Interplay have joined forces with clothing giant Diesel to promote the forthcoming PC crime-fest, Kingpin. In a move similar to last year's Psygnosis/Diesel deal on G-Police, Diesel branding will feature in the game, as well as on all creative materials. As with the Psygnosis collaboration, Diesel will manufacture some limited edition Kingpin-branded clothing for promotional reasons.

With the ECTS nearly upon us (well, um, okay, it's not really, but it's definitely getting closer), users of the Future Gamer Chat Forum were licking their lips in anticipation of what they hope to see this year. Final Fantasy VIII, Perfect Dark, the bar, Donkey Kong 64, Gran Turismo 2, the bar, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, the Sony party, PlayStation 2, the bar, Dreamcast, Project Dolphin, the bar and the bar were among the most popular sights we are hoping to get a look at come September. 'Has the games scene become saturated?' asked 'ANONZ' this week. There aren't many original or innovative games getting released these days - maybe game designers have hit a plateau and there is nowhere left to go. Are we destined for a lifetime or turgid Doom and Mario clones? There was some support for cloning however. Technically speaking, Half-Life and Kingpin are just Quake II clones, but the reality is far different. They are original, innovative and overall brilliant pieces of software in their own right. And, as 'Kev' pointed out, Tomb Raider II and III weren't just re-hashes of the original game, rushed out onto the shelves in order to make a huge profit on the back of the original, were they? Well, now you come to mention it... still on the same theme, 'Tek' invited all Forum users to reveal their original ideas for games of the future. We had some interesting answers, but to the genius that wanted a game set entirely in a supermarket, please do not give up the day job. He is probably a grocery assistant in Tescos.

Have we got some fine demos for you this week? Um... yes! You simply must try NovaLogic's lovely F-22 Lightning 3 - unless you don't like flight sims, of course. If that's the case you might want to check out the splendid Star Wars: Episode I Racer demo - big speed = big fun (and we didn't even mention the slick graphics). We've also got Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, but beware... it follows the plot of the film very closely. Download them now from the Future Gamer website. And how about the latest patches, as well as hints and tips for all the best games? We've got them too!