Latest Articles (Page 3259)

Given that it's taken an extra month to make it to market, you could be forgiven for thinking that the PC version of this year's Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is, if not substantially, at least discernibly different to its PlayStation 2 counterpart, which deservedly rose to the top of the UK Charts on its release in the middle of last month. So, er, we'll have to forgive you, because apart from a few small points this is an almost pixel-for-pixel conversion of the console version. Newcomers? Read our PS2 review then return, and we'll get down to the issues that apply to PC gamers.

You can almost see the look of horror on the faces of Rockstar San Diego bigwigs when the Christmas 2003 charts flopped onto the doormat. "Like, crap, dude," said one, probably. "I'm pretty sure Need for Speed wasn't supposed to be this successful."

Lorne Lanning: "This is the first day that we're unveiling Stranger at all, so you guys are amongst the first people to see what we've been working on for the last two and a half years. I've got a lot to show you, so I'm going to jump right into it.

"Christ! It's just like The Shining!"

For reasons best known to Rockstar, it never allowed the press anywhere near GTA III or Vice City. With combined sales of well over 20 million units worldwide (mostly at full price, remember), it didn't exactly affect either game's popularity. Some might say the wall of silence actively encouraged the wildfire word of mouth that followed their respective releases. There was so much to see and do in both titles that each player's personal experiences sounded like the most outrageous movie scene ever. It was a game you had to own. These weren't games you could rent and take back - they took months to really get the most out of. Who needed the press when you had word of mouth?

Sometimes the last thing you want to do is have a sneak preview of a game - mostly you're just spoiling things for yourself, ruining the surprise, but, when you're talking about gaming royalty, things are a little different. When the name of that game is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, suddenly your busy schedule opens up like Moses parting the Red Sea. 5 O' Clock Thursday you say? Right, we're there. Running late you say? Not a problem.

It's official - games will break your thumbs and turn you into a nutjob, according to new reports from a German scientist and a South African schoolgirl.

A group of high-definition TV fans have set up a new website campaigning against Nintendo's decision not to feature HD-TV support in the new Revolution console.

With the Xbox 360 hardware now laid bare for the whole world to see, attention is turning to the question of games.

Everyone knows the Sims story by now, and it's a familiar story that's been repeated many, many times. Boy buys game, boy plays game, boy thinks it's fun for a while but ultimately tires of it within days and craves a return to more manly pursuits involving aliens, nazis, car crashes and head-shooting. Girl sees boy playing game while he's neglecting her needs at that bloody computer. Girl is intrigued, girl surreptitiously tries out game. A fortnight later, boy is having to practically beg to be allowed to check his email just for five minutes, and is scanning the low-end PC market for a bargain in desperation.

In news that would have both Goscinny and Uderzo spinning in their graves if one of them wasn't dead, Atari have announced a new Asterix game that "will make interactive entertainment history as the first ever videogame parody." You can see some screenshots here.

The simplest things are often the most captivating. That moment in ICO when you first jumped a gap and Yorda leapt after you, grabbing your hand as she tumbled into the abyss. The first time you managed to rocket-jump in Quake. The first four-lines-tall group of blocks you cleared in Tetris. Too often we've had to forego the life-sapping pleasures of MMORPGs in the past because of time and resource constraints, but if we had to isolate one thing in particular about World of Warcraft that gave us the patience and commitment to continue, given the precedents above it probably wouldn't be too surprising to learn that it's one of the least interactive and most basic things you can do in Blizzard's world: grab a taxi ride.

Sony Computer Entertainment has moved to correct erroneous reports from earlier this week which cited a Reuters comment that UMD movies had just topped 100,000 sales in total - revealing that in fact, two individual titles have broken this barrier.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has dismissed rumours that the number of PSPs being manufactured has been cut from 18 million to 12 million, telling GamesIndustry.biz that such reports are "just speculation."

Fans of Xbox racer Forza Motorsport and them games you get in arcades with three tellies will be pleased to hear that the game has a hidden feature, called Network Cockpit, which allows you to recreate the experience at home.

A young, beautiful oriental girl strides confidently into an ancient Chinese teahouse, walking past tables occupied mostly by men who look suspiciously at her over their beverages. The soft lighting of the room gently illuminates her in silhouette, and drapes and banners flow around her as she brushes past them, seeking her enemies - who foolishly challenge her. Customers run for their lives as she slips out lethal looking twin swords and engages her rivals in a graceful display of martial arts prowess, the battle extending across the floor of the teahouse as blades flash, powerful punches and kicks are thrown in exotic combat styles, and even fantastical ice magic skills send unlikely freezing winds howling through the crevices of the beautiful building.

Judging by the first reviews of GTA: San Andreas that sprang up overnight, US critics are sparing no superlatives in their search for weighty recommendations. We've already seen one review that proclaims it's one-hundredth short of perfection (which is bound to elicit a call from Rockstar complaining that it didn't get top marks, if our experience with Vice City was anything to go by), and the others have decided that the game's minor flaws - including slowdown, a bit of AI oddness and some camera concerns - simply can't do enough to detract from the game's epic brilliance.

Following earlier comments by a US senator that Eidos' 25 to Life "lowers common decency", TV presenter Nancy Grace has slammed the game in a panel discussion on her CNN show.

As one of the worlds' greatest ever games, Sensible Soccer fully deserves the love and reverence it continues to get 13 years on from its original Amiga release. Its simple, fast, fluid playability remains virtually unmatched even now, and its re-release by Radica in the form of a plug and play TV gaming device is a stroke of genius that's sure to have gamers' nostalgia glands flowing at the thought of resuming old rivalries on this old classic.

Games journalists are often accused of championing silly little semi-mediocre games because they want to sound clever. Well, I have long since given up on sounding clever, so I'm quite content to say whatever the hell I like. For example: SEGA Soccer Slam was brilliant fun, and its reception on GameCube and latterly PS2 and Xbox was downright maddening. Not least because I'd dig it out of a Friday night and my assembled chums would start, "Woah, woah... I heard that was awful." This angers me. You... wouldn't... like... the feeble joke I thought of wheeling out there. But, if you played it, you probably would like Soccer Slam.

Too hot.

Two baseball teams have agreed to put down their bats and pick up their Xbox controllers next month for a play-off with a difference.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has no intention of taking action against consumers who have purchased PSPs from grey importers, with the firm categorically denying press reports that it plans to "impound" imported hardware.

Microsoft is offering a bonus DVD as a pre-order incentive for US Xbox owners who feel like buying Conker: Live and Reloaded when it finally pitches up this June, and apparently it's something the company is considering for Europe.

A trailer for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Activision's new PC multiplayer shooter, is now available on Eurofiles.

Following the endless rounds of "my console's better than yours"-type comments we've had from Sony and Microsoft in recent weeks, MS has taken the next-gen battle to the next level with some rather cheeky window dressing.

It's been revealed that the the follow-up to True Crime: Streets of LA - due out on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube this autumn - is set in good old Noo Yoik Ciddy.

Nintendo will present a trio of UK exclusives at the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival this year - including the first playable code of forthcoming GameCube title Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Nintendogs and Battalion Wars will also debut at the festival.

A playable demo of Worms 4: Mayhem, currently in development for PC, PS2 and Xbox, is now available on Eurofiles for your downloading pleasure.

World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has confirmed that a new expansion for the PC MMORPG is currently in development - but it's keeping the details under wraps for the time being.