Sony comes out fighting

In today's paper, read about Sony's plan for a resurgence, having had its thunder stolen by Apple, among others. To this end, the Sony Media Experience was a no-expense-spared tech jamboree for 450 European journalists in the lovely wine country of Bordeaux last week.

We got a glimpse at dozens of Sony's flash new products, including its music players, DVD HandyCams, cameras and TV. But as noted earlier, most hacks were best impressed with the PlayStation Portable - which won't be available here until September.

In games, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory pulls off a third helping of stealth corniness - but only thanks to the Xbox's phenomenal graphics and tweaked gameplay. The PS2 version doesn't cut the mustard by virtue of its vastly inferior visuals and neutered levels.

Also reviewed, Devil May Cry 3 (PS2) is damn hard but improves with repeated play while the limp Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge (GBA) does our limbless hero a disservice.