Going educational is Activision, as they announced The History Channel’s Civil War, a first-person action game from Cauldron that focuses on the American Civil War, putting players through famous battles such as Bull Run and Antietam. More details:

• America’s Most Historic Battles - Twelve of the most famous battles in the Nation’s history including Gettysburg, Bull Run and Antietam. Experience famous locations such as Little Round Top and Lookout Mountain and diverse landscapes including train yards, saw mills, military forts, trenches, towns and large open battlefields.

• Intense Hand-to-Hand Fighting - Experience the intense chaos of the Civil War including close quarters and melee fighting using bayonets, sabers, the butt of your gun and even your fists in the midst of raging battles.

• Wide Variety of Battlefield Combat - Enlist realistic battle strategies including line fighting, artillery barrages, urban assaults, sniping, stealth and sabotage. Set charges, place explosives, sabotage enemy telegraph lines, destroy buildings, enemy fortifications and more to complete mission objectives.

• Authentic Weaponry of the Civil War - Authentic Civil War weapons transport gamers to the battlefields armed with repeating rifles, multiple types of grenades, exploding artillery, gatling guns, revolvers, bayonets, muskets, sabers and more!

• Awesome Cinematic War Experience - Battles come to life amidst exploding artillery, whistling bullets, falling comrades and much more!

• Incredible realism and historical accuracy — Battlefield recreations are based on topographical maps and photographs from the actual battlegrounds. Each level begins with a documentary video describing the historic moments in each battle, movements of armies, local fights, historical photos and battle statistics.

A new update on America’s Army website has announced plans for Overmatch, a new v2.7.0 of the game which is being described as the “biggest release ever” for the freeware military shooter.

Due for release sometime this Summer, the update will add a new mode allowing co-operative multiplayer play against AI opponents and asymmetric combat with mismatched numbers of enemies. Further details, including information on the AI, can be found on the game’s website.

There is word on the Auto Assault website of a merger between the North American and European servers. Further details of the merger, which occurs on July 13, can be found on the game’s official European forums. Apparently, the union will result in a single server located in North America and “a much more satisfying and diverse gameplay experience” due to increased server population.

Sony has had a checkered past in advertising its PlayStation consoles: they ran an ad in Italy showing a man wearing a crown of thorns with PlayStation symbols on it; and then they ran ads throughout London with “naughty” connotations. What did they do this time? See for yourself:

The above ad was run in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and advertises the upcoming launch of the white PSP in the country. It has caused uproars throughout the Internet, with people taking both sides of the debate: racist, or not. Surprisingly, those who are debating about the so-called “racist” image are from North America where the ad was not run. It is yet to be reported whether any Dutch people were offended by the ads.

Those who were upset by the image in question have not seen the other photographs in the series which clearly shows the contrast between black and white, with the final one showing the black woman in a dominating manner.

Sony took the time to respond to these allegations, stating that “all of the 100 or so images created for the campaign have been designed to show this contrast in colours of the PSPs , and have no other message or purpose.”

I’m not even going to bother taking a side in this, but I’d like to point out something interesting. Art connoisseurs may have noticed the odd pose of the white woman in the first photograph (look at her left hand). I have no idea whether this was intended or not, but it is an analogous comparison to one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous (and notorious) works: Madonna of the Rocks. See if you can spot the reference.

On a related note, I found the flag of Amsterdam to be quite interesting.

Yes, the DS Lite street date has been broken! Originally intended for release on June 11, many people have reportedly bought the redesigned handheld from Walmart, Target and Sears among others.

An enterprising gamer has set up this Frappr page, bringing together people who have luckily purchased the device and helping others get hold of one.

In a very short announcement, Nintendo disclosed that it plans to release the Wii during Q4 2006 (October to December) and that its retail price will not exceed $250 in America, or ¥25,000 in Japan. The company also announced that it plans on shipping 6 million units worldwide between its launch this year to the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007.

Nintendo also expects to sell 17 million Wii games during this period. Exact launch dates and details on the launch lineup and Virtual Console will be announced soon.

Even though Nintendo itself hasn’t announced the launch lineup, the following list of probable launch titles have been hovering around the web. Take a look:

• Blitz: The League
  
• Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
  
• Disney/Pixar’s Cars
  
• Elebits
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
  
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
  
• Madden NFL 2007
  
• Metal Slug Anthology
  
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
  
• Red Steel
  
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
  
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
  
• Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
  
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
  
• Wii Sports