Rob Fahey (Page 130)

Sega's new president and Sammy CEO Hajime Satomi wants to see the two companies making a billion dollar combined annual profit by 2006, with Sega's operations contributing at least $200 million of that figure.

British publisher Eidos has commented on its future development plans following the acquisition of IO Interactive, with a new Hitman game in the pipeline and work said to be progressing well on the next Tomb Raider title.

Dov Moran, CEO of M-Systems, the company which has been contracted by Microsoft to provide flash memory storage for Xbox 2, has told an Israeli newspaper that the next-generation console will not have a hard disc drive.

News website HardOCP has filed a legal action against broadband console proponent Infinium Labs, in a move which it says is aimed at "clearing the air" following a number of demands and threats made by Infinium in the past weeks.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive has lowered its projections for the next two quarters and reported a fall in profits for its first quarter, which ended in January - but the company still hopes to meet expectations for the full year.

Nokia has received a slap on the wrist from Britain's Advertising Standards Authority for its N-Gage advertisements, and has been told not to repeat several of them following complaints that they promote violent behaviour.

British publisher Eidos Interactive has announced its intention to purchase Danish development studio IO Interactive, creator of the Hitman series of games, along with rising profits in the first half of its financial year.

SCEA has announced that it has sold over 25 million PlayStation 2 consoles in North America to date, with 2.6 million of them enabled for online play and a million gamers using PS2 online gaming services.

The Phantom broadband game system is set to make its public debut at the E3 trade show in Los Angeles this May, with Infinium Labs confirming that the device will be playable on the company's stand.

The forthcoming PlayStation Portable will allow developers to create games that can be played both on the move and on a home PS2 or PSX console, Sony has confirmed - but the emphasis will be on new titles, not on ports of existing games.

Broadband console proponent Infinium Labs has provided details of its complaint against news website HardOCP, focusing on a September 2003 article which it claims contains many false statements about the company and its CEO, Tim Roberts.

Stocks of the GameCube console are almost depleted in the United States following strong demand through the Christmas period and the start of the New Year, according to Nintendo, which says it is working to bring in supplies from elsewhere.

Nokia's N-Gage has come in for fierce criticism from publisher Electronic Arts, with EA president and COO John Riccitiello describing the system as a "dog" in an interview and stating that software shipments on it have been "non-meaningful."

The next game in the multi-million selling Grand Theft Auto franchise will be Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is on schedule for a launch in mid-October and will once again appear exclusively on the PlayStation 2.

Publisher Electronic Arts has reportedly confirmed that its Origin Systems development studio in Austin, Texas is to shut, with around 100 employees being offered relocation to the Redwood Shores campus in California.

Although the specification for Microsoft's next-generation Xbox platform has not yet been finalised, the company has shipped early prototype development kits to some developers - using Apple PowerMac G5 systems as a basis.

Football title World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International has taken the top spot in the Japanese software charts this week, beating off strong competition from other major titles in one of the busiest weeks of the year to date for new releases.

British government body UK Trade & Enterprise is set to embark on a significant program of activity within the games industry over the coming year, and is working closely with trade bodies TIGA and ELSPA to this end.

Publisher Midway has announced a loss of some $28.6 million for the fourth quarter of its 2003 fiscal year, which ended on December 31, representing a deepening loss for the company as revenues plummet due to restructuring efforts.

Flash memory maker M-Systems has been signed up by Microsoft to provide a high capacity memory unit for the next-generation Xbox console, adding weight to reports that the system will not include a hard drive.

Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has added yet more gongs to its trophy cabinet, winning five BAFTA awards at last night's inaugural BAFTA Games Awards ceremony in London, as well as the Sunday Times Readers Award.