There's been a flurry of news regarding next generation games this week. Local developer Epic Games, maker of "Gears of War," is bringing "Unreal Tournament III" (previously "UnrealTournament 2007") to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Midway Games will publish the game later this year. I had a chance to play it in Las Vegas recently and the first-person shooter is shaping up to be another masterpiece for the studio.

While Sony mulls over price cuts for PlayStation 3--partly as a result of PS3 hardware sitting on store shelves--the console will get a great exclusive game this Christmas. Electronic Arts will publish Pandemic/Bioware's wargame, "Mercenaries 2," for PS3. The original game was published by LucasArts for PS2 and Xbox and was a hit. The sequel brings next gen technology to the near-future landscape and allows players to wreak even more virtual havoc in global hot spots.

Xbox 360 owners can get some free Video Marketplace content through Monday. Two new TV shows, "Pros vs. Joes" and "The Sarah Silverman Project" are available for free download. Those who don't mind paying for TV shows can get the first two seasons of "E.R." through the service. Also new for rental is "The Hunt for Red October."

And PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will get a new football game this year. 2K Sports, makers of the best-selling "NFL 2K" franchise, will release "All-Pro Football 2K8" this summer for both consoles. That will give "Madden NFL 08," the best-selling game of 2006, some competition just as the NFL season gets into gear. Few details of the new game, which will not have the NFL license, have been revealed. This will be the second non-NFL game to compete with EA since it signed the exclusive NFL license. Sony developed, but ultimately canceled, the PS2 game "Road to Sunday." Midway Games had success with its "Blitz: The League" for current and next gen systems.