The Splinter Cell games are good, however they have some very annoying little bugs/anomalies that haven't been ironed out after 3 attempts. There is a lot of hype around them, however don't expect them to blow you away. Speaking of which, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is available on Xbox and should now be relatively cheap. The PS2 version is brilliant so the higher platform title should be even better. A cracking game that didn't get anywhere near the coverage it deserved, you play as a mercenary (there is a choice of three, each with separate skills) in a future North Korean theatre of war. You basically drive around an absolutely vast landscape carrying out jobs for the various factions mixed up in the conflict. You can blow the sh*t out of most things and destroy everything else. There is infinite playability since the game's so bloody long and you have three characters. This is essential. The most impressive game I've played yet on the Xbox is Prince Of Persia Warrior Within. Available in the cheaper 'Classic' series (the equivalent of Sony's 'Platinum' titles), this features an incredible free-form combat system that predates anything in God Of War and allows for endless possibilities when slaughtering (in very bloody fashion) the myriad enemies who cross your path. As a platformer it is as good as its predecessor Sands Of Time yet ups the ante action-wise. The recent final installment The Two Thrones was pretty slick, but nowhere near as involving (and addictive) or dark as this effort. If you buy no other game then you must buy this. IT IS BRILLIANT. I only just bought Hitman Blood Money. I've barely gotten into to it but already I'm hooked. Other recommendations include Black (overblown gun-toting, awesome graphics and gameplay), Star Wars Republican Commando (the best Star Wars game I've ever come across. Seriously good) and the ubiquitous Halo 2 (justifies the hype). The only problem with these titles are that they are far too short. I don't play my console dawn to dusk yet I had these finished in a couple of days. This fact is particularly annoying in relation to Halo. Just as your getting into it, it's over! Anyway, happy shopping. Edit: I forgot to mention Far Cry Instincts which won a heap of awards last year. It's a FPS with a twist. Very enjoyable.

I was reading in the paper the other day that Crouch has always had faith in his own ability, something which has stood him in good stead throughout his career.

How you can manage to rail against political correctness, in a thread regarding Ian Wright's decision to defend cheating, is baffling. There are plenty of black guys on the BBC (hardly enough to get worked up about though). Are you suggesting that they're there simply by virtue of some evil affirmative action-style agenda set by Greg Dyke? Wright may be a inarticulate, delusional loudmouth (the very worst elements of the English football fan) but his criminal record and previous disciplanry problems are completely irrelevant in this context. Of course he's not the only BBC Sport employee with a shady past. You will often see Tony Adams (recovering alcoholic, former jail-bird) sitting comfortbaly on the Football Focus couch. Personally I think they only hire him because he's white. Aye, I saw that in X-Men the other night...

I was disgusted by the wilful air of denial that gripped the BBC commentary after Gerrard's dive. Neither Motson nor Lawrenson even so much as alluded to the fact that the bloke had conned the ref. Then at half-time the usually lucid Hansen joins his blinkered English chums in condoning a quite majestic piece of continental-style play-acting, a standard of which the routinely vilified Didier Drogba would have been proud. What a bunch of clowns.

That is true. I didn't realise that Dawson had taken part.

I've seen nothing to suggest that any of Brazil's front four live upon the reputation that their nationality affords. Ronaldinho, Adriano, Ronaldo and Kaka are simply outstanding footballers. They could come from Bermondsey and still be as talented.

I appreciate that there's probably some team bonding going on ('Barthez was roped to defenders Eric Adibal and Lilian Thuram...') but why are they climbing a bloody mountain? What's next? Swimming with sharks? Sky-diving? Ski-jumping? Eating out at the Spurs hotel?

I've just been reading about the incident in the Guardian. What the hell is the French squad doing climbing up a mountain?

Jimmy Greaves doesn't still play. Nor does he captain his club and country. Raul may have had a poor season but he is still a goal-scorer. And a prolific one at that. That was the basis of my argument, rather than him being in good or bad form.

The Beeb now claims that he cannot train for a further three weeks. He'll miss all the group games.

From Wikipedia: Sounds like a goal-scorer to me.

The Ivory Coast. They have some top players (Toure, Drogba, Kalou, Eboue, Zokora) the majority of the squad are based in Europe, they have a good set-up. They're in a very tough group but are more than capable of causing an upset.

Barthez was a brilliant keeper but it's now time to let Coupet take over. He's the best in France, and Lyon have just won 5 on the bounce with him in goal. They could do worse than Landreau though-a very capable performer.

Raul.

How on earth was last night's game classed as a B international? It was clearly a warm-up friendly involving the World Cup squad-the same as the forthcoming games against Jamaica and Hungary.

I still can't believe it. Javier Zanetti! I've watched football for a long time now and I've yet to see a player who performs as consistently as he does. It's truly baffling.

It is-Click.

The guy has a broken bone in his foot. I would doubt it. Anyway the above theory (however tongue in cheek) is based upon the premise that the other leading nations give a stuff about Rooney's fitness.

Where the hell is Ludovic Giuly? As for the Argentine squad-I can understand the reticence over taking Samuel, but Zanetti?! WTF!?

Deco.

Brilliant player. He's a pleasure to watch-the sort of footballer who is worth every penny of the exorbitant wages (if anyone is) and convinces me at least to subscribe to Sky each year (along with ourselves of course). Apart from when he's playing against Rovers, I can't think of a Premiership performer I admire more.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere but click here for big news.

Didn't Ronaldinho score at Stamford Bridge last season with a toe punt? It is an extremely effective way of shooting if used in the right situation. If you want to arrow the ball to an exact spot in the goal and you have very little time and space to do it in, then a punt is perfectly acceptable. Eto'o knew exactly what he was doing last night.

I have to agree. Ronaldinho is a truly awesome footballer but in my opinion Eto'o is Barca's most devastatign player. My dad likened him to a cobra last night. His shot against the post involved him touching the ball twice-once to turn Campbell and then a second time to strike it. The way in which he explodes in to space from a standing start is frightening. The sheer number of quality goals that he scores is very impressive also. He was La Liga's top scorer this seaosn and some of his strikes were simply brilliant. He doesn't have the audacity or panache of Henry but his technique and consistent quality are certainly up there with the Arsenal captain.

Yes because their season was so superior to Arsenal's. Oh wait...