Long life expected for PC game boxes

PC gamers can look forward to stunning graphics based on some of the products showcased at E3, despite the soaring levels of console technology.

Despite the upcoming war between the three next-generation games consoles - Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's Dolphin, which is still under development - the PC remains a strong platform and vendors believe it will have a long life in the games industry.

Many of the titles at the show are destined for UK retail shelves this Christmas. Interplay's Giants: Citizen Kabuto action strategy game, for example, featured animation designed to exploit the power of the PC.

Another title that pulled in the crowds was Sierra's Homeworld real-time strategy game. The space based game is fully three-dimensional and its zoom feature allows it to be played from a variety of angles. It is due to launch in June.

Activision's Trickstyle definitely was not for vertigo sufferers, enabling players to race hoverboards through futuristic visions of present day cities.

Nintendo chose the E3 show to outline Nintendo's Dolphin console specification (PC Dealer, 19 May). Dolphin, which is due to ship in 2000, will be based on a 400MHz version of IBM's Gekko processor, which is based on copper technology. The console's 200MHz graphics chip will be supplied by ArtX and the device will also include Matsushita's Unique DVD technology, which has a capacity of 4.7 Gb.

By contrast, the Playstation 2 runs on a 300MHz standard processor with a 150MHz graphics chip and includes a 3.2 GB/second DVD drive.