News (Page 3877)

Sony's PS2 Online launch title, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, has taken the top spot in the UK sales charts for the first time in its third week on sale, knocking Atari's Enter The Matrix out of the number one position.

A team of researchers claim to have found a new way to make the Xbox boot the Linux operating system without using a mod chip, and is threatening to release details unless Microsoft approves an official system for running Xbox Linux.

A group of leading development studios in the North of England have united to form Game Republic, a body aimed at improving their leverage with financiers and government alike.

Atari's Enter the Matrix has entered the Japanese market, with a relatively respectable debut at number three for the title, while Nintendo's Mother RPG series takes the top spot thanks to a resurrection on the GBA.

Sega has officially changed its top executive, with Hisao Oguchi taking the reins of the company from outgoing president Hideki Sato at a shareholders conference in Tokyo on Friday.

Ubi Soft's Pandora Tomorrow, next year

Following weeks of speculation, Eidos has confirmed that Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness will not be out in Europe in time for the end of the company's financial year, and has therefore reduced profit expectations for the year.

Details have been announced of the key public event at the inaugural Edinburgh International Games Festival this August, with the city's Royal Museum playing host to the interactive Go Play Games exhibition.

Reports this morning suggest that EA is making another game based on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, this time for PS2, Xbox and GameCube, which would appear at retail in early Autumn.

Ambitious new UK publisher Play It has announced details of its release schedule between now and Christmas, revealing that at least 15 more £9.99 priced PlayStation 2 games are planned by the end of the year.

A number of layoffs at Microsoft's Japanese Xbox operation are once again making headlines, three months after they were originally revealed, as ex-employees complain of poor treatment during the course of the layoffs.

Nintendo's was this week celebrating the second anniversary of the launch of the Game Boy Advance in Europe - with sales of over two million units of the pint sized console and its successor, the GBA SP, in the UK alone.

Online gaming specialists Eurogamer and Terraplay have signed an agreement which will see their technology solutions working more closely together on future projects, starting with SCEE's This Is Football.

Reports are suggesting that Vivendi Universal has temporarily shelved the sale of its games division following lower than expected bids, but other conflicting rumours state that Microsoft and Take 2 may have teamed up for a bid.

Development on Sony's Cell microprocessor continues apace, with SCE boss Ken Kutaragi promising a shareholders meeting in Tokyo that demonstrations of the technology will happen within the current financial year.

Publisher Acclaim is set to cease development for Nintendo's GameCube once its current projects are finished, with CEO Rod Cousens stating that the platform does not supply "appropriate yields".

Atari's Enter The Matrix is still the best selling game in the UK this week, marking its sixth week at number one and setting it well on its way to being one of the biggest selling games of the year.

Two new PlayStation 2 online titles have launched in Japan, supporting the arrival of Sony's PlayStation BB Pack, which incorporates a console and network adapter - but neither title is setting the charts alight.

Following last week's triumphant announcement by Nintendo that it had won a victory over Hong Kong based mail order retailer Lik-Sang, one of the company's founders, Alex Kampl, has spoken about the ruling.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has withdrawn statements attributed to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer in which he said that the next-generation Xbox would arrive in 2006, stating that they were not made by Ballmer after all.

Bristol-based SN Systems has increased its presence in the Japanese games market by opening an office in Tokyo and signing an agreement with Sega, moves that will go some way to strengthening their position in the region.

Atari's licensed multi-platform Matrix title has sold more than 2.5 million units in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), making it the biggest and fastest-selling title since the publisher's rebranding.

Hong Kong based Lik-Sang, a mail order company which distributes videogame software and hardware worldwide, has lost a crucial court case brought by Nintendo over the sale of devices which could copy Game Boy software.