War games
The US Army is financing the development of two video games, C-Force and C-12, to help develop the skills of field commanders. In C-Force, players command a squad, and in C-12, a company. The games will be developed by the Institute for Creative Technologies, run by the US Army and the University of Southern California, with some commercial software houses. They will be produced by Rob Sears, who also produced Mech Commander and MechWarrior 3.

PS2 up
Sony shipped 4.6 million PlayStation 2 consoles in the quarter ending on September 30, and the turnover of its games division doubled. However, the parent company ended with a loss of $111m. In the same quarter, Electronic Arts increased sales by 9% to $240m, and reduced losses to $28m. EA, the biggest independent games publisher, said its Sims range had sold almost 9m units.

Beach life
Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon begat Theme Park, Pizza Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Skate Park Tycoon and similar management simulation games. Now Eidos Interactive is planning another: Beach Life. The aim will be to create the most satisfying holiday experience with hotels, bars, clubs, water sports and other activities.

Empire war
Paul Clarke may not be a familiar name but he will represent the UK in Microsoft's $100,000 Age of Empires II tournament in Seattle next week. He will play against winners from 15 countries including Argentina, Australia and Singapore.

Xmas box
The big game season kicks off tomorrow with the launch of EA's Fifa 2002 football game, usually near the top of the Christmas games chart. It may get stiff competition from Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone, another EA game, to be launched on November 16. Other hot tips include Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 from Activision (November 9), Sega's Virtual Tennis 2 and Rage's David Beckham Soccer (November 23), and Sony's Syphon Filter 3 (November 30).