News, rumors and other information (originally posted 01/26/96)
Atari Restructuring
After a good number of phone calls it comes down to this. Our contact within Atari has indicated to us that the MMWire report as well as other rumors many of you have seen around the newsgroups are pretty much false (essentially the line is that Atari was liquidating their video game operations). Atari has admited to us that they are undergoing a rework of their internal operations, and that this current round of restructuring began shortly following everyone's return from the Winter CES '96 show. As the situation currently stands these issues have been made clear to us: 1)Defender 2000 is in the process of distribution and should be available in stores soon. 2) Atari currently has no plans for future internal software development of any kind. At this point all game development is to be handled by external developers. 3) In regards to #2, Atari may become involved in interal software development in the future, but management is still at a stage where this has not been determined yet in their restructuring plans. 4) We had indicated to us that third party Jaguar games could still be coming out for the platform as far along as late '96 (ie: Phase Zero). 5) ...and finally: No change in Atari's move ahead on developing PC gaming titles.
Yes, there actually is quite a bit going on as you might guess from this above list. Atari has indicated that they are still active and viable as a company with no plans to cease operations any time in the future. We will continue to cover this issue as information becomes available.
* * * (originally posted 01/25/96)
New Capcom Schedule
Capcom recently announced a release list for PlayStation titles through April of 1996. The list consisted of: Street Fighter Alpha for February 1st (the Saturn release should be at the same time or follow shortly after). In March they plan to release Resident Evil, DarkStalkers and Fox Hunt. Last announced was the Buster Bros. Collection (all three Buster Bros. titles on one CD for April.
Please Read This Item
To everyone who has sent in ProPage submissions prior to Saturday, January 20th: if you sent in a code and you have not seen it appear in our ProPage area please resend your mail via team-0@gamezero.com, or through the submission form on our Pro Page index page. Due to a hard drive loss which occured Friday, January 19th, all of the ProPage submissions being compiled for a new site update were lost. Unfortunately due to the fact that this was being prepared for upload (among other reasons), all of this data had not been backed-up yet. Note, that mail to other Game Zero staff, as well as general mail to the magazine was not effected by this problem. ...Thanks for your help.
Psygnosis and Sega?
Everyone's been hearing for some time, as well as reading in the print mags about supposed ports of a number of key Psygnosis games for release on the Sega Saturn. As it stands, we've had talks with several reliable sources within Psygnosis and not only are they giving the standard denial, some of them have actually stated that they "emphatically deny" the rumors. As for Sega, all they will say is that they are "in negotiations" with Psygnosis (which has seemed to become their standard reply to just about all questions regarding them and other companies these days). [Remember, the print mags you're reading today were composed anywere from two to three months ago, just about the time this rumor started flurishing on the net, their news may in truth only be embelishments on net posts (ie: take what you read with a grain of salt). This would not be the first time this has happened.]
On-Line Flight Simulation
Interactive Creations Inc. (ICI) has announced play-connect availability of their WWII air combat flight simulator, WarBirds through The Concentric Network (a dial-up/internet multiplayer game hub). This now allows WarBirds players to ennact campaigns with potentially "hundereds" of other players simultaniously. Game time currently runs $1.75(US) an hour to fly in the on-line game arena. According to available information, "The game arena uses geographically accurate mapping graphics that allow players to re-enact historic WWII campaigns, flying in an arsenal of aircraft ranging from the British Spitfire to the Japanese Zero to the U.S. P-39C." Game software is currently only offered for the PC platform at this time. [Game software is available for free from ICI's web site at "http://www.icigames.com".]
Updates and Comments Received
First: Many of you have commented on the improvement of our entry pages in helping readers find what's new on our site, but many of our new readers (it seems) are now unaware of our content which is not listed on the main page. Just to make everyone aware, before you request a review, be sure to check our archived review files (The Final Word Reviews). Everything posted to this site stays on-line and we currently have well over 300 reviews across 18 platforms available, with more reviews added regularly.
New Contest Starts February 3rd
Game Zero will feature a new contest sponsored by Capcom USA starting on February 3rd, which will run through February 9th. Four winners will be selected to receive a copy of Street Fighter Alpha (two winners for the Saturn release, and two winners for the PlayStation release respectively). Keep an eye on our contents page for announcements.
* * * (originally posted 01/6/96)
Just the facts mam...
So, here's the question of the year. What exactly is going on between Sega and Matsushita? Well, let's look at our facts: 1) Sega has confirmed to us that the next hardware out of them will be a "hardware only upgrade to the Saturn using the expansion port." 2) 3DO has confirmed to us that Sega and Matsushita are in talks currently. What the talks are about is still unconfirmed although speculation abounds. 3) Trip was going door-to-door in 1995, from company to company, trying to talk companies into adopting the M2 format as a standard. 4) From a reliable source, we've had indicated to us that two programmers from Sega are currently working on M2 software development. To what end though is unclear, be it a 3DO M2 or a potential (and rumored!) Saturn M2 upgrade.
Of course, #4 in this list is technically still a rumor, eventhough in house we're fairly certain that the information is true. In fact, for those of you who are curious, check out this picture that was passed onto us from one of our sources. Supposedly, (NOTE rumor alert) this image is a character render generated from work on a M2 port of Virtua Fighter 2.
X-Men: COTA Surpise
Well, some interesting information came to light last week about X-Men: Children of the Atom. For those of you still hot to get your hands on this number, look no more towards Capcom. Confirmed word is that they have sold the complete US rights for this title off to... (hold your breath) Acclaim. Yes, I said Acclaim -- and they apparently payed big bucks for the title as well. So, at this point, Capcom is hands off the game. As for Acclaim... When we approached them with questions, they became very defensive stating that they have not completed their internal plans on what to do with the title, and in no way are they ready for an announcement. So, it's really anyones guess at this point as to the future of this game in the US.
Another U64 game in the works?
Paradigm, best known for their work in the simulation and training industries has apparently decided to go with the Ultra 64 for home game development. In fact we have a screen shot that is apparently from a game in development from them for the U64 that features their VR mascot "Egghead". The game is a ski simulator currently entitled Egghead Shread. On a technical note, Paradigm's simulation 3-D titles, are created via 3-D Studio, along with the MultiGen Realtime (SGI based) development software.
Winter CES is here.
As is Game Zero's coverage of the show. What's this, you heard that no game companies were going to be at this years WCES? Well, that's still true in theory, but in practice... uh-uh. It seems a number of developers have set up off-site areas to preview their up coming wares. All of these appear to be invite only, so don't bother making a last minute run for the show and hope to get a peek. As for coverage, be sure to stop by our site for news on the show. We're expecting to have an update this Saturday night (1/6/96), as well as more complete information by the end of next week. [So, you're asking what all this "off-site" business is about. What it boils down to is this: Company X wants to meet with their contacts, but doesn't want to have to deal with every Joe and Bob who's wandering the show floor. So, they rent a hotel suite or conference room and set up their booth there. Then they send out invites. It keeps things managable, and allows the company to spend more time with the people they want to talk with.]
GZ now on CD!
Now appearing in stores, you can find Game Zero Magazine on CD-ROM along with the gaming magazine Interactive Gamer. We're featuring reviews, articles, full color versions of comics from our site as well as many of our videos in each issue. You may even see material that didn't make it onto the web due to size, in future issues. As for our host, Interactive Gamer is a PC based gaming magazine that has gone over from print only to CD-ROM. The CD contains over 600 megs of PC gaming and video gaming based material pulled from all around the internet. The most recent issue on stands featured a demo of Hexen, hoards of Doom and Heretic releated material, and more. The cover price is $14.95 (US) per issue at the newstand, and $3.95 per issue if you subscribe. How will you know if you've found us at your store? Flip over the Interactive Gamer issue and you'll see Game Zero on the reverse cover.
Atari Restructuring