Sega has released two brief gameplay movies from Monolith's Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3, X360), showing a finishing move and an environment kill. We've combined the two clips in the stream below.

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Sega has released a trailer for The House Of The Dead 2&3 Return, showing gameplay footage from the Wii-exclusive compilation of the classic arcade shooters. The game is expected this spring.

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Developer Secret Level has released the first screenshots of Golden Axe: Beast Rider, depicting heroine Tyris Flare as she mounts beasts and wields a sword. Based on the Sega arcade games of old, the action-RPG is due out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this summer.

Sega has released a new batch of screenshots from every platform that they'll be releasing SEGA Superstars Tennis on, which would be PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS.

The shots feature many Sega characters making an appearance in the game, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails and Dr. Robotnik, Amigo, NiGHTS, and Ulala. SEGA Superstars Tennis is set for a March release.

Sega today announced that the Xbox 360 version of Petroglyph's sci-fi real-time strategy game Universe at War: Earth Assault will be released this March. To go along with that news, the company sent out a new batch of screenshots. The PC version of Universe at War: Earth Assault was released back in December, and was met with lukewarm reception. When the Xbox 360 version hits, players will be able to take on PC gamers thanks to cross-platform play.

The Sega Master System is the next console to be represented in the Wii's Virtual Console lineup beginning in February, IT Media reports.

The first two Master System titles to make the leap are Sega's Fantasy Zone and Fist of the North Star, both released in North America for the Master System in 1986. Fist of the North Star was originally localized under the name Black Belt.

Both titles will be made available on the Japanese Virtual Console in February for 500 yen a piece, with overseas releases likely to follow soon thereafter.

Rez HD will be downloadable from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace next Wednesday, January 30, reports 1UP. The Q Entertainment-developed update of the cult-classic musical shooter Rez (PS2, DC) was previously confirmed to carry a price tag of 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Rez creator and Q Entertainment founder Tetsuya Mizuguchi was heavily involved in the update, which adds high-definition visuals and 5.1 surround sound to the mix. The original PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast versions of the game were developed by United Game Artists, a now-defunct internal Sega studio.

Monolith's first-person crime-solving hobo lifestyle simulator Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3, X360) will hit stores on March 11, publisher Sega has announced. Along with the date, Sega sent over the first details of the game's four multiplayer modes, eight MP screenshots and some video footage.

Aside from the expected deathmatch and team deathmatch modes, the game's 8-person online multiplayer also features Bum Rush, in which players must survive the assaults of the other team for three minutes, and Crime Scene, which has one team investigating a crime scene with forensic tools and the other team trying to interfere with their apt detective work.

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Publisher Sega just sent along several new screenshots of Gas Powered Games' upcoming sci-fi RPG Space Siege (PC).

You'll be able to siege space for yourself later this year, but in the meantime, check out Nick Breckon's hands-on impressions for more information.

New numbers released by the NPD Group reveal that the Xbox 360 version of Infinity Ward's intense shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare edged out the competition this holiday season, barely beating Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy to become the top selling game in December.

For those interested in how the gift-giving spirit factored into this year's record sales for the industry, the top ten console games for December 2007 follow, in order of units sold:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward, Activision, X360) - 1.47 million
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Nintendo, Wii) - 1.40 million
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, PS2) - 1.25 million
4. Wii Play with Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 1.08 million
5. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft, X360) - 893,000
6. Halo 3 (Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, X360) - 742,700
7. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo, NDS) - 659,500
8. Madden NFL 08 (EA Sports, Electronic Arts, PS2) - 655,200
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Neversoft, Activision, X360) - 624,600
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega Japan, Sega, Wii) - 613,000

Sega today released a few more screenshots for the Secret Level-developed Iron Man game, a tie-in product with the upcoming Robert Downey Jr. movie.

You'll have to wait a while to judge whether this one has a heart, or is all hollow. The game will be released in the second quarter of this year, presumably alongside the movie.

A patch for the Xbox 360 version of Sega-AM2's Virtua Fighter 5 is now available, Sega of America has announced. Players will be prompted to download the patch when they boot the game while signed into Xbox Live.

The company also noted that it is unable to update the PlayStation 3 edition of the game, which released months before the Xbox 360 version, with online multiplayer. Sega explained that, "the specifications for [PS3] online title updates were not yet finalized [at the time of VF5's release] and we were unable to include it in the title."

According to Sega, today's patch adds "many of the features that we hoped to have in the original release [of the Xbox 360 version]," including the ability to save replays of online matches, rematches for players who aren't Xbox Live friends, and various bug fixes. For more information, scope out the full change log.

The company also issued a comprehensive FAQ--available here-- that explained the presence of premium downloadable content on the Xbox 360 game disc as the "only possible delivery mechanism that could be implemented within... Read more

The Xbox Live Arcade remake of the cult classic on-rails shooter Rez will hit "in a few weeks" and sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), developer Q Entertainment has confirmed.

Originally developed by now-defunct internal Sega studio United Game Artists, the update, which is being overseen by Rez creator and Q Entertainment founder Tetsuya Mizuguchi, enhances the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast original with high-resolution assets and 5.1 sound.

Though the downloadable title will not support the USB Trance Vibrator that accompanied the PS2 release--supposedly meant to enhance the game's bass-heavy soundtrack for those unable to crank their subs--Joystiq reports that gamers will be able to utilize up to three Xbox 360 controllers to provide additional vibration feedback.

After two buyouts in 2005 and one in 2006, Sega slowed down its previously nonexistent acquisition activity. But that may change soon, as Sega Europe exec Mike Hayes told MCV the company is prepared to expand, both in terms of staffing and acquiring new studios.

"Like most other publishers we are always on the look-out for new signings--product or company," Hayes said. Sega has ramped up its internal hiring in recent years--a trend Hayes says will continue.

"We have taken staff on at a rapid rate simply because we have been building our infrastructure," he told MCV. "For the most part this 'establishment' strategy is complete. However we are still looking for several key staff to continue our growth."

The company's last acquisition was the 2006 buyout of London-based developer Sports Interactive, known for its Football Manager series of games.

Going by this week's additions to the Wii's Virtual Console, Nintendo wants gamers to celebrate the holiday spirit by slaughtering robots, monsters, and aliens.

New to the online storefront today are NCS' Super NES side-scroller Cybernator, Sega's Genesis shooter Alien Storm, and Monster Lair for TurboGrafx-CD, Westone's third title in the side-scrolling action-RPG series Wonder Boy.

All three titles are priced at 800 Wii Points ($8).

Following this morning's announcement of a Wii raincheck program, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime stated the company has no plans for Wii Virtual Console titles with online multiplayer.

The Virtual Console section of the online Wii Shop Channel provides Wii owners with a selection of downloadable classic retro games from a number of long-dead systems, including the NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, and more. New titles are uploaded to the store each week.

Though most titles released on the service are exact replicas of the originals, some include new features and new functionality. For example, this week's VC release of HAL Laboratory's Pokemon Snap (N64) added the capability for players to save their in-game photographs to the Wii Message Board and send them to other Wii owners via online messaging.

Sega has released the first footage from Iron Man, which shows the sometimes-alcoholic superhero throwing an airborne jet.

Developed by Secret Level and A2M, Iron Man is slated to arrive in 2008 alongside the highly-anticipated movie, which stars the sometimes-substance-abusing Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and his real-world alter-ego Tony Stark.

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Though Sega of Japan recently filed an updated trademark for the term "Dreamcast," the company has "no plans to get back into the console business," Sega of America PR director Charlie Scibetta told GameDaily BIZ.

News of the update caused some to speculate that Sega was contemplating a return to the hardware industry, especially since the new filing added phrases such as "flash memory cards" over the original Dreamcast trademark.

Others believe the company was simply protecting the brand name of its last console, especially as the emulation of former Dreamcast titles, perhaps via digital download, is possible on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, or another unreleased dedicated platform.

"We're very happy being a platform agnostic company and have moved up the ranks the past three years from #11, to #9, and now stand at #6 in terms of our market share by units among third-party publishers," stated Scibetta. "We like our current strategy and have no plans to change in the middle of this outstanding growth."

A port of Sega's Phantasy Star Universe (PC, PS2, X360), the latest installment in the Phantasy Star series, will be coming to Sony's PSP. Titled Phantasy Star Portable, the game was revealed by Sega in this week's issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, as translated by 1up.

The game will include the content from Phantasy Star Universe, including the Ambition of the Illuminus expansion pack, and original content as well. It will support 4-player local multiplayer, though online infrastructure play was not announced.

The project is being handled by Tales of the World (PSP) developer Alfa System. The title should arrive in Japan in 2008, with no North American release date given.

Sega of Japan has filed an updated trademark for the term "Dreamcast" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, leading to speculation that the third-party publisher may be plotting a return to the hardware market.

Another popular theory is that the updated trademark represents Sega's protection of the brand, especially as the emulation of former Dreamcast titles, perhaps via digital download, is possible on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, or another unreleased dedicated platform.

The Dreamcast was Sega's last venture into the realm of hardware. It launched on 9/9/99 in North America and was axed less than two years later as Sega announced it would be focusing on publishing software across multiple platforms.

It has long been rumored that the company would return to hardware manufacture once it built up enough capital to do so. Sega fans somewhat jokingly point out that 9/9/09 would be a fitting launch date for a new Sega platform.