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Oddworld: Munch's "it can only be done on Xbox!" Oddysee was an under appreciated platformer in our view, so we were happy to read from multiple sources this week that the next title in the series is underway at developer Oddworld Inhabitants.

Shop for games now with Simply Games.

Film magazine Variety reports that the producers of the forthcoming Spy-Hunter film have bought up the rights to develop another of Midway Games' properties - Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy.

LucasArts' Totally Games-developed dogfight-'em-up Secret Weapons Over Normandy recently went gold, and should be out on multiple formats next Friday, November 28th. In the meantime, LucasArts has released a 160MB demo of the game to try and convince people it's not all about polishing propellers and admiring dials. Indeed, the missions in the demo should give some idea that it's not, with tutorials focusing on just the Orientation and Bombing side of the pilot's Hawker Hurricane before players are led through the first mission of the Dunkirk campaign. You can check the demo out for yourselves here and here amongst other places.

LucasArts has released another bounteous package of downloadable content via Xbox Live, adding another new plane, another new mission and two new camouflage schemes to an already bulging game. This is actually the fourth batch of items released for the game - which still kept Kristan going for days before he even got round to the added extras.

Almost exactly a year ago to the day that Totally Games and LucasArts announced they were to work together on a new World War II flight game, details of the game have finally been divulged.

LucasArts' Secret Weapons Over Normandy, developed by Larry Holland's Totally Games, has gone gold and should be swooping onto PS2, Xbox and PC shelves as of November 28th according to UK distributor Activision's latest release schedule.

LucasArts are teaming up with TIE Fighter developers Totally Games to create a new World War II flight combat game for the PC and next generation consoles. Inspired by their classic Battle Of Britain and its follow-up Secret Weapons Of The Luftwaffe, which put you in control of a range of bizarre experimental planes designed by the Germans at the tail end of the war, the new game will feature a story-driven single player campaign following the fortunes of an elite squadron of pilots who are drafted in to carry out dangerous missions. Expect the focus to be on fun rather than overly realistic flight controls. "[Totally Games boss] Lawrence Holland single-handedly defined the fun, accessible flight action genre", according to LucasArts president Simon Jeffery. "Adding the sophisticated storytelling style Holland developed for the award-winning X-wing series, this new game promises exhilarating gameplay with a rip-roaring story of adventure and intrigue. The legions of fans who have been clamoring for a new game in the vein of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe should be very happy with this announcement." Related Feature - LucasArts grabs Wrath

Those cheeky Sega people. Not content with slipping our potentially beloved Panzer Dragoon Orta beyond the festive season, European distributor Infogrames has confirmed that House of the Dead 3 will also appear sometime in 2003 and not during 2002 as had been anticipated. As with Panzer Dragoon, Sega wants more time to polish the games. Related Feature - House of the Dead 3 screenshots

First, a declaration of interest. Final Fantasy VII is the most important game I ever played. Not the best game - far from it - and not even the best game in the series, but to me personally, the most important. It was the game which showed a young technology journalist embarking on a move into political writing that there was more to videogames than just shooting my friends in the face for a bit of competitive stress release; which opened up the my mind to the concept of interactive storytelling; which made me buy my first videogame console and changed the path of my career to the point where, around ten years later, videogames are my life. Thanks, Final Fantasy VII - were it not for you, I coulda' been somebody. Still, the point is, FFVII was an important videogame to me, and that might colour my perception of today's topic at hand - I just thought you should know.

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.