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Microsoft have blown the lid off a deal that was struck sometime last year, to use Conexant's CX25871 video encoder to connect the Xbox to televisions, monitors and ATSC HDTV setups. Conexant are a specialist video encoder firm, who develop devices specifically to provide lossless video signal from multimedia units to televisions and other high resolution displays. The CX25871 provides better visual clarity and flicker-filtering than any of its competitors, or so Conexant boast. Todd Holmdahl seem to agree with them. "The superior image quality that Conexant's video encoder provides is one of the most critical elements for the success of Xbox. Features like HDTV output and adaptive flicker filtering, as well as the overall video quality of the CX25871, are unmatched in the industry, making it an ideal fit for the Xbox video game system." Todd Holmdahl is the general manager of hardware for Microsoft's Games Division, so he's not just a pipe-smoking PR luvvy by any means. Visual quality has always been at the top of the list of concerns for Microsoft. The modified GeForce 3 GPU and Media Communications Processor in the Xbox now coupled with the CX25871 should provide crystal clear visuals through whichever medium the end user decides upon. In actual fact, the Xbox is now working at such a level that a mere television is barely good enough to do it justice. Conexant are no stranger to such contracts. They provided the TV-Out functionality in many OEM graphics setups, and also for 3dfx and Creative Labs. So the chances are unbenownst to you, there's a little Conexant chip beavering away on that Voodoo 3 3500 you forgot you had. Related Feature - Microsoft clarify NV2A

Although rather unheard of over here, the "GameShark" series of devices has been performing Action Replay-like functions on various systems for several generations in the States. The company behind the device, InterAct Accessories, has just confirmed that it is working on a GameBoy Advance version, due to retail at $39.99 at the American launch of the console. It's not as if the GameShark is a poor younger brother either. InterAct claim to have sold over three million of the things for the original GameBoy, and the GBA version will come loaded with codes so that gamers can "enhance" their titles. Enhance is the right word - InterAct seem more focused on obtaining hidden weapons, levels, characters and easter eggs than they do on giving the player infinite lives or other cheats. The GameShark for GBA will ship with an easy-to-use graphical user interface on the GameBoy side, as well as Windows compatible software and a 6-foot USB cable. The idea behind the latter is that the GameShark.com website can be used in conjunction with the software to sustain gamers with more codes "as they're discovered". InterAct expect the GameShark to do them stirling business, something they are no stranger to. The company recently scored a major accessories deal with Microsoft to produce gamepads, arcade sticks, racing wheels and more for the much-anticipated Xbox. Related Feature - Microsoft accessorize

It's only a few years since 3dfx helped to kick-start the 3D gaming revolution with their Voodoo graphics cards, but after a string of poor financial results and product delays the company finally collapsed at the end of last year. Yesterday the company announced their last set of results, for the three months to the end of January 2001, showing revenues dropping by 83% compared to the same period the previous year and operating losses rising to almost $80m. Looking at the whole year revenues were down by 35% to $233m, while losses had risen a staggering 438% to $340m.

Yet more Xbox news this afternoon. According to IGN, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is set to announce Sega's full support for the Xbox at the Tokyo Game Show later this month. There was much anticipation at the end of last month when sources close to the Xbox project hinted that Sega were coming on board in some capacity, and the rumour mill that is the Internet decided this meant Dreamcast emulation. Since then nothing has been made of the claims, except some frank dismissals from both parties. If there is a Sega announcement at TGS, it will likely be to confirm third party development support. Sega has already offered support to Nintendo and Sony. The GameBoy Advance version of ChuChu Rocket is expected to ship upon the US release of the console. Seamus Buckley didn't have any in-game footage for hacks at this year's Game Developer's Conference, so Microsoft are expected to make a big push at the Tokyo Game Show. Sega's support would certainly be a nice card to have in the back pocket. Sega has no further information to offer on the rumours, but continues to discuss development with all platform companies, it said in a statement to IGN. Microsoft are also expected to confirm some of the launch lineup for Japan, where fears are mounting that the Redmond-based firm will not make a splash big enough to impact on market leader Sony. In order to reverse this, Microsoft aims to have 18 titles ready for the machine's Japanese launch date. Konami are definitely on board, with several titles. Related Feature - Microsoft must do better in Japan

Although we crudely called it the NV25 when we first heard about it a few weeks ago at nVidia's development conference in London, Seamus "Xbox" Buckley, speaking to the Game Developer's Conference in the States this week, has noted that the chip will be labelled NV2A (presumably to stress the similarities between it and the NV20- the last thing nVidia want is potential GeForce 3 buyers turning their noses up when the cards finally hit the shelves). According to CGO, the Xbox CPU will provide all memory access for the NV2A, although otherwise it's very similar to the NV20, as we suspected it would be. The NV20, or GeForce 3, has made its name with stunning visual quality and key new features like pixel and vertex shading. Seamus hinted to the GDC that the NV2A will arrive with unique Xbox features, but the inner workings aren't relevant to the press because it will never appear outside of an Xbox. What he would say was that it will push more polygons, something Computer Gaming Online attribute to its relative freedom from the DirectX 8 API - after all, on a closed platform Microsoft can feasibly do what they like to improve performance, as long as it works. Seamus also reckons that lots of small timing changes can be made- stuff they could never do in a PC. In the words of CGO, "Since they know the exact clock speed and bus width of both the CPU and memory, they can actually optimize the chip for those timings and see quite a significant performance increase." The Xbox is due to hit the States this year, and depending on all sorts of variables, and the Japanese problem, the rest of the world in early 2002. Related Feature - NVIDIA show off magic at The Gathering

Development and publishing firm Rage Software has secured a deal that will allow them to develop games centred around Manchester United and England football star David Beckham. Arguably one of the most accomplished football players in the world, Beckham is a key asset to the new range of titles, and will be helping in the development with motion capture and whatnot. Speaking in a press release, Paul Finnegan, Rage's MD said that "David Beckham is without doubt one of the finest footballers in the world today and we are delighted to be developing and publishing David's only officially endorsed range of computer and video games. Rage has had a long history in creating excellent soccer game titles and we believe that, through the association with David, we can create a long term strong and global game franchise." Rage have been noted for a lot of quality software recently, with "Hostile Waters" making waves (ha!) and "B17 - Flying Fortress - The Mighty 8th" earning all sorts of awards for detail and realism. It is expected that the much anticipated "Eurofighter Typhoon" will cause quite a stir as well. The addition of a David Beckham franchise can only strengthen the firm's character in a tough industry. Related Feature - Hostile Waters Review

The UK is the most expensive place in the world for fast Internet access, according to a comprehensive new report from Point Topic. The company's DSL Worldwide Directory lists and profiles DSL companies throughout the world and compares prices and the number of people on the service.

The Japanese market is very different to the American and European ones, and that's something Microsoft must understand in order to be successful in the land of the rising sun. A report from FT.com today echoes what we said at the beginning of the month, that Microsoft must invest more in Japan and devote more attention to distribution channels to generate sales and interest. The PlayStation 2 has been enormously successful in Japan, and it is absolutely critical that Microsoft play onside with the gaming giant on its own turf. As we reported, local software companies like Konami, Capcom, Squaresoft and more are all loyal to Sony, and as Capcom's Keiji Inafune said at the time, "Japanese video-game developers cannot afford to invest aggressively in making Xbox games because Microsoft has yet to show its specific intentions, such as what age demographic it is targeting." Microsoft has taken proactive steps in the last few weeks, explaining their business strategy for Japan to a gathering of executives at a Tokyo hotel, but FT.com believes that it still left some unsatisfied. One unnamed executive said that his company has been "urging [Microsoft] to promote the machine aggressively, but they are too stubborn". The Redmond-based firm has decided to use Bandai subsidiary Happinet and the software arm of Softbank to centralise distribution in Japan, something which has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. To put it bluntly, this means that big Japanese retailers "will have to show their business information to the competition" according to one executive. "This is not good." The amount of people eager to speak ill of Microsoft's distribution plans should be remarkable, but their attempts to remain anonymous are quite telling as well. After all, most of the market is loyal to Sony - it wouldn't take too much pampering from the console giant before certain executives decided to voice their "concerns" about Microsoft. Perhaps we're too harsh, but that's certainly what it sounds like. Outspoken critique from companies close to the industry is important - anonymity merely confuses observers. Microsoft's answer to all this? "We do not believe we are at the point where we need to start marketing yet. We will do it when the time is right." The Xbox - Who do you want to frustrate today? Related Feature - Xbox to be delayed in Japan?

Most of the attention lavished on Blizzard's recent press tour of Europe was obviously focused on their Next Big Thing, the fantasy strategy game Warcraft III. But while Bill Roper was over here he also took the time to show off the latest build of the massive Diablo II expansion pack.

The original Fear Effect was popular with the sort of people who bought Phantasmagoria, if I remember correctly. To us it was just an average 3D adventure with snappy dialogue but too much gore, questionable visuals and irritating controls. The sequel feels very much the same, except this time it's a distinctly average 3D adventure with too much gore, far too much cartoon cleavage, and constant and irrevocable depravity, which will stay with you until such time as you can find something more disturbing. Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is, in other words, more of the same, but with increased quantities of the things we didn't like. The game comes on four discs, yet takes only 10 hours or so to finish thanks to all the FMV. Occasional bouts of anime-inspired action make it vaguely serviceable, and the controls have been tuned to a Resident Evil style, but it's still just a slightly-above-average adventure game. That said, fans of the original will have no trouble enjoying it, with all its silly puzzles, blood, guts and cleavage. To call the Resident Evil control scheme an upgrade, the first must have been pretty awful, right? Right. If you delve into the Options menu and switch from Classic to 3D controls, it's more like Metal Gear Solid, but hardly enough of an improvement to keep you alive for long. Movement is, as before, dodgy, with characters arcing round in circles and swivelling on the spot like scarecrows in the wind.

Creatures is certainly one of the most unusual titles we've come across, focusing on breeding and nurturing a group of cute fuzzy semi-intelligent creatures called Norns, but over the last few years the series has notched up over a million sales. Now the Norns are going online with Creatures Docking Station, a free massively multiplayer game which allows you to discover and interact with other players and their Norns as well as breeding your own. Once you have linked to another player with a warp portal your Norns can explore strange new worlds, with the game's central server keeping track of where they go and what they do.

MadCatz have long been known for their peripheral support for systems like the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and PC. They recently secured a very useful deal to produce peripherals for the Xbox, and now they have plans to produce unofficial gadgets for GameBoy Advance owners. Most interesting is the "Battery Grip", which is an ergonomically designed grip that encases a Ni-Cad rechargeable battery, good for up to 15 hours of continuous gameplay. This should make it very popular with long-haulers, who are often forced to stop by the petrol station on their way down the M1 for a can of Coke and a packet of AAs for the passenger. Another toy for long-haulers is the travel pack. Featuring multi-link cable, roll cage, light and magnifiers, it should keep even the most rugged gamer out of trouble. We particularly like the idea of a roll cage, because God knows how irritating (and heart-breaking) it is when your tiny LCD screen develops bumps and scratches. Elsewhere, the company also intends to produce a docking station, for recharging the Battery Grip it seems, a Car Adapter, and separate releases of the roll cage, and light/magnifier. The jewel in the crown though is the MP3 player, which uses smart cards for unlimited storage (as long as you can buy some more, obviously). We're at a loss as to how this is a better arrangement than say, minidiscs, but it's definitely convenient. The MP3 player also includes a built in PDA for storing contact information, a scheduler and memo devices. There really ought to be a "boss key" for when the man walks in and spots you fiddling with your GameBoy mind. "Honest guv, I was just looking for a phone number!" Related Feature - Microsoft accessorize

Sony have adopted Tripath Technology's Digital Power Processing (DPP) technology to drive a unique audio/video amplifier system for PlayStation 2. The system will deliver 330W of high fidelity 5.1 surround sound for games and DVD movies. Although in this writer's opinion that's overkill for a DVD playback system that plain malfunctions under a lot of circumstances. Lets dissect the press release bit by bit, shall we? "Tripath's digital amplifier technology enabled Sony to incorporate six, high-powered amplifiers into a module small enough to be contained in the subwoofer speaker cabinet, eliminating the need for a separate audio/video amplifier." What's being said here is that they stuffed the amp inside the sub-woofer, which is quite a similar approach to systems like Creative's popular "DeskTop Theatre" systems, which are also now provided in a PS2-compatible edition. Actually, from memory it's the same as most of the amp/sub packages home consumers have been buying for years. "With two optical and two analog inputs, Dolby Digital®/DTS® (Digital Theater Systems) decoding and Sony's ``Digital Cinema Sound,'' the SA-PSD5 can also connect directly to standard DVD players to provide a powerful home theater experience." This at least gives buyers of the Tripath system some chance to redeem their purchase when they realise how awful PlayStation 2 DVD playback turned out to be. Actually, for those that don't know, it's usually okay, but obviously it's single-region, and on a lot of discs, the machine actually crashes during layer-change on the DVD. It won't even play the second half of my "Three Amigos" disc. Moving on though, again, this is not a new idea. If you think the idea of multiple inputs is clever, then you really ought to peer at the back of the Videologic DigiTheatre DTS - there are significantly more than two of each. VideoLogic also provide a PS2-compatible speaker system, by the way. "The lack of significant heat dissipation from the Tripath amplifiers allowed Sony to deliver this performance inside the one-foot cube sized subwoofer." Obviously to be floor-mounted then, like most subs. To be honest though, heat dissipation is not the one I worry about - I'm more concerned about magnetic shielding. If I put this sub/amp or any of the speakers next to my television, is the cathode ray tube going to come under fire, or the soon-to-be-released PS2 hard-disk if I sit it near that? "Combined with five compact satellite speakers this system offers a unique combination of power, fidelity and size for owners of the 10 million PS2 systems that have been shipped to date and consumers upgrading their DVD systems to Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound." To the casual observer the impression is that Sony's new system actually adds Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound to systems. This is not true. What Sony are saying (and this is pretty clever marketing) is that it will allow users to take advantage of the in-built DD 5.1 decoding of their DVD players for the first time, hence an "upgrade". That's pretty cheeky, but we have to applaud them for their cunning subterfuge. The SA-PSD5 was recently announced in Japan and will be available in stores there on April 21, but in actual fact, it's probably no better a speaker system than any of the third party systems released recently, most notably from Creative and VideoLogic. Make no mistake, this is an attempt by Sony to muscle in on the market Creative and VideoLogic set up for themselves with the "PS2-compatible" speaker sets. By buying up a similar technology and adding some cunning marketing spin, Sony have immediately cornered most of the others' potential buyers. The audiophiles won't be convinced by it, but then, audiophiles are hardly likely to use a PlayStation 2 to play DVDs. Ultimately, the intelligent consumer will examine the specs and decide which best fits their needs. That will save the majority, but still leave a sizeable minority, and the press release is worded in such a way as to be quite convincing. Remember though, if you want a set of speakers for your PlayStation 2, there are other options, and they should be considered in exactly the same light as the Sony kit. Related Feature - Creative announce PS2 speakers

Saudi Arabia's Higher Committee for Scientific Research and Islamic Law has apparently banned Pokemon games and cards in Islam's homeland, claiming that they have "possessed the minds" of children. Given reports last year of children here in the UK beating each other up in playgrounds and robbing stores to get more of the addictive trading cards, they're probably not far wrong there.

Force feedback is something which is traditionally limited to joysticks and steering wheels, apart from the odd mouse. But all that is set to change with the arrival of RumbleFX headphones from Evergreen. As the name suggests, these are gaming headphones which vibrate depending on the sound data they receive from your PC or console.

Take 2 proudly announced this morning that one of its subsidiary companies, Global Star, held 52% of the growing Palm Pilot gaming market in January 2001, according to research firm PC Data. Of the top ten titles for January, five were Global Star releases. Take 2 has a lot of subsidiary companies, including Rockstar Games, GOD Games, Talonsoft, Joytech, DMA Design and others. All fall under the Take 2 brand name, from the company's headquarters in New York City. Global Star is a relatively new addition. Amongst the numerous Palm titles in development from Global Star are versions of popular gaming properties Grand Theft Auto, Action Bass and Jet Fighter. The company's press release indicates that these titles should be out for the "holiday season" this year in both North America and Europe.

For the last few weeks EuroGamer has been running its second annual Gaming Globe Awards, recognising excellence across the entire spectrum of game design, from storylines and soundtracks to visual effects and artwork. Having invited our readers to nominate their own favourite games, developers and characters for the fifteen categories that make up the Gaming Globes, our team of experts here at EuroGamer put together a final short list of five nominees for each category.

Although trailing woefully in GameSpy's own appraisal of world gaming through its networks, Quake 3 does enjoy a healthy complement of Rocket Arena 3 netizens. With the release of the mod's version 1.5, players are given the opportunity to gorge themselves on five brand new maps. The release also fixes a number of bugs that have revealed themselves in the interim period since the release of 1.4. In an effort to curb cheating, the server now logs player's unique IP addresses and information, and features more administration features. RA3 has always been a democracy, and players can now use the "Callvote" command to change maps, too. Rocket Arena 3 was always going to be popular, but the additions of full MP3 playback support, an integrated IRC chat client and more mean that it offers gamers the chance to do everything they would normally want to do whilst playing a multiplayer game online. We've had no luck downloading the files from the official locations at FilePlanet, but BarrysWorld have provided a very fast set of mirrors on their UK-based FTP. As requested, you may visit their news page for the links. You can visit the official Rocket Arena 3 page to view the list of updates here.

The little green men are coming! No, we're not talking about alien invasion, but the imminent arrival of another flurry of Army Men titles from 3DO. The next month will see the release of a whole spate of games starring the little plastic soldiers - Lock 'n' Load and Omega Soldier on PlayStation, Green Rogue and Sarge's Heroes II on PlayStation 2, and Air Attack on PC, with another PS2 Army Men game expected in May.

First person shooters are going to receive a kick up the backside with the release of Volition's Red Faction. EuroGamer saw the game in action for ourselves during a private screening last October, and we thought it looked impressive then. Today marks the release of the first footage of the game on the PlayStation 2. Although a little grainy, it provides a good demonstration of how the game will feel and move on Sony's console, and just how dynamic the whole thing is. The movie is 3.5Mb big, and can be downloaded from EuroGamer. Related Feature - Red Faction Preview

Unlike some of its contemporaries, The Guardian doesn't seem to be ashamed of our nation's games-playing youngsters. Far from handing out Kevlar on the nearest street corner and yelling to all and sundry about the end of the world, its home affairs column undresses some startling new research performed by the Home Office regarding children who play computer games. According to the report, children that become "addicted" to computer games "may actually be more intelligent than the average and go on to university and higher-ranking jobs". Perhaps the Home Office released this one seven days too early… The report goes on. Apparently a British study five years ago determined that avid gamers are highly motivated and intelligent people who land prestigious university places and are often misunderstood. More recently, a follow-up study has shown good academic results and better than average jobs as a result. It's encouraging to see a national newspaper printing something not comprised entirely of hearsay and moustachioed "experts" plotting the end of the world at our hands. One expert the article does name is Jessica Harris, the apparent author of nearly 20 studies into computer games and their affects on children. Harris' research indicates that children experience a short-term increase in aggressive behaviour as a result of playing or watching violent video games. Rather like the short-term increase in aggressive behaviour that follows a rugby match, or a game of football. Harris' research also indicates that on present evidence, to claim that children's levels of aggression are affected in the long term by gaming is impossible. At least on scientific grounds- it hasn't stopped the Daily Mail, mind. The level of concern in parents about the effects of video games on their youngsters has gradually increased since the early 90s, when games were viewed as a harmless pastime. The conclusions of research studies have varied, but the most recent, Jessica Harris', is the most comprehensive. Speaking to The Guardian, Ms. Harris said that the growing widespread concern over the effects "has led some to believe that children become more aggressive after playing such games". Harris is quick to point out that the jury is still out on the long-term effects, but current information does not indicate anything more than a short-term increase in aggression, which is characteristic of most active pursuits. Of the surveys, one actually discovered that gaming has a calming effect, because it provides "an outlet for aggression and the open expression of competition". With government research now showing that computer gaming can actually benefit children academically, perhaps people will start to realise that it's not all Doom and gloom for our nation's youth.

It seems like just yesterday when the arrival of a new Star Wars game from Lucas Arts would have been cause for celebration. But then came a string of duds and disappointments, second rate spin-offs released to cash in on the over-hyped new movie The Phantom Menace. And so today the arrival of a new Star Wars game is met with a mixture of dread and morbid curiosity.

The year is 2090, and mankind is at a sort of technological zenith - everyone lives a pleasant life, never having to worry about holes in the economy and such, and the world is a stable place, free from disease and conflict. But with world peace comes world boredom. There's nothing to keep people happy, and that is where the evolution of "Ballistics" comes in. As a Ballistics Pilot, you throw yourself headstrong into the most awesome speed sensation ever dreamt up: a sport with no upper speed limit. Ballistics evolved from Formula One, with pilots trained from their teens using electronic reflex enhancers. When matured, these pilots are dumped in streamlined tunnels packed with obstacles, and a vehicle capable of going as fast as humanly possible. The goal? Victory. The game uses settings as diverse as the Belize jungle, Grand Canyon and the city centre of future Houston (which resembles something out of The Fifth Element). The vehicles, called "Speeders", are high tech hover bikes with a magnetic repel unit to keep them floating in the air when inside the track. A magnetic field is generated close to the walls, and the pilots can attach their Speeder to it to ensure stability of movement. Otherwise they're on their own in the dangerous centre of the tunnel. Budding pilots have plenty of pros and cons to consider. The cons are high-speed impacts with obstacles, and the pros are the cold hard cash. Each race pays as good as you deserve, and travelling at close to 3000 km/h (the office record at Grin), you're going to generate a lot of revenue. Speed and style are rewarded with cash bonuses, and of course Speeders can be upgraded in between events.

Interplay's Black Isle Studios division has announced that it is working on a new role-playing game titled Torn. The company is promising a mixture of great 3D graphics, solid gameplay, an original fantasy world and real-time combat, all powered by an enhanced version of the brand new Lithtech 3.0 engine. Interplay's claim that the game will feature "a twisting, epic tale of noble allies, vile treachery, vengeful tyrants and maddened gods that will set the precedent for fantasy and adventure games to come" might sound like hyperbole, but given that Black Isle have been responsible for a string of great role-playing games such as Fallout, Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale, expectations are obviously very high.

From the makers of Action Replay 2 comes Game Studio, an emulation system for the PlayStation 2, which allows gamers to play GameBoy games on the PS2. Once you've booted up Game Studio, you plug the GamePort device into a memory card slot and insert a GameBoy or GameBoy Color game of your choosing. Game Studio then plays it on the big screen. Anybody who was around during the heady days of the SNES will remember Nintendo's own answer to this, the Super GameBoy, but it is not thought that GameBoy Color games were supported, making the Game Studio something of a breakthrough. "Game Studio takes advantage of the PS2's bi-linear filtering to display your Game Boy games in hi-res, with smoother edges and graded colours," the press release beams. Games like Zelda: Link's Awakening (arguably the best Zelda game ever) and of course the ubiquitous Pokemon franchise can now appear in their full screen glory on your television. Obviously they lose their portability as a result. The Game Studio features eight built-in games to get you going; Space Invasion, Karate Joe, Painter, ATV Racing, Full Time, Hang Time, Pocket Smash Out and Race Time. In total, Datel reckon you would have to spend £100 to secure these independantly. Most of that would of course be bus fares to dealers who still carry them. The Game Studio "Games To Go" feature allows you to download the built-in titles onto a cartridge for use in your actual GameBoy too. Whether this will mean more free games distributed by Datel via their website is unknown. One would think that if it does happen, the games will not take the form of ROM images. If that happened, any old pirated GameBoy game would function on the Game Studio. Game Studio is actually powered by the Action Replay technology, so you can also use it to gives yourself the edge in games that are proving too difficult. Not to mention expose any easter eggs left by the developers. Oh, and the games will learn to make use of the Dual Shock 2 controller's "rumble" function - pretty neat, eh? Game Studio is due out in April.

The CPL's European division has unveiled its latest event, to take place in the Dutch town of Loosdrecht near Amsterdam on May 11th to 13th. Featuring $35,000 of cash prizes and room for up to 800 players, it promises to be one of the biggest pro-gaming events held so far in Europe. Highlights will include a 192 player Quake 3 tournament and a 48 team Counter-Strike contest. CPL-Europe are also promising that a certain Miss Stevie Case will be in attendance. Since leaving her job at Ion Storm where she worked on .. ahem .. Daikatana with boyfriend John Romero, Killcreek has been an "ambassador" for the CPL. We're not quite sure if that's a step up or down in the world, or merely a sideways promotion for a woman who is sadly better known for posing topless in Playboy magazine than for her level design skills...

Blizzard is probably the most successful developer on the US west coast at the moment, with a string of hit games such as Diablo II, Warcraft II and Starcraft behind them. So when Blizzard's Bill Roper dropped by the Covent Garden Hotel in central London as part of his press tour of Europe earlier this week, natually EuroGamer was there to see the company's latest projects in action, and to find out more about what Blizzard have planned for us over the next year...

Commercial overclocking specialists asetek are showing off their 2GHz "Vapochill" unit at CeBit this week. Powered by a P4 1.5GHz, the Vapochill uses special vapor phase cooling technologies, which, after massive R&D, are now proven to cool processors so that they can effectively run at higher speeds for longer. The system has been tested successfully by hardware guru Dr. Tom Pabst at Tom's Hardware. Although the system is not ready for launch yet, asetek claim it will be by the end of the month, which will mean that hardware buyers with cash burning a whole in their pockets can pick up 2GHz systems at last, approximately a year after the 1GHz machines first became available to the public. How's that for speed growth then? We reported last week a chap in Japan who had reached the 2GHz mark using some seriously messed up liquid nitrogen cooling system. Vapochill are not expected to go quite that far. Related Feature - Pentium 4 2GHz overclocking drama

With the Kyro II about to debut in Guillemot's "3D Prophet 4500", Videologic have taken steps to piggy-back the chip's publicity by re-releasing its "Vivid!" Kyro-based card at a purse-friendly £64 ex. VAT, which puts it at around the same mark as the cheapest of GeForce 2 MX cards. A new 32Mb version of the card called "Vivid!XS" features TV-Out, better DVD playback and the newer Kyro II chipset! The XS will cost just £84 ex. VAT, which also puts it at around the mark of its competitors the Radeon VE and the GeForce 2 MX, even if the VE is aimed at business. The only problem is that both the MX and VE offer dual VGA output at that price point, whereas the Kyro has no support for the technology. Nonetheless, Videologic president Kevin Dale says that "For high-intensity gaming Vivid!XS provides segment leading performance at a very affordable cost with an enormous effective fill rate, intense scene complexity and all with the dazzling visual quality of full 32-bit rendering". Also on the release agenda for today are revised "silver, performance tuned" versions of the popular home cinema products the DigiTheatre DTS, DigiTheatre and the DRX-601ES digital radio tuner.

Content and web-games outfit GameLoft has closed its UK business after less than a year of operation. Speaking from a pedestal somewhere in the United States, a spokesman claimed that GameLoft sees "no profit perspective in the exploitation of its Internet portal", which is a nice way of saying that their business strategy relied too heavily on non-existant advertising revenue. The company will move to "concentrate on exploiting its game catalogue on a pay per play basis, on the web and interactive TV where strong business opportunities have already been identified". No staff cuts have been mentioned at the US branch, but most if not all of the UK employees have been given the boot. Just before six months of operation, GameLoft booted out most of its content employees worldwide after realising that it had no strategy for financially exploiting their hard work. The company has been in financial difficulties for some time, and was about to move its UK arm out of an expensive "loft" in Guildford to a smaller premises elsewhere in town. The website is still up at the time of writing, with a teary-eyed Article Archive placed prominently on the front page. Nothing has been updated since the 21st of March however, when it is believed all employees were ejected. Plenty of content operations have had to pack their bags recently, as the dotcom bubble burst. Trend-setters BarrysWorld went into voluntary liquidation at the beginning of this month, but were rescued by Electronics Boutique a fortnight ago. Others that have hit the dust recently include Freeloader.com (yesterday), c|net's GameCenter and Gamers.com. All have had interesting ways of describing the cutbacks, but our favourite was Gamers.com, which called the widespread sackings as the removal of "luxuries".