Latest Articles (Page 3508)

IL-2 Sturmovik, modestly described by its developers' parent company as the biggest thing to come out of Russia since Tetris, has spawned an add-on pack. Dubbed The Forgotten Battles, it will add new campaigns, planes, missions, buildings and terrain to the award winning World War II Soviet flight sim. Highlights include new maps representing the Hungarian and Finnish fronts, with one campaign, five multiplayer and ten single player missions for each. Also on the shopping list are several more planes to fly, including the British Hurricane and new variants of the Bf-109 and Stuka, and more AI planes to shoot down, such as the Bristol Blenheim, Fiat G-50 and IL-4. "Since release, we have received many requests from fans for an official expansion pack", according to executive producer Carl Norman. "Thus, Oleg Maddox and his team at 1C are responding with another top quality product in the add-on pack." The pack should be flying off shelves some time this autumn.

Although we got along very well with Halo using the standard Xbox joypad, most hardcore first person shooter fans will tell you that there's no real substitute for a mouse and keyboard. Enter the Claw from Australia's Ferraro Design. As well as providing a similar moulded plastic grip to the PC version of the Claw, with an array of buttons lurking under each finger to replace those of the joypad, the forthcoming Xbox version also includes a standard USB connector to allow you to attach a rodent to your console. "Many PC gamers have expressed a desire to play Halo with a mouse plus keyboard style set-up", according to Jason Ferraro. "Our Claw and mouse solution provides an intuitive controller set-up for those less familiar with the standard dual analogue console game pad." While we weren't the world's biggest fans of the original PC Claw, a new improved version has been released since we first reviewed it, and if nothing else the Xbox version will no doubt come in handy for those of you who just can't live without your mouse. Expect more details after E3. Related Feature - Claw review

2D shoot 'em ups. Doncha just love 'em? No? Then I suggest you go back to the front page and pick something else to read, because Metal Slug X is a game for people who love 2D shooters, games which defy convention and contemporary design techniques in favour of pure gameplay. And explosions. Tons of them. MSX is the PlayStation port of one of the most excessively difficult but downright enjoyable 2D shooters SNK ever developed. Admittedly it isn't as good as the Neo Geo originals, but then how does one improve upon perfection?

It's safe to say that Criterion had their thumb jammed firmly into the arcade pie when they were developing Burnout, and it's obvious from the outset that it wouldn't look out of place amongst the tramps, truant school kids and dilapidated Virtua Cop and Sega Rally machines at your local shopping centre. However, instead of crammed into a cabinet, this finely crafted piece of racing mayhem has been buffed and polished from its original PS2 incarnation and slid neatly into the GameCube's launch line-up. But is Burnout worth picking up for your favourite new toy? Almost certainly.

Fresh from their success in ripping off Crazy Taxi for Simpsons Road Rage, EA have announced Simpsons Skateboarding. As the title suggests, this time they're getting into Tony Hawk territory, with popular characters ranging from Bart and Otto to Krusty The Clown, Professor Frink and even the normally sofa-bound Homer getting in on the act. Each character has its own unique special moves, tricks, personality and dialogue, which will hopefully be less repetitive than that found in Road Rage. As you would expect there's also a selection of classic Simpsons settings for your chosen miscreant to skateboard around, from the Kwik-E-Mart and Springfield Elementary to the power plant and the Springfield Gorge, with success in the game's five modes unlocking additional levels, characters and boards. This latest imagination-free monument to the power of the license will be available on PS2 this summer. Related Feature - Simpsons Skateboarding screenshots

In one of the more bizarre celebrity tie-ins we've come across recently, Vivendi Universal have announced that No Doubt will be starring in Argonaut's action-adventure game Malice. The Californian ska band, who hit the big time a few years ago with hits like Just A Girl and Don't Speak, are not only providing three new songs for the game, but will also have starring roles as in-game characters. Lead singer Gwen Stefani will be supplying the voice of the teenage girl with the big hammer, while the rest of the band dub young Malice's friends. "This collaboration between Vivendi Universal's Games and Music divisions is a prime example of the unique, synergistic opportunities available within the Vivendi Universal family of companies", VU Games president Luc Vanhal babbled. That's presumably marketing speak for "No Doubt's career has been flagging a little recently, so we thought we would bring them to the attention of a whole new audience by having them provide the soundtrack for one of our biggest games". Of course, this isn't the first time that this has happened. David Bowie and his wife appeared in the bizarre French adventure game Nomad Soul a couple of years back, with several songs from his album Hours debuting on the game's soundtrack. It didn't really help the game's fortunes, but finding the man himself playing a gig in one of the city's bars was certainly an .. er .. interesting experience, mostly thanks to the ludicrous character animation that made David look like a puppet being controlled by a drunk. With Malice due out on Xbox and PlayStation 2 this autumn, we should know soon whether this is a silly marketing stunt or an inspired holistic exploitation of synergistic potentialities, bringing about a landmark event in the history of videogames. Or something. Related Feature - Malice heading for PlayStation 2

Infogrames have announced another first person shooter of dubious political correctness, this time for the PlayStation 2. Fugitive Hunter puts you in the boots of Jake Seaver, a former Navy SEAL turned bounty hunter who works for the Criminal Interdiction & Fugitive Recovery agency, tracking down some of the world's most wanted criminals. Unfortunately, as the game begins your employers' headquarters in Miami are blown up, leaving you on a road to revenge that leads you through a variety of exotic locations around the world, "unravelling a web of terror that leads to the Middle East". Now I wonder where they got that idea. In a novel twist though, whatever Dubya might have to say on the matter this isn't the wild west, and you are encouraged to bring in your targets alive. As a result tasers and dart guns supplement the more usual arsenal of shotguns and surface-to-air missile launchers, and players can force targets into submission rather than killing them outright. Success brings cash rewards and experience, allowing Jake to improve his skills and buy new weapons, including a grenade launcher and the bizarrely named HIPPO gun, which has nothing to do with the semi-aquatic mammal of the same name but instead sprays a variety of high pressure liquids at your enemies. It can also fire miniature fuel-air bombs, which are apparently "ideal for cave-cleaning". Just the thing for a holiday in Tora Bora. Ahem. Fugitive Hunter will be available on PlayStation 2 in January 2003.

Activision has signed a deal to bring the forthcoming action movie XXX to the PC, all console and handheld platforms, and a small ferret called Gerald. Probably. The movie, directed by Rob Cohen and starring Vin Diesel of The Fast And The Furious fame / infamy, follows an action sports athlete (ah, so that explains Activision's interest) called Xander Cage who is recruited by the NSA to carry out the proverbial impossible mission. It's an odd premise, but it just might work. "Our game will let players experience the adrenaline rush of being an extreme athlete super agent", Activision's Larry Goldberg somehow managed to utter while keeping a straight face. "As the leader in action sports video games, XXX fits perfectly with our expertise and allows us to combine the tricks of an action sports game with the excitement and explosives of a spy thriller." Hopefully the result will be more Tony Hawk meets Agent Under Fire than Dark Summit meets Tomorrow Never Dies...

Lara Croft will be making her public debut at E3, according to a rather bizarre press release from Tomb Raider publisher Eidos. Not the new model Jill de Jong, mind you, but the .. ahem .. real Lara Croft, a 5' 9" brunette from Wimbledon who's favourite hobbies include pilfering ancient artifacts from tombs, riding motorbikes, wearing skimpy costumes and swanning around the world in search of adventure. Ms Croft will apparently be putting in a personal appearance on the show floor to chat with journalists to promote her new game, Angel of Darkness. "For years we have wanted to introduce the real Lara Croft to the world", Eidos marketing VP Paul Baldwin announced, a suspicious white powder clearly visible emanating from his nostrils and a wild look in his eyes as we backed nervously towards the door. "We are thrilled that we could finally convince her to take some well deserved time off to meet her fans. The chronicles of her adventures have really struck a chord with gamers around the world and we think they will be overjoyed to finally meet her and talk to her in person." Lara herself was said to be "excited to finally have the chance to meet some of my supporters in person". Or at least, she would have been if it wasn't for the fact that she's a fictional character and .. er .. doesn't really exist. Related Feature - Angel of Darkness screenshots

While Ukrainian developers GSC GameWorld are best known for their popular real-time strategy game Cossacks, all of that could be about to change. The company is currently working on an impressive looking first person shooter called Stalker : Oblivion Lost, which is due for release next summer and is already shaping up to blow the genre wide open. We caught up with designer Sergiy Grygorovych to find out more about the ambitious project...

LucasArts have unveiled yet another Star Wars game, this time an action title from the makers of Battlezone. Developed by Pandemic, The Clone Wars will feature a mixture of ground and air based combat as you lead a clone army against the evil Count Dooku and his battle droids, taking on the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker or Mace Windu in the process. The single player campaign will be spread across six planets, including the unpronouncable Wookie home planet Kashyyyk, and upwards of thirty vehicles will be available to control, varying from speed bikes and gunships to fighter tanks and AT-SX walkers. "The Clone War was first mentioned in the film Star Wars : A New Hope, and though few details were revealed the conflict has continued to intrigue fans over the years", Pandemic president Josh Resnick pontificated. "We now know that the Clone War was one of the largest and most pivotal events in the history of Star Wars. Pandemic's vast experience in developing large-scale military combat action games is ideally suited to recreating that legendary war for an interactive medium, and will enable players to experience all its intensity first-hand." Expect to see the Clone Wars breaking out on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube this autumn. Related Feature - Clone Wars screenshots

Claymation wizards Aardman are teaming up with Frontier Developments to bring the ever-popular Wallace and Gromit to next generation consoles, publisher Bam! revealed today. The game will feature a mix of new characters and old favourites as Gromit seeks to put an end to Feathers McGraw's evil plans to take control of the local zoo. Along the way there are mischevious monkeys to thwart, animals to rescue and machine parts to recover as you help Wallace put together one of his bizarre Heath Robinson machines. Nick Park and his team at Aardman will apparently be working closely with Frontier on the game's storyline and script to make sure that it captures the "unique charm" of Wallace and Gromit's animated adventures. According to Nick, "video games are an exciting new medium for Aardman and we're delighted that BAM! and ourselves are working with a studio of Frontier's standing". The game is expected to appear some time next year on "all leading formats", with the PlayStation 2 version already confirmed. Related Feature - Bam! and Gromit

Star Wars Episode II : Attack Of The Clones enjoyed a rapturous reception at the Odeon cinema where yours truly first saw it last night. The film, released globally on 16th May (for which we love Lucas), is a spectacle of unparalleled visual splendour which left this writer speechless. Can you imagine that? My friends thought I'd had a stroke. Admittedly, there are those who disagree, but I feel sorry for people who didn't leave the film feeling as good as I did. Frankly, if Lucas is a bad director and script writer, then I'm glad, because if he had done any better with that film I might have died. One of the things the film has done is give shape to the array of games currently in development based upon it, and many sections of the film were clearly inspired by videogames, which is nice to see. Having completed the impressive Jedi Starfighter on PlayStation 2 last month, I can tell you that nothing revealed by the game goes any great way to spoiling the film, which doesn't floor the viewer with too many plot surprises but relies on wave after wave of amazing computer generated visuals and features a climax to wet the pants of lifelong Star Wars followers. If anything, having played Jedi Starfighter I was able to enjoy the film with ease, not having to concentrate on committing names and details to memory as I might have done otherwise. Nevertheless I would recommend those eager to play the game wait until after the film, because it's an excellent piece of supplementary entertainment perhaps intensified by having witnessed the movie itself. I certainly plan to play it again. Soon. The impending release of the (perhaps superior) Xbox version should see to that. It will take your mind off the wait for the DVD release for sure. Those of you fearing spoilers may also wish to avoid the comments thread attached to this news item. Although criticism will be rife of the acting, the reliance on computers and perhaps even the plot itself, there is enough in Attack of the Clones to endear it to any action film fan, and I make no apology for my own intoxication. Think of it as a big computer generated cartoon, give it a chance to impress you and watch what Lucas does with characters like Jango Fett, C-3PO, R2D2, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Count Dooku and more. Jango's forthcoming game, for instance, has joined a number of titles on this writer's 'games to watch' list, and with any luck the inevitable successor to the Xbox's disastrous Obi-Wan outing will finally do McGregor's character justice. Related Feature - Jedi Starfighter PlayStation 2 review

Infogrames have officially announced that they have signed a deal with Korean company Phantagram to develop a new Total Annihilation game. The original was arguably the greatest real-time strategy games ever made, so it's a big pair of boots for the developers to fill, but Phantagram CEO Sangyoon Lee is confident that "the new Total Annihilation promises to be one of the most innovative and futuristic strategy games ever". Details are still fairly thin on the ground at this early stage, but the deal opens up the possibility of next-generation console ports and another sequel should things go well.

Infogrames has started to exploit its exclusive Dungeons & Dragons license to full effect, with the announcement today of a new console game titled Dungeons & Dragons Heroes. Heading to the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube this autumn, Heroes will "take gamers on an adventure of epic proportions", with up to four players battling side by side. Based on the latest third edition rules, the game will allow players to act as fighter, wizard, cleric or rogue, with a wide choice of skills and feats to choose from and plenty of monsters to slay. Heading up the team at Infogrames' Hunt Valley studio is Wizardry 8 veteran Brenda Braithwaite. "What we are doing with Dungeons & Dragons Heroes is designing a game with a decidedly action-oriented flair that will be easy for even a new player to grasp but will immerse the seasoned D&D player in an authentic D&D adventure that will give them the same feeling they experienced with the classic tabletop roleplaying game", according to Brenda. "Each new game will be a different and exciting experience depending on the mix of characters players choose to venture out with, giving the game great replayability." Naturally the game will be on show at Infogrames' stand at E3 next week. The rest of us will have to make do with staring at the game's teaser site until more information is released.

While it's been available in Germany for some time now, the latest installment in the Earth 2150 series of real-time strategy games was never released in the UK. Until now. Akaei have stepped in to publish Earth 2150 : Lost Souls in the UK, with a third quarter release on the cards. Once again there will be seperate single player campaigns for the Eurasian Dynasty, Lunar Corporation and United Civilized States, giving you different perspectives on the impending chaos. This time round it's the end of the world as we know it though, as those unfortunate enough to have been left behind on the doomed Earth fight it out for a last desperate chance to escape. Hopefully Lost Souls will prove to be more impressive than its rather lacklustre predecessor The Moon Project, but fans of the series will no doubt lap it up regardless. Related Feature - Earth 2150 : Lost Souls screenshots

Codemasters have snapped up exclusive licensing rights to publish games based on the Indy Racing League, America's answer to Formula 1 for people with no sense of direction. Ferrari 360 Challenge developers Brain In A Jar will be producing the first game based on the license, with PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions all planned for release next year. Indy Racing League now joins Colin McRae and TOCA Race Driver on the publisher's line-up, which is starting to look like a dream ticket for motor sports fans. "Codemasters is responsible for some of the most respected and successful console racing games ever", managing director Nick Wheelwright commented modestly. "Together with Brain in a Jar we are going to deliver a game based on the exciting IRL series which will continue our own exceptionally high standards." Hopefully the new game will manage to match the excitement of the old Indy Car games from Papyrus. Many of our older readers no doubt still have fond memories of driving the wrong way around Indianapolis at 200mph... Or was that just me?

Eighteen months ago, the launch of the PS2 in the UK was dogged by a lack of quality software. As the giant Japanese publishers singularly failed to provide compelling games for Sony's new wunderkind, it fell to a previously unheard-of developer in Nottingham to rescue the show with a clever and quirky first-person shooter which went by the name of TimeSplitters. With the sequel due for a public airing at E3 later this month, we take a sneaky look at the successor to the game that came from left of field to steal the PS2 launch crown.

Austrian publisher JoWooD today announced a surprise deal to snap up Fishtank Interactive from owners Ravensburger. The take-over brings nine new games to JoWooD, including promising titles such as first person role-playing game Arx Fatalis and Lovecraftian horror title Call Of Cthulhu. The deal also sees Ravensburger Interactive chairman Thomas Kirchenkamp joining JoWooD as Chief Technology Officer, while former CTO Johann Schilcher goes back to managing the company's Ebensee development studio. "This agreement is another important milestone in our successful corporate strategy", beamed JoWooD CEO Andreas Tobler as the news broke. "Ravensburger Interactive has an excellent brand name and a very promising product portfolio with potential for topping the charts. We are strengthening our position as the biggest German speaking publisher and at the same time are becoming a key European player." Related Feature - JoWooD doubles sales

Industry criticism of last year's ECTS has been answered by organisers CMP today, with the surprise announcement that Europe's leading videogames trade show ECTS has been moved for the second time in as many years. Since last year's ECTS ended the organisers have said that this year's show would be taking place in the gorgeous air-conditioned opulence of the Excel exhibition hall in London's Docklands on September 1st to 3rd. But with just over three months left to go, the show has been moved back into central London (Earls Court to be precise) and shifted up a week to August 29th to 31st. "This is a massive evolution for the ECTS brand, but one which will strengthen the show enormously", according to event director Andy Lane. "The move to Earl's Court provides us with the perfect stage to host both consumer and trade elements of the show." Of course, two months ago they were saying the same about Excel when plans for a consumer element to the show were first unveiled. Meanwhile Sony will be opening up another part of Earl's Court to the masses during ECTS as they hold a major PlayStation show alongside the traditionally trade-only event, with some third party publishers expected to be in attendance as well. No doubt this will draw crowds, with celebrity appearances and sports activities planned as well as the chance to play the latest PS2 titles. "Sony's massive involvement will help to bring the entertainment and excitement back to ECTS", Andy added. "This event will be the biggest European promotional platform that the industry has this year and I'd like to encourage everybody to be a part of what will be a very exciting week for the industry." Whether this will be enough to reignite flagging publisher interest in ECTS remains to be seen though. Certainly publishers we spoke to prior to the venue change were less than enthusiastic, with one particularly outspoken PR rep telling us "I bloody well hope not" when we asked him whether his company would be at ECTS this year. Hardly a ringing endorsement, but hopefully these latest changes will improve matters without diluting the show too much. Related Feature - ECTS 2 : Attack Of The Fanboys

3DO took the art of spin to new levels last night with a press release euphemistically titled "3DO shows improved fourth quarter results". In fact sales were down on the previous year. For the three months to the end of March revenues were $16.3m, a fall of about 14% compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile sales for their entire fiscal year were a mere $54.7m, sliding almost 32% year-on-year. On the bright side, the $12.5m loss posted this time last year was reduced to a more manageable $1.7m shortfall, with talk of the company breaking even again this year. The press release puts the improvement down to "better games [and] spending cuts" which have seen the company's costs (and work force) slashed in recent months. Given the quality of most of the 3DO games we've seen lately and the continuing slump in their sales, the latter seems a more credible explanation for the turn-around. "Industry conditions have continued to be difficult", CEO Trip Hawkins claimed, despite the fact that almost every other publisher in the industry has seen sales rocketing over the last year. "But we believe that 'less is more' and have reduced our spending in line with what we expect the market can give us." Related Feature - 3DO slumps (this time last year)

Xbox manufacturer Flextronics is planning to move production of Microsoft's console from Hungary to China, it emerged today, although work will continue at the company's other Xbox factory in Guadalajara, Mexico. Despite highly disappointing sales in the Far East to date, there are apparently already plans to open a second Xbox plant in Asia in the future, presumably to take advantage of cheap labour in the region. "We are confident that through the local supply base and our substantial buying power we can help Microsoft reduce product costs and assist in meeting the growing worldwide demand for Xbox", Flextronics CEO Michael Marks told the press. Meanwhile Microsoft's Xbox hardware supremo Todd Holmdahl insisted that the move will "result in significant cost efficiencies". Whether or not this includes the cost of shipping the consoles half way around the world to Europe instead of moving them down the motorway from Hungary isn't clear. More details of the move emerged from Reuters yesterday, with Holmdahl telling the news agency that "from the start .. we knew we wanted to be in China at some point, but we were also on a very tight development schedule", debunking suggestions that the move was spurred on by a need to reduce production costs in light of recent price cuts. "As we move into the next phase of the program, cost and efficiency are very important and we are going to execute on our plans to move to China." The bad news for European retailers is that it will apparently take anything up to five weeks to transport Xboxes to Europe in future, presumably on a slow boat from China. Microsoft don't see this as a problem though, with Holmdahl telling Reuters that the company can "more accurately gauge demand" in Europe now, making it less important to have a local supply of the console. Well, that's one way of putting it. Related Feature - The Empire Strikes Back

Zelda has slipped from December of this year to February 2003, IGN is reporting. No reason has been given, but development delays on major Nintendo products are hardly unusual. In better news, during MSNBC's appraisal of the console war, the writer gushes about Metroid Prime: "Nintendo allowed MSNBC to play through the first level of Metroid Prime, and the game far surpassed all expectations. A first-person perspective adventure, this game stands poised to do for GameCube what the multimillion seller GoldenEye 007 did for Nintendo 64." Although it's a bit of a cliché to use the GoldenEye comparison, this is exciting news. The only question that remains is, what were their expectations? Related Feature - Miyamoto on Zelda and Mario

The Xbox might be the only current console capable of connecting to the internet out of the box, but according to a report from Reuters the only place to play Madden NFL online this year will be on the PlayStation 2. The latest installment in EA Sports' massive American Football franchise will apparently support the PS2's new broadband and dial-up adapter, which is due to launch at about $40 in the US this summer, but not the pay-to-play Xbox Live service from Microsoft. While this is obviously of little interest to Europeans, Madden shifts in excess of a million units each year in the States and consistently tops the all formats chart, much like the FIFA franchise on our side of the pond. "We are still in discussions, but at this point it does not appear that EA Games or Madden Football will support the online features of the Xbox this year", EA's Jeff Brown confirmed to Reuters. It's not clear whether the issues that are holding EA back from supporting Xbox Live are financial or technical. By contrast Sony will be demonstrating Madden NFL 2003 as part of their online gaming presentation at E3 next week. A press release from EA also revealed that the company has "plans for additional EA Sports and EA Games franchises that will take full advantage of the PlayStation 2 console's online capabilities", none of which will be appearing on Xbox Live any time soon. If things pan out this way, a total lack of support from the world's biggest third party publisher would be a hefty blow for Microsoft, who have always touted the built-in online capabilities of the Xbox as one of its major advantages over the competition. Microsoft has recently been describing itself as a heavyweight in the online arena, but this latest announcement is sure to give Sony more reason to celebrate. Related Feature - Nintendo reveals online plans

Hot on the heels of yesterday's report about a Texan boy's lawyers claiming that violent videogames made him shoot his teenage friend to death comes a similar story from Australia. This time the idiot in question is a 26 year old called Trevor Edward Holton, who was brought to trial this week accused of killing a police officer during a prolonged high speed chase last year. According to the prosecution the man was an avid fan of Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit, "engaged in a real life re-enactment of the computer game". Whatever the reasons, the chase came to a tragic end when Trevor Holton swerved across the road to avoid spikes which were being deployed in an attempt to stop him, a move which he apparently later told the police he'd learnt from the game. Unfortunately in the process he hit the police officer who had been setting up the spikes, sending him flying 80m down the road to his death. The driver then fled the scene after his stolen car flipped over and landed on its roof, only to be arrested later in the day. Of course, this isn't the first time that videogame-related violence has hit the headlines in Australia. Last year the shooting of a security guard at an abortion clinic in Melbourne was rather bizarrely blamed on Half-Life, while more recently Grand Theft Auto 3 sparked controversy when politicians discovered the game allowed you to pay prostitutes for sex and then run them over to get your money back. Related Feature - Australians blame Half-Life for shooting

In a move which is sure to bring a smile to the faces of many of our older readers, handheld specialists Crawfish are teaming up with veteran British developers The Bitmap Brothers to bring some of their classic Amiga titles to the GameBoy Advance. Gods, Magic Pockets and the ever popular Chaos Engine will all be getting a 21st century make-over, with "new features, new maps and enhanced gameplay" being promised to buttress the retro gaming charm of the originals. The graphics will also be tweaked to make the most of Nintendo's multi-million selling portable gaming system, while Chaos Engine will use the link cable to support up to four players, with brand new multiplayer maps being added to fully exploit this feature "We're absolutely thrilled to have the chance to turn these classics into exciting and original games for the GBA", Crawfish development director Mike Merren is reported as saying. "Like crafting a remake of a celebrated movie, our aim from the start has been to capture everything that's special about the original games and then take them that little bit further, making them stand out as great games in their own right." Hopefully this batch of remakes will be more Invasion Of The Body Snatchers than Psycho. Related Feature - Crawfish Advance

I pity the poor sod that had to write this extraordinary press release. In fact, I'm tempted to take EA up under the trade descriptions act, because this isn't so much a press release as a press book. Why not bind it in leather and send it soaring across the globe using an interstellar catapult platform? It's EA - they're bound to have one. Anyway, instead of going over each game in turn - because we would like to post this item before E3 - we will focus on the highlights, with a big list at the end, because you love lists. Yes you do. Right, sports fans. Care to guess what's on the agenda? My money is on everything we saw last year with 2003 on the end of it. Let's see, shall we? This stuff will be available on every platform under the sun: Madden NFL 2003, NBA Live 2003, NASCAR Thunder 2003, 2002 FIFA World Cup (shipped), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, Knockout Kings 2003 (Cube only, oddly), NHL 2003, F1 2002 (shipped on Xbox, out soon on the rest), NCAA Football 2003 and Freekstyle (it's got a bike in it - bikes are a sport, or something, but apparently only on Cube and PS2). Anyway, I win. What else? Well… Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets from UK-based Argonaut (cheer) is currently set to appear on virtually every console ever. The PSone version of the game will be a simple successor to the original game, whereas the other 'next generation' versions are all being done by a different development team within Electronic Arts. A C64 version has not been ruled out. [Don't think I'm not reading this, kiddo - Ed] The recently announced James Bond 007 NightFire will be on display, along with the likes of the Xbox version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter (yes, we know Crave already announced that). Here's the rest of the list:

Although it has escaped the attentions of some (including us, cough), Microsoft also plans to chop the price of Xbox in Japan from 34,800 yen ($271 / £187 / €300) to 24,800 yen ($193 / £133 / €213), returning the country to the position of the cheapest place to buy the console. The price cut will become effective as of 22nd May, but Sony has also said this week that it would allow retailers to begin discounting PlayStation 2 in Japan. Related Feature - The Empire Strikes Back

Nintendo has confirmed that its GameCube console has sold 400,000 units since its launch date of 3rd May, a figure which represents 80 percent of the console's shipped units. Sales estimates for the United Kingdom alone approach 100,000. Related Feature - Cube tops 75k in two days

When the Cube was in development, one of the things that got us really excited was Nintendo's intention to produce an official wireless controller which used RF (hurrah) instead of IR (boo, hiss). It is a given these days that for magical reasons known only to the people who design them, third party controllers are always bad, bad, bad beyond the measure of gentle journos like myself, and thus the prospect of the console's Daddy actually doing the dirty work gave the project mouth-watering potential. WaveBird was its name, and like the console itself, Nintendo is currently toying with how to launch it. According to a release in the States, WaveBird will launch at $34.95, the current asking price for the official controller, now arriving on 10th June. In turn, the Dual Shock 2-alike we all love will drop to a fairly paltry $24.95, and to top it all off, that's effective immediately. Further WaveBird details have emerged this week. The controller will take two AA batteries, and this is expected to allow for over 100 hours of use. However, the controller will only now be effective over a range of six metres, instead of the previously suggested ten. However, there will be 16 RF channel frequencies, so multiplayer bouts are perfectly possible, even with four of the things. In fact, you could have four Cubes and 16 controllers and they should still not interfere with one another, and of course RF, unlike IR, is not a line-of-sight system, so your mate can't cheat using strategic Labrador positioning. No release or pricing information is currently available for the United Kingdom or Europe, and with the current GameCube controller on sale for £24.99, it's difficult to say where pricing is likely to go. One possible outcome is that the controller will launch at £34.99, but if we were being optimistic, we might expect it to launch at £24.99 with the current controller dropping in price to compensate.