The UK is in the grip of the force as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed enters software charts at top spot. The game marks the biggest release week ever for a Star Wars game, and the biggest launch since Grand Theft Auto IV. What else is hot in the UK? Find out after the link.

Despite an 18% loss in revenue last quarter as compared to last year's, Electronic Arts is confident the launch of a number of holiday titles and an upcoming restructuring would put them back in the game. The changes will focus on efficiency and cost-cutting. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter remains positive about the future of the studio, saying: "They appear to have costs under control and revenue growth is solid."

Age of Conan and Crysis were able to show off their potential running on DirectX 10 for Windows Vista at the Consumer Electronics Show. With stunning visuals and graphics, the Age of Conan demo didn't disappoint.

The organizers had the good sense to place the demo in a jungle scene. They were able to showcase texture, light dynamics, and the lush landscape. Moss covering trees and a light fog set quite an environment.

Some interesting gameplay tidbits were also shown. Players will be able to meet monsters of different shapes and sizes. And of course, what's a Conan game without insanely large swords/weapons? There's also the innovative combat system and the real-time battles that really sticks players into the fray. The title is to be rated Mature (M) so the devs had a relatively free hand when they added the blood and gore aspects.

DirectX 10 was impressive but it wasn't perfect. There were some glitches like lagging briefly after new quests are acquired, and some problems with the framerate. The rough edges are atleast minimal.

The nagging question remains: how will the Xbox360 version measure up? The PC version would be better visually. Of course, Vista would be required and a HIGH end PC. Funny that muscle-bound barbarians (who look like they've been shooting up steroids since birth) are probably the signal to juice up your PC hardware. There's still no official announcement regarding cross-platform play between players on PCs online and on Xbox Live. It's still being considered, and there are several possibilities. The downside for Xbox360 players is that they would need a hard drive.

The PC version of this title by Funcom and Eidos is set for release this summer while the Xbox version is tentatively up within a year (hopefully within this year).