It's a merry, merry Christmas from Atari who has something for everyone this holiday season, from RPGs to fighting games, tactic games to well, whichever category you want to fit in Tamagotchi Party On! Head on to the full article for their holiday lineup.

Wondering if you favorite country will be included in Konami Digital Entertainment's latest Pro Evolution Soccer release? Erik Hansson over at the Level7 site has just picked up what appears to be a complete listing of the national teams making it to PES 2008 (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, DS, PC).

That's all the details we've got on this news, which ties in nicely with the celebrities expected to make an appearance in the game. Stay tuned in case we receive more update - or if some lucky gamer confirms this lineup based on PES 2008's upcoming demo release. For now, here's the list (translated by the Winning Eleven blog):

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Israel

The complete list is available in the Full Article

If you've ever wanted to play international hoops in a video game but couldn't find one that will offer such a thing, then worry no more. NBA Live 08 (also coming to the Xbox 360, Wii and PC) just sealed a licensing deal with world basketball governing body FIBA and international teams will be included in the mix.

The Play Now mode allows you to pit the world's best teams against any ballclub in the NBA, while the FIBA mode will have you battling it out in an 8-team tournament to determine which national squad has the right to be called world champions. This means you can take it to the rack using Manu Ginobili while Spurs teammate Tim Duncan tries to stop you. Can T-Mac shoot fadeaways over Yao Ming? We'll find out soon.

2006 World Championship winners Spain led by Memphis Grizzlies star Pau Gasal will be there as well as runners up Greece and USA, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.

The announcement adds to the already stellar list of new features such as the Go-To basketball gameplay, deep customization and management. Combine that with the trademark quality graphics and sound and the NBA Live dynasty just might go on well into the new age of digital sports.

  

Atari announced today a video game adaptation of the live action film Asterix at the Olympic Games. The new game will be called by the same name and it will be available Winter 2007 on, PlayStation 2 (PS2), Nintendo consoles Wii and DS as well as Games for Windows platforms.

Staying true to the premise of the film, the game Asterix at the Olympic Games follows the story of Asterix, Obelix and the faithful Dogmatix as they travel to Greece in aid of their lovesick friend Alafolix. Their journey takes them to Greece during the Olympic Games and next thing they knew, they are already pitted against Roman Empire's mighty athletes.

All three characters are going to be playable, There will be a mini game mode where players will choose one character and compete in Olympic challenges. The two-player mode, on the other hand, allows friends go head to head in a series of hilarious contests.

Asterix at the Olympic Games is being developed by Etranges Libellules in close collaboration with Asterix licensee Les Editions Albert Rene and with film production company La Petite Reine.

 

Set in Greece, Theseis features the exploits of Andronicos and Pheve as they try to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of their stepfather. The game combines the realms of the natural and supernatural as brother and sister join forces to put to rest the struggle between good and evil that his disappearance brings about.

We recently had the chance to chat with Track 7's Demetris Papadopoulos, product manager for Theseis, about their upcoming game. In the interview, we were given a peek as to what to expect for the PC version, as well as some hints as to what gamers might see in the future 360 version. More importantly, he gave us a glimpse of Greece, past and present, and that's something many adventurers, perhaps even Andronicos and Pheve's father, would have been willing to give their lives for.

   

The Full Interview after the jump!

And so we have yet another 'manager' sports game for the PC, icehole's World Basketball Manager 2007. We already have Football Manager, but if you weren't quite satisfied because basketball is more your thing, then you're in luck...or not.

See icehole has already released WBM and are now looking for publishers to sign their game. BHV has agreed to publish the game in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and MLS will take care of publishing duties in Greece and Cyprus. So if you don't live in any of the said areas, you might wanna ring up known publishers to convince them to publish the game in your region.

In addition to 64 national and international tournaments, 655 teams, 10,000 basketball players and 1,000 managers, here are some more features you can look forward to in WBM:

• New training system. The managers can now train their players in more detail with 106 different training programs.
• Improved computer controlled managers’ training A.I. Computer managers now pay more attention in squad rotation and keep their players in good condition for matches.
• Improved Free Agent players’ pricing algorithm. Free Agents will drop their price in order to get a job instead of staying for ever unemployed.
• Improved players’ creation and evolution in order to produce more “great” players. The basketball world gives birth to greater talents than before.
• Update tournaments to 2006 - 07 season formats.
• Faster code that cuts down the waiting period between match days.
• More realistic team targets and budgets.
• U.S.A. draft as a special event that will take place at the beginning of every season.

    

And to further give you a sneak peek at how the game plays out, we decided to include the game's demo as well. So if you're not doing anything and have time to spare, why don't you download the demo and see if it sits well with you, eh?

Download: [World Basketball Manager 2007 Demo]

Updates about Track 7's adventure game Theseis (PC, Xbox 360) aren't really trickling down like raindrops on a cloudy and rainy day, so when we found out that Adventure Advocate had a sit-down with the Track 7 folks, we pounced on the chance to dish out what's up with the game straight from the devs themselves.

As always, the interview was laden with personal stuff, so with that, we'll be focusing more on the tidbits about Theseis. The devs who talked with Adventure Advocate were Dimitris Papadopoulos - Advertising Manager of Theseis, worldwide; Nektarios Xionis - Concept Artist / Script Writer; Kostas Giatilis – Animator / Script Writer; Michael Georgopoulos - Programmer; and Giannis Tsiombikas - Programmer.

When asked how far into the game have they finished and what are the problems they encountered during development, they said that after two years of work, they are now in the final stage of the game's completion. They also exposed that they have no problems with manpower but there has been a change in the game's story which led to a minor delay.

Aside from that, they also clarified that the game won't be in Greek. The Track 7 devs said that "what you have seen in the trailer was in ancient Greek and it was used to show the past and the true nature of Theseis. Since the game takes place in modern Greece, we will see shops, locations as Monastiraki, and names that will be in Greek. Moreover, we will have Greek subtitles. There is also the possibility of localization in some other languages."

More of the interview and screens after the jump!

The European Commission is set to introduce a list of common sanctions against retailers that sell violent video games to minors. Perhaps, what's good about this is that the Commission has decided to leave it to member states to identify which games will be considered "violent."

EUobserver reports that the EU justice and security commissioner, Franco Frattini, has told journalists last January 10 that he would file new and stricter rules governing the sale of video games to children below 16 before this year's summer break.

Reuters informs that Frattini had this to say: "I do want to harmonize rules punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity." Frattini does however stresses that the EU executive would abstain from suggesting which kind of material should be banned. He adds: "We cannot judge from Brussels which videogames should be prohibited. "

It can be recalled that last December, Frattini suggested that the Brussels' package could include new age restrictions on certain games as well as stronger, more effective, parental advisory warnings. The commissioner is confident with the proposal, especially since he has so far received support from eight EU countries – Germany, Britain, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Finland, France and Spain.

It has to be noted that this initiative comes after last November's incident in Germany, where Sebastian Bosse injured eleven students at his school before killing himself, and that retailers in most EU countries are not legally obliged to restrict the sale of adult classified products.

Why should we bother to know about these things? Because some people might get some bright ideas.

Reprobate - One who is predestined to damnation. In Theology, one who is rejected by God and without hope of salvation. Pretty damn harsh for most, but for Greek publishing and distribution company hell-tech, something that would generate some moolahs.

hell-tech has recently secured the publishing rights to the PC-based adventure game Reprobates. The game will be released in the first quarter of 2007 in Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, FYROM, South Africa, and Turkey. It is a third person point and click adventure game and will be running on the AGDS III.

We ourselves are a bit in the dark about this game, we actually have no idea if it was released in the U.S and other countries. But from the name of the game itself, truly this title is one intriguing PC game.

Greece is one of those places steeped in the myths that we have grown to either love or trivialize as time passes. Mythically themed games such as God of War play host to the action we imagine would have happened in an epic struggle between man and the mystical, but it's not often that we see a game that looks at Greek mythology not as a template on which to construct a game reality, but as an active part of the storyline itself.

Track 7's Theseis aspires to disprove that notion, by offering the tale of a man who's forced to accept that the myths are real.

Andronicos Kalogirou has spent his life debunking the paranormal through investigations, but when his sister Pheve tells them of their father's death, the siblings are forced to realize that the myths of Greece were based on truth, and that a conspiracy threatens to silence their knowledge of it. Worse still is that the conspiracy is only one entity they must face, because the myths are real, and the myths of the past want to return to the living world to wreak havoc on it once again.

Yes folks, the game is both filled with action and puzzle mechanics to keep conspiracy buffs and adventure gamer fans interested. Track 7 is still developing the game, but if the screenshots and theme are to believed, we're looking at a pretty interesting storyline about the mythic past and skeptical future colliding. Sounds like fun to me. While we're waiting for more details on the game, feel free to enjoy the screens and artwork their site has already put up.

  

For more Theseis, click on"Full Article."