Rob Fahey (Page 109)

SCEE has announced the signing of an exclusive publishing deal with Evolution Studios, the UK-based developers of the World Rally Championship series, which will see the firm working exclusively on Sony platforms.

Publisher Activision is celebrating a milestone for its UK division, after strong sales of movie licenses Spider-Man 2 and Shrek 2 made it into the number one publisher in the territory for the first time last month.

The Japanese leisure software market has rocketed past the one million unit sales mark for the first time since the end of May, thanks to the launch of Konami's Winning Eleven 8, a number one debut with sales of almost 700,000 units.

Our coverage of the Edinburgh International Games Festival 2004 kicks off today, as we catch up with Electronic Arts' worldwide music executive Steve Schnur ahead of his opening keynote tomorrow morning.

Activision's movie licensed Spider-Man 2 has taken the number one spot in the UK software sales charts for a fifth week, making it the title with the longest innings at the top since Need for Speed Underground last Christmas.

The Game Boy Advance remake of Final Fantasy I and II has taken the top spot in the Japanese software charts, selling almost 150,000 units and displacing Nintendo's Paper Mario RPG after only a week at number one.

Lara Croft creator Toby Gard has joined US development studio Crystal Dynamics to work as a senior designer on the next Tomb Raider title - marking his return to the series after leaving Core Design following the launch of the original game.

Nintendo of America has announced a new GameCube hardware bundle for the North American market, with the $99.99 package set to include a copy of Metroid Prime and a demo disc for the forthcoming Metroid Prime 2.

British publisher Eidos has announced a new launch date for its PS2, Xbox and PC shooter ShellShock: Nam '67, with the title now due in Europe on September 3rd after being delayed past its original June date.

American software firm 321 Studios, which was the creator of the DVDXCopy and GamesXCopy tools for duplicating copy-protected movies and games, has been forced to shut down following mounting legal pressure.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has told a German financial magazine that he remains interested in buying Nintendo, stating that "if Hiroshi Yamauchi phones me, I will pick up at once."

Sony has revealed that its next-generation games console will use the Blu-Ray disc format, which is an evolution of the current DVD system that is designed to hold five times as much data on a similarly sized disc.

Police involved in the Stefan Pakeerah murder case have revealed that the copy of Manhunt at the centre of a tabloid media frenzy last week was found in the possession of the victim, not the killer.

New details of EA's acquisition of British game developer and middleware solutions creator Criterion have emerged in the publisher's quarterly 10-Q filing, revealing that the deal was done for a purchase price of $48 million.