Tomorrow Creative's new site, zii.com, will go live. There's also going to be a big announcement at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, which is where I'm currently blogging from. Well, not really - I'm in a cloudy office in Bath - but I could pretend to be on the moon and you'd be none the wiser.

Anyway, no one seems to have the foggiest what Zii is. Apparently it's got something to do with Stemcell Computing, and everything you know is about TO CHANGE. Unofficial Creative blog epiZENter.net has an inkling that it might have something to do with an audio and video upscaling iPod dock that a few people laid eyes on at CES last year. But a souped-up iPod dock does not a revolution in computing make.

There are two things to bear in mind with Creative's mysterious launch. Firstly, Creative is actually bonkers - thanks to a settlement with Apple they get a bit of cash every time an iPod is sold, and then they use that money to produce MP3 players shaped like a BSE-infected cow's face. Secondly, I think the Zii logo looks a bit like the logo for Zildjian Cymbals. Zildjian was founded in 1623. I'm not sure why this is relevant, but I find that single fact more interesting than whatever Creative is up to.

A new year briefly promises a fresh start; a chance to cast aside the pettiness and daft-thinking of the past year and maybe dip a toe in common sense - and then the lawyers get back from the Hamptons or whatever tropical tax haven they waddle off to during the Christmas break, and the madness ensues.

Worlds.com that well-known behemoth of the MMO world, has released its patent lawyers on the ripe, but jaded NCSoft Corp, because, apparently, it's managed to get the US patent for a "system and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space", which essentially seems to claim that Worlds.com came up with the tech that powers the worlds of our favoured MMORPGs. If you fancy perusing the details it's here.

Disturbingly, even though they've only just managed to nail the patent, it's actually based on a filing in November 1995, which predates, well, pretty much every game that I can think of, including Meridian 59.

I feel a little sorry for NCSoft (although I must admit I'd feel sorrier if it hadn't made the Korean grind-snore Lineage), and If I were a more cynical chap I'd find it intriguing that Worlds.com has decided to target NCSoft, which has announced game closures and staff cuts recently, and really needs Aion to pay off, rather than, say, the all-powerful House of Blizzard, which could field an army of lawyers, a battalion of legal secs and a company of cheerleaders to keep everyone energised about kicking World.com's butt.

This fiasco reminds me a lot of the episode where BT tried to claim it owned the patent for hyperlinks. Hopefully, this case will go the same way, but it does make me wonder why these patents keep getting through in the first place. Sure, it took seven years to file, but it shouldn't even exist, as far as I'm concerned.

Here's a fun game - HedgeHog Launcher. The premise is simple enough - build a launching mechanism to send a hedgehog into space. Upgrade your band and/or launcher add in rocket packs and you're good to go. The game itself involves pulling back your hedgehog as far as you want and then letting go - you have limited cursor control once the spikey blighter is in the air, and you can even buy boosters later on. It's all good harmless fun (well it's not for the hedghog, but anyway).

Now for the interesting bit. We averaged 20 days or so to get our first hedghogs into space, and then I began to focus. Getting it down to 7 days, then 5, a very pleasing 4, and then this afternoon I managed to get the li'l guy into space on day 3. No mean feat. See if you can get close... it'll take you a couple of goes I'm sure.

Like most men, I've left my Christmas shopping until the very last minute, and as I really hate shops I do it online. But as I headed to I Want One Of Those.com to buy some tat, I realised I'd completely forgotten my password. So I clicked the "forgotten password" link and they emailed me a new, temporary one. And look what arrived:

Just look at that password. It clearly says a rather rude word, which is not worth repeating. I'm hoping it's just a fluke in the random password generator, but if I was feeling paranoid I would think they were trying to tell me something. It's probably just a fluke though, and nothing to do with that giant chameleon who's been following me round, stealing my thoughts.

For those precious few that somehow haven't managed to make it over to broadband yet (or more likely are upset with their current ISP), BT has a fairly decent offer at the moment in the form of a new Home Hub with all its internet packages. While everyone one and his dog is still offering 802.11g hubs, BT has upped the bar by offering an 802.11n device - in black no less - for new subscribers. As it's a wireless-n device you get better coverage throughout your house, and the new hub is more energy efficient too. And it's black.

There's a special introductory deal to get the hub for free and half price connection for the first three months at the moment too (well, until the 16th December, so you haven't got long). Just pop over to here for more details.

The new Logitech G13 advanced gameboard designed for extended bouts of gaming pleasure!

Last week Logitech invited journalists from across Europe to an evening of LAN gaming action fueled by free food and an open bar. As expected this resulted in less than stellar gaming performances in both Battlefield 2125 and Crysis Wars, the chosen titles for the evening.

However the main purpose of the event was to extensively play test Logitech's latest premium gaming peripherals, including the G13 advanced gameboard which officially launches today for £74.99 (€89.99). This well engineered piece of kit is definitely created for the hardcore gamer, offering a very comfortable feel, responsive (on-the-fly) macro programmable keys, mini thumb joystick, and the neat LCD display. One feature we really liked is the onboard memory enabling you to program your keys and move the gameboard to another PC without losing your settings, certainly an added bonus for games where you may use complex macros including WoW.

Logitech showcased two other major peripherals that day, however these are still underwraps with NDAs still place to prevent us spilling our guts right now!

I've a got an awesome mutant buddy, kick ass armor, and can kill almost anything
with a single headshot. But am I happy?

What's with game endings eh? Are they just poor efforts by the developers or are we all just expecting too much?

Having traveled around the wastelands of Fallout 3 for countless hours, carefully collecting and completing almost all the side missions, humping back tons of resources back my Megaton shack (that I'll never use), and then finally committed myself to the final mission only to be disappointed by yet another underwhelming end sequence.

I don't think I can lay too much blame at Bethesda, they've made a great game and having enjoyed 30 or so hours within their creation it's difficult for any developer to make a worthy ending where a gamer feels that so much time invested is worth the impersonal scripted payoff. Though I can't help thinking the main story could have been a little more compelling which would have made the end all the more worthwhile!

Before long we're going to have to start paying Mike royalties for this picture!

Loathe as I am to highlight an IGN review, but the US IGN review of Football Manager 2009 or rather Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 has got the Stattos and not a few jockstraps in a twist. I’m not a fan of football sims, but even I thought a score of 2/10 was a little harsh.

I can understand why the reviewer, Avi Burk (oh irony, you a sweet mistress) has been uniformly slammed by FM fans and gaming journos. Yet, aside from his woeful comparison of FM2009 with the likes of FIFA 09 and PES 09 he does make some fair observations from the perspective of a FM virgin. Sport Interactive’s always trying to make the game more accessible to new players, but the American Burk (sic) is right to say that the devs haven’t quite succeeded in making that happen yet. “The game's incredibly complex menu system is very difficult to navigate,” says Burk. “Even with the on-screen help box directing you through the process”. And, yeah, he’s got a point.

A big fuss has also been made of the new 3D engine, after all, we’ve had to accept blobs with pincers as players for a very long time, but as Burk says “ the player renderings and animations are awful”. At least with the little blobs running around your mind could get a bit anthropomorphic and give them all personalities. FM2009, though, doesn't hide the flaws well, which is hardly surprising when the game uses animations from Virtua Striker – a game I remember playing in arcades, when I was at uni many moons ago, but most reviewers have tended to suggest that the 3D engine shows promise, than slam it as not up to the scratch of contemporary footie games.

Admittedly, a lot of Burk's criticisms are over aesthetics, but really is there an excuse for why the stadiums “lack any kind of personality or detail” or why “when the ball is kicked off of the pitch, it passes … right through the stands, and disappears from view only to return to the field … appearing magically from the stands and passing through the fences (and goals) on its way back into play”? FM fans would say, ‘we don’t care’, but is it right not to expect the same level of detail being carried over to the graphical presentation of the game as the DB behind it all?

It is fascinating to hear an American complain about a stat-heavy football game being essentially boring, which is odd really, when every game of American football I’ve ever watched involved more spreadsheets and calculator use than any Maths class I bothered to attend at school. No doubt, Americans will cry I don’t understand the nuances of their sport, but neither do they, judging by IGN’s gaff, comprehend the detail and subtleties of The Beautiful Game. FM2009 certainly isn’t going to be hurt by the review, but maybe SI can take some useful pointers away from this review, if they treat it as a complete noob’s observation of their sim.

Football Manager 2009 will be reviewed in PCFormat issue 222 on sale 18th December 2008.

We don't usually promote other peoples websites, but this ebook site 'http://bookboon.co.uk' tickled our fancy - for all the right reasons. If you're in education then the student offerings may appeal, although they are all course books, so not as exciting as you might think. There may be the odd gem in there though... like there is in the Travel section - the London guide book is just ace. It's got some wonderful facts in there: like our Independence Day (23rd April if you didn't know). It's also got some wonderful geography at work - such as where London actually is - we won't spoil it for you. Pure Genius...

About as good as GTA IV looks on most PCs right now...

Well, if you weren't already feeling a grand sense of meh about the stupidly late release of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV then this news is sure to only compound that. From a quick look at the Steam GTA IV forum you'd be forgiven for thinking that at launch the game only ran on about 5% of the PCs in the world. The other 95% of PC owners are pulling their hair out trying to figure out why they can't get on with killing prostitutes and drink-driving like their console buddies.

The problems range from activation issues to missing textures to no SLI support. Something that's especially important considering the game barely runs on even the most top end PCs at launch. With threads titled such things as 'This game makes me hate my PC' it's clear that Rockstar is going to have to work pretty damn hard to get the PC gaming fraternity back on side.