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Nintendo has remained quiet about whether it will fix compatibility problems with third-party software Freeloader, after yesterday's Wii firmware update rendered it unusable.

Take-Two's All-Pro Football 2K8 has landed OJ Simpson back in court.

Technically minded, eagle eyed mutant creatures from the land of blogging have spotted that Apple's latest revision of iMac hardware introduces a pair of graphics cards capable of supporting DirectX 10.

Peter Molyneux has admitted to GamesIndustry.biz that he feels there are "no excuses" for Lionhead not to make a "great game" any more, and that while they've come close in the past, they've never quite managed it - yet.

Hideo Kojima will be on-hand to demo Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to attendees at Games Convention later this month.

Variety. It's the spice of life, or so someone once said. I think it was Jamie Oliver. When you see a game based on an animated kid's movie, your immediate assumption tends to be that it's a platform game of dubious innovation and passable gameplay. And that's why Surf's Up gets off to a good start. Based on this week's summer holiday movie of choice (plot: penguins surf!) this is a dedicated sports game with nary a match-the-buttons mini game or conveyor-belt-filled-factory in sight. It's simply a surfing game aimed at the under 10s, rather than the usual Tony Hawk crowd.

Valve and id Software have added DOSBox GPL (General Public Licence) documentation to the Steam games that use it to run on modern operating systems after users reported its absence from the original releases.

Codemasters Online Gaming has announced it will be dishing out action MMO Fury across Europe in October.

Xenogears was Square's other RPG; development commenced alongside that of its sibling, Final Fantasy VII, but it rolled out a year later to a rather more muted commercial response - so muted, in fact, that we never saw the game here in Europe. In some ways, that's understandable. Xenogears was heavy going, with religious imagery and references which saw it condemned as blasphemous in some quarters, and frequent references to the works of Nietzsche, Freud and Jung. It got even tougher on the second disc of the game, which contained an unhealthy and often criticised mass of cutscenes, and somewhat restricted gameplay.

Okay, hands up admission - Thunder Force V wasn't as good as Einhander, and it certainly wasn't as good as Treasure's utterly fantastic Radiant Silvergun, whose rave reviews somewhat overshadowed its release. However, the last instalment in the venerable Thunder Force series was still bloody good; and thanks to the decision to stick with 2D backgrounds for much of the game (while keeping foreground objects in 3D), it still looks damn pretty even now.

The success of Final Fantasy VII fuelled Square's development efforts on the PlayStation, and 1998's Parasite Eve was viewed at the time as a massive step forward for the gameplay of the company's titles. Aside from the modern-day setting, which in itself was a departure for the company, the game was also an RPG with no separate battle screen - all battles took place in the main environments, a twist to the RPG mechanic which Square hadn't used since Chrono Trigger on the SNES.

The Oddworld games occupy a rather curious part of the gaming spectrum. Their humour and relatively straightforward play mechanics made them highly prized by the casual gaming sector which was really only winking into existence in the late nineties, while those same play mechanics caused a lot of more hardcore gamers to turn their noses up at what was on offer. Their loss; Oddworld was great, and has stood the test of time remarkably well.

As crazy Japanese-English names go, "Elemental Gearbolt" is right up there with Treasure's awesomely-named "Radiant Silvergun", to our minds. More than just a pretty name, though - it's also by far the most interesting and most gloriously presented lightgun game we've ever played. Unfortunately, for all the wonderful craft on display here, it had the unfortunate gall to combine anime cutscenes before anime was cool, a fantasy story before Peter Jackson filmed a short little ditty about hobbits, and gameplay that required a peripheral. Cue instant commercial oblivion.

The mid to late nineties were a time when Square - flushed from its newfound international success - played away from home quite a bit. Sometimes, its forays outside the RPG genre didn't work quite so well; the somewhat risible beat 'em up Ehrgeiz being a good example. However, as we saw with Bushido Blade, there were moments when Square demonstrated true genius in its non-RPG titles. Einhander was, unquestionably, one of those moments.

Okay, it was no Zelda - but with the world still faced with holding its collective breath for Ocarina of Time for another six months, Matrix Software's incredibly charming and well-designed action RPG did rather more than just fill a gap. Pulling inspiration from Sega's Landstalker as well as Nintendo's Zelda, Alundra mixed solid storytelling, lovely graphics and fantastic puzzles to make for a game which deserves far more recognition in the action RPG annals than it actually gets.

This is a rare entry for this list - a 3D action title. While the PlayStation had plenty of those, few of them have stood the test of time - or held their own against the march of technology. However, Colony Wars was no ordinary 3D action title. In fact, even ten years on, it still stands out as one of the best space shooters we've ever played on a console, and a startling reminder of just how damned talented the boys and girls at Psygnosis' studios in Liverpool (by 1997, entirely owned by Sony) really were.

When the PlayStation appeared, publishers couldn't kill off 2D gaming fast enough - much to the chagrin of gamers who had come to appreciate the incredible artistry of some of the finest 2D titles. There's no point re-igniting a dead, old argument - 2D and 3D now live side by side relatively happily, and there's no doubt that 3D brought gaming to a whole new level and a whole new audience. However, with the benefit of hindsight, there's not

Why? Because while everyone else was fumbling with warping textures and jagged-edged polygons, the regal and imposing Alucard was hopping his way through a lusciously designed gothic monstrosity filled with the kind of imaginative creatures which 3D art wouldn't match for over half a decade. Because Metroid may have married platform gaming to exploration and character upgrading, but Symphony of the Night perfected it. Because the music was amazing. Because Alucard simultaneously had the worst voice acting, but the sexiest voice, of almost any videogame character.

This is platform gaming infused with everything that's good about RPGs, and devoid of the leaps of faith and weak design decisions which have plagued many other platformers. You can, of course, download it from Xbox Live Arcade right now - which is fantastic. Now where's our PlayStation Network download, so we can finally play this on the PSP?

Puzzle Quest, Space Giraffe and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix are among the summer releases Xbox Live Arcade fans can expect to be playing before the month is out.

Comedy Central has revealed that the tenth series of South Park will go on sale featuring a 14-day trial for World of Warcraft.

Nintendo has rolled out a new firmware update for the Wii, which is available to download and install right now. Just select Wii System Update from the System Settings, like always.

Another week, another blast from the past on Xbox Live Arcade - this time in the sheep of mutton-bashing sports-'em-up Track & Field from Konami [what? - Ed].

id Software has set up a second development team - and its first project is likely to raise some eyebrows.

Quake Zero has been billed as a free, browser-based game of Quake 3 Arena supported by advertising revenue, but those of you worried that it'll be written in Java or something can rest easy - id's Steve Nix tells us it just uses the browser to get going.

The calendar wheel turns and three more Virtual Console titles are offered to those of you in the US, a bit like a sacrificial present to an ancient God, except in no way whatsoever.

Sony America marketing boss John Koller has said PlayStation Home will be heading to the PSP.

Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer this morning that internal testing for PS3 Home has begun.

With everyone talking about PlayStation 3 Home this week, it's interesting to learn that the Second-Life-style online universe began life on Sony's previous console.

Sony's Phil Harrison has denied that PlayStation Home and Second Life are basically the same thing, claiming it's "way oversimplifying" to make the suggestion.

Sony plans to launch its ambitious PlayStation 3 Home environment - announced at GDC last week - this October, and expects the initial free download to weigh in at "under 500MB", with subsequent patches "hopefully" integrated via a streaming solution "that makes them negligible".

Sony has announced official details of PS3 Home, a customisable, networked community for PlayStation 3.