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Eurofighter Typhoon is a flight simulator designed to appeal to the Tomb Raider generation - attractive, simple and compelling. It is intended to bring a whole new audience into military flight simulation, while allowing the hardcore crowd to enjoy a day off from complex radar modes and weapon profiles.

Yesterday we reported that French developer Kalisto (responsible for the Nightmare Creatures series and currently working on several projects including a massively multiplayer game based on the Highlander franchise) had announced catastrophic results for the year 2000, with revenues almost 90% lower than forecast, resulting in a $25m loss over the year. Today we have received an update on the situation from Kalisto, including a copy of the letter sent out to shareholders on Monday in which CEO Nicolas Gaume explains what lies behind the losses.

"The Gathering". Not some overrated Poker substitute, but the moniker NVIDIA coined for their 2001 developers' conference, held in the glitzy confines of the Hilton Hotel at Heathrow's Terminal 4. A cacophony of booze and bitmaps, the conference was opened to the press last Thursday evening, and EuroGamer journos, never ones to turn down a free pint, trooped along to check out the NVIDIA's codename NV20 product, the GeForce 3, and meet some of the people developing next generation software using the platform. We ran into all sorts. Although the conference was mostly held during the day, the hardcore and those who had flown in for the event hung around to make our acquaintance. Adrian Thompson, our man in the trenches at NVIDIA (and possessor of the purse strings when it comes to taxi jaunts home) was very eager to talk to us about GeForce 3. A lot of websites, Adrian told us, have seen tech briefings, but nobody has yet been provided retail drivers, so anything you may have read on the Internet thus far has been largely academic. How does the GeForce 3 compare to its competitors? At the moment, its specifications are far beyond anything you will find on chipsets and graphics cards from NVIDIA's rivals. Even NVIDIA's own market-leading GeForce 2 Ultra pales in comparison, thanks to the GeForce 3's four texture units per pass, multiple textures units per cycle and breathtaking new pixel and vertex shading technologies. Another thing we got to ask Adrian related to the Xbox. After hearing from several sources (including Scottish developers who had gorged themselves on the GeForce Juice Hilton staff were handing out) about NVIDIA's role in the Xbox, we wanted clarification. Is the NV20 appearing in Xbox? "The technology you are seeing here" Adrian said gesticulating wildly at the monitor array we had just walked away from, "will appear in Xbox. Does it really matter what the chip is called?" He's right of course; be it NV20 or NV25, the fact of the matter is that the GeForce 3 will be in Xbox, be it in its current form or in a souped up, overclocked, feature-saturated version eight months down the line. During the next few days we hope to bring you preview coverage of a couple of "launch titles", games used to demonstrate the GeForce 3's capabilities. Aquanox, German developer Massive's contribution, is an RPG come action game set in a post-nuclear underwater world. The sequel to Archimedean Dynasty, which was released by Massive in 1996, the game uses the GeForce 3 to full effect, taking advantage of pixel and vertex shading, the new programmable GPU and the rest of the kaboodle. Pixel and vertex shading are dramatic new technological breakthroughs for this industry. They help the GeForce 3, already the fastest graphics chip on the planet, breathe life into every scene with intricately detailed textures, scope for full facial animation and more. The nfiniteFX (Infinite Effects) GPU enables programmers to create their own sumptuously detailed palettes and stylised visual effects. One of the criticisms, Adrian told us, that people have levelled at the GeForce family in the past is that developers have had to stick with roughly similar palettes and visual effects. Not any more - if they can code it, they can use it. Ballistics, the other title that was on display, is a futuristic evolution of Formula 1, developed by GRIN, where you control vehicles that travel at exceptional speeds (with no real speed ceiling hard-coded into the game) through tunnel-based levels. It's a fine balance of speed, acceleration and thermal-management, and it shoves textures up the GeForce 3's pipelines like nothing else on the planet. Both of the titles we were shown comfortably pushed the GeForce 3, and both looked and performed admirably. One of the key problems that NVIDIA face when it comes to marketing the GeForce 3 is software ready to take advantage of the new technologies. The good news is that not only is performance in classic applications like Quake III industry-leading, but that in time games which make use of pixel and vertex shading predominantly will emerge, angling the GeForce 3 as a hell of an investment for future gaming bliss. We are even more eager to get hold of a board for testing now than we were before! Thanks to NVIDIA for inviting us down to "The Gathering", and thanks to various people for entertaining us, including Bo Anderson at GRIN, Alexander Jorias from Massive Development, gracious sponsors ELSA, AMD and Vector, and our friends Adrian Thompson, Kevin Strange and Chris Donahue from NVIDIA! Here's to the next one! Related Feature - GeForce 3 Preview

It's hardly surprising to see console hardware releases staggered across the globe these days, and so the latest news, that Nintendo will be holding off on the European launch of the GameCube until Spring 2002, should come as no surprise. Comments made in Japan last week on the subject look to have been confirmed, as the machine will now debut in Japan in July of this year, while the USA date has been confirmed as October 2001.

Obviously in an attempt to scrounge yet more coverage from us, our friends at Eidos have let us know about Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen II, another title in the Kain series, which is due out on PlayStation 2 towards the end of the year. The player will be part of a story line that continues and expands the myths of Kain, the Soul Reaver and the Vampires of Nosgoth. "After being defeated in single combat by the Seraphan Lord and losing the Soul Reaver, Kain slips into a deep sleep to rejuvenate. Finally awakening 200 years later in the capitol city of Nosgoth, Meridian, Kain finds his world dominated by the old Seraphan Order, a group of vampire hunters he defeated long ago. Traveling through the city using stealth, smarts, and reflexes Kain continues his struggle for the Soul Reaver and dominance over Nosgoth." You can take a look at the initial batch of screenshots here. The eventual release will feature immense levels made up of medieval steam-age urban architecture apparently, with dynamic lighting and particle effects to stretch the Emotion Engine, over 100 characters and enemies, a fluid combat system that matches Hong Kong action flicks and new magic and "Dark Gift" abilities. Related Feature - Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen II Screenshots

The LAN party scene here in the UK has really boomed over the last couple of years, with bigger, better and more frequent events, and 2001 is already looking like being another great year for gamers wanting some low ping action whilst quaffing copious amounts of booze and caffeine and screaming abuse at each other across a packed room.

Self-described "pioneering on-line game publisher" Garage Games has announced a licensing deal with Sierra which will see them producing a stripped-down version of the Tribes 2 engine for use by independent game developers. This should come as no great surprise, as Garage Games was founded by members of the Tribes 2 development team, and is therefore familiar with the technology and the people behind it.

Apart from what little we could glean from the mirky demonstration of the game's graphics engine at the recent MacWorld show in Tokyo, details of id Software's new Doom game are few and far between. What we do know though is that id appear determined to make this their best game ever, and to once again push the boundaries on the single player element of the game rather than just producing light weight fluff which is held up by multiplayer support and mod makers. "The story in this game dwarfs anything in previous id games, which admittedly isn't too hard", confirmed programmer Jim Dosé in a recent interview.

Microsoft have unveiled their new Xbox.com website, which includes information on officially confirmed release titles, publishers and developers signed up to the console, GameStock 2001 information and an Xbox news subscription service. Also included on the website is a call out to Seattle-based gamers looking for some pro bono Xbox playtesting work. GameStock 2001, which kicked off on Monday, brought games developers from all over the world to scrutinize the Xbox. New titles and developers have been confirmed, as reported on the website, with newcomers like Bizarre Creations' codename "Gotham", Argonaut's "Malice" and Blitz Games' "Fusion Frenzy". The full list of confirmed titles and publishers can be seen on the new games page. The latest from GameStock 2001 are some new Halo screenshots, which really are of an exceptional visual quality. Overall, we reckon the new Xbox.com is worth a few minutes of your time while surfing the web today.

MadOnion's 3D Mark 2000 has long been the staple diet for benchmark junkies eager to have something to show for their elaborate PC setups. The new version, 3D Mark 2001, combines DirectX8 support with the latest in 3D graphics and through its objective measurements gives users advice on how effectively their PC runs 3D graphics applications. Furthermore, it shows users benchmark results that allow them to make informed hardware assessments and upgrades. After feedback from gamers who have used 3D Mark in the last year, the "Professional Edition", for which you must cough up either $24.95 for an upgrade or $39.95 for the full version, allows you to actually play the exquisitely detailed opening scenes of the program's testing demo. You can hand over your money at MadOnion.com. Speaking in the official release, Marketing VP Nathan Harley said that the company has been "continually striving" to improve its benchmark facilities since 1998, so that "gamers from around the world maximize their experiences and PC performance". The company, he says, has achieved this goal with 3D Mark 2001, "by supporting DirectX8 and providing detailed 3D performance measurements for existing systems and developing challenging, new tests for current, cutting-edge hardware, as well as technologies yet to be released." The important new featureset that 3D Mark 2001 ships with includes support for Microsoft's DirectX8, three new game tests, plus a fourth game test using DirectX8 hardware. Other items on the menu are support for various DX8 display modes, FSAA, texture compression, and all sorts of other technologies past and present. You can get the whole lowdown from the official press release. Although the MadOnion website is under pretty heavy load at the moment, you should be able to download the benchmark application sometime today. In the meantime, check out some of the ongoing discussions about the new release.

It's widespread knowledge that Valve are on the verge of releasing Half-Life version 1.0.0.6, and getting in just before the act with their own updated release is the Counter-Strike team. There are all sorts of changes to this version that will have Counter-Strike addicts reeling and roaring in unison, so lets address them one by one:

HiTech Creations sent us word today that they have just released a new version (1.06 if you're counting) of their massively multiplayer World War II flight combat sim Aces High. Amongst the new features added in the patch are new cloud patterns, improved night time lighting effects, and another eight new planes to pilot, taking the total up to a staggering 42. The latest additions to the game's arsenal include obscure rarities such as the Tempest V (a British plane used for chasing down V1 missiles) and the Ar 234B (a jet-propelled German bomber), as well as better known planes such as the American P-51B and two more variations on the classic German FW190 fighter.

We have it on good authority that Future Publishing is about to lay off 75% of its Daily Radar content operation as part of "Internet restructuring". Eight people including the editor are believed to be on the way to a P45, although it is presently unknown why Future are scaling back the portal operation quite so dramatically. Future declined to comment when we spoke to them this lunchtime, but admitted that editor Andy Smith wasn't in the office today. Unlucky staff are thought to be making arrangements this afternoon amidst uncertainty over their future at the company. The infamous Daily Radar has risen to the position of the United Kingdom's biggest leisure and gaming website after an enormously successful push in the USA. There is no word on the operation overseas, but the redundancies are presently thought to centre on the UK operation.

Bordeaux based computer game developer Kalisto is the latest company to announce poorer than expected results as the gaming and internet industries continue to slump. No great surprise there perhaps, as most games companies have done badly in the last year, but this case is rather drastic, with Kalisto reporting revenues of just Fr 19m (about $2.7m) during the year 2000, compared to the Fr 170m that had been forecasted last year. This has resulted in an incredible Fr 175m loss for the year (roughly $25m), or almost ten times their total revenues. Put another way, that's going on for $1m for every one of the company's 300 employees.

Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive are looking set to release Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 this March on PlayStation 2, and have just released a batch of new screenshots this morning to whet the appetites of anxious gamers everywhere. Soul Reaver 2 is the third game in the Legacy of Kain franchise after Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The sequel picks up where Raziel left off after plunging through the Chronoplast time portal in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Over the course of his journey, Raziel must unearth the mysteries of Nosgoth's ancient races, and expose the machinations behind the corruption of the Pillars and the vampire genocide. Top stuff. Real-time environmental morphing helps keep Kain's world fresh as he switches between material and spectral planes, and this time Raziel will spend the game collecting new abilities, weapon and enhancements and spells which play a crucial role in the completion of his epic adventure. Improved special effects and constant 60fps gameplay will set this Kain adventure apart from its predecessors. Look for it later this month from Eidos. In the meantime, check out the screenshots and make your own mind up. Related Feature - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 Screenshots

It's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command! A game based on the cunning exploits of our favourite big-screen nutcase, and his intense battles with the evil Zurg! Except, oh, it's not. It's actually a game based on the crummy Saturday morning TV series, with all the contorted polygons and unfinished animations that made that so forgettable. There's no charm, no wit, no guile to our beloved Buzz - and once again it's Traveler's Tales that is responsible, the company that brought us such terrible bores as Captain Blasto… It's very hard to get excited about Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The films were intended to entertain everyone, and did so admirably. This particular game seems like a cheap excuse to take a few 5 year olds and their parents to the cleaners. Watching my little brother rocket around the levels it was fairly clear which age group had won, and which had lost. But ignoring my as-yet unsatisfied desire for an adult-orientated Toy Story game, does the game appeal to kids? Well yes, but then sandpits appeal to kids - I'm not giving it a stellar rating based on that. The first thing to note before we go anywhere is that the screenshots are incredibly deceptive. If you blow up one of the images on this page and have a look at it, you could be forgiven for thinking that it looks pretty good. Do not be fooled. The stylistic approach and toon shading (ala Jet Set Radio) are a complete faux - if you see it in action, animations tear up in front of you, polygons clip all over the place and Buzz himself, whilst outlined by a thick marker pen looks no better for it. It's a PlayStation game on the Dreamcast, with all the hacks and blurs to get it there that Activision could employ. Texturing and backgrounds look like they've been drawn up in MS Paint, and for the most part that's probably about as much attention as they did get. The appreciable slowdown at times doesn't help matters either, and I have no idea where it comes from.

French publishing behemoth Infogrames has issued a statement today claiming that its losses are down for the last six months ending December 31st because the US side of its operation has moved into profitability. The company's acquisitions in the US have included Hasbro Inc.'s interactive games unit for $100 million in January this year, and GT Interactive (which it folded into its own Infogrames Inc. business) in December of 1999 for $135 million. Infogrames Inc. reported a profit of $16.5 million in the last quarter, compared with Infogrames Entertainment's losses of 22.2 million euros. In a prepared statement, the company said that "These good results are due to the successful integration of GTIS within Infogrames and, more specifically, to a renewed US management team, the restructuring of operations and the implementation of a focused strategy in the US,"

Gaming giants Nintendo and Electronic Arts have dropped a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo, and instead have pledged to work with the company to stamp out piracy in its online auctions. The trio intend to use Yahoo's proprietary filter technology to block the sale and advertisement of pirated games on Yahoo's auctions and classified sections. The lawsuit was originally kicked off in March of 2000, and Sega of America were then a very vocal part of the proceedings as well. The original claim was that Yahoo had refused to remove auctions that promoted the sale of pirated software, despite having the technology to do so adequately installed. Not only did the three companies claim Yahoo was liable for this, but that they made money from it thanks to the charges it levies on auctioneers and its advertising banners. From 1999 to 2000, the amount of pirated or illegally obtained software being sold on auction sites rose from 60% to 90% according to the Software and Information Industry Association in the USA. Copyright violation suits are big money-spinners these days. The whole Napster debacle is based on pretty much the same idea. So why have Nintendo and Electronic Arts backed down? Presumably the knowledge that Nintendo and EA consumers will no longer have access to such goods on Yahoo is more important to them than a big fine. If any money did change hands, we don't know about it. The Register reports that the original suit asked for an injunction against the sales, damages of $100,000 per copyright violation, and $2,500 for each sale of the hardware devices. Perhaps Yahoo simply can't afford that any more. Elsewhere and on a similar note, Silicon.com is reporting that Police have arrested two software counterfeiters in the West Midlands, seizing some £67,000 worth of software.

Derek Smart is certainly a man with strong opinions (that's about as politely as we can put it without incurring the wrath of the lawyers), and it's no secret that he isn't too impressed with the current state of the gaming industry and the role of the publishers in particular. So perhaps it shouldn't come as any great surprise to learn that Dr Smart is cutting out the middle man, with his new game Battlecruiser Millenium now set to be sold exclusively through Electronics Boutique and its attendant website.

Semi-conductor giant IBM has won the contract to produce the Sony PlayStation 3 micro-processors, ahead of stiff competition from competing manufacturer Toshiba, who built the "Emotion Engine" which currently occupies PS2s the world over. The new chip will be created with the so-called broadband era in mind, although by choosing to go down this route, Sony does rather leave its fate in the hands of domestic telecommunications operators and their rollout plans for advanced Internet services. Sega banked on its Dreamcast arriving in time for the broadband revolution, and after failing to do so, the technology has had to be rebranded in set-top boxes and abandoned as a console format. Nevertheless IBM and Sony are very excited about the announcement, and Toshiba will still be involved, contributing with part of the £400m PlayStation 3 development costs. The IBM-fabbed chip will not go into production until 2004, but the idea is to produce a "supercomputer on a chip", which as you may well remember was the original claim for the Emotion Engine. IBM have claimed that the result of the R&D will be "consumer devices that are more powerful than IBM's Deep Blue super-computer, operate at low power and access the broadband internet at ultra-high speeds". Sony has already agreed to license 0.10 micron fabrication technology from IBM. Eager to distance themselves from irate PlayStation 2 users who want Sony to focus on their console rather than on future projects, Sony issued a statement through a spokesman, who said that "This isn't just an extension of what we've done in the past" and that the system will be "fundamentally different". Toshiba and IBM are also now bound by memorandum of understanding to develop 0.13 micron-sized dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips for the Playstation 2 console, which may well be distributed in the same form as Nintendo's famous N64 RAMBUS "expansion pak", which helps games like "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" to realise their full potential. The extra DRAM will help Sony reach its goal of equipping PlayStation 2 with internet access, in Japan at least. Once again though, they rely on domestic telecommunications companies to help them out. Strategic alliances with NTT DoCoMo and similar companies abroad may help them to success, in light of the Sega Dreamcast's failure in this field. Five years down the line, everyone will be equipped with high-speed Internet access, or so say IBM, Toshiba and Sony. Perhaps by then the question will not be whether broadband is able to keep up with Sony though, but more whether Sony can keep up with broadband. Related Feature - Broadband Consoles - A Pipe Dream?

Australian developer Micro Forté are apparently in trouble following the recent completion of their latest game Fallout Tactics for publisher Interplay. According to reports on a fan site devoted to the Fallout series, they had been funding work on a new 3D engine ready for a planned sequel to the game, only for Interplay to change their mind and cancel the title. The result was a cash shortfall leading to a large number of lay-offs at the developer.

Pro Pinball Trilogy is made up of three critically acclaimed pinball titles, and is actually the first pinball game ever to appear on the Dreamcast! Pro Pinballs "Big Race USA", "Fantastic Journey" and "Timeshock!" offer all sorts of unique multi-layered tables, and unlike most pinball games which are a resounding rip-off, actually sounds varied enough to hold even the most die-hard Friday-nighter at bay. We're not sure the incredibly OTT descriptions are called for - perhaps they're aiming for the hyperactive teenager market, but the game does boast high-resolution graphics, what's described as Empire's best ever physics model, and the option to fiddle with the physical parameters of the game, including flipper strength, table slope and other odds and ends. The game should be available for Dreamcast owners from Empire Interactive on the 13th of April, and we've knocked up a few screenshots for you to check out in the mean time... Update - the game is now scheduled for release on the 20th of April! Related Feature - Pro Pinball Trilogy Screenshots

Last year saw EuroGamer launch the Gaming Globes, the gaming industry's answer to the Oscars. Intended to recognise excellence across the entire spectrum of game design, from storylines and soundtracks to visual effects and artwork, the Gaming Globes gives you a chance to help pick out the best games and developers of the year in fifteen different categories.

Microsoft have finally decided to put their bottomless marketing wallet on standby for a couple of days and let the games do the talking. On the 12th March (that's today, by the way), they will be showing off a little substance from their headquarters in Seattle, with the following industry luminaries on hand: Peter Molyneux (Lionhead), Lorne Lanning (Oddworld), Chris Taylor (Gas Powered Games - he did Total Annihilation, so get down on your knees), Alex Garden (Relic), Martyn Chudley (Bizarre Creations), Carl Schnurr (Microsoft) and of course Jason Jones (Bungie). What can we expect to see though? There's all sorts of speculation, with everything from Black & White Xbox to MSR Xbox being touted. The only thing that's really certain is that this is a make or break day for Microsoft - the first real time that the public will get to see the Xbox in action, and not just pre-rendered Oddworld show-offs. We hope to bring you full analysis when the news lands tomorrow morning (at the close in Seattle). Related Feature - Thinking about the Box

Okay, so generally speaking, we don't draw attention to the myriad of obscure Far Eastern overclocking links we discover on our trawls around the web. Take H-Oda.com for example - a page that distributes the venerable WCPUID program, a page basically rife with stuff like this, and this. That said, when it comes to barriers, the biggest at the moment is 2GHz, and now that someone has broken it with an engineering sample of the P4 1.7GHz, we feel it our duty as hardware nuts to let you know! The person in question published this page just recently, which includes (independantly verified) WCPUID images that clearly show the Pentium 4 1.7GHz reaching not just 2.0GHz, but ultimately 2.3GHz! We'd congratulate the chap if we could decipher his name in Internet Explorer, but suffice to say, it's an achievement and a half. Check out the rest of his page for even more daring exploits into super-cooling and the like. We fancy this is the sort of bloke who uses Nitrogen in his air conditioner. Amongst his other feats (on the Records page) are a PIII-1GHz running at 1.6GHz and more. Check it out, but take a seat first!

Do you remember the Kyro? We previewed it in the middle of last year, and guessed (wrongly, it would seem) that the card had a bright future ahead of it in budget gaming systems, on the back of its strong array of PowerVR features. The final silicon was eventually labelled the Videologic Vivid, and the world hasn't really seen hide nor hair of it for over six months. That is, until this weekend, when rumours started to brew of a "Kyro II"; rumours that were eventually confirmed when we sauntered over to Hercules' press website.

Gore, subtitled "The Ultimate Soldier" will be an online multi-player game with an Offline ladder system placing the player against the game's advanced AI. Developed by 4D Rulers as a competitor to the now-proven multiplayer-only first person shooters, Gore features many new and popular gaming styles, and the design brief seems to be to make an entertaining shooter. It's described as the development team's dream game, and now you can sample that dream for yourself with the 40Mb demo version that has just been released. With so many demos hitting 100Mb and above these days, 40Mb is a pleasant change. You can download it from either of the following URLs:-

The game teaches you to drive mechanical diggers with a multitude of bizarre events ranging from rescuing turtles to playing ten-pin with a beach ball. Most of the tasks can be played against the clock in single player mode, or against an opponent's time in multiplayer. JVC expects the game to appeal to gamers both young and old. During our visit to JVC's UK headquarters we got a chance to play Power Diggerz for some time with one of the firm's PR officers, and it seems that thanks to the shear variety of tasks on hand and the subtle difficulty level the game is remarkably addictive. One of the first challenges was simply to duff up a limousine, and it acted as a good opportunity to suss out the controls. You use your left analogue stick to control extension of the arm, and general movement from side to side, while the X and Triangle buttons move the arm up and down respectively. It's surprisingly intuitive after a while, and no doubt after a couple of hours of it, manipulating the arm will become child's play, and that's going to be important, because a lot of the tasks are quite delicate! For starters, there's a fairground loop-of-wire style challenge, where you have to manoeuvre the claw through a maze whilst avoiding the sides and the ceiling, which is bobbing up and down. The idea is to try and get as far as possible while the clock is ticking, but the challenge really lies in moving quickly and avoiding the walls. If you hit them, you get penalised and knocked back a few moves, so it's all about gauging how much you can get done before the ceiling sinks back down to block you off.

While big western companies like 3D Realms and Valve vanish for three or four years at a time, working their way through multi-million dollar budgets in the hopes of producing another hit, while endlessly recycling their last game with console spin-offs and Plutonium / Platinum editions to mop up every last penny, a small company based in Croatia of all places has popped out of the woodwork with one of the year's most promising action games.

EA Europe's release schedule has been updated, with confirmation that Unreal-engined shooter "Clive Barker's Undying" is now due out next Friday on this side of the pond (we had previously been expecting it to be released yesterday), as well as new information on some of EA's other titles. Undoubtedly the biggest title to be added to the list is Westwood's first 3D real-time strategy game, the eagerly anticipated "Emperor : Battle for Dune", which is being targeted for a June 15th UK release.