digital Illusions to version 1.01. This update fixes two crash bugs as well as problems with controls binding, the multiplayer browser, shaders and environment mapping, bot AI, and more.

Updates to Counter-Strike: Source and the Source Engine have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:

Ritual Entertainment's long-awaited Sin 2 is to be released episodically over Valve's Steam digital distribution system, with episodes lasting around six hours each to be released "every three to four months" for around $20 (£11.38) an episode.

EuroGamer

The Chronicles of Narnia, a much-loved piece of classic literature, is soon to become a spangly Disney live-action movie. We talk to Traveller's Tales, developers of the PC game tie-in (and the sublime Lego Star Wars) about their work on the graphics engine for the game.

Bit-Tech

The Import Game Blog has three new shots from Xbox 360 fan-favorite Gears of War posted on their site. Which they say came from? France?

Kotaku

Valve has released a new Lost Coast HDR (High Dynamic Range) Video Demonstration.

NGOHQ.com

For those of you who have been waiting, the final version of my full Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide is out. Following on from my initial release of the BF2 Demo Tweak Guide, this full version guide contains nine pages of information designed to explain BF2's settings, provide an insight into the reasons behind many common problems, and provide some handy tips and tweaks for you to try. Keep in mind that it will also be continually updated as EA releases patches for BF2 and as I discover new tips/tweaks.

Welcome to the Valve Developer Community. Whether you're building a "Triple-A" commercial project or a MOD for Half-Life® 2, you'll want to sign up as a Valve developer today. Once registered, you'll have unlimited access to the WIKI and discussion areas of this site, inclusion in the developer mailing list, online file hosting space for your project, and more.

GameSpot have thrown up their preview of Civilization IV! Here's a snip.

With Civilization IV due out by the end of the year, Firaxis and publisher 2K Games are stepping up the publicity efforts for the game, which is the latest chapter in the landmark PC strategy game series. We got our first good look at Civ IV last month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but we saw the latest developments this week at a press event in San Francisco. On hand was Firaxis producer Jesse Smith to answer our questions, and we had plenty of them to ask.

We're getting much closer to having Lost Coast ready to release. Originally planned as a section of the Highway 17 chapter of Half-Life 2, Lost Coast is a playable technology showcase that introduces High Dynamic Range lighting to the Source engine.

STEAM

Independent developed online racing simulator Live for Speed! has a new Demo out S2 ALPHA!

LFS S1 (and S2) is a serious racing simulator. No arcade modes, no steering aids - YOU have to do the driving. It is therefore highly recommended to play the sim with a wheel, because even though you can use keyboard and/or mouse, a wheel is what you use in a real car, so a wheel should be used in a serious racing simulator. Especially when going online, where fast reactions are required.

We have the first benchmarks of the new Serious Sam 2 game, which sports a next-gen engine - see it's performance on a 7800 GTX.

Bit-Tech

See it running on the GeForce 7800 hardware. A pretty impressive show!

Battlefield 2 hits your onboard GPU's memory hard. In some cases, the game uses over 256mb of memory.

Battlefield 2 is here and Jakub's got a review of it. We'd have had it for you on day 1, but what's the point - there wasn't much of a way to test it online, was there? So without further adieu...

Ubi Soft Entertainment has released a new patch for Far Cry, bringing the acclaimed tropical island first-person shooter by Crytek Studios to version 1.32. This update addresses a couple of shader issues, a potential crash when using RCON to start a new level, a few server problems, and a video playback issue.

After having a closer look to the game at E3, and a brief chat with one of Activision reps, we bring you our preview of Quake 4, so you can know what to expect when this awaited sequel makes it into store's shelves.

The F.E.A.R. multiplayer beta has recently opened up somewhat from its previously closed nature to allow anyone, with the patience to register at both File Planet and Game Spy, to download a client enabling you to try the multiplayer portion of the game.

OK Peeps you can stop the emails, yes we know that the soon to be released retail version of Battlefield 2 was leaked.

We wont be posting any links , so please don't ask or post links! I will leave the comments section open for now!

It seems the EAX Unified Driver v4.0.0.1 doesnt like some cards. If you are having issues with the sound, you should check out this thread.