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"Making You Shake Your Head In Disgust, One Bad Joke At A Time" March 31, 2000 Sega has officially confirmed that NFL 2K1 (the sequel to NFL 2K) and Quake 3: Arena will both allow head-to-head multi-player games over the Dreamcast Network. Not much is known about NFL2K1, but in Quake 3's case, Dreamcast owners will indeed be able to play against PC owners of the game, and vice-versa. The Dreamcast version of Quake 3 will also have exclusive new arenas, a re-designed interface, and a split-screen mode for up to four players in addition to the online modes. Interestingly enough, Id Software has referred to the Dreamcast version of Quake 3 as "the first console version of the game," implying that there will be versions of the game for other console systems in the future. Another Dreamcast game with Internet capabilities will be Kiss: Psycho Circus: Nightmare Child: That's Too Many Damn Colons from the Gathering of Developers. This first-person shooter will be released simultaneously for the Dreamcast and PC this summer. The Dreamcast version will feature some deathmatch levels not found in the PC version Havas/Sierra is planning on releasing both Team Fortress Classic and Team Fortress 2 for the Dreamcast, both with online capabilities. It's not known when Team Fortress Classic will be released for the Dreamcast, but it is known that Team Fortress 2 won't be released for the system until 2001. In addition, Havas recently said that they're aiming to have Internet- enabled console versions of games like Half-Life and Homeworld up and running "by 2003." Clearly, if Havas meant "this fall," they would say "this fall," not "by 2003." So it's safe to assume that when Half-Life is released for the Dreamcast later this year, it will not be playable over the Internet. Nintendo has confirmed that they created the web site for DataDyne (www.datadyne.com), the big corporation in Perfect Dark's story line. The web site was created by Nintendo (not Rare) as a way to promote the game. Nintendo has actually sent DataDyne-branded trucks to college campuses throughout the country in order to hand out employment fliers for a company that doesn't really exist. Most of the truck drivers haven't been told that DataDyne is a fictional company, so they think it's real unless they read video game news on the web. Thus, many of the college students who have been receiving the fliers also think that it's a real company. One of the things that you supposedly have to do before being hired by the company is undergo a "self-defense evaluation." What a great marketing idea! Get a bunch of ambitious college kids excited about working for a company that doesn't really exist, then expect them to go out and pay $50 for a game from the very company that just conned them! Sega, Nintendo, and Electronic Arts have filed a joint lawsuit against Yahoo for allowing pirated video games to be sold on their web site. Pirated video games are regularly sold on Yahoo Auctions, and Yahoo does nothing to stop it. The three companies claim that not only is Yahoo fully aware of the illegal activities that are taking place on their web site, but they actually profit from them (since they get a percentage of all auction sales). The plaintiffs claim that they have asked Yahoo to do something about this on several occasions, and they finally filed the lawsuit when their complaints were repeatedly ignored. The lawsuit will attempt to force Yahoo to crack down on video game piracy on their web site, as well as pay the plaintiffs a large sum of money. LucasArts' new president Simon Jeffery recently said that the company is looking to have a more balanced game lineup in the future, with "more balanced" meaning "more than just Star Wars games." Within two years, Jeffery hopes for the balance to be 50/50 between Star Wars games and non- licensed games. Such a goal is questionable considering the release of Episode II in 2002, but here's one thing that's almost certain: LucasArts will never achieve a 50/50 balance between good games and bad games. For every good game like Jedi Knight they release, there's plenty of crappy games like Rebellion to go around. Sony has recalled 1.25 million PlayStation 2 utility discs in Japan. The discs allow Japanese PS2 owners to play American DVD movies, which could lead to American DVD and movie companies suing Sony. Sony was previously asking consumers to return the discs, and now Sony is still asking consumers to return the discs. The only difference is that it's now called a "recall" instead of a "free replacement offer." Of course, most people won't actually exchange their disc for a new disc that's identical except for not letting you watch American DVD movies. This might not be the last PS2-related recall in Japan because it's also possible for Japanese PS2s to tape DVD movies onto VCRs. Epic Games' Mark Rein has reiterated his claims that "it is not a foregone conclusion that Unreal Tournament will be released for the PlayStation 2." Rein says that Epic could have the game ready for the system's US launch if they wanted to, but that might not end up happening. Rein says that Epic would love to do it, but "that depends solely on our next publisher deciding that they want it, submitting it for approval to Sony, and receiving approval from Sony." Obviously Sony wouldn't reject it, so it's just a matter of whether anyone wants to publish it. The PC version of Unreal Tournament was published by GT Interactive, which is now owned by Infogrames. Regardless of whether or not Unreal Tournament itself is released for the PlayStation 2, the game's engine will be available to other developers through Sony's middleware program. The head of the Roman Catholic church in Mexico recently said, "Pokemon is not as innocent as some believe... behind the huge merchandising phenomenon, one finds a combination of elements that incite violence and sexual perversion among children." I contacted Nintendo about this matter, but they refused to comment. In order to promote their newly-released PlayStation game Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, Midway is running a contest whose winner will get to spend an evening with the popular action star. If the contest winner goes to dinner with Jackie and the service is poor, Jackie will quickly climb a ladder, jump onto a speeding car, and jump off the car to deliver a hard kick to the chest of the restaurant's owner. Blockbuster Video is finally going to start renting Dreamcast games on a nationwide level. Since the system's launch, only 534 of the company's 4,800 stores nationwide have been offering Dreamcast games for rent. Dreamcast business at these 534 stores has been "very positive," according to Blockbuster. As a result, 4,000 of Blockbuster's 4,800 stores will begin to carry the Dreamcast and its games on April 7. As for the other 800 stores (which are franchise-owned rather than corporate), some will and some won't. Verant Interactive (the makers of EverQuest) recently confirmed that they decided against developing Star Trek Online because of their deal with LucasArts to make Star Wars Online. Verant's vice president Brad McQuaid said, "We're not doing both games because of the perceived conflict of interest between such similar titles." McQuaid also said, "As a matter of fact, we are constantly being offered licenses to do online titles; so many that we're pretty bewildered at this point." All right, now you're just bragging! Speaking of Star Wars Online, LucasArts' Simon Jeffery says that it will be much more newbie-friendly than most online games. Jeffery said, "I think there's a high degree of intimidation to entry in online gaming. A lot of casual gamers are just put off by the fact that there's newbie- bashing, and you have to be pretty hardcore to just know what's going on." EverQuest newbies are required to run around killing rats for hours in order to build up their character's levels, but this won't be the case with Star Wars Online. Jeffery says, "We want people to be able to go in there and have an experience that might have no killing whatever, where level increasing is gained by doing good, or simply being a successful trader or a good spy." Star Wars Online is scheduled to be released in late 2001. Like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and Asheron's Call, it will probably cost $10 per month. Capcom previously said that a future game in the Resident Evil series will "explore the Umbrella side of things more." Now they have said that not only will Umbrella's side of the story be explored more than it has been in the past, but you will actually play as Umbrella characters rather than STARS characters. Sega has announced that Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez will appear on the cover of World Series Baseball 2001. However, in making this announcement, Sega made an embarrassing factual error. Sega's press release states that Martinez is "baseball's all-time strikeout leader." In fact, Martinez isn't even in the top 50, much less #1. Sega could have meant that Martinez was the league leader in strikeouts last season, but he wasn't (Randy Johnson was). In a decision that probably should have been made three years ago, Midway has moved Mortal Kombat from their "front-line franchise" area to their "budget game" area. The next game in the Mortal Kombat series, an action/adventure game called Special Forces, will be released for the PlayStation on June 27 with a suggested retail price of only $20. RPG Vault reports that famed game designer Richard Garriot has left Origin. An Origin spokesperson acknowledged that Garriot might leave Origin, but denied that he already has. The spokesperson said, "Richard has not made up his mind on what his plans are." The development of Ultima Online 2 and other Origin games will continue with or without Garriot. Legendary game designer Sid Meier has taken over as the lead designer of Civilization 3. Despite the fact that the game is going to be called Sid Meier's Civilization 3, Meier wasn't actually going to be the lead designer until this week. Meier's long-time partner in development Brian Reynolds was going to be the lead designer, but he recently parted ways with Meier to start his own company, Big Huge Games. Meier then enlisted the services of two other designers to take over for Reynolds, but they left the company shortly thereafter to join Big Huge Games. Now Meier is going to design the freakin' game himself. Due to the changes in the development team, Civilization 3 won't be released until 2001 at the earliest. If it hasn't already, it won't be long before a bidding war erupts for the rights to make video games based on the XFL, WWF Entertainment's new football league. The XFL just signed a prime-time TV deal with NBC for their first season, which begins in February of 2001. THQ might have an advantage in the XFL video game negotiations since they already have a partnership with the WWF, but that isn't a certainty. By the way, THQ is going to be present at the WWF's fan festival this weekend before Wrestlemania on Sunday. They will be promoting and displaying WWF Smackdown for the PlayStation, but not Wrestlemania 2000 for the N64. Konami has delayed their first two ESPN-branded sports games, both of which are for the Dreamcast. The games in question are ESPN Baseball Tonight and ESPN Basketball 2Night (wow, Konami, you said 2Night instead of Tonight... you're cool now!). Both games were previously scheduled to be released this spring. Baseball Tonight is now scheduled for June, and Basketball 2Night is now scheduled for sometime in the fall. If Konami's previous sports games are any indication, both games will absolutely suck. But Konami might be able to turn things around; let's hope they do. Majesco Sales claims that they are finally done with the Dreamcast version of Rainbow Six; now the game just has to be approved by Sega for release. By the time the approval, manufacturing, and shipping processes are complete and the game is ready to be sold, it will be late April or early May. Majesco still claims that the Dreamcast version of Rogue Spear (Rainbow Six's sequel) will be released in October. Eidos Interactive has announced that it's going to be releasing seven PlayStation 2 games over the next 18 months. A company is making lots of PlayStation 2 games, and that's considered news? Anyway, Eidos is also developing lots of Dreamcast games, most notably Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Commandos 2 (the sequel to the critically-acclaimed strategy game for the PC). Bandai is planning on bringing the Wonder Swan (their portable gaming system) to the US. With the help of Lucent Technologies, the US version of the Wonder Swan will offer wireless Internet access that lets you download and play games, send and receive e-mail, and surf the Internet. Nintendo's Game Boy Advance will offer multi-player games in Japan through the use of cellular phones, but these features may or may not be brought to the US because cell phones are much less common in the US than they are in Japan. In a bit of retailer news, the CEO of CompUSA has quit due to the company's financial problems in recent months and years. Despite a number of recent lay-offs and store closings, CompUSA still runs 218 stores nationwide. The company will now be run by the Slim family (no relation to legendary rapper FatBoy Slim). Capcom continues to increase its PC support, with PC versions of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Dino Crisis both scheduled to be released for the PC this fall. Both games will have Internet Ranking Modes that let you post your high scores on the Internet. Also, the PC version of RE3 will let you play the Mercenaries mini-game from the start (you can't play Mercenaries in the PlayStation version before you've finished the main game). Other fall releases from Capcom this year include Power Stone 2 and Spawn for the Dreamcast. Mattel Interactive, led by former Sega and Sony executive Bernie Stolar, has killed the Mindscape and Red Orb brands. All future games from these companies (which are owned by Mattel) will be branded "Mattel Interactive." This decision is sure to alienate the 18 consumers who were loyal to the Mindscape and Red Orb brands. Future games from the Mattel-owned SSI (Strategic Simulations Inc.) will be branded "Mattel Interactive/SSI" instead of just "Mattel Interactive." A Mattel spokesperson actually said that the decision to retain the SSI brand was made "to attract old consumers." GigaPixel is in the process of being purchased by 3dfx in a stock deal valued at $186 million. GigaPixel almost signed a deal with Microsoft to supply the X-Box's graphics chip, but Microsoft ended up signing with Nvidia. GigaPixel's CEO George Haber said, "In my opinion, if we had announced this merger six months ago, Nvidia would not be in the X-Box." The combined company hopes to eventually sign a deal to have their graphics chips included in a future video game system, showing that two rejections hasn't been enough to disenchant them with the console market. In addition to Microsoft choosing Nvidia over GigaPixel, Sega chose NEC over 3dfx in the development of the Dreamcast. Titus Interactive is running a unique promotion. Anyone who buys the Dreamcast version of their racing game, Roadsters, will be entered into a contest for a Ford Mustang. The catch is that you don't actually win the car, you win a two-year lease. After two years, you have to pay for the car or give it back. Titus has no problem forking over millions of dollars to buy companies like Interplay and Virgin Interactive who make about one good game every three years, but letting a contest winner keep a car instead of giving it back after two years? That would be wasteful. NEWS BRIEFS Warp's survival horror game D2 has been delayed yet again, this time until August 15. At least now they know what system it's for. First it was scheduled to be released for the ill-fated M2, then the PC, then the Saturn, then the PC again, and finally the Dreamcast. Believe it or not, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is going to appear as a boxer in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing 2, which will be released for every system under the sun this fall. Psygnosis is planning on releasing a new Destruction Derby game for the PlayStation this summer. It's called Destruction Derby Raw, and it's due out in August. An Eidos Interactive official recently said that the oft-delayed Daikatana is "largely done." The official claims that the game is now being translated into multiple languages so that it can be released in multiple countries at the same time. Insert your own Ion Storm joke here. SALES CHARTS The following sales charts are based on unit sales at all retailers in the week of March 12 to 18. Dreamcast 1. Dead or Alive 2 2. Crazy Taxi (click on the review for Master Gamer's review of the game) 3. Sword of the Beserk: Guts' Rage 4. NHL 2K 5. NBA 2K PlayStation 1. WWF Smackdown 2. Syphon Filter 2 3. Triple Play 2001 4. Gran Turismo 2 5. Namco Museum Volume 3 old games still in the top ten: Namco Museum Volume 3, Spyro the Dragon, Frogger, Syphon Filter, and Need For Speed: High Stakes Nintendo 64 1. Pokemon Stadium 2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Mario Party 2 4. WWF Wrestlemania 2000 5. Donkey Kong 64 old games still in the top ten: Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, and Goldeneye 007 PC 1. The Sims 2. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? 3. Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun: Firestorm 4. RollerCoaster Tycoon 5. Lego Island old games still in the top ten: RollerCoaster Tycoon and Half-Life Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News, GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Daily Radar, Sega X, PSX 2 Online, Nintendorks, IGN, MCV, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming Age, The NPD Group, www.hamsterdance.com
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com