Odds And Ends: Tuesday News Roundup

Reality TV is obviously a big load of bollocks, but games about wacky reality TV shows we can just about put up with, particularly when they're as bizarre as JoWooD's Neighbours From Hell. You may recall we rather liked the first one up to a point (the point at which it became hideously repetitive), in which you had to torment an irritating neighbour for the hidden cameras, and we're certainly looking forward to seeing how the second one updates the formula. And, via the magic of the webformation interhighway, now we can! All thanks to a 30.9MB playable demo, which gives you a taste of the sequel, in which wily trickster Woody follows his neighbour onto a cruise liner and attempts to irritate him and his mum for as long as possible.

Doing anything this Bank Holiday? Well, if you're an MMORPG fan, you'll be sitting at your PC trying to sign up for the EverQuest II beta, judging by this page on Sony Online Entertainment's website. Starting at 10AM PDT (no idea, sorry) on May 3rd,you'll be able to sign up, and as long as you have the kit (the hefty system requirements are listed on the same page), you might well be in for some shiny new MMORPG action within the next few months. Signing up may be a test of your virtue, courage and strength, but as long as you keep refreshing the web browser of honour, you shall flourish. Probably.

Some clever clogs types at AheadGames (they of Afterburner fame) seem to be working on an overclocking modification for the humble Game Boy Advance. "What a stupid idea!" you might well shout. After all, what do you gain from an OCed GBA? (Except perhaps Doom running at a half-reasonable frame rate?) Well, in actual fact, it's all geared towards the recently released SNES emulator, which is a wonderful thing for the four or five of you with GBA flash carts and a legitimate right to make use of such contraptions. Which includes us, actually - we'll let you know when we hear anything else.

In the past, we have perhaps been guilty of taking the Mickey out of German director Uwe "let's buy up the film rights to every game ever" Boll, mainly on account of his House of the Dead movie's dismally poor performance in the IMDB ratings. But of course, as Midnight Club II proved, we're always happy for someone to prove us wrong the second time around, so we went into the Alone in the Dark movie trailer with an open mind. Sadly though, the only guy who left with an open mind was an unfortunate security guard skewered by a rather unpleasant looking Scorpion-King-meets-Deep-Rising fellow. Apart from a brief glimpse of Christian Slater (playing hero Edward Carnby), it's not very remarkable. It's worth a look if you care about AITD, but probably best to avoid if you don't, or if you're still at work.