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we talked to Mobile Forces producer Colin Macdonald about how the project got started, from the inspirations and ideas behind it to balancing the basic gameplay. Today we take a look at the other end of the development cycle, catching up on some of the changes that have been made since the demo was released a few weeks ago.

The Max Payne movie adaptation continues to gain steam like all the festering manhole covers of the big apple's rotten heart were pumping into its veins. Production company Dimension Films today revealed that they have signed Shawn Ryan (who describes himself as "a writer and a gamer") to pen the movie's script. Ryan is probably best known at the moment as the brains behind popular cable TV cop series The Shield, although he's also worked on Buffy spin-off Angel as a writer and co-producer in recent years. He was said to be "ecstatic" when he was offered the chance to script Max Payne, describing the man himself as "an incredible character with a rabid fan base". That's putting it mildly. Related Feature - Max At The Movies

While the world isn't exactly short of online-focused action games at the moment, one of the more interesting efforts we've come across lately is Mobile Forces. Mixing Unreal Tournament style on foot action with a range of driveable vehicles and vast sprawling maps, it's certainly a nice change from your run-of-the-mill Counter-Strike clone. With the game now nearing release, we caught up with producer Colin Macdonald to find out more...

Radica, the company behind the ubiquitous range of Gamester accessories, has announced its launch line up of GameCube peripherals, as developed by an international team and hopefully fairly ergonomic and durable throughout. The range consists of two major controllers; the "GameCube Pro Racer" handheld steering wheel at £19.99, and the fairly standard "GameCube Controller" at £14.99, and diversifies into memory cards, storage cases and connection leads, including the GBA link cable. Radica MD John Doughty commented: "The launch of the GameCube provides us with another perfect opportunity to assert ourselves as the UK's leading third party manufacturer," he explained, referring to the recent Xbox launch in Europe, which Gamester was able to capitalise on during a period of poor supply for high-end extras like the RGB SCART cable.

TDK Mediactive announced today an exclusive three-year, renewable worldwide licensing agreement with Jim Henson Interactive, a division of The Jim Henson Company, for the Muppets. The license will give TDK the exclusive right to develop games based on classic Muppet characters such as Kermit the trademarked Frog and his better half Miss Piggy. The press release namechecks all the big format holders including Nintendo's GameBoy Advance handheld and PC platforms. It looks like we're in for a lot of Muppetry. "The Muppet license is a continuation of our efforts to diversify our business across all viable platforms, categories and age demographics," said TDK Mediactive CEO Vincent Bitetti. TDK Mediactive is responsible for the true-to-the-film Xbox version of Shrek, and recently announced a game based on the Robotech TV series. Although Shrek suffered critically, we look forward to seeing what the company can do with its two most recent announcements. Related Feature - TDK and Mattel announce Robotech: Battlecry

JoWooD Productions Software AG is targeting the Nordic region of Europe, and has begun negotiations with local distributors in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, the company announced this morning. "The Nordic region is important to our continued expansion strategy," says Wilhelm Hamrozi, COO JoWooD Productions. "On a European level the region is amongst the four largest markets in Europe concerning PC titles, and the seventh largest market concerning console games. To us the region is very important and we will shortly be announcing our choice of Nordic distributors." Newly appointed Nordic PR Manager for JoWooD, Hans F. O. Ginderskov, commented: "Journalists are in for a real treat with products such as Cultures 2 - The Gates of Asgard, Industry Giant 2, Hotel Giant and many others. The company has been through a substantial growth during the past year, and I am confident JoWooD will become successful in the region."

For those of you looking for some gratuitous gore and a selection of guns that can take a man's head clean off (or an arm or leg, for that matter), the wait is over. Yes, the multiplayer demo of Raven's forthcoming mercenary action game Soldier of Fortune II is now available. Weighing in at a mere 51Mb, the demo includes a single map which is playable in deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination and infiltration modes, with all of the weapons and a selection of skins from the full game also available. You can now grab the demo from any of the following sites -

Despite the recently announced price cut here in Europe, Microsoft have confirmed that Xbox sales will fall short of their initial targets. Originally the plan was to shift between 4.5m and 6m units by the end of June but, according to a report from Reuters, Microsoft has now lowered that figure to a more attainable 3.5m to 4m. Although the Xbox got off to a great start in the USA, sales have fallen behind those of the GameCube in recent weeks, and the Japanese and European launches have both proven disappointing. Next week's dramatic price cut should help to revitalise the Xbox's fortunes in Europe, but it has a lot of lost ground to catch up on.

Rare isn't working on Killer Instinct 3, IGN is reporting. According to an official spokesperson for the company, an array of issues need to be resolved before anything concrete can be attempted. "In addition to holding back further development until we feel we can really bring something new and worthwhile to the genre, one of the main reasons that there haven't been any recent additions to the series is that all of the key people who were involved in the creation of Killer Instinct have been working on different projects," the spokesperson explains. "There's also the matter of knowing which way to take the franchise: some people prefer one instalment to the other, some champion 2D while others insist that only 3D will sell nowadays, etc. It wouldn't be a straightforward undertaking in any sense of the word: opinion is doomed to be split on the final decision." Killer Instinct 3 may yet be on the cards, but press-shy Rare are unlikely to announce it any time soon, even if development does begin. In other words, E3 is unlikely to herald an announcement, let alone screenshots or footage of the game in action. Rare has yet to confirm or deny its rumoured multi-platform agenda. Related Feature - Activision deal far from final

The Official Xbox Magazine is reporting that the first five online Xbox games for the US will be MechAssault, Whacked!, Unreal Championship, Ghost Recon and NFL Fever. This information comes courtesy of Microsoft's US Product Manager Steve Fowler, speaking at a presentation in London earlier today. The Xbox Live service, as it will be known, will launch later in the year in the US, and with the exception of NFL Fever the above titles are all expected to appear as part of the equivalent European service. Details to be announced. Fowler also revealed that MechAssault will feature an online matchmaking service, voice commander support with voice-altering software and full team play for between eight and sixteen players. Information about pricing was not discussed. Expect to hear more about Xbox Live at E3, when Microsoft is expected to reveal full details of the rollout. Related Feature - Xbox price cut to €299

Sega.com Inc. has announced the launch of a new division, Sega Mobile, dedicated to bringing Sega gaming to mobile phone and PDA users in North America. Based on the idea's success in Japan, where Sega Mobile has more than 2.5 million subscribers, the new division will give mobile and PDA owners the chance to play games from Sega's extensive back catalogue redesigned for their systems. The wireless gaming market, which analysts are predicting big things for in the next few years, is Sega Mobile's prime target. The propagation of standards like 3G, and the growing consistency in the diverse US mobile market means that Sega Mobile may be able to tap into the billions in revenue hidden in the blossoming wireless games market over the next four years. Amongst titles confirmed for Sega Mobile are Pengo, Flicky, Puyo Puyo and Monaco GP, not to mention Monkey Ball, a line-up which panders to the die-hard Sega fan and casual gamer alike. Since Sega is not a self-publishing company these days, the chances are that if this operation is to successfully move to Europe where, let's be honest, the mobile market sits between its chaotic US equivalent and the space-aged Japanese one, the company has to be talking to publishers about it right now. As such, it's not really Sega's decision as to whether we end up playing Monkey Ball on our phones and PDAs, and the company told us as much when we probed them for comment earlier today. One thing's certain though - a move to the States makes the chances of a European initiative a lot more realistic.

Ubi Soft's Montreal-based development studio is working a new game based on the highly detailed geopolitical universe portrayed by writer Tom Clancy. The game, Splinter Cell, is to be a third person stealth action game dealing with issues such as cyber-terrorism, shadow agencies and the ubiquitous covert operations. The game is due for release on Xbox and PC this autumn, with further next generation versions (presumably PS2 and GameCube) pencilled in for 2003. Players of Splinter Cell will take control of Sam Fisher, a black-ops man for NSA sub-agency Third Echelon. Fisher is a Solid Snake-style character capable of infiltrating high-security strongholds and neutralising the enemy using whatever means necessary, and one suspects the game takes its cues in no small amount from Konami's multi-million-selling PlayStation 2 release. Nevertheless, this is an ambitious title for Ubi Soft and the screenshots delivered by the publisher today are very promising, demonstrating some funky infrared image intensification for a start. Texturing seems solid and the game is expected to take advantage of the advanced features available to Xbox developers, such as environmental bump mapping. Splinter Cell will be seen for the first time at E3 in Los Angeles next month. Until then, feast your eyes on the handful of screenshots available. Related Feature - Splinter Cell screenshots

As many of you will no doubt have noticed by now, we've just launched a brand new user login system here on EuroGamer. Our code monkeys have been tied to their desks working around the clock for the last few days to bring you some much requested new features for the site, such as the ability to reserve your username and an edit facility to let you correct your comments after you've posted them. Registered users even get their names highlighted. In bold. And none of this will cost you a penny. How's that for an offer you can't refuse? All you have to do to become part of the EuroGamer family is head over to the create login page and let us know your chosen login name, real name, e-mail address and what password you want to use. This information can be stored as a cookie on your PC, so you won't have to login every time you visit the site unless you really want to, and you won't have to type out your name and e-mail address every time you post a comment. Note that if more than one person tries to register the same name, our crack team of EU negotiators will settle the dispute as soon as humanly possible. Anybody caught trying to steal another person's name will be forced to sit at the back of the class and wear a dunce hat, so don't even think about it. This new login system is just the first of many changes and new features that will be coming online at EuroGamer over the next few months, including improvements to our price comparison system, feature indexes and release date list, as well as an optional weekly newsletter for EuroGamer members. So keep your eyes peeled!

Dead or Alive 3 has not been a long time coming, as it had to be ready for the console's launch to form the backbone of the software line-up alongside Project Gotham Racing and Halo. Visually though, Tecmo has achieved what no other developer has so far managed to do with the Xbox hardware. The game's opening screens are a testament to Tecmo's prowess with the Xbox graphics chip. The title screen, for instance, is simply a logo overlaid on a flyby of a random stage from the game, and it looks absolutely stunning. Be it the incandescent mid-afternoon atmosphere of the beach stage or the cold, hard lines of a glasshouse perched atop a neon-endowed skyscraper, the graphics leave a strong impression. They also carry Tecmo's Dead or Alive 3 on their shoulders. Character design and animation is absolutely stunning, with hundreds upon thousands of frames spent on the fine details like the way hair flaps around in the wind and the effect of being hurled to the ground on the lacy bits of Leifang's outfit, as well as more substantial details like Kasumi's bouncing bosom and Tina's stunning curves. All right. Parents, this game is a wet dream waiting to happen. If you want to stimulate growth, buy your teens an Xbox with a copy of Dead or Alive 3, and watch them sprout hairs and ogle the girl next door when they think your back is turned.

At the crack of dawn this morning, Microsoft confirmed its plans to reduce the price of Xbox in Europe to €299 / £199, effectively relaunching the console at this new price point on 26th April, and providing software reparations for consumers who have already acquired consoles at the higher price point. We asked Andy Ingham of Play Distribution whether he thought the Xbox in Europe has been a success. "I don't think you can call it a success in any sense of the word, so far," he told us, somewhat brutally, "but then it's far too early to really say. The price drop should make a big difference to the situation." The price cut is already popular in the retail sector and with distributors, but what sort of effect will the move have on sales, both in hardware and software? "Fantastic, I'd imagine," Andy enthused. "It's definitely got to increase sales, and this should allow it to compete with PlayStation 2." The other question on our lips was whether this reduction would affect GameCube sales. GameCube launches a week after the Xbox price cut, which is unlikely to prove a coincidence. "I don't think it will have much effect, really," he told us. "It's a different kind of market. These products seem to be targeted towards a younger age group, so I say it probably won't affect sales of the GameCube at all. They will be what they are." Related Feature - Xbox price cut to €299

Spyro the Dragon creator Insomniac Games has announced its latest project, the Jak & Daxter-alike, Ratchet & Clank. This PlayStation 2 project will emulate J&D's seamless worlds with an equally impressive array of animation and detail according to Sony's official PlayStation.com website (which, based on our encounters with the staff, is trustworthy as opposed to your average corporate mouthpiece). Furry space mechanic Ratchet and his shoulder-mounted refugee robot buddy Clank are fighting to save the galaxy from an evil empire, whose plans for a new hybrid world could claim the lives of millions of spaced out humans. Insomniac Games has focused on augmenting the duo's quest with a mixture of 35 different weapons and gadgets, including crowd-pleasers like the flame thrower, making this sound a degree less cuddly than its competition. Although Ratchet can collect and spend the game's currency, bolts, on ammo and other items from interplanetary merchants, the game will still allow you to succeed with only a small fraction of its treasures uncovered. Objectives can be skipped, too, for Ratchet to return later and complete. All in all, the game sounds and looks very similar to Jak & Daxter, and the official screenshots indicate that the game certainly takes a visual cue from its eponymous, presently unequalled counterpart. Whether the balance will shift when Ratchet & Clank is released at the end of this year is difficult to tell, but it will also face strong competition from Acclaim's Vexx, which, like R&C, plays host to a tale of interstellar oppression. Related Feature - Vexx preview

So, you bought an Xbox. It probably cost you somewhere in the region of €479 / £299. With £100 shaved off the price of the console, you might find yourself a touch annoyed. But don't, because Microsoft has taken steps to look after you. Eager to embrace early adopters and foist more software upon them, Microsoft has announced plans to reward anybody with an Xbox receipt to the tune of two brand new games and an extra controller, which comes to about €185 / £115 worth of kit! All you need to do is download the application form from your respective regional Xbox.com website (Brits go here) and fill it in. The only qualifying factor, the page explains, is that you bought it in one of the 16 European launch countries before 26th April. 26th April, of course, is still over a week away. Those of you with a bit of green at your disposal might consider picking the console up now and getting your €185 / £115 worth of kit at a later date. A fact which cannot have escaped Microsoft's attention. Although a full and final list of available free games won't be ready until the critical 26th April date, the current application form lists Halo, Rallisport Challenge, Project Gotham Racing, Amped Freestyle Snowboarding, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Dead or Alive 3, Blood Wake and Fuzion Frenzy. Not a bad line-up. To us, this seems like a very positive move. And you don't even have to put a stamp on the envelope, or, if you have one of those new-fangled PC things, you don't even have to use an envelope! Just make sure you get it in by 1st July, 2002. Related Feature - Xbox price cut to €299

Confirming reports late last night, Microsoft has announced that the European price of the Xbox will be reduced to €299 / £199 effective from 26th April. "We are making a clear statement today," said Sandy Duncan, "we mean business in Europe." "The phenomenally positive response to Xbox through reviews, awards and game sales has demonstrated that consumers love Xbox. We want to make sure that price is not the obstacle to the Xbox experience." Microsoft has also announced that the Australian Xbox is to be reduced in price to AUS$399 (€241 / £150). Australia is now one of the cheapest places in the world that we know of to buy Microsoft's console, rivalling even Japan. The rest of the Microsoft press release is full of back-patting about software sales and attach rates, with the company pointing out that the 2.8 attach rate (confirmed by ELSPA ChartTrack) is one of the highest in UK gaming history. Of course, this does not mean Xbox software outsold PlayStation 2 software. As Handelsblatt reported last night, PS2 has been outselling Xbox since a week its 14th March launch. And those of you looking for a bit of consistency, please make note of the comments from Electronic Arts veepee David Gardner. "Xbox enjoyed a great launch in Europe - fantastic product and fantastic games," he pointed out. "It's great they're making a move that will enable more customers to enjoy Xbox," he said, before adding that 2002 FIFA World Cup and Xbox-exclusive Buffy the Vampire Slayer may now reach an even greater audience in Europe. Retail reaction so far seems quite positive, with The GAME Group plc. Commercial Director Lisa Morgan describing the price cut and free games for early adopters initiative as "a great move for Xbox." Xbox sales were never all that bad in the UK, of course, even if they failed to compete with PlayStation 2. "We will benefit from increased hardware sales, which in turn results in increased peripheral and game sales," she pointed out. "We're glad Microsoft has made an aggressive move to remove the price barrier." Related Feature - EA kicks Xbox's teeth in

German investment and markets news site Handelsblatt.com is reporting that Microsoft will slash the price of Xbox across Europe from 26th April, in an attempt to redress the balance in the perilous console market. Microsoft Xbox will be cut in price from €479 (£299) to €299 (£185, but likely to end up £199). Consumers who have already purchased the console will soon be in the position to receive two free games and a controller upon presentation of their receipt. Confirmation of the move comes from Microsoft's chief of operations in Germany, Hans Stettmeier. "People are interested, but the main complaint is price," he admitted, echoing the musings of virtually every journalist on and around the continent. The plan brings the console into line with European PlayStation 2 pricing, making Sony's ubiquitous console a realistic target for the once-floundering Xbox. With the right software and the impending release of Controller S, the console now has the potential to capitalise on its strengths, diminish one of its chief drawbacks and destroy the other. If true, this dramatic u-turn should at least emphasize Microsoft's commitment to this market. Related Feature - X Marks The Spot

Sony Computer Entertainment America plans to release three new PSone games before the end of July, confirming, it says, its continued support for the platform. The games to be released are Disney's Lilo and Stitch, Stuart Little 2 and the slightly more interesting c-12: Final Resistance, currently undergoing work at SCEE Cambridge.

Way back in September 2000 we spoke to Climax and Games Workshop about their new joint venture, an online strategy game based on their popular Warhammer universe. Since then their plans have changed drastically though, so we caught up with Warhammer Online general manager Robin Dews to get the latest information on the project...

Steven Spielberg's Minority Report will be made into a game by recent Activision acquisition Treyarch, the publisher has announced. The game, due out this winter on PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, will take up the mantle of Tom Cruise's wrongly accused character, Detective John Anderton, and fight to clear his name. The in-production Minority Report, which also stars Colin Farrell and token Brit Samantha Morton, will be sculpted into a third-person action-adventure by the team at Treyarch, and we are promised a boatload of weapons and gadgets strewn around locations straight out of the film.

Codemasters have revealed that an Xbox version of their chart topping Cold War combat sim Operation Flashpoint is in the works at Bohemia Interactive. The new console edition of the game will feature gamepad-friendly controls and interface as well as enhanced graphics. It will also include the prequel campaign, Resistance, which is due out this summer on the PC as an expansion pack. Other details are scant at this stage and we've yet to see any screenshots of the game running on the Xbox, but given how entertaining the original PC version was we have high hopes. Codemasters are understandably said to be "delighted to bring [Operation Flashpoint] to the Xbox". Related Feature - Operation Flashpoint : Resistance screenshots (PC)

LucasArts have announced that they will be publishing Wrath, a strange looking fantasy combat game from The Collective which is due for release on the Xbox and other next generation console platforms some time next year. The Collective are best known as the brains behind the soon-to-be-released Buffy The Vampire Slayer Xbox title, as well as the under-rated action-adventure game Deep Space Nine : The Fallen. It's best to forget that they were also responsible for the diabolical PlayStation cash-in Men In Black. Related Feature - Wrath screenshots (Xbox)

Interplay last night confirmed reports that it is in "the advanced stages of negotiations with a potential buyer of Shiny Entertainment", who are currently working on a game based on the Matrix movies. Interplay are refusing to say who the bidder is and what kind of terms they expect to get from the deal, but given that their latest Annual Report (also released yesterday) admitted that they aren't earning enough money to cover their expenses, and that the product delays which have plagued the company of late could continue in the short term, we imagine that any deal to get rid of Shiny would have to be good news for them at this point. "Although the transaction is not complete and is subject to definitive agreements and satisfaction of various closing conditions, we envision this initiative as a key element in our future growth plans, providing the potential source of funding as Interplay builds on its leadership position in adventure and role-playing games on the PC and next generation consoles", CEO Herve Caen commented. Related Feature - Interplay taps into the Matrix

EA have teamed up with Digital Bridges to make sure that no platform under the sun is without an EA SPORTS™ 2002 FIFA World Cup™ game this year, with the announcement today that the franchise is heading on to mobile phones. In fact Digital Bridges are developing two seperate games under the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ brand, both of which will be available in lo-fi SMS and not-quite-so-lo-fi WAP formats, with a special colour WAP version available for those of you with the latest mobile technology. The first game puts you in control of one of the national teams and lets you play either a single quick match or a full length tournament. As well as having the option to go up against a random stranger, you'll also be able to set up your own private competition for up to eight people. The second game is more of a management affair, letting you choose a starting squad of 11 from your chosen country's 23 player team and set up training, formations and tactics for them. Meanwhile individual members of your team will gradually pick up experience (or merely injuries) which can effect your team's future performance. "This year, there is nothing bigger than the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™", Digital Bridges CEO Brian Greasley declared in the most ™ festooned press release in living memory. "We believe the EA SPORTS™ 2002 FIFA World Cup™ mobile games will introduce a huge number of new users to the world of mobile entertainment, and drive the most dynamic new medium in the world today towards its deserved status as a mass market activity and business." For their part, EA believe that "wireless gaming has a very big future in Europe", with EA.com European director Andrew Phillips adding that "we are delighted to bring our most important European sports franchise to the mobile market". Both World Cup™ games will be available to over 36,000,000 Orange mobile phone customers across Europe this summer thanks to Digital Bridges' UNITY (™?) platform. Related Feature - 2002 FIFA World Cup screenshots (Xbox)

Thrustmaster have unveiled what they describe as the world's "first interactive football pitch for video game consoles", the catchily named 2002 FIFA World Cup Football Stadium. The controller is made up of a non-slip mat "designed like a soccer field to totally absorb players in the game" (in other words a small piece of tacky looking green plastic) which is fitted with three vertical sensors "based on the latest technology". These detect your feet (or any other part of your body for that matter) as you move them over the sensors, translating your movement into in-game actions as you shoot, lob, pass and tackle an imaginary football. Depending on how long you keep your foot hovering over the sensor, the power of your shots can be adjusted accordingly. Yes, it's essentially a high tech sporting equivalent of the infamous dance mat, and as such is almost guaranteed to make you look incredibly stupid, as the photo above amply demonstrates. To make matters worse, you still need to keep hold of your gamepad while precariously balancing on one foot on the mat, because the Stadium only controls a handful of actions. Little things, like controlling which direction your player runs in, are apparently beyond it. "We have created the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ Football Stadium for all soccer enthusiasts, eager to get hold of an interactive gaming accessory which means that they can really live out the biggest sporting event of the year", according to product manager Jocelyn Denis. "Now they can enjoy the game, not only on a real pitch but in front of the console too, with family and friends!" If you have a burning ambition to make a total tit of yourself, you will be able to buy PSX / PS2 and GameCube versions of the diminutive Football Stadium for £35 in May. Related Feature - Thrustmaster obtains World Cup 2002 license

Japan is one of the most creative countries in the world when it comes to video game development, but only a handful of their games ever get released over here. Luckily then Eidos have stepped in to change things with their new Fresh Games label, dedicated to unleashing bizarre new Japanese titles on an unsuspecting public here in the west. One of the first arrivals from Fresh Games is Mad Maestro, and what a great debut for the budding label it is too. If you imagine the offspring of an unholy marriage of Rez and Parappa The Rapper, done to a full-on orchestral score featuring some of the greatest classical music ever written, you're still nowhere near understanding just how utterly weird and yet strangely addictive this game is. You take on the role of a young conductor going by the unlikely name of Takt, who has been tasked with saving the local concert hall from demolition by Symphony, a fairy who lives there disguised as a statue. To rescue the hall you must play a rousing recital to remind the people of why music is so important, but first you must assemble a full orchestra. An orchestra which includes a trapeze artist, a guy in a lion suit, a temperamental super-model and a trio of translucent green aliens who play the xylophone. I told you it was weird...

ELSPA has honoured a number of top-selling games with its Gold and Silver ELSPA Awards. During weeks 9-13 of calendar year 2002 (that's March, basically), long-awaited PlayStation 2 release Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, along with FIFA 2002 on the same console and Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the GameBoy Advance, all topped 200,000 sales in Europe and receive Gold Awards. The Silver Awards go to titles which top 100,000 sales but fall short of the Gold Award. Winners in this category include the frankly awful PSone title Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes, and the very nearly awful PlayStation 2 game Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The third title to take the Silver was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and isn't it nice to see a good PC title receiving recognition for once?

BTopenworld is to start charging £15.99 for its BTopenworld Anytime product. The package, which gives users multiple email accounts and unmetered Internet access (up to a point), usually costs £14.99, but in a letter to subscribers last Friday the company announced that the price will increase to £15.99 from 1st May. Account holders will start seeing the increased charge on their next credit card bill after that date, although this is presumably less comforting than the email makes out. This writer's sister currently uses BTopenworld Anytime. Unfortunately, she could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press. Related Feature - BT announces 'cheap' ADSL