A scene from Colin McRae 3.

Today THE STAR continues one of its latest columns geared at those persons who are interested in video games. Every Thursday you will be able to see reviews of the latest games, cheats, codes, information on consoles and deals or discussions on the latest issues. If you are a 'gamer' you will want to pay attention to this space weekly.

First, I must say it is not easy when you have to decide between writing an article about a great man and a long-awaited game like Halo 3. But, we are not here to promote or sell any products. We are here to give you useful information in the gaming industry, to maximise your experience. So, we are doing just that, and Halo 3's review will just have to wait.

THE MAN

Colin McRae (MBE) was a member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a British order of chivalry presented in 1996. Born of Scottish descent on August 5, 1968, McRae was the son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and the older brother of professional driver Alister McRae. Colin McRae in the World Rally Championship (WRC) is like Tiger Woods in golf, or should I say, better. To list all his achievements would need a novel. So I will list it the easiest way possible, by wins. In 1993, he won his first race in New Zealand driving a Subaru Legacy RS. From 1994 - 1996 he went on to win seven WRC races driving a Subaru Impreza 555. From 1997 - 1998 eight more were won driving a Subaru Impreza WRC. Then in 1999, Colin changed to Ford and drove the newly-designed Ford Focus WRC to nine spectacular wins between that year and 2002. He then returned for one race for Skoda in 2005 and finished seventh due to mechanical problems. Now we will never know how McRae would have done in the 2008 WRC season because he died along with his six year-old son on September 15, 2007.

THE GAME

Colin McRae was first approached by Codemasters in 1998 to create a game called Colin McRae Rally. Version 2, known as Colin McRae 2.0, was released in 2000 for Sony PlayStation and PC. And then later on the Game boy Advance in 2002. But it did not take off until 2004 and 2005 when it was released on the Xbox with graphics so real and the control that had extreme accuracy. It reached all ages, both non-racers and enthusiasts alike. In 2005 it was so popular that it was remade for Sony's PSP and Nokia's N-Gage. Colin McRae: DIRT was the title for the next instalment of the series, which was launched in 2007 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 edition was released in the UK on September 14, the day before McRae's death. A special edition for mobile phones will also be available from Codemasters Mobile.

Did you know?

1. That six versions of Colin McRae were released.

2. Only the first edition had real world competitors.

3. You can even get a tyre puncture in the game.

Done by GameYaad.com

Shop #18 Hagley Park Plaza,

Tel: (876) 765-6453. Email: info@gameyaad.com

www.ign.com