Latest articles from Andy

Ten years ago Activision raised the standards for PC Gaming to console level in terms of presentation with the sublime classic Mechwarrior 2, paying particular attention to the music as well as the action. Instead of multiple formats, there were different... Read more

Well well, it's finally here. Technical problems scuppered a planned preview of Breed last year and we applied the patch to the review copy before proceeding, only to find that that stopped the review code from working too. Two installations later we... Read more

Want a movie-style pitching line to sum up Painkiller? We'd called it “Serious Damned”. In fact it's a return to the good old days of Doom I and II with another graphical makeover like Serious Sam's. The paper thin plot has you in purgatory and conscripted... Read more

True 3D is the major selling point to the latest in the Myst Series; you can play from the third person view (default) or switch to first person, although sometimes the game will make its mind up for you, in the style of Tomb Raider. Yeesha, the 200 year... Read more

They were pioneered and introduced in America four years ago, but the digital stamp has now been released by Royal Mail for Britain. The principle is the same as the US version; stamps are paid for online, and then sent electronically. The user can then... Read more

The Computer World aka Tiny and Time as they were, are now on their third major rebrand as The Computer Store and with every relaunch there are store closures as shop rents and leases expire or are folded to save money. It's a sign of the company's strength... Read more

First we were told the plug would be pulled on Windows 98's support on 15th January 2004 including the Second Edition previously excluded from the Christmas 2003 clearout. However business pressure from companies eager to pay Microsoft (MS) for more support,... Read more

Thanks to the desire to make an Xbox version and internal competition with the Digital Extremes, and Epic Megagames, Legend Entertainment created an eXpanded MultiPlayer add-on for anyone with the original disc, and American and Canadian readers can buy... Read more

Adaptec, major player in SCSI devices, has diversified into the USB and Firewire area with ease, bringing over its internal PCI boards with the various external connectivity methods that are now taken as common place. Thanks mainly to Apple, Firewire's... Read more

Sharman Networks, original developers of KaZaA, see quite a future in their ad-supported and spyware riddled peer-to-peer software and don't want a rival based on its code impeding their growth. Therefore, every link accessible from within K++ was rendered... Read more

Sensing the disquiet in the UK about closed American download stores, Coca-Cola are to launch a paid-for download service. Like the drink the service is expected to go global. Hooking up with OD2, who already supply Tiscali, Freeserve, HMV, Tower Records... Read more

"All over bar the shooting" would be an unfortunate way to view the events at a recent Counter-Strike Gaming Tournament organised by CXG. Let's let Joseph F Hill of CXG take up the story in his own press release; At 4:30am (CST) I was informed by CXG... Read more

While ordinary folk rush to catch the final rubbish and recycling collections before the holiday disruptions, Microsoft are doing much the same thing. The difference is, Microsoft's "junk" consists of old utilities and Operating Systems which are finally... Read more

In the summer of 2002 you had to marvel at a game that sold almost a million at full console price, when it was a PC game- such was the loyalty commanded by Warcraft III Reign Of Chaos finally getting released. At the same time Neverwinter Nights was... Read more

This game was released in 2002 and was the sequel to the winner of the last great multiplayer FPS shootout. So why look at it now, with constant updates and improvements across the year this is still a top flight game that continues to be played but now... Read more

Let's cut to the chase: Unreal II is Max Payne set in space. Both feature groundbreaking graphics for the time of release, both will hit you with some exhilarating firefights, and both are criminally short- they can be completed in just over a week. I... Read more

Tron is a classic 1982 movie about video gaming with music that could only (politely) be described as of the times. The game spawned two arcade machines of its own and countless early licensed console variants, but now it’s back in a Lithtech-engine... Read more

TOCA. A classic PC driving game range from yesteryear, the last true PC entry being version two eight years ago. Aside from moving into Rally games this was the series where Codemasters' reputation for demanding physics and smashable cars was showcased.... Read more

Like GTA, when the graphics weren't realistic due to technology, the original Postal was written off as a joke and not even the Daily Mail was as annoyed as usual. It did however, sell well enough for Running With Scissors to program a sequel in full... Read more

Another success story from the mod development community, Day Of Defeat is a hardcore WWII multiplayer FPS. Crafted from the engine of the best selling Half-Life which never had bots at launch so most online deathmatching was human v human, the penultimate... Read more

To be honest we could just leave up the headline, show you the screenshots and leave you to it. The second game was cutting edge at the time, both graphically and physically. Released when Colin was showered in gold with the seemingly magic Ford Focus.... Read more

This Microsoft-Published MMORPG's developed into community all its own, drawn in by the easy learning curve of the interface and the action. Go online and you'll find maps tips and the usual wealth of fan sites. Further episodes have kept gamers interested... Read more

The strap line reads, “a game that transports players to a time when heroes did battle with monsters of legend and the gods intervened in the affairs of mortal men”. “Taking on the role of one of nine ancient civilizations, players guide their people... Read more

Age Of Wonders Shadow Magic has the pattern of Rogue Spear and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. It's not quite a full-blown sequel but it's standalone and slightly more expansive than a mission pack. The edition reviewed ships with a strategy guide in the same... Read more

In thousands of homes across the country sit mountains of videotapes, some with programmes you just haven't got around to watching yet, others with lovingly recorded cult TV series in meticulous order. The most essential kind hold family memories and... Read more

Netopia is best known for its Timbuktu Pro software remote control range in the UK, but has been branding ADSL modems for some time. The 3341's the basic, single- user entry level product. USB Connection is properly and clearly detailed with diagrams... Read more

(Reference board tested with Catalyst 3.7 Drivers, 24-25 Frames per second is film/video speed) For the past two generations of Radeon card ATi has kicked Nvidia back into the underdog position, thanks to new technology which makes the best of DirectX... Read more

November 11 2003 Dell is the direct PC king whose latest PDA range has been eagerly awaited by PDA enthusiasts. Like the X5 range Dell has ramped up a single range of three models built around similar chassis and a mix and match of specifications. The... Read more

Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the classic from Xmas 2001, darker and gorier than EA's bloodless Medal Of Honour Allied Assault, though both were derived from Quake III's Engine code. RTCW's AI was also better. A separate developer was called in to... Read more

We didn't get off to a good start with Techno Ejay 4: It crashed twice, once when searching for an automatic update, the second time for fun. We persevered and found a reasonable amateur dance music creation package underneath. A percentage of the 850MB... Read more

UPDATED OCTOBER 15 2003: While PC Owners all over the world enjoyed Halo instead, Valve are now treating this theft with the same force that the RIAA treats downloaded music. They will be suing anyone hosting the code or anyone they track down with the... Read more

Speculation about Halo for the PC intensifies but today news emerged from Gearbox Software that the PC version will have officially supported co-operative multiplayer, a mode neglected in Western-developed first person shooters for some time. It may not... Read more

Nobody was all that happy with Unreal II back in February when it took the Max Payne approach and stayed resolutely short and single-player. Whether it was always in development and cut at the last minute or never intended for it, the game will receive... Read more

They were already teamed up together to shore up BT's broadband provision and allow the telecoms giant to let go of the heavily promoted BT Openworld service, creating BT Yahoo! Broadband. A dialup service will be launched soon. Now Yahoo has added two... Read more