announcements sometime in the near future. Sega of America's president Peter Moore commented on Sega's relationship with Electronic Arts in a recent issue of Games Business. Moore said, "You always want to have a major third party like EA on your side, but you can't sit in a corner and mope about it.... Our two companies continue to speak... EA's a great company, they have great content, they're just a little slow about getting around to what will be the right decision." When asked whether it ever gets personal, Moore replied, "Bing (EA's Bing Gordon) and I were on a panel and I reminded him of how he said that the Dreamcast would not be successful without EA. And I think the Dreamcast has been successful so far without EA. Yeah, I remember those things. I really do." Moore also commented on third-party publishers like Namco who have abandoned the Dreamcast. He said, "We could've done better with third parties to get that next wave of titles. We had third parties that kind of tested the waters with us. We haven't done a good job with a couple in particular who teased us with some great content and have not come back to deliver more. I should've gone to greater lengths to find out what their issues were and to alleviate their concerns." Volunteers working on Ultima Online for Electronic Arts and Origin are suing the companies for back pay that they believe to be owed. The group of volunteers have released the following statement: "The Origin counselor program was essentially Origin's customer service division or equivalent to that. It harms competition in the free market if one company is allowed to avoid wage laws." In response to the lawsuit, EA's Jeff Brown says, "While volunteers are not essential to running Ultima Online, they enhance the overall enjoyment of the community for themselves and other members. Ultima Online volunteers generally seem satisfied with their position in the community." Obviously they're not too "satisfied," or they wouldn't be suing you... Two shareholders of the company formerly known as GT Interactive are suing Infogrames for an undisclosed amount of money, as well as their legal fees. The shareholders allege that when Infogrames purchased a 70% controlling interest in GT, they were guilty of "looting GT's inventory of video games, distribution rights, and royalties." Advertising Age reported that Microsoft would reveal a new name for the Xbox at the press event held earlier this week. The report turned out to be completely untrue; Microsoft's announcement was that "Xbox" would indeed be the final name for the console. This brings back memories of the Bloomberg news agency falsely reporting that the PlayStation 2 would come packaged with a 56K modem and hard drive in the US. In a joke that has been over- done to the point of absurdity in Master Gamer News, Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons reportedly said, "Ha ha!" You've gotta love Eidos Interactive. Earlier this week, Eidos released a demo of its upcoming game Hitman to a web site called 3D Gamers. Eidos quickly disowned the demo and refused to acknowledge it, saying that it wasn't a "full demo" of the game. The next day, Eidos "un-disowned" the demo, but only as "an unsupported, beta demo." When talking about the company's PS2 first-person shooter TimeSplitters, Eidos' Greg Rizzer recently said, "So many companies are out there claiming that their will indeed be available on launch day (when in fact they won't). Not only is TimeSplitters going to be ready to go on Day One, it's actually going to be a game that you'll want to buy." Ouch. Is that a verbal shot at TimeSplitters' PS2 competition (Unreal Tournament), or the PS2's fall line-up in general? Computec Media has acquired a developer-focused magazine called Develop, which will be re-launched with a new monthly schedule on November 23. No word yet if the company will squander the talents of the Develop staff with a horrible business model like they did with Computec Media USA... Fox Interactive will employ the services of Unique Development Studios to make a game based on the hit TV show Futurama. The games will be released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 (and possibly other systems) in the spring of 2002. It's nice to see that Fox is allowing UDS to take its time rather than rush them into making a cash-in game. For once, I'm not being sarcastic; I really mean that. Sega has announced that NHL 2K1 is not in development. NHL 2K2 may be developed for a late 2001 or early 2002 release, but nothing before then (unless Sega changes its mind, of course). The original NHL 2K never achieved the sales success of NFL 2K and NBA 2K, despite the fact that it's a fundamentally strong game. The game's only chance for mainstream success may be for Sega to drop its price to $20 (currently, the game still has a suggested retail price of $50). Sony's new PlayStation model, called the PlayStation One, has been released across the US. The unit is about one-third of the size of the original PSX model, and still carries the same price ($99). The PS One's smaller size could encourage a lot of people to buy it thinking that it's a portable gaming system, but it's actually not. An LCD screen won't be released for the system until the spring of 2001, and even then, you'll still need to plug the whole thing into an external power source. But of course, you should still buy a PS One because it's just so damn cute! Dead or Alive 3 is the latest game to be announced as being in development for the System 246 arcade board, joining the likes of Soul Calibur 2. This arcade board is basically a souped-up PlayStation 2, which means that PlayStation 2 versions of Dead or Alive 3 and Soul Calibur 2 are much more likely than Dreamcast versions. The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected two of Microsoft's four trademark filings for the Xbox. The problem lies in the existence of a Florida-based technology company called Xbox Technologies, a company that has nothing to do with the Xbox video game system. If the two companies don't settle the dispute by November 8 (read: if Microsoft doesn't offer a big enough cash settlement by November 8), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will decide the matter. The popular Creatures series of PC games is on its way to the Game Cube and Game Boy Advance. These versions of the game will not be developed by England-based Creature Labs, the makers of the PC versions. Instead, Creature Labs has licensed the rights out to Swing Entertainment. Creatures is an artificial life series, which is completely different from "virtual pet games." England's Darryn Van Vuuren has been named the 2000 Pokemon World Champion at a Nintendo-sponsored competition held in Australia. American champion Ian Garvey finished fourth in the international competition. Nintendo of America's president Minoru Arakawa said, "These competitors may not speak the same language, but they all understand Pokemon, which translates to fun any way you say it." That's weird... I thought it translated to "evil fad that should have gone away two years ago." Electronic Arts doesn't seem to want anything to do with Sega in the console market, but that doesn't mean it's above partnering with Sega in the arcade market. EA's NASCAR license and Sega's arcade proficiency will combine to create EA Sports NASCAR, an arcade racing game featuring over 30 real drivers. Activision has announced a new flight simulator for the PlayStation 2, called Sky Odyssey. In the press release announcing the game, Activision's president Ron Doornink said, "The title will be one of the handful of games for the new PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system this holiday season." Even if Sony's promise of 50 PS2 games before the end of the year is only half-true, who can fit 25 games in their hands? Does Activision really think they can make anyone believe that there won't be many PS2 games available this fall? DELAYS Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare for PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PC old release date: Fall 2000 new release date: early 2001 Black & White for PC old release date: November or December 2000 new release date: February 2001 (the Dreamcast version is also due out in 2001) Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 for PC old release rate: earlier this month new release date: October 25 Paper Mario for Nintendo 64 old release date: December 26, 2000 new release date: early 2001 World's Scariest Police Chases for Dreamcast old release date: Fall 2000 new release date: Spring 2001 NEWS BRIEFS Now that Volition is owned by THQ, Volition won't be making any more Descent or Freespace games because both franchises are owned by Interplay. The Dreamcast version of Unreal Tournament will be lacking the Assault Mode from the PC version because the developers weren't able to fit the Assault Mode maps onto the Dreamcast. The game is still due out this November. Sega is giving away a car on its SegaNet web site, and unlike Titus Software, it's actually giving the winner ownership of the car rather than a two-year lease. All you have to do is click here, enter your name and address, and hope that you win a Dodge Viper GTS. Sacnoth's next project is an RPG for the PlayStation 2. Sacnoth's first game was Koudelka, and the company was founded by a group of former Square employees. Sega has announced Daytona USA: Network Racing, an online-compatible Dreamcast racing game that will be released in early 2001. The original Daytona USA is the highest-grossing deluxe arcade unit in American arcade history. Two more Dreamcast games have been re-released with "All-Star" branding and $20 price points: Power Stone and Marvel vs. Capcom (the originals, not the sequels). Nintendo has set an October 23 release date for its new N64 model featuring Pikachu on the outside of the unit, just three days before the PlayStation 2's scheduled release. Krome Studios is working on a game called Kat Burglar in which players sneak around stealing art. No word yet if Krome plans to take a page from Sega's book and include a warning label that says, "Stealing art is art." Sony has given Gran Turismo 2000 a Japanese release date of "winter." It seems that the chances of the game being released in the US this year are getting smaller every week... Monolith's newest game, Sanity: Aiken's Artifact, has been released for the PC, but it appears that the Dreamcast version of the game has been cancelled. Nvidia's second Xbox chip has been revealed. Called the Media Communications Processor or MCP, the chip will singlehandedly handle the system's sound and broadband Internet needs. On its own, the MCP is similar in power to Intel's Pentium 3 processor. Capcom has officially confirmed Onimusha's delay until January at the earliest. Sega has released the Dreamcast Sega Sports package. For $170 with no rebate necessary, you can now buy a black Dreamcast with the Sega Sports logo on it, one black controller, NBA 2K, and the original NFL 2K. Activision previously announced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 would be released for the PlayStation 2. Now Activision has announced that it will also be releasing Tony Hawk 2 for the PS2. Tony Hawk 2 was released for the PlayStation 1 earlier this week. Konami is working on a ping pong game for the PlayStation 2 which is creatively titled "Ping Pong!" The PlayStation version of Scooby-Doo: Classic Creep Capers can add another "C" to its annoying alliteration: Cancelled. Millions of gamers across the world were said to be heart-broken upon hearing this tragic news... Capcom is planning to support the Game Cube a lot more than it has supported the Nintendo 64. A Capcom spokesperson says, "You can expect all of the major Capcom franchises to appear on the Game Cube." Agetec has released RPG Maker for the PlayStation. Gee, Agetec, it's only been several years since the game was released in Japan. Why don't you take your time and hold off on releasing it in the US for a few more years? Konami is working on a PlayStation 2 tennis game that will feature 20 of the top female tennis players in the world. If Sega doesn't include female players in Virtua Tennis 2, they could very well lose some potential sales to Konami's game. Mobile Park Limited has launched a service that allows miniature games to be played on cell phones. Haven't we already heard 100 different news stories like this in the past few years? So you can play crappy games on cell phones... big deal. Activision has announced that a sequel to the recently-released PlayStation game, Spider-Man, is already in development for the PS2. New research by Peter D. Hart Research Associates claims that a surprising one-third of all American gamers are over 35 years old. SALES CHARTS The following sales chart is based on unit sales for the week of September 10 to September 16. Dreamcast 1. NFL 2K1 2. Ultimate Fighting Championship (click on the blue text for Master Gamer's review of the game) 3. Sega GT 4. Virtua Tennis 5. Power Stone 2 old game still in the top ten: Sonic Adventure PlayStation 1. Madden NFL 2001 2. Parasite Eve 2 3. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX for PlayStation 4. Spider-Man 5. Resident Evil: Survivor (note Chrono Cross has fallen to #6 on the list) old games still in the top ten: Gran Turismo 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Driver Nintendo 64 1. Mario Tennis 2. Star Wars Episode I: Racer 3. Madden NFL 2001 4. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. Perfect Dark old games still in the top ten: Star Wars Episode I: Racer and Mario Kart 64 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, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming Age, The NPD Group, PC Data, www.cowdance.com
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