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Silicon Times Report Issue 1120
SILICON TIMES REPORT
====================
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
=============================
from
STR Electronic Publishing Inc.
A subsidiary of
STR Worldwide CompNews Inc.
May 19, 1995 No. 1120
======================================================================
Silicon Times Report
International OnLine Magazine
Post Office Box 6672
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R.F. Mariano, Editor
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______________________________________________________________________
> 05/19/95 STR 1120 "The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine!"
"""""""""""""""""
- D/L CISNav 1.1.1 - AT&T~sell 3Do! - Driver Info
- Whose BUG is IT? - Frankie's Corner - Rupert Who?
- OS/2 Warp Connect Ships - ATI NewsWire - HAYES SYSOPS
- E3 Show Reports - People Talking - Jaguar NewsBits
-* 550 MILLION ON INTERNET BY YR 2000 *-
-* MS & NOVELL SIGN PACT *-
-* $12 MILLION IN CHIPS STOLEN! *-
==========================================================================
STReport International OnLine Magazine
The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine
-* FEATURING WEEKLY *-
"Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information"
Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information
Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports
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> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
This past weekend, some of the finest young men in the country were
praised for their achievments, congratulated by many and hailed officers
and gentlemen. Among these young men was a fellow many of us knew back in
the late eighties when he was an active Atari computer hobbiest. He wrote
a few articles for the fledgling STReport at that time. Most of the
graduates of this country's military academies are appointed to the
Academy through their Congressman's reccommendations or, by other equally
well placed arrangements. This fellow did it the hard way he took the
entrance exams and easily passed. At the time he was writing for us and
belonged to the local usergroup, STJAUG/JACE, he had already enlisted in
the Navy. So, here was a seaman, married and going through the rigors of
divorce, while at the same time, embarking on a career in the U.S. Navy.
Many thought he was just another squid on his way to finish twenty and hit
retirement. I must admit however, I never saw Donald Cooper in that
manner. He was a bright young man with a wide open imagination and a
willingness to learn. As fate would have it, the "sea duty orders"
finally came through shortly after the divorce was final. Donald was
about "to see the world".
We lost touch for a while, then one day out of the clear blue, Don
called to let me know he was fine and doing well. In fact, he was re-
married and said he was a very happy young man. He even sounded that way
to me. Not once did he ever hint at his deep set dreams.
Then, approximately a year and a half ago, he pulled up in our
driveway. The first thing I thought to myself was how he seemed to be
still growing. He looked taller and broader than I had remembered him.
His new (new to me they had been married for a while now) wife was with
him I finally got to meet her. She was a delightful person, I thought to
myself ..she is perfect for him. Little did I know how right I would be
proven to be. He told me he was going to college and was going for a
commission. I gave him every possible encouragement to do so. This past
week he made it.
Truely, Donald is one of the few who actually make it from enlisted
man to a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy. An officer and a
gentleman. Of course, you all know a good portion of the accomplishment
belongs to his wonderful wife who encouraged him every step of the way.
She never let him stray or be distracted from his goal even after four
beautiful children, Daniel 4, Elizabeth 3, the twins Rachael and Zachary
almost 2 graced his lovely family.
The sleeping Giant, the Internet is slowly awakening. According to
the participation at our Web site, http://www.icba.com/streport, where one
may obtain the latest issue of STReport and put their name on our "Join
STR List, the Internet is fast becoming the place to be. Last week, we
remarked about the online networks dragging their feet in one direction
while trying to show strong progress in another. One can only expect this
occur in the corporate environment as there will always be those execs who
feel they've "climbed the ladder" and need do little more. Are they ever
in for the rude awakening.
MCI, is certainly busy showing its competitors the "way to go".
InternetMCI is pioneering the principle of making certain the Internet is
available to everybody. Those at the networks had better realize that
InternetMCI's plan is a real winner among all who would compete for the
online users support. You see, with the InternetMCI plan, a user calls an
800 number (up to 28.8k baud at this time) and can then, through the use
of high speed TCP/IP and PPP connections go anywhere in the world via the
net on a local call. The user may also connect to the Online Services
through this setup thus, taking advantage of the higher, more efficient
connect speeds. The Telecommuncations Times they are "a changin' fast"
and anybody not keeping abreast of the changes will certainly be left in
the dust. Want to try MCI? Call 1-800-955-5210 to get turned on. With
Win'95, its all so easy its almost scary.
Ralph..
Of Special Note:
----------------
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===========================
STReport is now ready to offer much more in the way of serving the
Networks, Online Services and Internet's vast, fast growing site list and
userbase. We now have our very own WEB/NewsGroup/FTP Site and although
its in its early stages of construction, do stop by and have a look see.
Since We've received numerous requests to receive STReport from a wide
variety of Internet addressees, we were compelled to put together an
Internet distribution/mailing list for those who wished to receive
STReport on a regular basis, the file is ZIPPED, then UUENCODED.
Unfortunately, we've also received a number of opinions that the
UUENCODING was a real pain to deal with. So, as of May 12,1995, you'll
be able to download STReport directly from our very own WEB Site. While
there, be sure to join our STR list. In any case, our mailing list will
continue to be used for at least the next eight weeks. At that time,
however, it will be discontinued. Each of our readers will have by then,
received their information packet about how they may upgrade their
personal STR News Services.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher -Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
"""""""""""""""
PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION
---------- ------------- ----------- -------------
R.D. Stevens R. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
STReport Staff Editors:
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Arthur John Deegan Brad Martin
John Szczepanik Paul Guillot Joseph Mirando
Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth
Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur
Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach
Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian
Contributing Correspondents:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Dominick J. Fontana Norman Boucher Clemens Chin
Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell
Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller
Craig Harris Allen Chang Tim Holt
Patrick Hudlow Tom Sherwin
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----------------
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develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come
to expect in each and every issue.
The Staff & Editors
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
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> STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #20
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
******* General Computer News *******
>> Bandits Steal $12 Million in Chips <<
Some $12 million in computer chips and memory boards have been stolen
from an Irvine, California, manufacturer by a band of 13 armed robbers.
Authorities say this is one of the largest such thefts to date in
Southern California.
Sources say the gunmen confronted two security guards at Centon
Electronics late Tuesday night, then handcuffed and taped their mouths
shut before stealing the items and leaving in two vehicles.
Police said the chips included identification numbers. Some semi-
conductor producers have been reluctant to include ID numbers on their
products, although industry leader Intel Corp. began doing so last year.
Chip thefts have grown rapidly in recent years in the industry's
center in Silicon Valley in northern California, with some $40 million
in chip heists reported in 1993 (the latest year for which figures are
available.)
>> Driver Makers Embrace S.M.A.R.T. <<
The storage industry's five leading hard disk manufacturers have
agreed to support a new set of data reliability specifications that will
allow a computer to warn its user if a drive is in imminent danger of
losing any stored data.
The standard, known as Self- Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting
Technology (S.M.A.R.T.), was pioneered by Compaq Computer. It will be
incorporated into ATA/IDE drives from each of the drive makers--Conner,
IBM, Quantum, Seagate and Western Digital.
"As the originator of the S.M.A.R.T. specifications, which are found
in the IntelliSafe hard drives Compaq introduced in March on our new
Deskpro line, we are extremely pleased to see hard drive manufacturers
join efforts to standardize this technology," says Kevin Bohren, a
Compaq vice president. "This standardization will hasten the adoption of
these features by software vendors and further the development of new,
enhanced levels of desktop fault prevention."
>> AT&T Selling 3DO Stake <<
AT&T Corp. is selling its stake in video-game developer 3DO Co.
Spokesman David Boyce of AT&T's consumer products division said that
AT&T notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10 it plans
to sell 25% of its 2.5% equity stake in 3DO. He said AT&T plans to sell
the rest of its holdings before long.
"But," he added, "this is purely a financial decision. You shouldn't
read into our decision to sell the shares a statement one way or another
about our confidence in 3DO. At this point (3DO) is just an investment
for us."
AT&T was one of the original investors in 3DO, along with Time Warner
Inc. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd., whose Panasonic
division makes 3DO's CD-based Interactive Multiplayer. 3DO went public
two years ago this month. Shortly after that AT&T became a 3DO hardware
licensee.
>> Sales Taxes May Slow Info Hwy. <<
A report from accounting giant KPMG Peat Marwick finds that commer-
cial travel on the information superhighway may be slowed by tolls in
the form of sales taxes.
"State taxing authorities are increasingly trying to redefine what
constitutes a taxable connection for collecting sales or use taxes from
out-of-state businesses," says Michael H. Lippman, KPMG's national
partner in charge for state and local tax, technical services. The
questions, 'What is taxable?' and 'Who is responsible for collecting the
tax?' become particularly relevant in view of the proliferation of
technology and a growing electronic marketplace."
At issue, says Lippman, is how states will seek to redefine businesses'
physical connection to the state upon which taxing jurisdiction is based.
Legal precedent outlines that a physical connection must be present for
states to require out-of-state companies to collect sales or use taxes.
"The landscape may be changing rapidly. Many of the theories currently
being considered by the states conflict with a very clear physical
presence standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court only three years
ago," Lippman says. He notes that among the variety of activities under
scrutiny are virtual telecommunications networks that promote the market
of the out-of-state business, and financial networks, such as a credit
card system, that facilitate out-of-state sales.
"States are closely watching the arrival of online services -- where
customers travel in an electronic marketplace to purchase goods across
state lines -- as a means of expanding a company's taxable connections
in a state and its sales tax collection duty," Lippman says. "Obviously,
companies need to keep detailed records based on sales transactions,
particularly those handled electronically, and they need to stay abreast
of developments in this area."
>> Rivals Set Support Agreement <<
Arch-rivals Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. have announced a
cooperative support agreement that's designed to meet the needs of
customers using products from both companies.
The companies say they have put in place a comprehensive system for
sharing customer service and support expertise, which will allow
customers to work more efficiently within integrated, multivendor
environments.
Key elements of the agreement include jointly authored technical
support and enterprise support notes on integration issues, a management
escalation program to more efficiently resolve complex support issues,
cosponsored support forums, a product exchange program, a technical
information exchange, and a mentor exchange and cross-training program
to ensure that support engineers at both companies are educated on
integration issues.
>> Compaq Cuts Notebook Prices 19% <<
Prices of Compaq Computer Corp.'s Contura Aero ultra-portable note-
books have been reduced by up to 19%.
The company said in a statement it has cut the price, effective
immediately, of its Contura Aero:
-:- 4/25 Model 170 by 10% to $899.
-:- 4/33 Model 170 by 19% to $1,299.
-:- 4/33 Model 250 by 17% to $1,499.
Compaq also said the Contura Aero line holds a 23.1% market share in
its market.
>> IBM Releases OS/2 Warp Connect <<
IBM Corp. this week announced the availability of OS/2 Warp Connect,
a new version of its 32-bit operating system. The product is designed to
give enhanced connectivity services to small businesses and workgroups.
OS/2 Warp Connect combines OS/2 Warp and its BonusPak of productivity
applications with a set of integrated networking functions. The product
both provides peer-to-peer and remote connections, along with TCP/IP
support for dial-up and LAN access to the Internet, access to the most
online services and Lotus Notes Express.
OS/2 Warp Connect includes built-in requesters for IBM LAN Server and
Novell NetWare, and can coexist with IBM LAN Server, Novell NetWare,
Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, Banyan Vines and LANtastic.
OS/2 Warp Connect will initially ship in a "blue spine" version that
includes IBM WIN-OS/2, also known as "Fullpack," for a list price of
$299. The product will also be available through IBM Direct for $215.
For a limited time, registered users of OS/2 2.1 will qualify for a
$25 rebate when they purchase OS/2 Warp Connect. Registered users of
OS/2 Warp with WIN-OS/2 will qualify for a $50 rebate when they purchase
OS/2 Warp Connect. Volume discounts are available.
>> 550 Million on Internet by 2000 <<
At least one analyst believes the Internet's online population will
grow to 550 million users by the year 2000, up from the 30 million who
logged on at the end of last year.
Gregory S. Curhan of San Francisco's Volpe Welty & Co. is quoted as
estimating the commercial market resulting from usage of the Internet
will grow at a 62.4% compound rate over the next six years.
In a report outlining development of the Internet, Curhan added,
"Despite the media hype, and the temptation to dismiss it as just the
latest fad, the Internet is experiencing explosive growth that is
creating new business and investment opportunities at an incredible
pace."
Curhan says the market can be divided into five categories:
-:- Internet access, or linking users to the worldwide computer
network. He expects Internet access to grow to an estimated $2.5
billion in 2000 from $150 million in 1994.
-:- Software tools for cruising and creating a presence on the
Internet, a market which is expected to grow to about $1.6
billion by 2000 from $150 million in 1994.
-:- Services based on Internet expertise. Most users will find
management of the Internet complex and are therefore likely to
contract with others. This portion of the market is expected to
grow to an estimated $750 million in 2000 from about $60 million
in 1994.
-:- Products and services for doing business on the Internet. Many
transactions now handled by phone, fax or paper are expected to
move to the Internet. The market for commerce software tools and
service is expected to grow to $625 million by 2000 from about $5
million in 1994.
-:- Other applications, including voice, music, video and animation
might also be included in the Internet. This market could grow to
$325 million by 2000 from an estimated $5 million in 1994.
Curhan comments, "The driving force behind the growth of the Internet
is the change in the way people are using increasingly more powerful
personal computers. In the 1980s, PCs were mainly used to generate
spreadsheets and word processed documents. In the 1990s, people are
increasingly using PCs as telecommunications devices to share information
and communicate electronically."
>> IBM Unveils New Desktops <<
New versions of its desktop PCs for business, using more powerful
microprocessors and common parts throughout its product line, are being
unveiled by IBM this week.
The new versions in IBM's 300 and 700 PC brand lines will be priced
starting at $1,823, including a monitor.
The machines in IBM's 300 series will be run by Intel Corp. Pentium
chips running at 75 MHz and 90 MHz. The 700 brand line also will have
models that run at 120 MHz.
>> Dell Offers Dual-Processor Units <<
Dell Computer Corp.'s first dual-processor desktop, the Dell OptiPlex
DGX system, has been introduced, using up to two Intel Corp. Pentium
processors.
Sources quote the company as saying the new systems are aimed at
corporate and government customers such as Wall Street financial
analysts, aerospace design engineers, software developers and customers
using computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing applications.
The new systems are priced beginning at $4,040 for a 90MHz Pentium
model. A 100MHz Pentium is priced at $4,290, and $4,890 is the price for
a single 120MHz Pentium.
>> Seiko Updates Label Printer <<
Seiko Instruments USA Inc. has introduced an updated Smart Label
Printer in both Windows and Macintosh versions.
The Smart Label Printer EZ30 features a new functional design, the
ability to print on multiple label sizes and new software. The unit is
priced at $199, about $20 less than its predecessor, the Smart Label
Printer Plus.
The company notes that the small, one-pound device allows users to
produce one-at-a-time labels for envelopes, file folders, name badges
and an assortment of other applications, including on- demand bar code
printing.
The EZ30 accommodates a variety of label sizes up to one-inch wide,
including 1- by 2-inch multipurpose labels, and labels for VHS cassette
spines; red, green and blue file folders; and 8 millimeter tape
cartridges.
>> Arcade Classics Get New Life <<
Microsoft Corp. is planning to bring several classic arcade games to
Windows 95 users.
The software giant will offer Microsoft Return of Arcade, a collec-
tion that includes such venerable titles as Pac Man, Dig Dug, Pole
Position and Galaxian. Microsoft notes that each program is replicated
from the original coin-operated machine version.
"These games bring back nostalgic memories of spending long after-
noons in game halls and pizza parlors with pockets full of quarters,"
says Stuart Moulder, a product unit manager at Microsoft's entertainment
business unit. "For a few minutes each day, players of Microsoft Return
of Arcade can use their home or office PCs to relive the days of their
youth."
The software's players can customize each game by changing the number
of lives, increasing the rate of fire and changing other variables, such
as customizing the keyboard controls. Additionally, the games use
Microsoft Wavemix technology to render multiple sound effects
simultaneously in Windows, providing a realistic arcade-style game
experience.
Microsoft Return of Arcade is scheduled to become available in stores
in this fall for approximately $34.95.
>> Motorola to Tackle Security <<
A new business to help corporations protect their data networks from
unauthorized digital intruders is being launched by Motorola Inc.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week Motorola plans to
aggressively market a system that allows companies to scramble data but
gives authorized users an electronic unscrambling key, the same kind of
system which met with harsh criticism when recently proposed by the
Clinton administration.
WSJ reporter Don Clark also says Motorola will work on "firewalls,"
which allow a firm to send messages in and out of their own systems
without risking allowing access to unauthorized intruders.
>> Toshiba Makes 2MB Memory Card <<
A new two megabyte PC memory card has been developed by Toshiba Corp.
Reports say the new product, called card-in-card, "is a tiny memory
card incorporating a 16-megabit flash memory chip which fits into an
adapter for the computer's memory expansion slots."
A Toshiba spokesman commented that because the memory and adaptor are
sold separately, users can more cheaply expand their storage capacity.
Test marketing is to start in July, with mass production to begin in
January.
>> Nine Apple Suits Dismissed <<
Seven shareholder class action suits and two derivative suits filed
against Apple Computer Inc. have been voluntarily dismissed, the
computer maker says, and no payments were made.
Reports say the complaints, filed in July 1993 and stemming from
Apple's fiscal 1993 third-quarter results and the company's restruc-
turing program, alleged securities violations and breaches of fiduciary
duty by Apple and some of its executives.
Apple President/CEO Michael Spindler said the dismissals brings to a
close all securities class action and derivative litigation filed
against it, adding, "We are obviously delighted with the outcome."
_______________________________
> CSNav Update STR FOCUS!
"""""""""""""""""""""""
CSNav 1.1.1 Now Available
=========================
CSNav 1.1.1 is now available for downloading from the GO CSNAV area
online. CSNav 1.1.1 is considered a maintenance release to CSNav 1.1 that
corrects most known bugs and adds a few new features. See the CHG111.TXT
file or the GO CSNAV area online for a complete list of changes and
features.
Users of the member contributed program FavTrf (Favorite Places
Transfer), if you are upgrading to CSNav 1.1.1 you must download the new
version FavTrf 3.0 (file name favtrf.zip in Member Uploads library).
FavTrf 1.X and 2.X are incompatible with CSNav 1.1.1.
CompuServe Navigator(tm), Windows Version 1.1.1
Now Available for downloading (only) from the
GO CSNAV area!
Our download area is working "properly" in that it is tracking the
standard 45 day "free upgrade" time frame. Since a number of our members
downloaded the software more than 45 days ago, they are getting the "you
will be billed..." message.
We have a billing database that is used to verify that people are not
getting double-billed for the download. While members (who downloaded
the software more than 45 days ago) will see the message - they will not
get double-billed for the upgrade.
___________________________________
> Frankie's Corner STR Feature
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
DILBERT
=======
Scott Adams (not to be confused with the programmer of computer games) is
the creative genius responsible for the "Dilbert" comic strip and its
permutations. The strip offers an askance view of dysfunctional
corporate management, office politics and computers. I think that many of
us can recognize the traits of the Dilbert cast in our co-workers, but
never in ourselves, of course. ;) He graciously agreed to my interview
request and he provided the following comments.
>>Scott, could you give a short biographical sketch? Tell us about your
hometown, schooling and career before Dilbert.<<
This part is from my bio:
-------------------------
Early Years
-----------
I was born 6/8/57 and raised in Windham, New York, in the Catskill
mountains.
I Graduated high-school as valedictorian because the other 39 people in my
class couldn't spell "valedictorian."
I moved to Northern California in 1979 after college and have lived in the
San Francisco Bay Area since.
Education
---------
* Hartwick College, Oneonta New York, BA in economics, 1979.
* University of California at Berkeley, MBA, 1986.
* Certified Hypnotist, Clement School of Hypnosis, San Francisco,
1981.
Day Jobs
--------
I worked at Crocker National Bank, San Francisco, 1979 to 1986, in a
number of humiliating and low paying jobs: teller (robbed
twice at gunpoint), computer programmer, financial analyst, product
manager, and commercial lender.
I moved from the bank to Pacific Bell, San Ramon, California, and worked
there from 1986 to 1995 (still there at this writing). I worked in a
number of jobs that defy description but all involve technology and
finances. The most recent job is in a laboratory, finding ways to use
digital phone lines and also running the company's BBS. My business card
says "engineer" but I'm
not an engineer by training.
From 1989 to now I've worked my day job while doing the Dilbert comic
strip mornings, evenings and weekends.
>>Is Dilbert your first strip?<<
Yes, it's my first professional cartooning experience.
>>How long have you been writing Dilbert?<<
It was developed in 1988 and first published in April of 1989. But it was
a doodle without a name for several years prior.
>>What inspired you to create Dilbert and his cohorts? Are the characters
based on any persons living or dead?<<
Dilbert came first. He was basically a composite of my co-workers at
Crocker Bank, and later Pacific Bell. I worked in technology areas of
both companies and noticed an eerie similarity in dress and personality
among the many male technology workers. Dilbert emerged from my doodles
during boring business meetings.
Dogbert came next, mostly so Dilbert would have somebody to talk to. He
has a bit of my personality. He says the things I would say if I didn't
fear retribution.
The other characters were introduced gradually and took on bits and pieces
of people I've known.
>>How did you develop the unique minimalist drawing style used in
Dilbert?<<
I see the world in simple terms. My drawing reflects my perceptions. I
don't draw backgrounds because they don't add anything to the humor. At
best, an intricate background adds nothing; at worst it distracts. When I
walk into a room I see the people, not the furniture.
And of course there's always the explanation that I'm just a lousy artist.
You can't overlook that possibility.
>>Which comic strips and writers have most influenced your art?<<
Peanuts influenced me the most as a tot. Later, Mad Magazine was a big
influence. I think most cartoonists my age would say the same.
>>Besides downsizing, "Total Quality Management" seems to be the "in"
thing in corporate management. What is your opinion on this method?<<
When bright people apply Total Quality Management in the right situation
it can have good results. Unfortunately, TQM gets over-applied because
people feel the need to get with the program. And frankly, many of the
people doing it aren't bright. A fishbone diagram won't give you answers
if the people filling it in are dolts or if they're just going through the
motions so
they'll be eligible for the Malcolm Baldridge Award.
>>What new topics do you plan to explore with Dilbert in the future? Will
Dilbert become a biting, satirical sword aimed at national politics? Are
new characters waiting in the wings?<<
I never plan the strip. I let it evolve based on what inspiration I have
that day. But you won't see national politics because it's an
international strip, in 15 countries. The business and technology themes
are richer sources for material anyway. Politics is over-mined in my
opinion.
I recently did a series with Dogbert as a conservative talk radio host. A
lot of people mistakenly believed I was making some sort of political
statement against conservatives. I wasn't. Dogbert was just in it for
the money and power, like all of his other endeavors.
>>Dilbert has been translated into a screen-saver program for computers
and the strip has a home page on the World Wide Web. Which other media do
you wish to move Dilbert? Could an animated series or computer game be in
the offing?<<
We're interested in everything -- games, CD ROM, animation. If we find
the right licensees with the right ideas we'll move. I'm not opposed to
any particular media, so it's a question of finding good companies who
want to do something with Dilbert. We're negotiating with people in all
of the major areas but can't announce things until they happen.
>>Will Dilbert run for President in '96? We already know that Dogbert
seeks world domination!<<
The good news is that he won't have any bimbo skeletons in his closet, to
his chagrin. But I don't think he's cut out for the job.
>>Some people feel that the Internet, specifically the Web, may replace
print media for distribution of much of the world's news. What is your
opinion?<<
You have to put it in perspective. The hottest selling hardware for the
"information superhighway" today is the modem, invented fifty years ago.
The cellular phone is about that old. The hottest "new" technology is
ISDN, which is about 15 years old. And how long have we been waiting for
the electric car to replace combustion engines? Or solar power to replace
oil? Every time a newer cooler thing comes along we think it's going to
make everything else obsolete. But what usually happens is that the "old"
system adjusts or changes form to be more competitive. We would have
electric cars by now if the combustion engine had never improved from
getting 12 miles to the gallon.
Newspapers are best compared to the combustion engine, I think.
Newspapers are making steady improvements and slowly closing the advantage
that online systems presumably would provide. They're adding color,
smudgeless ink, indexes to online sources, better writing, better
reporting. And of course, the smart ones carry Dilbert. You won't see
newspapers go away unless some external force like the cost of paper
drives them out (which is a genuine risk).
>>What changes do you see in store for the Internet?<<
Most of what you read about the Internet is about how much information you
can receive. But frankly, we all receive too much information already.
The more interesting side of the story is how any individual can
economically publish anything to the world. That's the real story. I
think it will have profound effects on society, but I don't know how.
The best thing about the Internet is that nobody knows where it's going,
except that there will be more of it.
>>Thank you for an interesting and enlightening interview. I look forward
to reading "Dilbert" each day and I enjoy the sharp satire of your strip.
I now have a better understanding of the genesis of the genius behind the
comic strip. May your career continue to flourish!
As a final note, the Dilbert home page is located at...
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert, don't forget to visit the
STReport Home Web Site at http://www.icba.com/streport
_______________________________________
> Broken Mapper STR Spotlight Is it "Broken as Designed?"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
WHOSE BUG IS IT?
===============
Or, Let's play..
"PASS the BUCK!"
by Glenwood Drake
Why can't you buy a piece of software, install it, and then have it
perform all the nice functions you were so excited about before you made
the purchase? Well, if you are Beta testing Windows 95, and using a
Hewlett Packard LaserJet4, here's a little bit of knowledge you may want
to know about. DeLorme's Map n'Go version 1.0, and Street Atlas USA
version 2.0 will not print properly on the LaserJet4 using the latest
drivers supplied with Win'95. In order to get a 300 DPI printout you will
need to use the HPIII drivers. Setting the LaserJet4 at 300 DPI using the
LaserJet4's drivers will not work. We at STR were happy to supply this
information to the nice folks at DeLorme, since they were unaware that
this could be used as a temporary work around.
In addition to the printer problem, after you install Map'n'Go and
proceed to map your journey, if you are unable to use the Points of
Interest, Hotels, Campgrounds, etc. function, you may have to delete
several files in your windows\system folder called odbc.dll & odbccurs.dll
and then manually copy them from within the bin folder on the Map'n'Go CD.
The manual makes mention of a fix on page 44 for the odbc.dll but these
instructions did not work for us at STR.
Our planned review of these two products started out innocent enough.
We had intended to do an in depth review for all you summer travelers out
there, but found ourselves deep in controversy with DeLorme's technical
support department about who's responsibility it was to make these two
programs Win'95 compatible. Win'95 is currently in beta test.
This writer placed a call to DeLorme about these problems and the
phone was answered on the first ring. Their technical department solved
the "Points of Interest" problem for us in short order. However, we were
informed that since their program worked with the LaserJet4 in Win 3.1,
3.11, and Windows NT that the printer problem was in the drivers shipped
with Win'95. Therefore we, would have to submit a bug report to
Microsoft. This response appears to lay responsibility for a fix to their
programs on
Microsoft's doorstep. We at STR found this simply unacceptable, so
another call was placed later in the afternoon of May 16, 1995.
The second call to tech support was made as a conference call with
this writer on one phone and the Editor and Publisher of STR Report
Magazine on another. Credit should be given when it is due and I would
like to give the Supervisor at DeLorme an "A" for keeping his cool. With
all the fire and brimstone shooting from our end regarding who's
responsible for supplying a solution to the printer problem, this fellow
never lost his composure or was disrespectable in any way. This is a
person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look
forward to the trip.
During the conversation with DeLorme, we were led to believe that
Microsoft actually wrote all the code for the Hewlett Packard drivers that
appeared in Win'95. In fact we were informed that after Hewlett Packard
discontinued a product, such as the LaserJet IIP, it then became
Microsoft's responsibility to supply the printer modules for Windows. STR
strongly disagrees with DeLorme on who's liable or obligated to supply a
fix for their two programs that do not print at 600, or even at 300 DPI
using the LaserJet4 drivers supplied with Win'95.
My experience with DeLorme dates back to Street Atlas USA version
1.0. It's an excellent program and version 2.0 is even better equipped
for anyone's purpose. If anyone knows how to easily connect you with any
street in the USA it is DeLorme. Will I return the two products for
refunds? Of course not. These are excellent mapping programs and
extremely powerful. However, corrected printer drivers would let them
perform with all the nice functions we expected when the purchase was
made.
____________________________________________
> ATI DRIVER UPDATES STR Spotlight
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
DRIVER UPDATE REPORT - May 16, 1995
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
INDEX
-=-=-=
1. ATI Product Names
2. ATI Current Driver List
3. Driver Update Information
4. How to Contact ATI
1. ATI RETAIL PRODUCT NAMES (NOT INCLUDING OEM NAMES)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
mach64 Products mach32 Products mach8 products VGA products
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAPHICS PRO TURBO GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO GRAPHICS ULTRA VGAWONDER XL24
GRAPHICS XPRESSION GRAPHICS ULTRA PLUS GRAPHICS VANTAGE VGAWONDER XL
WINTURBO GRAPHICS WONDER 8514-ULTRA VGAWONDER+
WINBOOST VGAWONDER GT VGAINTEGRA
VGAWONDER
2. ATI CURRENT DRIVER LIST
Available via ATI DOWNLOAD BBS'S,Compuserve and Internet FTP (see below)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SOFTWARE/OS mach64 mach32 mach8 VGA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows 3.1/3.11 64WIN151.ZIP& M32W23.ZIP* M8WR30.ZIP* W31VGA.ZIP
Windows NT 64NT150.ZIP$ w/software w/software w/software
OS/2(2.1 & 2.11) M64V94.ZIP& M32V85.ZIP* OS2V12.ZIP* w/software
OS/2(Warp) w/software w/software w/software w/software
Microstation4/5 64UST153.ZIP& M32US4.ZIP* M8US4.ZIP* w/software
VESA Bios TSR 64VBE101.ZIP VV222.ZIP VV222.ZIP VV222.ZIP
AutoCad 10,11,12 64CAD153.ZIP& M32DLX.ZIP* M8DLX.ZIP* VGADLX.ZIP
Install/Utilitys 64UTL153.ZIP M32UTL.ZIP M8UTL.ZIP VGAUTL.ZIP
* = Requires the installation utility LOADER.ZIP
& = Requires the installation utility LOAD64.ZIP
$ = For Microsoft NT3.5 only
Special Note: VV222.ZIP will not function on 8514-ULTRA
-------------------------------------------------------
3. DRIVER UPDATE INFORMATION
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
mach8 products & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11:
--------------------------------------------
The latest drivers for your mach8 product are called M8WR30.ZIP. This
file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you
download this file too.)
mach32 products & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11:
---------------------------------------------
The latest drivers for your mach32 product are called M32W23.ZIP. This
file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure you
download this file too.)
mach64 product & Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11:
--------------------------------------------
The latest drivers for your mach64 product are called M64W14.ZIP. This
file requires the installation utility called LOAD64.ZIP, (make sure you
download this file too.)
Microsoft Windows'95
--------------------
Drivers for all current ATI products are provided with the most
current private and public betas of this new operating system.
All information, support and updates for this beta are provided
by Microsoft via the MSN. Please contact your beta site coordinator
for more information.
Microsoft Pen for Windows
-------------------------
At this time ATI is studying the possibility of developing chip specific
support for this Windows extension. Currently we suggest using the
applications' built-in support for VGA or SVGA. Users of the GRAPHICS
ULTRA PRO, GRAPHICS ULTRA PLUS, GRAPHICS ULTRA, VANTAGE and 8514/a ULTRA
may also use the supplied 8514/p driver. (See your application user
guide for details).
Microstation v5.0:
------------------
The file 64UST153.ZIP provides support for MicroStation 4.0/5.0 for
mach64 based products. For mach32/mach8/VGA products users of
Microstation 5.0 can use built-in support for VGA, SVGA or VESA Bios
extended graphics modes when used with the appropriate VESA driver.
AutoCad 10-386, 11 & 12:
------------------------
The most current drivers for VGA, mach8, mach32 and mach64 users are
listed in the CURRENT DRIVER LISTS, shown above.
Microsoft NT Drivers:
---------------------
VGA, mach8 and mach32 users should used the drivers provided with the
most current version of NT.
Drivers for NT 3.5 (Daytona) and mach64 are called 64N150.ZIP and are
available at the ATI sites listed below.
IBM OS/2 (version 2.1 and 2.11)
-------------------------------
The latest drivers for OS/2 2.1 for your mach8 product are called
OS2V12.ZIP. This file requires the installation utility LOADER.ZIP,
(make sure you download this file too.)
Users of OS/2 2.11 should use IBM's built-in support for the 8514/a
graphics standard with their mach8 based graphics accelerator.
The latest drivers for OS/2 and your mach32 product are called M32V85.ZIP
This file requires the installation utility called LOADER.ZIP, (make sure
you download this file too).
The latest drivers of OS/2 and your mach64 product are called M64V94.ZIP
This file require the installation utility called LOAD64.ZIP, (make sure
you download this file too).
VGA product users should use OS/2's built in driver support for VGA
and/or SVGA. Users of the ATI VGAWONDER series can also use the OS/2
built-in driver for ATI-28800.
IBM OS/2 (version 3.0 WARP)
---------------------------
Drivers for all current ATI products ship with the original release of
IBM OS/2 WARP. Please see your IBM getting started guide for installation
instructions.
4. How to Contact ATI:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
ATI Technologies Inc.
33 Commerce Valley Drive East
Thornhill, Ontario
Canada L3T 7N6
Head Office, Sales and Marketing: (905) 882-2600
Corporate FAX: (905) 882-2620
ATI FaxInfo System: (905) 882-2600
Press touch-tone #2
and listen to voice
prompts.
Customer Support (VOICE): (905) 882-2626
Customer Support (FAX): (905) 882-0546
ATI DOWNLOAD BBS [8N1]: (905) 764-9404
CompuServe Forum & File Library: GO ATITECH (section #17)
CompuServe Inquiries & Product Information: 76004,3656
CompuServe Technical Inquiries (Support): 74740,667
Internet Inquires & Product Information: 76004.3656@compuserve.com
Internet Technical Support (via e-mail): 74740.667@compuserve.com
Internet Anonymous FTP Site: ftp.atitech.ca/pub/support/.
WWW/Mosaic (Under Construction): http://www.atitech.ca
_________________________________________
> What is that for? STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Creative's Drivers and what they do
===================================
Q: What are the lines in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT do? Do I need
all of them?
Depending on the card you have there may be different drivers that load
in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Below are listed the possible
drivers, memory usage, purposes and options:
** Note: Memory usage is approximate and may vary with different versions
of the listed drivers.
CONFIG.SYS
----------
ASPI2DOS.SYS (11 KB)
SCSI Host Adapter Driver for the SB16 SCSI-2 card.
SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual
---------------
ASPICD.SYS (12 KB)
Driver for SCSI CD-ROM drives supported by the SB16 SCSI-2 card.
SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual
---------------
ASPIDISK.SYS (3 KB)
Driver used for connecting a hard disk drive unit to the SB16 SCSI-2
controller interface. Note - the controller interface may not be used
on a primary boot drive.
SWITCHES: refer to the Adaptec EZSCSI User's Manual
---------------
CSP.SYS, ASP.SYS: (5 KB)
These are two different drivers for the same purpose. The newer is
the CSP.SYS driver. This driver is responsible for the functions of
the Creative Advanced Signal Processor on the AWE32 or SB16 cards.
If this driver is disabled, then Text Assist and QSOUND will not
function. This driver takes up about 11K. If you have the older
ASP.SYS you may want to consider the update CSPU.EXE, as there have
been significant changes in this driver.
SWITCHES:
---------------
ASP.SYS /P:xxx --> Specifies base address of the sound
card
CSP.SYS /P:xxx --> Specifies base address of the sound
card
/UNIT=0 --> Card unit number (currently non-
selectable)
/BLASTER=A:xxx I:xx D:x H:x
A:xxx --> Base I/O address used by sound card
I:xx --> IRQ line used by sound card
D:x --> 8 bit DMA channel used by sound card
H:x --> 16 bit DMA channel used by sound card
** Note: There are different versions of the CSP.SYS driver that either
use the /P:xxx parameter, or the /UNIT and /BLASTER parameters.
Ordinarily there is no need to change these parameters.
------------------
CTSB.SYS ** SB 2.0 ** (26 KB)
CTSBPRO.SYS ** SBPro ** (26 KB)
CTSB16.SYS ** SB16, AWE32 ** (26 KB)
CTMMSYS.SYS ** All cards ** (10 KB)
These are low level architecture drivers. These add TSR support for
applications that are written to use them. Currently, there are only
a few applications that use these. These applications include
PLAY.EXE, SBP-SET.EXE, SB16SET.EXE, QSDEMO, QSALIGN, and some games
that are written by The Knowledge Adventure company. These drivers
(CTSBxxx.SYS & CTMMSYS.SYS) must be used together. On the SB16 cards,
the CTSB16.SYS will play a role in setting the IRQ and DMA's if these
two drivers are loaded. If they are not loaded, the SET BLASTER
environment variable and the DIAGNOSE.EXE /S line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT
are capable of handling this. Whether or not the two drivers are
loaded, the SET BLASTER and the DIAGNOSE /S should *always* be in
the AUTOEXEC.BAT.
You can eliminate the need for these two drivers (CTSBxxx.SYS and
CTMMSYS.SYS, etc.) for the mixer by using the appropriate update
(this is not a problem for the 2.0 card, as it does not have a mixer):
SBPro 2 ---> use the file SBP2UP.EXE in LIB 6
SB16 ---> use the file SB16UP.EXE (or SB16AWEU.EXE) in LIB 7 **
AWE32 ---> use the file SB16AWEU.EXE in LIB 8
** an alternative for the Sound Blaster 16 is the file SBMIX.EXE
also found in LIB 7. This will not update the sound drivers but
will make the mixer functional without the two architecture
drivers.
Once you have done this you can disable the two drivers from the
CONFIG.SYS. These drivers together take up about 36K.
SWITCHES:
--------------
CTSBxxx.SYS - /UNIT=0 --> Card unit number (currently non-
selectable)
/BLASTER=A:xxx I:xx D:x H:x
A:xxx --> port address
I:xx --> IRQ line
D:x --> 8 bit DMA channel
H:x --> 16 bit DMA channel (SB16 & AWE32)
CTMMSYS.SYS - no switches
---------------
CCD.SYS (20 KB)
Driver for the Funai and the CD200 CD ROM drives
SWITCHES:
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/N:x --> Specifies number of CD ROM drives
connected. This may be in the range
1 to 4.
/S:mi --> m specifies the transfer mode.
m can be N (Normal), or D (Double
Speed). Default is D.
i refers to the drive's ID number
ranging from 0 to 3. Omission of this
parameter will force the mode to apply
to all connected drives.
/A --> Enables sound to both channels even if
the application software sends it to
one channel.
/T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB,
2=CT 1810 interface card)
---------------
MTMCDAE.SYS (11 KB)
Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive models FX-001 and FX001d. This
driver can make use of IRQ's and DMA's to enhance data transfer
rates in some combinations.
SWITCHES:
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/M:xx --> Determines the number of buffer blocks
to use for temporary storage of recent
data. Valid ranges are 2 to 64
/I:xx --> Sets the IRQ line used by the
controllerfor for data transfer
/T:xx --> Specifies Interrupt Transfer, or DMA
channel used for data transfer. If
using software transfer, use /T:S
/A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for
mono)
/X --> Enables the use of extended memory if
an extended memory driver has been
loaded into memory
----------------
MTMCDAS.SYS (11 KB)
Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive models FX-001 and FX-001d. This
driver can only use software polling for data transfer.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for
mono)
---------------
MTMCDE.SYS (11 KB)
Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive model LU-005S. This driver can make
use of IRQ's and DMA's to enhance data transfer rates.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/M:xx --> Determines the number of buffer blocks
to use for temporary storage of recent
data. Valid ranges are 2 to 64
/I:xx --> Sets the IRQ line used by the
controllerfor for data transfer
/T:xx --> Specifies Interrupt Transfer, or DMA
channel used for data transfer. If
using software transfer, use /T:S
/A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for
mono)
/X --> Enables the use of extended memory if
an extended memory driver has been
loaded into memory
---------------
MTMCDS.SYS (11 KB)
Driver for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive model LU-005S. This driver can only
use software polling for data transfer.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:dr
ive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/A:x --> Audio play mode (0 for stereo, 1 for
mono)
---------------
SBCD.SYS (11 KB)
Driver for Creative CD-ROM drives. This version will control
Creative single (521, 523) and double (563) speed models. It also
provides PhotoCD support for all 3 models.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/N:x --> Specifies number of CD ROM drives
connected. This may be in the range
1 to 4.
/S:mi --> m specifies the transfer mode.
m can be A (Auto), N (Normal), or
D (Double Speed). Default is D.
i refers to the drive's ID number
ranging from 0 to 3. Omission of this
parameter will force the mode to apply
to all connected drives.
/A --> Enables sound to both channels even if
the application software sends it to
one channel.
/T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB,
2=CT 1810 interface card)
/X:1 --> Prevents applications from giving an
error message when software eject is
not available (only used on 521 and
523 drives)
---------------
SBIDE.SYS (14 KB)
Driver for the IDE 4x CD ROM drives
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx,yy --> xxx specifies base I/O address of
CD ROM controller interface, and yy
specifies the IRQ of the controller
interface.
/V --> Verbose listing for drive information.
---------------
SBPCD.SYS (11 KB)
Older driver for Creative CD-ROM drives. This driver provides
support only for Creative single speed models.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/P:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/X:1 --> Prevents applications from giving an
error message when software eject is
not available (only used on 521 and
523 drives)
/T:x --> Type of interface board - (1=SB,
2=CT 1810 interface card)
---------------
SLCD.SYS (12 KB)
Driver for Sony CD-ROM models CRMC 31A and CRMC 33A.
SWITCHES:
---------------
/D:drive_name --> Specifies device name
/B:xxx --> Specifies base I/O address of CD ROM
controller interface
/M:x --> Specifies the data transfer mode -
P is used with the Sony interface
on Creative cards.
/V --> Verbose listing of driver information
/C --> Displays drive configuration
/K --> Enables a sector caching mechanism to
improve performance
AUTOEXEC.BAT
------------
MSCDEX.EXE: (23 KB + 2 KB per buffer unit above 4 )
This is the other device driver for the CD ROM. This is responsible
for assigning a drive letter to the CD ROM unit.
Type C:\DOS\HELP MSCDEX.EXE for details on this driver. (MS-DOS v5.0
does not have this help file.)
--------------
SET BLASTER=Axxx Ixx Dx Hx Pxxx Exxx Tx
This line sets the environment for the settings of the sound card.
Axxx - port address
Ixx - IRQ setting
Dx - 8 bit DMA setting
Hx - 16 bit DMA setting (SB16 and AWE32 only)
Pxxx - MIDI port address (SB16 and AWE32 only)
Exxx - EMU 8000 address (AWE32 only)
Tx - card type
--------------
SET SOUND=C:\xxxxxxxx
This line sets the environment variable responsible for pointing
to the path where the installed software for the sound card is.
--------------
SET MIDI=SYNTH:x MAP:x MODE:x
This line sets the parameter looked at by the PLAY programs when
using the midi capabilities of the sound card:
SYNTH:x
1 = internal synth
2 = external MIDI port
MAP:x
G = General MIDI
E = Extended MIDI
B = Basic MIDI
MODE:x
0 = General MIDI
1 = Roland GS
2 = MT-32
----------------
DIAGNOSE.EXE, SBCONFIG.EXE: (0 KB)
This is a program that looks at the BLASTER environment variable and
sets the card's IRQ and DMA accordingly. The /S parameter makes it
do this as a line command (quick configuration). Otherwise the entire
program would come up. The two different programs serve the same
purpose if loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and only one of the two
should be in it. DIAGNOSE.EXE is simply the newer version, and has
the test program built into it. This only needs to be in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT if the card is a SB16 or an AWE32.
----------------
SBP-SET.EXE, SB16SET.EXE: (0 KB)
These are mixer level utilities. SBP-SET.EXE is for the SBPro, and
SB16SET.EXE is for the SB16 and the AWE32.
For further information on these, type SBP-SET /? or SB16SET /?
at the directory pointed to by the SET SOUND line.
----------------
AWEUTIL.EXE /S (0 KB)
AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:GM (29 KB)
AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:GS (39 KB)
AWEUTIL.EXE /EM:MT32 (29 KB)
This program is included with the AWE32 and its purpose is to make
the card emulate General MIDI, Roland GS, or MT-32, and is capable
of setting the amount of REVERB and CHORUS. Typing AWEUTIL /? at
the directory pointed to by the SET SOUND variable will give the
options and the Getting Started manual also has this information.
SWITCHES: Typing AWEUTIL /? from the directory where the AWEUTIL.EXE
program is located will list all the options.
The ONLY things in the AUTOEXEC.BAT that take up memory are the MSCDEX.EXE
and the AWEUTIL.EXE. The default switch, /S, used with the AWEUTIL will
not use any memory at all.
If you want to see how much memory is used by any driver on your system,
type MEM /C/P at the DOS prompt.
-MH,AG 04-27-95
_________________________________________________
> REALLY?? STR Spotlight
""""""""""""""""""""""
From the Web...
MEDIA BART SIMPSON CALLING...
MCI HAS THE PIPELINE. NEWS CORP. HAS THE CONTENT.
NOW THAT THEY ARE UNITED, MURDOCH HAS THE MONEY
Rupert Murdoch isn't somebody to sit back and count his blessings. It
was just two weeks ago that the FCC took a load off his mind when it
decided not to force him to reduce his ownership stake in eight stations
that are at the center of his Fox TV network. With that major distraction
out of the way and the coffers of his News Corp. global media empire
bursting--he boasted recently of having $1 billion on hand--everybody
figured it was just a matter of time until his next big move.
No time at all, as it turned out. On Wednesday, News Corp. and MCI,
the long-distance giant, announced a deal to form a worldwide media
partnership, one that could add as much as $2 billion to Murdoch's buying
power. A year ago, after MCI sold a 20% stake of itself to British
Telecommunications for $4.3 billion, it began looking for a partner to
transform its worldwide phone network into pathways for "content",
whatever a computer or TV screen can receive, from info-services to
movies. "You can hardly think of content without the name of Rupert
Murdoch coming to the fore," says MCI chairman Bert Roberts.
At Roberts' request, he and Murdoch held a brief, "get to know each
other", meeting at the Los Angeles airport in November. "After about 15
minutes we hit it off personally," he says. "And we both instantly saw
that there may be some genuine reason to pursue this." At the end of the
pursuit, MCI agreed to invest heavily in News Corp. stock--$1 billion now
plus $1 billion over the next four years. In return, Murdoch will send his
company's immense fund of grunt-and-grin entertainment, news and
information through MCI phone lines into home and business screens. In
addition to the Fox network, Murdoch owns the HarperCollins publishing
house and a string of newspapers around the world, and two satellite-TV
channels--BSkyB, which broadcasts across Europe, and STAR TV, which covers
much of Asia. TV Guide and Melrose Place, business data and the Super
Bowl--all could come directly to your home screens via phone lines faster
than Bart Simpson can make a prank call to Moe's Tavern.
Each side will contribute $200 million to a global joint venture in
which programming and electronic information produced by News Corp. will
be distributed to businesses and consumers in digital form through MCI's
vast web of fiber-optic cable. But here too Murdoch may not have to ante
up cash, just "content.'' Low risk but high potential profit for
him--that's typical of the entire deal. If MCI eventually invests the full
$2 billion, it will own 13.5% of News Corp. But the terms of the deal
require MCI to vote its shares in the same proportion as the rest of the
shareholders. That means Murdoch, who with his family controls 40% of his
company's stock, cedes nothing in the way of control.
The longer-term picture is cloudier. Synergy is the business world's
most over-hyped concept, and the Internet is a market where just about
everyone is betting but almost no one is yet taking home winnings. A
similar deal two years ago, in which Bell Atlantic proposed to absorb the
cable giant Tele-Communications Inc., was called off before it could go
forward. While MCI has a strong customer base among businesses, for
instance, News Corp. has little in the way of business information
services to offer them. For Murdoch, the most important advantage of MCI's
already established presence on the Internet is the second chance it
offers to his flagging on-line service, Delphi. It ranks a distant fourth
behind America Online, CompuServe and Prodigy. That could change fast if
MCI promoted Delphi to its 16 million residential customers.
"America Online is going like lightning," Murdoch pointedly told Time
in March, "but they are spending a lot of money to enlist customers."
Murdoch also said then that this summer he plans to introduce a new and
more sophisticated version of Delphi, which he hopes will feature new
access software that will make it easier for subscribers to point and
click their way onto the Internet. That could put him head-to-head with
software's maximum leader, Bill Gates, whose Windows 95, set to debut in
August, also promises to speed users onto the Net.
What the MCI--News Corp. alliance indisputably does right off the bat
is fatten News Corp.'s coffers. To Murdoch, with billions jangling in his
pocket, a good part of the media world must now look like so many packages
wrapped with bows, just waiting for him to untie them. Late last week he
grabbed for one, making a $2.8 billion bid for the three television
networks of Italy's former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, which are watched by
nearly half the country's TV audience. And then? "Ted Turner may want to
retire," he joked mordantly at a press conference called to unveil the
deal. Wall Street sat up. Could News Corp. be looking to buy the 20% stake
in Turner owned by Time Warner? Certainly Turner's cable operations, which
include CNN, would be attractive to Murdoch, whose empire lacks a global
television-news operation. Murdoch also lacks a music division, one of
the entertainment industry's most reliable profit centers. One solution
would be to acquire EMI, known for such performers as Garth Brooks and
Sinead O'Connor. Or Murdoch might go after the 15% stake in Time Warner,
worth about $2 billion, that the Seagram Co., which recently bought MCA
and its Universal Studios, may be ready to unload. But another buyer for
those shares, the phone giant AT&T, is rumored to be in talks with Time
Warner.
In fact, few Murdoch watchers believe the man would be satisfied with
a minority interest in any company. He is known for big, risky deals, like
the $1.6 billion he spent to bring N.F.L. football to Fox. And more than
anything, he's determined to make Fox a real competitor against the Big
Three networks. That means adding affiliates. With new networks founded by
Paramount and Warner also scouting available stations, the competition is
tough. He could attempt to buy companies that own several stations, like
Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting, which has eight. Or he could pick them
off one by one. Last month the boss himself persuaded the owners of a
South Bend, Indiana, station to switch its affiliation from ABC to Fox.
Ordinarily that kind of negotiation would be the job of a lower
executive. Despite its global reach, News Corp. is in some ways very much
a one-man show--the Murdoch show. MCI's investment represents, in effect,
a $2 billion bet on Murdoch's savvy and vision. Which is why his failure
to develop clear successors among his management team is a growing problem
for the 64-year-old executive. The media world is full of former Murdoch
lieutenants, including free-lance mogul Barry Diller and Disney motion
pictures chief Joe Roth. After Murdoch is gone, who runs the place?
MCI tried addressing that question with a contract clause that gives
it the right to acquire Murdoch's News Corp. stock in the event his heirs
choose not to sell a substantial stake. That's not much of a guarantee
his company can thrive without him. News Corp. has no enduring culture,
says a recent departee. "It's not a corporate culture. It's a Rupert
culture."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent
to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY
600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed
Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to:
STReport's Fargo Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior
to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as
much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this
sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please,
allow at least a one week turn-around)
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
___ ___ _____ _______
/___| /___| /_____| /_______/
/____|/____| /__/|__| /__/
/_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
/__/|____/|__|________|__/
/__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/_____
/__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
________________________________________
/_______________________________________/
MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
======================
John Deegan, Editor (Temp)
> HAYES SYSOP SUPPORT Program STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
H A Y E S S Y S O P P R O G R A M
=====================================
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc
P.O. Box 105203
Atlanta, Georgia 30348
(404)840-9200
FAX: (404)449-0087
BBS: (404)HI-MODEM (446-6336)
Email: tech_support@hayes.com
Dear SysOp,
Thank you for inquiring about the Hayes SysOp Program! The Hayes
SysOp Program offers a very attractive full featured program for BBS
System Operators. The Program includes special SysOp pricing for
qualified SysOps to purchase hardware and software directly from Hayes
at prices significantly lower than retail pricing.
Hayes Online (1-404-HI-MODEM) is your online source for Hayes
Technical Support, product information and updates. This allows you
full access to all the technical notes and bulletins within the Hayes
File Library. Once registered and we receive your order for any Hayes
high speed modem, you will be granted access to the SysOp's Forum where
we post information and special offers available only to Hayes SysOps.
Hayes Online also contains a variety of SIGs with files and information
on most of the popular BBS software packages. Hayes maintains close
contact with many BBS software authors and other software developers
within the BBS community to insure full-functionality when used with
their communications products.
The Hayes Sysop Program features the Hayes OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC +
FAX. This external data + fax modem supports ITU-T V.34 and industry
standard V.Fast Class (V.FC) for 28,800 bit/s (28.8 kbit/s) data
transmission; ITU-T V.42 bis data compression; ITU-T V.42 error-control;
and Group 3 fax using V.17 for 14,400 bit/s (14.4 kbit/s) fax
transmission. This product is fully compatible with the installed base
of V.32 bis (14.4 kbit/s), V.32 (9600 bit/s) and V.22 bis (2400 bit/s)
modems. The special Sysop program price on this unit is $259.
This offer expires July 31, 1995.
---------------------------------
Advantages of Hayes SysOp Program
---------------------------------
Here are some of the things that make the Hayes SysOp Program the best
in the industry:
--Hayes will provide free pre-ship exchange for modems requiring
service for Sysops.
--Hayes offers the opportunity for Sysops to earn incentives by selling
Hayes products to their users. Details about this program are available
in the Hayes Sysops Forum on Hayes Online.
--Hayes does not require (or even request) that SysOps maintain an
area or bulletin on their BBS for advertising or marketing by Hayes.
--Hayes does not require logon credit or even the identification of
modem type. (However, we think SysOps will be proud to display the
use of Hayes modems).
--Hayes does not require written consent for a SysOp to sell their
modem(s) if no longer providing a BBS or upgrading.
--Hayes accepts Visa and Mastercard as well as checks and money orders.
--Hayes has provisions for new BBSes for those who cannot meet the 6
month requirement.** (See note)
--Fast service: Most orders are processed and shipped within 1-2 weeks
of receipt. (Subject to product availability.)
--When purchasing a Hayes modem the Sysop receives full support and
service from the best Customer Support organization in the
communications industry.
--Hayes Online Services may be reached for technical support over a
variety of popular online services and networks including Compuserve,
Fidonet, ILink and many others.
Representations, Warranties, Undertakings and Acknowledgements of Buyer
Bulletin Board Operator/SYSOP Program
1. If the Buyer is a bulletin board operator, the Buyer represents and
warrants to Hayes that the Products purchased under the Order shall be
used by Buyer in connection with the operation of Buyer's bulletin board.
The Buyer will use the Products for no other purposes whatsoever,
including, without limitation, resale.
2. If the Buyer is a bulletin board operator, the Buyer represents and
warrants to Hayes that its bulletin board has been in continuous service
for the six (6) month period immediately prior to the Order Date set forth
on the Order; Buyer further represents and warrants to Hayes that it
currently receives a minimum of fifty (50) calls per week or two hundred
(200) calls per month from members of the bulletin board. Only fulltime
systems running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week will be qualified. Hayes
may make provisions for new boards, but these are solely at the discretion
of Hayes, leave a message to the sysop on Online With Hayes for more
information.**
3. The Buyer acknowledges that a maximum purchase of four (4) units of
Hayes Products are offered to Buyer on the first order. Additional units
may be available at the discretion of Hayes for use with verifiable
multiline systems over 4 nodes.
4. The Buyer agrees to complete the Bulletin Board Questionnaire and
return it and the Order to Hayes at the following address:
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.
Attn: Hayes SYSOP Coordinator
Post Office Box 105203
Atlanta, Georgia 30348
FAX: 404-449-0087
Buyer acknowledges that Seller is under no obligation to ship any of the
Products ordered until the Questionnaire has been received and qualified
by Hayes.
**For a new BBS (i.e. those that have not yet been operational for
at least 6 months) to be considered for qualification for the Sysop
program, the BBS must at least already be fully operational with it's
own dedicated phone line and be running a registered version of
qualified BBS software. Hayes may request proof of BBS software
registration as well as copies of phone bills or other documentation
as needed to substantiate proof of BBS's operation.
Approved Sysop Price List - Effective 03/08/95
Hayes Part # Hayes Product / Description MSRP Sysop
Price
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
08-02349 Hayes OPTIMA 288 V.34/V.FC + FAX (external) 579.00 259.00
08-01291 Hayes ISDN System Adapter 1199.00 450.00
08-01342 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Single Port) 99.00 69.00
08-01343 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Dual Port) 149.00 89.00
08-01355 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (Microchannel) 199.00 109.00
08-01356 Hayes ESP Comm. Accelerator (8 port ISA) 699.00 349.00
08-02230 Hayes Smartcom Data/Fax Pro 79.99 45.00
08-02194 Hayes Smartcom BBS Dialer 14.99 7.50
(Leave feedback as you logoff of Hayes Online BBS for pricing on any other
Hayes product)
(Send this section to Hayes)
Questionnaire Bulletin Board Operator/SYSOP Program
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Return to:
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.
Attn: Sysop Support Coordinator
P.O. BOX 105203
Atlanta, Georgia 30348
FAX 404-449-0087
Bulletin Board Name__________________________________________________
SYSOP Name___________________________________________________________
BBS Address__________________________________________________________
City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code)________________________________
Daytime Phone ( )__________________________________________________
Fax Phone ( )______________________________________________________
Bulletin Board Phone(s) ( )________________________________________
Would you like your BBS phone published in the Hayes BBS List?_______
USER GROUP AFFILIATION (optional)
Name of Group________________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________________
City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code)________________________________
Officer or Contact_________________________ Phone ( )______________
BULLETIN BOARD INFORMATION
General subjects of information provided by the Bulletin Board:
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Hobby or Commercial?_________________________________________________
Which operating system does the BBS use?(DOS, Windows, Mac, LAN, etc)
_____________________________________________________________________
What BBS software is in use?_________________________________________
How long has the BBS been in service?________________________________
How many lines are currently dedicated to the BBS?___________________
What modem(s) are you using now?_____________________________________
Are there any periods of time where BBS is down for routine
maintenance (netmail processing, etc)? If so, please list these
periods so we do not attempt to verify during those hours:
_____________________________________________________________________
Average number of calls received per month:__________________________
Approximate number of users:_________________________________________
So that we may call into the system YOU MUST PROVIDE AN ESTABLISHED
LOGIN ID. Your order will not be processed unless you provide us
a pre-established LOGON. Please remember that even if you are
running an open system, we verify an enormous number of BBSs each day
and we are not able to spend time answering registration questions.
Enter LOGON ID: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
(Send this section to Hayes)
Model Number Desired Quantity Subtotal
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
SUBTOTAL : ________
GA Customers add 5% sales tax/CA Customers add 8.25% sales tax:________
$10.00 PER ITEM FOR SHIPPING : __________ x $10 =________
*All orders shipped 2nd Day Air* Total Order: ___________
*** SPECIAL NOTE FOR CANADIAN SYSOPS: *** You will be responsible for
paying
provincial sales tax (Ontario customers only) and GST as prescribed by
law.
Canadians should NOT submit U.S. Funds, please call Hayes Canada at
519-746-5000 to check on price in Canadian funds and more information.
SOLD TO: (Please print or type)
BBS Name:____________________________________________________
Customer Name:_______________________________________________
Customer Address:____________________________________________
City/State/Province/Zip (Postal Code):___________________________________
Shipping address (if different):_________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Order Date:______________________________________________________________
Payment Terms:
Payment for the entire amount of the [ ] Check PLEASE CHECK
purchase must be included with this [ ] Money Order ONE BOX
order form. You may pay by check, [ ] MasterCard (U.S. only)
money order, MasterCard, or VISA. [ ] VISA
Credit Card #: _______________________________________
Expiration Date: _____________________________________
Signature: ________________________________________________
(Must complete if paying by credit card)
Hayes reserves the right to, at its sole discretion, terminate or
modify the terms of this offer at any time without prior notification.
This offer is good in the United States and Canada only. Offer void
where prohibited by law. All offers subject to availability.
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc
P.O. Box 105203
Atlanta, Georgia 30348
(404)840-9200
FAX: (404)449-0087
BBS: (404)HI-MODEM (446-6336)
Email: tech_support@hayes.com
**********************************************************************
ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
=======================
Dana Jacobson, Editor
> From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I hate deadlines, but fortunately for all of us, I have them;
otherwise, I don't think that I'd ever have an issue ready on time! No
matter how early I start any particular issue, there's always something
that needs fine-tuning shortly before I need to get my material off to
Florida!
Not much on tap in the computing arena this week - most news is
coming from the recent E3 show in Los Angeles. We'll have show reports
for you in this issue, but in the Jaguar section since that's the only
Atari focus at that show.
Have you checked out the STReport Web page yet? I dropped by the
other night and it's starting to shape up nicely. The address is:
http://www/icba.com/streport. If you're looking for an Internet site
to grab your weekly dose of STReport, this would be a perfect
opportunity for you to do so. For our current STReport Internet mail
subscribers, we'll slowly be shifting our distribution process to the
Web to make things easier for you (no more uudecoding the issues!).
For those of you who still prefer the mail system, we'll continue to
accommodate you (but you'll need to let us know in the weeks to come).
Drop by and check out the STReport Web pages - your comments are
welcome.
It's going to be a large issue this week with all of the E3
reports, so I'd better get back to it so you'll have this week's issue
on a timely basis!
Until next time...
___________________________________________________
> The Ultimate Virus Killer Book! STR InfoFile!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
\\\\|////
/ - - \
(| 0 o 0 |)
\ ~ /
-=-ooo-=-=ooo=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| Richard Karsmakers r.c.karsmakers@stud.let.ruu.nl |
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| Editor of : "Twilight World" Internet fiction magazine |
| "ST NEWS" Atari ST/TT/Falcon multi-media disk magazine |
| Snailmail : P.O. Box 67 |
| NL-3500 AB Utrecht |
| The Netherlands |
-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." |
-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE ULTIMATE VIRUS KILLER BOOK, by Richard Karsmakers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yes! Finally it *will* happen!
Over the past few years I've been writing a book called the "Ultimate
Virus Killer" book, i.e. the ultimate book for those of you who are
interested in the virus phenomenon - or your protection against it.
o What to do against viruses.
o What viruses can and can't do.
o A history of viruses on Atari, MS-DOS, Apple and others
systems.
o Extensive virus classification described.
o All sense and nonsense ever said about Atari viruses
outlined.
o A full and extended "Ultimate Virus Killer" manual.
o A list of all Atari viruses and their symptoms.
o The biggest glossary you ever saw.
o A total of around 250 pages of know-how.
The book is planned to be ready by July 1st 1995, but if you order before
May 1st (post mark!) you will get an interesting discount. Please refer to
the ordering details, below.
IMPORTANT: THE BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD! ORDERS
RECEIVED AFTER DECEMBER 31ST 1995 WILL NO LONGER BE PROCESSED!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ordering conditions
-----------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom:
$11.99 to be sent as a UK cheque made out to "Mr. J.P. Karsmakers".
If you order after August 1st 1995, please allow up to six weeks
for delivery.
Please *clearly* state your name and address and send your cheque off
to the address below.
Nederland / The Netherlands:
Hfl 29,95 per Nederlandse cheque op naam van "Dhr. R. Karsmakers".
Let op: Het boek is in het Engels! Indien U na 1 Augustus 1995
bestelt, houd s.v.p. rekening met een levertijd tot vier weken.
Vermeld s.v.p. *duidelijk* Uw naam en adres en stuur Uw cheque
naar het hieronder vermelde adres.
The rest of the world:
US$25 (Germans: DM 30) to be transferred via an IMO (that's
"International Money Order") or cash. Absolutely no cheques!
If you order after August 1st 1995, please allow up to six weeks
for delivery.
Please *clearly* state your name and address and send your IMO
off to the address below.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The address to send your stuff to
-----------------------------------------------------------------
International: For the Netherlands:
Richard Karsmakers Richard Karsmakers
P.O.Box 67 Postbus 67
NL-3500 AB Utrecht 3500 AB Utrecht
The Netherlands
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Important notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
o If you have an email account and specify it upon ordering, I
will let you know when the book is being sent off.
o The prices include postage and packaging costs.
o Remember: The book won't be available anymore after December
31st 1995!
____________________________________
-/- Electronic Mall Headed to Web -/-
CompuServe Inc. says its Electronic Mall will open its doors this
fall to the Internet's 20 million users. Currently available only to
CompuServe Information Service members, The Electronic Mall will expand
its reach to the Internet's World Wide Web, vastly broadening the market
for Mall merchants that choose to reach the Internet user base as well as
CompuServe's 3 million membersworldwide.
CompuServe pioneered the concept of online direct marketing 11 years
ago when it established The Electronic Mall. The company, based in
Columbus, Ohio, notes that orders and accesses have increased every year
since the Mall's launch and that the Mall has experienced particularly
strong growth in the past five years, with average annual increases of 50
percent in orders and 78 percent in number of accesses.
The Mall's more than 170 stores include several "anchor" merchants
such as Lands' End, Jc penney, Hammacher Schlemmer, FTD Direct, Hyatt
International and Service Merchandise, all of which have expressed
interest in establishing a presence on the Web, says CompuServe.
Through its Internet Division and its relationship with Terisa Systems
of Menlo Park, California, CompuServe is implementing a transaction
protocol based on Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol (S-HTTP) and Secure
Socket Layer (SSL).
"Opening the Mall to the Internet represents a giant leap forward for
direct marketing online," says Kevin Knott, CompuServe vice president of
product marketing. "Obviously, by broadening the potential market, we're
offering our merchants many more customers for the dollar. And, by opening
a store on the Web under the CompuServe banner, merchants benefit from our
experience and our brand equity, which enjoys the strongest worldwide
recognition."
______________________________________
JAGUAR SECTION
==============
E3 Reports! CatNips! JaguarCD!
VR Update! More Hardware! Games!
100 Games By X-Mas! ATC 1Q Report!
And much more!!
> From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The E3 show has dominated the onlines and the public this past week.
As at most shows, Atari has made a number of major announcements, some of
which we've had an inkling about already. Some of the news is very
impressive, as you'll see. Other news items are truly public relations
announcements to make us all take heart that all is going well, as
planned. With all of the news, I'm going to withhold comment this week,
but I do have some opinions and observations that I'd like to share -
we'll see what you think. In the meantime, I'm going to "re-run" our
JaguarCD survey from a couple of week's ago, as requested by a number of
readers. Some of the comments received so far have been interesting and
informative. Before we print a sampling of them, we want to make sure
that we give you plenty of time to form opinions, especially now that E3
has come and gone.
We have a lot to cover this week, so let's get to it!
Until next time...
> JaguarCD Survey! - What Are YOUR Feelings Regarding the Purchase
"""""""""""""""" of the JaguarCD?
Sb: #77732-Jaguar 2 Specs!
Fm: Bob McCauley 73160,3542
To: Dana P. Jacobson 71051,3327 (X)
>>Come up with the survey that you feel would work and _I'll_ make sure
that it gets run in STReport! <<grin>>
Dana,
Thanks for the reply --
I will give it a start, maybe others could come in and add to the survey.
Maybe something like
If you are waiting to buy a Jag:
a. Is the delay of the CD affecting your purchase decision:
1. If so, has it caused you to back out of buying a Jag?
b. Is it a "don't care" -- I would buy or not buy a jag independent
of the CD availability.
c. If you are planning to buy a PSX, U64, etc...
1. Would availability of a Jag II (that leapfrogs the PSX)
change your mind?
a. if it were available in Sept?
b. if it were available in Dec?
c. if it were available in Jan 96?
d. if it were available in April 96??
e. if it were available in Sept 96?
(assume the PSX availability in Sept 95)
d. Do you think that Atari management broke promises to you with
all the delays?
e. Do you think that Atari management made good faith effort in
trying to solve their delay problems?
f. Would it change your attitude if Atari had been more candid in
providing more insight into problems that caused the delays?
Bob
[Editor's note: send all comments addressed to "dpj@delphi.com".
> Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out.
Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9005 Raiden $49.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp.
J9001 Trevor McFur/
Crescent Galaxy $49.99 Atari Corp.
J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp.
J9028 Wolfenstein 3D $69.95 id/Atari Corp.
JA100 Brutal Sports FtBall $69.95 Telegames
J9008 Alien vs. Predator $69.99 Rebellion/Atari Corp.
J9029 Doom $69.99 id/Atari Corp.
J9036 Dragon: Bruce Lee $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9003 Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9007 Checkered Flag $69.99 Atari Corp.
J9012 Kasumi Ninja $69.99 Atari Corp.
J9042 Zool 2 $59.99 Atari Corp
J9020 Bubsy $49.99 Atari Corp
J9026 Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari Corp
J9060 Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari Corp.
Cannon Fodder $69.99 Virgin
Syndicate $69.99 Ocean
Troy Aikman Ftball $69.99 Williams
Theme Park $69.99 Ocean
Sensible Soccer Telegames
Double Dragon V $59.99 Williams
J9009E Hover Strike $59.99 Atari Corp.
Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
Pinball Fantasies $ 59.95 Computer West
Jaguar CD-ROM $149.99 Atari
Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER
J8001 Jaguar (complete) $189.99 Atari Corp.
J8001 Jaguar (no cart) $159.99 Atari Corp.
J8904 Composite Cable $19.95
J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp.
J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95
CatBox $69.95 ICD
> Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno
Dorf & Stanton Communications
(310)479-4997
ATARI JAGUAR'S LIBRARY APPROACHES 100 TITLES IN 1995
SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari Corporation announces that there
will be nearly 100 titles for its 64-bit Jaguar entertainment system by
the end of the year. "We will have every kind of game that players want,
from the best developers and publishers in the world," comments Atari
President Sam Tramiel.
Based on the popularity of "Tempest 2000", Atari is launching a complete
line of classic games, including "Dactyl Joust" and "Defender 2000",
and "Missile Command VR" for the Jaguar VR. "Defender 2000" is being
developed with three distinct play modes for the Jaguar by Jeff Minter,
developer of "Tempest 2000". In addition, Atari will publish classic
games for the PC at the end of the year, beginning with "Tempest 2000".
Other new release titles include "Primal Rage" from Time Warner
Interactive, the "Highlander" RPG series, "Fight for Life" and "NBA
Jam Tournament Edition".
The featured titles at Atari Corporation's E3 booth in Los Angeles are
"TRF", "Rayman", "White Men Can't Jump" and "Ultra Vortex".
TRF: TRF combines the latest motion capture technology and nationally
known martial arts fighters in a wide variety of combat scenarios.
Featured fighters include Ho Sung Pak, Dr. Philip Ahn, Katalin
Zamiar and Daniel Pesina; who were all featured in the "Mortal
Kombat" games.
RAYMAN: Rayman lives in a fantasy land beyond the reaches of our
universe. Rayman must restore peace and harmony to his world
by defeating the evil Mr. Black and retrieve the stolen Great
Proton.
WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP: Trash talk runs rampant in this "in-your-face",
two-on-two blacktop basketball shootout. Automatic camera
control zooms in and swings around to catch all the action.
ULTRA VORTEX: Players become one of the ten eye-popping, bone crunching
warriors of the underground who battle it out in
mind-bending arenas carved out of living rock. They have
one goal in mind: Defeat the dreaded Guardian of the Vortex.
Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today,
Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit
entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA.
###
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products may be trademarks of
their owning companies.
Primal Rage(tm) and all related elements are property of Time Warner
Interactive(tm).
Rayman(tm) is a trademark of UBI Soft.
Ultra Vortex(tm) is a trademark of Beyond Games, Inc.
####
CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno
Dorf & Stanton Communications
(310)479-4997
ATARI CORPORATION ADDS TWO TOP INDUSTRY VETERANS TO SENIOR
MANAGEMENT TEAM
SUNNYVALE, CA (May 1, 1995) -- Atari Corporation has powered up its
senior management team with the addition of top industry veterans
Dean Fox and Jon Correll. Mr. Fox comes on board as Senior Vice
President of Marketing and Correll as Vice President of Software
Product Development.
"The formidable skills and experience of Dean Fox and Jon Correll
will provide Atari with a focused marketing plan and the development
of the highest quality software for the consumer, taking full
advantage of Jaguar's capability including 60 FPS, 16 million colors
and 64 Bit Processing, " Sam Tramiel, CEO, Atari Corporation said in
making the announcement.
Prior to joining Atari Corporation, Correll held the position of
Manager of Development Administration for Sega of America. At Sega,
Correll implemented and negotiated development contracts and
produced the first CD titles for Sega Corporation including "Night
Trap".
Correll began his career in the software and gaming industry as
Manager of Product Development for Accolade in 1986. While at
Accolade, Correll produced some of the company's most popular games
including "Test Drive" and "Mean 18 Golf". Correll went on to
consult various Silicon Valley companies including EPYX and worked
as Director of Product Development for Three-Sixty.
Before joining Atari, Mr. Fox founded, staffed, and led the
marketing group for Rocket Science Games. Prior to RSG, Fox directed
the launch for Sega CD and led ongoing strategic marketing, product
concept and distribution consultation for several CD-ROM multimedia
entertainment publishers.
In his marketing and advertising tenure, Fox contributed to the
introductions of many consumer products, including Sony Betamax and
JVC VHS Video cassette recorders, Sharp laptop computers, and Sega CD
multimedia game systems.
Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years.
Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit
entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA.
###
CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno
Dorf & Stanton Communications
(310)479-4997
ATARI CONTINUES TO EXPAND JAGUAR PERIPHERALS
SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari continues to provide new gaming
options for owners of its 64-bit Jaguar Interactive Entertainment
System. Key products to enhance the Jaguar play experience hit the
marketplace in 1995, with many more to come. "Since Jaguar has already
made the leap to 64-bit technology, we can now focus on providing even
more value to consumers by expanding the system with new and innovative
peripherals," says Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corporation.
One of the Jaguar extras is the much anticipated multimedia compact
disc (CD) player. Priced at approximately $150, the Jaguar CD player
attaches to the top of the Jaguar console. The Jaguar CD plays many
new CD games, including "Battlemorph", "Highlander", "Blue Lightning",
"Demolition Man", "Myst", and "Creature Shock" in addition to playing
standard audio disks. The Jaguar CD player provides 790 megabytes of
raw data storage, allowing video game programmers to incorporate more
complex digitized images, full-motion video sequences and high-quality
audio soundtracks. This powerful double-speed CD player also provides
fast access speed for smoother game play, and its massive data capacity
gives users better graphic detail, expanded plot lines and more
characters for an overall enhanced video game experience. Additionally,
built into the unit is the "Virtual Light Machine(tm)", which creates
and displays 81 different light patterns on the video screen in response
to music played through the system.
Mr. Tramiel says about the system, "The combination of the most advanced
technology, sophisticated software and affordable consumer pricing sets
Jaguar apart from all competitors." Target ship date for the CD player
is August, 1995.
For around $30, Jaguar owners can take advantage of the Jag Link(tm),
which allows users to play competitively side-by-side. The Jag Link
enables users to connect two Jaguar systems for simultaneous game
playing up to 100 feet apart. The Jag Link uses standard RJ11 phone
line cable for linking two Jaguar systems.
Team Tap(tm) is a new peripheral that for around $25 enables competitive,
simultaneous play for up to four players on one Jaguar. The peripheral,
which debuts with the new title "White Men Can't Jump", provides
players with a two-on-two playground simulation experience. With two
Jaguar systems and Team Tap, the competitive play can be expanded up
to eight players.
In addition, the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator gives players the
ability to link up over the phone. Developed by fax-modem-voice
technology experts, Phylon Communications, the new technology permits
two players to compete using a phone connection. Players can speak with
each other during game play through the use of a headset. With the
utilization of a "call waiting" feature, players can also pause a game
to answer a phone call.
Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years.
Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit
entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA.
###
CONTACT: for Atari Corporation
Jessica Nagel
Dorf & Stanton Communications
(310)479-4997
for Virtuality U.S.
Allison Ellis
Edelman Public Relations
(214)520-3555
for VIRTUALITY U.K.
Helen Horner/Ben Vaughan
Virtuality Group plc
011-44-116-233-7082
ATARI AND VIRTUALITY PREVIEW FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME
SYSTEM FOR THE CONSUMER MARKET AT E3
Affordable 64-bit Jaguar VR sets industry standards; available by
end of year.
LOS ANGELES (May 11, 1995) -- The Jaguar VR, the world's first fully
immersive virtual reality game system for the consumer market, was
unveiled today at E3. It is being developed jointly by Atari
Corporation, developer of the world's first 64-bit game system, and
VIRTUALITY Group plc, the global market leader in VR systems.
The Jaguar VR incorporates VIRTUALITY's revolutionary new VR
head-mounted display (HMD) and optional track joystick, offering
unequaled display, audio, and tracking features. Atari's Jaguar VR
sets an impressive industry standard for home virtual reality systems
and has been designed with the highest international health and safety
regulations in mind.
According to Sam Tramiel, President of Atari, "There is not one consumer
VR product that can compete with the Jaguar in terms of price,
performance and quality. The Jaguar VR has been designed with human
factors in mind and sets the standard for the industry to follow. We
are committed to delivering great experiences and entertainment."
The proprietary, ergonomic HMD weighs less than 1 pound and easily
adjusts to comfortably fit users, with or without glasses. It features
a custom-designed optical pupil projection system and a full-color
active matrix LCD screen. In addition, the HMD's 3D spatialized sound
system has been enhanced by placing speakers at the player's temple,
with sound projected back to the ears allowing for peripheral hearing.
A built-in microphone allows networked players to talk to each other.
A docking station, which links the Atari Jaguar system to the HMD and
joystick, houses the technologically advanced "V-Trak" infrared
tracking. This is the fastest tracker ever developed for consumer
application, reacting to real-time head and hand movements with no
perceptible lag time in the virtual world.
In addition, Jaguar VR is designed to be used only when a player is
sitting with the unit stationary on a flat surface. If a player
attempts to walk around while immersed in the game, an automatic
cutoff will be triggered.
Players who own an Atari Jaguar will be able to to upgrade by plugging
Jaguar VR into their existing system. The Jaguar VR has a targeted
retail price of $300.
Jaguar VR Software Development
------------------------------
Through a software licensing agreement, VIRTUALITY is developing
immersive virtual reality games for the Atari Jaguar VR. Atari's
classic home and arcade hit "Missile Command" is being recreated in VR
format by VIRTUALITY and will be available by the end of the year. In
addition, the popular VIRTUALITY arcade title "Zone Hunter" will also
be available for Jaguar VR with the system introduction. Discussions
are also underway with a number of third-party developers for the
creation of future games that take advantage of this unique technology
to create new experiences.
"The combination of Jaguar's 64-bit graphics processing power and our
IVR technology has produced a phenomenal, fully integrated VR consumer
product which has no competition, " said Jon Waldern, CEO of VIRTUALITY
Group plc. "This system expands the boundaries of the in-home
interactive games market and sets a new standard for others to try to
achieve.
Founded in 1987 in Leicester, England, VIRTUALITY Group plc. is the
world's leader in immersive virtual reality entertainment systems
worth more than 80 percent global market share. VIRTUALITY
Entertainment, Inc. headquartered in Irving, Texas, was established in
1993 as the U.S.-based subsidiary to oversee all North American
operations, sales, market development and distribution for its parent
company.
Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years.
Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit
entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA.
####
Contact: August J. Liguori
ATARI CORPORATION
(408) 745-2069
(408) 745-2173
May 16, 1995
For Immediate Release
ATARI CORPORATION ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 1995 RESULTS
Sunnyvale, CA-- Atari Corporation (ASE:ATC) today reported its financial
results for the first quarter ended March 31, 1995.
Net sales for the first quarter of 1995 were $4.9 million as compared
to $8.2 million for the first quarter of 1994. Late in the first quarter,
the Company lowered the wholesale price of the Jaguar 64-bit multimedia
entertainment system to allow for a $159 retail price. As a result of
the low sales volume and continued investment in marketing activities
during 1995, the Company incurred a net loss of $4.4 million for the
first quarter of 1995 as compared to a net loss of $0.9 million for the
same quarter of 1994. The first quarter of 1994 was favorably impacted
by the settlement of patent litigation in the amount of $2.2 million.
Commenting on the results, Sam Tramiel, CEO, said "The Jaguar price
change was made possible due to technology advances and near term cost
savings. We have positioned the 64-bit Jaguar as new advanced
technology with great software, at an affordable price. With a retail
price of $159 or less, the 64-bit Jaguar is in a good position to be
the upgrade choice for the present 16-bit game owners. We are focused
on developing software for the Jaguar and preparing for the upcoming
fall selling season."
Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today,
Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-bit
entertainment system. Atari is headquartered at 1196 Borregas Avenue,
Sunnyvale, California 94089.
ATARI CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share)
Quarter Ended
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Mar 31, Mar 31,
1995 1994
-------- --------
Net Sales $4,874 $8,156
======== ========
Operating Income (loss) $(5,158) $(3,372)
Exchange Gain (loss) 5 272
Other Income (Expense) Net 355 2,392 (a)
Interest Income Net of Interest (Expense) 372 (219)
-------- --------
Income (loss) Before Income Taxes $(4,426) $ (927)
-------- --------
Net Income (loss) $(4,426) $ (927)
======== ========
Earnings Per Common and Equivalent Share:
Net Income (loss) $ (0.07) $ (0.02)
======== ========
Weighted Average number of shares used
in computation 63,701 57,219
(a) Includes settlement of litigation.
###
-/- Bushnell to Head New Company -/-
A new venture called E2000, aimed at providing interactive
entertainment and learning as well as dining for families, is being
launched by Nolan Bushnell, founder/CEO of Atari Corp. and Pizza Time
Theater.
According to a statement from Los Altos, California, E2000 "applies
state-of-the-art virtual technology to three leisure areas --
entertainment, education and exercise -- and includes an interactive
dining area for the entire family, all within a 25,000 square-foot
environment."
In the statement, Bushnell commented, "In the past 25 years, the
game business has stagnated to some degree in ways that are
disappointing. Since I left the business over 15 years ago I have been
able to look at the industry's health and vitality from the outside and
for the past several months, my staff and I have been working to create
not just a series of new games, but new game types, environments and
delivery mechanisms to support them."
He said the first "E2000 Interactive Family Center" will be opened
in Silicon Valley this year, with a number of franchises expected to be
ready next year.
The facility's entertainment promises interactive attractions, along
with networked games allowing several hundred people to compete in
leagues.
-/- Arcade Classics Get New Life -/-
Microsoft Corp. is planning to bring several classic arcade games
to Windows 95 users.
The software giant will offer Microsoft Return of Arcade, a
collection that includes such venerable titles as Pac Man, Dig Dug,
Pole Position and Galaxian. Microsoft notes that each program is
replicated from the original coin-operated machine version.
"These games bring back nostalgic memories of spending long
afternoons in game halls and pizza parlors with pockets full of
quarters," says Stuart Moulder, a product unit manager at Microsoft's
entertainment business unit. "For a few minutes each day, players of
Microsoft Return of Arcade can use their home or office PCs to relive
the days of their youth."
The software's players can customize each game by changing the
number of lives, increasing the rate of fire and changing other
variables, such as customizing the keyboard controls. Additionally,
the games use Microsoft Wavemix technology to render multiple sound
effects simultaneously in Windows, providing a realistic arcade-style
game experience.
Microsoft Return of Arcade is scheduled to become available in
stores in this fall for approximately $34.95.
-/- AT&T Selling 3DO Stake -/-
AT&T Corp. is selling its stake in video-game developer 3DO Co.
Spokesman David Boyce of AT&T's consumer products division has told
Reuter News Service reporter Susan Moran that AT&T notified the
Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10 it plans to sell 25 percent
of its 2.5 percent equity stake in 3DO. He said AT&T plans to sell the
rest of its holdings before long.
"But," he added, "this is purely a financial decision. You
shouldn't read into our decision to sell the shares a statement one way
or another about our confidence in 3DO. At this point (3DO) is just an
investment for us."
Moran notes AT&T was one of the original investors in the Redwood
City, Calif., 3DO, along with Time Warner Inc. and Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co Ltd., whose Panasonic division makes 3DO's CD-based
Interactive Multiplayer. 3DO went public two years ago this month.
Shortly after that AT&T became a 3DO hardware licensee.
Boyce told the wire service AT&T had notified 3DO last year of its
plans to pull its stake in the company but was precluded from selling
the stock until last January.
_________________________________________
> Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Cars 2Q/95 Racing $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari
Arena Football 2Q/95 Sports TBD V Reel
Assault 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Barkley Basketball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Battlemorph 2Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Battle Wheels 2Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games
Blue Lightning (CD) 2Q/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Brett Hull Hockey (CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Brutal Sports Football NOW Sports/Combat $69.99 Telegames
Bubsy NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Burnout 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Cannon Fodder NOW Action/Adventure $69.99 Virgin
Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari
Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari
Creature Shock (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi TBD Atari/Virgin
Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Dactyl Joust 2Q/95 Action TBD Atari
Demolition Man 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Doom NOW Action/Combat $69.99 Atari
Double Dragon V NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Williams
Dragon:Bruce Lee Story NOW Combat $59.99 Atari
Dragon Lair (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft
Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari
Dungeon Depths 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Midnight Ent.
Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Flashback 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD US Gold
Fight For Life 2Q/95 Combat TBD Atari
Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Highlander (CD) 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Horrorscope 2Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel
Hover Strike NOW Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari
Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari
Pinball Fantasies 2Q/95 Arcade $59.95 Comp. West
Rage Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD Atari
Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Rayman 2Q/95 Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft
Robinson Requiem 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari
Sensible Soccer NOW Sports Telegames
Soccer Kid 2Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean
Space War 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Star Raiders 2Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari
Syndicate NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean
Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Theme Park NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean
Tiny Toon Adventures 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Trevor McFur NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Troy Aikman NFL Ftball NOW Sports $69.99 Williams
Ultimate Brain Games 2Q/95 Puzzle TBD Telegames
Ultra Vortex 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games
Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari
White Men Can't Jump 2Q/95 Sports TBD TriMark
Wolfenstein 3D NOW Combat/Action $59.99 Atari
Zool2 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
[Editor's note: Titles, scheduled release dates, and prices are
verified from Atari - all subject to change]
_____________________________________________
> Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STReport Spotlight - E3 Reports!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sb: #Jung's E3 Report
Fm: SYSOP*Jeff Kovach 74777,3071
To: All
From the rec.games.video.atari newsgroup, Robert Jung reports on Atari's
showing at E3:
----------------
From: rjung@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung)
Subject: Rob's Jaguar E3 bits
Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 06:19:04 GMT
Taking advantage of the generosity of a few good friends of mine, I
snuck into the Los Angeles Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) for a
few hours today to see what's up with Atari and the Jaguar. I may or
may not also have gotten recorded by AEO's video crew, but that's
another matter all together. Herein a report of what I saw.
(Note: This is not, in any way, shape, or form, a report on the E3
show as a whole. I didn't have the time or the inclination to see
every major player's booth, and I'm not claiming anything of the sort
[hey, I had errands to run and things to do]. If you want reports on
what everyone else was showing, there are plenty of other USENET reports
that will do the job. This message is for those who want a detailed
scrutiny of Atari's area)
Hokay, let's jump into the fray...
* FLOOR SPACE. Yes, Atari had the smallest space of the various
console makers at the show. On the other hand, their space was well
used. Sega's area (which was in the center of the South hall and next
to Atari) was the biggest, but much of the area was open space, big
displays, and to redundant showings. The Saturn area, for instance, had
three units running DAYTONA (A personal disappointment for me -- the
resolution's low, the horizon is -far- too short, and the steering wheel
is sensitive as h*ll. Give me RIDGE RACER on the PlayStation instead),
three running PANZIER DRAGOON, etc. Sega also had a section devoted
to different forms of shelving(!) and Sega merchandise, and massive
mock-ups for less-than-stellar games like GARFIELD and VR TROOPERS. Or
look at Nintendo, who wasn't even in the South Hall with
Atari/Sega/3DO/Sony, but in the West Hall with most of the computer firms.
I lost count of how many Jaguar games I saw (I'll have to count after
I finish this message); almost each kiosk was running a completely
different title, with a few networked demo exceptions, which helped
Atari cram more games in a small amount of space. A few games -- RAYMAN,
THEA REALM FIGHTERS, WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP, and ULTRA VORTEX -- got the
"big screen" treatment, with massive color TVs and a decorated theme
area. RAYMAN, for instance, had vines and plants in the area, and "tree
stump" seats for people to sit in.
* JAGUAR VR. This was Atari's "big gun" product, and they made sure
everyone knew it. Atari was handing out VR promotional packets with
free photographic slides (for you magazine publishers) and lots of
information, as well as "Jaguar VR" T-shirts (take the traditional
black Jaguar tee, but replace the blood-red Jaguar logo on the back
with a shiny embossed "Jaguar VR" instead).
Two raised daises were set up in the front of the area, where visitors
got a chance to try the Jaguar VR prototype gear. One line was devoted
to members of the press and media, while a second line was for
"everyone else." Both lines were long, though the media got
preferential treatment. The hardware is 98% finished, and final molds
of the equipment were on display. The VR system consists of three parts:
(1) VR goggles. No stereo vision, but otherwise a snug-fitting headset.
Works fine with glasses, too. Adjustable knobs for picture focus and
head fit. Plugs into the expansion port of the Jaguar.
(2) Trigger controller. A lightweight hand-held controller with two
buttons: a "trigger" and an "action" button. Plugs into the Jaguar
controller port.
(3) Infrared receiver. Not used in the demo setups, but the final
Jaguar VR set will use an infrared receiver to track the position of
your trigger relative to your helmet.
The software being shown was ZONE HUNTER, a shoot-everything-that-moves
sci-fi game. It was currently running on a dedicated computer (unseen,
possibly an IBM PC). A Virtuality rep I talked to says that work on
the Jaguar game software has begun; the polygon count will probably be
lower in the end, but they expect to make up for it by giving you a
larger "virtual world" to play in.
Yes, I got to try the VR gear. B-) ZONE HUNTER is a simple game: you
play a futuristic space Marine, who walks around, through, and under a
high-tech city, blowing away all sorts of aliens and enemies. Grab
powerups for your gun, avoid damage, and reach your checkpoints before
time runs out. Nothing too complicated, but it was fun to play -- think
of it as VR DOOM, if you want (though not as fast). Graphics were plain
polygons with a minimal amount of texture-mapping; sounds consist of
weapons fire and a "radio" voice from your headquarters.
The prototype VR gear works like a charm, and the tracking of your head
and gun are perfect. For example, I stopped at the end of a hall, spun
around, and blew away a mutant creeping up behind me, and didn't feel
any sort of discontinuity from the game. Suffice it to say that this
is a solid product.
I expressed some doubt that the $300 price tag might not make it
worthwhile for players. The Atari rep I talked to quickly contradicted
me: a LOT of retailers and sales representatives think there's a HUGE
market for a $450 ($300 headset plus $150 Jaguar) setup. Atari's very
eager to get this out by Christmas 1995 as a result, and I can't blame
them.
Final VR note: The current plans are to have at least two VR games
available at the headset's release: ZONE HUNTER and MISSILE COMMAND 3D.
I managed to sneak a peek at MC3D (it wasn't being shown to the general
public), but the game was too early to get a feel for what was going
on. At least coding has started...
* NEWS AND MISINFORMATION. Here's a good time to segue into some
potpourri of Jaguar news and whatnot...
>> DOOM to be Jaguar pack-in? Don't be so sure of that, folks. Yes,
Atari was showing new Jaguar packaging, with more colorful box art,
more screen shots, and promotions of the Jaguar CD, Jaguar VR, and
JagLink cables to retailers in private. And yes, the front of the
box says "DOOM included."
But wait! What's that -other- box over there, the one that says
"ALIEN VS. PREDATOR included," then? Turns out that both boxes
are marketing mock-ups. While there are plans to bring back the
Jaguar-and-game package, there is no decision made yet as to what
the pack-in will be. DOOM and AvP are merely used to give
retailers a feel for the new box design.
>> Does Atari have a clue? Despite what some people will say, Atari
is not unaware of their situation in the market. They have a good
machine for a good price, but their weakness is in software. They
KNOW that.
"So what are they going to do about it?", you ask. Good question.
How does hiring experienced programmers from Sega sound for an
answer. You heard correctly. Apparently, Sega of America recently
laid off twenty-five programmers due to their own downsizing
efforts. Atari is currently interviewing each and every one of
those ex-Sega coders, and wants to grab the best of the bunch to
work on Jaguar software.
But wait, there's more. Atari's new Director of Game Development
(who was also hired from Sega, as readers of my April report on
the "Dealer outreach pilot program" may remember) is also acutely
aware of the problem of the small Jaguar game library. Reports are
that he's working "very aggressively" on the development of new
games, and he might have been the leading force behind Atari's
increased use of focus groups for new game development (as reported
previously on the net by various sources).
In theory, then, Atari's assembling the pieces necessary to
increase the quantity and quality of Jaguar games in a BIG way.
Can they do it? Only time will tell...
>> What about Christmas 1995? More programmers and better development
are good solutions for the long term, but what about the short?
Well, Atari's E3 line is that they're looking at "50 new games for
1995." Their handouts and E3 advertising reflect this, with the
tag line "50 new games + 64 bits + $159 = Do the Math."
Sounds incredulous? So am I. But it gets more interesting. When
I asked an Atari rep about how realistic this goal was, she
insisted that it was a serious goal. Atari is counting 50 titles
from themselves and their third-party developers; "We're actually
trying to get more than 50 titles out, but we admit there's a chance
that some of them won't make it in time."
Well, she seemed sincere, anyway. I'm still doubtful, personally,
but I only report what I hear...
>> Who's Afraid of Sony? Is Atari worried about the $300 Sony
PlayStation? No. Why not? Because it doesn't exist.
Take this with a bag of salt, too, but apparently the $300
PlayStation announcement is a bit of misdirection from Sony, to
recoup some of their lost thunder from Sega's early Saturn release.
The PlayStation will hit the 'States for $300, but there are
reports that it's the WHOLESALE price.
If this is true, then depending on how retail sales go, the
PlayStation may end up costing anywhere from $340 to $380 retail
after the dust settles...
Semi-related sidebar: most of the retailers I talked with weren't
floored with Sega's early Saturn release. The feeling is that,
at $400, it's still priced too high for most consumers. The SNES
and Genesis are still seen as the price favorites, and the low-cost
upgrades -- the Jaguar and the 32X -- are given better odds for
survival. The consensus is also that the Jaguar is technologically
superior to the 32X, and Atari's lack of games is the biggest
thing holding them back (hmmm, sound familiar?).
Okay, enough gossiping. Let's get back to the really interesting
stuff, and talk about peripherals...
* JAGUAR SIX-BUTTON JOYPAD. Yes, it was there, being used to show off
ULTRA VORTEX. It feels about the same as the existing Jaguar joypad,
but with the following changes:
(1) Six buttons under the right thumb. The existing A, B, and C are
joined by 1, 2, and 3, which map into the keypad buttons. The buttons
are raised and round, instead of the flushed squares on the existing pad.
(2) Two index finger buttons, which map into the keypad buttons 4 and 6
for left and right.
(3) Minor mold changes near the keypad area, ostensibly to make removing
overlays easier.
(4)
More tactile feedback on the joypad.
For the most part, those familiar with the existing Jaguar controller
will have no problems with this new one. Expect to see it appear in
the Fall.
* JAGUAR CD. Everyone seems to be looking at August as a release date
for this peripheral. Why the delay? ( Repeat after me) "No software!"
A walk around Atari's E3 floor will confirm that -- NONE of the Jaguar CD
titles shown were finished. Even VID GRID, the so-easy-I-can't-believe-it
title, was running as an unfinished "E3 Demo Version." You could play
it, but there were no provisions to set options yet. Some titles were
closer to completion than others, but every Jaguar CD game was clearly
stamped "Work in progress," and looked like it too.
On the good side, the CD does exist; a few Jaguar CD games were
running off EEPROMS, but most were playing on final-production CD
units. I got a quick glimpse of the Jaguar CD packaging mock-up;
there's not much to report other than the Virtual Light Machine gets
a good amount of promotion, and the box is printed for international
sales (in three languages).
* VIRTUAL LIGHT MACHINE. It's up, it's running, and it looks very
spiffy. The Jaguar keypad is used extensively -- tap a few keys, and
you can change the audio track on the fly. Or press the A button to
bring up the CD player menu, where you can program tracks, fast forward,
reverse, adjust the volume, and do other audio CD features.
CD+Graphics flashed by briefly, but nobody had a CD+G disc to try it on...
It's fun to play with the VLM. Just hold down the asterisk key, tap
two digits (like a television remote control), and you bring up the
effect. There seems to be 81 different visuals (9 categories with
9 variations each), and they're all entrancing to look at. Some
effects effortlessly fade from one to the other, while others will
blink immediately. Some effects are more/less sensitive to the music
than others (this probably accounts for some people wondering why
VLM didn't "react well" to the rhythm of a tune). Other effects play
on different things -- tempo, frequency, reverb, stereo, etc. The idea
is to encourage experimentation, and it does a very good job of it.
And for some reason, I was amused that -- in the tradition of MTV and
VH1 -- the VLM will flash a little colored "VLM" logo at the lower-right
corner of the screen. Don't worry, it only shows up when you want it to.
* RELEASED GAMES. Of the Jaguar games shown, only IRON SOLDIER,
TEMPEST 2000,
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, VAL D'ISERE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING, and DOOM were
already available. No need to discuss them here, though I'm glad that
more space was given to works-in-progress instead of less impressive
titles like DOUBLE DRAGON
V or CLUB DRIVE.
Now for the meat of the matter -- the new games. I covered a number
of titles two weeks ago in an article entitled "Jabbin' with Jeff."
You may want to dig that up for reference; some games were almost
identical, while others had more "advanced" showings at E3. Now, in
no particular order...
* DEFENDER 2000. I talked about this two weeks ago, in the selfsame
"Jabbin'" message. No need to repeat myself here; the E3 version was
the same as the one shown around Los Angeles for the last few weeks.
"Classic" is near-perfect clone, while "Defender Plus" is an
in-your-face blast-a-thon with flowing colors and Pixelshatter-esque
explosions everywhere. By the way, Jeff is glad that E3 is over; he
wants to get back home and do some more coding already...
B-)
* POWER DRIVE RALLY. Significantly advanced over the version shown
two weeks ago. There are now option screens to configure your car,
and more (and better) sounds throughout. I'm still lackluster on
this game myself, but this is something for Time-Warner Interactive
to worry about, methinks.
* PRIMAL RAGE. A very early version. It was clearly running entirely
from the Jaguar memory (the CD wasn't spinning), and only featured the
title page: the
PRIMAL RAGE logo, the development team, the background
story of the fall of Earth and the rise of Urth, and a few high score
tables. Visually, it's almost exactly like the arcade, with the only
exception being that the screens flashed by a little too quickly. But
then, it's no indication of how the final game will be...
* [SUPER] BURN OUT. This game's either 99% finished, or it's done
already, and it's simply wonderful. It wants to be a high-speed,
no-nonsense motorcycle racing game and succeeds in spades. One- and
two-player options, flawless controls, crisp voices/sounds/music,
incredibly fast graphics with scaled sprites and texture-mapped
features ... if you like racing games, this is a no-brainer -- buy it.
The cartridge saves the best times for each track, and the difficulty
of the computer drones can be adjusted.
* FIGHT FOR LIFE. I've been hearing this game get pounded for months
and months and months, and when I finally saw it today, I was
expecting to be disappointed.
I don't know WHY people are griping; the version of FIGHT FOR LIFE I
played was a respectable polygon fighter, and it's clear to me that
the critics are either playing earlier versions of the game, have an
axe to grind, or both. The texture-mapped polygon graphics are very
smooth (if it's not 30 fps, it's pretty close), while the detailed
backgrounds are a blast to look at.
The E3 version had all of the fighters' moves enabled, and a large
number of them were printed for people to use. Francois Bertrand
says the final game will let each player start with five basic moves,
and earn more by defeating opponents. The new Jaguar six-button
controller will be supported; sidestepping is done with the "4" and
"6" keys, which map into the left and right index buttons on the new
controller. Regular controls are A to block, B to punch, and C to kick.
I managed to dope out a few moves on my own, and enjoyed Muhali's
"Arabin nooagie" attack. B-)
Now, granted, FIGHT FOR LIFE is not quite up there graphically with
VIRTUA FIGHTER on the Saturn or TO SHIH DEN on the PlayStation. But
then, this -is- a four-megabyte cartridge; and after having tried
VIRTUA FIGHTER on the 32X (the closest comparison to FFL both,
conceptually and geographically), I honestly think FFL can hold its
own pretty well. Francois says the game should go into final testing
in a month or so; for now, I'd advise people to keep an open mind about
this title.
(Oh, and Francois' next project after FIGHT FOR LIFE is PONG 2000. He
is *NOT* kidding, folks -- he wants to do this. After I left the E3
show, I started thinking about what could be done with the idea, and
there are some possibilities there...)
* BLUE LIGHTNING. Some folks have been saying this is the "lamest
Jaguar game ever." I wouldn't go that far; BLUE LIGHTNING is a decent
attempt to copy Sega's AFTERBURNER arcade game. The problem is that,
after you strip away the neat FMV intro, the radical music, the
animated jet models and pre-launch sequences, that's what you
get -- AFTERBURNER, a fairly dated and simple arcade game. If this was
a cartridge title (without the snazzy music and FMV), it wouldn't be so
bad. But I cannot honestly see buying this on CD, unless it's at a
discount. An Atari rep I collared said that they've only gotten
"positive" responses on it, so I made sure to register a negative
response for the sake of completeness. Time will tell..
*. AIR CARS. Now, -this- is a title that can be called "lamest
Jaguar game ever" (or at least at E3). My deepest apologies to
Midnight Software, but this is one gamer's opinion. While the game
may have been reworked after a poor showing at the 1995 Winter CES,
the near-final version on the E3 floor didn't move me in any positive
direction. The only real changes that I could spot were better and
more extensive use of Goraund shading; the sense of movement and
terrain height is there. On the other hand, game objects look blocky
and simple (a "tree" was nothing more than an elongated green pyramid
stuck on a brown cube, for example) and things got chaotic pretty
quickly (I suddenly found myself stopped in front of a tank which blew
me away after three shots). The Midnight rep I talked to emphasized
the eight-player networking aspect of the game, but I don't know if
people will put up with the title just for that feature alone.
* BALDY. An unusual puzzle game that looks like a cross between
POPULOUS, LEMMINGS, and TYRANTS. You control the fates of a bunch
of bald men who run around on a series of islands. Your god-like
powers let you create and remove land, assign men to various tasks,
direct them to new inventions, and generally build up a civilization
to take over (or destroy) a competing tribe of folks. I think. There
were no instructions for the game that I could find, but so far the
game looks reasonable. I also note that BALDIES will be showing up for
other platforms as well, so expect to hear more of this in the coming
months.
* FLASHBACK. US Gold, predictably enough, cheapened out. FLASHBACK
looks and plays like its Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis counterparts.
Granted, it's a reasonable choice given the size limitations of the
cartridge format, but I was still upset.
* BATTLESPHERE. Had the pleasure of running into Scott and Stephanie and
Someone Else (sorry B-) from 4Play, and ended up giving the game a
healthy test drive. The game is currently about two-thirds complete;
the graphics engine is there, there are some sounds, two-player
networking was showing, and the "blow up the other combatants" scenario
is in place. Missing are complete cockpit instruments (only the fore
and aft radar were available), different and more advanced weapons, and
the other game scenarios 4Play has been planning for months. They plan
to have the game finished in another three months, though I would not
be surprised (unfortunately) if it took more than that -- part-time
game development is not an easy task.
On the other hand, what was there looked great. Fast, fluid graphics,
smooth scrolling, lovely backgrounds, and a good smattering of detail.
The ships are mostly Goraund-shaded polygon models with a fair use of
texture-mapped sigils and numbers, and they explode into lovely
fragments that drift deliciously. B-) The game reminded me of X-WING
and SPACE LORDS, and shows a lot of potential for the final product.
It's clear that 4Play has a high level of quality and detail (hopefully
the AEO video will include Scott's complete description of the
Battlesphere alien races, backgrounds, and ships -- they have enough
fodder for a novella already), and are dedicated to work on the game
until they're completely satisfied. If that's so, then BATTLESPHERE
will be well worth the wait, methinks.
* HOVER HUNTER. Hyper Image's game was also roughly two-thirds done.
The graphics and control engine were complete, though there were no
enemies to combat, and only two lapnets were available to date. What
was there looked very good; realistic "soft" terrains with
COMMANCHE-like spot-texture-mapping, with smooth scrolling and movement
and a realistic gradual fading in of distant features and objects. The
biggest problem was that the bitmapped images (landscape features and
other ships) got blocky very fast when you came close to them. The
Hyper Image rep I talked to mentioned that they were already starting
work on updating the graphics engine, using higher-resolution bitmaps
and a better extrapolation algorithm to cut down on the problem. I
wish them the best of luck.
* RAYMAN. Forget DonkeyKong, Mario, or Sonic; Ubi Soft was promoting
RAYMAN in a big way all through E3. Sticker sheets were everywhere, a
twenty-foot-tall inflatable Ray was waving across the street from the
Convention Center entrance, Ubi Softs 'RAYMAN' advertising (for all
systems) was easy to snatch, and several Rayman costumed walkers
paraded around the show floor.
Oh, the game itself? Like BURN OUT, this game's either finished or
Very Darn Close. Anyone who's followed the progress of RAYMAN will
not be surprised here; luscious-smooth graphics, wonderful sounds, and
some interesting twists on the platform idea. I admit, I didn't give
it that much of a look, since I was more intently after games that
have received less attention to date. I will mention that the early
version of RAYMAN on the Sega Saturn looks identical to the Jaguar
version; take that as you will.
* FLIP OUT. From Gorilla Systems. -Vastly- improved over the early and
incomprehensible version I covered in the "Jabbin'" article. The idea
is as follows: you have a grid of colored tiles, which you must
position it on a certain pattern. By selecting a square and pressing
a button, you "flip" the piece there into the air, exchanging it for
another piece that's already flying. You have to keep "juggling" the
tiles until you get the pattern -- and if you "drop" a tile, you lose
a chance. It sounds like a simple puzzle game, but it can get
complicated very hairy. For a challenge, I started at a higher level
(there are about ten levels, each divided into several sub-stages)
halfway through the game. I got five different colors, a rogue tile that
belonged nowhere, and a chaotic pattern to deal with. Needless to say,
I went -splat- pretty quickly.
The graphics are the best thing about this game. Everything is either
fully rendered or animated Claymation figures, from the funny-looking
aliens that cheer your efforts and track your score to the tiles
themselves, all with silky-smooth animation. I imagine this game will
be pretty close to completion; whether it'll catch on with the public
is another matter.
* UNNAMED PLATFORM GAME. From out of nowhere, with no name, Visual
Design Studios I -think- that's the developer) comes out with a cutesy
gun-totin' platform title. You controlled a little warrior cartoon
character who looks somewhat like the "Plok!" video hero and who wields
a big gun. He shoots and punches enemies, grabs various spheres, and
leaps on floating platforms and bottomless chasms in typical platformer
fashion. It was a very early game, but already seemed
interesting -- there were several layers of smooth parallax scrolling,
lots of color, and crisp animation. But it's far too early to tell...
* UNNAMED PROTOTYPE "INTERACTIVE MOVIE" GAME. And speaking of no-named
mysteries that came out of nowhere, Atari was showing (very briefly) a
prototype "interactive movie" for the Jaguar CD-ROM. All I saw was an
extended video clip of a male hospital patient overcoming his nurse and
trying to escape. It was a good demonstration of the clarity of the
Jaguar CD's spooled video, but that's all I could really say about it.
The Atari representative emphasized that this was an early prototype.
It's only an idea under consideration, and may never appear as a final
game at all. Still, there it is.
* PINBALL FANTASIES. No surprises here. This is a straightforward port
of the Amiga pinball game. Good flipper control and ball physics, but
the boards struck me as being a little simplistic.
* RUINER. Like PINBALL JAM on the Atari Lynx, this cartridge from
High Voltage Software is actually two pinball games in one. "Ruiner"
is a pinball game with a nuclear war theme, featuring a horrifically
large board that's two screens wide and five screens tall. "Hell" is
a pinball game with a Satanic/demonic motif, one screen wide and seven
or eight screens tall. The layouts are similar to video pinball games
like DEVIL'S CRUSH, though the number of video-only features is kept to
a minimum (I could only find some flying bats and airplanes to knock
over with the ball). Ramps and "habitrail" tubes are in abundance,
taking you quickly from one part of the board to another, and the
keypad is used to nudge the board in any direction you want. Scrolling
is fast and smooth, though the graphics are a bit "cartoonish" than
realistic or frightening, and distinguishing background art from
playfield objects isn't obvious. The music I heard was neither here
nor there, but the game is more complex and interesting than PINBALL
FANTASIES in my opinion.
* VID GRID. Another title (or port, rather) from High Voltage Software.
You arrange tiles of a music video as in a "number puzzle," trying to
reassemble the pieces in the proper order before time runs out. This
game has gotten a lot of complaints in rec.games.video.atari, largely
because people felt it wouldn't be challenging enough to be a "real"
video game (whatever that means). Well, yes and no. It isn't that
complex of a game, but it's not entirely a no-brainer effort,
either -- depending on which music video you choose, you might be led
by a number of red herrings and quick-cut fragments (does this head in
the background go in the upper-left corner or the upper-right corner?).
There are nine videos available, and I wonder how long it will take
before they tire on people; you can only listen and watch Red Hot
Chili Peppers' "Give It Away" so many times, after all.
Despite the "ease" of this game, the E3 version was -not- finished.
You could play the game, but the ability to set game options (available
in the final PC CD-ROM version) was missing, and the game was clearly
labelled "E3 Demo." I imagine that being able to reduce the time limit
and/or set the puzzle to 36 (or more) tiles will make things much harder
in a final release.
* THEA RELM FIGHTERS. Another one-on-one fighting game, from High
Voltage Software (they have a LOT of entries for Atari at E3, if you
haven't noticed). The most notable feature so far is its use of
several martial artists from MORTAL KOMBAT for its visuals. The game
as shown was -very- early; animation was minimal, scrolling was jumpy,
and players could beat the daylights out of each other indefinitely.
I would advise giving this title a few more months before passing any
sort of early judgement.
* ULTRA VORTEX. Version 0.96 -- another "almost completely finished"
fighting game, this time from Beyond Games. The E3 version was almost
identical to the v.0.94 I reported from two weeks earlier; I was
surprised, though, that the special move sequences were changed. The
scrolling is still a little jumpy, but (still) doesn't interfere with
the game itself. I'm not a big fan of fighting games, but I was having
fun with this on general principles. Some of the "annihilation moves"
were rather comical; for example, Mercury (the "liquid metal" character)
turns into a giant rolling meat grinder and turns the loser into ground
beef...
The Beyond Games representative I talked with said that ULTRA VORTEX
should be out in five or six weeks, which implies to me that the final
version is in production already. Their next project is the
highly-anticipated BATTLEWHEELS 2025, a Jaguar update to their original
BATTLEWHEELS for the Lynx.
* VARUNA'S FORCES. I wanted to say lots about this innovative CD game;
I especially wanted to talk about how it implements the "control four
commando members separately while seeing what they do idea." But I
can't, since the E3 version was fairly dated. The FMV opening, mission
briefing, and character psychological profiles were available, but that
was it -- the game itself was unavailable. The Accent Media rep I
talked to, however, was very optimistic that this game would be
available with the Jaguar CD release. Looked nice, at least.
* DRAGON'S LAIR. Another disappointment. I expected that a port of
this title would be trivially easy, since all ReadySoft had to do was
translate the controller engine. But DRAGON'S LAIR for the Jaguar was
apparently a hastily-thrown demo for the E3 show, with everything
running off the Jaguar's RAM. Only the first sequence with Dirk
crossing the drawbridge was available; you couldn't really play it,
however, since there were no visual cues to guide the player. So
Dirk would keep crossing the drawbridge, get killed, get reincarnated,
over and over and over and over... Not surprisingly, it looked like
every other version of DRAGON'SLAIR on the market today.
* BRETT HULL HOCKEY. An early version of the CD-ROM game, but on
EEPROMs instead. Seems promising already -- individual NHL teams,
logos, player names, and stats were available, with a smooth-scrolling
rink, scaled sprites, and digitized graphics. Most interesting feature
is the ability to change the "camera view" of the game. Press Pause,
then press 1-9 on the keypad to change the view from overhead to
wide-angle pull-back to everything in-between. I'm not a hockey fan,
but I was impressed with the early effort. Only -slightly- less
impressive than the upcoming hockey game being shown for the Saturn
across the aisle.
* WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP. Once again, it's High Voltage Software (didn't
I say they get around? B-). Based loosely on the movie, this is a
two-on-two halfcourt street basketball game. Four people could play
the E3 showing, but I couldn't spot the four-controller tap that was
used for the job. The game itself is great. Playwise, it's very
reminiscent of NBA JAM, but without the flashy slam dunks and with the
need to clear the ball when you have possession. Passing, shooting, and
blocking are easy and effortless, and you have a number of teams and
four areas to play in.
The big thing about this game are the visuals. Take a real basketball
court, and place a camera rail along the center line. Now, as the
player play in half the court, slide your camera left and right,
zooming in and out to keep up with the action. That's what WMCJ does,
and it looks very nice. The frame rate is around 15-18 fps, which is
adequate, while the players are a little blocky in close-ups (it's not
as bad as DOOM, however). As reported, the "street talk" has been
removed from the final game, though there's still a good dose of
patter during the action. On-screen messages give warnings and
commentary ("Like a brick!", "Clear it," "Airball!", etc.). Definitely
take a look at this one, folks.
* MYST. Yep, the Jaguar will be getting the incredibly beautiful and
very odd computer adventure game. The E3 demo shown was fairly early;
it only flipped through various scenes from the game, with no actual
user interaction or anything. Not much to say here; it looks like
MYST on the PCs and Macs.
* SOUL STAR. Another early demo, this time of Core's Sega CD shooter
game. All that was available at this time was the canned FMV of the
opening sequence. A little exploring with the controller, however,
allowed you to shift the spooled image and/or flipped it along the Y-axis.
Cheap fun. B-)
* BATTLEMORPH. Attention To Detail's CD sequel to the original
CYBERMORPH. I suspect that players who liked CYBERMORPH will love
BATTLEMORPH, while those who hated CYBERMORPH won't care for this, either.
Upgrades from CYBERMORPH to BATTLEMORPH include a farther horizon, a
fair dose of
texture-mapped graphics, more and larger worlds (the
indica promises 60 new planets to explore), new and nastier enemies,
undersea and underground regions, detailed background graphics, and a
better/less irritating voice for Skylar ("Yay!", someone shouts B-).
Controllers are the same in both games, though BATTLEMORPH adds a bank
of weapon slots to be filled as you progress through the game. The
combat level is noticeably increased, and there are some nice graphics
touches scattered throughout (such as the underwater shimmering view).
* HIGHLANDER. An animated adventure game based on the movie and
animated series. Think of it as a variation of ALONE IN THE DARK for
a good feel. The CD shown at E3 had lots of areas to explore, but
almost no items to find or people to encounter. Backgrounds are
beautiful rendered screens, while the main game graphics consist of
smoothly-animated polygons with a minimal of texture mapping. An FMV
introduction based on the animated series was also shown. Dave
Bottomley, the representative from Lore Design, says that while
contracts for HIGHLANDER 2 and HIGHLANDER 3 haven't been signed yet, the
scripts for those games are already done. As with many Jaguar CD games,
they expect to have this ready at the time of the unit's launch.
*WHEW* It's now 3.5 hours later, and my fingers are tired. If you
have any questions or comments about this report, please feel free to
write me...
--R.J.
B-)
CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A lot of people are asking me to debrief the Electronic Entertainment
Expo (E3). First, although I am obligated to say it was fantastic, it
*was* fantastic. Here's how it went for me...
Wednesday, May 10, 1995: I arrive to work as always in the morning and
complete as many unfinished tasks as possible. My biggest concern is
to keep the promotional fulfillments on track while I am away and I was
satisfied about that by the time I left. My flight out of San Jose to
LAX was at 1:50. I arrived to the gate about an hour in advance. I
carried with me my luggage, printed materials for a rep meeting and one
of the many CD-ROM players that would be on display at the show.
Southwest has a "friends fly free" promotion and my flying buddy was
John Skruch. I remember we received boarding passes numbers 4 and 5.
John wanted number 4 as I recall because that is how old his son is. I
think I remember Sam Tramiel had boarding pass number 8 for the sake of
some obscure trivia game in the future. Our group on this flight
included me, John Skruch, Sam Tramiel, Lynn Latz, Shirley Taylor, Loic
Duval and Scott Sanders.
The flight took about one hour or so and we arrived in LAX without a
hitch. John and I rented 4 wheel drive vehicles because we would need
them to visit retailers after the show on a couple of evenings. When we
arrived to the Avis lot, Sam volunteered to get my vehicle for me (I was
tied down with a lot of stuff). I did plan to tip him a $1, but there
was a misunderstanding about the vehicle and I never got to joke with
him by handing it to him. After getting our cars, we assigned
navigators andwe headed for downtown LA. Scott Sanders was my
navigator and Sam rode in the back.
We took 110 North and exited at Ninth Street. Our hotels were on
Figueroa Street. Sam stayed at theWestin Bonaventure Hotel while most
of us were at the Omni Los Angeles (formerly a Hilton); a couple blocks
away. We dropped Sam off, then Scott and I went to check in at the
Omni. After dropping off our things, we walked to the Los Angeles
Convention Center. The walk took about 12 minutes from the front door
of the hotel to the front door of the convention center. Across from
the entrance of the center was a mammoth Rayman on top of a building.
It was one of those colorful inflated balloons that always seem to draw
attention. When we arrived we could not recall which hall our booth
was located (the show took up two major size halls plus one smaller
one). Consequently, Scott and I took a pre-show tour of the West Hall
briefly untilwe figured out Atari was in another hall. We did manage
to figure out we were supposed to be in the South hall and we headed
that way.
It always amazes me when I go to these things a day early and see the
condition of the booths. All your senses tell you that hundreds of man
hours of work lie ahead before the show starts, yet the rational mind
reminds you that the show opens 10 am the next morning no matter what
shape its in. Everything is in disarray. The aisles are full of
high-powered forklifts and booth parts, empty boxes and ones that
aren't so empty. After the realization of how much work there is to do
in what little time is left, I am struck by the awe of the size of
investments companies make at these shows. There was a small mock up
of the Enterprise bridge, a full scale battle tank as well as the
Batmobile and a working waterfall. There were miles and miles of
cables, lights, portable walls and many of the booths go so far as to
have plumbing installed for just the three days of the show.
The Atari booth was as awesome as most all the others. It was
creatively constructed to appear as two large booths although it
really was only one. On the front side were two podiums that were
topped by one chair each. These would be the Virtual Reality (VR)
stations. Next to each station was a display case to allow visitors
to see the Jaguar VR headsets closeup. The real estate at the center
of the booth was taken up by a huge building with about 6 rooms.
The two forward rooms were primarily designated for very private
previews of the Jaguar VR headset. The two middle rooms plus the one
at the far left were used as sales rooms and a sixth room at the far
back was used as a dressing room for the Thea Relm Fighters as well
as a storage area. The "building" had high walls and it was made of
a highly appealing patterned red material with towering yellow spires
that were layered to show depth and dimension. A huge Jaguar banner
hung from the ceiling and could be seen when entering the hall.
The carpeted areas in front of the offices and behind the VR stations
had numerous Jaguar kiosks with a different new Jaguar game running on
each one. Behind the offices were four huge displays. One featured The
Relm Fighters, one sported White Men Can't Jump, one spotlighted Ultra
Vortex and the fourth one highlighted Rayman. Between these were
numerous additional kiosks.
When I arrived to the booth, the major work had been finished by the
union builders and the details were being put into place. Specific
posters were designated for each office. Certain brochures had to be
placed in the right places. Giveaways had to be accessible and all the
displays and kiosks had to be dusted. As I helped, Ron Beltramo called
the booth and asked for me. He said he needed one of the boxes I had
brought from Sunnyvale taken to the Bonaventure for a rep meeting that
evening. It was the box I had left at the Omni, so I walked back to get
it and take it to him.
The Bonaventure is one of those magnificent hotels. It's one of those
with elevators on the outside of the building. From street level, you
see the numerous people containers seemingly race each other up and
down the skeletal beams of the building. From inside each elevator, the
rider sees a breathtaking view of lights and motion as if in a small
plane skimming the sky. I think I remember that the Rep meeting was in
Suite 1308. I took the box there and found that there were a row of
suites that were being prepared for the meeting to be held an hour or
so later. I was still dressed in my Jurassic Park shirt and jeans so
I thought it best to leave the meeting up to the suits that were there
and I returned to my hotel. As a side note, there was a lot of filming
going on at the Bonaventure as well in the city streets as we were
leaving on the last day. I think the movie was called In the Nick Of
Time or some such thing because that was painted on some of the crowd
barriers.
Once back to my hotel, I showered, called my wife then went on a mad
hunt for food.
Thursday May 11, 1995: By 8:15 a.m. I was to meet John Skruch at the
hotel garage and that's exactly the schedule we kept. We had to get
some items out of storage, load them in our 4WDs and escort the Thea
Relm Fighters over to the convention center. By 9:00 a.m. we were at
the convention center. By this time, the trucks were off the floor, the
aisle carpeting had been laid and only a few booths looked as if they
may not make it completely by the time the show opened at 10 a.m. All
of us made a final check at stations to which we were assigned to be
sure software and hardware was functioning, our Jaguar pins were
straight and our smiles were fresh and friendly.
The show opening was fun to see. There were the natural crowd draws
such as the Batmobile and actors dressed as Klingons, but it was clear
to me that a lot of people had specific agendas and it seemed a lot
of them had Jaguar at the top of their list. The booth was instantly
full of people and it remained that way until after last call on the
last day. In fact a Sega employee we ran into at the airport remarked
to a couple of us that he was amazed at how crowded our booth always was.
Now may be a good time to describe what E3 is. E3 is a trade show. In
this case, the trade show is focused on a theme of primarily computer
and video gaming. It is not open to the public, but to the buyers in
stores that decide what you will see on their shelves for the next
6 months to a year. The show is an opportunity for manufacturers and
developers to romance new business and network new projects. Resumes
are often exchanged and old friends are reunited after having not
worked together for a long time. The displays and booth space at these
shows can easily cost into the hundreds of thousands of dollars not to
mention the cost to staff or pay models or actors to be there.
Since it is a show that everyone who is anyone attends, meetings are
made, kept and broken which can easily translate to signed or unsigned
deals that involve countless dollars. The companies that buy booths at
these shows hope to attract press coverage, new volume buyers, new
market distribution channels, new developer contacts and basically new
business overall.
In Atari's booth, three key elements seemed to capture the interest of
people who attended. First, was the phenomenal breakthrough of VR
technology. Technology that refines the best known infrared tracking
systems, couples it with advanced VR firmware and software and packages
in an add-on peripheral system for around $300. Secondly, was the
awesome number of CD-ROMs and CD-ROM-based software on display at the
booth. Titles like "Primal Rage", "Myst", "Blue Lightning", "Creature
Shock", "Battlemorph", "Dragon's Lair", "Vid Grid", "Bret Hull Hockey",
"Varuna's Forces" and "Highlander" just to name a very few. Third,
was the incredible number of titles on display in general with most of
them appearing to be complete although most had at least some work that
needed to be completed.
It was on this first day I met up with Christian Svenssonand his
colleague Jim Marsteller. They were like children in a candy store as
they began their intensive video survey for the two Atari Explorer
Online videos they were producing. In fact, these videos will be
available soon (complete with Ataricommercials, interviews and
direct-line feeds) at nominal cost. For more info, write
<aeo.mag@genie.geis.com> through the Internet. I also met with Carsten
Nipkow of CSCN-Europe. Carsten is a CATscan member and imports and
sells Jaguars to a frenzied Jaguar market in Germany. Carsten also
publishes a German language Jaguar magazine. His fax and BBS number in
Germany is 0221/427437. I saw Tom Harker of ICD and Peter Curry of
C-West (got previews of Pinball Fantasies and a new game they just took
on in the past few weeks). On one of the days, I took personal delivery
of the newest Toad Computer Catalog and I was visited by Steve Forbis of
Prodigy. I shook hands with Neil Harris, Li Kramer and Jim Fisher which
are names some of you may recall.
There were the professional film crews there to grab VR footage for
their E3 coverage and there were acres and acres of people converging
on the booth as they found an opportunity to do so.
At around 4:30 p.m., I grabbed Tal Funke-Bilu and we drove to The
Wherehouse in La Crescenta. Armed with about four flash ram cards we
snuck out from E3, we set up a table in the store and let customers
play them. The store manager, Greg, was fantastic! He loved the Jaguar
(owns one himself) and was very helpful as we set up. In fact, he
played a copy of the "Tempest 2000 Soundtrack" over the store's audio
system while we were there and all the employees wore Jaguar T-shirts.
I must say that it is a real pleasure to be working with Tal too. He
loves showing off the Jaguar and he never seems to get tired showing
people tricks and tips he thinks they'd like to know. Tal came to
Atari from the staff of Atari Explorer Online. He worked for me in
Customer Service for a long while, then was pulled away to John
Skruch's group for game testing prior to the Holidays last year. We
left the Wherehouse just after 9:00 pm. and had dinner at Jack in the
Box.
Friday, May 2, 11995: Another day, another dollar. Again up early with
a drive to get to the convention center before 9 a.m. so all the
coffee cups weren't gone. Like the day before, the show opened with
hoards of people anxious to try the VR demos and see the newest
CD-ROM titles. I have no idea what what was going on behind closed
doors, but I can tell you they were always closed. On the rare occasion
when I did see the likes of Jon Correll, Ron Beltramo, Sam Tramiel,
Augie Liguori, Laury Scott, Garry Tramiel, Bill Rehbock or Dean Fox
duck in and out they seemed to all have that same happy smile... not
like those they wear at shows they have to be at... more like a show
they were happy to be at. Who knows, maybe it was my imagination going
crazy after watching crowds gather for Thea Relm Fighter autographs or
the Rayman-dressed actresses hanging around the booth. Whatever it was,
it was a charge that seemed to keep everyone smiling.
At 4:30, Tal and I snagged our demo carts and ducked out to visit the
Good Guys in Redondo Beach. We got a little lost and arrived a little
late, but we stayed an extra half hour longer to make up for it. The
store personnel were fantastic. They let us set up right in front of
the main entrance and shut down all the other systems while we were
there. Although owe had sneak previews of "Burnout", "White Men Can't
Jump", "Ultra Vortex" and "Rayman" with us, everyone wanted "Doom".
One customer stayed quite a while. We would set a special code for all
the weapons and he would get a charge out of shooting bad guys. After,
watching him lose health when shooting things too close, I finally
suggested that he step back before shooting to help him along. He did
too. The next time, before he fried, he physically jumped back first.
I suggested he only have to move his player back on the screen.
The employees at the Good Guys were attentive to their customers, but
stopped by our display every chance they could get between. I wish I
could remember names better than I can. There were so many nice people
that were fun to meet and know. Just after 9:30, Tal and I closed up
shop and ate dinner at a nearby Carrows restaurant. (BTW, Tal loves
Strawberry pie.)
Saturday, May 13, 1995: On the last day of the show, traffic overall
was a bit thinner, but the Atari booth still hummed. Francois Bertrand
was still being summoned to show off "Fight For Life" moves and Jeff
Minter was virtually being worshipped for his work on "Tempest 2000"
and the work so far on "Defender 2000". Diana Bredfeldt and Kristine
Chambers helped more streams of people on the VR demonstrations. Sandy
LaBrec, Lynn Latz and Shirley Taylor did a tremendous job answering
front desk questions and keeping literature stacks piled high. Lance
Lewis, Scott Sanders, Dave Schwartz, Ted Tahquechi, Faran Thomason,
J Patton and Norman Kowalewski filled in where needed and focused on
special projects such as developer workshops. All of our pockets were
full of business cards and everyone ignored the initial signs of being
tired or sore from all the standing. I should also recognize John
Tarpinian and the user group help he organized for the show. John is
well known for his Atari Glendale shows in past years and his
willingness and readiness to help whenever Atari has asked him and his
helpers for it. I regret not being able to remember everyone's name,
but not without appreciation for their valued support.
I think a special note is deserved of Mr. Greg LaBrec. He was the first
to go and the last to return. He was solely responsible for the rare
ability to blend what everyone wants into a workable, appealing and
effective booth. Greg arranged everything from the construction of the
booth to the schedules of airlines, van pools and parking. Greg knew
how to solicit help and make sure it all came together when and where
it needed to.
The show concluded and in a blink of an eye, I was on my 6:50 flight
back to San Jose airport and on my long drive home to see my family.
Sunday was a wonderful Mother's Day.
###
Sb: E3 Report, Day 1
Fm: SYSOP*Jeff Kovach 74777,3071
To: All
From the Internet's Jaguar mailing list, one of the first reports on
Atari's showing at the E3 show:
----------------
From: SVEN!!!*** <svensson@reef.bucknell.edu>
E3 Day 1 Thoughts and observations:
Our first day at E3 was a fun, productive and tiring one. Our first
day we focused more on Atari than the other developers, but we did make
rounds to most of the major booths. At the 10:00 bell (when all
non-presenting personnel are permitted to enter the convention center),
Jim and I rushed to the Atari booth first to meet with Don Thomas and
conduct our first round of interviews. First up, Dean Fox, the new
senior VP of marketing. Dean's interview provided insight into his
past experiences and the Atari's future plans. Next up... Sam Tramiel
himself stepped up to the mic.
Sam announced for the first time publicly, the development of the
Internet "Addon" for the Jaguar. He mentioned a keyboard in conjunction
with a modem (I assume he means the Jag Modem) that would have Web
browsing capability of some form or another... there was more he
mentioned, but I'll let the video do the talking for me :)
Our next interview was one of the most interesting. The CEO of Virtuality
(whose name alludes me presently) gave us a personal demo of the Jaguar
Headset and VR tracking system. He explained all of the components and
the additional hardware specifically. It is slated to be shipping "by
the end of the year" for a retail price of $299.99. He stated that the
tracking mechanism is the fastest in the world... over four times faster
than their $60,000 arcade system's mechanism.
The VR displays were running on HIGH END PC's but in conversation with
one of the Virtuality programmers, "the poly counts will be lower on the
Jag, but not should not degrade the visual impact of the games
dramatically. The game shown was called Hunter Zone or Zone Hunter...
a game remarkably similar to Virtua Cop (but better due to the VR).
Games at Atari's Booth:
Fight For Life: Surprisingly good. I went expecting the worst, and had a
really good time. While speaking with Francois, I learned the following:
Frame Rate: 23 - 27 fps. There is a up to 17 seconds of "replay" after
pausing... a VERY neat feature I must say. Also when pausing you can
zoom in or out, change the camera angles, etc and then view the replay.
The status bars pop down every time you are hit.
Motions were smooth, throws were good, the announcer's voice was
excellent.
In it's present form, I would buy it. It does look better than VF on
the Saturn... anyone who says otherwise is smokin' crack :) (however
Sega was showing a texture mapped VF for the saturn that was very good).
FFL has about two weeks more development.
Defender 2000 (Plus version): Flossies galore. What can I say, it was
defender with a Mintereque twist. The Auroa over the mountains was
AWESOME. The mountains themselves pulse with techno-pycho patterns. Some
enemies were only place holders, others were the full renderings.
Either way this game is fun and difficult. The AI droids are invaluable.
The only thing really lacking is the soundtrack and of course that will
Rock! We will have an interview with Jeff concerning his efforts past,
present and future on one of the tapes... please check it out :)
Battle Sphere: What can I say... this game just keeps getting better.
Dogfighting was in full effect as was collision detection for lasers.
Music was good, frame rate was excellent... if I were to guess I'd say
in the 25 fps range. Decal mapping on the ships was exquisite. I had
the opportunity to dogfight with Stephanie (of 4Play). Quite a fun time
and we split matches in terms of who won :) Scott LeGrande and
Stephanie Wuzkovitz (sorry that I misspelled that) will be interviewed
tomorrow for the tapes.
Hover Hunter: More good news, the previously "blocky" landscapes so
typical of depth field environments has been interpolated and is
perfectly smooth. It seems like yet yet another blitter trick strikes
again. It was networked, but I didn't have ample opportunity to play it
myself. There will also be an interview with Hyper Image on one of the
tapes.
Ultra Vortex: One word: BUYTHISGAME. Great mechanics, rockin tunes,
hidden characters/backgrounds (maybe, hint, hint) and more. I got to
play Tim Huntsman of Beyond Games and he schooled me, but I beat him
once or twice after he showed me some of the special moves (Lucious is
my favorite character already... his morph to the hawk attacks are great).
As has been reported before, a more evil announcer has never existed.
This one looks DONE.
Power Drive Rally: Nice details (skid marks, co-pilot narrator, car
upgrades, etc.), not totally visually impressive but still fun. I wish
it were networkable but for the most part looks done. Multiple tracks
and a good musical score.
Highlander: Very nice... Alone in the Dark sort of game based upon the
cartoon. Excellent combat animation, stellar FMV intro (if you're into
that sort of thing
... God knows we saw a lot of that today at all booths).
The only criticism I'd level at it is that unlike Alone in the Dark, the
environment is photo real and not polygonal. The character is still
polygon based.
Burn Out: Fast is an understatement. This thing is DONE. It's nothing
ground breaking, but it had a few nice details (audio, track selection,
etc) that make it worth while. Split screen option was fun.
Skyhammer (formerly Hammerhead): one more word: EARLY... nice
texture maps, control was difficult. I would guess that this game is
about 40% done. Unfortunately there wasn't any title on the kiosk or
any directions so it took some time to learn how to play. The game was
a 3D urban flight combat sim... you attack texture mapped tanks, planes,
helicopter etc. the enemies were VERY pretty.
BattleMorph: this game was everything that Cybermorph should have been.
Nice intro sequence.
Rayman: Saw it on PSX, Saturn, 32X and Jag. All but the 32X are
IDENTICAL as near as I could tell. The 32X had perceiveable color
banding on gradients... other than that play was AWESOME.
White Men Can't Jump: 4 Play adapter in full effect. I was playing
with Lance Lewis of Atari and having a great time. The frame rate would
be my only criticism but even that wasn't bad. This is an excellent
replacement for NBA Jam.
I will go into detail regarding other games tomorrow....
One quick note about the show in general... Sony ruled the marketing
scene. Not even Sega could compare (although their large screen ads in
the Saturn section were hilarious). Every napkin or cup in the entire
convention center had a Sony logo and Playstation name. Billboards all
over downtown LA touting the arrival of the Playstation were very common.
Their booth was:
1) H U G E
2) Classy
3) Technically VERY impressive
4) two intro movie/presentations before admittance to the rest of the
booth were awe-inspiring.
It looked like Sony was the "hungriest" of manufactures in attendance.
Sb: #E3 News, Day 1
Fm: Jeffrey Norwood 74447,531
To: all
This is Jaguar-only stuff. Before I get to it, can you believe that
Saturn is out already! I thought a few months, but now Atari better
get there butts moving and start producing. Also, Sony is releasing
their system for $299!
Jaguar
------
The Jaguar setup though much small than the others had it's own healthy
crowd - with two Virtual Reality setups at opposite ends of the booth.
This new VR system will be coming out in the late fall - and will be
priced under $299.00. Tomorrow I will get in line to try it - but from
what I can tell from the external displays - the game people were
"immersed" in looked mighty impressive. It was some kind of 3D space
exploration game - looking a bit like AvP, with lots of detailed
polygons. The title is called Zone Hunter, and according to one of the
heads of this project, this might very well be the pack in. People who
tried on the goggles stepped off the specially made platforms with
smiles on their faces Another title we might be seeing for this Jaguar
add-on is a 90's Missile Command, VR-style.
As far as games, there wasn't exactly a large explosion of new titles,
but many of the promised titles were finally finished, or much further
along in progress. There were a few monitors that weren't showing
anything, so aside from the list below - more can show up on tomorrow's
report.
*Defender 2000 - Once again, Jeff Minter is king. I can't even begin
to describe the magic surrounding this updated William's coin-op
classic. D2K is chock full of special effects, and simply put - the
hottest Jag-game in Atari's booth.
*BurnOut - 3D motorcycle racing - updated further - and looking better
and better!
*RayMan - Hey, it's almost here - and it'll be worth the wait.
*Flip-Out - Very nice-looking puzzle game...
*Baldies - Looks like another Lemmings-type - not impressive.
*Brett Hall Hockey - too early to tell - but knowing Accolade, don't
count on it knocking your socks off.
*TRF - A new fighting game - in fact, it was displayed on a large screen
as everyone thought it was Mortal Kombat III as they passed. Looks great!
*Myst - Jaguar CD - like the other 900 versions.
*Highlander - Jaguar CD - looks juicy, though I'll have to look at it
more closely tomorrow.
*BattleMorph - Jaguar CD looks like Cybermorph - but it's unfair to
judge, as I didn't take a crack at it yet.
*Creature Shock Jaguar CD - looks sharper than the PC version!
*Fight For Life - They added more textures to the characters since the
last time I saw it. Still needs works - but improving.
*Vid-Grid - Jaguar CD -Some rock-n-roll-stye puzzle game with full
motion music videos.
*Varuna's Forces - Jaguar CD - looking hot! A space/action adventure
which I will be playing tomorrow.
*Blue Lightning - Jaguar CD - Another improvement from the last time
it was on display at WCES.
*Primal Rage - Only had the title page done.
*Ultra Vortex - Yep, once again it's here - and they've added a lot more.
The final version should be great (damn-well better be!).
* DeathWatch (I think this is the name ) - An immensely colorful
platform game - though shown in early stages.
______________________________________
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by
Joe Mirando
73637,2262
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. I'm afraid that this week's intro is
going to be a bit un-interesting. I don't suppose that it really matters,
but I usually like to have something at least marginally interesting to
say here in these first few paragraphs...
But not this week. I have nothing interesting, informative,
entertaining, or philosophical to say. Hey, I can't be at my dazzling
best _all_ the time. <grin>
Well, let's get on with the news, hints, tips, and all the other cool
stuff that folks talk about right here on CompuServe...
From the Atari Computing Forums
===============================
Thomas Nielsen tells us:
"The MagicMac OS surely put a lot more pressure on us in order to
continue (and maybe extend) the development on the "ATARI" version of
Calamus. We can easily feel that the inquiries for new modules,
updates, etc. for the existing Calamus SL are increasing! It is like
the ATARI market (which we almost regarded as dead) is starting to move
again! For the last 12 months our team has been concentrated on NT,
Win95 and other OS-versions of Calamus, so there has really not been
any motivation for doing new SL updates. But with the MagicMac OS we
probably will put more resources into the Motorola platform (Calamus
SL). A lot of former Mac people wants Calamus now! We are even
considering a "native" Mac version of Calamus, but this is only
internal thoughts - and who want's to run System 7.5 ? <grin>"
Chris Roth tells Thomas:
"It's interesting to read all that news from you. Now that I am
currently moving to the Windows platform for all my non-musical
purposes, I am interested in a Win95 version of Calamus as well!
But it's fine to hear that you have more inputs in the Atari market
now again. At least, it's really a fine piece of software, and
strangely there's some solidarity in my heart with all developers who
rised from the Atari scene (Greetings to Yat at Lexicor too;-)
In comparison to the TOS or MagiC, all current OS's are real
resource-eaters. It's ugly to see System 7.5 or Win struggle on
computers that would have been lightning fast with MagiC."
Mike Mortilla tells Thomas:
"The demo I have is in German (MagicMac). Where can I get a copy of
the program? I don't mind buying it!"
Thomas tells Mike:
"You might want to order the MagicMac directly from Application Systems
Heidelberg - do you have the fax/phone-number ? I'm not really sure
about the distribution channels - we are only in direct contact with
the developers behind the MagicMac and have nothing to do with the
distribution, etc."
Lisa Poehner asks for info:
"I have a Mega2 ST, which has been upgraded to 4 megabytes of RAM. Is
it possible to go beyond 4 megs?"
Sysop Jim Ness tells Lisa:
"No, 4 megs is it, for the Mega ST series."
Dan Parrish tells Lisa:
"On a stock Mega ST, you are limited to 4 megs. However, if I am not
mistaken, th e XtraRAM+8 upgrade board is available for the old
Mega's. You are probably looking at about $120 for the board and then
another 4 1-meg simms."
Simon Churchill adds:
"...this is now incorrect as here in the UK you can purchase a board
which will allow you to add an extra 8Meg of memory AND a graphics card
which was designed to add onto the board. This multi-board also has
IDE and TOS 2.06 expansion capabilities, however the only problem is
you need to remove the 68000 chip and replace it with yet another board
which is called 'T28' and is basicaly an accelerator board with a 68000
running at 28Mhz. (+ a memory cache)
All this is a good idea but the cost might just put you off:
1) The 'T28' Accelerator cost's L180.
2) The Multi-board cost's L150.
3) The Graphics extension board cost's L150.
4) And 8Meg of memorywould cost about L250.
The IDE interface requires simply a hard disk and TOS 2.06 requires the
chip's. As you can see the cost is about L750!!! You can of coarse
forget the graphics card extension board which reduces the cost to
L600! I have the T28 already in my STFM and when I can afford it I
will be getting the extra board's. They are a family and were designed
to work together.
By the way did I mention you Might need a VGA or SVGA monitor on top of
that price!
Hope this has not confused you to much. And for anyone interested I
think the extra memory is handled like TT FastRAM. (possably accesable
by a small util, run for the Auto folder.)"
From the Graphics Support Forum
===============================
Alan Robinson posts:
"Most people think of hackers as nerdy teenagers who break into and
trash computer systems, but the cognescenti will inform you that the
true and original hackers are an elite cadre epitomised by the grad CS
students in the AI lab at MIT (prefered Internet address ai.mit.edu).
Hacking has undergone several transmutations in its lifetime, from the
original marathon programming sessions endlessly adding and changing
features of programs, through Richard Stallman, GNU, and the Free
Software Foundation, to the present designing of non-patented
programming technology for the Information Highway.
There are several patented variations of LZW, listed in
compression.FAQ. The Unisys patent is actually as legitimate a patent
you could find, whether one agrees with patents for computer programs
or not. But many of the programming patents which have been issued are
nonsensical (as patents), such as the XOR for cursors and the addition
of an advertising splash screen to a program.
When the courts have been told that these patents are worthless in
concept and in violation of patent law, their reaction has been to
uphold their previous decisions. The patent system and the courts
aren't going to go away, so the best strategy is to make it not
worthwhile for corporations to file for patents on general purpose and
widely used software."
Tim Wegner tells Alan:
"Alas when you use a word, what it means to the hearer is more
important than the intent of the speaker. The word "hacker" has been
ruined forever."
Ken Huang of Telnet Computer asks:
"I have developed a software package that has the capability of
displaying a GIF file, how do I obtain a license agrerment from
Compuserve for using their GIF format."
Forum staffer Larry Wood tells Ken:
"In Library 16 (I think) is a file called GIF89A.DOC which outlines
CompuServe's license agreement for the use of GIF."
Ken tells Larry:
"Thanks for the reply, the document is dated during 1990, does it
still apply to the recent Unisys-LZW issue on GIF format?"
No answer yet, but I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile, Steven Kortze asks:
"Has anybody tried to compile and test zlib using THINK C (from
Symantec C++ 7.0.x) or Metrowerks on a Macintosh? DeflateInit eturns an
err indicating that there is not enough memory. I have tried using the
"far data" flag, various memory allocation sizes, MAX_MEM_64K,
MAX_MEM_LEVEL = 8 & 5. I am currently compiling for 680x0, I have not
tried the MPW PowerPC compiler on this yet.
A similar program, unzip, compiles just fine using the "far data" flag
in the "Set Project" dialog.
Any ideas, suggestions, thoughts, recipes? OK, you can skip the
recipes."
Carl Barron tells Steven:
"zlib092 and pnglib compile just fine and I think 'lint warning' free
on my 68030 [target is any 680x0]. It is not a mac. and so far I need
some more 'glue' to really test the code or find linker problems.
Which arrays are causing the problem. I can write a short stub to see
what happens with them. [all my addressing is ofsset(an) type I think.
Is far data flag 'use 32 bit addressing' on data items. It should make
no difference on malloced data as a pointer is used. Does far data
flag effect how *pointer is compiled?"
Steve tells Carl:
"Far data" refers to 32-bit absolute addressing for data. There may be
a "far code" option which will use 32-bit references for code instead
of 16-bit. I will atempt some more investigation."
Steve tells Carl:
"It seems I was not including stdlib.h which has the reference to
memory allocation. Oops! Once I fixed that, I was able to adjust the
project to use the normal settings (far data off, smart code
model,...).
Did you say that pnglib compiled fine for you? I have had several
problems with pnglib 0.6. First of all, a couple of routines are
mispelled, pgn_info struct is used instead of the info_png variable,
prototypes defined in one .c file are not referred to as extern in the
example.c file. There may be some settings that I am missing. I will
keep trying."
From the Palmtop "B" Forum
==========================
James Bearden asks for help:
"I own Ensemble, and no Zoomer. Does anybody know the exact file that
you need to run CIM for GEOS? I've been told that you need the
addressbook. I hope not, I've heard about the Zoomer address book! :-)"
Lee Hauser tells James:
"You can find it with 'GO CIMSOFT'. I think you do need the address
book, though... it's really not THAT bad... I mean, it works..."
Craig Carter posts:
"I've been shopping for a PDA and have been leaning towards the HP 200
LX. I looked at a CASIO Z-7000 today and it looked pretty nice (and
the price was reduced).
Can you tell me if it's a DOS based machine? Can I place my own EXE
files on the system and run them? How much memory (disk space) is
available for additional applications and data? Expandability?
I need a system that will allow me to add my own programs I will write
in C.
I'm asking you because you answered the previous message well and
looked like you were familiar with the product.
PS - What is a Zoomer? Is that a pet name for the system?"
Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko tells Craig:
"Rather than try to answer all your questions, you will learn a lot
more about the Zoomr if you download some of the FAQ files which are in
the section 4 library. These are really quite comprehensive and will
tell you everything you want to know.
In a nutshell. The Zoomer is a pet name for three PDA's put out by
Casio, Radio Shack, and AMD. They are identical and run off a GEOS
operating system platform. People tend to add additional memory via a
PCMCIA slot. Type II Flash RAM and SRAM cards are available but be
careful since not all cards will work.
Some software is avaiable. The Zoomer is not a notebook computer. It
won't run windows or DOS programs, and has limited applications. But it
is very portable and very functional once you get the hang of it. It is
possible to connect to AOL and CServe via a pocket modem in its serial
port. Additional software and a cable is needed to connect/backup to a
PC. I use Palm Connect and ZDOS.
Additionally I would recommend you upgrade to a better handwriting
recognition software called Graffiti. It greatly enhances the
productivity of the Zoomer.
Finally, the $300 price at Radio Shack is OK but if you shop around on
Cserve or AOL I bet you could get one for about $150 used. Just post a
message. Also there are several mail order places (Surplus Technology)
that offer great deals on accessories."
Jeff Pedigo posts:
"...I've had my Zoomer for about six months and my girlfriend wants
one, too. Pretty fun!
As for databases, the only good one I know of is Form Factor. I don't
have it, but I've heard some good things about it. There's a emo in
the library in this forum. I keep meaning to download it, but it's
over 1MB and I never get around to it. If you try it, let me know what
you think. I think the cost of the full vesion is about 100 dollars."
Dale Good adds:
"I just bought an AST Gridpad 2390 Zoomer that had FormFactor built
into ROM. It's a pretty nifty app, but nothing you couldn't do with a
$40 calculator."
Lee Hauser tells Dale:
"That's not Form Factor, that's the "form calculator." I understand
there is really no comparison."
Jeff tells Lee:
"Thanks for the clarification, Lee. Like I said, I don't have form
factor, but I did download some screen shots from the Internet of form
factor screens. It looks like a pretty good database package that lets
you design screens on your computer (complete with logos and stuff)
with all the fields you want to fill in and then transfer that input
screen to your zoomer for data collection. I'll look for the URL that
I got the screen shots from, but I know it's reachable from the Zoomer
home page.
Also, if anyone out there has any experience with form factor, I'd be
interested in hearing it. Trying to figure out if I should buy it
myself."
J. DeBert tells us:
"[I] Just got a Z-7000. Now I want to remove the "useless" apps.
These apps are useless to me: AOL, the three info apps, forms calc &
translator.
Can I remove them? Or are they in ROM? Dare I pull the device they are
on & replace it with a EEPROM or flash RAM? (if it's possible?)
I want to put in more useful stuff like a terminal and a
cardfile-style app. amongst other things."
Lee Hauser tells J.:
"All the applications are in ROM, and thus cannot be removed. You
could buy a RAM card and try writing your own in IZL the Interpreted
Zoomer Language (a sample version is available in this forum)."
J. tells Lee:
"As I suspected. :(
I resisted buying on because ofthe useless apps but the price dropped
to where I figured I could afford to try it out.
I'm a little surprised at the apps included, because they became
obsolete within a year of the Zoomer's initial release and some are so
out of date that they are not usable, now.
Golly gee! Things like this should b put in EEPROM or Flash so they can
be updated or removed to make room for more useful stuff. The cost
isn't that much more than mask-programmed ROM. (Casio???)
Maybe I can burn my own ROM's & replace the app ROM..."
Lee tells J.:
"Hmmm... how do you define "obsolete"? I can think of BETTER
applications than the ones in the Zoomer, but I can't see much (if any)
that are obsolete. I use address book and datebook daily. I added the
Geos text editor. I don't use a lot of the other stuff daily, but I've
used some of them more than once (I think the form calculator is cool,
and the regular calculator is useful).
Of course I may have an odd definition of obsolete; I consider
something obsolete when it no longer has any application or usefulness.
The common usage of "no longer fashionable" is useless when applied to
computing devices."
Sysop Lloyd Wasser tells Lee:
"Well said. The Zoomer, despite its age (now about 18 months or so
older and wiser...) is still a most-viable platform. And the
introduction of other Geos-based handheld devices scheduled for this
year will hopefully get some new developers involved in building
Geos-capable apps that we can run on these new devices AND on our
Zoomer or PT-9000."
Well folks, that's about it for this week. Be sure to tune in again next
week, same time, same channel, and be ready to listen to what they are
saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
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STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON"
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> A "Quotable Quote" A true "Sign of the Times"
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Temperature of Heaven
=====================
From the Internet
The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our
authority is Isaiah 30:26, "Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as
the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the
light of seven days."
Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from
the Sun, and in addition 7*7 (49) times as much as the Earth does from the
Sun, or 50 times in all. The light we receive from the Moon is one
1/10,000 of the light we receive from the Sun, so we can ignore that ...
The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where the heat
lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation, i.e.,
Heaven loses 50 times as much heat as the Earth by radiation.
Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E
is the absolute temperature of the earth (-300K), gives H as 798K (525C).
The exact temperature of Hell cannot be computed ...[However]
Revelations 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of
molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the
boiling point, 444.6C. We have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than
Hell at 445C.
-- From "Applied Optics" vol. 11, A14, 1972
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