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Not all games fit the industry standard price tag for new releases, and Pseudo Interactive's Cel Damage was one of them. It was a very basic game in which prototypical cartoon characters raced around in over-the-top driving machines, battering one another one with spring-loaded boxing gloves, ice blasters, giant mallets and other ACME-inspired creations strewn around various wacky locations. It was noteworthy because of its masterful cel-shading - which remains as close to the heart of the average cartoon as anything before or since - and because it fell so hard on its face that most people flatly ignored it. Critics and punters.

Strategy First has announced the first couple of titles it intends to shamelessly parade in front of lifeless, sweating journalists and over-paid suits at E3 this year. The first is the tremendous World War II: Frontline Command, which comes highly recommended by people you trust. Yes, us. War Times is another WWII strategy title, but on a far larger scale as you play the strategies of Germany, Great Britain, the USA and the USSR.

The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker has stormed to the top of the chart, becoming the 12th fastest selling game ever in the process, with estimated sales of around 80,000 in the first weekend on sale in the UK.

Ever since Sim City first gave gamers severe sleep deprivation problems, game developers have been adding new twists to the basic formula of building and managing a virtual metropolis. Some of those twists have delivered stunning gaming experiences, like Dungeon Keeper, whose genius touch of giving you a lair full of evil minions to keep happy rather than a city full of civilians made for a wonderful gaming experience. Two years ago, PopTop gave us its own take on the genre with Tropico - a management 'simulation' which saw you taking on the role of a dictator in charge of a banana republic somewhere in the Caribbean.

Ubi Soft has announced that it is the Chosen One that will publish forthcoming massively multiplayer FPS PlanetSide in Europe, and those that won't be able to afford the subscription fees will have the game wafted in front of their hungry eyes from May 23rd. The European server for the game will be based in Amsterdam, and will hopefully be powered, supported and maintained by ginger men such as myself; an assurance of quality.

The official Splinter Cell website has been updated with news that you'll have to wait another day to see whatever the hell it is they're unveiling. 5PM GMT today. We'll try and remember to look.

As reported in the trade press last Friday, Infogrames is planning to call itself Atari from now on. The company's US operation is now "Atari, Inc." and all other worldwide operations will become Atari with their country of origin included in the name (e.g. Atari UK). The bit of Infogrames that desecrates Hasbro's board games will now become Atari Interactive.

When I were a nipper, and also when I weren't, I went to DisneyWorld. Not the second-rate, half-arsed diluted European version you'll understand, but the brash, bright, beautiful, God Bless America(n) version. It was an amazing experience getting caught up in the themed lands and letting my imagination run away with me. Particularly so when, goaded by an inexplicably tall fellow with a fake white beard and a wizard's costume (who may or may not have been an employee in retrospect) and a crowd of spectators, I hoisted Excalibur from a large fibreglass rock and wibbled it about above my young form. Afterwards, I looked on as child after man after Mexican drunkard attempted to hoist the legendary sword from the stone, and failed. I was the King.

Strategy First has released a demo of its forthcoming turn-based empire-'em-up Galactic Civilizations. Said to have gameplay reminiscent of Sid Meier's classic Civilization, the fairly crippled 51mb demo limits players to only one political party, and the default civilization abilities in the smallest galaxy option, and will only allow you to play until 2190 (aww). Some visuals have been removed too, namely the game's animations and cut scenes. You can grab the file from GameSpot.

Sierra has released a toolkit for No One Lives Forever 2, so all you budding modders out there can get your grubby mitts on the source code and editing tools and do God knows what to it. Here's a list of the interesting things that have found their way in:

One has to wonder what Running With Scissors have been doing since the original Postal's release in 1997. Making friends with Gary Coleman and selling homemade cookies to save up for an Unreal engine license we suppose. Postal was - in a word - dire, so have Running With Scissors become big or clever while the videogaming world has matured around them?

Yes. Konami has officially stated that it will be showing Metal Gear Solid 3 in some form at E3 next week, though what form the exposure is likely to take is currently a total mystery. As is any indication of what platform the game will make a showing on first, but feel free to speculate ad infinitum in the comments, we'd be most interested in hearing your thoughts.

A demo of Cauldron's upcoming first person shooter Chaser has appeared on the internet via a PC Zone covermount (shh!), and you can download the 146MB demo from 3D Gamers, Worthplaying, etc. Thanks to a chap from Tiscali Games we also know that the demo comprises one mission in Little Tokyo split into two sections (Entrance and Underground), and that the demo finishes off with a little story cinematic.

Majesco has announced its E3 line-up. The company is specifically highlighting Black 9, an RPG for PS2, PC and Xbox, and it's action-adventure for PC and Xbox, Advent Rising. Also on the bill is shooter BlowOut, third-person actioner Drake, and Cartoon Network Speedway and Cartoon Network Block Party for the GBA.

Saber Interactive's Will Rock is available over the interweb via the medium of the modern playable demonstration. Showcasing the third level from the full game, the demo is 111MB and runs on a PIII 800MHz or equivalent minimum, 128MB of RAM, a 32MB video card and 220MB of hard disk space. The demo also apparently includes DirectX 9 (so you can curse Microsoft for those last few minutes of downloading). You can get it from (amongst other locations) 3D Gamers and Worthplaying.

It's been a while since LucasArts made a truly funny game (the last one was probably Grim Fandango), but it's good to see they haven't lost their desire to do so. Their latest attempt is an off-the-wall comedy shooter developed in conjunction with Giants developer Planet Moon for Xbox and PC. "Based on a true story", apparently, Armed & Dangerous is "a blast-happy action game about a smack-talking group of gun-toting rebels, a ridiculously impossible quest, and weapons that cause really, really big explosions."

EA (some sort of publisher apparently) has licensed Superman from Warner Bros. and DC Comics in a deal that extends not only to TV shows and comics but also the upcoming film remake - assuming it's released during the contract period.

Ubi Soft is apparently planning some sort of Splinter Cell announcement today - in just under eight hours' time (assuming the countdown on this page isn't confusing BST with PDT or something like that). We're not sure exactly what they're announcing, but the name Splinter Cell: Shadow Strike appeared on the publisher's half-year financials recently, so perhaps it's that. We'll tell you when we find out.

The PC version of BioWare's Star Wars themed RPG Knights of the Old Republic is expected to ship by the end of the year, GameSpot is reporting, with the Xbox version appearing much earlier in July. As you will no doubt recall, KOTOR is set a long, long, long time ago in a galaxy even further away, thousands of years before Obi-Wan and co. decided to beat up viceroys with flattened faces, with young Luke Skywalker still barely a glint in the intergalactic milkman's eye...

Disney is all set to officially release its foray into the massively multiplayer arena on June 2nd with Toontown. However, players are already able to download the game from the Toontown website and try it out for a few days, after which you can either ditch it or subscribe. A full retail package will be available in September.

EA will show The Sims 2 at E3, and developer Maxis is apparently planning a big evolution - with a proper implementation of Mother Nature. Although in the past children have been possible in The Sims, Maxis' inevitable sequel will now allow parents to pass characteristics onto their offspring by way of a rudimentary DNA system. Sims will now age, and children will obviously start resemble their parents, both physically and in terms of mannerisms, and their behaviour will also start to affect their appearance. Couch potatoes will become more portly, and those keen on track pursuits will become more athletic. Players will also have to guide their Sims through first crushes, marriage and even a child's first steps. Of course players will need to spend just as much if not more time managing their Sims' comfort levels as before, and a new "life score" feature will give players an idea of how well they've turned out.

Activision tells us that the next game to take advantage of Valve Software's impressive-looking Source engine will be a follow-up to Nihilistic's disappointing Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption (arguably the game responsible for the whole colon-hyphen titling farce).

I am writing this review at 3AM. I have to be at my desk in six hours. From this morsel of seemingly useless information, you can wrestle the following implications: something has kept me up this long; whatever it is has compelled me to keep myself up for another hour or so; and this review will probably make about as much sense as dialogue from the erstwhile Channel 5's late night movie.

Earlier in the year, Nintendo confirmed that the first Pokémon game on GameCube will be a Ruby and Sapphire GBA add-on, but that was about all we heard. However IGN has unearthed news that Koro Koro, a Japanese monthly, has been showcasing the Cube title, dubbed Pokémon Box: Ruby & Sapphire, and explaining how it will work.

Pokemon will make its European GameBoy Advance debut on July 25th, as the Ruby and Sapphire flavours that have proven so popular in Japan and the US finally hit store shelves. Between them, Ruby and Sapphire have sold more than 4.4 million copies in Japan, and more than 2.2 million in North America. Nintendo is expecting a similar success story over here, and we reckon they're probably right to.

Well, we may have gone home for the weekend but we could hardly leave this one alone: Elite Force II has appeared in demo form. It's 119MB and obviously considered "pre-release". You'll need a PIII 600MHz or equivalent, 128MB of RAM, a 32MB video card with DirectX 9 installed and about 700MB of disk space according to the description. Enjoy!

It’s not really news as such but we thought that you’d like to know that Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness has slipped again.

One of the first stands we’ll be heading for at E3 will be Capcom’s, and today we’re happy to learn that the Japanese gods of gaming have revealed what they intends to show off, and perhaps just as interestingly simultaneously revealing which titles were among the 18 titles recently canned.

Triumph Studios is developing a new Age of Wonders title called Shadow Magic, due out in September 2003, publisher Take-Two has announced via its Gathering label. The Dutch developer plans to launch players into the heart of a mythological world where a new Empire is attacking the Ancient Races and all things magic. Meanwhile, it says 'ere, an even greater evil populated by hellish demons breeds in its shadows. Players will control various mythical champions with dozens of spells to use against the evil Phobius, picking allies with great care and aspiring to become the greatest sorcerer of all time and the supreme ruler of an enchanted empire. The game takes place in a new Shadow World dimension and battle new races.

If there's one activity which has proved immensely popular among gamers [well, focus groups at least -Ed] over the past year or so, it's getting up close and personal with the battles of World War II - both real and imaginary. From the epic warfare of Battlefield 1942 to the covert missions (well, as covert as you can get when you kill everything that moves) of Medal of Honour and beyond that to the Nazi bondage babes and zombies of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the second world war is definitely the combat zone du jour. It's a bit surprising, then, that nobody has done a convincing, mainstream strategy game based in this era - until now.