Sleek but largely irrelevant

In today's paper, read a review of Creative's latest effort to unseat the iPod. It hasn't a hope, of course, certainly as long as the company fails to appreciate the importance of good accompanying software. But in an alternative universe where the white Emperor of music players didn't exist, the Zen Sleek would be considered not too shabby.

It looks like an iPod Mini which has been inflated slightly and can point to some handy additional features (radio, voice recording) but let's face it, it's an also-ran unless Windows Media format audio is your big thing.

Also reviewed is Apple's Mighty Mouse, a belated recognition that there might be something useful in the two-button arrangement so long the standard on the Windows side. It's a perfectly fine mouse (and has a really nifty scroll "pea" for navigating round documents, web pages, etc) but at €55 it really needs to be wireless or come with a free diamond earring or something.

In games, the round-up of PSP launch titles continues. Puzzle game Lumines bucks the trend of ports of PS2 classics by playing to the strengths to the handheld. It's deceptively simple - yet fiendishly complicated and damned addictive. Fired Up is driving with guns - ie, top fun but sadly shortlived. But Ape Academy is just insulting mini-game dross. Finally, Dungeon Siege II (for PC) is the casual gamer's RPG reincarnated - a bit repetitive but nonetheless engaging.