Xbox named
Microsoft has finally secured the rights to the Xbox name, having signed a deal with Xbox Technologies, a small software company based in Florida. The settlement was a "very, very satisfying arrangement", according to Robert Koolen, Xbox Technologies' spokesman, though he refused to provide details.

Xbox was intended to be a codename, not the product's final name, and was based on the games console's use of Windows's DirectX graphics system. Microsoft has been a prolific X user since the early 80s, with things like Xenix (Microsoft Unix), MSX (Microsoft's failed home system), and ActiveX (a software architecture). Also, Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox's add-on remote controller, which enables the machine to play DVDs, will cost $29.

Behind B&W
Peter Molyneux, creator of the hit PC game, Black & White, has written a post mortem about it for Gama sutra, the website for game designers. He explains what went wrong, what went right, and provides other inside info about the game's £4m three-year development. Go to www.gamasutra.com/features/20010613/molyneux_01.htm

Jolie good
Tomb Raider the movie hit US screens last Friday, to a mixed but generally negative reception. Most critics found it lacking compared with the Indiana Jones series that established the genre, but fans thought Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft was "dead on perfect" (see www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/showbiz.today/featured.story/0106/18.html. For a round-up of views, see the Rotten Tomatoes site, which describes Jolie as "the titular Tomb Raider".

On the way
The good news: Capcom is porting Resident Evil Code: Veronica from the Sega Dreamcast to the Sony PlayStation 2, where the enhanced version will be released as Resident Evil Code: Veronica X (that should confuse Xbox fans). The bad news, Parappa the Rapper 2 should soon be out in Japan. If you missed the original, check out the site at www.parappa-the-rapper.com.