Rob Fahey (Page 113)

Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone has taken a further vital step towards a complete takeover of publisher Midway Games, increasing his personal holding in the company to over 80 per cent in a share acquisition yesterday.

Mobile handset giant Nokia has reported a fall of almost six per cent in its global sales during the second quarter, and dropped its full-year forecasts; while the company plans to showcase its N-Gage range at the Edinburgh Festival next month.

Microsoft has announced that there are now over a million users of the Xbox Live console online gaming service, which makes it into one of the fastest-growing online services of any description in the world.

Electronic Arts has announced that the next console evolution of the hugely popular Sims franchise, The Urbz: Sims in the City, is set to appear on the Nintendo DS around the time of the platform's launch in the USA this November.

Climax' Xbox-exclusive role-playing title Sudeki has gone gold, and will be shipping to retail in the USA on July 20th, with a European version of the Microsoft-published title due in August.

Reports today have suggested that Confounding Factor, the development studio founded by Lara Croft creators Toby Gard and Paul Douglas, will cease operations after it finishes up work on Xbox title Galleon.

Eagerly awaited Xbox-exclusive title Fable will be arriving in the USA on September 14th, followed by a European launch in October - while a bonus "Making Of" DVD is to be handed out as an incentive to drive pre-orders in the US.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has expressed his confidence in the company's ability to defeat Sony in the next generation console battle, pointing out that the Xbox has become a major player despite the fact that it continues to lose money.

The forthcoming PlayStation Portable will be given its most detailed public airing yet at the Austin Game Conference this September, according to event organisers, with Sony planning an in-depth technical discussion of the system.

id Software has announced that its eagerly awaited PC first person shooter DOOM 3 has been completed and approved for release, with game set to arrive at US retail on August 3rd followed by European launches between August 6th and 13th.

Unconfirmed reports from Japanese retail sources suggest that Nintendo is planning to roll out the DS handheld on November 4th priced at 19,000 Yen (140 Euro), followed by a US launch on November 11th at $179.95 (145 Euro).

Publisher Vivendi Universal Games it is to continue its reorganisation by dividing into three distinct regional business units, each with its own president - while current international president Christophe Ramboz is set to leave the firm.

Activision's Spider-Man 2 has swung into the number one position in the UK sales charts a week ahead of the opening of the movie, knocking Atari's Driv3r off the top just a fortnight after its launch.

Electronic Arts has announced that the console debut for its Battlefield franchise, Battlefield: Modern Combat, has slipped a full year to autumn 2005 due to the decision to add single-player to the previously multiplayer-only title.

Sony's next-generation console system will be unveiled before the end of this year, it has emerged, with the first generation of development kits for the platform set to ship to developers at the start of 2005.

A number of new details about Sony's PlayStation Portable have been revealed, including the ability for up to 16 players to participate in wireless multiplayer games, and software called "Talkman" which translates between spoken languages.

Interplay's Fallout franchise has finally found a new home, with Bethseda Softworks today announcing that it is to develop and publish Fallout 3, having licensed the exclusive rights to the property, excluding online gaming rights.

Microsoft's zoo management simulation franchise, Zoo Tycoon, has sold over two million copies in the USA - with the double-platinum success placing the Blue Fang Games developed title in the top 15 PC games of all time.

Nintendo is set to launch a new Pokemon game for the Game Boy Advance in Japan this September, with Pokemon Emerald set to carry on from the massively successful Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire titles.

Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi has confirmed that a playable version of the PlayStation 3 will exist by next spring, with the console set to appear at E3 next year, quashing rumours of serious delays to its development.