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October 15, 1999
Book retail giant Barnes & Noble (B&N) has announced plans to purchase
Babbage's Etc. for a total of $215 million. Babbage's Etc. is the company
behind Babbage's, Software Etc., Planet X, and gamestop.com. Several B&N
shareholders are suing B&N and its board of directors because they claim
that by buying Babbage's, B&N is "wasting its assets and ignoring its
responsibility to its shareholders." The shareholders are asking that a
judge in Wilmington, Delaware put a stop to the sale.
In the latest sign that Pokemon is taking over the world, All Nippon
Airways has decorated several of its aircraft with Pokemon propaganda.
Flights from Tokyo, Japan to New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and other major US cities are being run on planes with 20-foot
Pokemon painted on them, as well as seats that have Pokemon head-rests on
them and flight attendants that wear Pokemon aprons.
Hasbro is preparing to release electronic Pokemon dolls called "I Choose
You Pikachu." The dolls will cost about $25 when they're released in
November. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the doll's ears
wiggle, its cheeks glow bright red, and if you squeeze it, it yells,
"Pika!" and "Pikachu!" I can see the lawsuits and the quotes from lawyers
now: "This doll teaches innocent children that if they want to know
someone's name, all they have to do is squeeze them! You may think it's
just a toy for children, but it's not! It's sexual harassment, and I don't
have to take it!"
The Interactive Digital Software Association has formed the Advertising
Review Council (ARC) to evaluate video game advertisements. Starting on
January 31, 2000, the ARC will look at video game ads to make sure they're
not mis-leading and they don't contain "content likely to cause serious or
widespread offense to the average consumer." If an advertisement is found
to be in violation of the ARC's guidelines and the company that created the
ad refuses to change it, the IDSA could revoke the game's ESRB rating
(which would make retailers less likely to stock the game), tell the US
government about the offending ad, or fine the company.
Electronic Arts issued a press release to announce that the up-and-
coming rapper O provided the title song for Knockout Kings 2000, which was
recently released for the Nintendo 64 and will be released in the near
future for the PlayStation and Game Boy Color. First we had games called
C, D, and Z, and now we've been a rapper calling himself O. The letters of
the alphabet are not names... they're letters of the alphabet.
THQ has announced that its next wrestling game after WWF Wrestlemania
2000 for the N64 (set to be released in late November) will be WWF
Smackdown for the PlayStation. Smackdown is set to be released in March
2000, and it will feature backstage interviews and footage in addition to
the in-ring action. In addition, the game will feature over 30 WWF
wrestlers... excuse me, sports entertainers, plus a Create A Wrestler mode
and polygonal wrestlers that are actually scaled to their real-life heights
and weights (unlike Wrestlemania 2000, where X-Pac is about the same size
as The Big Show).
Interact is going to release a device called SharkWire for the Nintendo
64 next month that allows gamers to get on the Internet with their N64.
The unit costs $80 for the initial purchase, plus $10 per month to continue
using it. Worse yet, SharkWire only allows you to access one web site
(created by Interact). Owners of the Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 will
undoubtedly be perplexed as to which system offers the better Internet deal.
You can a modem for free with the Dreamcast, it costs $0 per month, and you
can access as many web sites as you want; or you can pay $80 for an N64
modem, pay $10 per month, and access one web site. I wonder which one is
the better deal...
Midway has signed LA Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal to promote NBA
Showtime, which will be released in November for the Dreamcast, PlayStation,
Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. (I'll give you a second to re-gain your
composure after having painful flashbacks of Shaq-Fu for the Sega Genesis.)
Perhaps the Lakers would get farther in the playoffs if Shaq spent less
time cashing checks and more time practicing free throws...
Capcom has been putting a lot of time and money into its upcoming arcade
game Spawn: In the Demon's Hand. Capcom is serious about reversing the
trend of horrible Spawn games, namely Acclaim's bad Spawn game for the
Super Nintendo and Sony's even worse Spawn game for the PlayStation. The
game will be released in arcades nationwide later this year, and Spawn
creator Todd McFarlane recently stated that it will also be released for
the Dreamcast in 2000 and the PlayStation 2 in 2001.
With the help of a few members of the Soul Calibur team who recently
left Namco, Crave Entertainment is working on a game based on the Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC). The un-scripted, mixed martial arts fighting
that takes place in the UFC has been banned in several states, but the UFC
still produces several pay-per-view events per year. Crave is hoping to
release the game for the Dreamcast and PlayStation in mid-2000, and they
are also considering a PC version.
As part of Sega's continuing re-organization, their US division is being
split into two separate companies: Sega of America and Sega of America
Dreamcast. Sega of America Dreamcast will obviously focus on Dreamcast
games, while Sega of America will focus on arcade games and Internet
technology that will complement the Dreamcast. Now, here's where it gets a
bit more complicated. Sega of America Dreamcast is owned by International
Investment Corporation (IIC). IIC is 70% owned by CSK and 30% owned by
Sega. CSK owns a majority percentage of Sega. Confused? Don't be,
because all of this won't have much of an effect on your library of
Dreamcast games, it's just a way for Sega to change the way it operates.
Peter Molyneux (who founded Bullfrog and created Populous, Theme Park,
and Dungeon Keeper) has signed a deal with Activision that will allow
Activision to publish two of his upcoming games. Black and White will
still be published by EA when it is released in March of 2000, but the next
two games from Molyneux's company Lionhead will be published by Activision.
Acclaim has been working hard to increase the amount of hits it gets on
its web site in recent weeks. First they offered free e-mail on their web
site, then they bought the acclaim.com domain name (previously it was
acclaim.net), and now they're going to have an online chat with a different
NFL player every Thursday on acclaimsports.com.
Independent research firm Fairfield Research has released a report
claiming that the arrival of the Dreamcast has significantly cut into sales
of N64 hardware and software. No, really? I couldn't figure that out for
myself by looking at the sales charts... Anyway, Fairfield also claimed
that the Dreamcast has not greatly affected PlayStation sales.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Lee Woodall recently won a Gran Turismo
tournament for charity. For $40, anyone in the San Francisco area could
get into the event and watch as Woodall beat out kicker Chad Stanley,
quarterback Jeff Garcia, defensive lineman Bryant Young, running back
Garrison Hearst, and 11 other 49ers to win the tournament. All proceeds
from the event (over $40,000) went to charity.
NEWS BRIEFS
Sega has delayed the Japanese version of their visually amazing Dreamcast
game Shenmue until 2000 in order to make major modifications to the
gameplay. Shenmue has been in development for over three years, and at
this rate, there is a very real possibility that it won't be released in
the US until 2001.
Paul Reubens (otherwise known as Pee-Wee Herman) is set to the host of a
TV quiz show based on the You Don't Know Jack series of video games. The
show is being developed by Carsey-Werner, the same company that currently
produces Cosby on CBS, 3rd Rock From the Sun on NBC, and That 70's Show on
Fox.
America Online's CEO Steve Case has vaguely told The Wall Street Journal
that AOL "will support game machines." While I have no idea what in
particular AOL means by this, I do know that AOL members can't get on the
Internet with the Dreamcast...
Titus, the French geniuses behind Superman for the Nintendo 64, has
purchased a majority stake in Virgin Interactive Entertainment, or more
accurately, what's left of Virgin after EA bought Westwood. Titus also has
controlling interest in Interplay.
THQ has signed a deal to make a game based on the Evil Dead horror film.
The game will be for the PlayStation and PC and will be called The Evil
Dead: Ashes to Ashes.
3dfx's president and CEO Greg Ballard has left the company. No reason
was given for Ballard's resignation, but apparently the fact that Nvidia
has been kicking 3dfx's ass had nothing to do with it...
Activision has purchased Neversoft, the developers of Tony Hawk's Pro
Skater, Apocalypse, and Spider-Man for the PlayStation (which is due out
next year, by the way).
Namco has formed a spin-off company called Monolith Soft to focus on
creating RPGs for the PlayStation 2. Square designer Hirohide Sugiura left
Square to be the president of Monolith Soft. The company will employ 50-60
people and hopes to have its first PlayStation 2 RPG ready in 2001.
Different people have different opinions about how happy Nintendo is
with their current position in the marketplace, but consider this: In the
six-month period that ended on September 30, Nintendo's profits were down
72% when compared to the same six-month period in 1998.
The Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter recently confirmed that Acclaim has
indeed made an agreement with ECW to make wrestling games with the ECW
license. Acclaim is waiting until their deal with the WWF expires on
November 15 to make the announcement about ECW.
LucasArts has cancelled two PlayStation games: Indiana Jones and the
Infernal Machine (which will still be released for the PC), and Star Wars
Episode I: Racer (which is already out for the Nintendo 64 and PC).
SALES CHARTS
In the week of September 19-25, the best-selling video games for all
systems were:
1. Final Fantasy 8 for PlayStation (click on the blue text for Master
Gamer's review of the game)
2. Dino Crisis for PlayStation
3. Madden NFL 2000 for PlayStation
4. Pokemon Red for Game Boy
5. Pokemon Blue for Game Boy
6. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace for PlayStation
7. NFL 2K for Dreamcast
8. WCW Mayhem for PlayStation
9. Pokemon Pinball for Game Boy Color
10.Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast
On a points basis (with the first-place game earning its system ten
points, the second-place game earning its system nine points, and so on),
the PlayStation won with 35 points, followed by the Game Boy with 13 points,
the Dreamcast with five points, and the Game Boy Color with two points.
Once again, there were no Nintendo 64 or PC games on the list. The
best-selling N64 games were Pokemon Snap, WCW Mayhem, and Madden NFL 2000,
and the best-selling PC games were Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Command &
Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and NHL 2000.
The following is a list of old games that are still among the top ten
best-selling games for their respective systems: Gran Turismo, Spyro the
Dragon, Rainbow Six, Half-Life, Zelda 64, and Goldeneye 007.
Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News,
GI News, Next Generation Online, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Happy
Puppy, PSX 2 Online, IGNPSX, IGN 64, Nintendorks, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku,
Gaming Age, The NPD Group, www.hamsterdance.com
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