This week the spotlight falls on Disney Interactive Studios, the interactive entertainment affiliate of the Walt Disney Company, with its range of multi-platform video games and entertainment products for the young and young at heart.

continues to hold a fascination with the developers of computer games.  I have lost count of the number of titles that are based on this particular geographical location.  With its various stories and legends concerning Pharaohs, gods and other supernatural forces that excite our imagination, what more could you want.  The latest such offering to find its way on to my desktop is Ashley Jones - The Heart of Egypt.

Put together the names of Van Helsing and Brad Stoker in the same sentence could only result in the main subject matter being that of Dracula.  In this case Dracula is the central character in a game developed by Frogware Studios.  Entitled Dracula: Origin, this is a point and click adventure game that places the user in the role of Van Helsing as he searches for that walking one-way blood bank known as the Prince of Darkness.

When it comes to creating an investigative adventure computer game, where better to start than with the doyen of detectives, that redoubtable resident of 221B Baker Street, known as Sherlock Holmes.  Taking this premise, and adding in Arsène Lupin a French gentleman thief who features in a series of novels by Maurice Leblance, the developers Frogwares has come up with Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis.

Entitled Mystery PI: The Vegas Heist, you are cast in the role of the enigmatic, never-give-up, clue seeking private investigator who takes on the task of discovering the missing money.  This being , the recovery of the money is regarded as being far more important than apprehending those responsible for the heist.  Presumably less-savoury characters will deal out the punishment to those involved but that plays no part in this game.

I have to admit, that as a child, the job of being a bus driver, or any type of driver for that matter, did not feature to high in the list of possible future careers that I considered in any moments of wishful thinking.  Buses were merely a mode of transport for my own convenience rather than an object of affection such as my collection of cigarette and bubble gum cards.

Take a distinct flavour of the old Wild West, throw in some unusual, some might say gruesome elements, and then mix them with a modern computer game.  The result is CowBall, a game from URSE Games, developed by a team led by Sergey Kuzmichev and Juriy Aliev who were responsible for titles such as Gem Ball and Nuclear Ball. As already mentioned, CowBall is set in the Wild West of cowboys and Red Indians.

Developed by Sonic Team, Phantasy Star Universe is set in the Gurhal Star System that originally formed the game playing arena for Phantasy Star Online.  Bringing together the ability to choose between single player game and online network action, Phantasy Star Universe belongs to the Japanese RPG genre.  Now available on the White label, Phantasy Star Universe has been rated at 12+ and forms part of the Avanquest Software Publishing product portfolio.

The concept of a circus has changed radically since my early youth.  Animal acts are considered both inappropriate and cruel while other forms of entertainment have proved more irresistible by modern day audiences.  If it is not digital or personal then you start off with a disadvantage especially when the viewing environment lacks the desired level of comfort demanded by today's paying customers.

This business simulation title, developed by JoWood, now forms part of the Reload series and is available from Avanquest Software Publishing as Industry Giant II Gold Edition which add the Official Expansion Pack to the standard version of the game.  Whereas previously Industry Giant II was set in the period stretching from 1900 to 1980, the expansion pack now takes the player into the future and the year 2020.

For many the mere mention of the name Rupert Bear will bring back memories of early childhood.  This cartoon strip and annual book character was a stable diet for the young with stories and adventures based in Nutwood.  Now, as often happens, this popular paper-based character has re-emerged in digital format on CD-ROM with Rupert Bear Nutwood Games available from Avanquest Software Publishing Ltd.

About Time First the 14+ claim this is I think simply because the questions are not that easy - well I did not think so anyway - and to have a chance to enjoy the game you need to be able to get a percentage correct. It is all about 'Iconic Events' and when they took place. The game is for at least two players but it states 2-20 players. You could play in teams with teams always being able to confer.

As part of the Reload White Label, : Two Treasures is available at the (plus £2.99 shipping) Software Publishing Ltd.  As the title suggests this Ascaron developed game involves pirates and all the different types of activity normally associated with this seafaring, criminal element. Tortuga bargain basement price of £4.99 from Avanquest The game, which requires both ActiveX 9.

Bringing together three titles from the Blitzkrieg series is the appropriately named Blitzkrieg II Anthology.  This product consists of the Blitzkrieg II game and the subsequent offerings of Liberation and The Fall of the Reich as you take part in historic battles of the period. Using a front-end menu, you can select from the various games making up this anthology.

Season Match is one of those rather annoying games that you settle down for a quick five minute session and the next time you look up a couple of hours have flown by without you realising it.  The rest of the day is then spent trying to catch up with other tasks.  Of course it does help if you a fan of the colour matching genre of which this game is a prime example.

Bubble Buster It is the old blow a bubble and try to burst it. The difference here is that the bubbles are blown by a machine and you have to burst them with a wand that has two rounded prongs on the end. It's not just shoving the wand at a bubble it's how you do it as you need to make the wand ping and it will only do so if you connect in the correct way. The object is to get 20 pings, each ping becomes slightly higher.

click to enlarge Hard to Be a God is not another take on the God genre made popular by such titles as Civilisation.  Instead this game is a mixture of Hack & Slash with RPG overtones that aims to please followers of both types of game play.  The storyline of the game is claimed to be based on a 1964 sci-fi book by the Russian Strugatsky brothers.

Born in on , Napoleon Bonaparte (or the little Corsican as he was sometimes referred to) is regarded by many as the greatest strategist the world has ever known as he attempted spreading his control throughout and surrounding areas.  Rising through the ranks of the French army, this charismatic individual reached the exalted rank of Napoleon 1, Emperor of France when he crowed himself in 1804.

The Koala Bear, Kangaroo, Dingo, Platypus, Wombat, Wallaroo and Tasmanian Devil are just some of the animals that are native to .  Now news has reached us that there is a new addition to this menagerie - namely the Tumblebug.  Actually this is not the first sighting of this strange creature with its overwhelming desire to save members of its extended family from destruction.

I have to admit that puzzle games, especially those that involve some form of colour matching, are among my favourite types of relaxing activities on the computer.  Although if you could see the look of concentration on my face and some of the words being emitted when mistakes made, you might doubt the relaxing aspect but never the challenge faced or the enjoyment gained.