In2Games Gametrak gaming accessory

The art of fighting, without fighting

What if iPods could only play one track - and that track was a Cheeky Girls rendition of Agadoo? Or if the only movie that worked on your DVD player was Waterworld... Point is, there's nothing more frustrating than seeing a good gadget go to waste. Welcome to the world of Gametrak, the pukka gaming peripheral with only a single shabby fighting game in its repertoire.

Setting up and using Gametrak is a cinch. Plonk it on the carpet a few feet away from the telly, slip on the gloves that attach to it via strings, and then start giving it some David Brent-style arm-swinging action. Although the fighting game that comes bundled with it is about as entertaining as an afternoon listening to granny go on about her haemorrhoids, the actual responsiveness of the hardware is surprisingly sharp. Every punch you snap out is mimicked almost perfectly by your on-screen first-person alter ego, without any hint of a delay.

The tough bit is making sure that you don't shuffle away from the unit in any direction, as it screws with the calibration, resulting in all your moves being seriously off target.

This has got potential in spades, especially as it's a USB device that can be used with a PS2, Xbox or PC. However, the one piece of PS2 software currently available does it little justice. Plus there are only five games on the horizon for 2005, with the most exciting prospect being Real World Golf, which enables you to put your real-life swing to the test on the digital fairway. But with such a limited line-up of software in its corner, this likely contender remains a heavyweight hopeful.