The Week Ahead: Jan 7-11

Most industry eyes will wander over Las Vegas at some point next week as the first key event on the calendar - the Consumer Electronics Show - gets underway.

Already the January rumour mill has gone into overdrive about what might and might not be unveiled in Vegas, but we're hoping Bill Gates will want to cap his final appearance at the show before he retreats into his charity work with a bang.

We'll have a full preview and coverage of the show from Monday onwards.

Also on Monday will be the first Stock Report of the year, looking at how the shares in the main publishers have performed in the first few days of 2008.

It's a tricky time at the moment for Japan-based firms, which are struggling with the strong yen and weak dollar - and although the financial unrest stemming from the credit crunch seems to have passed the games industry by for now, it's unclear if people will continue to buy games indefinitely as they feel the pinch.

Other features in store next week include the first part of a wide-ranging interview with the global president of Square Enix - Yoichi Wada.

We'll also hear the thoughts of Pete Samuels, managing director of Supermassive Games, on in-game advertising.

While retail shelves will still be pushing the key pre-Christmas releases, the only new title to make the most of the otherwise clean slate is PDC World Championship Darts 2008 - timed to coincide with the event itself in the past week.

Expect little change in the top five UK chart positions as a result, with Assassin's Creed, FIFA 08, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and The Simpsons Game all expected to fare well. Meanwhile Nintendo's domination in Europe should extend well beyond next week.