Apologies for the lateness, I'm currently going through coursework hell so you'll have to bear with me for a bit. Enough of my grumblings though, the staff give their verdict on Acclaim in this weeks Roundtable.

Acclaim announces new games! But can they claw themselves back from the horrible state they're in?

bjlangley: Acclaim badly need an injection of new ideas with their games.

I rented Turok: Evolution and it was just so poor. The main reason seemed to be that it was rushed, and it was just same old Turok on a new machine. They need to change the format a little. How about "Turok: Car Park Attendant" or something.. anything other than more of the same!

I have to confess though, I have respect for their marketing department. They do things that other companies wouldn't even think of. They're clearly lacking in social fibre. Getting people to change their name to Turok, encouraging speeding on Burnout 2 PS2 release date. It got them noticed, and that's what they wanted.

Still, they deserve a bashing for some of their awful games.

Mark: Acclaim need to rethink their whole philosophy on games- they are a company at a cross-roads. They have a choice: to continue down the path they are going at the moment, and to continue developing substandard, rushed-out-for-the-holiday-season rubbish, or to vastly reduce the number of games in development, slow it all down, concentrate on just two or three projects- polish them until they shine, and then release their games. The latter path would restore a lot of my confidence in the company. Despite recent failures (the mediocre Turok Evolution and the utterly lamentable BMX XXX spring to mind) its worth remembering that the company have been behind some pretty decent N64 games- Shadowman and the supremely weird Iggy's Reckin Balls being two of the more prominent- the flawed Re-volt and Armorines weren't too bad either.

Its not just the games that are the problem, either- the marketing department have been highly cynical and controversial with their advertising- encouraging drivers to speed on the Burnout 2 release date was morally irresponsible (the idea was you send them your speed ticket and Acclaim bear the brunt of the cost). I hate to sound like a killjoy but there are limits to what you can do- next time think of something which doesn't potentially involve the loss of life, hm? It sure got them noticed all right, but it also contributes to the argument that 'Games are bad- they make you killers' rhetoric heard so often in the print media. Acclaim- its time to make your decision. Quality or quantity.

Ash: Acclaim have not been good recently. I really enjoyed the original Turok but none since, they became too sci-fi, less dinosaur hunter, more alien hunter. I think that Acclaim should reconsider what they're doing, in the early days of the SNES/NES etc it was about gaming quality, its becoming too much about quantity, with every company.

I havent played many of their games lately, nor have I really wanted to. There used to be a time when I anticipated games from them, not I just watch them go by and become another so-so game that isn't a big hit. There games are falling into a pit of repetition and sequels.

Modox: Acclaim have become a joke, what they need is some really good quality titles. They've announced numerous games, but that's not what they need to do, they need one excellent game that will make a huge profit. The industry is getting worse and worse financially, companies are falling left right and centre, Acclaim could go too in the near future, unless they do something about it.

Javid: Acclaim certainly seem to have gone downhill as of late, when you look back at the good titles the Cube has seen so far Acclaim's head remains prominantly low and developers such as Capcom crop up take the limelight. Even newer developers are gaining praise, Retro Studios for example and are all laying dirt in the hole Acclaim seem to have dug themselves into, burying them far behind. Now this is quite a harsh statement yes and arguably its all a matter of taste, but Acclaim seriously need to refocus their priorites, big names can only get you so far in this day and age as we saw with Turok, it crashed and burned despite their plugging efforts with its advertising because it just didn't deliver the goods.

Their new games, Im afraid to say don't seem to spark any excitement within me though either, XGRA maybe a little but even that is one of those games you buy when there's nothing else. Acclaim need to realise games cant live off reputation, of which theirs is now plumeting and get back to making good games. Lets hope first impressions of their new titles are unjust and harsher then we can expect.

Conor: As some of you may not, I do not like Acclaim. I don't know whether it's the pathetic marketing ploys or the disastrous dip in game quality, but they have certainly fallen from their past grace. I liked the N64s Extreme G games (flawed but enjoyable), thought highly of Turok 2 and had barrels of fun with WWF Warzone. But what has happened to them?

After a year of crap games and much criticism how do they respond? By announcing a bunch of so-so titles. Seriously, they are not interesting me at all. The new XG game could be good, but Acclaim have been riding that wagon for far too long. What they need to do is get back to basics and think of what would be fun to play. And concentrate on that.