Nokia ploy backfires

In today's paper, read a review of Nokia's slinky 8800 phone, the mysterious one featured so heavily in poster and bus ads just now. The marketing wonks seem to have decided that pricing it at an extravagant €900 is a perfect ploy to cement the exclusive cachet of the 8800. But the trick backfires because anyone who shells out expecting an outstanding premium phone will be sorely disappointed. Get the Herald to find out more.

In games, Rainbow Six: Lockdown (PS2/Xbox) accelerates the series trend of dumbing down. So while it's miles more entertaining than the tactics-heavy early episodes, Lockdown is much less a tension-filled squad shooter than a full-blown FPS. Plenty of bugs suggest Lockdown would have been better off with a few more months testing and development.

Also reviewed is the sublime Virtua Tennis: World Tour (PSP), an enduringly playable must-have. Two of EA's PSP launch titles get the once-over: Need For Speed Underground Rivals is merely serviceable (not a patch on Ridge Racer) and NBA Street: Showdown is mildly diverting if you were into the console version.