Rob Fahey (Page 136)

Rumours circulating in the game development community suggest that Sony is set to upgrade the specification for the PlayStation portable to feature 32Mb of RAM - bringing the system closer in line with the PS2.

Sony has announced the shipment of its 70 millionth PlayStation 2, marking another major milestone in the life of the console, while both SCEA and SCEE have reported strong sales performance in 2003.

One of the most public faces of the Xbox project, Microsoft Game Studios boss Ed Fries, has left the company in order to pursue new opportunities, with COO Shane Kim taking over his role in an interim capacity.

Reports suggest that 2004's most wanted has been translated by Russian pirates

A partial line-up of speakers and events for the E3 2004 conference program has been announced, with some of the biggest names in the games industry set to speak on a wide variety of key topics over the three day conference.

Publisher Ubisoft has added another development studio to its stable with the acquisition of French developer Tiwak, although it's not known whether the studio's Xbox adventure title Tork will be resurrected.

The latest update to Microsoft's Xbox release schedules has revealed further slippage for both of the console's big forthcoming RPG titles, with UK developed games Fable and Sudeki now not due until summer.

Gran Turismo 4: Prologue took the top spot in Japan during the week encompassing the New Year holiday, but much of the rest of the top ten in this major sales week was dominated by Nintendo's titles.

Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach has announced that Microsoft hopes to have one million Xbox Live users by June this year - but new plans from Sony may give the PS2 an innovative edge in the online gaming arena.

Infinium Labs has announced the first list of publishers and software which will be available for its Phantom game system, with over 500 games and edutainment titles from over 60 publishers in the line-up.

One of the most public faces of the Xbox project, Microsoft Game Studios boss Ed Fries, has left the company in order to pursue new opportunities, with COO Shane Kim taking over his role in an interim capacity.

The new head of Microsoft Japan's Xbox division, Yoshihiro Maruyama, has commented on the company's plans for its next-generation console, stating that the hardware will be smaller and is due to launch in 2006.

New comments made by recently promoted Sony Europe president Chris Deering regarding the PlayStation Portable have hinted at a price point in the £250 range, while Japanese retail sources quote figures in a similar range.

Infinium Labs' proposed console, the Phantom, has made a showing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as announced by the company earlier this week, but only in the form of a box which was not switched on.

Leading UK videogames retailer GAME Group has announced details of its trading over Christmas, with the chain outperforming the industry average once again to deliver a 9 per cent sales increase during the period.

The last Japanese charts of 2003 have been released, showing Nintendo clocking up major success in terms of both software and hardware sales, with Mario Party 5 the best selling game and the GBA back on top in the hardware ranking.

The Xbox is set to be integrated with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Centre Edition operating system, thanks to a new piece of software announced by Bill Gates at CES which allows remote media playback on the console.

Several of Japan's biggest software companies are committed to supporting Sony's PlayStation Portable at or near its launch, according to an article in Famitsu - which also casts doubt on the planned November global launch.

Following an incredibly successful Christmas period, leading publisher Electronic Arts has updated its release schedule for the first quarter of the year, giving firm dates for the first time to titles including Final Fantasy X-2 and The Sims 2.

Nintendo is on target to meet its sales estimate for the GameCube in March 2004 following a strong Christmas period in all major territories, with company president Satoru Iwata restating his confidence in the six million unit figure.

The PlayStation 2 console has arrived in China at last - but only just, with the major launch Sony had hoped for fizzling out following weeks of delays brought about by pricing concerns and unexpected legal problems.

Florida-based start-up company Infinium Labs has stated that it is to show its Phantom games "console" in public for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show tomorrow in Las Vegas.

Major US videogames retailer EB Games has announced that it expects price cuts to the Xbox and PS2 within the first half of 2004, with CEO Jeffery Griffiths telling a conference call that the drops will come by early Q2.