Tomb Player fire-sale knocks Gameplay over

A top games Web site played hide and seek with its regulars today after offering 4,000 copies of Tomb Raider Last Revelation for just £1. By two o'clock this afternoon (1400hr GMT)Gameplay had received 81,000 requests for the game although it insisted many of the orders were duplicated. The bargain-basement offer -- which started at midday -- caused a stampede at the site making it off limits for many people trying to cash in on the offer. Gameplay usually retails the game at £26.99 for PlayStation versions and £24.99 for PC. Earlier today it was business as usual for anyone wanting to slip into Gameplay for a bit of R 'n' R. By late morning, it was impossible as the site became swamped with users trying to get their mits on the knockdown knockout game. "We've been overwhelmed by the response," said a spokeswoman for Gameplay. We've been handling an order every six seconds," she said. Executives at the London-based Web company admitted that some of their servers simply couldn't cope with the rush but insisted the offer was a success. In July last year online booksellers, BOL, caved in under the weight of 40,000 bookworms when it decided to give away 20,000 books. ® Related items: Rush for free books knocks over BOL server Gameplay