The folks at Maxis and Electronic Arts have announced a new patch for the Spore Creature Creator, bringing it up to version 1.01. Find the full patch notes for this update after the jump!

The Leipzig Games Convention organizers have decided, and they find Sony's Resistance: Retribution for the PSP as the best presented game in this year's event. Who else took bacons home? Check out the list after the jump.

In light of the EA Maxis' Spore going gold, concern once again has hit the PC gaming segment over the definite inclusion of digital rights management (DRM) software with each copy. Many have argued over the integration of SecuROM on executables of The Sims 2 and its expansions, and now that Spore producer Lucy Bradshaw has confirmed Spore will be succeeded by at least one expansion, there's a whole lot of bickering to come for PC gamers. More details at the full story.

After all the delays and the setbacks, publisher Electronic Arts has finally raised the green flag on its upcoming life simulation game, Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile), and is ready to ship the much awaited title by next month. The company earlier announced that Spore has finally gone gold is now currently in the manufacturing process. Check out further statements issued by EA after the jump.

Although the team behind Spore have taken a lot of steps to make sure they don't tread on any religious people's toes, they're taking some flak from an unexpected front: "militant atheists". More in the full article.

For those of you waiting for the release of Maxis' Spore (PC, Nintendo Wii, DS, Mac, and Mobile), it seems like the long wait is finally drawing to a close. During a studio visit from producer Thomas Vu, he confirmed to CNET that the game will be going gold by next week. Everything seems good to go for the game's September release on the PC and the Mac. More details on this development in our full article.

Another week of On Shelves, and the major consoles are apparently missing in action. That doesn't mean, however, that there won't be any fun to be had in this week's slew of game releases. Final Fantasy IV will finally be getting its turn in the DS spotlight, for one, and there are several other sports and adventure titles to keep you busy through the summer lull.

It's like even before Will Wright's Spore releases, Electronic Arts keeps shoveling more and more moolah into the vault. Someone definitely did something right by getting IKEA involved in the latest expansion to The Sims 2, because the brand-approved luxuries tucked away inside every twenty buck box managed to overtake every PC retail game offered in the US. The full top ten list follows at the full story.

Space simulations haven't been 'verse-shaking since Volition's last epic rendering of Descent FreeSpace 2, but they have always come at sweet times when the ache for a FreeSpace 3 and Descent 4 have been pulsing at an all-time high. Space Wolves and Tarr Chronicles were lovely distractions while the X universe continues to provide a leisurely sandbox experience. But some really need that sci-fi dogfighting fix, and Paradox Interactive hopes to  deliver with Dark Horizon (no relation to the flash game). Details and video flow at the full story.

Next up from Electronic Arts is their flagship project of the year: the next big thing, some people say, to the best-selling Sims franchise. Spore looks to be shaping up perfectly for the September release, as constant media updates from E3 speak of polished, high definition graphics and striking visuals. But we won't just let hearsay keep the anticipation up - Will Wright himself and the folks at EA's booth have tendered several media presentations all for our viewing pleasure. Let 'em rip at the full story.