Microsoft sends word that Xbox Live Arcade will see Carcassonne - a classic, well-known European board game - this Wednesday. The game has players building up their medieval empire, starting with an empty landscape and a single square tile. Up to four players can take turns selecting from 72 tiles displaying various features of a city including roads, the walls of a castle or fields, placing them to gain points.

Carcassonne features various AI settings and difficulty levels, support for the Xbox Live Vision camera, step-by-step tutorial, skill-based matchmaking, 200 Gamerscore and 12 Achievements. It will cost 800 Microsoft Points once released this Wednesday.

505 Games has announced Fashion Designer: Style Icon for DS, an upcoming “lifestyle simulator” that allows fledgling fashionistas take their stab at conquering the world of fashion… using the DS stylus, no less.

Players take the role of a young designer eager to dominate the catwalk and follows their career from fashion training school, through graduation and beyond. After graduating, players can start a workshop, accept private design contracts, supply small boutiques and set up mail order companies. Design the best fashion creations and players can even supply outfits to the stars and VIP clients.

The comprehensive simulation gameplay is mission based and offers players the chance to present their creations in catalogues and movie posters, and even gives designers the freedom to select which supermodels, hairstyles and creations will strut their stuff on the catwalk. Player performance is rated according to factors including tailoring time, design choices and accuracy. All must be heeded if players are to become the world’s most popular fashion designer!

In addition to the extensive Career mode, it is also possible to design freestyle outfits whenever inspiration strikes in Free mode and to challenge friends to design-offs in wireless multiplayer games. Unlockable patterns, fabrics, accessories and supermodels also feature as rewards for exceptional designers.

The game is scheduled for a November release.

Nobilis today announced Napoleon’s Campaigns, which, as the title suggests, is a historical wargame. Apparently, it features an “unique” concept and comes from the original designer of Europa Universalis, Pax Romana and other similar titles.

No other information was released, except for the release date: Q4 2007.

A weekly on-demand Internet TV broadcast dedicated to the EVE Online universe has been launched. Dubbed EVE TV, the show will report the MMORPG’s virtual society, as well as offer news, in-game skirmishes, market trends, exclusive interviews and more.

Sega has announced an upcoming official Armored Core 4 tournament that will be hosted by GameSpy Arena. The competition will begin soon and lots of prizes are on offer, including a new Xbox 360 Elite system, HD-DVD player for the console, a copy of Armored Core 4 for Xbox 360, a Logitech Harmony Remote, and a Logitech X-540 speaker system for the Grand Prize winner.

Oddly named publisher Gamecock Media sent out word that it will be bringing Wideload Games‘ Hail to the Chimp to PS3 and Xbox 360 in Spring 2008. The game is described as such:

Hail to the Chimp begins after the Lion is deposed as King following a series of embarrassing scandals. The rest of the animals decide it’s time to give democracy a try and hold an election for the next King giving even the lowliest of animals (the Clams) a say in things. The election quickly becomes a chaotic multiplayer free-for-all, with each candidate using a combination of brute force and dirty tricks to turn out the Clam vote. Ten animals will compete to become the next King. During the game, all ten candidates will need to form, and break, alliances with their rivals to gain the upper hand. Multiple game types and hazard-filled arenas keep the action flowing nonstop as the shifting loyalties, truces and vendettas build up to epic proportions.

“No one has attempted to bring an over-the-top party game like Hail to the Chimp to next-gen consoles, much less one with biting political satire,” said Rick Stults, Console Chief for Gamecock Media Group. “Keeping with its reputation, Wideload is going to give gamers something truly original.”

Wideload is known for its work on Stubbs the Zombie, which was critically well-received.

This week sees the release of three more classic games on the Wii Shop Channel. The new additions are F-Zero X (N64), Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (SNES) and China Warrior (TurboGrafx16).

F-Zero X (Nintendo 64, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Choose from 30 different hover-car racers, including updated versions of the Blue Falcon and other vehicles from the original F-Zero, and get ready to play one of the fastest racers ever. You’ll speed to the finish line on tracks that twist and turn through the air, doing your best to avoid the other 29 cars on the track. If you’re in a competitive mood, try to win a Grand Prix Cup, get the fastest lap time in a Time Trial or destroy the competition in a Death Race. You can also challenge three friends in the Versus mode. With five separate play modes, hidden vehicles and courses, and an excellent soundtrack, F-Zero X still represents one of the best racing titles to date.

Street Fighter II’ Turbo: Hyper Fighting (Super NES, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen -Violence, 800 Wii Points): Street Fighter II defined gaming in the 1990s by revolutionizing the fighting-game genre. Regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, Street Fighter II’ Turbo: Hyper Fighting was the third and final release in the original series. Featuring the eight original World Warriors (including Ryu, Chun Li and Guile) along with playable boss characters (Balrog, Sagat and M. Bison), this classic title offered enhanced playing speed and improved character balancing.

China Warrior (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older - Violence, 600 Wii Points): China Warrior is a side-scrolling action game that was released around the same time as the TurboGrafx16 in Japan. It’s up to the kung fu master Wang to defeat the Dark Emperor, who stands atop the kung fu world in China. Punch, kick and jump-kick enemies along the path that lies between you and the three bosses of each stage. Skillfully fight your way through all four stages, and be sure not to miss recovery items while dodging enemy attacks. China Warrior boasts character size and detail that rivaled all other games at the time of its release. Exciting one-on-one fights against the game’s realistic bosses will make you feel like you’re in the middle of a kung fu movie.

All games will go live at 9 am.

Ever heard of a game studio called Chemistry? Well, now you can say that you have. Kuju Sheffield today announced that it has renamed itself to Chemistry - yes, that subject you hate so much - to make its studios more autonomous to support “greater creativity, allow greater specialist focus and to enable faster growth across the group.” It is also dedicating itself to creating games based on Unreal Engine 3.

Simeon Pashley, Studio Head, explained, “Chemistry is about combining known elements to cause a reaction and make something that didn’t exist before. That’s what we do: take a proven engine and add our staff’s creativity and talent in order to create something new and exciting.”

Chemistry has recently moved to new premises in central Sheffield as part of its aggressive strategy to expand. Pashley continued, “We’ve decided to specialise in Unreal Engine as it’s clearly an awesome next-gen toolset that frees our staff to focus on bringing their creative talents to bear without worrying about the low-level nuts and bolts. It’s also perfect for our future plans as it allows us to look forward without worrying about technology stability.”

The studio is currently working on To End All Wars on PS3 and Xbox for release sometime next year. It is also working on another unannounced title.

Sierra has announced that the Special Edition for World in Conflict will include limited edition extras, including an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall. Other extras include a bonus DVD from The History Channel, behind-the-scenes videos and special packaging.

Those who pre-order will also be treated to additional bonuses.

Shacknews carries confirmation from a SCEA representative that v3.50 firmware for the PSP unlocks the portable’s CPU clock speed. Developers previously could only use 266MHz of the CPU whereas its full speed lied at 333MHz. However, only new games programmed specifically to make use of the unlocked CPU will be able to use its full power.

The PSP has long been modded by hackers, who had previously unlocked the CPU, letting some games run at much higher speeds, allowing for faster framerates and loading times.

Rising Star Games announced a co-publishing agreement with Hudson Soft that will see the European publisher release the latter’s titles across PSP, DS and Wii between September 2007 and March 2008.

“This is a significant partnership for Rising Star Games and a further endorsement that the values and business plan of the company are spot on; we are delighted,” commented Mr Martin Defries, Managing Director & C.O.O. Rising Star Games. “The line up from Hudson is fantastic and we are honoured to be part of the reintroduction of Hudson to Europe along with the games it brings.”

“We are very happy to have the opportunity to work with Rising Star Games,” commented Mrs. Hiromi Tomisawa, Head of Europe Business, Global Business Division, Hudson Soft Co. Ltd. “They are an experienced hand at managing the very best in Japanese games for release in Europe and have a dynamism that matches our goal to return the Hudson brand to Europe once again. We have an exciting multiformat line up of titles and look forward to this partnership building.”

Mercury Games and Ertain BV have announced a strategic alliance that brings over 10 Japanese titles to Europe and US. The deal promotes Ertain’s Zen series of DS games, consisting of painting, puzzle and relaxing fish simulation titles, all for release later this year.

The agreement signals the Japanese publisher’s intent on taking the Western market seriously and developing a long term strategy of expansion. This alliance also bolsters Mercury Games’ position as a growing publisher with a great pipeline of innovative DS games.

More information on the Zen series will be announced soon.

Marking the first numbered title in the franchise in a decade, Konami announced Contra 4 for the DS. The game marks the series’ 20th anniversary, and takes place two years after the events of Contra III, having players confronted by the Black Viper.

Expectedly, the game will make use of the portable’s dual-screen, having action spanning both screens of the DS. The screens will be used to allow for massive boss battles as players try to seek and destroy the weak points of sky-high enemies. Additionally, the game introduces a grappling hook accessory, letting players grab onto elements directly above them.

Contra 4 is being developed by WayForward Technologies and is planned for release sometime later this year.

D3Publisher has announced Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, a third-person action-adventure game where players unleash the power of a dragon, as well as use swords and other weapons. Exclusive to the Wii, the game will make use of the console’s unique controllers to let players play with both arms simultaneously to emulate the dragon’s arms, wings, tail, fire and more. It will feature 20 unique environments in 6 worlds.

“Dragon Blade is one the few hack ‘n slash games that will be available on the Wii this fall and the development team, Land Ho, has done a great job to fully utilize the Wii controls so players will experience parallel movement between themselves and the game avatar like never before,” said Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and chief operations officer, D3PA. “With its arcade style pick-up and play gameplay, we expect Dragon Blade to appeal to gamers of all ages.”

Dragon Blade features an original story by Richard A. Knaak, known for his work on DragonLance, as well as Warcraft, Diablo and the Age of Conan. The game is set for release this Fall.

The world premiere second trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV will be released exclusively on Yahoo. To be released on June 28, the trailer will offer a peek at the highly anticipated game.

Yahoo will additionally offer exclusive GTA 4 content all week till the trailer.