Master Gamer News

December 1, 2000
   Square has announced that all of the online capabilities have been 
removed from Final Fantasy 10 due to Sony's difficulties in getting the 
PlayStation 2's online network up and running.  The original plan was for 
FF10 to have an online strategy guide and community on playonline.com, just 
like FF9 does right now.  The difference was that you would be able to 
access PlayOnline through the actual game rather than a PC.  Now, FF10's 
online options will be the same as FF9's: An online community at 
playonline.com that is only accessible through a PC or Macintosh.
   There is a chance that the US release of Final Fantasy 10 will take place
in late 2001, but the much more likely scenario is for it to be released 
sometime in 2002.  The online-only Final Fantasy 11 definitely won't be 
released in the US until 2002.  In addition, Square continues to hint at 
plans to develop for the Xbox and/or GameCube.  A company spokesperson says,
"We will make efforts in gathering information surrounding the next-
generation gaming consoles besides the PlayStation 2 and take necessary 
actions accordingly."

   Sony has been accused of not living up to the PlayStation 2 shipment 
promises that it made in late September.  On September 27, Sony decreased 
the number of launch day PS2s from one million to 500,000, with the promise 
that it would ship 100,000 additional systems per week, every week for the 
rest of the year.
   If Sony fulfilled that promise, total PlayStation 2 shipments in the US 
would have exceeded 900,000 by now.  Sutro & Co. analyst James Lin claims
that Sony has actually only shipped about 600,000 systems to US retailers.  
Likewise, an analyst with Lehman Brothers Co. claims that Sony has shipped 
between 500,000 and 700,000 systems to US retailers, not 900,000.  A Sony 
spokesperson flatly denied these reports, saying, "We are on schedule with 
our shipment forecasts that we laid out."    

   While the situation could change at any time, the Bleemcast doesn't 
appear to be anywhere near ready for release.  When Bleem originally 
unveiled the PlayStation emulator for the Dreamcast at the E3 show in May, 
the company announced a June release date.  In the past seven months, the 
Bleemcast hasn't been released and there has never been any word on why it 
hasn't been released.
   Numerous retailer web sites recently reported that the Bleemcast would be
released in the first week of December, but Bleem denies these reports.  A 
Bleem spokesperson says, "None of the supposed release dates have ever been 
put out by Bleem.  There have been dates on sites that are accepting pre-
orders... but none of the dates have ever been suggested or confirmed by 
Bleem."
 
   Despite reports to the contrary, 3D Realms has not ceased work on its 
oft-delayed PC game, Max Payne (which stars Master Gamer's Jimmy Payne as a 
mercenary of vengeance).  The rumor web site fatbabies.com initially 
reported this story and cited "two reputable sources," and numerous other 
sites picked up on the story when 3D Realms' Scott Miller sarcastically told
another web site, "It's not a rumor... it's true."
   Miller later admitted to being sarcastic and told Daily Radar, "Every 
rumor I've ever seen on Fatbabies regarding 3D Realms has been wrong.  It's
the most unreliable source for news I've ever seen."  Miller later told 
Master Gamer, "Fatbabies is wrong, which isn't too shocking for that site."
Max Payne is still going to be published by the Gathering of Developers, and
for his part, the Gathering's CEO Mike Wilson said, "The rumors are not 
true.  Christ."
   In a related story, when asked about the status of any console versions 
of Max Payne, 3D Realms' Scott Miller told Master Gamer, "No deals have made
or even discussed."

   Turkish health officials have taken a stand against Pokemon.  A seven-
year-old girl in Turkey reportedly jumped off her fifth-floor balcony with 
the belief that she was a Pokemon character and had super-powers.  
Fortunately, the girl survived the fall, but she did suffer a broken leg.
   Health officials in Turkey are against the idea of banning Pokemon 
altogether because they believe that would only increase interest in the 
franchise.  Instead, they are encouraging TV stations throughout the country
to gradually replace Pokemon TV shows with other children's shows.  Health 
officials claim, "Pokemon distances children from reality, confuses them by
presenting both good and bad heroes, and desensitizes them to violence."

   The last few weeks have been rocky for the division of Sega responsible 
for the SegaNet ISP.  Several senior executives have left the company, 
including CEO Brad Huang and Chief Technical Officer Lynn MacConnell.  Huang
was the person who originally conceived the idea to offer free Dreamcasts to
anyone who signed a long-term contract with SegaNet.  In order to replace 
the departed executives, Sega is planning a merger with familywonder.com, a 
web site dedicated to family-oriented services.  FamilyWonder's executives 
will then take on the additional role of SegaNet executives as soon as the
merger is complete.

   LucasArts and Verant Interactive have decided on a name for their 
massively multi-player Star Wars game: Star Wars Galaxies.  The companies 
have also launched a web site for the game at starwarsgalaxies.com.  The 
game isn't due out until 2002.
   Meanwhile, one of Verant's top programmers, Brian Hook, has left the 
company.  Hook says that he left the company because of its "very corporate 
environment," especially since it was purchased by Sony Online 
Entertainment.  He went on to say, "I gradually become more and more 
uncomfortable, to the point that I really felt suffocated."

   A pair of web sites have been accused of accepting money for PS2 systems 
that they don't actually have.  PS2storeusa.com and its sister site, 
PS2storecanada.com, both claim to have a large supply of PS2 systems and 
promise delivery before Christmas.  Both the American and the Canadian wings
of the Better Business Bureau are investigating the matter, but have been 
unable to locate the guilty parties.
   Canadian BBB official Bob Whitelaw says, "We continue to receive more 
than 20 complaint calls a day from consumers who visited one of these web
sites, placed an order, and haven't received the product as promised.  
What's particularly alarming is the fact that purchasers are asked to fax a 
photocopy of the front and back of their credit cards to supposedly assure 
speedy delivery of their items."

   Daily Radar reports that Digital Anvil founder Chris Roberts has left the
company after "being removed" by publishing partner Microsoft.  Microsoft 
recently dropped the publishing rights to Digital Anvil's Conquest: Frontier
Wars, but still holds the publishing rights to the highly-anticipated PC 
game, Freelancer.  
   There has been no official confirmation that this story is true.  If it 
is, Roberts will presumably establish another video game company, just as he
founded Digital Anvil in 1996 after leaving Origin.  Roberts also has 
experience as a movie director, but only for one movie (the God-awful Wing 
Commander movie).

   Nintendo is considering the possibility of cancelling Eternal Darkness 
and Dinosaur Planet for the Nintendo 64 and releasing both games for the 
GameCube instead.  Nintendo's VP of marketing George Harrison recently 
admitted that the company is "evaluating the platform status" of both games.
For what it's worth (very little), Nintendo's web site release list says 
that Eternal Darkness is due out in early 2001, while Dinosaur Planet in on 
a list of games under a heading that says, "These games may never be 
released."

   Lunar 2 has been finished by Working Designs and approved by Sony.  The 
game is now being manufactured, and Working Design lists it as an "early 
December" release.  More specifically, Electronics Boutique says that the 
game's release date is December 8 and Babbage's says it's December 12.

   In a continued attempt to bring the subscription numbers for Asheron's 
Call up to the level of EverQuest and Ultima Online, Microsoft has launched 
a mail-in rebate program for the game.  The game has a suggested retail 
price of $30 and the mail-in rebate is for $20, so that brings the total 
cost of the game down to $10.

   Online retailer gamestop.com has launched a new service that allows you 
to check the availability of particular games in particular stores.  All you
have to do is visit the page for a particular game at gamestop.com and enter
your zip code, and the site will check on the availability of the game at 
various retailers in close proximity.  The search covers all stores in the 
Babbage's corporate family (Babbage's, Software Etc, Funcoland, and 
GameStop), and it lists all results in order with the closest locations 
listed first.

   A spokesperson for the now-independent Sonic Team recently revealed that 
Sonic Adventure 3 is already in development, despite the fact that Sonic 
Adventure 2 is months away from being finished.  The spokesperson also said 
that a compilation GD-ROM of past Sonic games will be released for the 
Dreamcast sometime in 2001.

   LucasArts has cancelled the PC version of Star Wars: Obi-Wan.  The game 
is now scheduled to be released for an undisclosed next-generation system, 
and LucasArts will reveal the identity of this system next year.  LucasArts 
attributes the cancellation of the PC version to "the limitations of 
technology and the company's recently heightened quality standards."

   Planet Moon senior producer Travis Williams recently revealed that the 
company's highly-anticipated PC game, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, is also in 
development for the PlayStation 2.  The PC version of the game is done and 
will be on store shelves next week.  While no release date has been 
mentioned for the PS2 version, sometime in 2001 seems like a safe bet.

   Eidos Interactive's net loss for the six-month period ending September 30
was a whopping $116 million.  This is more than twice the amount of the loss
Eidos posted at this time last year.  Eidos gave partial blame for the 
losses to its failed buy-out negotiations with Infogrames, which cost the 
company $1.4 million in legal fees.  

   According to Id Software's CEO Todd Hollenshead, the company is almost 
done with its Team Arena add-on for the PC version of Quake 3.  The game is 
currently scheduled for a December 19 release.  Id has also released a demo 
of Team Arena on the Internet, but don't hold your breath while downloading 
it (it's 120MB).

   Two weeks after the release of Nintendo's PS2-bashing holiday poem, Sega 
released its own PS2-bashing press release.  And now, from the home office 
in Wahoo, Nebraska, it's the "Sega Holiday Shopping IQ Test."
A. Do you think Shenmue is Shamu's brother?
B. Do you think VMU is a university? 
C. Do you think that "playing across country" is a dating scheme? 
D. Do you think "GUM" is something you chew? 
E. Do you think the PlayStation 2 is a great deal at $300 with only 50 games
   and no online gaming? 

   Industry veteran Michael Pole is now working in his third job in the past
six months.  After being Electronic Arts' head of product development for 
years, Pole left the company earlier this year to be Activision's head of 
product development.  Pole planned to implement major changes at Activision,
but he ended up leaving the company less than six months after joining it.  
Pole has now re-surfaced as the head of product development at Fox 
Interactive.

   Sierra is running a mail-in rebate promotion for many of its PC games.  
If you purchase any one of the games listed below before February 3, 2001, 
you will receive a $10 check from Sierra by mail.  If you buy two of the 
games listed below, you'll get a $25 rebate.  The games are:
Gunman Chronicles
Half-Life: Game of the Year Edition
Half-Life: Counter-Strike
Half-Life: Platinum Edition
Homeworld: Game of the Year Edition
Homeworld: Cataclysm
NASCAR Racing 3
Pharaoh
Zeus: Master of Olympus

NEWS BRIEFS
   Square's Final Fantasy 9 strategy guide at playonline.com has been 
overwhelmed with so many visitors that the site has often been extremely 
slow or completely inaccessible.  Square claims that it is working around 
the clock to increase its server capacity.

   SwirlVision reports that Shenmue 2 will take up six Dreamcast GD-ROMs and
will be released in Japan in mid-2001.  The site also claims that the sequel
will include more action sequences than the original game.

   Japanese developer UEP Systems has shut down.  UEP was best known for its
work on Cool Boarders 1 and 2, as well as the cult classic Rising Zan: 
Samurai Gunman.

   Sega has finally released the "4x VMU" in the US.  This device has a 
suggested retail price of $40 and has four times the storage capacity of a 
normal VMU.  Unfortunately, the device causes technical problems in some 
Dreamcast games.

   Rumors have been circulating that Capcom is working on an RPG set in the 
Street Fighter universe, but Capcom refuses to confirm these rumors.

   With Armored Core 2 racking up impressive sales on the PlayStation 2, 
Agetec has re-released the original Armored Core on the PlayStation 1 with 
a price point of $20.

   The recently-released PC game No One Lives Forever is on its way to the 
PlayStation 2, but it won't be released for the system until late 2001.
 
   Sega has announced that contrary to its previous plans, no DVD player 
add-on will ever be released for the Dreamcast in the US.

   Tecmo's bottom line has gone from a $500,000 profit to a $2.7 million 
profit in the past year.  Do you think Dead or Alive 2 has anything to do 
with that?

   The anime movie based on the 1998 PC game Sin is currently the #6 best-
selling video of any kind, according to Billboard sales charts.

   Sega claims that NFL 2K1 sold 208,000 copies in its first two weeks of 
availability, which is greater than the 159,000 copies that Madden PS2 sold 
in its first weeks of availability.

   Acclaim has posted a net loss of $132 million for the 2000 financial 
year.

   Codemasters has acquired the rights to publish a PlayStation 2 version of
MTV Music Generator, which has already been released for the PlayStation 1 
and PC.

   Sega has announced that the US version of Phantasy Star Online will not 
have any monthly membership fees of any kind.  You will be able to buy the 
game and play it for an unlimited amount of time, just like any other game.

   Blizzard Entertainment has launched a television advertising campaign for 
Diablo 2.  This is Blizzard's first TV campaign.

SALES CHARTS
   The following sales charts are based on unit sales for the week of 
November 12 to 18.

Top Ten Best-Selling Games For All Systems
1. Final Fantasy 9 for PlayStation
2. WWF No Mercy for Nintendo 64
3. Pokemon Silver for Game Boy Color
4. Pokemon Gold for Game Boy Color
5. Zelda: Majora's Mask for Nintendo 64
6. Driver 2 for PlayStation
7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for PlayStation (click on the blue text for 
Master Gamer's review of the game)
8. Shenmue for Dreamcast
9. The World Is Not Enough for Nintendo 64
10.NBA 2K1 for Dreamcast

Top Three Best-Selling Games For Each Individual System

PlayStation 2
-Madden NFL 2001, SSX Snowboarding, Tekken Tag Tournament

Dreamcast
-Shenmue, NBA 2K1, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
(Quake 3: Arena is no longer in the Dreamcas top ten.  Maybe word is 
spreading that it sucks...)

PlayStation
-Final Fantasy 9, Driver 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Nintendo 64
-WWF No Mercy, Zelda: Majora's Mask, The World Is Not Enough

PC
-RollerCoaster Tycoon, The Sims, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

   The following is a list of old games that are currently among the top ten
best-sellers for their respective systems:
-Sonic Adventuree for Dreamcast
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for PlayStation
-Gran Turismo 2 for PlayStation
-Star Wars Episode I: Racer for Nintendo 64
-RollerCoaster Tycoon for PC
-The Sims for PC
-SimCity 3000 for PC

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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