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The balance between fun and realism must surely be the ultimate hurdle to cross when designing any type of motor racing game, and offroad racers are certainly no exception to this. There must be a significant emphasis on allowing players to ease themselves into the game, to get the feel of the vehicle and the landscape, and all the while still fulfill the needs of hardcore fans with authenticity.

The Japanese press, led by weekly gaming bible Famitsu, have been hinting at a rebirth for the games that started it all, Final Fantasy I and II. According to various sources, an announcement will be made next week which lands both games on a new format. The current favourites are PlayStation One and GameBoy Advance, and given Squaresoft's penchant for both, it's a little tough to call. Square has already re-released a number of its earlier Final Fantasy efforts on PSone, and even Europe's had a piece of the pie, receiving Final Fantasy VI (£9.99) and Final Fantasy Anthology (comprising FFs IV and V, priced £19.99). On the other hand, Square is currently working on a Final Fantasy Tactics conversion for the GBA, and with that complete the team could happily start work on further handheld conversions.

Rallisport Challenge is the current pinnacle of rally games. Then there's V-Rally 3, which is pretty good. Colin McRae 3 is due out shortly and the Codies reckon Col' will retrieve his crown without braking a sweat. Sorry, breaking. But there are hundreds of rally games, on virtually every format. Do we really need any more? Excuse me while I sample this fruity beverage. The man from EA - he say "yeah!" EA Sports BIG has leapt into the fray recently with the announcement of Shox, an allegedly PS2-exclusive rally game due out this autumn. Who cares? You should. This being EA Sports BIG, there's a chance that it might actually be innovative as well as worth buying. Or it could be SSX on wheels, but it doesn't look that way at the moment. Of course at its heart it's a basic rally title, with 24 licensed "high voltage" [oh yes? -Ed] vehicles, and circuits set in the snow, sand and jungle. Dusty roads, icy powerslides and disgruntled llamas - at least two of those elements are promised. But Shox gets its name from the PR-tastically named Shox Zones scattered around critical stretches of track. When entering these zones, "time seems to stop as cars catch air and all sounds come to a standstill in one-eye-closed anticipation of the outcome": which is either some sort of clever landing or a multi-car pile-up. Performance in individual Shox Zones is rewarded by Bronze, Silver and Gold placements, which in typical BIG style supplement your final score with bonus points. Points meaning prizes. Shox is due out this autumn, and thanks to our friends at EA you can sample a number of screenshots between now and then, starting with these. Clear evidence of jaggies suggests that most of these shots are taken from the game itself (it's sad that we have to clarify these days, but there you go), and the visuals are certainly detailed - let's just hope the game can sustain a decent frame rate when it hits. Related Feature - Shox screenshots

One good thing about the Internet is that cut-price sales come around a lot more often, and you're more likely to actually spot them instead of turning up a few days late. For example, persistent online retailer gameplay (with a little 'g') is offering up a platter of superb PlayStation 2 bargains today only - and we're not just hyping this up in exchange for money by the way. How does Virtua Fighter 4 for £14.99 sound to you? Given this writer paid £39.99 for it there are a certain amount of sour grapes rolling around on the floor, but nevertheless it's a bargain to be savoured. So much so in fact, that Sony has placed stipulations on it which enforce a one-copy-per-household maximum allowance. Second from top on our list of barg's is Jedi Starfighter at £19.99. An excellent game, at a reasonable albeit not staggering price. The same could be said for the likes of World Rally Championship (£16.99) and Half-Life (£19.99). Elsewhere, Parappa The Rapper 2 can be had for £12.99 - an absolute steal, especially since our reviewer Martin Taylor commented that the game was fabulous and would be well worth owning if only it didn't cost £35. Well, it doesn't now, so buy it. And if you fancy taking a chance, the severely underrated Gungriffon Blaze can be had for £11.99 - perfect if you like big stompy mech robots, and let's face it, who doesn't? Of course, there are a few things to avoid. State of Emergency at £17.99 is no more enjoyable than it was at the full price a million kids paid for it. Bloody Roar 3 (£18.99) is not as good as the Cube's Bloody Roar Primal Fury. You haven't heard of G-Surfers (£16.99) for a very good reason, and Eternal Ring (£19.99) has been around since the birth of the PS2, and it wasn't very popular then. For a full list of gameplay's Tuesday offerings, take a gander at the front page of their site. No, we're not on commission - we just like cheap games. Update - it would seem that we were right about the Internet giving more people access to handsome sales. Within seconds of posting this story, it became obvious that all of gameplay's allotted allocation of Virtua Fighter 4 units have vanished. Aww. Never mind though; there are still some bargains to be found. Gameplay's ecommerce baron Mat Braddy informs us that the sale ends bang-on midnight tonight.

In a press release which is sure to go down in history as featuring the greatest concentration of trademarks ever witnessed, THQ have announced their line-up of WWE™ games for the next few months. I think we can safely say that the final weeks of this year will be wrestling heaven for European fans of lycra clad wimps bouncing each other around a ring, with the release of no less than four games on a variety of platforms. Kicking things off in October is WWE™ WrestleMania® X8 on the Nintendo® GameCube™, featuring some 35 wrestling superstars battling it out across a variety of venues and events, including Hell in a Cell™ match-ups and "death-defying" TLC™ fights. We've no idea what that stands for, but we doubt it's tender loving care. Maybe Trademarked Licensing Crap? Also appearing in October will be the Xbox version of WWE™ Raw®, which has been available for several months in the US under the old WWF™ monicker, recently lost in a court battle to the World Wildlife Fund. Wrestling nuts can look forward to "stunning graphics" as 35 wrestling superstars battle it out across a variety of venues and events [Woah, deja vu - Ed], including the likes of The Rock™® and Triple H™. Meanwhile November will see the release of a PC port of the game, the first time that the WWE™ has appeared on the beige box™. November also sees the arrival of the latest handheld wrestling game (don't even go there™), going by the imaginative title of WWE™ Road To WrestleMania® X8. This will feature a scant 16 superstars, but what they lack in numbers they make up for in merchandising, with everyone from Hollywood Hulk Hogan™ to Booker T™ and Rob Van Dam™ [Rob van Who™? - Ed] included. Players will be able to rise their way through the ranks, developing their chosen star's abilities and exploiting their unique "fighting" styles on their way to the WWE™ Heavyweight Championship. Finally there's WWE™ SmackDown!™ Shut Your Mouth on the PlayStation® 2™, featuring more of the same. Compared to previous Sony outings of the franchise, Shut Your Mouth sports enhanced career and season modes, updates to the roster of available characters, revamped controls and a new Create-A-Wrestler option. Some sweaty white trash in a silly costume will be telling you to Shut Your Mouth in November. So there you have it - four wrestling games, five platforms, several thousand trademarks. Related Feature - WWF™ SmackDown™ Just Bring It! review (PS2)

THQ have let slip that they will be publishing a pair of new GameBoy Advance titles from Fox Interactive next year. Heading up the (short) list is a Buffy The Vampire Slayer game, which will presumably have more in common with the old GameBoy Color version than the soon-to-be-released Xbox incarnation. Also on the cards is a handheld version of Simpsons Road Rage, an amusing if fairly unimaginative Crazy Taxi rip-off which has already appeared on the PS2, GameCube and Xbox. With both games still several months away, details are scant and there's no sign yet of any screenshots, but no doubt all will become clear soon. Related Feature - Simpsons Road Rage review (Xbox)

The interminable Pokémon franchise is to receive its next boost in the shape of Pokémons Ruby and Sapphire, owners Nintendo have announced, and the games are to be made available in Japan on November 21st, with the promise of a European appearance before the end of 2003. As with previous Poké-duets, Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire will differ from one another largely in terms of creature content. Owners of both games will be able to build up the biggest army of the cute and cuddly warriors imaginable - until the next pairing anyway. Confirming the deal, Nintendo's David Gosen announced that the GameBoy Pokémon series "has sold over 23 million units across Europe alone." In a further display of might, it was pointed out that Pokémon is now the biggest videogames franchise of all time, with over 31,000 individual licenses worldwide. Nintendo: keeping lawyers busy and away from your children. Yesterday Nintendo wouldn't be drawn on too many details of the new Advance iterations of Pokémon, but we get the impression that fans won't be disappointed. After all, ignoring the sheer volume of the things for a second, Pokémon GameBoy games are uniformly excellent, and if you enjoyed the others, Nintendo's penchant for sending out poorly detailed screenshots during a game's development shouldn't put you off these ones. Related Feature - Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire screenshots (GBA)

In a remarkable example of cross-promotional synergies and other marketing babble, teeny bopper magazine Smash Hits has teamed up with Electronic Arts to produce a comic strip based around the best-selling PC game of all time, The Sims. Now you too can follow the adventures of 14 year old Sarah Sim and her family, as she struggles with conundrums such as which tarty outfit to wear to the Gareth Gates concert, and whether to go to the after-show party in a desperate attempt to pull her pop idol at the risk of being grounded by her parents for not getting home before midnight. Or something.

Return To Castle Wolfenstein today became the latest in a long line of games to head towards the box office, with Columbia Pictures signing a deal to turn the game into a movie. Exact details are currently thin on the ground, but Ananova is reporting that Mark Gordon (League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and John Baldecchi (The Mexican) will be producing the project. Other than that, it's a fair bet that large numbers of Nazis and zombies will be involved, along with an Indiana Jones sized helping of mysterious occult goings on and creepy gothic castles. Meanwhile work is continuing on the planned Aliens vs Predator film, with the official announcement today that Paul Anderson has been signed up to write and direct the feature. Poor Paul is becoming something of a videogame movie specialist - having already directed Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil, he's now signed up for the Resident Evil sequel, Nemesis, and Aliens vs Predator. Again, details are scarce at this early stage, but Variety suggest that the movie will see those silly meddling human scientists once again playing with forces they are unable to contain. Alien Resurrection with added Predators, perhaps? Related Feature - Jill Valentine meets Milla Jovovich?

Ok, so it's a blatant PR stunt, but it's such a bloody stupid story we couldn't resist... With the European release of Turok Evolution now just over fifty days away, some bloke by the name of Jason Read will be forming a queue this week in an effort to be first in line to buy a copy of the game from the Electronics Boutique on Oxford Street, London. Apparently it's an attempt to smash the world record for queuing for a computer game (or anything else, we'd imagine) by some twenty days. "I've been a huge fan of the Turok series and was excited to see that a fourth game is being released later in the year", Jason (old enough to know better) is reported as saying. "This gave me the perfect excuse to make my record-breaking queuing attempt and I'm fully committed to going all the way." To aid Jason in his quest for glory, Acclaim will be providing him with a "state of the art" tent (don't ask) fitted with all mod cons, including a TV and games console powered by a mobile generator, which should let him sit around all day playing other Acclaim games while he waits for the next Turok to arrive. Frankly we'd be amazed if he still wants to even look at another videogame by the end of this ordeal. We'd be even more surprised if someone hadn't stolen the console by the end of next week. Oh, and if anyone spots poor Jason still camped outside Electronics Boutique on the morning of September 6th, be sure to jump the queue and grab the first copy. Bwuhaha. Bwuhahahahaa. Sorry, where were we? Oh yes. Bwuhahahahahahaaa... Related Feature - Turok Evolution interview

With Microsoft still denying any intention to release the Controller S in Europe, those of you wanting a smaller joypad for your Xbox may want to check out the Gamester Compact Pro from British manufacturer Radica. Radica claim to have designed and developed the pad in-house with "a team of leading designers", but a cursory examination shows it to be uncannily similar to the Controller S, from the more compact design and curvaceous shape through to the placement of the buttons and the improved thumbstick surface. The obvious differences are the colour scheme (the Compact Pro has some funky grey trimming to go with the black), the lack of a big green Xbox logo (replaced by a big green Gamester tag) and a slight difference in the design of the D-pad. Oh, and a few of the buttons are lozenge-shaped instead of the round versions found on the Controller S. The Compact Pro should be available in the UK some time next month, and with a recommended retail price of £19.99 it's actually slightly cheaper than buying another standard Xbox controller from Microsoft. Related Feature - No Controller S for Europe

German publisher CDV has signed another World War II game to its line-up, this time in the form of turn-based strategy sequel Combat Mission 2 : Barbarossa To Berlin. As the title suggests, the focus has been shifted to the eastern front, taking players from the invasion of Russia in June 1941 through to the fall of Berlin in May 1945. Building on the popular gameplay of the original, the sequel will sport an even wider range of units, a greatly improved graphics engine, a range of new weather effects and a more user-friendly and comprehensive interface. The editing tools have been given an overhaul as well, making it easier for fans of the series to add to the ten mini-campaigns and fifty historical battles included in the new game. Combat Mission 2 is expected on shelves across Europe this September, which strikes us a bit late in the year to launch an invasion of Russia, but there you go. In the meantime, would-be panzer generals can admire some early recon shots of the game in action and start laying their plans. Related Feature - Combat Mission 2 screenshots

Sega and Namco, working together on a game. What excitement can we expect to venture forth from this vast, collective imagination? Innovative gameplay, a detailed story, likeable characters, beautiful visuals, a memorable soundtrack? How about none of the above? Apparently somebody threw a light gun amongst the two teams and they vomited forth this abomination. Welcome to Vampire Night, an exercise in slap-dash game composition.

Eidos' oddball management sim Beach Life is now on track for a September 6th release, slightly later than anticipated but just in time for you to relive all your (hazy) memories of holidays in the Mediterranean. For those of you who haven't been keeping track of the game, it sets you the task of building an Ibiza-style holiday paradise, complete with bars, nightclubs, casinos and wet t-shirt contests. Or you can just sit back and watch your little Sims-style visitors enjoying themselves. Eidos' Ian Livingstone, who came up with the idea in the first place, is promising punters a winning mix of "cheap booze, loud music, romance, polluted water, mosquitoes, hot sun and beach volleyball". Will it be even better than the real thing? We should know soon, but in the meantime why not ogle the latest set of sizzling screenshots to emerge from Eidos. Related Feature - Beach Life screenshots

Vivendi Universal Games (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) have announced a publishing deal with Oxford's finest, Rebellion, which will see the French behemoth handling the forthcoming Judge Dredd vs Judge Death. Based on the long-running comic strip series from 2000AD (who are now owned by Rebellion), the game will be a first person shooter that takes you through the streets of Mega-City One as the square-jawed law enforcer himself. Along the way you'll get to judge plenty of people in Dredd's own unique style, taking on villains ranging from the evil Judge Death to .. er .. caffeine addicts. This being a Dredd game, you won't simply be able to blow away every criminal you find, as the sentence should be (at least vaguely) proportional to the crime. Littering might be an offence, but it's not necessarily something that carries an instant death sentence. "Judge Dredd has always been an obvious choice as a videogame licence, but no one has ever managed to put across the atmosphere and awesome visual scale of the comics in a game before", according to Rebellion CEO and 2000AD fan Jason Kingsley. "Now a combination of our powerful Asura engine, and our love for the character will enable us to put out the Judge Dredd game that gamers and comics fans have been demanding for so many years." Dredd vs Death is expected to arrive on a PC near you some time next year. Prepare to be Judged. Related Feature - Rebellion are the law

The 16th annual World Hobby Fair has taken place in Tokyo this weekend, showcasing toys mostly, and in particular a handful of displays from the likes of Sega, Sony and Nintendo, with Konami and Capcom looking on from what we can gather. Sega built us all up for the World Hobby Fair, but actually announced everything ahead of the event, including Sonic Advance 2 on the GameBoy Advance, which is due out at the end of the year in Japan and was receiving heavy playing attention from those lucky enough to make it to the front of the queue. Sega also had Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II, Super Monkey Ball 2 and Sonic Mega Collection up and running, although we don't know if the latter was in a playable state. The platform-hopping third party developer also had a version of Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution running, with a peculiarly dressed individual fighting only the worthy, etc. Sony's efforts were a bit more reserved, promoting the new black and blue PlayStation 2 units with Ape Escape 2 the only game receiving much of a boost, although Capcom's Auto Modellista (due out sometime next year at this point) was available to play. Nintendo, presumably already giddy at the prospect of its bank balance next week, what with Mario Sunshine due out in Japan this Friday, was apparently letting gamers queue for up to an hour for a quick go, although some skived off and waited for Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 on the GBA instead. That's right chaps - don't spoil your appetite for Sunshine. And of course, lest we forget, there is a third console. The Xbox version of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was also on display. Other toys we caught sight of included a boxing game with gloves hooked up to motion sensors, where the player actually threw the punches, and it looked a darn sight more "gamey" than similar displays at last year's ECTS. No doubt much more was hidden behind the language barrier, and we invite you to try and decipher it yourselves. Thanks to GameWatch for reporting in such graphic detail. Related Feature - Sonic Mega Games

When it was originally announced, it was part of an abortive campaign to confuse and annoy cranially challenged members of the press [like us -Ed], but since then Sonic Team's surprise GameCube project has been praised by Mega Drive / Genesis nuts and bemoaned by those who think another compendium of 2D platformers is a bit of a cheap trick. Whatever your opinion of it, we now know what your hard-earned moolah will pay for. As originally predicted, the line-up will include the three Sonic The Hedgehog adventures, not to mention Sonic & Knuckles, and completing the package will be Sonic 3D Blast, Sonic Spinball and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (a sort of Tetris clone). Rumours of Sonic CD's inclusion were apparently entirely fabricated, which is a shame. Nevertheless, if you arrived in the realms of gaming a bit later than the rest of us (which is hardly a crime, although the vast majority of 16-bit games were), then Sonic Mega Collection still represents a pint-sized peep into the past. Related Feature - Sonic Mega Collection

Although it appears that the highly anticipated World Sports Cars game may now have been retired, there is a silver lining to this particular cloud, as developers West Racing have unveiled a brand new project - Racing Legends. To call it ambitious would be an understatement of epic proportions; the West brothers are apparently setting out to create a kind of episodic motor racing sim, with a core game which will then be extended and improved over time. Expansion packs would include everything from new features such as real-time telemetry and interactive pit stops to new tracks, cars and championships. Plans are already afoot for the game to cover everything from rallying and hill climbs to drag racing and the golden years of Formula One, with players able to pick and choose which events and features they're interested in and upgrade their game accordingly. To make these add-on packs more attractive, they will come in fancy presentation packs complete with new pages for your manual, which can be slotted into a selection of Racing Legends binders, ranging from plain plastic to embossed leather. The add-on code itself will appear on a lovingly printed e-Card, while those of us with slot loading CD-Rom drives will be glad to hear that more conventional round versions of the discs should be available as well. Racing Legends is certainly an interesting concept, aiming to turn a videogame into a collector's item for hardcore motor racing sim fanatics. As such it's really aimed at a fairly niche market and will only be available via the developer's website and at some real-world motor sports events. Sadly the pricing is likely to reflect this, although this is one subject that the West Racing website remains remarkably reticent about. Indeed, at this stage details on the game are thin on the ground and the nearest we have to screenshots are renders of a couple of cars, but no doubt all will become clear soon, with an initial release expected before the end of this year.

Before Duke Nukem went 3D, he was the star of a pair of fairly amusing shareware platform games. Now the Manhattan Project is taking him back to those roots, with an all-new side-scrolling action game that sports a mixture of retro gameplay and snappy 3D graphics.

Earlier this week we took a look at American Conquest, the new real-time strategy game from Cossacks developers GSC Game World. This isn't the only American-themed strategy game in the works for German publisher CDV though - Related Designs are already hard at work on No Man's Land, covering a similar period of history but with a fully 3D graphics engine. The focus this time is on the colonisation of the wild west, with three campaigns taking the player from 1600 to 1900, with English, Spanish and American forces to take control of, as well as native tribes. But although the game has a historical setting and a variety of authentic units for each time period, it's not above taking liberties with reality, as demonstrated by the latest set of screenshots to issue forth from CDV, which show a native American unit apparently using magic to summon an animal. No doubt all will become clear as No Man's Land nears completion, which should be some time next summer. In the meantime, have a shufti at the latest shots of the game in action. Related Feature - No Man's Land screenshots

Although the developers have skipped a few numbers on the way to Chessmaster 9000, it's fair to say that the series has a long history behind it. And with over five million copies sold along the way, apparently making it the best selling franchise in chess videogame history, there's no doubt somebody out there eagerly anticipating the latest version. Due out this autumn, the new game will add 3D graphics to the mix, which from past experience tends to be a bit gratuitous for a chess game - the good old fashioned 2D boards are always the easiest ones to play on. Naturally there will once again be a vast selection of tutorials and background information (two CDs worth, no less) on offer to introduce inexperienced players to the joys of chess, while the AI is also capable of giving more advanced players something to think about. At the end of the day though it's chess - how exciting can it be?

Yesterday in Fear And Loathing In Antarctica we spoke to The Thing's senior producer, Chris Hadley of Computer Artworks, about the behaviour of your squad mates in the game and how they react to your actions, the environment they find themselves in and the Thing beasts that you're going up against. Today we go behind the scenes to find out more about the game's development, and to discover what it is that your men have to be afraid of...

Ever since Bungie was bought out by Microsoft and their latest project Halo became primarily an Xbox title, the company has kept on promising that original plans for PC and Macintosh versions were still alive. But details were ominously thin on the ground, and Microsoft themselves were keeping quiet on the subject, leaving many fans sceptical. Given that Halo pretty much sold the Xbox single handed, with most people who bought the console picking up a copy of the futuristic first person shooter as well, you can hardly blame Microsoft for staying schtum about any possible port. Now the wait is finally over though, as Microsoft have officially confirmed for the first time that PC and Mac versions of the game are indeed in the works at last, and that both should be available some time next year. Rather than tying up Bungie for another year, Microsoft have instead farmed out the project to two other development studios - Westlake Interactive for the Mac version, and Gearbox Software for the PC. "We've been dying to play Halo online with a PC ever since its spectacular launch last year", Gearbox president Randy Pitchford enthused. "The team at Gearbox has the experience and the talent to not only bring Halo to the PC, but also to add enhancements that exploit the multiplayer capabilities that PCs are known for." Indeed, Gearbox have carved out something of a niche for themselves over the last few years, developing a host of add-on packs, spin-offs and console ports for Half-Life, as well as handling the PC versions of Tony Hawk 3 and EA's forthcoming James Bond game NightFire. It will be interesting to see what they can do with Halo, particularly when it comes to adding proper online support to a game that was only designed with split-screen and network play in mind. Of course, the big question is, will they cut that damn library level down to size? Related Feature - Halo review (Xbox)

Not satisfied with ripping up entire cities on the GameCube with the funky looking Godzilla : Destroy All Monsters Melee, Infogrames have announced that Japan's most famous radioactive monster will be stomping his way on to the GameBoy Advance this autumn. Titled Godzilla : Domination, the new game will mirror the GameCube incarnation by letting one to four players take control of their favourite Toho monster and beat the living daylights out of each other, fighting their way across an isometric city. Naturally there will be a full range of traditional beat 'em up modes on offer for solo or group gaming. Story gives you control of one monster and sets you the task of defeating the other five to unlock a final mystery opponent. Survival pits you against a flood of monsters to see how many you can beat before you fall. Custom lets you set up a single battle between any two monsters for settling those inevitable late night "Godzilla could take Gamera with one arm tied behind his back" arguments. And then there's the multiplayer options, which allow up to four people to battle it out, although if you only have one cartridge between you everyone will be stuck with the same monster. Godzilla is due out on Infogrames' Atari label in October in the USA, and will hopefully arrive here in Europe around the same time. Related Feature - Godzilla Melee screenshots

Amongst the various products Mad Catz recently announced for the current slew of games consoles lurks this peculiar green light gun, or 'blaster' as it's affectionately described on the company's website. A light gun will be required to play Sega's House of the Dead III when it arrives on Xbox later this year, and Mad Catz' offering is the first example we've seen on the Xbox. And in the strongest of light gun peripheral traditions, it's a bit of an eyesore.

Typical - you wait three years for a decent RC racing game, and then two of them come along in the space of a couple of weeks. While PlayStation 2 fans can look forward to Smash Cars, PC owners are now being serviced by Dutch developer BumbleBeast, who are planning an August release for their Big Scale Racing. The game features ten highly detailed one fifth scale radio control cars and six real life race tracks to pilot them around, along with a wide selection of AI opponents to race against and the traditional choice of training, quick race and championship modes. Multiplayer support for up to eight players over a LAN is also on the cards, as well as two player split-screen action. If you just can't wait to take some of these dimunitive cars for a spin, head over to the Big Scale Racing website and grab the free 24Mb demo version, which includes one of the game's tracks but only gives you a minute to get round it. Related Feature - Smash Cars

As we reported a while ago, Logitech plans to release a PlayStation 2 gamepad based on Bluetooth wireless technology later this year, and the controller was shown off at the Bluetooth Congress in June. Yesterday, Californian peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz announced its own competing controller, to replace its previous infrared offerings and compete with the growing number of wireless controllers permeating the market.

Namco has announced three new additions to the character roster for Soul Calibur II, which should be arriving in Japanese arcades as we speak. Tekken's Yoshimitsu will be putting in an appearance and Cervantes the pirate will be returning, along with an Inferno-esque character named Charade. Soul Calibur II already boasts an impressive array of fighters, and these additions bring the total up to 14 (unless you believe the rumours about Link and Fox McCloud). The Japanese release of SCII is due out on the current generation of console at the start of 2003. Related Feature - Soul Calibur II preview

Lost Toys' forthcoming PlayStation 2 and Xbox war game Battle Engine Aquila is to be accompanied by the work of musician Nathan McCree, whose CV includes the scores of Tomb Raiders I-III. "I was looking for a full dramatic cinematic sound without having to hire a full orchestra," Lost Toys Director Jeremy Longley admitted. "Nathan's past work really stood out amongst the crowd." Battle Engine Aquila is currently set for release in September 2002, and we understand that the game is very close to completion. Related Feature - Battle Engine Aquila screenshots (Xbox)

Sega has released the very first screenshots of Sonic Advance 2, the sequel to the Hedgehog's extremely popular GBA exclusive adventure of earlier this year. We can also see the full complement of characters; Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, each of whom looks pretty detailed - Tails' propeller-movement is in evidence, and Knuckles is busy diving onto a pipe to no doubt perform some aerial insanity. The shots are very reminiscent of the late Mega Drive / Genesis games, with layered background scrolling by the looks of things, pipes to clamber onto, green hill, lava-soaked and .. pink alien-esque environments to run around in. Sonic Advance 2 is expected before the end of the year, and from these shots it would seem that at least three zones are shaping up nicely. Related Feature - Sonic Advance 2 screenshots