News, rumors and other information (originally posted 08/31/95)
Subliminal WHAT?
At this point, many of you have seen the new advertisements for the Sony PlayStation, featuring the ever popular Sofia (she's the one with the whip). Well, many of you with out a quick eye may not have noticed something which has been right in front of your face. Yes, subliminal messages... not quick enough to make them illegal, but fast enough for many people to not conciously see them. We here at Game Zero took the time to document some of these little blurbs for your enjoyment (thanks to ???? for actually paying attention to his TV):
From the 1st commercial (focus is on Sofia and Battle Arena Tohshinden):
"DON'T TOUCH ME THERE", "WORSHIP ME", "LOVE HURTS", "I WILL TELL YOU MY SECRETS", "I WANT MY MOMMY", "HOT LOVE", "ANYTIME ANYWHERE", "B**** SLAP", "WHIPLASH", "COME TO ME", "GROVEL", "HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?", "< + O" (ed: Sofia's Bitch Slap), "DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?", "THE PLACE WHERE PAIN AND PLEASURE MEET"
From the 2nd Commercial (Focus is on Ridge Racer, NFL Gameday, MK3, and Battle Arean Tohshinden):
"SATURN BITES", "TO GO FORWARD YOU MUST GO BACK" (RidgeRacer tip), "DON'T BLINK", "YOU LOSE", "FIGHT TO THE END", "BE AFRAID", "GO BACK", "3-D", "WATCH", "Down + O" (ed: possibly Sheeva's fireball in MK3), "YOU ARE NOT READY", "< + O" (ed: Sofia's Bitch Slap)
Blockbuster World Champions Announced
On August 21st, 1995, this years "Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II" competition wrapped up with Leon Kane (15-United Kingdom) finishing first in the SNES catagory, and Ricky Frazier (12-Neptune Beach, Florida, USA) finishing first in the Sega Genesis catagory. Of special note, Kelly Banach (13-Berlin, Wisconsin), the only female to make it into the finals, ended up taking 2nd place in the Sega Genesis catagory, showing that girls can dish it out as well as the guys when it comes to video games! This years competition had over 300,000 entrants from various countries from around world.
Dr. Otto...
Yes, he's alive... No, he hasn't started back on regular cartoons... Yes, he will be doing so soon... and... Yes, that's his artwork featured on our September cover page! We hope to have the comics feature back on schedule very soon, so never fear.
* * * (originally posted 08/23/95)
Genesis Nomad Unveiled
On August 22nd, Sega of America finally unveiled the long awaited portable Genesis, known as Nomad. The Nomad features a 3 1/4" full-color screen, and a six-button control pad. First information on the unit indicates that it is 100% compatable with the Genesis library of software, has a 3 hour battery life (using 6 AA batteries), and has the capability to output to a standard Television set for non-portable play. The Nomad will also support standard two-player games via a second controller port on the unit. Suggested Retail price for the unit will be at $200 or less. For the extended version of this story, see Sega's press release on the subject. We expect to have a full article and photos of this unit available soon.
Sega/3DO Merger Rumor
In a nutshell, it's not happening. In conversations with 3DO and Sega today, Game Zero Magazine confirmed that there are no plans of a merger or buyout in the works now or in the future -- contrary to a August 23rd report in The San Francisco Chronicle, entitled "3DO Co. May Be Bought By Sega".
* * * (originally posted 08/21/95)
What's With That PlayStation
Well, in a recent discussion with Sony Computer Entertainment we were able to clear up a good many issues surrounding the PlayStation:
1) Sofia is not the new mascot for the PlayStation, in fact Sofia is only a short term focus of ads (this was also the story on Polygon Man). As for plans of a mascot in general... there are no plans for a mascot anytime in the foreseeable future.
2) The Canadian PlayStation launch - Yes, there will be a "Limited" 9/9/95 launch of the PlayStation in Canada. It will be a small launch restricted to certain store chains (we hope to have more info on this soon). This limited release is due to expected production shortages.
3) S-Video - Well, S-Video has been removed as a feature on all new PlayStation units that will be sold globally. But, sometime after September, Sony will offer an S-Video adapter that will attach to these new units for S-Video output. No price or fixed release date has been set for this adapter.
4) PlayStation with a pack-in - this bundle will not be available at launch on 9/9/95. It will be out later in the month of September (possibly at the end of the month), it will come with Ridge Racer, and the Suggested Retailer Price is to be $349.
5) Sony brand peripherals at launch - will consist of Second Controller, Mouse, RFU Adapter, Link Cable, and Memory Card.
6) Other peripherals available later - There will be a Sony brand analog Joystick and a Multi-player Tap available in October.
7) The current list of September releases is as follows - Battle Arena Toh Shin Den, ESPN Extreme Sports, Street Fighter: The Movie, Off World Interceptor, Total Eclipse, Kileak: The DNA Imperative, Raiden, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, PGA Tour Golf '96, Wing Commander III, Air Combat, Ridge Racer, Powerserve 3-D Tennis, and Rayman. Unfortunately there still has not been a final decision about which of these titles will be on the shelves at launch. Although all of them will be out in September.
8) Fiddling with Toh Shin Den - The word we have on this title is that the only significant changes in this title have been to change the voice-overs to English, and remove the special moves from the RT and LT buttons on all skills levels except "Easy" and "Very Easy".
Whew... that should about cover it... We'll have more news as we hear it, so stay tuned.
Capcom's Next Generation Releases
We've just receive news that a number of Capcom titles which had been originally planned for release this Fall and Winter will be given the bump to as much as the first of next year. One of the titles that will probably be delayed is Night Warriors: Dark Stalkers Revenge, for the Sega Saturn. We'll have a revised release schedule from Capcom available soon.
* * * (originally posted 08/17/95)
Ultra 64 Motherboard Shown
Siggraph '95 had more than its normal share of oooh's and aaah's this year with a surprise, partial appearance of Nintendo's prototype Ultra 64 motherboard via, oddly enough, a display photo at NECs booth. NEC was apparently using the photo (who's size was about 6 x 6 inches) as a display of the "RAMBus" memory chips which they are supplying to Nintendo for the game console. We have a GIF file of this photo available here for everyone to examine (thanks to Mark Granger for suppling us with this photo he shot at the show).
A Mascot For 3DO
3DO has finally chosen a mascot to represent their machine, and to help them in the charisma department. It's going to be none other than, Captain Quasar. We'll have more news on this for you as it comes in from 3DO.
Other 3DO News
For those of you who weren't sure, or haven't heard. It's official, Creative Tech, the company behind the Sound Blaster audio card, has dropped development ties with 3DO. This means that the 3DO blaster is a dead project. This adds yet another company to the list of those who have dropped 3DO hardware support over the past few months, and makes one wonder how this will effect 3DO in the long run. As of now, we don't know how this news will effect people who already own 3DO Blaster cards, but we plan to follow up on this ASAP. Look for future news on this soon.
Final Rayman Dates
We've had many people ask, so here it is: Rayman will be released for both the Jaguar and the PlayStation on September 9th, and September 25th for the Saturn. We will have coverage and side-by-side comparison of all three
versions coming soon.
X-Band Coming On Strong
With the recent announcement that Blockbuster Video is planning to expand their X-Band sales to all of their stores nationwide, this console enhancement looks like it's about to really become a major item. Not only that, but Catapult has also announce that they have in the works support for Killer Instinct, Weapon Lord and Mortal Kombat 3 with their X-Band system. As well, they also plan to have X-Band units out for the PC, and select next generation systems over the next few months. We'll have a feature article on this device available soon. If you want more news on this story now, you can read Catapult and Blockbuster's press release about it.
What's Going On With Those Updates?!?
Yes, you may be wondering why some of our site areas have gone un-updated. Well, we've been taking care of the lag in news over the last month or so to revise some of how our site is maintained. Things such as building all of our reviews, codes and more, into a comprehensive database which we plan to add to the site in the future. This would allow a visitor to do a search from one page, and get every piece of information that we have at that time on a specific title. We've also been working on new areas for our site... one of which you can see with our Video Pit area, another feature we hope to have more of is our new contest offering (future contest will be pending the success of this one). Very shortly we plan to have our updates caught up, and have everything back on a regular schedual for our readers. Thanks for your patience.
* * * (originally posted 08/02/95)
Free Virtua Fighter Remix
***Exclusive*** After much confusion, here's the straight scoop on this whole deal.
All Saturn owners who register their Sega Saturn (VF pack-in package) by mail, with the registration card that comes with their console, will receive a Panzer Dragoon demo CD which contains atleast the first Episode of the game only. They will also receive a compilation
CD of musicians on the SUB POP label. This is an on-going offer with no set termination date at this time. But you only get this if you register your machine by mail!
Now, in order to get Virtua Fighter RemixONLY, you must call the 1-800-SEE-SATU(RN) line before SEPTEMBER 30th and either register your Saturn for the first time, or call to confirm a previous registration (done previously by phone or mail). You do not have to double register your Saturn if you have already done so by phone. But, you have to have called them atleast once, at some time to get the game. (Sega suggests that if you are at all unsure of your registration status on this title, that you go ahead and call the 1-800 service again to confirm.)
Everyone who has called and registered before 9/30 (yes, even if you have called before August, 1st) will get this title free in the mail. You can expect your copy to arrive no later than 4-6 weeks following the September 30th date, but no earlier than 4-6 weeks following your registration. (As of this posting, Sega was not sure if they would be mailing the game out as each call comes in, or in-mass at the end of the promotion.) You can also read Sega's press announcement on this topic.
Namco's First US Titles Confirmed:
Well, Namco has finally confirmed their first release launch titles for the PlayStation in the US. They will be Ridge Racer and Air Combat. Tekken and others will follow at a later date... and speaking of Tekken, the release rundown is as such: yes on PlayStation, big maybe on Saturn, and definately not for the SNES (hey, people have been asking us).
Capcom's First US Titles Confirmed:
The first Capcom releases for both the PlayStation and Saturn don't look like they'll be hitting the shelves until November at the earliest.
--First releases for the Saturn in November are: Fox Hunt and Dungeon and Dragons: Tower of Doom; December: Incredible Toons and Night Warriors: DarkStalker's Revenge; and January: Street Fighter Legends.
--First releases for the PlayStation in November are: Fox Hunt, Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom and DarkStalkers: The Night Warriors; December: Incredible Toons; and January: Street Fighter Legends.
WipeOut Is Coming
Psygnosis has now confirmed that WipeOut is finished with the exception of tweaking the difficutly level. Apparently they expect to send the final version into Sony within the next two weeks for pressing. The music has already been finalized for the UK release of the game as well, and aside from in-house produced music, the soundtrack will feature songs from Orbital, Left Field, and The Chemical Brothers... BUT, it was indicated to me that these bands may not appear on the US release. I would suggest that if you are interested in the a US release with the same content as the UK release, that you write "psygtech@psygnosis.com" and in a *NICE* letter, explain that you want the music unchanged (remember 1 nasty letter can undo the work of 10 nice ones).
--To see a early look at WipeOut you can download an .avi (of Psygnosis' E3 tape footage) from our anonymous FTP site at: (See our link in the Video Pit).
Bug!
Well, for all of you that have been waiting for it, Bug! for the Saturn is now out and should be in most stores by this week at the latest. Look for our review soon.
Sega's Hardware
According to current figures from Sega, 100,000 Saturn units have been sold to date, which isn't to bad when you consider the price of the unit. In other related hardware news, in September, for those of you who have been toying with the idea of buying a Sega CD attachment for your Genesis... Well, this will be the time to do it. Most stores will be closing out stock on the Sega CD and software at cut-throat pricing. We've already heard that many Kay-Bee stores and others have dropped their CD titles to $14.99, and come September, word is that standard pricing for the Sega CD should hit $99, with the software running at $9.99.
More Dr. Otto News (repeat story)
We've had a number of people write us here asking if there is a Dr. Otto fan club, or something of that nature. Well, we want to know what more of you think about this idea. We've talked with Dr. Otto, and are looking into creating a club for people to subscribe to. The idea runs that a nominal yearly dues charge would get you a quartly four-page newsletter that would fold out into a full-color poster (this would be exclusive to the newsletter), an illustrated membership card, as well as other novilties. If you think this is something you would be interested in, drop us mail at "team-0@gamezero.com".
Subliminal WHAT?