LONDON (IDG) -- PC game and entertainment software developers here at the annual European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) gave visitors a taste of the latest trends in everything from classic shoot-em-up games to more educational titles.

Among the companies showcasing new products at the show, which ended today, were the following:

Operating system vendor Be Inc. demonstrated its latest BeOS 4.5.1 operating system, running a number of third-party applications ranging from audio and video programs to a cross-platform graphics application.

The audio programs demonstrated on the Be platform included T-RackS, an audio-mastering program, and GrooveMaker, a sampler and remix engine from IK Multimedia. Adamation's Personal Studio, a nonlinear digital-editing tool, was shown as an example of video applications.

Be also hosted a demonstration of NaN's Blender, a 3-D graphics suite for animators, which also supports Linux, FreeBSD and Windows, among other operating systems.

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PXD Software, of Germany, showed three new products, based around the company's EJay music entertainment line.
The EJay Sound Collection #1 contains more than 7,500 sounds and loops in .wav format, allowing for tempo adjustment and time-stretching.
EJay MP3 Station 1.0 is an MP3 organizer, allowing everything from downloading and playback of MP3 files to archiving and burning the songs to compact discs. The kit also includes a CD "ripping" utility, which allows users to take a track from an audio CD and save it as an MP3 file.
Techno EJay, meanwhile, allows users to create professional-style techno tracks using a 16-track mixer. The software contains 3,600 sound samples, a synthesizer and effects such as bending and filtering sounds. All three eJay titles will retail for $39.99 each.
U.K.-based educational software company Tivola UK announced four titles which it said will be released worldwide in six weeks time, including Max and the Pirates and Black Cats and Pointed Hats from it's play and learn series, designed for users as young as 3 years old. In addition, the company will launch The Mystery of the Mayan Treasure, for 8-year-old users and The Second Great Games Compendium, designed for all users.
In the second quarter of next year, Tivola plans to release Max on the Moon (ages 3 and up), and Oscar the Balloonist Drops Into the Countryside, for 4 to 8 year olds. All titles will retail for 19.99 pounds (US$32) each, except for the Compendium, which will retail for 9.99 pounds.
BBC Worldwide will be releasing no fewer than 10 PC software titles between now and November. Based around BBC television programs, the new titles range from "edutainment" to sheer entertainment. Teletubbies Favourite Games, designed for 2- to 4-year-olds, will be released in two weeks for 24.99 pounds, while The Wallace & Gromit Fun Pack 2, which includes video clips and board games, will be released October 29 at a retail price of 19.99 pounds.
Midas Interactive Entertainment, based in the Netherlands, also demonstrated 11 new titles, which will be released between now and November. The new offerings range from Pro Extreme Body Boarding, which will be released October 21, to Karting Grand Prix, which will be released on November 25. Both will retail for 29.99 pounds in the U.K. market.
Douglas F. Gray writes for the IDG News Service in London.

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