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Thanks to GamesDomain for its review of Mario Kart: Double Dash for GameCube, as the reviewer rates Nintendo's latest kart update very highly, but comments that "...more seasoned gamers may grumble a tad at the general lack of progress", a view occasionally echoed by the overwhelmingly glowing reception from other sites, reminiscent of the (cynically?) subdued positivity regarding Soul Calibur II's release. However, IGN Cube is more critical still, suggesting the game "doesn't progress far beyond the N64 version other than in the visual department... [and] introduces new imbalances to the item system", plus "has axed a few trusted control mechanics like the hop." As for the title's reception outside the U.S., EuroGamer rectifies IGN's downer angle, and C+VG reports significant sales in Japan, with a knock-on effect for GameCube hardware, and a similar effect in the UK for a Mario Kart-including hardware bundle.

Thanks to Eurogamer for its interview with Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, as journalist and Deus Ex mod creator Kieron Gillen quizzes him about the PC/Xbox FPS sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War. Spector illuminates the murky factions of the sequel: "My favourite moments are when people give you diametrically opposed goals on a single map", and explains the game's resistance of typical action game cliche: "There are no happy endings. There is no easy answer. There is no bad guy you can kill to make everything right." Elsewhere, C+VG has a two-part interview with Spector, also revealing a PC demo of the game is due close to its December 2nd U.S. release date.

Thanks to the New York Times for their article investigating future possibilities for Sony's EyeToy PlayStation 2 camera. The writer has a chance to see Sony R+D's experimental prototypes using the just-released USB camera add-on, which include manipulating Harry Potter-style onscreen spells with a wand "...made from parts of a hotel clothes hanger [that] has a brightly colored ball on one end", and an onscreen interface replicating "...the futuristic computer operated by Tom Cruise's detective character in the movie 'Minority Report'." Production has been ramping up quickly on the camera for the US, and Sony hope to replicate the success of the peripheral in the UK, where EyeToy: Groove, a rhythm-based game, is the first piece of expansion software released.

Thanks to Eurogamer for their opinion piece criticizing the excessive length of videogames. The author initially states: "It's the woe of every committed gamer: piles of uncompleted games. We all swear we'll go back and complete [games] but the sad reality is most of us will - most likely - never get around to resuming our valiant quest to conquer these epics." He points out the relative lack of time most players have: "For the majority of gamers, squeezing in the time to play games means - pretty much - not spending much time doing anything else in our leisure time", and goes on to advocate episodic content, arguing "I long for a future when games are delivered in short sharp chunks like all the best visual entertainment is."

Thanks to Eurogamer for their first impressions of PC racing game construction title, TrackMania. The preview explains: "Imagine RollerCoaster Tycoon where you can hop in a truck and zip around after you've laid the final block. That's TrackMania", and notes that "[the developers] Nadeo promise that track designs will be swappable, downloadable and just a few kilobytes in size." The marvellously-named Fappin has info on a public Beta test, as well as showing pictures of the crazier tracks for this "odd mix" of racing and strategy, which the previewer compares to cult 2D title Elasto Mania in terms of value.

MohitKhanna writes "GameSpy has posted a new preview of Doom 3, along with a couple of new screenshots from the game. The article gives an insight into what the single-player story mode of Doom 3 will be like, and also introduces a few new monsters." Blue's News has a good round-up of the other Doom 3 articles released today, also including a new Tim Willits and Todd Hollenshead interview at GameArena, and this 2004-due FPS is also previewed at Eurogamer and checked out via GameSpot.

Thanks to Eurogamer for their first impressions of Worms 3D, as Team 17's 2D turn-based strategy classic gets Sega-published and updated into the third dimension. The article suggest that "...we couldn't really see how the move to 3D would bring with it much in the way of 'improvements'", but ends up addicted, and "surprised at just how timeless the Worms formula appears to be." Blue's News reveals that a demo for Worms 3D is now out, possibly leaked early, but downloadable from Gamer's Hell, 3D Gamers, and BitTorrent via GameTab, and for those of you still digging the original 2D version, it seems the Asian-only Online Worms has 3 million Beta testers in China.

Thanks to Eurogamer.net for their 'Muffies' Autumn Game Awards 2003, which tries to differ from the official ECTS awards in "only [allowing] games for which actual real-time code was available", and basing their conclusions on serious time spent with each game at the ECTS and Playstation Experience shows. Stand-out winners include Best PC Game for the so far low-profile Ground Control 2, which "...looks set to be a true strategy classic", and Best Surprise to Rogue Ops, which they describe as "...Metal Gear Solid and then some." Finally, the overall Game Of Show award went to the Euro-centric Pro Evolution Soccer 3 from Konami.

Thanks to Eurogamer for their review of Elixir's Republic:The Revolution for PC, discussing the previously-featured strategy title that has you taking control of the fictional Eastern European country of Novistrana. The review points out: "...it's quite amazing how much opinion among gamers is already polarized by Republic: The Revolution", but concludes by suggesting "...this is a slightly above average political simulation title which would have probably worked better as a board game than as a videogame, shackled down with a 3D engine that serves no useful purpose and is almost entirely non-interactive." A review at GamesDomain is slightly more forgiving, but has similar views: "Freeform, subtle, complex, rather dry, and just the tiniest bit (appropriately enough) oppressive, Republic: The Revolution is likely to sharply divide gamers."

Thanks to EuroGamer for their new preview of id's Doom III from an Activision press event in the UK, where id lead designer Tim Willits and CEO Todd Hollenshead were demonstrating the latest build of the long-awaited FPS sequel. Hollenshead confirmed of the game: "We have no plans to release it this year", a new "physics patch" was shown (the writer suggests "the physics implementation seems to be quite young, suggesting it was 'bolted on' after the capabilities of the Source engine became apparent"), and the writer argues that "...for all Valve's fancy physics and cunning AI, the eye candy in Doom III is still a cut above." Update: 08/14 15:39 GMT by S : In a related story, HomeLanFed have initial impressions of the multiplayer Doom III modes, currently being demonstrated at QuakeCon in Dallas.

Thanks to Eurogamer.net for their preview of Vampire:The Masquerade - Bloodlines, with new info and screenshots on the FPS/RPG hybrid from Troika, the creators of Fallout and Arcanum, and the first announced title apart from Half-Life 2 to use Valve's Source Engine. According to a Troika representative, "Bloodlines is the first game to combine the classic RPG feel with a first person shooter engine", and Eurogamer also single out the return of the classic RPG 'conversation tree' as providing fresh gameplay ideas: "For example, your character may have excellent seduction skills, or be part of a specific clan that allows you to ask questions or offer responses otherwise unavailable to you, and these 'special' branches of the conversation will be shown in a different font to indicate this."

More companies are announcing their line-up for E3, and one of the most interesting rosters comes from Capcom, who now have an E3 preview page up on their site. Highlights include Resident Evil: Outbreak (the online Resident Evil for Playstation 2) and Onimusha Blade Warriors (more of a fighting game?), as well as other new Maximo and Onimusha titles, though sadly there are no screenshots available there. Also announcing their product line-up are Eidos Interactive, whose press release mentions Thief and Deus Ex: Invisible War from the Spector-headed Ion Storm, plus interesting Legacy Of Kain and Tomb Raider sequels. Finally, a preliminary list of E3 titles bundled out of Sony Europe by Eurogamer includes Gran Turismo 4, Syphon Filter: Omega Strain, Eye Toy (using your Playstation 2 plus a camera add-on), Ratchet and Clank und Jak and Daxter sequels, and plenty more. Excited yet?

The list of games to be shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next month is rapidly increasing, and this Eurogamer feature has a round-up of what's been announced so far. There's always plenty of new titles and surprises, and this year is no exception. A notable list comes from Sega, and includes the Sonic Team title Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg for Gamecube, more spiky hedgehog action with Sonic Heroes for GC/PS2/XBox, as well as Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D Revolution, a card battle RPG for GC that continues the successful franchise. Another major company showcasing its line-up is Nintendo, who has an E3 preview page that includes the now two-seater Mario Kart: Double Dash for GC and the eagerly awaited Advance Wars 2 for Gameboy Advance, as well as several Nintendo-bound Final Fantasy titles in association with Square/Enix. More updates as we get them.

The list of games to be shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next month is rapidly increasing, and this Eurogamer feature has a round-up of what's been announced so far. There's always plenty of new titles and surprises, and this year is no exception. A notable list comes from Sega, and includes the Sonic Team title Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg for Gamecube, more spiky hedgehog action with Sonic Heroes for GC/PS2/XBox, as well as Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D Revolution, a card battle RPG for GC that continues the successful franchise. Another major company showcasing its line-up is Nintendo, who has an E3 preview page that includes the now two-seater Mario Kart: Double Dash for GC and the eagerly awaited Advance Wars 2 for Gameboy Advance, as well as several Nintendo-bound Final Fantasy titles in association with Square/Enix. More updates as we get them.

The list of games to be shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles next month is rapidly increasing, and this Eurogamer feature has a round-up of what's been announced so far. There's always plenty of new titles and surprises, and this year is no exception. A notable list comes from Sega, and includes the Sonic Team title Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg for Gamecube, more spiky hedgehog action with Sonic Heroes for GC/PS2/XBox, as well as Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D Revolution, a card battle RPG for GC that continues the successful franchise. Another major company showcasing its line-up is Nintendo, who has an E3 preview page that includes the now two-seater Mario Kart: Double Dash for GC and the eagerly awaited Advance Wars 2 for Gameboy Advance, as well as several Nintendo-bound Final Fantasy titles in association with Square/Enix. More updates as we get them.

zonker asks: "Now that nVidia has picked up 3dfx is there still want or need for glide on other cards? I have a TNT2 card and have some old games that require glide. I can't run them natively, so I either have to use software rendering mode or a wrapper (they all kinda suck, though). With the new 3dfx purchase, and the current state of affairs with DirectX, etc., is there any warrant for asking nVidia to release Glide drivers for their nVidia chips? Or is this something that will forever be relegated to Glide wrappers? I know Creative was working on one. I personally would like native drivers, but..."

mbell writes: "Eurogamer.net's coverage of Razer-CPL has a write-up of a workshop that John Carmack gave on 3d games and hardware. Pretty interesting article, including some talk about id's next game." Kudos to Katherine (Don'tcha love alliteration?) for buying the round of drinks -- and the hints about the potential next game are cool. Think "Not Quake."

mbell writes: "Eurogamer.net's coverage of Razer-CPL has a write-up of a workshop that John Carmack gave on 3d games and hardware. Pretty interesting article, including some talk about id's next game." Kudos to Katherine (Don'tcha love alliteration?) for buying the round of drinks -- and the hints about the potential next game are cool. Think "Not Quake."