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Welcome to the second day of ECTS 2002 at London's Earls Court. As the PlayStation Experience thunders along next door, hoovering up and then spilling countless skaters and other PS2 goodie bag-toting youths happily into the streets by the hour, the trade show located behind closed doors continues to swell as journalists and other games industry folk wander up and down the aisles taking in the sights and sounds. Yesterday was home to the Broken Sword press conference and ECTS keynotes, and today is set to include the ECTS Awards presented by Gaz Top (whose claims to fame include everything from HOW2 and MTV VJing to a current TV series of Game Pad with wife Violet Berlin), and the second day of NVIDIA's Unreal Tournament 2003, er, tournament, amongst other things. UT2003 brought with it Epic's Mark Rein and Jay Wilbur, who took on yesterday's finalists and thoroughly defeated them to their mutual embarrassment. Presumably when the title hits the streets there will be some competition to stand up to the pair of them - unless of course they receive their comeuppance from today's combatants. As for the awards - there are plenty of games on display to vie for the judges' attention, from Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and Acclaim's Vexx to Rage's Rocky and Ubi Soft's countless Clancy blockbusters. Pan-European awards sponsored by a number of publications will also be handed out, and of course publishers, innovative developers and peripheral manufacturers won't be left out either. We'll bring you the news as soon as we hear it from our perch just outside Pizza Express, when the ceremony finishes later this afternoon.

Settling down in a comfy leather chair, presumably modelled after the one Morpheus used in the Matrix, Infogrames proceeded to reel off footage of six titles on the way in the near future. The board above the theatre entrance proudly displayed the words "ENTER THE MATRIX" amongst five other teasers, and as we scuttled through the door our anticipation swelled. The show kicked off with a fairly uneventful trailer of Reflections' new driver, Stuntman. Unfortunately we didn't really get to see anything new, especially since we had been playing it an hour previously in the PlayStation Experience. Moving on, the next games to grace our screens were Unreal triplets, the highlight of which was definitely Unreal 2, fluttering its eyelashes seductively and winning us over with some incredible draw distances and gorgeous visuals that earned their place on the big screen. Superman was up next in a trailer for his Xbox outing, and we were immediately impressed with how the game was looking, in particular the immense, sprawling comic book cityscapes stretching out into the distance. This was the perfect background to the wonderfully overblown special effects utilised by Superman and the various villains on display - flying around wielding large chunks of civic buildings looks like great fun. We also got to see the other Superman game in development, Shadow of Apokolips, this time on PS2 in a cel-shaded form more suited to his ancestry. The PS2 adventure is looking good, but nowhere near as technically impressive or indeed as fun as the Xbox title. Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee on the GameCube made an appearance, and it looks insanely fun. We couldn't help displaying a broad grin as the enormous mutant lizard and a variety of other bizarre adversaries attack each other with some spectacular special effects, all the while stomping the surrounding city to the ground. Superb. We've been extremely worried about Terminator: Dawn of Fate on the Xbox since we first got our hands on some screen shots a few months ago. The trailer for the game on show served only to increase those fears as we were shown an entirely CG sequence, and a fairly unimpressive one at that. We could and should be excited about a Terminator license, but Infogrames were reluctant to show us what the game actually looked like. Ho hum. Oh, and what of The Matrix? Saved for the end of the showreel, Infogrames had decided to tack on the Matrix Reloaded trailer that's been swimming around on the Internet for months now. Cheeky devils.

Vivendi's recently established Black Label Games brand will publish Mace Girffin: Bounty Hunter on PS2, Cube and Xbox in March 2003, the Frenchmen announced this morning in London. The PC version will be published by Electronic Arts. Mace certainly looked bleak and sounded gruff based on the trailer footage witnessed this morning, and Vivendi is promising a smooth transition between gameplay sections set in first person action levels and in deep space combat. Mace himself is a disavowed ranger, thrown in the clink for 10 years after he led an unsuccessful coup against the powers-that-shouldn't-be. Now he's all pissed off, and apparently he's going to wreak havoc and kill every last one of them. Related Feature - Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter screenshots (PC)

Yesterday's press conference at ECTS gave us our first glimpse of Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, the third episode in the million selling adventure series from British developers Revolution. And mighty impressive it looked too, with eye-catching 3D graphics and action-packed gameplay and cinematics. Which begged the question, is this really an adventure game? Luckily then we managed to track down studio boss Charles Cecil at the end of the press conference to find out more about the game's adventure credentials and how it fits into the Broken Sword saga...

Sudden Strike shot straight to the top of the charts in many European countries when it was released back in 2000, and with a combination of fiendish gameplay, epic battles and the ever-popular World War II setting, it was perhaps no surprise. It was only natural then that the game soon spawned a sequel to cash in on that success, and with Sudden Strike II arriving in the UK today, we caught up with producer Thorsten Feld from publisher CDV to find out more...

One of the hits of the show so far (at least as far as PC games go) is Bandits from Swedish developers Grin, a fast-paced vehicular action game set in the now ubiquitous post-apocalyptic future. As you might expect there's plenty of Mad Max style shenanigans in store as you drive through environments varying from deserts and sandy beaches to snowfields, but the real attraction at ECTS has been the game's multiplayer modes. With four computers networked together, each sporting three monitors courtesy of Matrox's new Parhelia graphics card, it's certainly an eye-catching prospect. Grin CEO Bo Andersson warned us that "smoke is very important to me", and that's fairly obvious when you watch the game - smoke trails arc through the sky as you fire rockets, grenades and mortars at each other, and spectacular explosions rip vehicles apart, leaving little piles of debris behind. If you can stop shooting each other long enough to appreciate the visuals, the game also sports some incredibly detailed terrain and vehicles, with all the independently animated shock absorbers and whatnot that you would expect. Having had a play on the game earlier, we're happy to say that it's just as much fun to play as it is to watch. The controls are a bit fiddly at first, but as the game has just gone gold we should have more time to practice our drive-by shooting skills in the near future. Related Feature - Bandits screenshots

Early this afternoon we were lucky enough to steal some time with Capcom's Yoshihiro Sudo, producer of Gio Gio's Bizarre Adventure and Auto Modellista, who spoke to us about the game's conception, misconceptions and the things that help it to stand out from the swathe of competing titles.

Drawing perhaps the largest crowd in the PlayStation Experience today, The Getaway was available to play on an enormous collection of booths, and those privileged enough to get to the front of the assembled throng were able to try one of the most eagerly awaited PS2 games since... well, since we first heard about it three years ago. Yours truly was one of the privileged few [violent few, more like -Ed], and first impressions are that the game could quite possibly be everything we were expecting of it. The most glaringly obvious point that we have to make about The Getaway is how astoundingly gorgeous the whole thing looks. Present day London is modelled in incredibly anal detail, and has photo-based textures to match - it's a miracle that the PS2 manages to move it all around at any sort of pace, but we barely noticed any slowdown as we took to the streets on a high-speed chase. To top it all off, the draw distance is impressive with only a miniscule amount of fogging right in the distance. The game has no actual interface or HUD to speak of, which is apparently a design decision in order to lend the game its overwhelmingly filmic quality. Instead of a radar, your car's indicators merely blink in the direction you're supposed to be heading. Also, instead of a health bar, your character limps like a weak puppy and bleeds through his clothes until he takes enough bullets to finally drop to the floor. Cut-scenes begin and end each action segment, gently unravelling the tale, and are superbly acted and directed. The motion-captured characters interact with each other in the finest British gangster flick tradition, and level of extremely bad language in the script has justifiably earned the game an 18 certificate. Developers Team Soho seemed particularly proud of their achievement in making the game so starkly unpleasant and its resemblance to film and television favourites Snatch, Lock Stock and The Sweeney. The Getaway is sure to go down a storm with a public gagging for a new GTA-style title, or a game that injects some much needed gritty realism into the cartoon violence formula of GTA 3. While there are still quite a few rough edges to be tidied up, particularly in the cut-scene department and character models, The Getaway looks to be entirely deserving of our attention when it hits the shelves in a couple of months.

Sony's EyeToy is one of the more eccentric peripherals on display this year at ECTS, demonstrated exclusively inside the PlayStation Experience. Billed as something that would "revolutionise the way we play games", it boils down to what is essentially a webcam that plugs into the USB port on your PS2. Applications that are designed to utilise the technology then overlay graphics for the player to interact with in real-time. Drawing the crowds at the demo pods were three different titles; WishiWashi was a bizarre little game that puts you up against a friend to see who can wash the most windows with their sponge. Kung Foo was a simplistic 2D action game reminiscent of classic arcade titles like Shinobi and Double Dragon with players flinging their arms in the direction of ninja opponents advancing from beyond the screen boundaries. Finally we saw a rhythm-action game where the player punched on-screen speakers in time to music, which brought back painful memories of late night Samba de Amigo sessions that we'd really rather forget. The latter is probably the more obvious application for the EyeToy technology, but it's difficult to see where else developers could take it in order to revolutionise our experience. It seems to be a sure-fire hit with the kids though, so if your better half is complaining that you don't spend enough time with the family, this could be just the excuse you need to spend more time on your PS2. Word is that the EyeToy will ship with a compendium of 18 small titles to get you going, with more titles to follow.

As you might expect, the stands with playable software are drawing the biggest crowds here at ECTS, and Ubi Soft's was no exception. In fact, in typical Ubi style, most of the stand was shut away for press drinks (wahey) and press screening rooms, where we were busy playing Rayman 3 with the game's producer, meaning that the crowds spilt out onto the gangways and caused a right royal blockage. And of course, the more crowded things get, the more people are busy trying to catch a glimpse. A section of the stand facing outwards was given over to what we were told was an E3 demo of Rayman 3, along with versions of Splinter Cell, XIII and lone PC title Raven Shield, which was, if anything, enjoying the lion's share of the spectators. Splinter Cell looked resplendent, with quirky visual modes adding to the MGS-style gameplay, and those immersed at the console simply would not be kicked off. If you thought the screenshots were a bit too good, you should see the game in motion - you'll come to the same conclusion. XIII, likewise, was very impressive in action, coupling typical cel-shading effects with slightly less typical visual approximations of sound effects. "Tap… tap… tap…" gradually crawls along a wall - certainly helpful in the din of ECTS - and before long a guard emerges and you make use of your stealthier weapons to silence him. Rayman 3 was perhaps the biggest surprise to us, borrowing aspects from a myriad different genres and infusing them into one single experience. The game thrusts you from obvious platform elements into boat-racing and helicopting, and juggling the various aspects of the control system is refreshingly different to mastering the likes of Mario Sunshine. The graphical style when it comes to level design, characters and power-up visuals are all extremely distinctive.

German developers Westka Interactive made a splash earlier this year when they unveiled The Y-Project, an Unreal-engined action-adventure game. That wasn't the only game they had on show in the Developers Pavilion at ECTS today though - they've also announced a brand new game called Race Tracks Unlimited.

Rage's stand was buzzing with activity surrounding their four key ECTS titles. Rocky was displayed on Xbox and Cube and won our attention straight away, allowing us to pit the boxing legend against adversaries from the five films, as well as his transcendental self from Rockys I-V. The game is instantly accessible with four key punch types and a block button, which, when gripped allows Rocky to duck and weave with the motion of the analogue stick to avoid blows, also readying himself for uppercuts and roundhouse attacks. The array of fighters was quite marvellous, and we couldn't even place half of them, but those we could were well defined with rippling muscles. Judging by the oohs and aahs from various ladies loitering on the Rage pavilion, the curves and glistening sweat was quite flawlessly executed. It certainly seemed to outdo Codemasters' recent Mike Tyson outing in terms of accessibility and visual prowess. We hope to spend some more time with Rocky and find out what makes him tick when we speak to Rage later on this week. Elsewhere Rage were exhibiting Twin Caliber, the on-the-rails shooter which gives you control of the main protagonist's pistol-toting arms as they trundle around the proverbial hell on earth. Wading through prison complexes packed to bursting with the undead and blasting them with the analogue stick-shoulder button configurations took a little getting used to, but after a couple of minutes both myself and Martin were dispatching them left, right and centre, miraculously making it through to a boss character who then proceeded to electrocute us to our untimely ends. Although the code we saw was having difficulty keeping up with us, the graphics were quite impressive and the body motion was almost perfect, even if perhaps the heads ought to be shifting focus here and there instead of gazing ahead. Given the amount of blood, guts and gore literally flying around as we dismembered zombies, Twin Caliber is sure to receive an 18 certificate, but it's also sure to attract the attention of gamers in search of mindless blasting fun. Lamborghini on Xbox also caught our gaze with instantly gratifying looks, but there were still chinks evident in the gameplay and particularly the physics system. That said, the game proved extremely accessible with a standard control system as we flung the car around the track, boasting plenty of minutiae and minute detail both on the flashy cars and trackside, but perhaps the most impressive aspect was the towering cityscape looming over the track. The final title Rage had for us was Tony Hawk-alike Rolling, and we were immediately struck by how much it reminded us of Aggressive Inline. However, the animation was a cut above the game's only major in-line skating competition, even if level furniture was a bit sparse. We hope to get some more hands-on time with the game, but from a few minutes grinding and hopping about the place, it seemed to be quite a satisfying experience.

Mobile phone operator Orange today announced the formation of its new games publishing division, which will be focusing on "massively mobile multiplayer games", with six original titles already in development and due out within the next year. All of them will, naturally, be exclusive to Orange, which will be running the games on its own dedicated server system, complete with persistent worlds, online league tables and other features more usually associated with desktop gaming. Amongst the initial line-up is Judge Dredd: Cityquake, a multiplayer action game developed by 2000AD owners Rebellion in which criminals and judges battle it out across Mega City One. Due out this winter, the game will allow you to take on all-comers or to play with your friends in a closed game, with citations and bounties being provided for top players. Rebellion are also working on Star Runner, a space trading game where players can build a trading empire by exploring star systems, upgrading their ship, forming alliances and fighting with scavengers blocking potential trade routes. Another possible highlight is Blood & Sand, a gladiatorial combat game in which players purchase, train and equip gladiators and send them into battle across the Roman Empire. Developers Atomic Planet Entertainment are promising "a labyrinth of opportunities and endless combat scenarios" as you make your way towards glory in the Coliseum in Rome. And if you fancy something completely different, how about Atomic's dating simulator Gangsta Of Love? Yes, you too can now explore bars, clubs, casinos and pools in search of your perfect partner, building up a "little black book" full of dates and contacts as you progress. Bizarre...

Intel are showcasing their latest 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processors at ECTS this week, with all the usual promises of giving PC owners a richer experience with faster games, music, movies and kitchen sinks. Apparently high performance Pentium 4 based systems are also "a valuable investment for a child's education". Rather more interesting for gamers though is the fact that (like NVIDIA) Intel have Unreal Tournament 2003 running on their stand to demonstrate just what all that processing power actually means at the end of the day, taking "graphics, sound and gameplay .. beyond the bleeding edge". The game (and in particular its physics system) has been optimized for Pentium 4 processors, hopefully providing higher framerates. As well as demoing forthcoming games, Intel will also be showing off a pair of highly customised 2.8GHz Pentium 4 based PCs on their stand. Produced by veteran PC modders Mark "Geezer" Weitz and Barry "Cold-Dog" Collins, the computers sport plenty of shiny metal, viewing ports, bright paintwork and twiddly knobs as well as Intel processors, GeForce 4 graphics cards, Audigy soundcards and unfeasibly large fans to cool the whole thing down. But are they, as Intel proclaim, "works of art", or merely the product of people with far too much spare time? Judge for yourself, but we anxiously await a case mods exhibition at Tate Modern...

ECTS isn't just about PC gaming and the big console platforms - there are also a variety of mobile phone gaming companies at the show. Amongst them is IN-FUSIO, who will be showing off what they claim is the world's first colour 3D mobile phone game, powered by their own ExEn graphics engine. Mission 3D is a first person shooter (what else) in which you play a secret agent battling a mad scientist and killer robots, with additional levels and equipment available to download via SMS request. Product manager Noelle Beronie describes it as ushering in "a new era in mobile games" as the first real-time 3D actioneer, and we'll hopefully be taking a look at it for ourselves later in the week to see whether it lives up to this billing.

Codemasters will be releasing a new "Game Of The Year Edition" of Operation Flashpoint this autumn, giving gamers who have yet to indulge themselves the "ultimate" version of the excellent Cold War tactical action game. Included in the box is the original game and both the Red Hammer and Resistance add-on packs, along with all the latest upgrades to bring the game right up to date. That adds up to three campaigns and an array of stand-alone and multiplayer missions taking in the US, Russian and rebel forces, with a wide range of weapons and vehicles for all three sides in the conflict. If you haven't already bought the game, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this pack. Related Feature - Resistance is futile

Not to be outdone by their British brethren, who have sponsored a (non-existent) world record queuing attempt and offered gamers money to change their name to Turok, Acclaim's US marketing department has decided to go one better. They're celebrating the release of the company's latest first person shooter by offering $10,000 to parents willing to name their baby Turok. Amusingly dubbed the "Turok labor day contest" [oh dear], the competition will be won by the first parents to produce a baby Turok on release day September 1st. To find out more, head over to the competition page. Related Feature - Mr Turok, I presume?

While most of us were still setting up our stands in the main hall of ECTS, the second European edition of the Game Developers Conference was already in full swing in the meeting rooms upstairs. As you might expect, some of the topics being covered were rather esoteric or even downright boring for casual observers, but the first day of lectures kicked off with an event that anyone interested in gaming could relate to - a discussion on the future of videogame technology. Arrayed on the stage to consider this weighty subject were some of the leading lights of the British gaming industry - David Braben, Peter Molyneux, Jez San and Demis Hassabis.

Summoner 2 has gone gold, as they say, and will ship to retailers in the US from September 13th onwards. The good news for fans of the original game is that the sequel's October 25th release date, currently proposed by THQ, is starting to sound more and more believable. Related Feature - Summoner 2 screenshots

Despite having been originally announced in July of 2000 and released in the US during 2001, Singularity Software informs us that RoboForge is finally set for a European release date this November. RoboForge is a similar idea to popular TV series Robot Wars, although gamers have been spared enthusiastic presentation from the likes of Craig Charles and Jonathan Pearce. Instead, the idea is to design and train your robot and then enter them into free-to-enter or professional online tournaments, competing for prize money. Singularity Software MD Noel Hargrave believes that "prize money and a wealth of online competitors means [RoboForge] is set to usher in the age of the true professional online gamer." You can add low system requirements to the list of good things about it, too - those wishing to take part will need only a 233MHz CPU, 64MB RAM and an 8MB 3D card. Related Feature - RoboForge preview

NVIDIA might not have any big new graphics cards to announce at this year's ECTS, but they're making up for it by showcasing a range of top PC titles running on their latest hardware. Heading up the list is Unreal Tournament 2003, with NVIDIA's stand hosting the world's first ever tournament dedicated to the game during the course of the show. "NVIDIA are the leaders in the graphics business and UT2003 sets will set a new plateau for graphical detail in PC games - it's only natural that we work very closely with them", a justifiably smug Mark Rein told the press. Other highlights include the PC version of Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness, which is sure to cause a stir, and the latest "big thing" to hit internet gaming - Battlefield 1942. Rounding out the line-up will be the forthcoming Lithtech powered movie tie-in Tron 2.0, CDV's first person shooter Breed, and the latest installment in the never-ending Delta Force saga - Black Hawk Down. Related Feature - Unreal Tournament 2003 screenshots

At E3 in May, Konami trotted out an agenda to rival the likes of Electronic Arts, but there were and will be at ECTS several major highlights which permeate the layers of licensed Disney sports games and other generic titles, and they're three of the most anticipated games on any system all year.

It's the eve of the biggest event on the Eurogamer's calendar, and as you may have spotted, the site's undergone a bit of a headswap to celebrate. Rest assured that this year's ECTS will more than make up for any past shortfall in publisher presence, and our official coverage will be appearing by the minute throughout the show, from Thursday to Saturday. We'll be sending our scouts into the PlayStation Experience, too, so even if you can't make it in person you'll know exactly what's going on by proxy. If you're not sure what to expect from the show, don't worry! We've disrupted developers and pestered publishers to produce a compendium of highlights. Of course, the best thing about trade shows is that often, the cream of the crop only emerges when we're there in person, so make sure you tune in to find out what's going on. In the meantime, relish these previews of Konami, Capcom, Acclaim, Rage and various indies, and get ready to find out how everything from cel-shaded racers and raunchy skating games to Russian shooters and survival horror updates are shaping up for this year and next. Enjoy the show!

Microsoft has unexpectedly responded to Sony's long overdue European PlayStation 2 price cut by slashing Xbox to £159.99 - a drop of £40 and a tenner saving on PS2. The new price point will become effective on August 30th, the same day as Sony's equivalent. This places Xbox comfortably between GameCube at £129.99 and the more expensive PlayStation 2 - a useful place for Microsoft's console to be with a strong line-up of Christmas titles to back it up. "The video games industry is more robust than ever this year, and new consoles and games are expected to dominate Christmas wish lists," said Sandy Duncan, Vice President, Xbox Europe. "Xbox is extremely well-positioned to be at the top of those lists because it's the best value. The intense power and gaming experiences consumers get with Xbox is simply unsurpassed." With Xbox Live taking shape in the US and Europe at the moment, one would expect attractively priced bundle packages to squeeze Sony's belated alternative out of contention. Microsoft was also keen to point out that single players can expect the likes of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Toejam & Earl III, Panzer Dragoon ORTA and "Halo-beater" Brute Force in the run up to Christmas.

The world needs more robot dinosaur beat 'em ups. Virtua Fighter 4 was fabulous, but if you'd been manipulating a T-Rex in colossal mechanical combat with some sort of raptor it would have been even better. Probably. Either way, GameCube owners in Japan will soon be given the opportunity to fulfil their dino-robot-stomping fantasies in a new beat 'em up called ZOIDS VS, based on the early morning cartoon which you'll see on Sky One. And thanks to the popularity of the show in the UK, it's not too hard to imagine this hitting our shores in due course. The game is due out on September 6th in Japan, and is described by its developer as a single or two-player beat 'em up in the same vein as Virtual On. The developer also boasts that it includes a unique system for allowing the mechs to move realistically over uneven terrain, which will have obvious gameplay implications. Have a butcher's at some of the screenshots so far released by publisher Tomy and imagine it for yourself. Related Feature - ZOIDS VS screenshots

Sam & Max, the wily Freelance Police fondly remembered for their spectacular 1993 PC adventure (and Steve Purcell's original comic book series, natch) will return in the first quarter of 2004 for a genuinely long-awaited PC sequel. The good news is that Sam & Max will be a sequel in more than just name, thanks to direction from the original title's co-director Michael Stemmle. Developer LucasArts is resurrecting the hound and bunny duo for yet more comedic adventure game antics, just as it revived Full Throttle earlier this year, although nobody knows too much about either title at this stage.

The PlayStation 2 will be priced at £169.99 as of September 1st, giving Sony an extra boost in a console war it's already winning by a significant margin - and driving the PAL install base of the PS2 from its current level of 8.25 million to 14 million units by the end of the year, if SCEE's figures are to be believed. The price cut leaves the ball firmly in Microsoft's court once more, with the Xbox now the most expensive console again - albeit by a margin of £30 rather than the £100 gap when the system launched in mid-March. PS2 is already outselling the Xbox by a large margin, and Microsoft is likely to cut the price of its system to compete - perhaps by as much as £50, bringing the console to £149.99, exactly half of its launch price, within eight months on sale. A drop in the Xbox price in Japan is already rumoured, with sources there suggesting that Microsoft are contemplating price-matching the GameCube in that territory - and dropping the price of its software as well. Although the company has recently embarked on a series of price cutting strategies at manufacturing level on Xbox, such a move would only deepen the financial wounds being inflicted on the company by the console, which is already being sold at a very significant loss. Nintendo's GameCube is less likely to be affected by the PS2 move - it remains the cheapest of the consoles at £129.99, and its strong roster of first and second party titles leading into Christmas will provide regular sales boosts for the system. A drop, perhaps to £99.99, cannot be ruled out however, as this would bring the European price in line with the Japanese price point for the hardware. The new PS2 price, which is effective from midnight this Saturday, translates to approximately 259 Euros in the rest of the EU.

America's Interactive Digital Software Association is doing its bit for the War On Terror™ by donating consoles and games to each of the 72 submarines in the US Navy's fleet. We weren't aware that there was much call for submarines in the mountains of Afghanistan, but apparently they've all been working really hard, and this is the IDSA's way of getting some cheap publicity saying thank you. "The generosity the IDSA displayed in making these game consoles and games available to our people is outstanding", appreciative Submarine Force Master Chief (no relation) Donald Kultti told the press. "We are really working our people hard these days and this sort of thing permits them an escape from the demanding schedule that requires perfection out of them all. Thanks to the IDSA for their contributions to the men of the United States Submarine Force. We appreciate them." Meanwhile Kelly Powell of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation division espoused the benefits of playing games. "More than 10,000 sailors serving aboard submarines worldwide are now enjoying the recreation and social benefits of video consoles and numerous electronic games. These consoles and games provide sailors with a much-needed distraction and recreation during the limited free time sailors enjoy on board submarines. The Sailors of America's Submarine Fleet send a sincere 'thank you' to the folks at Interactive Digital Software Association for their thoughtfulness and kindness." Aw, bless.

Continuing the recent pattern of eleventh-hour Cube announcements, news has emerged that Snowblind's Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance will be gracing the screens of Cube owners, offering a nice alternative to the recently-announced Hunter: The Reckoning and completing the game's multi-platform line-up. A PS2 version was released to universal acclaim a while back. Related Feature - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance screenshots (Xbox)

Anybody going to see GRIN's latest effort, the futuristic vehicular action game Bandits, at ECTS in London this week will get more than they bargained for. Three times more, to be precise. Yes, for the duration of the show Bandits will be running on Matrox's new Parhelia graphics card to demonstrate its "Surround Gaming" support, which allows the card to power three monitors simultaneously. Is it the next leap forward in immersive gaming and cause for hardcore gamers everywhere to dig out those spare old CRTs, or is it just another useless gimmick for the gullible? We'll let you know tomorrow afternoon after we've checked out the card in action at GRIN's stand... Related Feature - ECTS Indies preview