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The staggering scale of Sony's total global dominance of this generation of games consoles was underlined today with the consumer electronics giant releasing its latest set of official figures for both incarnations of the PlayStation.

Valve's long awaited sequel to Half-Life is heading to Japanese arcades, following news that arcade veteran Taito has signed a deal with the developer to produce a version for its Type-X arcade hardware for release in the summer of 2005.

Question marks over the 'real-world' battery life of the PSP remained today, following comments made by Sony Computer Entertainment's Ken Kutaragi in a recent interview with Impress PC Watch which add weight to fears that the handheld console's lithium battery is currently ill-equipped to handle the more graphically intensive games for more than a couple of hours.

The news of Resident Evil 4's conversion to the PS2 threw up more questions than answers this morning; most obviously whether the end of its GameCube exclusivity deal would open the floodgates to the brand making a belated appearance on a slew of other platforms besides the PS2, as well as whether the previously GameCube-only Resident Evil Zero and Resident Evil Remake would also be making it onto other platforms.

A PlayStation 2 version of the hugely-anticipated Resident Evil 4 will be released in Japan at the end of 2005, Capcom has confirmed, ending the long-term exclusivity arrangement it had previously signed with Nintendo. The move could also pave the way for long overdue ports of other previously GameCube-exclusive titles Resident Evil Zero and the well-received remake of Resident Evil.

Xbox owners now have the chance to experience (and presumably ignore) Tecmo's excellent follow up to Project Zero, following Microsoft's decision to snap up the publishing rights to the snap (un)happy survival horror title.

Former Argonaut CEO Jez San has acquired two of the company's studios, with Cambridge-based Just Add Monsters and mobile developer Morpheme both being bought by the veteran developer.

Ubisoft has confirmed plans to publish Revenge of the Sith for PSP, DS and GBA SP next spring. Xbox and PS2 versions are also in the works, with the last prequel Star Wars film launching on May 19, 2005.

An American Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed that there will be no Live co-op play in Halo 2. The mode has been heavily rumoured recently.

Nintendo has unveiled a pair of side-scrolling DS titles based around familiar characters in Japan this week, according to reports relayed from the pages of Famitsu Weekly. One stars Princess Peach, the other Kirby.

Blizzard has announced that the World of Warcraft closed beta test is drawing to a close this Friday, October 29th, at 3pm PDT, when the servers will go offline for an undetermined period as the developer prepares to launch another public stress test.

Wideload Games, the developer set up by former Bungie Studios folk, has announced its first game this week - a quirky-sounding Xbox, PC and Mac project going by the name of Rebel Without A Pulse, in which you take up the role of a zombie, "Stubbs".

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World War II shooters: gamers can't seem to get enough of them. But while we're admittedly getting a little bored of the slew of the cinematic 'on rails' FPSs that have proven so commercially successful over the years, we have to admit that Gearbox's take on the genre is something a little different. Talking with Gearbox's 'jack of all trades' Stephen Palmer, and having had a little hands-on time with the Ubisoft-published game, it's got a refreshingly tactical edge to it.

Efforts to prevent the launch date of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from being broken in the UK have been a resounding success on the High Street - but customers of some online retailers have received their copies early.

"That sounds pretty tedious," our friend complains, as he tries for the fifth time in as many minutes to make a break for it and steer our instant messenger conversation towards Grand Theft Auto. "Yes, it does," we concede, struggling to think of a convincing response. "But 'sounds' is definitely the operative word." We've bought ourselves some time with that, but the damage is clearly already done. "To be honest," he grumbles, "it sounds like you're having trouble selling it."

Making something of a mockery of those "Only on Xbox" tags that adorn copies of Full Spectrum Warrior, publisher THQ has revealed that it plans to release a PlayStation 2 version of Pandemic Studios' widely acclaimed squad-based shooter following the release of a PC port just under a month ago.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, Mario Power Tennis and four new NES Classics titles will be among Nintendo of Europe's highlights for the first three months of 2005, the platform holder revealed this morning.

Valve Software is hoping to release new maps and player models for Counter-Strike: Source this December. The maps include fan favourite de_prodigy and "one original map" according to Valve's Erik Johnson, commenting on a thread on fan site CS-Nation.

Activision no longer expects to ship the Xbox version of Doom 3 within 2004. According to a report on GameSpot, company president Ron Doornink this week said that the publisher is now shooting for March 2005 - although he also conceded that the date was "for planning purposes only" and that id Software had the final say.

Electronic Arts will publish a multiplatform game based on the Batman Begins movie, the publisher revealed this week. PS2, Xbox and GameCube incarnations will be developed by Eurocom, while Vicarious Visions will handle the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable versions. All of them should be out alongside the film in summer 2005.

Japanese Gran Turismo fans who fancy getting their hands on the new model PlayStation 2 will be able to find both GT4 and the console we've informally dubbed PStwo in the same box this December 3rd, Sony revealed this week.

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Electronic Arts' FIFA Football 2005 is back on top of the UK all-formats software chart this week, knocking rival football title Pro Evolution Soccer 4 into second place as both games saw a significant sales decline.

Master of terror Square Enix has announced that it's Harvest Festival time in Vana'diel - the realm in which its recently released Final Fantasy XI MMORPG is set - and that anybody playing the game ought to celebrate by running around singing hymns about apples, gathering straw and buying home made angel cakes from five year-olds.

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inXile Entertainment, developer of quirky PS2 and Xbox RPG The Bard's Tale, has responded to the recent spate of leaks that's afflicted high profile games - including the likes of Pro Evolution Soccer 4, Half-Life 2, Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - by considering "some form of leak of The Bard's Tale [..] as a strategic plan to follow a growing trend among Triple A games."

Konami is planning to release the theme tune to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater as a CD single in Japan on the same day the game will ship in the USA, November 17th. The single will be priced 1,050 yen (around €7.50) and will include four songs and some digital content.

The first official expansion pack for Doom 3 will be co-developed by Nerve Software and id Software and will herald the return of the double-barrelled shotgun, publisher Activision announced this afternoon. Say Hell-o to Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil.

Following news last week that Argonaut had relieved more than 100 staff of duties and closed down its Sheffield office, the company has confirmed today that it is in administration and is to be sold.