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Atari Online News, Etc. Volume 01 Issue 17
Volume 1, Issue 17 Atari Online News, Etc. June 25, 1999
Published and Copyright (c) 1999
All Rights Reserved
Atari Online News, Etc.
A-ONE Online Magazine
Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
Atari Online News, Etc. Staff
Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor
Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking"
Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile"
Albert Dayes -- CC: Classic Chips
With Contributions by:
Carl Forhan
Kevin Savetz
Bengy Collins
Dan Iacovelli
To subscribe to A-ONE, send a message to: dpj@delphi.com
and your address will be added to the distribution list.
To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
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To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
following sites:
http://people.delphi.com/dpj/a-one.htm
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http://homestead.dejanews.com/ssag
Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari
=~=~=~=
A-ONE #0117 06/25/99
~ People Are Talking! ~ Draconis Pro Released! ~ JagFest '99 Report
~ Pac Man Fever CD Ships ~ Looney Tunes Games! ~ $199.00 Net PC?
~ 'Rugrats' For N64! ~ 'South Park' Trivia! ~ NUON News!
~ AOL Europe Free IN UK? ~ GameBoy And The Web?? ~ AVC News Update
-* MagiC Game Programming Contest *-
-* Gov't-Microsoft Trial Testimony Ends *-
-* Microsoft Patch To Fix Web Software Breach! *-
=~=~=~=
->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
What a terrific first week of vacation! Can't you tell I'm having a better
than usual time; this week's issue is out late! The weather has been really
nice. A little hot on occasion, but that's what swimming pools are for! <g>
Yes, we finally got the swimming pool open. We were waiting for a pool
service place to call us back, but we decided we couldn't wait. We called a
number of people to try and learn what was causing our problem (no pressure
registering on the filter pressure gauge). One person told us to replace
the gauge - that these gauges were prone to going bad quickly. The other
thing we wanted to learn was how to check the filter sand. We took the
filter apart last year, but didn't see where the sand was located. So, we
took a ride to our neighborhood pool supply store. Grabbed a pressure gauge
fairly quickly (service people are very helpful!). We then asked the guy if
he could show us on a demo model of our filter where and how to check the
sand. Of course, they don't carry our model of filter any longer! But, he
was kind enough to explain it to us. We also picked up 150 pounds of silica
sand, figuring we were low (our filter supposedly holds 250 pounds!).
Got home and removed the drain to the filter. Some sand dropped out along
with some residual water. So far, so good. We then pulled the hoses of the
filter. We then proceeded to remove the top of the filter. Okay, where the
heck is the sand? We knew the sand had to be somewhere in the "belly" of
the filter, but how do we get to it? Well, when all else fails, pull at
something that you feel should be removable! The center post and filter
was not moving. I finally yanked on it and it came loose. Hey, there's
sand in this thing!
Put the drain plug back in, first. I then put in two bags of sand (100
pounds). Made sure the center post and filter bucket were secured (or so I
thought). Put the top back on and tightened the gasket. Put the hoses back
on (one clamp broke!). Turned on the filter and water is coming out from
every possible place! Insert your favorite expletive here!
We took everything apart again. The filter basket inside was bent and not
properly centered. We did what we could to remedy that. Got everything
back on, swapped some hose clamps around for the best possible fit. Turned
the filter back on. Just a little water from one of the hoses. We could
live with that for a day until I could get to the hardware store. The
important thing was did we have any pressure? Looking at the gauge, the
needle went up a little. 5 PSI, 10, 15! Yea! 20 PSI! Oops, a little too
much. We switched the filter setting from filter to backwash. Backwash is
to flush the filter. Plenty of filthy water was flushed out as well as some
excess sand. We waited until the water was clear, and then switched over to
the filter setting again. Perfect, we had a reading of 13 PSI!
We then added more pool chemicals to clean up the pool water, and waited.
This was last Sunday. By Wednesday, the water was pretty clean. Thursday,
it was 90 degrees or more - we went swimming! The water was cold, but
refreshing! We now didn't care how hot it got, we had the means to overcome
it (without going indoors and sitting in air conditioning!).
Overall, it's working pretty well. We added more chemicals today to clear
up some residual algae and to increase the pH levels. Some residual
chemicals haven't completely dissolved yet, but a day or so of running
through the filter should clear that up. Overall, we did really well
compared to the disaster we had to clean up last year! Now, next year we'll
be fully prepared!
On the computing technology side of things, the testimony for the Microsoft
antitrust case is finally over. Waitaminit! That's just the testimony!
The resolution is still to be decided!
I've been following this trial somewhat the past few months. I still don't
know where I stand. Both sides of this issue have made some excellent
points to their case, and poor. It'll be very interesting to hear how this
case pans out because I believe that whatever the final outcome, there is
going to be some major changes to Microsoft, and perhaps even the
government's antitrust laws. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, I have to move the lawn sprinkler to another dry area of the
lawn. We've had negligible rain in almost two months - the lawn and gardens
are taking a beating! Such is the life of a [fairly] new homeowner! Then
it's time to publish this week's issue and then relax again, grab another
ice-cold beer, and read the newspaper. I could get used to these vacations!
Until next time...
Draconis Pro 1.6 Released
From: Kevin Savetz <savetz@northcoast.com>
The all in one Internet solution Draconis (pro) is now
available as patchlevel 2. Lots of bugs have been fixed especially
regarding JavaScript support (pro version). A pre release of
Adamas 1.6 Pl.3 has been released as well which includes some
fixes regarding frames.
Support Page: http://www.draconis-pro.de/
Patch Download: http://dc2.uni-bielefeld.de/atari/support/epatch.htm
Adamas 1.6 Pre Release: http://dc2.uni-bielefeld.de/atari/edownl.htm
[ This news item courtesy of http://www.atari.org
and Jan Daldrup http://xonline.atari.org ]
Attention Atari Users and Programmers!!!
From: "Bengy Collins" <collins@bulli.com>
This notice is to inform everyone of the MGC '99.
In this email:
General Information
The Rules
The Prizes
The Deadlines
The Sponsors
General information:
This is the first annual MagiC Online, in conjunction with The X, MagiC
programming competition. The judges will be the Atari community. All
entries will be available for download on December 5th, 1999. At this time,
voting sheets will be made available to the general public. The winner(s)
will be notified on Christmas Day, December 25th, 1999. This means that all
nominations must be received by December 24, 1999.
The goal is to create the best possible conversion of a classic game.
Examples would be conversions of Asteroids, pacman, frogger. A list of many
possible conversions can be viewed here. The catch is however, that the
game must be created to run perfectly under MagiC in a GEM window.
The Rules:
* All interested programmers and/or groups which feel that they might be
interested in entering this competition must e-mail one of the organizers
(Bengy Collins <collins@bulli.com>, Jan Daldrup<thex@atari.org>) and
confirm their registration. Remember, registration is free, but we need it
in order to set up prizes and determine if this competition should be
cancelled or not. The Entry deadline is September 15th 1999! NO
REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.
* The new system calls in NVDI can be used only as enhancements to the
game. The game must be fully functional on bare (Standard) MagiC
configurations. However, the game is allowed to take advantage of system
extensions as long as the extensions are freely available. Example:
BubbleGEM
* The game must be fully functional in ST High resolution /AND/ support at
least a 16 color or greater video mode.
* As this is a MagiC programming contest, the game must attempt to use
extensions such as BubbleGEM whenever possible.
* The game must either be shareware or freeware. However, if the shareware
path is chosen, the game can not be crippled in any way.
* The game must come with documentation. ST-Guide and Text versions are
acceptable.
* Game control will be one or more of the following: Keyboard, Mouse,
Joystick, Joypad.
* Sound and music can be used using XBIOS calls, thus allowing
compatibility with MagiC PC. GEMJing may also be used.
* The game can not be officially released until Competition judging
(December 5th, 1999). Games which are released before the end of the
competition and games which already exist are disqualified.
* Any individual or crew may submit as many programs as desired.
The Prizes
First place: 250$ American
Second place: 150$ American
Third place: 100$ American
We are working very hard trying to get a prize for all entries. Producing a
game is a very long and difficult process, and we believe every attempt at
it should be recognized!
Further sponsorship might possibly add more prizes to this list.
The Deadlines!
Entry Deadline (All this requires is an e-mail!) September 15th, 1999
Competition Closes on December 5th, 1999. All Games must be received by
this time!
Nomination Deadline is December 24th, 1999. All vote forms must be sent in
by this time.
Sponsors
All money raised for prizes is generated from the *2* Banners on the
official MGC '99 page and the MagiC Online Main Page! Failure to support
these banners will simply force the competition to close. (We receive
10 cents per click, and we have 6 months to raise 500$)
URL's
MagiC Online (Banner #1)
http://bengy.atari.org
Official English and German Pages (Banner #2)
English: http://bengy.atari.org/contest.htm
German: http://bengy.atari.org/contestd.htm
Contact information:
Jan Daldrup: mailto:thex@atari.org
Web: http://xonline.atari.org
Bengy Collins: mailto:collins@bulli.com
Web: http://bengy.atari.org
=~=~=~=
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
compiled by Joe Mirando
jmirando@portone.com
Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I've finally done it. I went out
and bought myself a shiny new PC laptop computer. It's a real screamer.
It's got just about everything you could think of: DVD CD ROM,
super-duper video, stereo speakers, removable hard drive... the whole
nine yards.
It's also got Windows 98 as an operating system. This is truly an
amazing piece of programming. After only six days I've found a dozen
ways to get the operating system to lock up, freeze up, hang up, and/or
just generally sit there in all that cutting edge RAM and get the digital
equivalent of a sharp blow to the head. Twelve different ways to bring
this mighty miracle of modern programming know-how to its knees. And
that's after less than a week.
Some of you are probably wondering if I'm using the PC to write this
column. The answer is no. While it might be true that the PC can
retrieve data faster than a stock ST (most STs are limited to 14400 baud
serial access while PCs access 56000 baud without a second thought),
text editors and news readers are much more complicated on the PC
platform. I simply don't have the time or the energy to learn new
programs and spend more time doing what I can already do on my 'lowly'
ST. So, for the time being at least, this Atari related column will be
written on an Atari.
On another note, I know that there are many of you out there that have
made the jump to Mac or PC but retain your interest in events pertaining
to the Atari world. Most people that I have talked to say things like
"Yeah, the PC is faster and has more colors than the old ST, but it's
just not as much fun."
Having dealt with PCs for about ten years now, I've had plenty of time
to think about what this 'fun' component might be. As strange as it
sounds, I don't think it has anything to do with either hardware or
software. I think it's the people involved in the platform that make the
difference. As I've said before, to most people who use PCs, computers
are merely tools; a means to an end. Their passion is for something else
entirely and computers are only a way to access it.
Atari users, on the other hand, tend to be passionate about their
computers. When you put people like that together you usually get
fierce loyalty to whatever it is and a feeling of camaraderie that is hard
to match. Wars have been won with such camaraderie. Is it any wonder that
those of us who remain with the ST platform feel that kind of feeling?
If you have made the jump to another platform and are looking for
something to rekindle that old feeling, log on to
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu and download the "SETI@Home" screen
saver. Those of you who are familiar with SETI (Search for
Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) probably know that radio telescopes
generate much more data than they can correlate and analyse in a timely
manner. Normally, by the time they analyse the data, find something
that looks interesting, get the necessary viewing time on the radio
telescope and look back to where that interesting blip occurred, it's
gone.
Remember the movie CONTACT? Well, those scenes give you a pretty good
idea of what SETI is, but in real life finding a possible signal as it
is actually happening would be the wildest bit of luck imaginable.
That's where SETI@Home comes in. The way it works is that you log on
to the above-mentioned website and download the screensaver. Once loaded
and registered, the screensaver will get a chunk of certified radio
telescope data from the internet and analyse it while your computer is
sitting idle. Once the analysis is finished (a day or two under most
conditions), the screensaver will log on (either automatically or under
your direction), forward the finished product, grab another block of data
and start the process again. Using a vast number of personal computers
in this manner, the SETI project might just be able to keep up with the
influx of data. Whether or not we happen to tune in on "E.T." you can
feel good knowing that you've helped out. And if by some chance we do
find that galactic switchboard, your name could be mentioned prominently
every time the subject of the first proof of extraterrestrial
intelligence comes up. Now wouldn't THAT be cool??
I had thought of mentioning this whole premise to one of the excellent
programmers who've provided us with internet applications that allow us
to keep up with the big boys, but in this case I'm afraid that even a
souped-up TT or Falcon just wouldn't be up to the task. Heck, even on
this new whiz-bang laptop of mine (a 366 MHz Pentium II), it's taken
more than 17 hours to analyze fifty four percent of the first chunk of
data. However, if any of those programmers want to take a crack at it,
I'd be more than happy to beta test for them.
Folks, in my opinion this is one of the few really good reasons to own a
PC. Even if you decide not to download the screensaver, the site is
worth taking a look at. Can you tell that SETI has been one of my
interests for a long time?
So if you're a former Atari owner looking for something to rekindle that
old feeling of being a part of something special, check this out. It'll
be just you, me, and about 650,000 others... quite an elite clique, huh?
<grin>
Okay, let's get to the stuff that's floating around on the UseNet.
From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup
====================================
J. Lensbo asks about using one of the popular Atari emulators:
"Pardon my ignorance...I'm a newbie at this.
I downloaded Pacifist and TOS roms 1.0, 1.4 and 2.06 and put them all in
the same folder. When I run PacifiST it won't work... something about no
drive A image found, and also none of the roms are found. I have the
correct directory settings... what am I doing wrong?"
Nicholas Bales tells J:
"Did you edit the pacifist.ini file to make it point to the correct .img
files and .st files?
Did you give it only DOS paths (8+3 filenames), not VFAT ones?"
Being a new PC owner who loves his tried and true Atari programs,
you can rest assured that I'll be checking out all of the
available emulators. I might even be convinced to write an article
or two about them. jm
Mike Freeman posts:
"I am trying the idea of connecting my modem to the LAN port via a Mac to
Modem cable, as I've seen talked about here recently. One problem,
though: I can't get the STiNG dialer to recognize any port except Modem
2. In the Config selection, under Miscellaneous, the only option that
comes up is Modem 2. I tried manually typing in LAN and Serial 2 into the
dial.scr file, and no change. How do you do this?"
Pascal Ricard tells Mike:
"This is a matter of HS-Modem configuration (scc.prg or setter.ttp)."
Ronald Andersson, one of the brainy guys behind STinG, adds:
"It sounds to me as if you have missed installing HSModem or its modules
properly in \AUTO\, or that they are somehow misconfigured or damaged.
I'm not sure what machine you have, as the ports that
you mention exist both on MSTe and on TT030.
In any case, I have no MSTe, so I can only test this on my TT, and
there I do get all 4 ports displayed in the same popup.
Btw: I do hope you realized that it *is* a popup, so you won't see
all the alternatives without clicking on it.
What you then should see (on a TT) is:
Modem 1
Modem 2
Serial 1
Ser.2/LAN
In fact I see all of these even if I don't install HSModem at all,
so if you can only get Modem 2, something must be seriously wrong.
Unfortunately I can't see what that could be caused by at present."
David Ellis asks for information:
"I'm considering getting a ICD Link II and a SCSI portable ZIP drive.
Anyone here have that (or similar) combination? Is it reliable?"
J.Lensbo tells David:
"I've got one... works fine!"
Terry Ross asks for help with setting up his Nova card to work with NVDI:
"I ran a program today that reconfigured certain NVDI drivers.
Now I can't use NVDI (4) with my Nova (ET4000 - early drivers,
I believe) card, using Magic 4 as an OS. Basically, if NVDI is
active, I can only get output from the Nova Emulator program.
I seem to remember that the NVDI drivers had to be installed
after the Nova drivers. Unfortunately, I can't reinstall NVDI
as both my Master and Work disks have sector or CRC errors, and
I can't remember which NVDI system file was supposed to be used
with the ET4000 so I can't change things around manually in the
GEMSYS folder.
Anyone have any hints? Perhaps you could email me the appropriate
NVDI file?"
Lonny Pursell tells Terry:
"Make sure the NVDIDRV?.SYS files are disabled by renaming them *.syx or
something. It's possible they got re-installed some how?
Not sure how your assign.sys should look, but under some setups with nvdi
with gfx cards the lines with SCREEN.SYS are replaced by other driver
names. Maybe these got changed?"
Terry tells Lonnie:
"Thanks... It was the NVDIDRV?.SYS. I was under the impression that with
Nova, at least one of them remained active. My impression was obviously
mistaken."
Paul Nurminen asks for help with POPWatch:
"I've been using POPwatch 2.91 for a long time now, but lately, when I
simply try to CONNECT (or send Queued mail that was written with NEWSie),
I get an immediate "-00015 user timeout expired" message - BEFORE I EVEN
CONNECT! And sometimes when I'm downloading a few e-mails, midway
through I get this same error message. At one point I thought I had
solved the problem by deleting the "History" file, and turning off all
logging. But the problem reappeared some time later.
And it had worked perfectly for months, and I've not changed any
settings. My "CONNECT TIMEOUT" is at 60 seconds, and my "DATA TIMEOUT"
is at 100 seconds.
I've reinstalled the program a couple times from backup, and now
recently grabbed the archive from Gary's web site again to re-install it
that way. Same problem though.
Often it will work fine for days, then all of a sudden it's "TIMEOUT
city"!
The only thing I think is different on my system recently is an upgrade
to STinG 1.20 from 1.15, and the fact that I now have a NEMESIS installed
in my Falcon. And perhaps this problem is somehow related to the strange
freeze up problems I've been having with CAB 2.7?"
Pascal Ricard tells Paul:
"I've no problemo using STinG 1.20, Cab 2.7(e?), POPWatch and so on. My
Falcon is not accelerated (except by use of the alternative RAM provided
by the Magnum board).
Corrupted clusters ? You may try checking with Correct, Zorg, HPopt..."
Ronald Andersson tells Paul:
"I've been trying to think of what possible common factor those two
clients could have, but I can't think of anything that they would share
that would not also affect all other clients. Are these two the only
ones you use ?
Several factors are common to both:
1: Basic STinG configuration, mainly through DEFAULT.CFG, the CPXs, and
through the DIAL.SCR . You may need to check these for any mistakes
made or settings forgotten in switching to STinG 1.20 .
2: DNS operations, which depend on a legal NAMESERVER, either from the
DEFAULT.CFG or from DIAL.SCR, or even through PPP login directly from
your ISP. Check settings against your account info.
3: DNS cache file. A corrupt one can have strange effects, and the best
cure then is simply to erase CACHE.DNS and reboot. That will cause a
message about the file being missing when STinG boots RESOLVE.STX, but
a new CACHE.DNS will be created automatically."
J. Lensbo comes back and asks a question about a SyQuest 44:
"Does *anyone* have a Syquest removable drive hooked to their ST?? I
just came into a couple that have 44 meg removables and one 200 meg
removables. The 44's work fine, but I'm having trouble with the 200.
I hooked it to my hard drive with a SCSI cable... the ID was fine and it
was seen on bootup. My hard drive is a 105 meg partitioned as drives C,
D, E and F. I installed a drive G - hoping it would show the Syquest -
but when I clicked on it it said "drive not found".
I put in my ICD disk thinking I needed to format the thing, then read
the docs that I might format the WRONG drive... I certainly don't want to
reformat my hard drive by mistake!"
Terry Kelly tells J:
"Well, I'm not an expert, but I do have two syquest drives hooked to my
system. Depending on the software you are using (TOS and hard disk
driver), the size of the 200 meg might be a problem. Certainly, the
drive needs to be partitioned in an Atari compatible format. Until that
is done there is no way for your software to "find" it. I don't think
you need to do a low level format, just a repartitioning.
You should try and partition based on the SCSI ID number of the 200 meg
syquest. As long as you are sure what that number is, there should be no
danger of trashing your boot drive."
Well folks, that's it for this week. Tune again next issue, same time,
same station, and be ready to listen to what they are saying when...
PEOPLE ARE TALKING
=~=~=~=
->In This Week's Gaming Section - Pac Man Fever CD Released!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" JagFest '99 Show Reports!
'Ape Escape'! New Rugrats!
NUON News! Looney Tunes Games!
And much more!
->From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, reports from JagFest '99 have been coming in and the reviews I've seen
have been very positive. Congratulations to Carl Forhan for a successful
show! As you'll see in the reports to follow, the attendees got to see some
new things for the Jaguar, as well as some of the hits from the past.
Regarding the Classic Gaming Expo "soap opera", things seem to have quieted
down this past week. I've heard from a number of the players this past week
in response to my editorials the past two weeks. I was actually
anticipating "flames" when I saw who the messages were from, but instead was
pleasantly surprised to learn that some of the people involved wrote to tell
me thanks! Seeing what was going on from an unbiased view made some realize
just how crazy things were.
Although I doubt that I had any influence with my editorials, I have learned
that things are improving among some of the "injured" parties. Whether or
not any of the people who pulled out of the show (Nolan Bushnell, Jerry
Jessop, Curt Vendel, etc.) will now attend remains to be seen. However, I
wouldn't be surprised if all - with perhaps the exception of Bushnell -
ended up attending. It would be the right thing to do, and the best
solution for all involved. I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the
situation.
Until next time...
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Ape Escape for PlayStation Game Console Breaks
New Ground in 3D Platform Gaming
New Action/Platform Title Pushes Gaming Boundaries Through
Full Utilization of DUAL SHOCK Analog Controller
Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the release of Ape Escape, a
groundbreaking original 3D action/platform title, available exclusively for
the PlayStation game console.
Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Ape Escape is the first and
only game specifically designed to allow players full use of the DUAL
SHOCK analog controller, elevating the PlayStation gaming experience to an
entirely new level.
Ape Escape sets a new gameplay standard by challenging players to utilize
both controller sticks to simultaneously maneuver character movements and
control their gadgets and vehicles.
Players will use their skills and intuition to control movement and
activate an arsenal of unique gadgets including a Stun Club, Time Net, Sky
Flyer (propeller), Slingback Shooter (slingshot), Super Dash Hoop, Monkey
Radar, a Remote Control Car and Water Net, all while enjoying fast-paced,
innovative gameplay and exploring massive 3D environments.
Additional key game features include:
-- Vehicles including a tank and a row boat (players must maneuver
vehicles using both sticks of the DUAL SHOCK analog controller);
-- Mind-twisting mini-games including skiing, boxing rounds and a
monkey galaxy shooting gallery;
-- Clock racing time attacks;
-- More than 25 levels spanning eight unique worlds; and
-- Training rooms to learn how to use each unique gadget.
``Ape Escape clearly pushes the boundaries of the PlayStation gaming
experience by offering players refreshing, original and innovative
gameplay, including full use of both controller sticks," said Ami Blaire,
director, product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America.
``The game is a fast moving adventure that is challenging and entertaining
for gamers of all ages -- we predict consumers will go completely ape over
Ape Escape!"
In the game, Specter and his boisterous band of apes have invaded the
professor's laboratory at the zoo, stolen intelligence enhancing helmets
and activated the time machine to transport themselves back in time in an
attempt to make monkeys the new rulers of the world. Spike, a fearless
young boy, arrives at the lab with his friend, Jake, just as Specter and
his monkey minions are being transported back in time.
Now it is up to Spike to capture all of the monkeys and save the world.
Eidos Interactive Redefines Real-Time Strategy With
Warzone 2100 for PlayStation
Eidos Interactive, announced this week the release of Warzone 2100 for the
PlayStation.
Warzone 2100 redefines real time strategy (RTS) for the PlayStation by
putting the strategy directly in the players' hands.
Taking place over three large campaigns within a full 3D game world, gamers
set out to build a new world from the ashes of a civilization wiped out by
atomic Armageddon. More than 400 researched artifacts allow players to
design and customize more than 2000 battle units.
The result is battle units ranging from flamer mounted cyborgs and heavy
battle tanks to VTOL aircraft. In addition, the depth of the artificial
intelligence systems allows gamers to recycle the experience of field units
into bigger, better and fiercer war machines.
``Warzone 2100 showcases Eidos Interactive's dedication to bringing quality
titles of all genres to the PlayStation," said Rob Dyer, president, Eidos
Interactive. ``The depth of gameplay in Warzone 2100, 3D terrain and
artificial intelligence systems combine to create an experience that sets
the standard for PlayStation RTS titles."
Warzone 2100 is set to take the RTS market by storm, having received high
scores from PlayStation publications such as Playstation Extreme, which
gave the game a 92%, and the Official PlayStation Magazine, in which
Warzone scored a four out of five.
Acclaim Invites South Park Fans To Party In "Chef's Luv Shack" Video Game
Acclaim Studios announced the development of South Park: Chef's Luv Shack,
a new multiplayer-style trivia game that will challenge players to both
outwit and out-play their opponents. Developed by Acclaim Studios Austin,
creators of Acclaim's successful South Park game released last year for the
Nintendo 64 and PC, South Park: Chef's Luv Shack will be released for the
PC, Nintendo 64, and Sony PlayStation this Fall. The game is based on
Comedy Central's hit animated series ``South Park."
``Fans of South Park are going to love Chef's Luv Shack," said Tom Bass,
product manager at Acclaim Entertainment. ``The combination of trivia and
South Park-inspired mini-games will make the perfect party game."
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack is a multi-player party experience hosted by
the swinging lothario, Chef. Up to four gamers take the role of Cartman,
Kenny, Kyle, or Stan and compete in a combination of wacky trivia showdowns
and South Park episode-inspired mini-games such as ``Cartman's German
Song," ``Beefcake," and ``Spank the Monkey with Mr. Mackey." In
``Beefcake," gamers play the role of Cartman, who hurriedly moves back and
forth across the screen to gobble down cans of Weight Gain 4000 that are
hurled down at him. Fans of the show will recognize Cartman's antagonists
as the surly spokesmen for Weight Gain 4000.
``The South Park team had a great time coming up with wacky ideas for the
mini-games," says lead designer and project manager Jools Watsham. ``South
Park fans will instantly appreciate how true we've remained to the cable
series."
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack will feature all new hilarious sound bites
created specifically for this game by the show's creators Matt Stone and
Trey Parker, as well as Isaac Hayes.
Acclaim's South Park franchise will be supported by a major nationwide
marketing campaign that includes television, radio, online and in-store
merchandising targeted to adult gamers. Acclaim has included a warning on
the game's box cover informing purchasers of South Park's adult content and
language.
THQ Launches Multi-Million Dollar Marketing Campaign
for `Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt'
First-Ever Rugrats Game for the Nintendo 64 Releases This June
THQ Inc. Tuesday announced its multi-million dollar marketing campaign to
support the release of ``Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt," the first Nintendo 64
game featuring Nickelodeon's Rugrats, the highest-rated kids program in the
United States.
Marketing support includes national print and television advertising, major
promotional tie-ins with Kid Rhino Records, Paramount Home Video and Simon
Spotlight, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's publishing, in
addition to online campaigns.
``The Rugrats property continues to thrive as THQ prepares for the release
of `Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt,"' stated Alison Locke, senior vice president,
marketing and sales, THQ. ``We've had tremendous success with our initial
Rugrats games since their release and now is the perfect time to bring the
first Nintendo 64 Rugrats game to millions of Rugrats and N64 enthusiasts.
Our intensive marketing campaign is sure to fuel the power behind this
release."
``Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt" will feature its own Web site in addition to a
3-month campaign on Nick.com. Further Nickelodeon endorsement includes
on-air product mentions during Nickelodeon Television's 20-day, 20th
birthday celebration.
The game lets kids of all ages play as their favorite Rugrats character in
one of the first interactive 3D board games for the Nintendo 64. Featuring
the lovable characters and voices from the Emmy Award-winning television
series, ``Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt" allows 1 to 4 players to go
diaper-to-diaper in search of hidden treasures.
The music is Rugrats music composed and recorded by Mark Mothersbaugh, the
composer of all Rugrats music for the television show and feature film.
Kids can venture through Angelica's Temple of Gloom, hunting for and
collecting broken ancient Aztec pieces before the evil Aztecca Queen gets
her hands on players. Kids can also journey back to the Pre-a-Stork Era to
help their dinosaur friend Reptar clean up a big candy mess on Reptar's
Island or scuba dive for hidden pirate treasure in Pirate Treasure Hunt.
Looney Tunes Hit Video Game Market
Just months after Disney announced Mickey Mouse will make his first foray
into video games, Warner Bros. Interactive says Bugs Bunny and other
popular Looney Tunes characters will begin starring in their own 3-D
interactive titles.
The studio division has inked a five-year multimillion-dollar licensing
deal with video game creator Infogrames Entertainment to produce 20 titles
based on its animated franchise.
As part of the deal, the French gamemaker behind ``Mission: Impossible"
and other hit games has already released two Looney Tunes-based titles for
Nintendo's handheld Game Boy Color system.
The next wave of titles will be created for the Sony PlayStation and
Nintendo 64 console systems, beginning with the Bugs Bunny-starring game
``Lost in Time," which will go out to retailersthis month.
``Taz Express," featuring the Tazmanian Devil, will hit store shelves in
November for Nintendo 64, while ``Duck Dodgers" starring Daffy Duck will
roll out in 2000, also for Nintendo 64.
``It's a good way to keep the franchise fresh," said Jeff Blanc, director
of marketing for Infogrames. ``We wanted to capture the true essence of the
cartoons by essentially creating interactive cartoons."
Warners is promoting the titles through an in-theater campaign on 12,000
screens across the United States.
The deal is part of Warner Bros. Interactive's plan to beef up the number
of vidgame titles it produces by 27 percent this year by licensing rights
to TV shows, film franchises and characters it owns in the Turner,
Hannah-Barbera and Cartoon Network libraries, including ``Scooby-Doo,"
``Animaniacs," "Pinky & the Brain," ``The Flintstones" and ``Powder Puff
Girls."
It plans to release a ``Wild Wild West" game in November, as well as a
``Dukes of Hazard" game for PlayStation and a golf game based on
``Caddyshack."
``There's a plethora of titles we could do," said Rob Sebastian, executive
director of Warner Bros. Interactive. ``It all depends on finding the right
partners who can bring our licensed product to the global market."
The division, which was restructured nearly 18 months ago, recently
experienced a two-year delay on its latest ``Superman" title from Titus
Software for Nintendo's console.
The division plans to release 32 licensed titles this year, alone, with
more deals planned to be inked with partners in the handheld space,
boosting its efforts on the Game Boy Color system which enables it to
capitalize on the market for video games among young children and girls.
Infogrames is currently producing an ``Antz" Game Boy title for DreamWorks
for the fall and has previously produced titles for Disney.
Nintendo Says To Connect Gameboy With Internet
Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd said on Monday that its Gameboy hand-held game
machines will be able to link to the Internet starting early next year.
The company has developed software that will enable users to connect
Gameboys to mobile phones and personal handyphone systems for Internet
access, it said.
Users will be able to exchange data with other users and to add features
such as new characters and background to games through the Internet.
The price of the new software is still undecided, a spokesman said.
SC&T International Inc. Announces Software Publishing Division
to Support NUON and Other Platforms
SC&T International Inc. Wednesday announced plans to form a new software
publishing division.
The new division will focus initially on NUON interactive technologies
to be introduced by Toshiba and other consumer electronics manufacturers
throughout the next year. SC&T already holds a strategic partnership
licensing agreement for several of its Per4mer accessory and peripheral
products, with VM Labs Inc.
James Copland, chairman & chief executive officer for SC&T stated, ``We
view NUON and Interactive DVD to be significant new growth markets over the
next five years. It is a significant opportunity for SC&T to diversify and
to assume a position of leadership with cutting edge home entertainment
technology.
``The publishing division will look to license, publish, co-develop and
distribute products on a global basis." He added, ``The company is
currently speaking with several industry veterans from the publishing
industry to head this new enterprise."
Donald A. Thomas, Jr., director of peripheral licensing and promotions for
VM Labs Inc., noted, ``SC&T is a pro-active company which is poised to
exploit the explosive growth trends of DVD and the emerging markets
associated with Interactive DVD. SC&T has an aggressive engineering &
marketing plan for its licensed family of NUON-based accessories and
peripheral products.
``Their venture into the publishing arena is a natural next-step to preempt
competition, improve market positioning and create for themselves
remarkably cost effective cross-marketing opportunities. SC&T has great
potential to be a formidable publisher in this new market."
SC&T International Inc., develops and markets racing wheels, game
controllers and sound enhancement products for the rapidly growing PC and
Video Game arenas. Developer of the world's first Force Feed Back racing
wheel, the company also holds patents, and receives licensing revenues for
these technologies.
=~=~=~=
->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr!
"""""""""""""""""""
Official JagFest '99 Report
I'm pleased to say that JagFest '99, held in Rochester, MN, was a wonderful
success. I'm proud and very happy to have been those host for this year's
'fest, as I was able to supply a lot of things Jaguar and Lynx fans were
looking for.
On the Lynx front, Ponx was a hit with several attendees (and thanks for
those purchases! ;-) ), and I know every Lynx fan there had a blast doing
comlynx Checkered Flag (5 people), Raiden (2 people), and other games like
Slime World, Cal. Games, and Xenophobe.
We demoed some cool recent and upcoming games like SIMIS, Sokomania, and
Hyperdrome (not sure if anyone actually fired up the latter).
On the much anticipated Jaguar front... many tournaments were held, and
people definitely "showed their stuff" on games like Breakout 2000, Tempest
2000, and Zero 5 (all I can say is. "Wow, Clay"). NBA Jam rocked the house
more than once, and other games like Ultra Vortek and Doom saw play time as
well.
We hoped to do a functional Voice Modem demo, but time slipped away from
us. Maybe next year, guys. :-) Lots of other rare hardware was on display
-- Jag Stereo adapter, Alpine boards, weird controllers, a Lynx dev kit,
and more.
Scott unfortunately could not get the latest Assassin demo to work. Native
didn't work out, either.
Protector was I think a surprise hit. People expected a straight Defender
clone, but really enjoyed the new enemies and powerups and overall
gameplay.
BattleSphere was of course immensely popular, and the networking was very
solid. Hats off to 4Play on this marvelous game that we all look forward to
owning one day.
Skyhammer was the "special announcement" game presented by Songbird
Productions at about 5-6pm during the event. All the Jaguar fans I spoke
with were excited to see how well the game played, the solid frame rate,
and the attractive graphics. Not to mention the intricate gameplay
centering around a series of nonlinear missions. A second play mode is
included in this game, called "Battle" mode, where you have to fight off
wave after wave of enemies (maybe they should have named this mode
'Gauntlet' ;-) ). Very fun game, and enjoyed by all.
The most disappointing aspect of the event, as one might imagine, was what
I'll call mediocre attendance. About 10 of the people on my online
"attendees" list were no-shows, including Terance Williams, who we were all
hoping could provide an update on Gorf 2000. Fred, Randy, Jason S., Robin,
and more also didn't show up (or at least I didn't get to meet them if they
did...) Sorry you guys couldn't make it, it would have been great to meet
you. Raven Video Games did not make it down from the Twin Cities due to a
co-worker calling in sick that day.
Having said all that, I am happy to announce that attendance was probably
better than even JagFest attendees realize. I sold 45 tickets to the event
(adult and child combined), and another 25 people that were friends,
family, and fellow church-goers also showed up (at no cost to them) to
either help out at the ticket table, see my crazy video game hobby in
action, etc. :-) That brings our grand total to 70 PEOPLE for JagFest '99!
I know with a little more work and regional promotion, we could make it an
even bigger event next year.
Thanks to everyone who helped make it a success, and especially to the
folks who traveled the furthest -- Kevin and Katie, Clay and Michelle,
Brian and his father, and everyone else!
Songbird Productions was pleased to be the official host of JagFest '99.
Carl Forhan
Songbird Productions
JagFest'99 Through My Eyes
Posted by ETHunter
The following is my detailed story trying to get to, and ultimately
attending jagFest'99.
So I finally made it to June 18,1999. it was time for JagFest! I woke up at
4:30 in the morning so I could pack the car and hopefully get a good start
on the trip of about 80 miles. Everything would have went smoothly if only
my brother would have not forgotten his TV at his home. We were planning
on leaving my house at 6:00am so I told him to be on time at my house. Not
only does he show up 25 minutes late but, like I said, brings jag but no
TV! I'm in disbelief because he lives 15 miles from me and 6:30am is rush
hour here in Mpls. I was so mad we had to go back to his home first I don't
think we talked till we were 10 miles from Rochester. It ended up not
mattering but I finally arrived at the location around 8:30.
So I finally get to the right Holiday Inn (I went into the first Holiday
Inn I saw on Broadway thinking there could only be one Holiday Inn on
Broadway, but upon entering thought something wasn't right when it was WAY
too ritzy, but went ahead anyway and asked the front desk "Where is JagFest
being held at?" They had no idea what I was talking about so I excused
myself and drove down Broadway a little further to find the right place.)
I entered through the front doors and immediately saw a large room with
TV's and Atari banners. HONEY, I'M HOME! I entered the room and was
immediately greeted by Carl Forhan. It was very cool to put a face to the
name and founder of Songbird Productions. I and my just forgiven brother
began to unpack the car and put my TV and Jags on the table right next to
Kevin Manne's table. I had never met Kevin but have seen many pictures of
him from previous JagFest's so when he approached to say hi I immediately
said "Kevin!" like I knew him for many years. Very wierd.
Before too long it was 10:00 and the fest had officially begun. After maybe
a half an hour I was thinking that I should link up Doom for a little fun
but was unsure if it would be appropriate when I saw some young children
already in attendance. I went ahead anyway with the deathmatch setup and
came to the realization that these "young children" were very good at Doom.
Almost too good. In fact I was reluctant to deathmatch with them for fear
of being humiliated. So I played it safe and watched others play their
games. One of these young children turned out to be Scott Walters 7 year
old son.
It really began to get fun when I began to meet other attendees that I've
seen posting at JI. It was very cool meeting Kevin, thought Dan Loosen was
very cool and his friend from Milwaukee, Max (can't spell your last name)
was very friendly. It was a pleasure to meet Dan Iacovelli from AVC and put
an order in for the FREE JagFest newsletter! Clay Haliwell amazed me by
pouring in over 420,000 points in Zero-5, easily winning that competition.
I try to be modest but I was very lucky and did have success with the
Tempest2000 and Breakout2000 competition.
Carl finally let us see and play Protector and I was very impressed despite
totally sucking at it. I need a good month with a game before I get the
hang of it. Not to my surprise, my success with Battlsphere didn't go much
better. I would end up flying in the completely wrong direction I was
supposed to go and even ended up firing upon (and destroying) my own star
base or something like that simply because I had no idea what to do. Give
me a manual and the game for 2 months and I'll be the most dangerous
BattleSphere pilot you've ever seen. At least I want to believe that!
To top it off, Carl gathered us all around the big TV to show us a little
surprise which ended up being the very cool Skyhammer. It ran fast, smooth,
great soundtrack, non-linear gameplay, everything you could like in a game.
By the time the Fest was nearing its end, I started to get very tired and
had trouble sitting and playing games endlessly. So I'd play for 15 minutes
then walk around aimlessly and boy was that ever fun! :-)
I almost forgot that Carl forced me to be interviewed and I reluctantly
agreed to make a fool of myself. I really do hate cameras as I never seem
to look good in them. Upon further review I think I need to diet or
something. What a mess!!!
So the night came to a close and I sadly packed my belongings and packed my
car for the trip home. I just may have had the best day I could remember
except when my kids were born and the day I was tricked into marriage. The
whole way home all I could talk about to my brother is BattleSphere this
and Protector that and Skyhammer too! What a day it was. In fact, I had so
much fun, I'm going to try to travel any distance to get to the next one.
Sorry for the way too long story
Micah (ETHunter)
Atari Video Club Announcements
Due to printing problems I had with the jagfest issue (b/w versions)
I'll be taking request for the above mentioned issue until august 30th.
To request a copy (one per household please): either e-mail me at
AtariVideoClub@angelfire.com subject: B/W JagFest issue and in the body put
your name,address,city state and zip code (in other words your snail mail
address) or use the form at the clubs website. (if you already requested
an issue at fest'99 please don't request again) please allow 2 to 3 weeks
for delivery.
Due to scheduling problems at the fest Atarimania wasn't able to be played
there. So, starting june 21,1999 till July 30th if you enter Atarimania 8
using World Tour racing you'll be able to win the following:
1. A color copy of the jagfest issue (both divisions (I'll make an extra
copy of issue for the other winner)
2. For Div I winner: I'll add an extra year to the winners membership to
AVC after the first year has expired.
For Div II winner: a free year membership to AVC.
Good luck.
(this is only good for world tour racing and not any other selected
Atarimania game and only is the free for all competition (follow the rules
for WTR on the AtariMania page at the website.))
Thank you
Dan Iacovelli
Atari Video Club chairperson
Editor of the Atari Zone (Fanzine and E-zine)
Webmaster of AVC Online
Dan@AVC}
AVC Online = http://avconline.atari.org
(ICQ #14050168)
Pac-Man Fever is Now Shipping!
The blockbuster single and album from the golden age of video games is
now available on CD. Hear all the original songs remastered by the original
artists, Buckner & Garcia, specifically for this release.
SONGS INCLUDE:
-- Pac-Man Fever
-- Froggy's Lament
-- Ode to a Centipede
-- Do the Donkey Kong
-- Hyperspace
-- The Defender
-- Mousetrap
-- Goin' Berzerk
Exclusively available direct from the studio. For the link to order,
visit: http://www.ICWhen.com
Please tell Buckner & Garcia that ICWhen.com sent you!
=~=~=~=
A-ONE's Headline News
The Latest in Computer Technology News
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Microsoft Offers Patch To Fix Web Software Breach
Microsoft Corp. Friday acted to limit any damage from a serious security
gap in its software that could allow hackers to break into computers
running up to 20 percent of the world's Web sites.
The software giant published a fix on the Internet for the flaw in its
Windows NT operating system two days after a small California company that
discovered the problem made available a software tool to exploit it.
Executives of the company say they published the tool only to force
Microsoft to respond to the problem, but the software giant was highly
critical of the move.
So far there have been only a ``very small number" of reported break-ins,
but hackers easily could cover their tracks, leaving systems compromised
without the knowledge of their administrators, said Shawn Hernan of the
federally funded CERT Coordination Center at the Software Engineering
Institute in Pittsburgh, which responds to computer security threats.
He said the so-called buffer overflow problem was a serious threat because
it allows a malicious person using standard Internet protocols to gain
high-level access to computers running the Microsoft Internet Information
Server software, which operates 20 to 25 percent of the world's Web sites.
``You combine all that and you have a very serious potential problem," he
said.
He said the flaw got a ranking of 95 on the agency's 100-point scale of
seriousness.
About 90 percent of computers running the Microsoft software are vulnerable
to the problem, said Firas Bushnaq, chief executive officer of eCompany LLC
in Corona del Mar, which discovered the problem June 8 while testing its
new network security auditing software.
Officials of the nine-person company immediately notified Microsoft, which
acknowledged the problem and said it would release a fix within a few days.
But late Tuesday eCompany officials became frustrated by what they
considered Microsoft's slow response and published a "demonstration
program" to exploit the hole as well as a patch to prevent any breach of
security.
``We never intended to fight Microsoft in any way," said Firas Bushnaq,
president and chief executive officer of eCompany. ``Basically the doors of
the Internet were wide open, people were not paying attention to it, and
Microsoft was downplaying it."
Jason Garms, lead product manager for Windows NT security, disputed that
account and questioned the company's motives.
``We certainly worked with them in good faith to find a solution for
this," Garms said. ``It's just unfortunate that they took the actions they
did to publish this tool, whose only purpose is to allow non-technical
people to attack innocent people's Web sites."
Judge Challenges Microsoft Witness
The Microsoft Corp. is wrestling with indications from the judge at its
trial that he may consider the company's intentions toward industry rivals
when he decides whether it broke antitrust laws.
In an unusually frank exchange with the company's final witness Monday, the
judge challenged him directly over whether such consideration is
appropriate as he delivers his verdict later this year.
The move could bode poorly for Microsoft, whose incendiary e-mails among
top executives describing plans to topple competitors have become important
evidence in the trial.
Economist Richard Schmalensee, who will finish testifying later this week,
argued that Microsoft's decision to give away its Internet software can't
be considered ``predatory," partly because there is no evidence that it
planned eventually to begin charging for the software.
The government alleges in its antitrust case that Microsoft gave its
software away to undermine sales of a popular rival Web browser from
Netscape Communications Corp.
But Schmalensee said that without any evidence showing Microsoft's pricing
strategy was illegal, the judge shouldn't try to interpret the company's
intentions. That, he said, would be ``slippery, difficult and fraught with
peril."
``It's difficult to know what the intent is of a multiperson organization,"
Schmalensee said. ``Most economists would not attach high importance to
intent."
``That's what courts do every day," U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield
Jackson said, interrupting. Without another way to know whether Microsoft
set its software prices illegally low, ``I can see for the court's purposes
why intent might be relevant."
Schmalensee testified that even at companies competing fairly, ``Somebody
will write a document that says, 'Let's kill them."'
``I don't think it's any simpler for the court or for a jury," the judge
said. But ``juries are called to do this all the time."
Microsoft lawyer John Warden said outside court that focusing on the
rallying cries of employees at the height of the infamous ``browser wars"
carries ``tremendous risks" and violates principles surrounding antitrust
verdicts.
``It is very, very difficult to distinguish between the intent to get all
the business and the intent to drive all the rivals out," Warden said.
``The same words can mean both those things."
Earlier Monday, Schmalensee sought to convince the judge that federal
intervention isn't needed to preserve competition in the industry's fight
over Internet software.
``The way to see if a war is over is to see whether the sides are still
firing, and both sides are still firing," said Schmalensee, citing
Netscape's recent purchase for $10 billion by America Online Inc.
Schmalensee maintained that the government, in more than five months in the
courtroom, has failed to prove that Microsoft's behavior toward software
rivals hurt consumers - the guiding principle toward applying antitrust
law.
Microsoft Expert Faces Tough Questions
Microsoft Corp.'s economic expert faced tough cross-examination at the
software giant's antitrust trial Wednesday, on everything from his hourly
fee to errors in a chart he used for evidence.
Richard Schmalensee, dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's
Sloan School of Management and the expert economic witness for Microsoft,
first testified that he could not remember how much Microsoft had paid him
for his services.
After repeated questions from a government lawyer, Schmalensee, the last of
26 witnesses in the trial, finally said Microsoft paid him more than
$100,000 over seven years.
Under yet more questioning, he then said Microsoft paid him more than
$250,000 in the last two years and his consulting firm threw in an extra
$300,000 bonus. Schmalensee, who charges $800 an hour for consulting work,
said that he may have made even more.
In the cross-examination, government lawyer David Boies also tried to
demonstrate that Schmalensee lacked command of the subjects he had
testified on for Microsoft.
The Justice Department and 19 states contend that Microsoft holds monopoly
power in the operating system for personal computers and illegally used
that power to compete unfairly with Netscape Communications Corp. Netscape
has since been bought by America Online Inc.
The government says that Microsoft won the ``browser war," forcing its
Internet Explorer Web on computer makers, and putting Netscape's browser at
a disadvantage.
Schmalensee said that the browser war is far from over, and under
questioning from a Microsoft lawyer had shown two charts that illustrated
Netscape's healthy share of the browser market.
Boies showed the charts and asked Schmalensee: ``Did you make a visual
inspection of these documents to see that they made sense?"
Schmalensee said, ``As I sit here, a comparison with the one on the right
suggests there is a difficulty."
``They cannot be reconciled," Boies said.
The first chart showed that Netscape's market was on the upswing, and that
from six to seven million people had obtained the program with a new
computers between the spring of 1998 and spring 1999.
The next chart, however, showed that during the same period the average
number of people was more than 8 million.
Schmalensee had also testified that Microsoft's Windows program was
potentially under siege from a host of new programs that could run on the
Web, no matter what the underlying operating system.
But he acknowledged under cross-examination that he had done no study, had
no projections of numbers and no knowledge about the authors or details of
the programs he cited in his testimony.
The witness stage of the trial is expected to end this week, which is to be
followed by a recess of about a month before summing up.
Microsoft Judge Asks Witness To Assume Firm Monopoly
Testimony in the landmark Microsoft antitrust trial drew nearer to a close
Thursday with the judge asking the software giant's final witness to assume
the company was a monopoly in answering a question.
Richard Schmalensee, dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's
Sloan School of Management, was slow to answer a question about Microsoft's
contract conditions when District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson asked:
``Assume Microsoft is a monopoly -- would they then be anti-competitive?"
Jackson's remarks brought a smile to the face of Justice Department
antitrust chief Joel Klein who was present in the court Thursday.
It was the 76th day of presentations to Jackson who is widely tipped to go
against the company when he issues his findings later this year.
The federal government and 19 states have accused Microsoft of illegally
using its monopoly in personal computer operating software to perpetuate
that monopoly and gain advantage over Internet browser-maker Netscape
Communications.
Microsoft Corp. lawyers, who have already gotten Jackson reversed once by
an appeals court, argue that the government's case falls short of the
stringent standards needed to prove major violations of the nation's
antitrust laws.
They say the ``browser war" between Netscape and Microsoft has benefited
consumers, the ultimate yardstick in judging the health of competition.
``What the evidence at trial has shown is that Microsoft's actions resulted
in an intense period of competition," said Microsoft lawyer Richard
Urowsky outside court. ``It bought the price down to zero for consumers,
resulted in immense product improvements and strong increases in output and
that competition continues."
But observers of the trial say Microsoft is likely to be on the losing
side. Even one of the company's strongest supporters, home-state Republican
Sen. Slade Gorton, has predicted the decision will go against the Redmond,
Wash.-based firm.
``Assuming that the judge finds for the government, which I think the court
likely will, the significance of the case ultimately will depend on the
relief that the court ultimately grants," said Mark Schechter, an
antitrust expert with the law firm of Howrey &
Simon in Washington.
Microsoft elected to forego a jury, so it is Jackson who will decide which
witnesses to believe as he writes findings of fact, expected to be issued
in September.
After that, Jackson will issue conclusions of law and finally determine
what remedies are needed to correct any problems he finds.
It is unclear at this stage what sort of remedies might be imposed or if
Microsoft would choose to settle the case or fight it all the way, possibly
to the Supreme Court.
``In a very real sense, the most important part of the determination is
before us," said Schechter.
In court Thursday, government attorney David Boies asked Schmalensee,
Microsoft's chief economic witness, if he pursued data that supported
Microsoft with more vigor than information that tended to undermine it.
Schmalensee smiled slightly and replied: ``Is that just a blanket challenge
to my ethics? How am I to interpret that?"
``The answer, unfortunately, is yes and no," Schmalensee replied. ``I owe
my client an effective presentation of the facts as I understand them. I
owe the court an honest and serious effort to find out the truth."
Wednesday, Schalansee under questioning said Microsoft had directly paid
him at least $250,000 in the last two years for consulting work.
Final Microsoft Witness Testifies
The final witness in the Microsoft antitrust trial acknowledged the
software giant's dominant Windows operating system will be ``the only
viable alternative" for most computer makers in the near future.
The government was expected to finish questioning economist Richard
Schmalensee today. It said his testimony supported government allegations
that Microsoft is a monopolist that illegally wields its influence.
``From everything I've seen, for some number of years, while there will be
many ways to access the Internet, a lot of work will be done on (Windows)
desktops using desktop equipment," Schmalensee said Wednesday during
cross-examination by government attorneys.
But Schmalensee argued that Microsoft can't be a monopolist because it
faces competition from promising upstart rivals in the nation's high-tech
industry.
He described new technologies - including non-Microsoft handheld computers,
a new generation of software running across the Internet and the rival
Linux operating system - that he said make Microsoft too worried to be the
entrenched monopolist the government describes.
The argument is important to Microsoft because it wants to show that other
companies believe they can make money competing against the software giant
and its flagship Windows software.
``Saying there are no viable commercial alternatives to Windows is less
true than it was six months ago," Schmalensee said.
But when the top Justice Department lawyer in the case, David Boies,
pressed Schmalensee, the economist couldn't offer details about the
popularity of Linux computers, the booming development of new
Internet-based software, or even when those types of Web programs will
become widespread.
``In relative terms, there will be a shift in activity where the computing
occurs," Schmalensee said. ``I'm not a prophet. One extrapolates in this
business with some risk. It could happen. It could happen soon."
Earlier in the day, Boies opened his courtroom challenge by eliciting
testimony that Schmalensee was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in
consulting fees, along with an admission that recent evidence he prepared
for court was wrong.
Boies confronted Schmalensee with two charts the economist created showing
increasing distribution since 1996 of rival Internet software from Netscape
Communications Corp.
But as Boies pointed out, the numbers in Schmalensee's charts - based on
the same data - don't match. A visibly rattled Schmalensee acknowledged
that the comparison ``suggests a difficulty."
``It does more than suggests a difficulty, doesn't it?" Boies asked.
``They cannot be reconciled, can they?"
``Mr. Boies, one of these is wrong," Schmalensee said.
Microsoft Trial Testimony Ends
Testimony ended Thursday on the 76th day of the landmark Microsoft
antitrust trial, a courtroom drama that offered a unique look at the
nation's booming high-tech industry and the software giant that
dominates it.
The trial's final witness, economist Richard Schmalensee of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argued forcefully that the $14
billion Microsoft Corp. isn't the entrenched monopolist that illegally
wields extraordinary influence, as portrayed by the government.
``Microsoft was clearly engaged in a broad pattern of illegal behavior,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Joel Klein told reporters on the courthouse
steps. ``They used every trick in the monopolist's book. ... You name it,
they did it."
Stephen Houck of the New York attorney general's office, the lead lawyer
for the 19 states suing Microsoft with the Justice Department, described
the company to reporters as a ``malignant despot" and said its behavior
``will justify a very significant remedy."
Schmalensee buttressed his claim that Microsoft isn't a monopoly by
describing a raft of competitors on the company's horizon - the $10 billion
alliance between rivals America Online Inc. and Netscape Communications
Corp., handheld computers and a new generation of software running across
high-speed Internet connections.
But in what became routine during the trial, the company's witness was
challenged again Thursday in a piercing cross-examination by David Boies,
the Justice Department lawyer whose tough questioning has sometimes
appeared to inflict upon Microsoft the courtroom equivalent of a computer
system meltdown.
Boies produced handwritten notes from Microsoft's files quoting billionaire
Chairman Bill Gates - ``BillG" - in December about the prospective threat
from the new AOL-Netscape alliance, announced just weeks earlier along with
an important agreement with Sun Microsystems Inc.
``AOL doesn't have it in their genes to attack us in the platform space,"
said Gates, his comments outside the courtroom once again seemingly
undermining what his lawyers were telling the judge in court. ``If you want
to lose sleep tonight, worry about Sun."
Schmalensee said he assessed the AOL threat from secret documents produced
by America Online.
And Microsoft lawyer Michael Lacovara cited a news report - published just
hours earlier - that AOL was in early negotiations Thursday with a small
company that makes computers that don't use Microsoft's dominant Windows
operating system.
``I can't say you haven't brought me current" on industry developments,
said U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.
Although Thursday was the last day of testimony, the judge may not issue a
final verdict until early next year. And the case could wind through
appeals courts for years.
Since the trial started, the sides have met at least twice in unsuccessful
attempts to negotiate a settlement. Future talks are anticipated this
summer.
Using tens of thousands of pages of e-mails and other documents, the
government sought to portray Microsoft as a cunning industry titan that
illegally used its heft to undermine competing technologies and to
discourage other companies from supporting its rivals.
Microsoft responded that it competes roughly, but fairly, in a
bare-knuckles industry with billions at stake. And it returned again and
again to its argument that the government has failed to prove its actions
hurt consumers.
Evidence seemed to bear out both views, and also provided an intriguing -
and sometimes embarrassing - glimpse beneath the veneer of the flashy
high-tech industry. E-mails, handwritten notes from meetings and other
paperwork revealed a take-no-prisoners business world where alliances are
proposed, sealed and dissolved.
The co-founder of Netscape, Marc Andreessen, proposed combining forces with
AOL in 1995 to ``kick the (expletive) out of the beast from Redmond," a
reference to Microsoft's headquarters in Washington state. Sun's top
executive, Scott McNealy, told employees to use his company's Java
technology to ``charge, kill HP (Hewlett-Packard), IBM, Msft and Apple all
at once."
Gates complained in e-mail that IBM executives were ``rabid Java backers,"
and in another message asked an employee bluntly: ``Do we have a clear plan
on what we want Apple to do to undermine Sun?"
And when AOL's chairman, Steve Case, wrote to Netscape's James Barksdale
about an alliance in 1995, the two portrayed themselves as Allied powers
during World War II.
Microsoft, of course, was the Axis.
``If we fight them together we can win, and what a victory it would be -
the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Barksdale wrote to Case, calling him
``Franklin D." Barksdale was ``Josef Stalin," but he complained, ``I
don't like playing this part."
Although more than two dozen experts and executives took the stand, the
witness most likely to be remembered never set foot in the courthouse: Bill
Gates.
Gates - shown by government lawyers in a videotape of a pre-trial
deposition last summer - appeared so forgetful and evasive in that tape
that even the judge told lawyers in a private meeting, ``I think it's
evident to every spectator that, for whatever reasons, in many respects Mr.
Gates has not been particularly responsive."
With testimony finished, lawyers left the courthouse blocks from the U.S.
Capitol to rest and to submit their written arguments - expected to span
hundreds of pages each - on Aug. 10 in the next phase of the trial.
Futuristic Headsets at PC Expo
Need more privacy to type that e-mail? Just strap a visor to your head to
view your words without a computer screen.
Stuck behind your desktop? Take a stroll with a wireless headset and
dictate memos into your computer's speech recognition program.
For anyone who's feeling trapped instead of liberated by technology, help
is on the way.
At the PC Expo trade show this week, half-a-dozen manufacturers were
displaying products that aim to untether us from technology's constraints
and expand the ways we communicate with computers.
Consider, if you will, substituting headgear for a computer screen. While
the futuristic concept has been around for a couple of years, new
competition among manufacturers may finally force prices low enough to
trigger consumer demand.
Daeyang E&C of South Korea introduced a prototype of its Personal LCD
Display Headset, which it aims to sell early next year for under $800.
Peering through the sleek silver-gray headpiece, a user sees what seems to
be a full-size computer monitor - but is actually a magnified half-inch
screen that uses liquid crystal to show images and text. The device, which
is wired to a desktop computer, is designed for privacy-minded people like
those using laptops on airplanes, company officials said.
A competing product displayed by Sony Electronics, the PC Glasstron
Personal Video Headset, was first introduced more than a year ago and sells
for $2,599, including built-in headphones.
While the device also works with DVD players and other video sources, the
pitch at PC Expo also stressed portable computers, with Sony setting up
airline seats to provide a real-life taste.
Company officials declined to say when prices might be cut from levels that
are far above what a video player or even a computer costs. But Lloyd
Klarke, Sony's business manager for advanced displays, expressed optimism
the product could take off.
``We envision one day the screen may disappear and turn into something that
you can see through your glasses," he said.
People who like to dictate to their computers, rather than the other way
around, were offered help from Emkay Innovative Products, a unit of
Chicago-based hearing aid maker Knowles Electronics.
The company displayed a wireless headset that uses radio waves instead of
cables to transmit spoken words to desktop computers loaded with any of
the voice-recognition programs sold nowadays.
Speaking into a tiny microphone that blocks out background noise, users can
wander up to 30 feet from their computers. The words appear on their
monitors - with mixed accuracy. The product's usefulness is limited by the
speech software, whose ability to recognize language is imperfect. When a
spokeswoman demonstrating the headset said the word ``biceps," the words
``Cover V sets" appeared on the screen.
Emkay's wireless headset sells for $395 and is aimed largely at lawyers,
doctors and other professionals who frequently dictate memos.
The sensory enhancing products on display weren't all high-tech. Bausch &
Lomb exhibited its $295 PC MagniViewer, a 6-inch-by-8-inch magnification
glass that hangs about two feet in front of the computer, enlarging the
images on the screen by 175 percent. The device is designed for people who
use bifocals, or who view lots of small computer text for many hours a day.
Company officials said the recently introduced product allows better
viewing than magnifiers which are fitted directly against the computer
screen.
While only a couple hundred have been sold so far, ``we foresee over the
coming years a multi-million dollar market for this product," said Carl
Fisherman, a consultant who worked on the Bausch & Lomb product.
Still, price could be prohibitive. The device costs more than a typical
computer monitor and nearly as much as the cheapest PCs on the market.
``It's more relaxing on the eyes," said attendee Kevin Joseph, an
Antigua-based information systems manager for the Cable & Wireless
telecommunications company. ``But I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel
all day staring at that thing."
Company Hopes $199 PCs Will Draw New 'Net Users
Microworkz.com made a splash this year by selling the first $299 personal
computers, and now the company is lowering the ante by offering a $199 box.
But cheap computers are just a foot in the door, according to the founder
of the rapidly growing company, who said his real goal is to make money by
providing customers an Internet connection and taking a share of any online
commerce revenues.
``We are morphing ourselves from hardware to software," said President and
Chief Executive Officer Rick Latman. ``Where we don't want to be is in the
rat's nest of $400 PCs for the rest of our careers."
A novel twist is that the company's latest product, the $199 iToaster,
eschews Microsoft Corp.'s market-dominating Windows operating system in
favor of a custom-built interface based partly on the rival Linux system.
Microworkz continues to offer a range of Windows-based personal computers
including the WEBzter line priced at $299 and up, but for the new model the
company wanted a simpler interface that might draw in novices, Latman said.
Microsoft's famously stringent licensing standards prevented Microworkz
from creating the customized computer desktop it wanted, with about a dozen
button-like icons leading to the Internet, built-in applications and sites
run by partners like Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc. and RealNetworks Inc.
``I don't think Microsoft is very happy we're doing this," Latman said.
``I don't care. The bottom line is this is good for the consumer. This
addresses a void in the computer market."
Analysts are not so sure, wondering whether a $199 non-Windows computer
will find a market in a world where Windows machines are available for just
a bit more at retail stores or for free through advertiser-supported
promotions.
``The reality is that we've seen nothing that indicates this is what people
are waiting for," said Harry Fenik, vice president of analysis at Zona
Research. ``There has not been a crying need for isolated, proprietary
computers."
Latman said the iToaster will appeal to novice users who want to get on the
Internet quickly and to experienced users who want an extra machine. He
said he would not rule out cutting the price further if needed to achieve
the company's main goal of accumulating Internet-using customers.
``We will do credit lines, we will do leases. As it gets closer to
Christmas I don't rule anything out," he said. "Obviously the goal here
is to get eyeballs."
The company has plans for additional low-price computers including laptop
and hand-held models, he said.
The iToaster, which will ship beginning July 1, includes an Intel Corp.
Pentium II 266 megahertz processor, 2.1 gigabyte hard drive and 32 megabytes
of memory. There are no slots for diskettes or CD-ROMs in the sealed black
box, although external drives can be added. A matching monitor is $139 extra.
Users who turn the computer on and plug in a phone line will be taken to
the Microworkz Web site, where they can activate a prearranged Internet
account for $19.95 a month. They will not have the option of switching to a
different Internet service provider.
Microworkz initially will limit orders to 10,000 computers to prevent a
repeat of the company's disastrous response to a flood of orders for its
heavily publicized WEBzter, launched in March when it had just 39 employees
in tiny Seattle offices.
``The Webzter was a nightmare," Latman said. ``We took more orders than I
think anyone could have produced."
Many customers waited weeks for their computer, and some demanded their
money back, although Latman says the company eventually caught up. Now its
200 employees are housed in a spacious office and assembly plant in a
Seattle suburb, with plans to expand into another building next door.
And Latman, a 30-something former Merrill Lynch bond trader who founded the
company in 1991 and originally sold software to bridal stores, has lined up
Japanese manufacturers for a possible distribution deal with CompUSA Inc.
As to whether the company plans to go public, Latman declined to comment.
But one can only speculate, given that the company recently changed its
name from Microworkz Computer Corp. to Microworkz.com.
AOL Europe May Strike Back With Free Service
AOL Europe is considering offering free Internet access in Britain to
counter the rise of new online companies such as Freeserve and to
jump-start its growth in the region.
AOL Europe lost its lead in the UK Internet market last fall after
electronics retailer Dixons Group Plc launched Freeserve, a service with no
monthly subscription fee. It is struggling to gain share in Germany, Spain
and other European countries where incumbent phone companies have built
solid positions in online services.
=~=~=~=
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