Okay, I'll put my hands up about last week's digests non-appearance. Apologies, regular readers. And to the newsletter list: please don't adjust your monitor- there was no newsletter last week. Still, I'm back now. Quite a bit of news to work through tonight (interspersed with various comments on the loveliness of the GBA SP).

I'm tempted to begin with today's announcement of the Xbox price drop. As you may be aware, our friends at Microsoft today dropped their lumbering black console to the price of a Gamecube. Its all part of their master plan to take over from Sony as the market leader- Microsoft's real drive will begin with the Xbox's successor in a year or two's time. Nintendo are getting shoved, gradually, out of the home console market. I'm praying that that doesn't happen, of course- but the monetary might of Microsoft and the incomprehensible success of the PS2 are taking their toll on Ninty. Nintendo, of course, were quick, as ever, to dispel any notion of a price cut of their own.

How about this for a tip: Live in the UK and want a GameCube for �50? Listen up, then. First, buy a GBA SP pronto- then, using your voucher for �30 which comes in the box, buy a GameCube in Argos for �79.99. Send off your voucher to Ninty and they'll send you a cheque for �30. Magic.

Speaking of the SP, what a thing of supreme beauty it is. I took delivery of mine not long after launch day, along with Zelda: A Link to the Past. Its sleek, sophisticated-looking and stylish- that's the truth. The in-built light makes such a difference to the whole playing experience. In fact, its so impressive, I would nearly go as far as to say the GBA has got a technical upgrade, such is the increase in vibrancy and fluency of the graphics on the screen. Comfort-wise, its fine- the L-button in particular, though, is somewhat inaccessible at the best of times, but I can live with that. It feels as natural in your hands as a Nintendo console ever did.

Worth mentioning, too, is the improved audio capabilities. I was a little disappointed by the original GBA's sound quality- the sound had a certain 'tinny' quality to it. Plug Zelda or Golden Sun into your SP, and you'll notice some audible improvements- enjoy the richly layered instrumentals of both titles- its wonderful. This almost makes up for the lack of a headphone socket (mean old Ninty are forcing punters to get a special earphone adapter from their own service centre in Britain somewhere) although I'm told that certain third-party peripheral companies already have an adaptor on general sale, which is good to hear. If anyone has tried one of these, I'd certainly like to hear about its quality. So, a firm thumbs-up for the GBA SP then.

Also in this week's news: Activision win the prize for being the first games company to attempt to capitalize on the current 'war fever' of the present time- a new franchise, entitles 'Call of Duty' will be in the Medal of Honor vein, presumably- except Activision say it'll be better. Well, obviously. The XSGameshow has been cancelled, annoyingly- it would undoubtedly have been an interesting experience. I'll end with this final piece of news: Ninty have dropped the royalty price on third party games. George Harrison, NOA's head honcho, said it was because Nintendo wanted to keep up a good relationship with third-parties. Ho-hum. Well, I'll leave it there.

Until next week.

Mark Cullinane
[email protected]