Back To News
News Archives
"Nowhere Near As Entertaining As A Kurt Angle Promo"
May 5, 2000
At the E3 show next week in Los Angeles, Sega will announce new pricing
and branding strategies for the Dreamcast. No, the Dreamcast's price isn't
going to be reduced to $150. That won't happen until September at the
absolute earliest, according to Sega's worldwide president Shoichiro
Irimajiri. The Dreamcast price reductions that take place before the fall
will revolve around Dreamcast games, as many games abandon the fairly
expensive $50 price point. Starting as early as June, more of the
Dreamcast's new games will carry suggested retail prices of $40, which
could lead to discount stores like Best Buy selling them for $35 or even
$30. This puts new Dreamcast games in line with the pricing of most new
PlayStation games.
Another one of the announcements Sega is planning to make at E3 concerns
the branding of Dreamcast products, including taking the "Sega" out of
"Sega Dreamcast." Right now, all Dreamcast games have a strip of white on
the left side of their cover that says, "Sega Dreamcast." Starting later
this year, the strip's background will change to black and the text will
change to just "Dreamcast," with no "Sega." The Sega name will still be on
the covers of Sega Sports products, but not in the black strip on the left
side of the cover. One of the first games to carry the new packaging will
be World Series Baseball 2K1, which is due out sometime this summer.
The European Union Commission has announced that they are investigating
Nintendo for artificially inflating game prices in Europe. The Commission
says that they believe Nintendo tried to split up the European market into
many smaller territories in which they would be able to control the
distribution of products to retailers, thus selling them at high fixed
prices. Nintendo's alleged actions are in violation of the Commission's
anti-trust laws, which are valid in 15 European countries.
This development could result in fines as high as 10% of Nintendo's
annual global revenues, but that doesn't seem to scare Nintendo. Their
only response thus far is quite a smug one: "We are confident this will
have no impact on our earnings, as we are doing business with the
understanding that we had and have no such cartel-like arrangements in
Europe."
Take-Two Interactive has purchased 100% of the Gathering of Developers
for an undisclosed amount of money, but the Gathering will supposedly
remain independent. Last year Take-Two purchased 19.9% of the Gathering,
which includes such developers as Epic Games, 3D Realms, Ritual
Entertainment, PopTop Software, Terminal Reality, and Edge of Reality. The
Gathering was founded in 1997 as a haven for developers who were sick of
dealing with greedy and ungrateful publishers who took advantage of them,
which makes it ironic that they have now been purchased by a big publisher.
The Gathering's CEO Mike Wilson does not deny this. Wilson said, "I had
periods over the long process of doing this deal where I was feeling like a
complete sell-out. These guys are sort of the devil, I know. I've been
working with them since we started the company, and they were the only ones
that believed in us enough to give us some money in the first place. I
feel a lot more confident moving forward with these guys than I would with
any new partners." Wilson said in his .plan file, "I am aware that Take-
Two's reputation isn't a good one. Back in the Battlecruiser 3000 era,
they got a rep for shipping crap and not paying people."
Wilson says that the Take-Two deal will give the Gathering more money
without sacrificing their original vision. He said, "We've turned away a
lot of really good games because we didn't have the capital. We had to
sort of tip-toe into the console market, and now we're going to be a full-
on publisher for every platform." Wilson continued, "Take-Two has no
interest in changing us. All the money they've put in is because they like
who we are and what we do. I don't expect everyone to believe this in the
beginning, but by the end of the year, they'll see that nothing has
changed."
Shortly after the Take-Two buy-out was announced, the Gathering of
Developers announced the formation of their own budget game label, On Deck
Interactive. On Deck's first three games are Kiss Pinball, Bugdom, and
Duke Nukem: Endangered Species (a hunting game). The Gathering's Mike
Wilson says that On Deck's games won't take as long to beat as "premium
games," but they will still be high-quality.
Sierra does not own the rights to make games based on the upcoming Lord
of the Rings movie trilogy. However, Sierra does own the rights to make
games based on the Lord of the Rings books. Basically, this gives the
owners of the Lord of the Rings franchise an excuse to license it out to
two different video game companies: One making games based on the books
(Sierra), and one making games based on the movies (these rights are
currently up for grabs). It doesn't make much difference from a
development standpoint whether you're making games based on the books or
the movies, because the movies themselves are based on the books.
The owners of the movie trilogy at New Line Cinema are currently in
negotiations with six different video game companies for the rights to make
games based on the movies. Sierra is one of those six companies, so the
possibility exists that only one company will be making Lord of the Rings
video games after all.
Electronics Boutique has backed out of the bidding war for fellow video
game retailer Funcoland, leaving nothing to stand in the way of Babbages'
planned buy-out of Funco for $161.5 million. Before Babbage's made their
latest offer, EB's offer was $135 million, and that was as high as they
were willing to go. An EB official said, "We believe our offer represented
a fair price for Funco," implying that Babbage's is over-paying for the
company. As a result of the aborted EB deal, Funco is obligated to pay EB
termination fees of over $3 million. Babbage's has already stated that
they will pay these fees for Funco.
In the meantime, Funco shareholder David van Essen is seeking class
action status for a lawsuit he filed against Funco and its board of
directors. Van Essen's lawsuit revolves around Funco's previously planned
deal with Electronics Boutique, which he says "breached trustee duties."
Van Essen wants Funco to back out of their deal with EB and "negotiate in
good faith" with Babbage's. Hey, moron... They're already going to be
bought by Babbage's. The EB deal never got off the ground. Don't you read
the news?
Electronic Arts has announced a new branding strategy that will probably
lead to even higher sales of their games. EA's non-sports games have
previously been branded with the names of one of six different EA-owned
companies: Bullfrog, Westwood, Origin, Maxis, Jane's Combat Simulations,
and Gonzo Games. The names of these companies will still appear on the
boxes of their respective games in some form, but the new, more
prominently-displayed brand will be "EA Games," complete with a very well-
designed new logo.
Two EA brands that will be largely un-affected by this will be EA Sports
and Square EA. Square EA will be completely un-affected, while EA Sports
will have a slightly modified logo. The only difference between the old EA
Sports logo and the new one is that the old logo didn't "cross the a" in EA,
while the new one does.
Budget game creator eGames posted an $800,000 loss in the latest
financial quarter, down from the $100,000 profit they made in the same
quarter last year. The company has a unique business model that involves
selling games at places that don't normally sell games, including
supermarkets and drug stores.
However, as eGames just found out, the people who buy games from these
places are a much more casual crowd that is more likely to not really know
what they're buying and end up returning games. eGames admitted as much
when they blamed the $800,000 loss on "higher-than-expected returns at non-
traditional distribution channels." Hasbro's potentially devastating
lawsuit against eGames (for allegedly ripping off Hasbro properties) is
still pending.
Recently-fired Mattel CEO Jill Barad is crying all the way to the bank
after receiving a severance package of $26.4 million in cash. In addition,
Barad is now excused from paying back a $4.2 million loan to Mattel, as
well as a separate loan of $3 million for a house. Mattel will also pay
$3.3 million in taxes on Barad's house.
The sale of Mattel's video game division is still pending, and CBS
MarketWatch estimates that it will end up selling for somewhere between
$700 million and $1.4 billion. Whoever ends up buying it will own the
rights to such franchises as Myst, Prince of Persia, and Panzer General,
which doesn't seem the warrant the huge selling price. Former Sony and
Sega president Bernie Stolar is still employed by Mattel, but he may or may
not be a few months from now.
Video game rental web site Webgamezone.com has announced a drastically
different business model. For $20 per month, you can rent as many
PlayStation and Dreamcast games as you want and keep them for as long as
you want, with no late fees or shipping charges. The only rule is that you
can't have more than three games rented out at any given time.
This is almost identical to the business model of DVD movie renter
Netflix.com, with the only difference being that Netflix lets you have up
to four products at once. It appears that Webgamezone's new pricing policy
will be optional, so you don't have to sign up for it if you prefer the old
pricing structure. The old pricing structure is $5 to rent an import game
for ten days, $4 to rent a recent US game for ten days, and $3 to rent an
older US game for ten days.
Porn company Vivid Video is planning on targeting PlayStation 2 owners
with two of its DVD porn movies/games. The two products Vivid hopes to
sell to PS2 owners are Interactive Body Parts (which is equivalent to an R-
rated movie) and Interactive Mind Teazzer (which is a full-fledged X-rated
product). Neither product will be licensed by Sony or Microsoft because
they're not made specifically for the PlayStation 2 or X-Box. Both
products will run on all DVD movie players, including the PlayStation 2 and
X-Box.
Vivid's president David James says, "We think people who purchase a
PlayStation 2 will buy an adult DVD, just to see what it's all about. The
DVD games will appeal to the same demographic that Sony is targeting with
the PlayStation 2." James hope to have both products on the store shelves
of Electronics Boutique, Babbage's, and Software Etc in the future. He
says, "Adult movies have really gone mainstream over the past few years...
people are much more open to this today."
Time magazine is the latest mainstream media outlet to jump on the
bandwagon of "Let's blame video games for violence in society!" Time's
article was written by a reporter named Amy Dickinson who obviously knows
very little about games, but apparently just enough to know that they make
kids "connect gore to glory." Dickinson wrote, "The latest versions of
Doom, Mortal Kombat and Half-Life feature realistic sound effects and
depictions of violence that are close to motion-picture quality, as limbs
are blown off and organs splattered."
Dickinson also said that the rating system "ranges from C for young
children to A for adult, which indicates extreme violence." Actually, the
Adult rating indicates hardcore porn, and I don't know of a single game
that has ever been given that rating. Mature is actually the rating given
to extremely violent games, as even the most casual gamer probably knows.
Dickinson's credibility took another hit when she said that Driver is a
game from Sony (it was developed by Reflections and published by GT).
LucasArts is running a contest to see who can get the fastest time on
the Mon Gazza Speedway in the Dreamcast version of Star Wars Episode I:
Racer. Owners of the game can post their high scores on the Dreamcast
Network using the Dreamcast's 56K modem, and prizes will be awarded to the
top ten players when the contest ends (on the night of May 21). Prizes
include ten Dreamcast games and gift certificates to Electronics Boutique.
Interestingly, LucasArts' web site says, "The odds of winning depend on the
number of entries received, which is anticipated to be approximately 200 to
1." Thousands of people own the game, and LucasArts only expects 200 of
them to participate in the contest?
The latest issue of Fortune magazine features an interview with the
president and CEO of Sony Corporation (not just the video game division),
Nobuyuki Idei. Idei said, "Sony can be the number one company in the
broadband network society. That will be a much bigger role than Sony has
ever had, but we can't just wait until broadband arrives. And we can't
merely follow the dot-com companies or Microsoft or anybody else. We have
to take advantage of everything the technology and the new economy provide.
We have to prepare while we still have time." Is it just me, or did he
just go for an entire paragraph without really saying anything?
Working Designs has announced that a playable demo of Lunar 2 will be
bundled with the release of Vanguard Bandits later this month. The demo
could offer as much as eight hours of gameplay. Lunar 2 is scheduled to be
released for the PlayStation later this year, with July being the absolute
earliest possible release date.
Ripcord Games has named the new developer of Fading Suns: Noble Armada.
Ripcord previously enlisted the services of Holistic Design to develop the
game, but they have now struck a development deal with Indonesia-based
Matahari Studios. In the meantime, Holistic is still developing the game
under the basis that Ripcord has no legal right to take away their
development rights. Ripcord will not release Holistic's version of the
game unless Holistic manages to get a court order forcing them to do so.
Sega is preparing to release a virtual aquarium system called Fish Life
in Japan on June 20. The unit will cost $4,500 and will have a 15-inch
screen on which many different kinds of fish are displayed. You can affect
the behavior of the fish by tapping on the glass or saying their names
using the system's voice recognition capabilities. Or you could just buy
a real fish-tank for a hell of a lot less than $4,500...
Sony has announced that they plan to ship 11.5 million PlayStation 2s
worldwide by March 31, 2001. Of those 11.5 million systems, 5.5 million
will be in Japan (including the 1.5 million already sold), three million
will be in the US, and three million will be in Europe. Worldwide
PlayStation 1 shipments are currently at 73 million, including 19 million
in the past year.
Japanese gamers continue to discover things you can do with the Japanese
PlayStation 2 that you probably shouldn't. First they discovered a way to
watch American DVD movies on the system, prompting Sony to recall over a
million utility discs. Then they discovered a way to record DVD movies on
to VHS tapes using the PlayStation 2. Now they have discovered a way to
play American PlayStation 1 games on the Japanese PlayStation 2. This is
the most risky trick yet, requiring users to open the system and modify its
insides.
Enix's PlayStation RPG Dragon Quest 7 has been delayed yet again in
Japan, this time until June. Enix claims that the latest delay is because
of problems getting the game to run smoothly when played on the PlayStation
2. Like many other gamers worldwide, I stopped giving a damn about Dragon
Quest 7 a long time ago. However, I do care about Final Fantasy 9, and
Dragon Quest 7's latest delay could cause Square to delay FF9 from its
currently-scheduled July release date (because they don't want the two
games to be released too close to each other). If FF9 doesn't ship in
Japan this July, it might not ship in the US this October.
The PlayStation 2 will not come packaged with a remote control for its
DVD movie features because the controller itself acts as a remote.
InterAct will be releasing a full-fledged remote control at the same time
the system is released in the US. InterAct's remote will be cordless, it
will work from up to 23 feet away, and it will have a suggested retail
price of $20.
Titus Interactive has issued a profit warning to shareholders due to the
cost of $25 million to "discontinue games with no commercial future."
Here's another warning for all Titus shareholders: All of Titus' games
suck. Sell all of your shares immediately. It seems that a lot of other
people agree with me, because Titus' stock is at 1/4th the level it was at
just three months ago.
Mplayer.com has unveiled a new game ranking service called Global
Rankings. Using a simple software development kit (SDK) supplied by
Mplayer, video game developers will be able to add Global Rankings to their
games. Global Rankings will then track every player's performance in the
game, regardless of whether they play it on Mplayer or any other online
gaming service. The SDK that developers need to add Global Rankings to
their games will be available later this year. Mplayer says that it won't
take long for developers to add Global Rankings to their games, and the SDK
is absolutely free. For information about the specific kinds of statistics
that this program offers, check out www.globalrankings.com.
Electronic Arts generated $1.4 billion in the past year, up from $1.2
billion the previous year. Net profit rose from $73 million to $117
million. One area where EA isn't doing well is N64 sales. EA's Nintendo
64 revenues fell to $5 million in the latest financial quarter, down from
$32 million in the same quarter last year.
The invasion of the budget-priced PlayStation games continues. First
Midway announced that several of its upcoming PlayStation games would be
released at $20 and $30 price points, then Take-Two announced that they're
going to release several PlayStation games at $10 price points. Hasbro is
the latest company to enter the fray, with two new PlayStation games
scheduled to launch at $20 on September 15. Both of the games are re-makes
of old games, namely Galaga and Breakout. Frogger 2 will also be released
for the PlayStation on September 15, but believe it or not, it will launch
at $40. The original Frogger has sold over two million copies on the
PlayStation. Several other Hasbro games have sold over 100,000 copies
(Centipede, Q-Bert, and Pong), but Missile Command only sold about 35,000
copies.
Square has announced that American gamers will be able to get their
hands on the PlayStation 2 racing game Driving Emotion Type-S, but not
until sometime in 2001. Hopefully this means that Square is trying to make
the US version of the game significantly better than the Japanese version
rather than just doing a straight port. The Japanese version of the game
has horrible control, which will need to be fixed in the US if Square wants
it to be competitive with Ridge Racer 5 and Gran Turismo 2000.
Blizzard is now claiming that Diablo 2 will be released "in the first
half of 2000," which means before July. In the meantime, the game will be
beta-tested by 100,000 gamers in order to tweak and test Blizzard's
modified Battle.net online gaming service. Blizzard says that unlike the
original Diablo, the sequel won't be plagued by cheaters and hackers.
GAMES IN DEVELOPMENT
As we approach "E3 time," more and more games are being officially
announced or otherwise revealed to be in development. First of all, 3DO is
going to going to flood the PlayStation 2 with mediocre software as only
they can, with four PlayStation 2 games scheduled to be released by the end
of the year and six more in the first three months of 2001. 3DO hasn't
revealed the six games due for release in early 2001, but they have
revealed the four games due for release this fall: Army Men Sarge's
Heroes 2, Army Men Air Attack 2, World Destruction League: Thunder Tanks
(based on the BattleTanx engine), and a game set in the Might and Magic
universe.
Simon & Schuster Interactive has announced their entry into the console
market with two of their upcoming parody games. Previous parody games from
the company include Panty Raider, Deer Avenger (where you're a deer and you
shoot hunters), and Bass Avenger. Who Wants To Beat Up A Millionaire? and
Deer Avenger 3...D will be released for both the Dreamcast and PC this
fall.
Westwood Studios is working on Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 for the PC,
and they hope to finish it this fall. The game's story line involves the
Soviet Empire invading America. Red Alert 2 looks a lot better than the
original Red Alert, but it's still based on the same old Command & Conquer
engine. Remember, a Westwood employee (who turned out to be lying) said in
an interview a while back that the engine was finally going to be retired
after Tiberian Sun. Some of the battles in Red Alert 2 will take place in
recognizable areas like Pearl Harbor, Washington DC, Chicago, New York City,
Paris, and Berlin.
In addition to Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic, and Team Fortress 2,
Sierra is also planning to bring Ground Control to the Dreamcast. Ground
Control is a real-time strategy game from Massive Entertainment that's also
in development for the PC. The Tribes franchise could also be brought to
the Dreamcast at some point, but that's much less of a certainty than the
four aforementioned games. Other console games being developed by Sierra
include two undisclosed PlayStation 2 games and You Don't Know Jack 2 for
the PlayStation 1.
Other Games Revealed To Be In Development
Duke Nukem: Endangered Species for PC
Release Date: Unknown
info: a Duke Nukem hunting game being developed Russian company Action
Forms (who made Carnivores 1 and 2 for the PC)
"James Bond driving game" for PlayStation 2
Release Date: Fall
info: one of the many PS2 games coming from EA this year
Sim Theme Park for PlayStation 2
Release Date: Fall
info: an improved version of the PC and PlayStation game
Shadow Man: 2econd Coming for PlayStation 2
Release Date: Early 2001
info: Wow! Acclaim used a "2" instead of an "S." That makes them cool!
Soldier of Fortune for Dreamcast
Release Date: Unknown
info: a port of the extremely violent and gory PC first-person shooter;
it's being brought to the Dreamcast by Crave
Starlancer for Dreamcast
Release Date: Unknown
info: the PC space shooter from Microsoft and Digital Anvil; the Dreamcast
version will have online multi-player capabilities; it's being brought to
the Dreamcast by Crave
Star Wars: Battle For Naboo for Nintendo 64
Release Date: Fall
info: similar to Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: Starfighter for PlayStation 2
Release Date: 2001
info: a flight-based shooter
Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing for PlayStation 2
Release Date: Unknown
info: a cart racing game with cute, super-deformed character designs
NEWS BRIEFS
Sony Corporation's net profits are down 32% to a paltry $1.1 billion.
The profits of $1.1 billion were derived from revenues of $66 billion.
These figures take into account all of Sony, not just the video game
division.
The Dreamcast version of Rainbow Six will finally be released on Monday,
May 8, eight months after its originally scheduled release date of
September 9, 1999. The sequel, Rogue Spear, is due out for the Dreamcast
this fall.
Midway has made several of their classic games available for free on
shockwave.com. You can play games like Joust, Defender, Defender 2, Spy
Hunter, Rampage, and Sinistar in your web browser without any lengthy
downloads.
Nintendo has purchased Canada-based Silicon Knights, the developers of
the original Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The company is now working on an
N64 game called Eternal Darkness, which Nintendo will be positioning as one
of the system's biggest games this fall.
The latest video game PR snafu revolves around 3DO's claim that they are
"the first third-party publisher to be granted a license for publishing
PlayStation 2 titles in the US." This statement is blatantly untrue, and
3DO issued a correction one day after their original statement.
Square will be beta-testing Final Fantasy 10 and the Play Online network
this fall. FF10 is a single-player game that lets you access hints, tips,
and other extras online. Unfortunately, the beta-test is currently planned
to take place in Japan only.
Madden 2001 and FIFA 2001 are both scheduled to be PlayStation 2 launch
games.
The IDSA has commended the US Trade Representative for putting several
piracy-infested countries on the US's Priority Watch List. The countries
in question include Malaysia, Russia, and Italy. Over 95% of all video
games in these countries are pirated.
Sega's Mario Party-like Sonic Shuffle will have online multi-player
capabilities when it is released for the Dreamcast this fall. Up to four
players will be able to play through a game at once, regardless of whether
they're in the same room or across the country.
Metal Gear Solid 2's release date of late 2001 was revealed in an
interview with the Japanese magazine Weekly Famistu, which makes late 2001
the game's Japanese release date. It may or may not be released in the US
before the end of 2001.
SALES CHARTS
The following sales charts are based on unit sales for the week of April
16 to 22.
Dreamcast
1. Resident Evil: Code Veronica (click on the blue text for Master Gamer's
review of the game)
2. Crazy Taxi
3. Dead or Alive 2
4. Star Wars Episode I: Racer
5. NBA 2K
(same exact top five list as last week)
PlayStation
1. Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles
2. WWF Smackdown
3. Syphon Filter 2
4. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
5. Syphon Filter
old games still in the top ten: Syphon Filter and Army Men 3D
Nintendo 64
1. Pokemon Stadium (still the most-rented game on the market)
2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
3. Mario Party 2
4. WWF Wrestlemania 2000
5. Turok: Rage Wars (now selling at an average price of $11)
old games still in the top ten: Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, and Super
Mario 64
PC
1. The Sims
2. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
3. RollerCoaster Tycoon
4. Rogue Spear: Urban Operations
5. RollerCoaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies
old games still in the top ten: RollerCoaster Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon 2,
and Hasbro's Family Pack 3
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.cowdance.com
Back To News
News Archives
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com