Inside Mac Games Volume 4 #9/IMG 40 Sep 1996.iso/More Goodies/Inside Games Update/Inside Games Update.rsrc/TEXT_128.txt

Text File | 1996-09-03 | 23KB | 428 lines

INSIDE GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT UPDATE
Volume 2, Issue 61 - Late Issue


3DO & Matsushita: SEND MONEY
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. provided $40 million, in what could
be described as a financial band aid, to the 3DO Co. (www.3do.com).
Matsushita signed a licensing agreement in December 1995 that agreed to pay
3DO a total of $100 million. $60 million was plunked down in December at
that signing. The final amount paid, $40 million, enables Matsushita to
license 3DO's 64-bit M2 technology.  M2 is the code-name for 3DO's
next-generation game technology, which is designed to process graphics and
data in 64-bit chunks.

As part of the licensing agreement, Matsushita has the rights to use the M2
technology in consumer electronic equipment, including video game equipment,
digital videodisc (DVD), players or interactive television set-top boxes.
The white flag has now been extended from 3DO to both Sega Corp. and Sony
Corp., essentially conceding the game machine market to these two
companies. Wanting to remain in the electronics arena, 3DO, in September
1995, announced a product diversification strategy that would expand its
business beyond the game machine area to the Internet and personal computer
market.




America Online: COMIC CAPERS
Several months ago, America Online (AOL) initiated a new program for the
commserv that was designed to assist folk who wished to create innovative
content for the online community. Called The AOL Greenhouse, a number of
successful online ventures were created, one being the highly-acclaimed The
Motley Fool. Now another infopreneur as made the climb from development to
offering on AOL. This is ZMedia, Inc., and they are producing an original,
multimedia comic strip that is called Zombie Detective. The offering
presents textured graphics, original music, sound effects and animation
that let you actually appear as extras within the strip. You can also act
as an informer and role-play in a number of situations. The interactive
comic strip has an anti-authoritarian theme and a number of offbeat
characters and is delivered five days each week. To obtain the most
entertainment from this strip, you should check in each day to explore
another piece of the story. You must click on hot spots in each frame to
get your info.



AMERICA WEST OFFERS FLIGHT SCHEDULES
Want to know the comings and goings of flights for America West? Now you
can investigate the schedules running for 330 days out, including the
company's codeshare flights, at http://www.americawest.com. Customers
simply enter their departure city, destination city, date of travel and
preferred time of day. They then receive a listing of America West flights
that meet their criteria. Additional information, such as aircraft type, is
also available.



Apple: COME TO FRUITION
The ability to ease the development cycle for games is crucial for Apple
Computer. Already reeling for lower unit sales, the company had to do
something that would enable developers to create new entertainments for
Macintosh OS-based machines. More than 4,000 developers worked with Apple's
preliminary software development kit, called Game Sprockets, and over the
past nine months, submitted reports to Apple on this kit's viability.
Finally, Game Sprockets Version 1.0 has been released. Now, games that
operate on Macintosh OS-based machines can offer 3D sound, I/O device and
monitor control, real-time 3D graphics, Internet support and speech
recognition. Version 1.0 can be downloaded directly from Apple's WWW Game
Developer Site at http://dev.info.apple.com/games. These APIs can be mixed
and matched by developers to best compliment and enhance their titles. Game
Sprockets include DrawSprocket, an API for multiple buffering and display
control; InputSprocket, an API for digital joystick and input device
control; NetSprocket, an API for multiplayer gaming and Internet
connectivity that uses Open Transport; QuickDraw 3D RAVE, an API for fast,
multiplatform 3D graphics; SpeechSprocket, an API for speech recognition;
and SoundSprocket, which is an API for 3D Sound and Sound Manager
operation.



AST Computer: THEATER GAMES
The Hunchback of Notre Dame has received a variety of mixed reviews,
although the company is definitely headed toward yet another profitable
animated feature film. Accompanying the apparent success of the move, AST
Computer has joined forces with Walt Disney Pictures and will be
positioning their AST Advantage! 828 multimedia PC in 150 theaters in the
top ten markets in the country to demo Disney Interactive's GameBreak! The
Hunchback of Notre Dame Topsy Turvey Games offering. (Phew, that's quite a
title!) This is the first time a PC manufacturer has teamed with Disney to
offer a sneak-peak of the game while families are actually at the theaters.
The game is expected to debut on August 14th.



AT&T: FREE OLYMPIC CONCERTS
AT&T will provide a 17-day program of free performances by various
entertainers at the summer Olympics at the AT&T Global Olympic Village in
Centennial
Olympic Park in Atlanta. AT&T's Global Olympic Village, a 21-acre park, is
recognized as the crossroads of the 1996 Olympic Games. At AT&T's Global
Olympic Village, there'll be concerts, acknowledgments to the medal-winning
athletes, T-shirt auctions for Olympic Aid, multi-sensory video
spectaculars and interactive street theater, all starting on July 20. Among
the premier entertainers scheduled to perform are Joan Osborne, Ray
Charles, Travis Tritt & Marty Stuart, Santana, Sounds of Blackness with
CeCe Winans and Shirley Caesar, Jon Secada, Wei Wei and the American Jazz.
These concerts, as well as the entire entertainment program, will be
produced by Cossette Productions, which has produced the Grammy Awards for
the past 26 years.



ESPN: RADICAL CHILL
Sports--enormously popular and gaining in ratings each day. However, the
normal sports fare is being expanded of late, as folk become dissatisfied
with the egos and the salaries of the baseball and basketball players, and
younger folk demand more radical action. Due to this interest in more
radical sports, ESPN this summer introduced the Summer X Games, taking
place in Rhode Island, featuring such sports as in-line skating, acrobatic
skydiving, and street luge. The series has been quite popular. Naturally,
then, ESPN has decided to intro one and all to the Winter X Games which
will run at the Snow Summit Mountain Resort at Big Bear Lake, CA, from
January 30th through February 2nd of next year. There will be five extreme
offerings: ice climbing, snow boarding, snow bicycling, super-modified
shovel racing and cross-over competition. The latter sport is actually
snowboarding that is combined with bicycle stunts, in-line skating and
skateboarding--a highly interesting combo. More than 150 athletes are
expected to compete for over $200,000 in prize money.



Excite: BIG--AND GETTING BIGGER
Search tools are, without a doubt, the most highly accessed information on
the Internet. These folk are all full of marketing bravado as they
continually reiterate that millions upon millions of users are entering
their areas to find the URLs of interest for specific subject matter
interests. Now, Excite, Inc., has signed a binding letter of intent to
merge with The McKinley Group Inc., the creators of the Magellan On-Line
Guide. This joining of forces will create the second largest Internet
search and directory service, merging the two largest editorial staffs in
the industry. Once this merger has been completed, Excite will be able to
offer more than four million pages per day and reviews of more than 100,000
WWW sites. Excite is located at http://www.excite.com.



Fractal Design: RAY DREAMS ON TO A NEW VERSION
An upgrade for Ray Dream Studio, verison 4.1 for Windows(TM), is available
from Fractal Design Corporation. This latest version 4.1 for Windows(TM)
offers support for Microsoft's Direct3D(TM) that includes both software and
hardware acceleration when used with appropriate hardware. This results in
faster on-screen rendering. And version 4.1 works with Apple's QuickDraw
3D(TM) standards, bringing faster on-screen shaded previews to improve user
productivity--hardware acceleration is also supported. Other new features
include visible motion paths, new levels of anti-aliasing, and the ability
to use the QuickDraw 3D (3DMF) format on both Macintosh(R) and Windows
platforms.

Additionally, version 4.1 offers Internet support, including a direct VRML
export filter and support for GIF and JPEG file formats. VRML 1.0 export
filters allow users to easily integrate navigable 3D environments into
their World Wide Web pages. Version 4.1's ability to export directly to
VRML provides end users with the ability to create interactive sites
directly in Ray Dream Designer or Ray Dream Studio without additional,
costly software.



Garfield: NO CAT NAPS FOR GARFIELD ONLINE
The clever humor of Garfield cartoons seem to bridge the gap between cat
lovers and cat haters. That wacky humor is now available online at Garfield
Online (http://www.garfield.com). Here folks will participate in activities
and enjoy clever content that also includes comic strips, downloadable
screen savers, wallpapers and coloring book pages. Folks can send
electronic postcards, enter their pet (or person) in the Garfield
look-a-like contest, take a Garfield trivia quiz, and communicate with
other Garfield fans via Proxima, Inc.'s discussion group software, Podium
2.0, and QuickTime videos that allows visitors to take virtual walks
through the studio where Garfield is created.



GT Interactive: LOSE DOOM, GET THE DUKE
Two of the leading twitches ever produced for PCs were id Software's DOOM
and DOOM II, followed by their third hit, Hexen. The distributor of these
titles was GT Interactive. However, the relationship 'tween id and GTI came
to end with Quake, which id is handling for themselves. To be doomless was
not a comfortable position for GTI, which then went after another leading
twitch, none other than Duke Nukem 3D from FormGen Corporation. Now, GTI
has acquired FormGen, with one million shares of GTI common stock being
exchanged for all of FormGen's outstanding shares. If you'll recall, last
week GTI glommed onto The WizardWorks Group who developed and produced
software that is aptly named "value-priced."



Kesmai: FLYING ONTO MAC
One of the most popular multiplayer, online flight sims of all time has
been Air Warrior from Kesmai Corporation. This company is one of the
leading developers of multiplayer, online gaming and they have now
announced that this extremely popular title will be developed for Macintosh
TCP/IP technology. Already at work on a Windows version, the Macintosh
version will appear, exclusively on America Online's Game Channel. The Mac
version will feature real-time, multiplayer, online play with over 27 W.W.I
and W.W.II and Korean War fighters and bombers. All of the planes are
modeled after authentic plane performance characteristics for their time
period. The adjustable levels of play ensure that beginner and vet air
combat sim'ers will enjoy their flight experience. More info is available
at http:\\www.kesmai.com.



Mpath: QUAKE THAT SITE
The Quake(TM) flood continues . . .this hugely popular twitch continues to
garner impressive sales figures. This, in turn, leads others to wish to
join the Quakin' that's goin' on. So be it--Mpath Interactive has now
signed with id Software to bring Quake to Mplayer, the company's WWW-based,
interactive game service. A limited beta test will be conducted prior to
going live. Not only will the WWW site offer Quake, but Mpath is also
working on a Windows 95(R) version that'll work across TCP/IP networks.



MTV: A REALITY CLEANSING
Soap operas have always held sway during the late morning and early
afternoon time slots on television. MTV is one of those networks that is
attempting to bring soaps to prime time, and have been working away at this
task with their reality-based soap opera entitled The Real World, now
entering its fifth season. The series concerns five Americans, oneCuban-Ame
rican and one native of the USSR, all sharing the same house and trying to
start their own business. This season, the series is set in Miami, Florida.
The network will premiere the first two episodes of this soapy series on
July 10th at 10:00 pm.



NBC: BASKETBALL BETTERMENT?
Having already inked a $750 million deal to broadcast the NBA next year,
NBC is now also the first TV network to televise the new Women's NBA
(WNBA)...even though there are no players and no teams! The network will
(hopefully) broadcast one game a week through 2001, with the first game to
be televised June 21st, next year. There is competition, however, as the
American Basketball League already has eight teams and has assigned 16 star
players to those teams. No up-front rights fees were involved.



NBC & Intel: INTERACTIVE MURDER
A new technology, called Intercast technology, which allows you to receive
broadcast WWW pages that are related to programming on TV or cable, is
being expanded by NBC and Intel Corporation. The leading chip maker is
going to sponsor Homicide: Life on the Street as an Intercast broadcast, as
well as one news and one sports program, all on NBC. Additionally, Intel is
an NBC on-air sponsor of the programs for which it will be the Intercast
sponsor. Definitely in the line of TV and computer convergence, you'll be
able to access an Interactive Crime Lab where you can comb through suspect
and fingerprint files, coroner's reports and other materials that relate
directly to the episode being broadcast. What's cool is that these
materials are only for Intercast access--TV viewers will not be able to see
this material. You'll also obtain tips on upcoming twists in the plot.
Plus, there will be character background info. You'll get exclusive access
to the Evidence Bank and Case Files. Here is where past Homicide cases,
solved and unsolved, are available for your reference. You'll be able to
chat with other fans about the current issue as well...while it is in
progress. The show was the winner of the 1995 George Foster Peabody Award
for dram series and presents a realistic portrayal of a homicide
detective's life. The show can be viewed on NBC Friday nights at 10:00
p.m., ET.



NBC: TAKE ME OUT TO THE CYBERSPACE BALL GAME, TAKE ME OUT WITH THE CROWD
The All Star Game on July 9th will offer interactive coverage on the Web
through the team effort of NBC Sports, Major League Baseball and Instant
Sports. The game will be broadcast on July 9th at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on the
NBC television network, and simulated on the World Wide Web from the
Instant Sports Web site (http://www.instantsports.com), with additional
access from the NBC Sports (http://www.nbc.com/sports) and MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL (http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com) Web sites.



Nielsen Research: CABLE CONFIDENTIAL--NOT
The top 10 cable network programs for the week of June 10 through 16,
according to Nielsen Research, are:
  1. Movie: Coming to America (Saturday, 5:30 p.m.), USA
  2. Rugrats (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon
  3. World Championship Wrestling (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNN
  4. Nickelodeon Sports Theater (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon
  5. World Championship Wrestling (Monday, 8 p.m.), TNN
  6. Movie: Chasing the Dragon (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime
  7. Rugrats (Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon
  8. Aaahh!!! Real Monsters! (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon
  9. Movie: Beverly Hills Cop II (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.), USA
 10. Movie: Malice (Sunday, 5:30 p.m.), TNT



PC Meter: WEB STRETCHES FROM HEAVY USAGE
World Wide Web use is growing faster than commercial online services,
according to PC Meter whose recent survey that involved 4,000 households.
The top ten sites were: America Online (37.5 percent of total audience);
Yahoo! (35.6 percent); Netscape (35.5 percent); WebCrawler (33.9 percent);
Prodigy (18.5 percent); Infoseek; Lycos; Excite; Global Network Navigator;
and CompuServe.



Psygnosis: SPOT THAT BALL
European soccer fans have enjoyed, for years, a game of skill that appears
in newspapers called Spot The Ball. The object of the paper-based game is to
look at an action photograph and pick the spot where the missing soccer
ball should be located. This soccer fan appeal is now going to be leveraged
online to help Psygnosis leverage their new adidas Power Soccer title for
Sony's PlayStation console. This new WWW site, at http://www.psygnosis.com,
will have you testing your ball spotting skills as you look at action
screenshots from the game itself. Those who correctly identify the ball's
location will then be entered into a random drawing whose winners will
receive free copies of the game, sportswear and other prizes. Plus, a print
version of the ball spotting game will be handled by Psygnosis. The game,
developed by Psygnosis' French studio, is expected to release this
September and features four game modes and two-player support on a single
PSX. If you use the PlayStation link cable, four folk can play
simultaneously.



SEGA'S TRAMPOLINE WILL BOUNCE BACK BIG BUCKS
Edutainment software targeted at children from pre-school to age 12 will
now be available from SegaSoft, Inc., the independent video game developer.
Entitled Trampoline, this new brand joins another new element, the
formation of a strategic alliance with software developer Media Station.
Both moves are designed to create a foothold for SegaSoft in the growing
edutainment market segment. Reports indicate that entertainment and home
education categories continue to lead the personal computer software
market. North American retail sales in the two categories totaled more than
$1.22 billion in 1995, compared with $1.02 billion in 1994.



Sierra: VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF...GAMES
When you have solid content, albeit somewhat old, as long as the material
remains interesting, there's a good shot at remarketing the material for
today's audience. Such is what Sierra On-Line has done with their new
SierraOriginals value line of software. Each of these packs contains six
CD-ROM titles from Sierra's library of products. The Family Pack contains
Classics Fun Pack, Mixed-Up Mother Goose, Hoyle Classic Board Games, King's
Quest VI, The Even more Incredible Machine and The Island of Dr. Brain. The
Kid's Pack has The Island of Dr. Brain, Spelling Blizzard, Kids Typing,
Ecoquest, Hoyle Children's Collection, and the Incredible Toon Machine.
This offering is suited for children ages 7 to 12. Then there's the Sierra
Gamer's Pack which includes Red Baron, Leisure Suit Larry 1, Caesar, Quest
for Glory IV, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, and King's Quest V.
SierraOriginals will be priced at around $19.95 (street price) and you can
find more info at http://www.sierra.com.



SPA: APPLICATIONS ARE UP
The Software Publishers Association (SPA) reported that the PC computer
application software sales were almost $2.4 billion in the first quarter of
this year. The number reflected a 12.3 percent increase over the first
quarter of 1995. Also reported was that all categories experienced heavy
growth except DOS software.  Macintosh database shipments showed a
considerably strong 210 percent increase in sales, with Macintosh desktop
publishing applications climbing 89 percent.



Sony: CLOSE COMMUNICATION
Ahhh, Dick Tracy. Buck Rogers, as a matter of fact. Yes, both of these
jaunty comic characters, in their time, revealed that most communication,
in the future, will be transmitted via wrist or other hand-held devices.
Apparently, Sony New Technologies and Farcast have folk within their folds
who knew, liked, and understood these devices. They have now agreed to
develop a new version of Farcast's electronic news service that'll offer
new and stock quotes on Sony Magic Link and Motorol Envoy personal
communicators. When this source of info becomes available, you'll be able
to get your updates on an as-needed basis or at a specific time each day.
Magic-Cap users will obtain unlimited news and other info at a flat rate of
$9.95 per month. The news wires accessed will include the Associated Press,
BusinessWire, PR Newswire, Newsbytes and United Press International. Plus,
for those interested in company and industry profiles, the Reference Press'
Hoover Guides will be available. Customized news service is, indeed, the
future coming home--today!



Symantec: TIMELY UPDATES
Yes, the Internet is a super cool way to access the latest information on
anything that is of interest to you. Yes, numerous companies--too numerous
in number to even count--offer their technologies to you, whether in beta
or final form, via downloads. Unfortunately, these companies' server are
usually working overtime to process the requests for such downloads. Their
queues seem to go on forever, and you find that 2:30 am using the mirror
site in Helsinki is the only way to obtain the latest and coolest goodie
for your web work. Symantec has an idea on how to make this process easier
for your, and they call it LiveUpdate. This technology will appear as an
icon on Symantec products in the future and will let you obtain those
upgrades, updates, patches, and info quickly and easily. You will no longer
have to hunt for the specific URL that'll gain you access to the area you
need. Instead, LiveUpdate will launch a Wizard. This magic guide will ease
through the update process automatically, from connecting you to the
appropriate Symantec server through the download itself. What is
specifically unique to LiveUpdate is that this puppy works in the
background, enabling you to continue your primary processing project. More
info is available at http://www.symantec.com.



Warner Brothers: SLEEPLESS IN SYBERSPACE
There are millions of us who laugh at sleep! We remain awake through the
darker hours, enjoying our pastimes or our work during the time most others
float upon their pillows. For those of us who engage in such nightly
wakefulness, America Online and Warner Brothers have created Insomniacs
Asylum. This program is available from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m, EST,
exclusively on AOL at Keyword: Insomniacs. You'll find some truly original
characters online, plus information from and about other online folk who
enjoy the same hours as you. There's Cafe.Com, a cyberspace coffee house
where you can discuss anything you wish; Club Rendezvous,  where you can
"look" for someone who could end up special to you; Gonzo's Comedy Shop for
downloadable one-liners and tons of jokes; current news items and, yes,
even a horoscope and offbeat news items from Club Dementia. Each room has
its own cast of evolving characters, and there will be live events and
themed. The site was created by Warner Brothers Online.