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• A look at the NPD games sales charts for the month of March 2006 tells you everything you need to know about how consoles and PCs are dividing like drifting continents, with game genres split between them like separate species. The weird hybrid of anime and Disneyland, Kingdom Hearts II, took the lead spot again in the console sales charts, with mainly action combat games - among them, mostly first-person shooters - and sports titles following. Meanwhile, the PC games chart - whose titles now sell with one-third the quantity - is dominated by simulated worlds and gothic role-playing, with the add-on Sims 2: Open for Business leading the top spot, and Sims 2 itself at #7. Interspersed among them are all the major genre franchises we've come to know, with the powerhouse World of Warcraft clinching tightly to #5, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at #2, and Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, D&D, Age of Empires, and Civilization IV all well represented. Are PC games becoming a minor player? Not really, believes Parks Associates' Michael Cai. While that continent may continue to drift, he believes it's in a state of transformation, and may yet have its just revenge. The secret is in the online component. Consoles and console games dominate the retail market today, he explained, and because of that, they command the spotlight. But as the online business models for PC games change, away from the "per-box" retail model and more toward subscriptions, gaming-on-demand, and ad-subsidized services (more on that later), the big franchise games and role-playing simulations that are already well established on the PC side, are perhaps best suited to these models. They fit like a glove. A "blood elf" - a kind of well-endowed Darryl Hannah/Christopher Walken hybrid, due to inhabit the long-awaited Continent of the Upgrades in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Welcoming the new business models to E3 this year could be an absolute blitz of PC games franchises, all of which are battling with each other for the biggest splash. I would say there's a "blizzard" ahead, but that name's been taken already. Blizzard's The Burning Crusade expansion to WoW, expected at E3, actually will create an entirely new continent, called "Outland," where one might find a new race of so-called "blood elves." (Oh, you never will believe where those Keebler cookies come from.) Meanwhile, Namco - yes, the company that introduced the world to Galaxian and Pac-Man - will actually try to knock WoW off its throne, with its much-anticipated Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. The company describes it as dealing particularly with "WAR, focusing on the armies and battles while de-emphasizing the tedious aspects of base and resource management." Which should already win this title some followers at the Defense Dept. Sticking a finger in the notion that first-person shooters are entirely migrating to console-based platforms, CryTek is likely to demonstrate its even-more-perfected rendering engine, in a demo of its upcoming sequel to Far Cry, entitled Crysis. This is the game that should prove the viability of Microsoft's DirectX 10 rendering library, due to become one of the foundation components of its upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The difference between DirectX 10 worlds and DirectX 9 worlds (for Windows XP), gamers are led to believe, will be clearly visible. But if the first-person shooter crowd is all gathering together around consoles, and if shooter games are more adapted to the retail model than the online sales model (How long can a gamer go on subscribing to the right to keep shooting down the same thing?), then could Crysis be less well received among publishers and retailers than it's likely to be among fans? This could be a bright comet of a game that burns out fairly quickly, as franchise role-playing and strategy titles such as Midway's Unreal Tournament 2007 appear well positioned to command and conquer - to borrow a phrase - the resurrected realm of PC gaming. And there's one more little thing: While fans of the Star Trek movies will happily remind you that it's generally the even-numbered films that are the best, and the odd-numbered ones that are as cursed as a red-shirted security officer in a dark cave, they'll also tell you that there has never really been a completely perfect Star Trek game, for any genre, in the last quarter-century. So the question on at least some people's minds at E3 (they'll be the ones in Starfleet uniforms) is whether Perpetual's Star Trek Online - which is likely to be previewed on Tuesday - will break this curse. Set 20 years after the last "Next Generation" movie, with slightly updated ships, set decoration, and uniforms designed under the direction of no less than Trek veteran artist Andrew Probert, the screen shots of this MMORPG look perhaps even more stunning than some of the odd-numbered films (Trek V comes to mind). But with the promise of away-team exploration of multiple worlds, and true 3D combat among fleets of starships, manned by multiple live players simultaneously, the question transcends whether this game will feel like a Trek movie, and becomes whether it places the gamer in anything resembling his understanding of the Trek universe.

• Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 Speaker System (12... (5 offers) Online shop Price Dell Home $185.99 LENOVO $201.08 Buy.com $177.99 Directron $183.98 ElectronicsPLUS $183.99 See more products The Altec Lansing satellites are also the only ones in this review with a separate tweeter and driver. They are equipped with a 40 mm driver and an 18 mm tweeter in each satellite, as opposed to the larger, single drivers in the competition's offerings. Each satellite takes about 12 watts of power, much less than the other competitors in this review that take about 40 watts each. The FX50551's satellites are consequently much smaller than the G550's or Z-5450's. As far as the speaker hardware goes, the Altec Lansing system sets itself apart from the pack even more here. The subwoofer box actually contains two 6.5" long-throw drivers in what's called an "isobaric configuration". This design places both drivers facing each other in a unique fashion that is supposed to maximize bass output. What's interesting is that both of the FX5051's subwoofer drivers take a combined 89 watts of power... compare this with the single 6.5" driver in the Logitech's Z-5450's sub that takes 116w of power all by itself. Aesthetically speaking, the Altec Lansing FX5051's are appealing, with a metallic look to the satellites, stands and subwoofer. The wireless remote is uniquely shaped with a bend at the top, kind of like a Star Trek phaser, but it's comfortable and works well. Our only complaint is the rather ambiguous display on the control box. Setting levels are represented by a few lights in a circle, but it's not really clear which way is increasing or decreasing. It's also not really made to display finer adjustments, so you get no visual feedback if the adjustment is subtle, even if you can hear the difference sometimes. It's not the end of the world, but it really made me appreciate the simple, effective display on the Logitech control box. Altec Lansing FX5051 5.1 Speaker System (12... (5 offers) Online shop Price Dell Home $185.99 LENOVO $201.08 Buy.com $177.99 Directron $183.98 ElectronicsPLUS $183.99 See more products

• Review of the Matrox G400 MAX

  During these days of higher end consumer graphics cards, there are few cards that offer innovative graphical features. Matrox, a successful player in the graphics scene for many years now, has finally decided to break this mold of "me too product" and design something new and exciting. On top of the features we find standard in most high end consumer 3D cards these days (2/4X AGP, 32 MB frame buffer, 32 bit color with 8 bit Stencil, DVD hardware acceleration, high speed RAMDAC), Matrox will be including environmental Bump Mapping (by means of DirectX 6) and Dual video output (with one video card). You might be asking yourself at this point, "Are these features even worth getting the G400 MAX for?" Let us elaborate on these new features and help you decide. Bump mapping is not exactly a new concept but the fact that the G400 MAX will do it in hardware, is. Currently, bump mapping is done in software that has inferior visual and it often costs a considerable amount of performance. There are debatable ways to implement hardware bump mapping and the method Matrox chose seems to be a winner. The performance and visual quality of the G400 MAX while using hardware bump mapping is excellent. Various effects can be generated with this hardware feature that allows developers to create a more life-like environment. Things like smoldering armor, ultra-realistic pools of water and finely detailed walls are taken to the next level. Currently the only examples offered of this feature are the games Drakan (Psygnosis), Slave Zero (Accolade), Descent III (interplay/Outrage) and Expendable but it's just the start because 53 titles are to be released in the near future with bump mapping support for the G400 MAX. Game titles like Messiah (Shiny), Max Payne (Remedy) LithTech II engine based games (Monolith) and Dark Reign (Activision/Pandemic) are just a few of the many noteworthy games to soon have support. Have you ever wanted to watch DVD movies on one screen while finishing up that paper due tomorrow morning or had the need to see what was behind you before you got fragged in the last clan match? All these things might be possible very soon if not already. With the Dual video output feature you're offered a variety of options ranging from dual desktops to simultaneously having DVD movies playing while you work. The feature that seems to draw the most interest is the ability to have games utilize two screens simultaneously. Star Trek: Armada from Activision will be the first game to take advantage of this feature. You can have your main window running on the first screen while your second screen displays real time combat in 3D. Imagine all the things you'll be able to do with Ultima Online: The Second Age (one of nine games that are planned to support DualHead) when it comes out. I don't think this will be a far-fetched idea for the average gamer since monitor prices are getting so low (like $175-200 for a 17" monitor).