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Last week we reported on the problems that have been afflicting massively multiplayer role-playing game Project Entropia during its beta testing, ranging from bugs and power cuts causing the loss of items to a raid on the offices of developer MindArk by anti-piracy outfit BSA and Swedish court officials, following allegations from Microsoft that the company was using unlicensed software. Shortly after we posted this story, Wired.com ran their own report on the raid, quoting a lawyer representing the BSA as saying that the bailiffs who examined MindArk's offices catalogued some six hundred instances of installed software on computers there, adding that MindArk "hasn't produced a single license yet". Speaking to EuroGamer earlier today, MindArk CEO Jan Welter Timkrans described these accusations as "clearly untrue", adding that they "can be considered as defamation or slander". According to Jan, "MindArk is not obliged to show [the BSA lawyer] anything", but they will provide any necessary documentation to defend themselves against the charges in court. "It would be rather foolish of us to show our defence to our opposition prematurely, and especially since we intend to sue them for the damages they have caused us. The extent of these damages are of course increasing when the lawyer in question is spreading what he himself knows is untrue statements in such a well spread media channel as Wired." Whatever the eventual outcome of this impending court battle, MindArk's more immediate problem is the inevitable bugs which have crept into the current Commercial Open Trial phase of testing. While losing equipment in a normal massively multiplayer game would merely be an annoying inconvenience, in Project Entropia it's possible to exchange in-game gold into real world currency and vice versa, so losing valuable items due to a bug or server failure has real financial implications for players. Needless to say this has caused some annoyance, but MindArk's Marco Behrmann made it clear that this is a beta test, and told us that the license which players are shown before entering the game world points out the risks resulting from the unfinished state of the game. "Every risk has been stated prior to participation and to input money is voluntary. Sometimes people just click on 'Yes, I agree' in their Conditions of Use / EULA without actually reading it through. Then when a bug hits them they feel robbed. This is of course not a perfect situation, but every participant in Project Entropia should be aware of the possibility of bugs present in this trial phase. We have every intention to make the best virtual universe ever produced, and to do that we have to iron out bugs, set a correct in-world balance and fine-tune the product until it is finished." Beta testers may have been warned of the risks before entering Project Entropia, but apparently those who have lost valuable equipment can't be individually reimbursed. Instead players are currently being polled on whether or not there should be a complete reset of the game world, which would allow MindArk to refund everybody any money they have invested in the game while wiping all current characters. The bad news is that this puts players who want out of the game in a Catch 22 situation. If the vote is in favour of a refund, the reset and pay-out won't take place until the game has gone gold. Marco could only tell us that "we aim for a release sometime this year" when we asked when this was likely to be. Until then players would be unable to withdraw money from the game, but on the bright side when withdrawals were eventually reactivated they would get back everything that they had invested in the game up to that point. If the vote goes against the refund, those who have lost items won't get any compensation, but all players would be able to withdraw money from the game as soon as the vote is over, which should be in about a week's time. In our original report we also mentioned that one irate beta tester had written to us complaining about delays in removing cash from the game prior to the current vote, as well as the imposing of a withdrawal fee. Since we originally received this e-mail, we are happy to say that the beta tester in question has had her money transferred from the game back into her real world bank account, and MindArk have graciously covered the fee as a gesture of good faith. However, other players won't be so lucky. Marco pointed out that the Project Entropia Bank interface clearly states that there is a 1.5% charge on all withdrawals from the game, with a minimum fee of $10, adding that the process should normally take about ten business days to complete. Beta testing massively multiplayer games is always something of a mixed experience, and when you're investing real cash in the game it's inevitable that some people are going to end up being shortchanged by the very problems that the testing process is supposed to track down. Hopefully these issues will all be sorted out by the time the game goes gold and is released to a wider audience, but in the meantime the bug hunt continues. Related Feature - MindArk all at sea

The recently announced United Soccer is to be put to public testing by developer Staggan, the firm has announced. The developer hopes that user feedback will shape the game into a superior end product, but it also wants to have a bit of fun before things get too hectic. "We thought it would be fun to allow a limited number of people to help us with much needed feedback on the game design and play mechanics," managing director Martyn Hughes said yesterday. "We know its unusual to show this kind of game at such an early stage but its such a unique and unusual game that we want to get it right from its first launch, we don't want to be the next Funcom as someone suggested on a popular gaming website." Staggan has already announced a tentative launch period for the multiplayer test as late October or early November. This version will allow players to compete in team games with 3-11 players-a-side, and a text-based chat facility will be included. Staple multiplayer options will also be included, such as the option for passworded games, custom team make-ups, and Staggan also promises a "game viewer" so that spectators can watch matches unfold without getting involved. For more information on United Soccer, please refer to our interview with Martyn Hughes, conducted in the aftermath of England's 1-0 defeat of Argentina last month. [Any excuse to bring that up again… -Ed] Related Feature - On The Ball with Staggan's United

When footage of Super Monkey Ball 2 first emerged, one of the biggest attractions for Westerners was the promise of Monkey Football, a cute, simian soccer sim which threatened to envelope yet more of our precious monkey time and escort it away into the realms of the past. Or something. Well, a young pretender has sprung forth. Our simian spies have reported that the long-awaited PlayStation 2-bound follow-up to Ape Escape includes a mini game called Saru Soccer. In Japan, Ape Escape 2 is known as Sarugetchu 2, and Saru Soccer is said to be a game involving monkeys captured during the single player adventure. Each kind of monkey will have unique abilities, and the control system is reportedly simple and intuitive. Ape Escape 2 is due out shortly in Japan, and as the packshot on the right advertises, in Europe to boot. Related Feature - Ape Escape 2 screenshots

Sakura Taisen is making its way to PlayStation 2 in the shape of six new games across the next four years. Although the Japanese can expect animated TV shows and even theatrical releases in addition to that, it looks as though Sakura will be making its way to the US, and hopefully to Europe, as part of Sega's "Sakura World Project" push. For the uninitiated, Sakura Taisen began life as a strategy RPG crossed with a dating game, set in the late 19th century during a war against demons. The Sakura of the title is the game's heroine, but originally the player took up the role of a solitary male, building relationships with the girls in his military unit as much as fighting battles. This combination of all sorts of genres including the fabled dating genre and a traditional fantastical plot born of Japanese oddness is enough to get the likes of me excited, and judging from the feedback around here, you lot too. The proposed "World Project" games fit into several genres, with the emphasis on adventure and action. Sakura Taisen: Atsuki Chishio Ni (spring 2003, essentially a remake of the first Saturn game) and Sakura Taisen 5: Saraba Itoshiki Hito Yo (2004) are said to be dramatic adventures, whilst Sakura Taisen 5 Action is the working title for an action game. Sakura Himenishiki Emaki is another working title, but this time we're told for a psycho-trip action game. Sounds odd. Making up the six are two pure adventure titles, working title Kouma and Sakura Taisen Monogatari. Sakura Taisen 5 Action, Sakura Himenishiki Emaki and Kouma are all pencilled in for a worldwide release, which is good news for Western gamers. Sega also announced a seventh game, Sakura Taisen 3 Windows (PC), but this is intended for release in Japan and China only.

While Duke Nukem Forever's development cycle is starting to sound like something from Waiting For Godot, the latest spin-off for the Duke is already on shelves around the world. We are of course talking about Duke Nukem : Manhattan Project, a fully 3D side-scrolling shooter from Arush and Sunstorm Interactive, distributed in Europe by Ubi Soft. Now a demo version of the game is available, featuring the first of its eight episodes, which takes Duke across the rooftops and fire escapes of the Manhattan skyline, stopping only to kill mutant pig cops and rescue damsels in distress. As Duke himself commented, "bullets and babes, I love this job." The 50Mb demo is available to download from the game's official website. There you will also find a small patch for the retail version of the game, which fixes a variety of fairly minor bugs, as well as making sure the game will work properly on old AMD K6-2 and K6-3 CPUs, and that you don't need TCP/IP installed to play the game. Don't ask. Still not sure whether to buy the game? We'll have a full review for you next week. Related Feature - Manhattan Project preview

Developers Bethesda sneaked out a patch for the European version of their epic role-playing game Morrowind at the end of last week, which you can download from their Elder Scrolls website. Mostly it's fixing a long list of minor bugs and quest scripting errors, but there are a few new features, the most useful of which is an auto-run feature which allows you to send your character trekking across the island without having to keep the movement keys held down the whole time. Also included is a health bar system for combat so you can see at a glance how much of a pounding you're giving your enemies, and a difficulty slider which lets you adjust how hard the game's combat is. A full list of the changes can be found here, if you have a couple of hours spare to read it. Related Feature - Morrowind review

Last month (pinch, punch and all that), it was reported that Sega would announce a new Sonic game at the World Hobby Fair in Tokyo in the middle of July. Speculation centred around an Xbox-exclusive game in the Adventure series, but whether or not that is to go ahead, Cube and GBA-owning fans of the blue hedgehog still have reason to be cheerful. According to an indecipherable Japanese press release, thankfully translated by a handful of sources, Sega is set to release the original Sonic Adventure on GameCube, along with Sonic Mega Collection - comprising the three original Mega Drive/Genesis releases. Furthermore, GameBoy Advance owners can look forward to another original adventure in the shape of Sonic Advance 2, which follows on from the success of this year's GBA release. Details are otherwise scant, but with the world and its dog waiting for the now-infamous World Hobby Fair, it shouldn't be long before we find out just what makes the Cube version of Sonic Adventure tick and how Sonic Advance 2 is shaping up.

Sega has continued its pattern of re-releasing modern classics with Virtua Cop Rebirth, a mixture of the first two games along with some finely honed extras. Due out on PlayStation 2 in Japan later this year, the game is compatible with Namco's GunCon 2. Along with the original two games, this compendium boasts a CG gallery (apparently including lots of artwork and cutscenes related to the game and its background), training, practice and Vs modes and a one-man-against-thirty survival mode. No European release date information is currently available, as is always the way with Sega, but the game would be published by trumpet-blowing SCEE, so we don't expect to be waiting too long for an announcement.

With the British Grand Prix at Silverstone coming up this weekend, we decided it was high time that we followed the success of our Football Week with an F1 Week. Over the next seven days we'll be bringing you reviews of the latest Grand Prix games from EA and Infogrames and an interview with Downforce developers Smart Dog.

Last week, journalists in San Francisco (including IGN) were invited to have their backsides whooped at NFL Fever 2003 by two of Microsoft's number. The difference to usual was that both Microsofters would be in Chicago, which for the uneducated (hands up, including me) is thousands of miles from San Francisco. At the heart of this long-distance multiplay experience was the long-awaited Xbox Live online gaming service and its various components; the 100Mbps network adapter inside the Xbox console, the Xbox Communicator headset, and a healthy internet connection. Not to mention NFL Fever 2003, which will be one of the first (and in the US at least, one of the most popular) titles to take advantage of the service, connecting two Xboxen with up to four human players on both. Xbox Communicator is described as a small, comfortable headset with a left earphone and an almost anonymous microphone, which plugs into a memory card-shaped adapter in the back of the Xbox controller. The adapter includes a volume knob and a mute function, and the voice data beamed back and forth can already be masked by the player's choice of voice in the profile setup. We don't know much about American Football, truth be told, but it sounds as though NFL Fever 2003 is shaping up to be an excellent addition to the expansive genre, and editors from IGN reported last Friday that lag during the experience was minimal, limited to a couple of hiccups; a second's pause during play at one stage and the two-second lag of Xbox Communicator. However, the most important news is that the game is said to have been delightfully responsive, unlike the attempted online shenanigans of Dreamcast-based sports games. All the signs are good for Xbox Live at the moment, but the real test will come when the service goes live this winter, and we're anxious to see how it copes with the volume of users who will pick up the $50 year's subscription, free game and Xbox Communicator pack. With titles like Unreal Championship on the way, it shouldn't be too difficult to test the capacity. Microsoft's is certainly the most impressive of all three platform holders' online excursions in the West at this point, if only because the project actually bears fruit. In Europe at least, Sony and Nintendo are virtually anonymous at present. The issues of capacity, connectivity, text input, community policing and so forth still need addressing, but we're slightly happier now that somebody at least has seen it working, and we look forward to hearing more about it. Related Feature - Xbox Live Demodulated

Japanese developer-publisher Squaresoft has announced that Final Fantasy XI now boasts some 90,000 subscribers, a figure which is mightily impressive considering the hardware shortages and technical problems that have plagued the world's first PS2 online RPG. Square also reports that the average number of concurrent users in Vana D'iel at any one time is 55,000. To put all that into perspective, PC-based MMORPG EverQuest (which is of course due out on PlayStation 2 in the fullness of time) has a worldwide subscription figure in excess of half a million users. Related Feature - Final Fantasy XI preview

Those of you excited about the VR missions in the E3 showing of Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance will be pleased to learn that Konami has plans to release a handful of these 'training' missions, as part of its upcoming interactive DVD, The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2. "The Document" will be released in Japan on August 22nd, and thanks to the popularity of MGS2 in Europe, where the game was one of the fastest titles ever to earn ELSPA's coveted Gold sales award, we can probably expect to see The Document or something along the same lines later this year. However, although MGS2 Substance is due out on PS2 and Xbox, reports suggest that the VR missions in The Document will be PS2-only. And before you quip, yes, The Document will probably have the same playable sections-to-cut scenes ratio as the original release. That's very funny - well done. Now, go off and polish your M-16s. Related Feature - Metal Gear Solid 2 review

Winning Eleven 6 is indisputably the most accurate and enjoyable simulation of football available on any system, and according to series producer Shingo Takatsuka, KCET has now set its sights on a football management game. "We feel the need to create a football management game from listening to the voices of our soccer game fans," Takatsuka-san told Official PlayStation 2 Magazine. "We're not sure when we can officially announce the brand-new game, but please do look forward to it in the near future." With Pro Evolution Soccer 2 arriving in Europe later this year - an enhanced version of Winning Eleven 6 - KCET obviously has its hands full just at the moment, but we hope to hear more about the new management title in the future. WE6's realistic player and team stats will be a key factor that stands in the developer's favour, although we're not too sure that Championship Manager creators Sports Interactive will be keen on the competition. Last year the UK-based developer joined forces with Konami to provide their statistical player and team data for Pro Evolution Soccer, but now that Konami plans to compete in the console-based footy management stakes, the deal might turn sour. Unfortunately nobody from Sports Interactive was available to comment this morning. We'll nag them again later. Related Feature - Winning Eleven 6 preview

Beach Spikers. Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Outlaw Volleyball. Those are the three volleyball games in development concurrently which spring to mind at 9:38 on a Monday morning. But now I have another name to brandish should anybody stop me in the hall, tap me on the shoulder and demand to know of every volleyball game in development on a console platform. Namco's Klonoa Beach Volleyball is a PSone game featuring Klonoa and his chums in a fairly by-the-numbers arcade sports title with the odd twist. The game is being angled at the younger gamer with cute, stretchy graphics and a special kids control system alongside a complex one for Dads and… yeah, Dads. Unlike its curvy competition, Klonoa Beach Volleyball will have to make its mark on gameplay issues, but I can't remember the last time I minded Namco going head to head with Sega and Tecmo, can you? Something good is bound to come of it. Klonoa Beach Volleyball is due out this Autumn. Related Feature - Another Volleyball Game

EA's next 007 adventure may only be a few months away, but Xbox and GameCube owners who don't have all the time in the world can now enjoy the dubious delights of Agent Under Fire, previously only available on the PlayStation 2.

These days, I sometimes wonder whether the health of the Japanese economy rests solely on exporting rhythm-action games [oh yes? - Ed]. The latest evidence in favour of this [convenient] notion is Koei's Gitaroo Man, yet another bizarre button-bashing affair set to the strains of excessively odd musical stylings. I won't beat around the bush here - Gitaroo Man is stranger than coherent sentences rolling off David Beckham's tongue on the same day as the wedding of Mario and Bowser.

Having topped charts around the world, last year's hit first person shooter Return To Castle Wolfenstein is getting the Special Edition treatment this summer. The new version will come with a free copy of the original Wolfenstein 3D, the WolfRadiant map editor and all of the new multiplayer maps that have been made available over the internet since the game's original release. Also included are demos for other Quake III engined games and a "making of video", along with desktop wallpapers, screenshots and cartoons. Best of all though is the new price - just £19.99. "Return to Castle Wolfenstein has been one of the most widely played and critically acclaimed games of 2001, including a ninety-percent or higher rating by over 35 different publications and multiple Special Edition awards", Todd Hollenshead of producers id Software boasted. "By incorporating all of the new maps, updates, editing tools and bonus material, we've created the ultimate Return to Castle Wolfenstein package." Look for the Special Edition pack hitting shelves in July. Related Feature - Return To Castle Wolfenstein review

Last week we reported that Call Of Cthulhu developers Headfirst were terminating their publishing deal with Ravensburger over alleged breach of contract. Unfortunately things are rarely that straightforward, and sure enough today a poorly translated press release arrived from the German publisher giving their side of the story and dismissing "deviant press releases and reports" to the contrary. Ravensburger Interactive (now a part of JoWooD) are treating the agreement as still being in force, claiming that it has "not been validly terminated by Headfirst". Ominously, the brief statement ends by saying that the company "reserves legal steps" to ensure it maintains publishing rights to the title and that any "unauthorized exploitation of the same" is blocked. Hopefully this will be sorted out in time to allow the game's planned release early next year, but having the threat of legal action hanging over their heads certainly isn't going to help Headfirst's efforts to find a new publisher for the game in the meantime. Related Feature - Shadow Over Cthulhu

Thanks to the hard work of our wonderful technical bods, registered EuroGamer users can now block posts from specific people, a feature which has been one of the most widely requested amongst our regular readers. If somebody annoys you, just hit the "ignore poster" button next to their name and you won't ever have to read another comment from them. If you have a change of heart, you can unblock people from the "edit profile" page, where you also have the option to ignore every post made by non-registered users. All of these features obviously only work when you are logged in. As part of the changes, we have also posted guidelines on the use of the comments system. The short version is that racism, personal abuse, excessive swearing, requests for CD keys or warez, potentially libellous comments and reposting of copyrighted material are not tolerated on EuroGamer. Any posts which break these rules will be deleted by our staff as soon as they are spotted, and repeat offenders may have their user account closed or (in extreme cases) be blocked from the site. As always, any feedback on the latest changes and suggestions for other site features are welcome.

Microsoft's Xbox Customer Care division has come under fire recently for failing to keep up with demand for the Xbox Reward Pack - the two-games-and-a-controller perk offered to people who paid full whack for the console ahead of its surprise price reduction. According to a few of our readers, Microsoft has been sending out a message asking for patience from those still waiting for their reward packs. Demand has obviously been high for the estimated £9m worth of free kit earmarked for early adopters, but reports of problems have been relatively few - I received my Reward Pack, containing a controller, RalliSport Challenge and Munch's Oddysee, about a fortnight after first requesting it. But in spite of these reports, Xbox Customer Care has definitely proven its worth elsewhere. Until last week, our Xbox (purchased from Amazon) suffered from an unfortunate fault which saw blue flecks of interference appear in dark areas of the screen, a problem particularly noticeable during the opening level of Halo with its claustrophobic corridors aboard the Pillar of Autumn. After speaking to a friendly member of customer care on Saturday morning (having waited only a few minutes in the automated queue), we were told that it sounded like a hardware problem, and arrangements were made to have the Xbox sent home for maintenance. Sniff. On Tuesday we received a nice pre-paid box delivered by our chums at couriers Securicor Omega, and after backing up all of our save data onto one of those £30 memory cards (did you know that one Halo save takes up 223 of the card's 502 blocks?), we shipped it off at no expense to ourselves and began twiddling our thumbs. This morning, I was woken from my slumber somewhat unexpectedly by a loud knock at the door, and lo and behold, it was my Xbox returning from its short holiday. This wasn't much of a surprise though, because Xbox Customer Care emailed me repeatedly with updates on its progress, tracking numbers and all sorts. I felt suitably taken care of. Upon unpacking the Xbox, I was delighted to discover that Microsoft had acknowledged the fault (apparently with the motherboard) and fixed it. A few moments trotting around the Pillar of Autumn later, I was content. Microsoft wasn't though, and sent me a complementary Xbox hat, a trio of Xbox stickers and an Xbox DVD wallet. Furthermore, they actually repaired my machine instead of simply sending me another off the production line. This was an added bonus, because all of my save data and my encoded copy of Queen's Greatest Hits was intact on the hard disk, just as I had left it, negating the earlier memory card juggling entirely. So, to those of you still waiting for your Xbox Reward Pack, we say this: we did not at any point seek special treatment or expose ourselves to Microsoft, so purely from the perspective of Joe Public, Xbox Customer Care does a bloody good job. Your Reward Packs are in good hands.

Microsoft has struck up a deal with TV manufacturer Thomson to produce various "Xbox Ready" televisions for the American market. Using a chunkified RCA (composite) arrangement branded VPORT, the TVs will accept input from a single, custom block and not separate video and left and right audio jacks, but the effect will be much the same. Thomson is promising enhanced picture quality with its range of televisions, which comprises three 36-inch, three 32-inch, four 27-inch and one 20-inch model, all of which are available in flat and bubble screens, but shrewd observers will have noted that S-Video is still bound to be superior to VPORT. Unfortunately for Microsoft, these expensive televisions are unlikely to sell to die-hard Xbox owners, who will see little sense in buying an "Xbox Ready" television only to ignore the VPORT gimmick in favour of the superior S-Video option, but retailers in the States are sure to lap it up as a My First Games Console seller. There is currently no word on whether Thomson will be releasing Xbox-ready televisions in Europe, but if you find yourself eyeing this offer with interest, this writer suggests a huge flat-screen television of some other design with RGB inputs for your games consoles - arguably the best way to play games on anything, with the possible exception of the financially-crippling HDTV.

Grand Theft Auto 3 has got its first official patch on the PC, fixing the problems some users had reported with loading save games, as well as putting a stop to an exception error that could cause the game to hang up after the Rockstar logo was displayed during the start-up sequence. You can also now copy the game's audio files to your hard drive to stop the game constantly trying to load radio stations and other sounds from your relatively slow CD-Rom, and most of the copy protection systems that could cause issues for some legitimate users have been disabled, although you'll obviously still need the game disc in your drive when you start the game up. The diminutive 1Mb patch can be downloaded from the Take 2 website. Meanwhile the English language version of Neverwinter Nights was patched yesterday, before the game had even hit the shelves here in Europe. The fixes mostly seem to be for fairly minor issues though, with the possible exception of the mildly ominous sounding "creatures will now use their spell-like abilities again". More details are available on the patches page at the official Neverwinter Nights community site, or you can take the plunge and download the patch from within the game using the Update option. Related Feature - Grand Theft Auto 3 review

Crave last night announced that Japanese developer Dream Factory is working on UFC Tapout 2, a sequel to the recently released Xbox fighting game. The company is promising a "complete overhaul" of the game engine, with improvements to the AI and graphics, while the career mode has been enhanced to allow players to design their own fighters from scratch, adjusting everything from overall body shape to hairstyles and clothing. Other features will include new moves, more fluid animations, rippling muscles and a wider range of real world UFC fighters to take control of. Americans can look forward to a November release, although European release details have yet to be confirmed.

The world isn't exactly short of Tom Clancy branded games, with several titles already on shelves and a whole new series on the way to consoles and PC alike. One of the most exciting, and certainly the best looking, of this fresh crop of militaristic games is Splinter Cell. We caught up with producer Mathieu Ferland at Ubi Soft Montreal to find out what's cooking up there in Canada.

Eidos have confirmed that they will be publishing Acquire's promising action-adventure game Way Of The Samurai in Europe and Australasia, with a September release on the cards. The game has already topped the charts in Japan, and is also available in America thanks to Bam. Now the PAL territories can look forward to getting their hands on this novel game, which drops you into feudal Japan and leaves you to find your own way through three days of action in and around the Rokkotsu Pass, with the gameplay changing depending on the decisions you take. "We are continually looking for new and exciting games to add to our already impressive product portfolio", Eidos' Jonathan Kemp declared. "Way of the Samurai meets these criteria perfectly and we are confident this innovative game will be very well received." Related Feature - Way Of The Samurai preview

Ah, motorcycling. The fine art of putting a bit of throbbing metal between your legs and risking life and limb by driving it roughly across tarmac and through chicane. It's a noble sport, assuming you don't fall off awkwardly and sprain your ankle, and for the first time that I can remember, it has a very clear leading light in the world of gaming: Climax Brighton's Moto GP.

MindArk got an unpleasant surprise when their offices in Gothenburg were raided by around 70 Swedish court officials, having received allegations that the company was using software without a license. This actually took place way back in April, but for some reason (presumably related to on-going legal action surrounding the case) details have only just emerged today. According to the press release which we received from the developer this morning, the raid was brought about by accusations from Microsoft and three other unnamed companies, which we understand to have been Adobe, Autodesk (makers of 3DS Max) and Macromedia (of Shockwave Flash infamy). Naturally MindArk vigorously denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the company "has procured licenses for all software used in its offices", and furthermore that "MindArk is one of the companies with the most stringent policies regarding software licenses in use by its employees". MindArk MD Jan Welter Timkrans went on to launch some fairly wild accusations of his own, suggesting that Microsoft were trying to disrupt the release of MindArk's massively multiplayer role-playing game Project Entropia to reduce competition for their own effort Asheron's Call. "All through our development process we have kept track of which companies are visiting our site on the Internet and without comparison Microsoft has been one of the most frequent visitors", Jan reports. Whatever the reasons behind the raid though, MindArk are considering taking legal action of their own against Microsoft and the other companies that lodged the complaints. According to a representative, the Swedes would be seeking "a substantial number of millions of United States dollars" in damages. And thanks to Project Entropia's one big innovation, the ability to exchange real life and in-game currency, the company is promising to promptly convert any court winnings into Entropian Dollars for players to uncover in the game. Aw, bless. This isn't the only problem to have beset Project Entropia in the last few months though. A recent power cut caused the loss of some data, resulting in equipment going missing, and players have experienced bugs and server connection issues which have caused lost items as well. As these in-game objects are worth actual real world money, some of the beta testers were obviously quite irate about the situation, and MindArk are currently polling them on whether they would prefer to get a full refund for any money they've put into the game so far at the expense of having everybody's character data wiped, or for the beta to continue uninterrupted but with no refunds. The developer is promising that safeguards are being introduced to make sure that this doesn't happen in the final game, but that's cold comfort for those who now face the choice of either losing money or dozens of hours of work on their characters. To make matters worse, one beta tester e-mailed us recently to complain that she was being charged a $10 withdrawal fee to cover the cost of converting her remaining Project Entropia Dollars back into real world cash and transferring it to her bank account. Unfortunately, while the issue of compensation is being voted on, no transfers are being accepted anyway, leaving those who want out stuck in limbo. Project Entropia is certainly an ambitious effort, especially for a rookie development team, and the idea of being able to convert real world cash into in-game currency and vice versa is a novel one. Sadly the fine details are obviously causing some problems for MindArk. Related Feature - MindArk interview (May 2001)

One of the groups working on a mod chip for the Xbox has pulled the plug on its project following legal consultations. The group, Enigmah-X, had hoped to create the second Xbox chip to go into circulation, following the release of the first working chip, the Xtender, for the system in May. However, earlier this week their site was replaced with the following message: "After speaking to lawyers we feel that we must not do this project anymore. There are many other chips and methods for guys to play with anyway so have fun and good luck to everyone out there." Microsoft is known to have looked into legal methods to shut down mod chip production in the past. However, only Sony has successfully taken on the creators of mod chips in court - the company forced Channel Technologies, the makers of the Messiah PS2 mod chip, to shut down its activities before the chip was commercially released. However, it was a somewhat incomplete victory for Sony, and Microsoft would be unwise to celebrate the closure of the Enigmah-X project too soon either. Messiah chips are currently being mass-produced in the far east, and several companies and individuals in the UK have stock of the chips and are prepared to install them for a price. Similarly, Xbox mod chips aren't going to go away any time soon; plans for devices like these achieve a kind of immortality when they are uploaded to the Internet. Xbox mod creators, however, claim to have the moral high ground in this discussion. Similarly to the Dreamcast hacking teams, they focus their efforts on creating chips which can run homebrew software rather than pirated games, such as the Xbox version of MAME (designed to emulate old arcade machines) and the recently released DivX video player.

American gamers will be able to celebrate independence day in style this year by joining the army and shooting terrorists. Yes, the Unreal-engined Operations portion of America's Army is getting a suitably patriotic send-off, with a July 4th release on the cards. To quote the Army's website, "what better way to celebrate America's freedom then [sic] by downloading and playing Operations: Defend Freedom". As reported previously, this half of the cunningly disguised recruitment drive is a Counter-Strike style teamplay game where up to 32 players battle it out online with realistic weapons, each side believing that they are the good guys thanks to some technical tomfoolery. Reactions to the game when it was demonstrated at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles last month were apparently very positive, and with the backing of the US Army it's sure to score highly on authenticity. Could this be the new Counter-Strike? Will there be a way to switch off friendly fire? And will the Army release the dedicated server code so we aren't all stuck playing on the official US servers? All should become clear soon, and as the game will be free to download it won't cost you anything except time and phone bills to find out the answers... Related Feature - Operation Patriotic Video Game

Nintendo has officially released Memory Card 251 onto the American market. The expansive memory card is priced $19.99 (as opposed to $14.99 for the standard Memory Card 59), and boasts more than four times the capacity of its little brother. MC251's 251 blocks will store a lot of save data. However, not content with this, one third party plans to release a 64Mb memory card in Japan this August, which has a capacity of 1,019 blocks, and access time is said to have improved by more than 50 percent since the original Memory Card 59. Nintendo has yet to announce Memory Card 251's European release date and wouldn't be drawn on it this morning, but if you happen to be importing anything from the US or Japan, memory cards are region agnostic so it might pay to consider one. The only thing to remember is that once formatted, a card cannot be used for another region unless reformatted.