Our big story this week came first from an anonymous tip that said the US offices of Radical Entertainment were in financial trouble. From first wind, we had the impression that Radical's hold on the ESPN Digital Games license was attracting the favors of Electronic Arts for a possible takeover of Radical.

　　EA basically owns the sports games market in the US, so adding a brand name like ESPN could only sweeten its virtual monopoly in the market. But it appeared that the deal going on behind the scenes had EA licking its chops for the license only - and no other assets of Radical. After calling Radical Entertainment repeatedly - and getting little to no response - we were left to speculate and cull the many tips that came our way over the past week. Sounds messy, eh? It gets worse. Disney, owner of ESPN, gets into the whole mess and says that it doesn't want to sell EA the license for more than a two-year period. But EA wants the license for ten years.

　　And the story isn't over yet. The financial woes of Radical were so extreme, it was forced to close its San Francisco office. That office closed its doors on Friday, September 25. Talk about a bad week. No word on whether the US closing will affect Radical's Vancouver, Canada, headquarters.

　　If you're interested in what goes on behind closed doors with a high-profile brand like ESPN, a license-hungry company like EA, and a not-so-goofy company like Disney - and what happens when the little guy gets fried in the middle - you'll want to read all our stories. Since we first broke this story, other sites have picked it up, but we've been one step ahead of the game.

　　PC racers will have more reason to put the pedal to the metal with two new racing games on the horizon. In a 24-hour exclusive, Sierra and developer Papyrus told GameSpot News about their upcoming NASCAR Racing - 1999 Edition. We haven't had a chance to play the title yet, but as with any title from Papyrus, it should be pretty solid. We know that Grand Prix Legends is coming from the company next month as well. Also, Ubi Soft shocked us on Thursday by not only announcing its new Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation 2 but also releasing a demo on the same day. It was probably planned and definitely a great way to get people to notice the Grand Prix racer.

　　In other software news, a German-based software company named TopWare is suing EA. The company claims that EA used insider information about one of TopWare's upcoming software compilations against the company by releasing a similar product on the same day. Since the suit was just filed, it will probably be in litigation for a long time - so we'll have to wait and see what transpires.

　　Half-Life. The name of the upcoming action/shooter sends shivers and smiles to gamers everywhere. When GameSpot News received an early test version of Half-Life: Day One, in-house editors were crowded around previews editor Elliott Chin's machine watching as he jumped, shot baddies, and attempted to figure out the puzzle in the demo. Usually there are one or two editors around watching as a demo is being played (Elliott's desk is pretty popular at times), but most often the editors go off to do other things since they want to play. Our first reaction to the game was more than what we expected. Yes, we have seen the game in various stages of development over the past year, but finally we've had a chance to sit down and get personal with the game by taking it through its paces. Half-Life really takes the shooting genre to a completely new level, and we can't wait until the game in its entirety releases.

　　In more legal news, 3Dfx has filed a patent suit against competitor nVidia for an alleged infringement on 3Dfx's multi-texturing technology. NVidia says that it will fight the lawsuit and claims that it has not infringed on any of 3Dfx's patents. This is the third patent action against the company, and it appears that nVidia is becoming a bigger and bigger threat to other 3D companies with its latest TNT offering.

　　In hardware news, gamers were told that Banshee-equipped boards would release at a low price point, and on Monday, Creative Labs announced that its 3D Blaster Banshee would be available for US$99 after a $30 rebate. Don't think it can get any lower? Guillemot on Friday announced that its new Maxi Gamer Phoenix will sell for only $89 after a $20 rebate. Diamond has moved to make A3D an affordable format with its Aureal Vortex-based new Sonic Impact S90 for only $49.95. So if you're looking for A3D and don't have a lot of money hanging around for some of the higher-priced audio boards, how can you complain?