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A number of staffing changes have been announced at the top of Microsoft's Xbox operations, with Shane Kim taking over Ed Fries' old role on a permanent basis while Peter Moore and Mitch Koch have been promoted.

Sony loves Killzone. A PS2 exclusive developed by Dutch firm Guerrilla Games, it's already being hailed as a "Halo beater". And that's just by the press. Never mind what the PR folks think.

It's not all that difficult to surmise what 'might' be on display at Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference this May - Nintendo DS, Mario 128, that sort of thing. But when a Nintendo insider told us today they were certain that sequels to two of the biggest Nintendo titles in recent years would form the centrepiece of the presentation, we felt it was too important to ignore.

Nadeo has issued a version 1.2 beta 3 patch for build it/race it PC oddity TrackMania, which we so enjoyed when we got our racing gloves on it last Christmas. The new patch is quite large at 90MB, but it's probably worth the trouble for fans - the promise of underground tunnels amongst other new blocks ought to be enough by itself, but there are also some bugfixes in there and a new menu interface. Can't argue with that.

Up to now, real screenshots of Resident Evil 4 have been difficult to find. Without the aid of shady forum threads and scanned magazine pages, all we've had to go on is a number of outdated shots of lead character Leon Kennedy as he strolls around typically luscious environments, and it's pretty obvious now that these bear little relation to Shinji Mikami's actual vision of the game.

The rarely-used Digital AV port on the back of the GameCube console is to be removed from future revisions of the hardware in a move designed to save production costs, Nintendo has confirmed today.

Late last year, Sony told us that GT4 Prologue - a bite-sized, budget-priced teaser for Polyphony Digital's latest "driving simulator" - wouldn't make it out of Japan. We weren't all that surprised. The game would be out within months as far as we knew, so it made sense.

Probing Halo 2 screenshots is a lot of fun, and according to recent surveys "fun" is good, so we were more than happy to see a new Halo 2 screenshot when we stumbled drunkenly toward Bungie.net this morning.

Half-Life 2 has been swimming in clichés for almost a year now. Expectations have "gone through the roof" since E3 last May. Its "breath-taking" and "jaw-dropping" technology is a "quantum leap" in terms of what we've come to expect from games. It is "the full package", promising a world that combines "unparalleled visual quality" and "realistic physics" so that its "believable characters" are in a position to deliver a "brand new experience". With "improved AI" helping them along.

Publishing giant Square Enix has given a further signal of its intent to extend its lucrative Japanese mobile gaming business into other markets, with the acquisition of American wireless developer UIEvolution.

Rumours of a sequel to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic appear to have been confirmed this weekend. According to reports, US gaming mags Electronic Gaming Monthly and Computer Gaming World will take an exclusive look at 'KOTOR 2' in issues arriving in newsagents towards the end of April.

Nintendo has altered plans to release GBA title Kirby's Star: The Great Mirror Maze in Japan this week, following the discovery of what we can only assume was a fairly show-stopping 11th hour bug.

Here's a tricky one: What does Namco's R: Racing have in common with Hideo Kojima's whimsical Zone of the Enders PS2 shoot-'em-up? Anybody? You there at the back? No? The answer is that in both cases the actual game was far less interesting than a bundled trinket found elsewhere in the box. In ZOE's case, the accompanying Metal Gear Solid 2 demo was more than enough to rob us of £40. And in R: Racing's case, it's the Miyamoto-penned Pac-Man Vs. multiplayer game that dominates our thoughts whenever we peer at the shiny GameCube box perched atop the TV.

We love black humour, gallows humour, call it what you will. Those moments of utter despair lightened up by a sideways glance and sharp monotone quip, and it's difficult not to crack a wry smile at 3D Realms' hapless attempts to make another game. Every time the Formula 1 results come in, any gamer seeing the list of DNF drivers can't help be reminded of the delicious irony of the game that Did Not Finish also happens to share those telling initials. Yes, 3D Realms' interminably delayed PC shooter Duke Nukem Forever is a game now well into its seventh year (and counting) of development, yet it's still showing no signs of even being reasonably close to being completed. You couldn't make it up, you really couldn't.

Ubisoft has shelved plans to release a third single-player demo for Crytek's tropical first-person shooter Far Cry, according to a post to a fan forum from an official spokesperson. The "Boat" demo had been expected on March 15th.

Unreal franchise owner Epic Games has acquired Scion Studios, the new company founded by Americas Army designer Michael Capps, in a move which will double its development capacity.

It's not even lunchtime, and you're reading this week's instalment of 'What's New'. Wonders genuinely never cease around here, do they? Neither does the torrential rain outside the window, the endless "whooping" as high scores tumble, and the monotone rumbling of an empty stomach. However, there are a few things we've encountered lately that do cease. The jingle-jangle of cash in the pocket, for example, after a spending splurge encompassing a magnificent eBay NES bundle, the latest Japanese Winning Eleven game, and certain popular Xbox dance mat titles. Or the flush function of our trusted toilet - that's ceased too, although we've fashioned an alternative out of a big bucket and a nearby bath tap. (Any plumbers in the audience?) Oh, and apparently the rain has now ceased as well. Great. Stop sabotaging our elaborate introductions Mother Nature you INDOMITABLE TART!

Nintendo UK launched its ambitious £10 million giveaway today, promising to give buyers of the GBA SP or GameCube a money-off voucher book worth up to £250. The vouchers give £10 off Soulcalibur II, 1080° Avalanche, F-Zero GX, Eternal Darkness and Mario Party 5 on the Cube side, and Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising and Metroid Fusion from the GBA line-up.

Since Halo did quite well for them, Microsoft has always made a point of supporting big Xbox releases, even if they're actually third party titles. As such it wasn't too surprising this morning when we heard about a new Xbox Live Starter Kit bundle featuring Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. With the game set to debut on Xbox next week - the PC version following a week later, and PS2/Cube versions a ways off - the new Starter Kit will cost just £59.99 / €89.99 and consists of a 12 month subscription to the online service, an Xbox Communicator headset, and a copy of Pandora Tomorrow.

Not content with brother Ratchet grabbing all the headlines, everyone's favourite tempestuous platform hero (and darling of the Sony first-party line-up) is back and busily lusting after his former crown. Unfortunately though, it sounds like the residents of Haven City have finally had enough of the poor tortured Eco-warrior, who, lets face it, spent more time knocking them down and blowing their town up than actually fixing things for them in his last outing. With their city ripped almost to shreds, they've banished him to the surrounding wastelands - along with his wisecracking sidekick.

Following last week's influx of Ratchet & Clank 3 info, you'll be pleased to hear we've exhausted our limited repertoire of "Up Your Arsenal" gags. Which is just as well, really, because linking Insomniac Games' provocative subtitle to the latest weapon we've heard about - the Infector - would more than likely incur the wrath of just about every moral man in the audience. Instead, we'll have to make do by fleshing out your knowledge of Sony's latest platform hope without resorting to petty innuendo. Drat.

Let's not beat about the bush here. We didn't like last year's Shinobi remake. Not one bit. While there are certainly a small minority of people who enjoyed the mechanics of the game, we found the gameplay to be repetitive and hackneyed, the presentation to be poor and ultimately, the whole experience was tedious, frustrating and unrewarding - not exactly a compelling package in a videogame.

Digital Extremes has this week announced Pariah, described as a story-driven, single-player, run-and-gun FPS with survival elements and "in-depth combat". The game is due to be published by Groove Games in the USA and Hip Interactive Europe in PAL territories on PC and Xbox, and should make its full debut at this year's E3 in May.

British publisher SCi has announced that Xbox adventure title Galleon is now scheduled for release in June of this year - a further small slippage for the oft-delayed title, which was previously scheduled for spring.

This year's World Championship Snooker title will be going online on PS2, Xbox and PC, publisher Codemasters announced today, and will also include a myriad other improvements and additions - like an updated trickshots section and a Classic Match mode.

Microsoft has just announced Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, a sequel to one of the console's first online games currently in development at Epic Games and due out in Q4 2004.

Sega Europe has announced plans to distribute Sammy's PS2 slasher Seven Samurai 20XX across PAL territories, which won't come as much of a surprise to those with a good handle on the state of the two companies' relationship.

Flagship Studios - the developer founded in 2003 by ex-Blizzard staffers David Brevik, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, Bill Roper and Kenneth Williams - has revealed that its first project will be published by Namco Hometek. "When looking for a publishing partner, it was critical for us to find a company that shares our passion for making great games," Bill Roper is quoted as saying.

Eleven years after the release of the original, Revolution has confirmed that work is underway to make a sequel to Beneath A Steel Sky, following the discovery that the company registered the URL on March 4th.

We've had 'Crash does Mario Kart' and we've had 'Bomberman does Mario Kart', so it was inevitable that sooner or later one of those pesky cartoon types was going to make a play in this direction. It may even have happened already for all I know. But whether or not it had, it has now, it will have soon now, or [give up now -Ed].