On a slow summer news day you've sometimes got to scrape the barrel, on in this case, the cheese off the bottom of the box. So it is with joy and fanfare that I can reveal to you the eating habits of CJ, the gaming character most likely to be in every gamer's household by the end of 2005. In case you don't know, CJ is the hero of the next game, GTA: San Andreas, Rockstars 1990s LA-based gangster-em-up.

In a departure for the rest of the series, (and in a desperate attempt to bring something fresh to the table, cynics may say) in this instalment it will be necessary for players to feed the hero from time to time. Neglect CJ's rumbling stomach and he will wither away and die. On the other hand you can go all Don Corleone and Brando your way through too many fast food joints, thereby turning CJ into a laughing stock and losing him any credit down at the Badd Asses Union.

Unless this is all a terrible windup on the part of players are going to have to ensure that CJ gets a balanced diet and plenty of exercise to keep him in fighting trim. Of course, this is 90s America so healthy eating will be found in such poison palaces as Chicken Bell, Well Stacked Pizza and Burger Shot. Surely there will also be some kind of smoothy bar, Smooth Criminal perhaps?

By Sam Gibson