What's New?

There may have been lots to talk about this week, but this Friday heralds the arrival of very little to spice up the weekend, with just one confirmed release and one title which might be available by the time you read this. Elsewhere, a trio of smaller titles have slipped from the Jan 23rd target into mid-February with the rest of 2004's opening salvo.

Definitely out today is Ubisoft's Flipnic, a budget-priced pinball title for PS2, which promises to match a traditional pinball game to new challenges. However, at the time of writing we've yet to play it, and the only review we've seen (in Official PS2 Magazine) gave it a score of 5/10.

Meanwhile the XSN Sports enabled NHL Rivals 2004 is a bit confused, with some retailers saying it's out and some arguing that it isn't. Nobody seems to have stock though, tellingly, although we have taken delivery of boxed PAL review code. The Xbox Live hockey title has so far received mixed reviews, as high as 8 and 9 out of 10 in some cases but generally around the 6.5 mark.

Elsewhere a couple of titles that might have made it out today - Midway Arcade Treasures and Vietcong Fist Alpha - have slipped into February. All in all it's another quiet one, although thankfully it should be the last, with Sony's Arc: Twilight of the Spirits, EA's Looney Tunes Back In Action, those long-overdue PS2/Xbox ports of Mafia and NFL Street due out next week according to the latest schedules.

But hey, if you're anything like us you're still catching up with the Christmas crop. In my case I've been getting to grips with Project Zero (PS2) at long last, and coveting shrink-wrapped copies of Uplink (PC) and Doshin the Giant (Cube) bought up in the January sales. Oh, and of course it's FA Cup Fourth Round weekend, although I'm willing to bet very few of you care about that... What will you be playing this weekend?

• Flipnic (PS2)
• NHL Rivals 2004 (Xbox)