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Now here's an interesting example of the cross-Atlantic divide. When bobbing merrily along as a digital castaway on the gaming info-Sargasso it's possible to forget that flesh-space concerns as "nationality" still exist, but it doesn't make them any less real. So while Kohan II's imminent arrival has been causing outbreaks of disco-boogie in the colonies, in the heart of Empire we're very much still much playing wall-flower at this fantasy RTS party. It's no great change - in its previous iterations Kohan received strategy game of the year awards a plenty over there while over here it got... well... got forgotten.

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Ubisoft is hoping to be responsible for soiled pants up and down the land next March, having entered the merry survival horror genre (or "action-horror" as the French publisher calls it) with newly announced title Cold Fear.

Half-Life 2 packages will be made available for pre-order via Valve's Steam content delivery service at 6pm GMT (11am PST) today, the developer has announced. And as promised, anybody who buys one of the Steam packages will be able to play the full version of Counter-Strike: Source immediately. Half-Life 2 will then be made available as soon as it's ready.

Activision has announced the voice, scripting and musical talent behind its forthcoming console World War II FPS title Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and also released a slew of new screenshots and gameplay movies, including a QuickTime trailer.

Sometimes we feel a bit like we're talking to a brick wall. When we find ourselves piling some of our favourite games of past years into roundups of games that sold in pitiful quantities, for example, or whenever people tell us they didn't buy ICO, but wasn't it just the same as Project Eden? No. Damn you. On the other hand, there are clearly times when you think we're talking out of our collective royal backside too, and comparing the critical reaction to the sales figures of the Crash series - consistently one of the best performing platform franchises since consoles reached 32-bit - it's quite possible the ageing Bandicoot is a catalyst for that reaction in a lot of people.

Half-Life 2 will be released on DVD only in the UK, according to a report carried by prominent fan site HalfLife2.net this week, although there's no word on the rest of Europe.

German developer Replay Studios has announced a third-person action game which involves experiencing some of the worst disasters in recent history, including the sinking of the Titantic, Hurricane Andrew, Hiroshima, and - in a move which is already provoking much consternation Stateside - the events of September 11th.

Ubisoft is preparing to release a pair of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation titles this November. On the PC, there's CSI: Miami, which we're guessing is a Miami-based spin-off of the original show (we don't watch it, so we wouldn't know), while Xbox owners can look forward to a CSI title combining the contents of both previous PC titles - the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and CSI: Dark Motives. The PC and Xbox titles will retail for 20 and 30 quid respectively.

Activision has returned to the top of the UK software charts once more, with Star Wars Battlefront climbing one place to knock EA's The Sims 2 from the top of the ranking, while four new entries made it into the top ten.

Capcom has announced that it plans to release a new survival horror title called Haunting Ground on PlayStation 2 next spring across Europe. Having demonstrated the game in trailer form in Japan (where it's known as Demento) at the Tokyo Game Show last month, the Resident Evil publisher has now released more details and a slew of screenshots.

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Keeping franchises fresh is a hit and miss affair, and, like arguing with an abusive imbecile that refuses to see sense and appears to speak Martian, is often pointless. Many classic games succeed simply because they do one thing very well. Burnout works because it lets you crash cars brilliantly. Bangaio lets you shoot things with a near-religious perfection. Dynasty Warriors lets you mow down dozens of opponents in 3D with various weapons and makes your little heart pop through your shirt like no other game can. Problems arise when, four or five games in, there's an apparent need to mix things up to keep the cash registers ringing. We're seriously okay for Burnout F1 and Bangaio Cricket, thanks.

US publisher Majesco has confirmed reports that Psychonauts is to appear on PS2 as well as Xbox and PC. This week also marked the launch of the new (and noisy) Psychonauts website, featuring an extensive gameplay trailer. You can find the website here, or you can head here to download the trailer in peace and quiet.

Elixir founder Demis Hassabis seems to be enjoying himself. He's all smiles when we meet up with him on the last day of a three day trade show; a contrast with quite a lot of other faces around the show floor, which speak volumes about hangovers, ill-fitting shoes, and a desire for the weekend to be here a few hours sooner.

THQ has released the first of two downloadable missions for Full Spectrum Warrior over Xbox Live, but despite shipping both bonuses with the PC version of the game (due out this Friday), the publisher has nevertheless decided to charge Xbox owners for the privilege of playing them. "Epilogue 1" is available now priced £2.99 / $4.99.

We've seen and played Infinity Ward's wonderful Call of Duty, and EA's increasingly polished stabs at reinvigorating the Medal of Honour franchise, but up to now the developer that kicked it all off, 2015, Inc., has been left somewhat by the way side - relegated into obscurity thanks to reports that virtually all the key contributors to Medal of Honour: Allied Assault went AWOL soon after that game shipped.

We're still not quite sure what happened the first time around that led Irrational Games to instruct its fans not to download the Tribes: Vengeance official multiplayer demo, but the coast is apparently clear now and you're encouraged to munch on this 483MB worth of Vengeful multiplayer action as of now.

SEGA Europe is preparing to launch its first (and hopefully not its last) PS2 EyeToy title later this month, the publisher confirmed this week. SEGA SuperStars, developed by Sonic Team, is due out on October 22nd.

One of the biggest ever mergers in the videogames industry has been successfully completed, with Japanese giants SEGA and Sammy finally coming together under the banner of SEGA Sammy Holdings.

SEGA Europe, not traditional publisher Activision, is set to release the next Tenchu title from K2 Studios in Europe next spring. Tenchu: Fatal Shadows, which appears to be based on the same technology as K2's previous Tenchu title, Wrath of Heaven, judging by these screenshots, will be released exclusively on PlayStation 2.

A group of veteran ex-Lucasarts employees have founded a new development studio in California called Telltale Games, with the stated aim of "reenergising" the adventure game genre.

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As promised, Konami has announced the four winners of the Metal Gear Solid 3 "Camouflage Campaign" contest, whose attempts to hide Snake from the prying eyes of soldiers and other nefarious types will be included in the full game.

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With the Nintendo DS set to launch in America in seven weeks' time on November 21st, more details on various third party titles are starting to emerge - even though Nintendo has yet to unveil its launch line-up.

NovaLogic has delayed the release of the Xbox version of Delta Force - Black Hawk Down in order to sharpen up the Xbox Live experience, the publisher announced late last week. The Xbox title, ported by Climax, is now due out in Q1 2005.

Bungie has finished work on Halo 2 according to the developer's latest weekly update, which promises to be one of the last because, not illogically, "there's no more updating on the progress of the game, since the game is done."

Bungie plans to do "something different" now that Halo 2 is finished, studio manager Peter Parsons told the BBC last week, scotching suggestions that another sequel to Halo would be the Microsoft-owned developer's next project.

The long, drawn-out Half-Life 2 release date saga appears to be drawing to a close at long last, with Vivendi-Universal Games' expected to formally announce a November 26th release date for Europe, with US gamers getting the game three days earlier on November 23rd.