Future Games Network -- Gamers Gazette Weekly Newsletter -- Fuel for Gamers

Daily News for
March 2, 2001

AUDIO & SOUND Multi–format Digital Audio Content Media 100 Inc. offers a fully–automated stream publishing system for capturing, encoding and managing high–quality digital audio content. Audio:box converts audio from CD, CD–ROM or DVD–ROM to any streaming media format such as *MP3, Windows Media, RealAudio, QuickTime* and WAV. More info. CONTESTS The March Madness Has Arrived Sandbox will launch *"It’s Madness!"* for the third consecutive year. The free online college basketball contest offers $10 million to the contestant who picks a perfect tournament bracket and a Caribbean cruise package to the top 10 finishers. The game features former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight’s exclusive college basketball analysis. Players can make their tournament picks beginning on Sunday, March 11. More info. FOR DEVELOPERS A Jet That’s Got Jive From the outback in Australia, comes Auran’s Beta 2 of *JIVE, described as a development environment for Auran’s Jet, a 3D game–authoring application. You can obtain these development kits for free providing they’re to be used for non–commercial or educational use. If you intend to use the kits for commercial use, there's a one–time fee. More info.* GAMES_HANDHELD Hearts in Your Pocket and Frogs in Spades Multimedia 2000 introduces a collection of eight arcade and classic card games designed specially for the Palm and Handspring platforms. Pocket Gamester’s card stack includes *Hearts, Spades, Pinochle* and *Bridge, or venture into the pocket arcade and take on a game of Dragon Hunter Pinball, MunchMan* (the *Pac–Man* equivalent), *Frogs vs. Cars* (a.k.a. Frogger), or *Drop `Em* (*Tetris’* cousin). These multi–featured, full–color (on Palm IIIc) games are loaded with enough options and levels of difficulty for endless hours of addictive entertainment. More info. GAMES_MULTIPLATFORM Race Within Toy Story Themed–World Now pumping out of the Activision game center is *Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story Racer. For both the PlayStation* and Game Boy Color systems, you’ll race the toys that were featured in the Disney animated feature Toy Story. This is a rather zany, remote–controlled racing game and you play one of th 12 characters from the film. These, naturally, include the likes of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Hamm, and each possesses their own driving style. There are 18 tracks in the game as well as some true surprise pick–ups. More info. GAMES_MULTIPLATFORM Off–Road Sim Gets Golden With a release date now expected this month, word from Terminal Reality is that their *4x4 Evolution* title is now gold. An arcade–style, 4x4 off–road sim, the game will be available for PC, Macintosh and Dreamcast gamers and will also allow these systems’ gamers to do something few have even attempted before — that is, compete against one another online. There are 15 courses and you’ll not only have to drive diligently against other realistic vehicles, but also obstacles such as trees and oncoming traffic, as well. The goal is to win cash, which you can then use to improve your own off–road monster. You’ll be able to drive anywhere you wish, from the deserts to mountaintops, even to island chains. Added will be downloadable "lite" levels, chat so you can discuss game events with other drivers, and so on. There are more than 70 licensed vehicles, various weather conditions, and highlights such as polished chrome reflecting your surroundings. There’s also a couple of game demos you can glom onto at this direct link. GAMES_PC Next Civilization Will Be A Better Diplomat One area of concentration for Firaxis in their upcoming *Civilization III* game will be a far better system of diplomacy that will address the needs of both game newbies and those more experienced within its game environment. One area that will be incorporated will be that of a bargaining center where highly–detailed negotiations may be undertaken by those experienced users. You’ll be able to address a variety of opponent civilizations and engage in treaties, maps and work out complex trade agreements. Peace treaties can also have a variety of new inclusions, such as a trade embargo against a mutual enemy, defensive pacts, and the right to travel through territories without conflict. Learn more about the third Civilization iteration at the Firaxis Civ website. GAMES_PC Fulfill Your Destiny as the Child of Bhaal Interplay’s RPG division, Black Isle Studios, and BioWare Corp. will develop an expansion to *Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn* this summer. *Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal* takes players through a rich storyline complete with intrigue and treachery as they unravel the mysteries of the Dungeon of Watcher’s Keep and explore several new locations, high–level spells and powerful new characters. GAMES_PC e–Trauma STAT! Legacy Interactive has created a worldwide interactive Emergency Room online. *ER–sim* pairs Shockwave technology with Legacy’s real–life medical simulations, which are built on medically accurate databases. Players assume the roles of emergency room staff and must choose from a range of tests and tools for examination, diagnosis and treatment to save their patients. What’s more, ER–sim's Case Creator tool brings player–submitted cases of E–coli in Odessa, Texas or an outbreak of Typhoid in the Philippines to the operating table. More info. GAMES_PC Build Your Own Servant to Die for You Spiderweb Software’s newest fantasy role–playing game for Windows and Macintosh has players’ creations going everywhere, doing anything, all according to them. In *Geneforge, the player is a Shaper, or member of the most powerful and secretive of the magical guilds, and holds the power to create life and mold it to serve their every need. More info.* GAMES_PLAYSTATION Getting Together With Sierra & Stainless Steel Here’s a great opportunity for gamers, especially those who truly enjoy RTS titles. Sierra Online and Stainless Steel Studios, Inc. (SSSI) have set up a three–day retreat they’re calling the "Empire Earth University" wherein you’ll be able to meet with the game’s designers. Until March 23rd, you can head over to this special website and fill out a contest entry form. Three folk will be selected from those who enter to attend this event in April. Plus, the winners will receive a $500 gift certificate for Best Buy as well as the all–expense paid trip to Cambridge, MA, where SSSI is located. You’ll get to play Empire Earth with a number of RTS players who are considered the best in their biz. GAMES_PLAYSTATION Surf’s Up with California Watersports Head out surfing on the waves in *California Watersports* for the PlayStation from TheyerGFX and Midas Interactive. You’ll be challenged with all sizes of waves from ankle biters to huge reef breaks, and if you’re unfamiliar with the sport there’s a Freeride mode that teaches you how to ride and catch the waves. There’s all kinds of competition to keep you on your toes, from riding the longest barrel to competing on various beaches, and your friends or the PlayStation judge your rides as you compete for the big trophy. California Watersports also includes surfing and high performance jet powered watercraft products. This title is also compatible with the PlayStation 2. More info. GAMES_WEB Alien’s Create Shockwave More goodies on Shockwave.com with Groove Alliance’s *Alien X, described as a 3D first–person shooter. Here you can use your web browser to help you save the world from aliens from out space. In addition to Alien X, the Groove Alliance also has Tank Wars* and *Real Pool.More info. HARDWARE & PERIPHERALS* B17 Flight Skin Control Zone Interactive Inc. released a PC Keyboard Control Cover for use with *B17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty Eighth. Players engage in tactical crew management and air mission strategy with a multitude of features that make knowing your keystrokes critical. The "skin" positions numerous functions above the appropriate keys to guide players in their missions to enemy territory. And best of all, there’s no learning curve, set–up, or configuration required! HARDWARE & PERIPHERALS* ELSA & NVIDIA Provide the Very Latest for PC Gaming The ELSA GLADIAC 920 is a feature—rich accelerator that uses the nfiniteFX engine and Lightspeed Memory Architecture of NIVIDIA’s GeForce3 chip. This combination brings environments and characters to life, while setting new standards in 3D performance and visual quality. GLADIAC 920 enables pixel—precise programming of realistic 3D effects for really cool lighting, fog, smoke and textured effects. More info. HARDWARE & PERIPHERALS NVIDIA and AMD Deliver the Ultimate Gaming Experience NVIDIA has optimized its GeForce3 GPU to leverage AMD’s Athlon processor architecture and platforms. Coupling GeForce3, software drivers and the Athlon’s features, users benefit from performance, stability and 3D enhanced graphics, under extreme gaming and multimedia conditions. INDUSTRY Bear Stearns Graced by Roberts Tuesday, March 6, 2001 will be a HOT day at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida. Mattel’s Chairman and CEO, Robert A. Eckert and Activision’s Co–Chairman and CEO, Robert Kotick are both presenters at Bear Stearns’ 14th Annual Media, Entertainment and Information Conference. Mr. Eckert is scheduled to speak at 10:30 a.m. EST and Mr. Kotick at 4:30 p.m. EST. More info. INDUSTRY JAKKS’ Q4 2000 and Year–End Results JAKKS Pacific Inc. will release its fourth–quarter and year–end results on Wednesday, March 7, 2001. The multi–brand toy company will also hold a teleconference at 8 a.m. PST via the Internet. More info. INDUSTRY Suffering At JuniorNet The number of "safe" places for children ages 3 to 12 to visit on the web are in somewhat short supply. Unfortunately, one such URL, that being *JuniorNet, simply cannot continue, unless they find an investment partner or is acquired outright by another company. With initial funding via the Maryland Public Broadcasting Foundation and other educational entities, last December the company was forced to pink slip 40 of their employees to help reduce their burn rate. Website. INDUSTRY* Chip Maker To Support GameWorld Electronic Arts Inc.’s EA.com acquired one of the "stickiest sites on the web." With nearly 17 million registered members, pogo.com provides Internet–based family games including card, board, word, puzzle, trivia, sports, classic arcade and no–risk casino games. Joining pogo.com’s content with EA.com’s online family including *Majestic, Harry Potter* and *The Sims Online, enables EA.com to expand its reach to consumers of all ages, genders and backgrounds. INDUSTRY* Take–Two’s Record Sales Take–Two Interactive Software, Inc. experienced record PlayStation and PlayStation 2 sell–through. For the one–week period ending February 17, the company’s software sell–through exceeded five percent of total unit sales for the PlayStation and 10 percent for the PlayStation 2. Additionally, sales of Take–Two’s budget titles have exceeded three million units since their June 2000 launch. TECHNOLOGY GRT–enabled Gaming Prototype Takes a Hands–on Approach Take your ordinary, silicon–embued company, one that delves big–time into chips and processors. Then realize that diversification is the name of the game, and then you have the reason why Motorola’s VC investment arm, Motorola Ventures, is going to plonk bucks into GameWorld.com. This producer of all sorts of online, digital entertainments is working on a variety of technologies that will allow devices that are Java–enabled to engage in such goodies a ITV, educational offerings and, of course, online games. Terms of this deal have not been revealed. Websites: Motorola and GameWorld. *March 1, 2001, News* The Luna Beta Has Landed, Brave the Frigid Lands of Icewind Dale, Co–branded College Basketball Game on the Web, EA.com Buys pogo.com, GRT–enabled Gaming Prototype Takes a Hands–on Approach *Current Reviews & Features* *RealMyst* from Mattel Interactive, reviewed by Michael Askounes *Links 2001* from Microsoft, reviewed by Ed Hurta *Oni* from G.O.D./Rockstar, reviewed by Michael Askounes *Quake 3 Team Arena* from id Software, reviewed by Reuben Ahmed ...back to FGN’s home page.


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