Supremacy 1/Supremacy-1.iso/DEMOS/M-N/MAGGIE16.ZIP/DATA/1994.DOC/1994.DOC

Text File | 1995-01-11 | 10KB | 209 lines

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1994-ayearinview...Ç

AndwhatofthingsintheworldouttheresinceIlastwrotea
verysimilarpiecetothisbackinlate1993,whathashappened,
andwhatofthenexttwelvemonths,burstingwithanticipationand
botchedreleasedates,andtheusualemptybullshitmasquerading
asfirmcommitments,orsomething..

üAtari..Ç
HavehadasortofmixedyearastheJaguarstumbledoutina
semi-organisedfashion..Generallyfavourablereactiontoit,and
amixedbatchofearlysoftwarefromtheamazingäTempest2000Ç,to
thedireäTrevorMcfurrÇ..Thecurrentpre-Xmasperiodlookslike
Atari'sbestshotatthelucrativeconsolemarketastheystruggle
togetqualitytitleslikeäDoomÇandäAvPÇoutintimetofitonto
thebackofSanta'ssleigh..Theyhavebeenhelpedfromatotally
unexpectedsource,Sega,whorichlyrewardedAtarifor
infringementofcertainpatents..Thismoneyalmostcertainlyto
beploughedintohelpingtheJagliftoffbetter..

Thecomputingsidehasunfortunatelysufferedacorresponding
neglect,asallpresentdevelopmentsofnewmachinesandsoftware
suchasTOS5.0andthenewMultiTOShasbeenputonindefinite
hold..Indeed,Atariwentsofartoannouncethatthiswastheend
ofthelineforfurtherdevelopmentsforthe68xxxSTandTOS-
basedlineofcomputersatasummershareholdersmeeting..

OneconsequenceofthisisthefreelicencingofST-related
technologytothirdpartycompanies,andwehaveseentheTT-based
äMedusaÇ,andFalconvariantsbySteinbergandSonovistafor
specialistaudio-visualapplicationsareexpectedshortly..Maybe
athirdpartywilltakeupacheapSTEorFalcon-basedmachinein
'95??

FalconsähaveÇcomedownfurtherinprice,althoughitisunclear
whetherthisisthestartofanewpushforFalcon,oranattempt
togetridofcurrentstockbySilicaandGasteiner..Eitherway,
can'tbeabadthing..ü
Ç
üIn'95..Ç
AtariwillfinallygettheCD-ROMdriveout,missingtheUSAXmas
releasedatebyabouttwomonths..RumoursaboutaJaguar-based
computerwillrefusetogoaway,especiallyaroundthetimeofthe
CeBitShow,TheäEdgeÇmagazinesaysomethingfavourableandthe
wholelotfoldsupthenextday..

üCommodore..
ÇOhdear,ohdear,ohdear..Involvedinwhatisdescribedas'the
mostcomplexliquidationsinceRobertMaxwellpassedaway',
Commodoreactuallymanagedtobethebignewsof1994byentering
into'Proactivevoluntaryliquidation,'ormanagementconsultant
bullshit-speakfordeathbysuicide..TheypassedawayinApril
1994,andtodate(Nov20th1994)STILLhavenotresolvedany
outstandingissuesofwhomistowalkoffwiththecarcass,lapup
thespiltgravyetc..

TheCommodoreManagementbuyoutbid,orMBOisitisknownis
stillinthewaitingroomastheliquidatorstrugglestomakeup
hismind..Inanycase,thechancesofnewstockintheshopsfor
Xmashasbeenwellandtrulylost,anditishardtoseehowthey
willcomebackwithanyconvictionnow..

Researchanddevelopmentstopped,andnowthespeculationison
somesortofRISC-basedAmiga,butnotfortwoyearsmore,thenit
mightreallybetoolateforthem..

üIn'95..
ÇHardtotellreally,butunlessthepowerofmiracleworkingis
includedintheoverallpackagefromtheliquidator,itishardto
seehowitcankeepgoinginachangingmarketplacewith'old'
A1200technology..

üPC's..
ÇTheword'Multimedia'isbeingbandiedaboutbyallegedlymature
adultswhowanttosellveryexpensivehomecomputers..Aseries
ofcringe-makingadvertsfromsomeofthe'names'intheclone
buildingbusiness,aswellasIBMitselfappealtothegullible
natureofJoeandGeraldinePublicwhoreallybelievethatentire
schoolbuildingswillrisefromthevacantplotoflandnextto
yourhouseattheclickofamousebutton..NiceoneCompaq!!

Quiteapartfromthat,thebighithasstillbeenäDoomÇ,andits
manylookalikes,andyoumayrecallIjokinglysaidsomething
aboutthefirstPentiumonlygamesappearing..WellIntelhave
beenrunningtheirownpuke-makingseriesofnewspaperandTVads
basicallypromotingthePentiumforgamesplaying,nothingelse,
nopretenceofproductiveoreducationalvalue,notawordofthe
multitediaadventure..SothankstoIntel,thepresent
unacceptableregimeoflazysoftwaredeveloperspunishingtheuser
fornotreplacingtheirPC'sinnardsevery2.5secondsissetto
continuefornextyearaswell..

AcertainamountofpreparationfortheideaofPentiumonly
games,orgamesthatonlyrunatanacceptablespeedwitha
PentiumprocessorwasinevidenceattheAutumnECTS,with
BullfrogpreviewingtheirnewreleaseäMagicCarpetÇforthePCona
Pentiummachine.(Ihaveseenthisgame,anditrunsperfectly
acceptablyona486machineaswell..)

üIn'95..
ÇThelongawaitedäWindows95,ÇoräChicagoÇ,orwhateveritiscalled
atthemomentwillbereleased..Thisissupposedtoactually
replaceDOSratherthanjustsituneasilyontopofitlike
äWindowsÇdoesatthemoment..SomeoneäpleaseÇbreaktheIntel
monopoly,asthereistalkofanIBM/Applealliancetoproducea
multi-emulationchipsimilartoPowerPC..Otherwise,notmuch
elsechangesthere..

üTheConsolemakers..

Ç1994hasbeentheyearwhencertainchickenshavecomehometo
roost,scalesfallenfromtheeyesetc,asithasbecomeapparent
thattheconsolemarketisnotnearlyasstrongascertainconsole
buildersinitiallyassumed..Fromthemassivecollapseininterest
intheconsolemagazines,aclassiccaseofovercrowdingand'me-
tooism'bythecomputerpress,tothelargescalediscountingof
games,andthefailureoflargenumbersofthemtosell
sufficientlyquickly,itissurelynowapparentthattheconsole
boomwasnothingmorethanaseasonalpuff,ratherthana
transformingexplosion..

Segahaveanewhobby,givingawaymoneytorivalcompanies,and
arestilllosingitthroughmoreconventionalmeans..Likethe
otheroverhypednewJapanesemachines,Saturnwon'tbeseenmuch
outsideofJapanthisXmas,sothestopgap32Xisbeingpluggedas
thisyearssensation..Butwhathappensnextyear??

NintendoaremakingthebestofthenowageingSNES,withäDonkey
KongCountryÇ,atriumphofgoodoldfashionedeffortand
applicationinsoftware,orsowearetold..Thisissoldaspart
ofanewpack,andseemstobeonewayofguaranteeingbigsales
inalimitedseasonalmarket..Theirnextgenerationconsoleis
veryvague..

SonywiththeirPS-XwillbebiginJapanthisXmas,whichasany
foolwhowritefortheäEdgeÇmagazineknow,meanstherestofthe
worldatthesametimeaswell..ProjectedpricesfortheUK
launchof£300forthehardware,and£20.00forthegamesseema
trifleoptimistic..äSurelyÇSonywillwanttocashinbigtimefor
thefirstyearatleast??

üIn'95..
ÇIcouldnotgiveatossanymore,noreally,thewholethingabout
theconsolessendsmeintoafitofstupefaction,abitlikePC's
really,sothere..

üSomejokepredictions..

ÇTheceaselesstwitchingtowardsmergerofalltheexistingAtari
publicationsshownosignsofslowingdown,asSTFormat
(incorporatingST-Review,inturnincorporatingST-User,who
incorporatedSTActionwhichhastheremnantsofST-Worldinthere
somewhere)nowjoinswithAmstradActionandCD32Digestinalast
ditchbidforsurvival..Theoneconsolationisthattherearenow
twocassettetapesonthefrontcovertogiveaddedvaluefor
money..

AmigaFormathasanexceptionallydifficultyearandmergeswith
theaboveaswell..

VicLennardstartsadiskmaginresponsetothelossofST-Review
anditoutsells'Format'fivetoone..

TheFalconfinallygetsitsownmag,'FalconFormat'..

Whichimmediatelymergeswithalloftheabove..

SegaandAtariagreeonacommonconsoledesigntobeatoffthe
increasingcompetitionfromSony..

TheteambehindPureBollocksdiskzinereleaseanissuethis
year..

ButitcanonlybereadonaSuperNintendoequippedwitha
cartridgecopier..

Theymergewiththerestofthem..

TheEdgeMagazineactuallyfeaturessomehonestandunbiased
reporting,reviewswrittenbyjournalistswithagenuineloveof
theirsubjectmatter,andwhoarenotafraidtospeakoutagainst
thepowerfulvestedinterestspushingtheentertainmentsoftware
industryawayfromtheenjoymentoftheusersforthesakeof
theirprofitmargins..

Theymergewith'YourSinclair'..

ST-Beermatgoesforasecondsuccessfulissue,butendsuplooking
uncannilylike'Wired'magazineinstead..Somuchso,that'Wired'
sueforcopyright..

'Wired'lose..

'Beermat'thengettakenoverbyFuturePublishingwhomergethem
with'SatanistsMonthlyDigest'..Strangelyenough,no-oneseems
tomind..

Maggiestilldoingsomethinglikethisarticlethistimenext
year..

(C)CIH,Nov/Dec1994..