This summer will see the release of Namco's Guitar Jam in Japanese arcades. Similar to Konami's Guitar Freaks, Namco's effort features far more realistic guitar controllers - they look just like real Fender Stratocasters. The game consists of 17 songs with three levels of difficulty. Best of all, it will support simultaneous two-player action, enabling you to jam it out with a friend.

One of the finest game titles of all time has come to our attention this week, with the announcement of Banpresto's Part's Dick. Slated for a summer release on PlayStation, Part's Dick (snigger) sounds very much like a console version of the annoying movie Home Alone. In the Crawley McSulkin-esque role, you'll need to set various traps around your house to stop the nasty thieves from getting in. A well arranged sequence of traps is rewarded highly, due to the 'trap combo system'. You know the kind of thing - thief slips on banana skin, falls onto mousetrap, nose gets caught in mousetrap... hilarious! And if that's not funny enough for you, just remember that it's called Part's Dick (guffaw).

We begin the round-up with the news that the Future Gamer Chat Forum has undergone yet another face lift - but this time it has received a warm reception which should please the technical crew at FG (these guys really do listen to us). Interesting news is, unsurprisingly, scarce in the wake of E3 - a point illustrated in the forum by a glut of trivial threads. The once popular Quiz has made a welcome return and has had a good response with many gaming, and sometimes non-gaming, questions taxing the regulars. "The wonders of useless information" has been another popular topic this week - is London really the second smallest city in the world? Is there a word in the English dictionary that rhymes with orange? Who knows? Who cares? The most sought after item of the week is surprisingly not Quake 3 Arena or C&C: Tiberian Sun but FG mouse mats. 'Struddie' is certainly keen, nay desperate, to get his hands on one. Also, has 'Martin' rumbled 'Kaneda's' secret identity? ("are you that Miguel chappie?" he asked). Something important did happen in the computer world last Sunday with the Europe-wide Internet strike, which has as far as we know received strong support. So if you want to talk about games, give us a quiz or add your own "useless wonder of the world" then pop over to the Future Gamer Chat Forum and bring us some excitement before we resort to watching the cricket.

We've gone driving mad this week and so will you when you try the latest speedy demos. Re-Volt, Breakneck and Thrust, Twist, 'n' Turn all prove that there is room for a bit of innovation in a crowded genre. Get them now from the Future Gamer website. And while you're there, you could do a lot worse than checking out all the latest patches, as well as hints and tips for all the latest games.