Killjoy Rat

With cries of "The joystick is dead, long live the Rat," Cheetah Marketing led out its infra-red games controller (See issue 75) to an expectant public last week.

The Rat (Remote Action Transmitter) and its signal receiver will let you annihilate aliens from 30ft. For now it works only with the Spectrum, but Cheetah says other versions are in the pipeline (sewer?). Its infra-red signals, transmitted from the ergonomically-designed Rat's nose, won't interfere with other products such as televisions or video recorders, and you only have to wave it vaguely in the direction of the receiver to make the connection.

The device looks more like a cordless razor or hi-tech blancmange mould than a rat, but who wants rats lying around the house?

The receiver plugs into the Spectrum's edge connector and includes a through-connector to let you use other peripherals at the same time.

The price is £29.95 and you'll be able to buy Rats from various dealers and high street stores.