Gamers Gazette logo  
Daily News for
March 6 & 7, 2001

AUDIO & SOUND
The Napster Cryptographic Rebellion
  • Napster fans are finding loopholes in the company’s song—filtering system initiated Sunday. The process of screening out file names, song titles and artists isn’t easy and Napster’s current blocking method is apparently quite weak. Users have simply found that if they alter the spelling or wording of a song’s title such as removing a slash, they can still retrieve many of their favorite tunes on the network. In fact, timwilson.org established an MP3 translator which provides a scrambled, encoded new name to use on Napster. Unfortunately, the site was brought to an abrupt halt early today.

    •  AUDIO & SOUND
    S3 Incorporated’s Digital Audio Creation
  • This summer, consumers will be able to stream CD–quality music from a PC to any room in their home where a Rio Receiver can be placed. The Rio Digital Audio Receiver works with existing phone lines to distribute the digital music collections, and with more receivers the music can be sent to different locations simultaneously. The musical selections are chosen by scrolling through the controls on the unit or by using the receiver’s remote control. The new device is being demonstrated today at RealNetworks’ Real Conference 2000 in San Jose.

    •  FOR DEVELOPERS
    Behind the Scenes of Dragon Ball’s Interactive Animation
  • Score’s Dragon Ball Z Collective Card Game site uses Macromedia Flash to create animated, low–bandwidth applications. Meanwhile, Allaire ColdFusion and Macromedia Generator application servers have been integrated to provide a secure, easy–to–use offline content management solution. Score selected Aztec Systems for the redesign and deployment to give visitors an entertaining and easy–to–navigate experience where guests can view animated recreations of the collectable cards, download the game rules, keep track of what cards they have, what cards they need and much more. Additionally, dragonballz.com currently utilizes both Allaire and Macromedia products.

    •  FOR DEVELOPERS
    Microsoft Opens up to Developers
  • Microsoft Corp.’s Visual Studio.NET Open Tools Platform offers three core technologies for developers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and language vendors to develop and customize next–gen web services and applications. The Open Tools Platform’s solutions are tailored to the specific needs of the user, which facilitate productivity, flexibility and tight integration. More info.

    • GAMES_PC
    Conquer, Assimilate and Construct as the Borg Do
  • Activision, Inc.’s world building sim set in the Star Trek universe will be available this winter for the PC. Star Trek Borg Assimilator is being developed by Cyberlore Studios, also responsible for the Majesty and the Warcraft II mission pack, Beyond the Dark Portal. Players must absorb the distinctiveness of alien races such as Romulans, Klingons and Federation humans to strengthen the collective, and to acquire new technology and resources. More info.

    • GAMES_PLAYSTATION
    Test Your Fate in the Bar Scene
  • Square Electronic Arts released The Bouncer for the PlayStation 2. The new title incorporates fast–paced fighting action, role playing elements, high–resolution graphics, fully–utilized voiceovers and is the first PlayStation 2 game to be released with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Players engage in Story Mode, Versus Mode or Survival Mode as one of three bouncers in a bar called Fate and set out to save a captured friend.

    •  HARDWARE & PERIPHERALS
    Finally Quality Graphics for the Average Joe
  • NVIDIA unveiled its GeForce2 MX 200 and 400 graphics processing units that are loaded with features and provide high–performance capabilities to every end–user. The GPUs are equipped with the 256–bit core technology of the GeForce2 family, 64 and 128–bit memory interface, advanced visual features and various clock speeds. The GeForce2 MX 200 and 400 will be available from numerous OEMs and add–in card manufacturers within the next 30 to 60 days.

    •  INDUSTRY
    Next–gen Consoles Take Over
  • Gone are the days of arcades! Midway Games Inc. will cut approximately 60 jobs in its coin–operated video game division. This eight percent reduction of the company’s total employee base is an effort to cut overhead costs. Meanwhile, Midway is actively seeking additional employees for its home video game business.

    •  INDUSTRY
    Light Speed Gaming From Ex–Sega’ers
  • A new ISP has emerged from the grips of Sega’s former CEO, CTO and other employees. Brad Huang and Lynn MacConnell created New Millennium Entertainment, LLC to feature a dedicated online gaming infrastructure that is capable of delivering a high–speed, low–latency experience for all gaming platforms equipped with online functionality. The network is designed to handle up to one million simultaneous gamers in the U.S. and Canada. New Millennium Entertainment will formally launch its gaming network this spring.

    •  MISCELLANEOUS
    Sports the EA Way
  • EA SPORTS and Sonny Vaccaro are teaming up for the 2001 EA SPORTS All–American high school basketball team. The East and West All–American teams will sport official Adidas footwear and apparel in the Sonny Vaccaro 2001 EA SPORTS Roundball Classic on Monday, April 9 at Northwestern University’s Welsh Ryan Arena. ESPN2 will have a live broadcast of the event produced by Intersport, Inc.

    •  TECHNOLOGY
    Burn Your Computer Faster
  • Elantec Semiconductor Inc.’s EL6248C CD–R/W laser driver enables designs up to 20x read/write speeds and features three current channels as required by Orange Specification industry standards. The EL6248C is twice as fast as the company’s EL6258C and five times as fast as its EL6273C. Loaded with all of the same features as the other two products, the device is equipped with an automatic power–control amplifier and a high–frequency modulation oscillator.

    • March 5, 2001, News
    Rip a Visually Enjoyable Musical Experience; Another Company Braves the MP3–swapping Frontier; Fairies and Big Bad Monsters; Kids Tell It Like It Is In Their Very Own Webpage; Baseball Heats Up; Lost Boys Conduct Russian Symphony; Commander Keen on GBC; Game Boy Advance Advances to the U.S.; An Off–beat Underwater Quest for the GBC; Shrapnel Cuts Through to Air Command 3.0; More Blue Byte Chats; No One Lives Forever Until They Update Their Version; Strategy First’s Golden Month; Knockout Those Birdies as You Race in Bristol; Fallen Age Contests; More Soccer to Come on Fox Sports World; Interactive Game Shows Coming to a Tube Near You!; Aloha! Konami, Sweet Music to Their Ears; InterAct’s Xbox Gaming Gadgets; Mad Catz’ Xbox Kittens; Starnet’s New Star John Doe; Hollywood Previews Coming to Theaters on CD; Movies In Your Palm

    Current Reviews & Features

    ...back to FGN’s home page.

    FGN logo
    Copyright© 2001 Future Games Network
    Subscribe | Privacy Statement