Latest Articles (Page 3488)

Charity in the name of the WWF? You could be forgiven for thinking "World Wildlife Fund" at this point, but as you will have guessed, it's actually those wily sports entertainers at the World Wrestling Federation to whom I am referring. THQ, publisher of the ever-popular WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It!, plans to auction off a bundle of goodies tonight through online auctioneer eBay, with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish foundation, a charity that aims to help needy children fulfil their dreams. Apart from a PlayStation 2, signed by WWF wrestler Rikishi, and a copy of the game, the winner will also receive a limited edition figurine of The Rock and a T-shirt of the game. The pièce de resistance, though, is a pair of tickets for the upcoming "Insurrextion" event taking place next Saturday, 4th May at Wembley Arena. Anybody interested in helping the Make-A-Wish foundation and getting to the sold-out Insurrextion event, featuring wrestlers like The Undertaker, Trish Stratus and Stone Cold Steve Austin, should head over to eBay, where the auction has just gone live. Related Feature - WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It! review

Having licensed the rights to develop and publish games featuring Manchester United's star player David Beckham at great expense, Rage are apparently not content with simply pumping out straightforward football games. Witness the bizarrely titled Go Go Beckham : Adventure On Soccer Island, a newly announced GameBoy Advance adventure game starring a cartoon character who doesn't look entirely dislike the famous footballer. The game sees David taking on the evil Mr Woe, who has placed a terrible spell on the inhabitants of Soccer Island and unleashed his minions on them. To add insult to injury, he's even stolen all their balls. Now it's up to Mr Beckham to recover the missing balls using a range of "special soccer moves" as he dribbles, kicks, bends and heads his own ball through the game's colourful levels. Fairly obviously it's aimed at a younger market, but it does look suitably off-the-wall and comes from Denki Ltd, the Scottish developer behind Rage's award-winning puzzle game Denki Blocks. Expect to see David saving our balls some time in August. Related Feature - Go Go Beckham screenshots

Having invented cel-shading, it seems a mite unfair that Sega's Jet Set Radio didn't capitalise on the technique's popularity with roaring sales. Poor performance on the Dreamcast hardware and what I like to think of as the world's first vertical learning curve meant many players got sick of the game before they really got their fill. However, hoping to avoid that situation the second time around, developer Smilebit has dumbed down the long overdue successor to an almost infantile level, and we're still not sure we prefer the new approach. Like the previous game, Jet Set Radio Future gives you control of one of several skater teens, whose sole objective in the game is to cause trouble. They hang out at "The Garage", although unlike the first game this is now a rather enormous skate park with routes to all the game's major levels and lots of things to grind. At the centre of the skate park you can chat to a desperately annoying robot who saves your gave and gives you training objectives to complete, as well as acting as a doorway to the options menu and customizable graffiti. Missions begin with erstwhile DJ Professor K and his pirate Jet Set Radio station broadcasts. These usually consist of the mad professor bopping to beats and laying down your mission objectives, whether it's to (literally) paint the town red or knock down some Rokkaku bad guys. Unfortunately these short scenes are nowhere near as punchy as their counterparts from the original game, and they are completely unskippable. Thanks chaps. Beyond each unfathomable cutscene lies a sprawling level which is effectively split into a number of large areas which can be linked as you tick goals off on the objective list. As in the Dreamcast original you collect paint cans and use them to graffiti anything with a marker on it, but spraying graffiti no longer requires awkward analogue stick combos. This removes one of the toughest elements of the game, and manual tricks such as those witnessed in Tony Hawk allow you to skate slowly past marked areas spraying the whole thing in one go.

Last week Interplay revealed that Shiny was up for sale, and today we know who the potential buyer is - Infogrames. Yes, Bruno and the boys have got out the cheque book and offered to snap up Shiny for $47m, with the deal expected to be finalised within the next week. As well as giving Infogrames control over David Perry and his team at Shiny and their controversial "advanced tessellation technology" patent, it also gives Infogrames the exclusive development and publishing rights to create games based on The Matrix trilogy, something which allegedly cost Interplay upwards of $10m just over a year ago. The Matrix game is apparently still on track for a May 2003 release to tie in with the cinematic launch of The Matrix Reloaded. "For Interplay and its investors, successful conclusion of this transaction will enhance stability and position Interplay for growth. The sale of Shiny will significantly reduce the general corporate overhead of Interplay and allow the Interplay teams to focus on the continuing development of games based on its successful TSR licenses such as Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale", Interplay CEO Herve Caen beamed. "The transaction will strengthen Interplay's capacity to finance the development of its current slate of titles. We now have the financing and the management team in place to provide a much stronger platform for the development of fun and profitable games." "To add Shiny and The Matrix franchise to our portfolio is a tremendous coup for Infogrames", Infogrames head honcho Bruno Bonnell chipped in. "Shiny's outstanding development team has a proven track record for creating innovative games that push the envelope [and flop at retail - Ed], making the studio a wonderful addition to our growing in-house development team, and underscoring our commitment to assembling the best talent in the industry under the Infogrames banner." Caught in the middle was Shiny itself, but after the financial difficulties which their former owners have faced in recent years, David Perry was said to be "thrilled to be joining the Infogrames family, which clearly shares our enthusiasm for and belief in The Matrix franchise". Hopefully now we will get some idea of how work is progressing on The Matrix game in the near future. Related Feature - Shiny up for sale

Valve Software has updated Half-Life to version 1.1.0.9 to coincide with the long-awaited release of Counter-Strike version 1.4. Apart from the usual upgrade executables for owners of Half-Life and the retail Counter-Strike set, Valve is also offering a streaming game download service for broadband users, called Steam. Hopefully Steam has been altered slightly since the testing phase, where joining a server meant downloading tens of megabytes in uncompressed patches… The list of changes between the old versions of Half-Life and Counter-Strike and their respective updates is typically long, but the highlights include a couple of new maps, at least one old one with a makeover, various HLTV features for the dead and spectating, a number of important gameplay tweaks and the usual cheating countermeasures. CS 1.3, released many moons ago, was widely criticized for the gameplay imbalance it introduced. An anonymous friend who was playing Counter-Strike 1.4 until 7am this morning (hence wishing to remain anonymous - I believe he's bunking off work today too), described the update as "an enjoyable improvement," and said that "where the last one failed, this one seems to make amends, although he's probably broken some of the weapons again." A full list of changes to Counter-Strike is available on the mod's official website, and you can download the various HL / CS updates from the following locations.

Fans of the futuristic racing genre have been deluged with games over the last year, taking in everything from the hypersonic tubes of Ballistics on the PC and the twisting tracks of Wipeout Fusion on the PS2 to the cross-platform cityscapes of New York Race. But although the flood has only just begun to subside, another game has popped up on the horizon - HoveRace.

Peripheral manufacturer Radica has announced its latest product, Connect TV Excite Striker, which will allow football fans to test their skills without leaving the house, and operates indepedently of any established console. Unlike Thrustmaster's competing product, the 2002 FIFA World Cup Football Stadium, Radica will provide its own Excite Striker software, allowing you to take part in ball juggling activities, penalty shootouts, and even an actual game of football. The graphics don't look too hot, but admittedly we haven't seen them move, yet. The degree of interaction afforded to players by the Excite setup is a bit difficult to gauge from the design alone, but we hope to get hold of one in the near future and put it through, er, our paces. Although hopefully not in front of a camera. The package consists of two shin straps, which are attached to each player's leg and a main console unit that connects directly to the TV, and the whole thing uses Infrared to communicate between devices. The connection to the TV is made via composite with left and right audio channels, as shown in the accompanying pic. Radica promises "Japanese style characters and full UK commentary" and describes the game as "the perfect World Cup purchase, providing the ideal way to make the football last all day." Related Feature - World's "first interactive football pitch" unveiled

More details have emerged of Nintendo's Clear Cube campaign this morning. The company tells us that plans are afoot to show the world exclusive video of Asher D's new single, and popular beat combos Soil and allSTARS are also expected to appear outside HMV in Covent Garden over the course of the following week. Fans of Asher D - apparently one of those So Solid Crew hoodlums - should pencil 12 noon on Saturday or Sunday (27th and 28th of April) into their diaries and haul backside down to Covent Garden, 40-42 King Street, London WC2. But please don't shoot anybody. Meanwhile, Soil, described by the press release as "hard rock", will be slinging the sounds of their new album around the same seven-foot Cube standing outside HMV, Covent Garden, on Wednesday, 1st May. Completing the musical line-up, "the latest teen sensation," allSTARS will be making an appearance on the penultimate day of the run-up to the GameCube launch, performing tracks from their forthcoming album inside the Clear Cube. We were offered an interview, but we declined… And then of course, to top it all off, eager Nintendo fans can queue around the block at HMV stores in Birmingham (38 High Street, B4 7SL), Glasgow (Unit 6, Argyle Street, G2 8AD), and Oxford Street, London (150 Oxford Street, W1N 1DJ), where from midnight on Thursday, 2nd May, you will be able to purchase a GameCube console. Although you might want to take your credit card, because we're still hearing conflicting reports about the price… In the meantime, Nintendo has also announced a few additions to its UK marketing plan. Joining forces with Yahoo!, the company will sponsor FIFAworldcup.com, the official website for the you-know-what, as well as teaming up with MTV Europe to help promote the console. Related Feature - Watch out for Clear Cubes

Although some importers will happily take lots of money for a copy, Gran Turismo Concept is not readily available in Europe. This Japanese oddity features an array of concept cars from the Tokyo Motor Show, and retails at a wallet-friendly price. Despite consisting of largely the same elements as Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, and lacking a great deal of that game's structure and discipline, GT Concept flew off the shelves in Japan, and now SCEE is hoping for a repeat in Europe. The newly announced PAL version of Gran Turismo Concept will offer a choice of some 80 vehicles including numerous prototypes from the Tokyo Motor Show, and from similar exhibitions in Europe, Korea and America. Meanwhile, the Japanese get Gran Turismo Concept Geneva, based specifically on European concepts. The PAL version of Concept will feature a modest five circuits, Sony reports, although these will actually be rejigged versions of popular tracks from GT and GT3, and in light of the game's low quotient of original content will be priced at a lower standard RRP. Look forward to hearing more from GT Concept, without fighting your way past obscure importers and through endless Japanese menus, when the game hits the streets this summer. Although Polyphony could not be reached for comment, we heard them shouting from the hills: this is not Gran Turismo 4... Roger that. Related Feature - Gran Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo preview

Last week we heard that Contra was heading to the PlayStation 2, but Konami has so far failed to confirm that for us. This week, it seems that the company has announced a new Contra game for the Nintendo GameCube. "New Contra" is the game's actual title, and this potentially multi-platform shoot 'em up extravaganza is likely to show up in Japan towards the end of the year.

Majesco, the publishing company often responsible for Rage's US releases amongst other things, has set up a wholly owned European subsidiary, based in England, imaginatively named Majesco Europe. The plan is to focus on the "growing" (thanks IGN) markets in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Asia Pacific and the Benelux region. "With the rapid pace of business today and the growing global influence on interactive entertainment, the establishment of an international office was critical to our growth strategy," Majesco President Jesse Sutton said yesterday.

The original TimeSplitters was one of the better titles amongst the lacklustre PlayStation 2 launch line-up, and so it was no great surprise when a sequel to the game was announced last summer. With work on TimeSplitters 2 now well underway at Free Radical, Eidos today confirmed that Xbox and GameCube versions of the game are also in development and due for release this autumn. Once again players will be going up against the evil TimeSplitters as they battle their way down history, with a more involving single player mode and stronger storyline being promised this time round, as well as enhanced graphics and animations, and improvements to the much vaunted level editor. "At Free Radical, we are passionate about console gaming", Free Radical MD David Doak explained. "It's only natural that TimeSplitters 2 will be appearing on all three next generation consoles." Related Feature - TimeSplitters 2 screenshots - Xbox / GameCube

No, Nintendo's flagship character hasn't been caught with white powder on his moustache and a Dual Shock in his grubby hands. Instead the Mario in question is a divorced man from Milan who has been accused by his ex-wife of giving their five year old son cocaine, apparently in a misguided effort to improve his performance on the PlayStation. According to a story on Ananova the unfortunate kid was found with white powder in his hair, which turned out to be a cocaine derivative, resulting in his father being charged with drugs possession. "My son used to come back from his father's very nervous and unable to sleep", the mother is reported as saying. "He said his father would give him white powder to play better with his PlayStation." If the story turns out to be true, all we can say is that there are some really sick people out there... Related Feature - Sony sued by suicide mum

Graphics gurus at NVIDIA are working with the Arapahoe Work Group to help develop the graphics bandwidth capabilities of PCI Express, the company announced today. PCI Express is Intel's third-generation I/O specification, which should provide increased bandwidth between CPU and GPU, and thus improved performance. "The GPU has the largest bandwidth appetite of all PC subsystems," said Dan Vivoli, Vice President of Marketing at NVIDIA. "We are excited to help shape this next-generation specification to ensure that our GPUs get the necessary throughput required to push the visual envelope," he added. The key to PCI Express is its Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVOS), which enables the balanced distribution of bandwidth to those applications that require it the most. Products based on PCI Express are expected to appear in the second half of 2003. More (technical) information is available Intel's developer site. Related Feature - GeForce 4 Titanium 4600 review

Ubi Soft have brought a smile to the faces of European role-playing fans with the news today that they are bringing the PC version of Morrowind to the continent sooner than expected, although the release date for the Xbox version of the game is "still to be finalised". Originally the plan was to release Morrowind across Europe in June, but now Ubi Soft have opted for an unusual (but very welcome) two stage release. As a result a "semi-localised" version of the game will be released across Europe in May, with the manual translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish, but all the in-game speech and text still in English. Given that most European gamers speak perfectly good English anyway, this could prove to be a great move by Ubi Soft. It's certainly a huge improvement on the four month delay that afflicted their European release of Myst III : Exile. And for those of you whose English isn't up to scratch, fully localised versions of Morrowind for France and Germany will be released in August. "For a gaming universe featuring over a million words, full translation poses quite a task", Ubi Soft's Thomas Petersen admitted. "By introducing a two-stage release, we hope to meet the unprecedented demand from fans that want to play Morrowind as soon as possible, but also deliver a perfectly localised version for those that can wait till August." Related Feature - Morrowind screenshots

Falling somewhere between the party-based antics of Baldur's Gate and the rapid fire click-fest that is Diablo, Dungeon Siege is a role-playing game for people who don't like to think. Characters, controls, stats-crunching and storyline are all pared down to the bare minimum, making way for an endless succession of increasingly brutal fights. There is a token plot, but it comes in uneven lumps and dull tomes, serving merely to keep you moving along in the right general direction, pushing you from one battle to the next. As the game begins the lead character is just a humble peasant, but a hammy voice-over assures you that you will soon be changing history, saving your kingdom from ruin, and all that jazz. Along the way you can gather up to seven companions, and in a novel twist this number can include pack mules to help lug your loot around, as well as the more usual warriors, wizards and archers. In the early stages of the game you won't be needing much direction from the plot though, because most of the world of Dungeon Siege is made up of slopes which are just that little bit too steep to clamber up, with long narrow valleys and claustrophobia inducing mines keeping you locked on a linear path. Later on in the game there are a few open areas, and if you hunt around there are some small hidden areas to uncover, but most of the time you don't have any opportunities for sight seeing. Instead you are neatly shuffled along a conveyor belt of restrictive caves and canyons, punctuated by towns where you can offload some of your ill gotten gains and pick up fresh supplies and additional characters...

A while ago we reported on the completion of the Dolby Pro Logic II system for PlayStation 2. Yesterday evening, we learned from IGN that Dolby Laboratories and Factor 5 have finally made it official - GameCube developers will be able to use Dolby Pro Logic II in their forthcoming software. Rogue Leader developer Factor 5 has been collaborating with Dolby Labs over the last few months, developing a new version of MusyX that includes Pro Logic II support. As Factor 5 president Julian Eggebrecht told IGN, "the developer just throws a switch and MusyX Pro Logic Output is changed to Pro Logic II and you have full cinema-like five channels of sound." Dolby Pro Logic II allows developers to use true 3D audio in their games, and "to the listener Pro Logic II is extremely similar to Dolby Digital." It actually enjoys a couple of advantages over its big brother. For example, Pro Logic II is downwardly compatible with Stereo and Pro Logic hardware, so you don't have to worry about whether your hi-fi is up to scratch. Equally important to the developer is immediacy, and there is no delay due to encoding with Pro Logic II, nor is the data compressed, whereas Dolby Digital applies heavy compression. Although, in its defence, DD's channel separation is superior, and boasts a specific bass channel, whereas Pro Logic II does not. Developers are promised a MusyX update "within the next few days", and "it should be a matter of minutes to get it going for everybody who is already using MusyX 3D API." Related Feature - Pro Logic II meets PS2

When Xbox bigwig Seamus Blackley revealed that he was leaving Microsoft yesterday, there were some suggestions that either he had been pushed out after the console's disappointing early form in Europe and Japan, or that he was jumping ship before its decks got too far below the waterline. Speaking to GameSpot last night though, Seamus confirmed that the real reason behind his departure is that he was getting frustrated with hyping up other people's games instead of designing his own. A veteran of Looking Glass and Dreamworks Interactive, Seamus will now be leaving to set up his own development studio. Hopefully the result will be more Terra Nova than Trespasser. "With the current publishing model, it's hard for publishers to take big risks and to support new technology or new types of ideas. So I was thinking that I could make a new property that would change some of that and come out with some really cool products", Seamus explained. "I went back to Microsoft and started talking to publishers, developers, and potential partners .. and the enthusiasm was totally incredible and shocking. Especially after the GDC, it got to a point where they said, "Listen Seamus, we have to make a decision. Are you going to come do this with us?" To some extent our hand was forced because we have to announce a company before E3. That's why the timing is the way it is and I guess I'm an idiot for thinking people wouldn't try to come up with conspiracy theories about it." So there you have it. Mystery solved. Related Feature - Seamus Blackley leaves Microsoft

When Nintendo originally announced the GameCube's European launch details, it was meant to retail in the UK at £150, a couple of quid below the €249 RRP at current exchange rates. Retailers were soon up in arms about the slim margins this would leave them with though, and soon the street price had risen to around £165 at most stores. Flash forward to yesterday, and with less than two weeks to go before the Cube's long overdue arrival on our shores, Nintendo dropped a bombshell, slashing the price to €199 and adding that it "expected" the console to retail for £129 in the UK. Given that £129 is the equivalent of about €210 at the moment, that seemed a reasonable expectation. Indeed, just a few hours after the press release arrived from Nintendo, one online store told us that "the £129.99 price announced is the final retail price". Sadly it now looks like they jumped the gun, with retailers reported to be hiking the price to £139.99. From a consumer viewpoint it looks like the Brits are being ripped off once again, expected to pay 15% more than their European neighbours for the same piece of kit. Retailers obviously have a different story though. Nintendo announced the new £129 "expected" price point in a surprise press release at 8am yesterday morning, but it wasn't until this morning that most retailers found out what Nintendo would be charging them for the Cube. Needless to say the trade price came as something of a shock, with one retailer telling us that there was "no way" they would be able to sell the console at £129. "Yet again Nintendo's Press Department make the assumption that retailers can afford to sell their machines for them without making a profit", one anonymous retail source told us this morning. "It's disappointing for the customers most of all - I am sure many were excited by the news yesterday, and will now blame us on the frontline for putting the price up by £10." Whoever you choose to blame for the price hike, the sad fact is that British punters will probably be paying almost €30 more than their European counterparts for the GameCube come May 3rd.

There were few at Microsoft more profoundly involved with the Xbox project than Seamus Blackley, and according to the Reuters news agency, he has resigned from the company. "He has left Microsoft to pursue other opportunities," Xbox spokesman James Bernard explained. "We value his contributions." Although many tabloids in the UK embellished the story of Rick Belluzzo's departure from Microsoft to make it look like a vote of no confidence for the new console, Blackley's involvement with the project ran far, far deeper than Belluzzo's. According to Reuters, Blackley will not be ready to discuss details of his new venture for another two weeks at least. Whether it relates to gaming or not is, at present, unknown.

Both the Xbox and GameCube European price reductions have proved popular with the retail sector, although Nintendo apparently didn't tell anybody about its plans until this morning. As it happens, many of the retailers and industry alumni gracious enough to accept our calls at the crack of dawn this morning were completely oblivious. "It's a wise move by Nintendo," Paul Kenwright of leading independent Virtual Games told us this afternoon. "They've learnt a lot from the demise of N64, and the situation with the three big guns is going to get interesting, especially after the Xbox price reduction." Many people believe GameCube will be the first under-the-TV console from Nintendo to boast really strong third party support since the Super Nintendo, although some are less expectant. "They just wont provide dev stuff to UK developers who want it," one game developer, who wished to remain anonymous, told us today. Retailers are excited at the prospect of the price reductions invigorating sales of the Xbox and GameCube. "The focus must now turn to Sony," though, Paul explained, "to see what they're going to do with their hardware." Speculation is already rife this Monday that Sony plans to react to the price drop in kind. As we reported this morning, Ed Gilmour of Play Distribution feels the same way. "I suspect you could even see a Sony price point of £99.99," he told us. "They might do 149 or 179. They might wait until the last minute - Sony is a very crafty company." Although few retailers have adjusted their pricing, protective of their margins which were thrown into doubt last time, overall people are excited. In the last few minutes, we've been able to confirm that £129 in a press release really does equate to £129 at retail. This time around. "The £129.99 price announced is the final retail price," one retailer told us. "We're informing our customers right now that they will be charged at this lower price." "The price drop wasn't really needed to sell more 'Cubes but its gives us gamers £40 to spend on another game so its ace," he added. Update - unfortunately, nothing is every quite what it seems... Related Feature - GameCube €199 / £129

Nintendo has launched a bizarre advertising campaign which centres around enormous clear cubes. Or Clear Cubes, if you're Nintendo. The campaign will see huge transparent Cubes, either packed or surrounded by a fixture of diverse entertainment and live performances, appearing outside three major HMV stores in England and Scotland. Notwithstanding the lack of details, this still sounds fairly interesting. But as we delve a little deeper into Nintendo's latest press release, it becomes clear that the seven-foot Cubes will house a range of entertainers; kitsch dancers, contortionists and magicians are promised, along with aerobics and Tai Chi sessions to attract passers-by. If you fancy stopping by, the Clear Cubes will be on display outside HMV stores in Covent Garden, London, The Pavilion Centre, Birmingham and Argyle Street, Glasgow, from this Friday, 26th April until Thursday, 2nd May, the day before the console's launch in Europe. The latest Nintendo press release still refers to the console's price point as £129, fuelling speculation that retailers may already receive a reasonable margin on that figure, and that an embarrassing pre-launch price bump from agitated retailers will not impede the company's advertising efforts as it did when the original pricing was unveiled. Related Feature - Nintendo busts out the chequebook

This week, Sony's PlayStation 2 Platinum line receives an update in the shape of This Is Football 2002, poised to provide a cheaper alternative to Konami's forthcoming ISS2, as well as Konami's other Japanese export, Pro Evolution Soccer. Meanwhile, PSone owners (and those of us who missed it the first time around) will soon be able to enjoy C12: Final Resistance on the PSone Platinum label. Both games are due out this Friday. Related Feature - PS2 goes Platinum

As footy fans will already know, the Scottish Premier League is in a spot of bother at the moment. The Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers has objected to a subscription-based SPL TV channel, and although BBC Scotland still plans to carry highlights of the games, the friction between the Old Firm and their ten Premier League competitors is now at its peak. The other clubs have threatened to resign from the league in two years time, and Celtic and Rangers could very well move to the English leagues to seek balanced competition.

The reaction from distributors to the Nintendo GameCube price cut has been as positive as it was for Microsoft Xbox barely four days ago. We spoke to Ed Gilmour at Play Distribution this time, and got his initial reaction. "It would suggest a mass-market approach," Ed told us. "Nintendo seems to be going for the lot, and consequently it should be interesting. It really is Sony's market, but you've had an announcement from Microsoft last week, and an announcement from Nintendo this week, and nothing from them. You have to expect them to turn around and do something now." "I suspect you could even see a Sony price point of £99.99. They might do 149 or 179. They might wait until the last minute - Sony is a very crafty company. It's an exciting time in the industry." In terms of the GameCube hardware, Ed reckons it will appeal to gamers. "Of course the PS2 is arguably superior with its games and DVD function, but I think hardcore gamers will be more impressed by Nintendo." Will we ever see another £299 console launch? "It hasn't been that successful - no one's really done it successfully - so probably not, but then again you don't know what the next generation is going to be like. Nevertheless, it is a stumbling block for the consumer. People just aren't interested in spending £299 on a console, except for the hardcore gamers." Related Feature - GameCube €199 / £129

A GameCube version of popular Japanese RPG series Evolution is in the making, developer ESP has confirmed. Evolution focuses on a civilisation which has developed advanced machines of travel and war. Although no Western release dates have been discussed, the game is due out in Japan on 26th July, and is said to consist of elements from both previous Dreamcast releases. Graphics will obviously take a step up, and improved difficulty settings are promised, along with new areas to explore. The series has appeared in the West several times, so the chances are it's not too much to expect a repeat here.

Nintendo today announced that GameCube, launching across Europe on 3rd May, will launch at a recommended retail price of €199, and is expected to retail in the UK at £129. Nintendo has promised approximately 500,000 units for the European launch of GameCube, and this new low price will doubtless mean these sell out immediately. When Nintendo originally announced the launch price of €249 / £150 for its GameCube console in Europe, retailers in the UK had to increase the price in order to achieve a reasonable margin. Whether we will see a repeat of that is at present unknown. Last Thursday, Microsoft cut the price of its Xbox videogames console to €299 / £199 to try and boost sales across the continent. Even if Microsoft weren't trying to prove a point, Nintendo certainly is. Related Feature - Xbox price cut to €299

When the first Parappa game arrived on our PlayStations a couple of years back, we were drawn by the wonderfully stylised characters and graphic style, and subsequently hooked on the catchy tunes and frenetic, cunningly simplistic button-bashing gameplay. Although it proved to be somewhat short-lived, Parappa The Rapper established the standard for others to follow when it came to music-based games. Now Parappa is back, this time on PlayStation 2, but can he live up to the expectations of fans in a genre that has advanced so much in his absence? The answer is, in a word: no. Parappa 2 is essentially the same game as its predecessor. The ridiculous storyline is played out in the same garish "2D in a 3D world" graphics, even though the style is helped greatly by the improved resolution, and the gaming mechanics are exactly the same. We never expected Parappa 2 to be some kind of pioneer in deep, cerebral storytelling, but what they've actually come up with is borderline insanity. To be honest though, that's where the game's charm stems from... Parappa's had his fill of noodles ever since he won a contest to win a year's supply of the things. Unfortunately, for some reason all the food in Parappa's town is mysteriously turning into noodles of its own volition. Of course Parappa and his mates take it upon themselves to get to the bottom of the mystery, by rapping with a series of "teachers" who can each help Parappa in their own special way.

"In just the last few years video games have become a sport unto themselves". A quote from the latest interview with CPL head honcho Angel Munoz perhaps? Actually, no - it's a line from a 1983 episode of That's Incredible. If you thought professional gaming was a new invention, you'd be wrong. Twin Galaxies have been keeping high scores for arcade games for the last two decades, and way back in 1983 their "Coronation Day Tournament" was featured on ABC's TV series That's Incredible, along with a bizarre invitational tournament hosted by the show at their own Hollywood studio. The whole thing was filmed in front of a live audience, complete with running commentary from the show's presenters, and twenty years on Twin Galaxies have unearthed a dodgy old video recording of the broadcast and uploaded it to their website. Marvel as nineteen of the USA's top gamers battle it out on cutting edge arcade games such as Frogger, Joust, Super PacMan and Donkey Kong Jr. Gawp at the embarrassing haircuts. Giggle at gems such as "he just grabbed a bunch of bananas for four hundred points", and the host trying to explain the rules of a game called Burger Time, in which the hero is "pursued by walking hot dogs, pickles and fried eggs". Ah, they don't make them like they used to... To see this hilarious piece of gaming history, head over to the Twin Galaxies website.

Rapidly growing Korean publisher Phantagram has unveiled the line-up of games that it will be demonstrating at next month's E3 trade show in the US. Although we already knew about most of their titles, there was one slight surprise in the list - R-Type III. Apparently Phantagram have secured the publishing rights for an all-new GBA sequel to the classic side-scrolling shooter series. Hopefully we'll have more details on that in the next few weeks, along with all the latest on their wide range of PC and console titles - Duality, Strident, Phantom Crash, Shining Lore, Kingdom Under Fire 2 and .. er .. an as-yet untitled restaurant management sim. If you'd seen the unsanitary state of my kitchen, you would know that putting me in charge of a restaurant is a recipe for disaster... Related Feature - Shining Lore preview