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With just a day to go before the PlayStation 3 launches in North America, GamesIndustry.biz took a tour of retail outlets to find out how things are shaping up on the ground.

The Dutch dance act behind the current UK number one music single, a remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" used in Nike's FIFA World Cup adverts, has signed a contract with Microsoft to produce a sixteen-piece soundtrack for futuristic racer Quantum Redshift. Junkie XL - whose drug-related moniker was shortened for the Elvis remix upon instructions from The King's estate - will produce the exclusive tracks in time for the game's release before the end of 2002. Related Feature - Quantum Redshift screenshots

Apart from RalliSport Challenge and Project Gotham Racing, Xbox fans can also start looking forward to Quantum Redshift, Microsoft's newly announced racer set 100 years in the future and boasting speeds in excess of 650mph.

Microsoft and Day 1 Studios are now aiming to ship the Xbox Live exclusive MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf in the US by the end of 2004, it emerged late last week. The very end. Although it may take a little longer to arrive in PAL territories, importers should be able to hook you up with the much-improved online mech sequel from December 28th onwards.

MechAssault is to be strafed with a second salvo of downloadable content, including a much lusted-after Capture The Flag mode, bringing it into line with virtually every other sci-fi game in existence (and all their friends). Although CTF is hardly new, MechAssault is the sort of game whose varied units and map designs could make it an invaluable addition - and our love of the ickle Corvus could finally be rewarded.

According to reports, MechAssault players from Europe and the US will soon be able to battle players from Japan, instead of being limited to battles hosted in their respective regions. Other enhancements reportedly due in the next few days include clearer connection status icons, and a new 'kick' feature to eject troublesome players from the game. Like Americans who accuse us of playing croquet, for goodness sake.

"A trailer for MechAssault 2" could be one of two things. It could be a pesky wooden cart on two wheels with a number plate tied halfarsedly onto the back and brake lights that don't really work, loaded to bursting with rusty bathtubs and lengths of pipe and tethered to the hulking frame of a giant robotic exoskeleton.

A listing on the recruitment page for developer Day 1 Studios has revealed that the company is currently hiring staff to work on what'd described as "a properly funded and scheduled Xbox 2 project."

Capture The Flag. Whenever we've fired up MechAssault recently, that's what we've been doing, if only for the novelty value. And now, without warning, we've got another CTF map to play with - the tundra level Jotenheim - not to mention a few new game types and two other maps with which to try them.

When the Xbox Live Test Drive launches in little over a fortnight's time, the aptly named MechAssault will be spearheading its thrust into the world of online gaming. Eurogamer was lucky enough to get hold of a copy of the game earlier this week, and we've been putting it through its paces, discovering to our delight that a 20-mission single player campaign and a split-screen deathmatch mode are both available to those stuck offline. Compared to Infogrames laudable Unreal Championship's single player offering, this struck us as a fair bounty.

Literally everyone was Kung Fu fighting…

Microsoft and British developer Just Add Monsters have unveiled Kung Fu Chaos, an anarchic martial arts brawler which is due out on Xbox this fall. The game stars a variety of cartoonish characters, from Xui Tan Sour ("avenger of her father, brother, village and pet goldfish") to Chop & Styx (a samurai with a kid strapped to his back - Mad Max 3 meets New Legend Of Shaolin, perhaps?), with all the over-the-top fight choreography you would expect from a Hong Kong fantasy action movie. Meanwhile the first batch of screenshots from the game show that the settings for all of this martial arts mayhem will range from a dinosaur-infested swamp to the deck of the sinking Titanic. Other features include a "humiliation" system that enables you to taunt your opponent or build up the power of your blows with a series of fancy moves, and to cap it all the game's soundtrack includes 70's cheese-fest Kung Fu Fighting along with music from the classic Bruce Lee movie Enter The Dragon. Funky. Related Feature - Kung Fu Chaos screenshots

Or Railroad Tycoon 4, as it's definitely not going to be called. Yes, it's that train network management time again, complete with industrious-sounding theme music and lots of options to click as you watch your virtual wallet grow satisfyingly fat, or despairingly thin. The huffing steam engines and whirring diesels are almost inconsequential to the overall puzzle-tweak-challenge of connecting supply with demand and making the world go round. It's management at its most genial: connect A with B in the most efficient manner possible and personal satisfaction arrives in droves. Or at least that's the idea.

"Sega has decided to delay the release of Panzer Dragoon Orta in order to continue adding innovative features and content to the game," Sega's Mike Fischer warbles in an incredibly succinct press release from Infogrames this morning. The "ship date" for the game has changed from November 2002 to January 2003 - presumably in the US, rather than over here, mind. As much as we dislike financially motivated slipping of games, we aren't going to complain if it means we get more of what we want, so go ahead Sega, take all the time you want. Related Feature - Panzer Dragoon Orta screenshots

With only a few days to go before the Japanese release of Panzer Dragoon ORTA, Microsoft and Sega are crossing their fingers in hope of a greater uptake than recent titles - including Murakumo and Blinx - have achieved. Plans include a limited edition white Xbox (of which only 1,000 will be made available - a grab for publicity, or a frank assessment of sales potential?) and a huge marketing campaign focusing on the return of Sega to the skies.

Thousands of years after the fall of the ancient civilisation the world is a cruel and unpleasant place, and the few remaining human tribes live in fear of biogenetic terrors - powerful artefacts born out of blasphemy. In the midst of the battle for precious water resources, the Empire discovers a factory in the ruins of the Old Century and manages to shape its own organic weapon - the Dragon. The key to restoring peace to this distorted world is a young girl held captive under ball and chain.

It seems that Croteam's frenetic first person shooter Serious Sam could be on its way to the Xbox. In an e-mail posted on console fan site TeamXbox, Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric is quoted as saying that "we agree that Serious Sam would be great to play on Xbox", adding that "many noticed the game has [a] strong console feel and that's how we designed it in the first place". With the soon-to-be-released Second Encounter adding DirectX 8 support to the game's engine, the possibilites of a port to the Xbox are now strong. "Serious Engine will definitely be available for Xbox", Roman is reported as saying. "So [it's] obvious .. that Serious Sam should be there too". Related Feature - Serious Sam : Second Encounter preview

GameCube and Xbox versions of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil have not been canned in Europe, Ubisoft confirmed today, quashing rumours circulating over Christmas that poor sales of the PS2 and PC releases had led to their cancellation. Release dates for both should be announced shortly - both versions were completed ages ago and made it out in the US last year.

Xbox and Cube owners can expect to get their hands on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil within the month according to Ubisoft's latest release schedule. POP had previously been due out on Feb 27th with BG&E a candidate for March, but today's dates list them as February 20th and February 27th respectively - a handy choice, given how feverishly most seasoned gamers will rush to conquer the mighty Sands of Time.

Having been booted into reconfirming its European plans for Beyond Good & Evil and Prince of Persia once already this month, Ubisoft announced to nobody's surprise this evening that both critically acclaimed titles will be making their way to Xbox and GameCube in the first quarter of 2004.

As must be plain even to cranially repressed space moss, we don't exactly encourage interstellar relations here on the planet Earth. Sure, we send the odd tin can into space now and then daubed with messages about peace and love, and scrape away at the surfaces of other planets with a toothpick, but when it comes down to it we are indoctrinated from a young age to fear, and subsequently rebel against, our alien masters when they finally rain down in the seemingly inevitable future.

It's more than two years since Beyond Good & Evil was released and seriously impressed us with its involving narrative, fluid graphics and smooth blend of multiple gaming styles.

It's finally time to answer that most debateable of questions: would we pay £129.99 for Steel Battalion? However, it seems that the question itself is rather irrelevant now, with the game available in such miniscule quantities that anybody still perched on the fence without a pre-order to their name is unlikely to end up with a copy, online auctions notwithstanding. So, ultimately, the fact that we wouldn't pay £129.99 to play it seems quite moot.

Codemasters has unveiled the technology behind the forthcoming PS3, Xbox 360 and PC version of Colin McRae Rally.

EA has announced Command & Conquer: The First Decade for release in February 2006, but before you get too excited, it's not a new game, it's actually a compilation of the last ten years' worth of C&C releases - lovingly compiled by EA's LA studio with a DVD of video features thrown in to boot.

Various places are reporting that the cover of next month's US PC Gamer magazine heralds the return of Command & Conquer - with a whopping preview apparently inside.

EA's finally confirmed reports about Command & Conquer 3. Going by the working title Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the new game is previewed in the latest US PC Gamer.

Command & Conquer 3's live action plot sequences will call upon the acting talents of lots of people we've heard of, EA announced today, including Lando out of Star Wars, Michael "Sam Fisher" Ironside and even Sawyer from Lost.

With less than three weeks left before the Wii goes on sale in Japan, Nintendo has announced that 400,000 units have been allocated for launch in the territory.

First eBay US introduced restrictions on the sale of PS3s - now eBay UK has banned users from offering them altogether.