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

Daily News for
March 8 & 9, 2001

AUDIO 3 for 3 and Not Free J. River offered record labels $3 billion for music content last week and the first 3 million individuals to sign up for their Napster–like music delivery service will receive a free trial. The reason its "Napster–like" is that music fans will now be charged a monthly fee to access music once obtained for free at Napster. The service is expected to launch in April. More info. AUDIO Doing Away with Napster–like Piracy Issues SunnComm, Inc.’s cloaking technology protects Digital Content Publishers’ and Authors’ Intellectual Property (IP) from unauthorized duplication using the Windows Media Format and Windows Media Digital Rights Management. Consumers who purchase any audio CD protected by SunnComm’s MediaCloaQ Technology will be able to download digital versions of the songs directly from the SunnComm web site. MediaCloaQ will debut with Charley Pride’s next album March 20. AUDIO Virtual Speakers Fujitsu is the first OEM to incorporate a QSound–enhanced version of InterVideo’s WinDVD software–only DVD player in its new FMV DeskPower computer lines being sold in Japan. QSound Labs, Inc.’s QSurround technology 3D audio processing capabilities coupled with InterVideo, Inc.’s DVD player, provides consumers with an extreme listening experience on all PC speaker configurations. FOR DEVELOPERS Next-gen Developers Get All the Rendering Power They Need Criterion Software’s new middleware solution enables development teams to focus their efforts on content and game play, while having the ability to rapidly port their titles to multiple platforms with ease. RenderWare Platform builds on the company’s successful RenderWare3 2D/3D graphics toolkit and incorporates audio and physics modules to provide a tightly integrated game development framework for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube and PC. More info. FOR DEVELOPERS Next–Gen Game Engine Immersed with New Tools NDL’s latest version of its 3D game–development toolkit has loads of added features and enhancements, which can save months of development time and engineering costs. NetImmerse 4.0 supports Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Gamecube, provides a new tool for previewing keyframe animations within 3ds max, Maya or Creator and is equipped with new rendering capabilities and performance enhancements. What’s more, free plug–ins allow artists to obtain real–time feedback on game performance without leaving their 3D content–creation programs. NetImmerse 4.0 will be available this April. More info. FOR DEVELOPERS Wildly Immersive Media Content for the Web WildTangent has added multiplayer capabilities to its Web Driver platform. Web developers can now rapidly design real–time, interactive games and collaborative applications for the Internet in Java or JavaScript. WildTangent will release a beta of its new multiplayer capabilities at the Game Developers Conference, March 20–24. More info. GAMES_HANDHELD Skate Like a Pro on the GBA Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, from Activision, will be the first action sports title to be released simultaneously with the U.S. launch of Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. The game enables players to perform hundreds of skateboarding tricks in various obstacle–filled locations using the skills of Tony Hawk, or one of 12 other top pro skaters. Meanwhile, the company is working on six more games for the portable gaming system based on such brands as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Spider–Man and X–Men. GAMES_HANDHELD With The Coming Of GBA — More Titles From within the studios of Atlus USA is coming a new throwing title that’ll be totally ready for the launch of Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance. It’s called Dodge Ball Advance and, yep, you’re throwin’ and slammin’ into your opposition. You can try to win using nearly 50 throws which could be considered rather exemplary or join in with several "world class" team. You can customize your other team members and dodge head–to–head with a friend via the GBA’s head–to–head capabilities. And watch out for those hidden teams! Also leaving the Atlus USA confines is Hoshigami: Running Blue Earth. Designed for the PSOne, this is a tacRPG that will require you to absolutely time your attacks for their best effect. You can use your own forces combos and there will be 40 missions to engage within, all non–linear. Additional info may be gleaned at http://www.atlus.com/main.html. GAMES_HANDHELD Pokemon Changes Under Light Hey, here’s something to further embue Pokemon digital entertainment fans with an additional reason to plonk down their hard earned cash on the next "special" Game Boy Color unit. This is the GBC for Pokemon, which actually changes its hue under certain kinds of lighting conditions. Ahhhh, a limited supply for this new GBC unit will ensure huge sales, so if you want to see your GBC flush with color, better grab one quickly. You can find more information about this special Nintendo handheld unit at this directl link, but you’ll need FLASH installed in your browser to view. GAMES_HANDHELD GBC’s Whimsical World of Magi–Nation Interactive Imagination shipped its role–playing game (RPG) for the Game Boy Color. In *Magi–Nation, players take on the role of Tony Jones* and must become a Magi to battle the evil Shadow Magi, summoning and dueling creatures along the way. The game is based on the company’s popular *Collectible Card Game Magi–Nation Duel* introduced last fall. More info. GAMES_MULTIPLATFORM Non–NextGen Titles Cancelled Figures... if you’re not part of the future solution, then you really don’t count anymore. Such is the case for the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Dreamcast... companies will be closely examining titles they were developing for these platforms and, as in the case of Red Storm Entertainment, may well close down such ports or original titles. Going under the knife at Red Storm is the much anticipated Roswell Conspiracies. No, they won’t see DC or N64 release, but as Crawfish Interactive and Red Lemon Studios continue their work on the GBC and PSOne versions, you can expect them to become exposed to consumers’ wallets and purses in May. GAMES_MULTIPLATFORM No–holds–barred Fantasy Fighting Coming to Next–gen Consoles A title based on MTV: Music Television’s Celebrity Deathmatch is the first to be developed by Take–Two Interactive Software, Inc. upon receiving exclusive worldwide publishing rights on MTV’s properties. The weekly television series features animated clay renderings of today’s hottest film, television, music and political celebrities pitted against each other in a ring. GAMES_NINTENDO Counter–Punch by Nintendo With the Microsoft Xbox expected to hit the streets this fall, pundits were all considering the dilemma this placed Nintendo within... if their GameCube wouldn’t launch until sometime after the Microsoft nextgen system, wouldn’t such place their system in jeopardy of not winning the masses? P’raps, p’raps not... during a Game Boy Advance conference in Tokyo, the Executive Vice President of Nintendo, Mr. Atsuo Asada, intimated that the Gamecube would launch far earlier than expected in the United States. The time for such a revealing debut would be September and not October, as earlier surmised for the Nintendo machine. Unless such was a slip of Mr. Asada’s tongue, this presents an intriguing situation for the Xbox... could that unit actually be the last of the nextgens to ship, rather than one of the earliest? GAMES_NINTENDO Mario’s on His Way with Lots of Friends Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance will hit the shelves with 15 new games, three flashy colors, enhanced screen quality, increased battery life and so much more. At launch, the handheld will be joined by Nintendo’s Super Mario Advance and *F–Zero: Maximum Velocity; 3DO’s* *Army Men Advance* and *High Heat Major League Baseball 2002; Activision’s* *Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater; Atlus’* *Dodge Ball Advance; Bam’s* *Fire Pro Wrestling; Kemco’s* *Top Gear GT Championship* and *Tweety and the Magic Jewel; Majesco’s* *Fortress, Iridion 3–D* and *Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure; Sega’s* *ChuChu Rocket!; Midway’s* *Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2; and Ubi Soft’s* *Rayman, while more than 60 titles are expected by Christmas. Consumers can choose from a white Arctic, translucent blue Glacier* and violet Indigo on June 11, with a $99.95 price tag. GAMES_PC LUNA’s New Buildings Anarchy Enterprises is offering a sneak peak at three more new buildings from its upcoming 3D Sim/Strategy game, *LUNA: Moon Colony Simulator. Pleasure Dome* features holographic supermodels and cybernetic geisha girls, Partical Accelerator’s Atom–smashing experiments help shed some light on the birth of the universe and the Water Treatment Facility upgrade purifies and filters wastewater. Additionally, a patch for Beta 1.2 will release next week with a GeForce video card fix, game play improvements and a few other minor bug fixes. More info. GAMES_PC Kudos to Eidos Gamers, get ready to take on the role of a rookie anti–terrorist agent or a warlord in 2nd Century China. Eidos Interactive’s first–person shooter, *Deus Ex, will be re–released this May* in a special "Game Of The Year" Edition following the game’s recent prize in PC Gamer magazine’s annual best–ofs awards. Meanwhile, the company’s PC–based, real–time strategy game, *Fate Of The Dragon, has gone gold and will ship to stores beginning March 12. More info.* GAMES_PC GAME Studios Games Releases Set Now that Ubi Soft owns the entertainment division formerly part and parcel of The Learning Company, naturally there had to be some form of realignment for the titles due for release. Now set for a May 7th ship date is Myst III: Exile and rolling out this month earlier than expected is The Moon Project. The one title that was going to reach retailers’ shelves in March, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth, will now experience a June release date. Company info at http://www.ubisoft.com. GAMES_PLAYSTATION 3DO Garners Sony Approvals Good news for The 3DO Company, something rather encouraging for the company during their recent malaise of information bits. They have four games for the PlayStation 2 that have met all of Sony’s requirements for release on that platform. The games include Army Men Green Rogue (03/20), Army Men Sarge’s Heroes 2 (03/21), High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 (03/27) and The Warriors of Might and Magic (03/20). http://www.3do.com. GAMES_PLAYSTATION Enhanced 3D Audio Realism for the PS2 Sensaura is moving towards a 3D Positional Audio standard for the computer gaming and music industry. The company’s Sensaura 3D Positional Audio (S–3DPA) enables game developers to incorporate a number of realistic 3D audio effects and environments into their PlayStation 2 titles. The PlayStation 2 middleware product will be exclusively distributed by Criterion Software Ltd. More info. GAMES_WEB Web–facing, Back–end and Security by Orbix EA.com will support their multiplayer interactive game destination using IONA’s Orbix technology. IONA’s scalable platform will provide the underlying e–business integration architecture for EA.com’s multi–layered technology infrastructure, which facilitates the development of log–in, registration and billing applications, and the delivery of games and services online. GAMES_WEB The Casino Meets Online Gaming PlayLink, Inc. will provide a customized games community for DrHo.com. Dr. Ho’s Games will feature PlayLink’s entire collection of free word, action, card, board, strategy, and casino games. Dr. Stanley Ho, a successful casino operator in Asia, has brought his expertise to the web with real–time online gambling for virtual "HoBucks." GAMES_XBOX Honor To Befall Xbox Already rather a significant title, appears as though Electronic Arts will continue to throw their more than meaty game weight behind the Xbox. The word is that the company fully intends to port their Medal of Honor game over to the Xbox, as well as other platforms, later this year. With versions expected for the PlayStation 2 and the Pc, the Quake III engine drives the game. http://www.eagames.com. GAMES_XBOX Leading Artists Partner With Microsoft Microsoft Corp. announces six more Xbox supporters. Blitz Games Ltd., Curly Monsters Ltd., Double Fine Productions Inc., Radical Entertainment Inc., Vision Scape Interactive Inc. and Yeti Interactive join 18 other studios that are already creating first–party games for the next–gen game console. HARDWARE & PERIPHERALS Cell Phones and Video Games Controlled by a Patent Varatouch Technology Inc. obtained a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for joystick controllers based on a new human input device and the company’s sensor technology, Resistive Rubber Technology. The 360–degree directional control and variable speeds found in R2 joystick’s is ideal for moving a mouse pointer on a computer keyboard and handheld device or navigating a video game. More info. INDUSTRY Capcom’s Innovative Look Capcom USA selected Desktop Innovations, Inc. to provide on–going, hands–on technical e–business solutions and web site design in order to increase the effectiveness of Capcom’s strategic marketing efforts. Changes to Capcom’s existing web sites and general e–business capabilities are scheduled to begin immediately and enhanced e–business components will go live within the next several months. INDUSTRY Announcing the Three E3 Groundbreakers Top executives from Microsoft Corporation, Nintendo of America and Sony Computer Entertainment will kick–off this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), with discussions on the current and future state of video games. The panelists include Robert J. Bach, Microsoft’s senior vice president, games division and chief Xbox officer; Peter T. Main, Nintendo’s executive vice president, sales and marketing; and Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s president and chief operating officer. Exhibits will run May 17–19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, with conferences and workshops scheduled for May 16–18. The 2001 keynote address is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 17. More info. INDUSTRY Cuts Ongoing ’S not only people and companies who undergoing the knife due to the current less–than–enriching marketing conditions. Take Gathering of Developers (G.O.D.), for instance. The company has decided that their budget label they were calling On Deck Interactive simply does not need to exist any further. The good news is that titles that were being released with this branding shall continue, but will now simply appear under the G.O.D. label. This includes the just–turned–golden Serious Sam game which should appear in a couple of weeks. INDUSTRY think3 for Precision, Freedom and Usability in 3D Modeling At this week’s National Design Engineering Show 2001, think3 took home the "Show Stopper" Award from CADENCE Magazine for its flagship 3D design software. *thinkdesign 6.0* aims to revolutionize the mechanical CAD industry by bringing industrial–strength 3D design capabilities to every engineer’s desktop. CADENCE’s editorial staff selected think3 among nine other companies, which all displayed a sense of innovation, creativity, simplicity, ease–of–use and a forward looking strategy for the future of the CAD industry. More info. INDUSTRY Ubi Soft Gains Ground In the U.S. Ubi Soft signed a deal to acquire the Learning Company’s entertainment division. The acquisition affords Ubi Soft exclusive publishing rights to 88 titles including the next two episodes of the *Myst* series, *Pool of Radiance, Prince of Persia, Chessmaster* and *Harpoon. INDUSTRY* WarCry Reaches a Crossroad to Achieve Online Gaming Success WarCry Corporation and Crossroads Gaming Network intend to merge by the end of this month. The combined company will work together to build and maintain game communities around their games. The merger is a stock–for–stock swap and gives WarCry controlling interest in the combined company, with the Crossroads Network surviving as a wholly–owned subsidiary. *March 6–7, 2001, News* The Napster Cryptographic Rebellion; S3 Incorporated’s Digital Audio Creation; Behind the Scenes of Dragon Ball’s Interactive Animation; Microsoft Opens up to Developers; Conquer, Assimilate and Construct as the Borg Do; Test Your Fate in the Bar Scene; Finally Quality Graphics for the Average Joe; Next–gen Consoles Take Over; Light Speed Gaming From Ex–Sega’ers; Sports the EA Way; Burn Your Computer Faster *Current Reviews & Features* Ed Dille’s DEBRIEF column by Ed Dille *Spider–Man* (N64) from Activision, reviwed by Reuben Ahmed *Power Spike Pro Beach Volleyball* (PSX) from Infogrames, reviwed by Reuben Ahmed *Lion King: Simba’s Great Adventure* (GBC) from Activision, reviewed by Reuben Ahmed *RealMyst* from Mattel Interactive, reviewed by Michael Askounes ...back to FGN’s home page.


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