INSIDE GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT UPDATE
Volume 2, Issue 26

The Word Warriors
23115 Broadmoor Court
Auburn, CA  95602

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Publishers/Editors: Hartley & Pattie Lesser
Senior Editors: Dallas Middaugh, Brett Skogen.
Associate Editors: Juliana Aldous, Brian Boyle, Gary Le
Field Editor: blud
Editorial Ne'er-Do-Well: Mudgeon

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Computer Entertainment News 
Video Game News
Industry Stuff: Digital Delights
Online Stuff

Perspectives: rational investigations of new products
Mission Critical from Legend
Stonekeep from Interplay

Mudgeon: On Games
Humongous Holiday Hits!

Inside Games and Entertainment (TM) is published by The Word Warriors(TM), Auburn, CA. Federal law prohibits the unauthorized replication or distribution of the contents of this newsletter without the express, written permission of the publication's owners. This publication is distributed via on-line services, the Internet, and through regional and international bulletin board services who have requested permission from this newsletter's owners to distribute this product.

DISTILLATIONS: news and new products

* COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT NEWS *

E3 SURVEY PROVES GAMES ARE IT!
Worldwide sales of interactive hardware and software is estimated by the savvy folk who put on the E3 trade show (the Interactive Digital Software Association) to be about $23 billion. US sales of this hardware and software category is estimated to be around $23 billion, according to Link Resources.

To support such statements, E3 has also just released a survey that reveals nine out of ten consumers want digital entertainment software for Christmas. Not only that, but around 41 percent of all US- Christmas-gift-recipients want interactive software as holiday gifts. The survey used the responses from 1,035 consumers. Of these, half owned interactive entertainment hardware. Fifty-seven percent of those who responded indicated that they would be willing t spend between $50 and $199 on such gifts, while 16 percent stated they'd spend more than $200 for these gifts.

Titles that would be purchased include strats, action/adventure games, edutainment, and sports. These were followed by sims, FRPGs and reference products. Mass merchant target stores will be the recipients of around 26 percent of these purchases, while 25 percent will got to a consumer electronics store. Software specialty stores will account for about 9 percent of the sales, and book and video and record stores (or combos thereof) will garner around 5 percent. Catalogs pump in another 5 percent of the purchases. Online sales were truly minimal, hovering at a crummy 0.04 percent of the share. This is due to the fact that most consumers indicate they want to actually see and try out the software they will buy for Christmas.

FUTURE COMES TO YOUR PC
Tex Murphy is coming back and its April, 2043. Access Software has announced The Pandora Directive where you, as Tex Murphy (the last of the old style gumshoes) find yourself racing against time in the most dangerous game of your life. What is the truth behind the rumored UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico? Why did the military suddenly shut down and seal off the Roswell complex? This game starts our like a thousand other cases as you're hired to find a missing person. You realize soon you're not the only one looking for Thomas Malloy. By the time you discover he's ex-military and knows what really happened on July 6, 1947, it's too late. You're trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Access Software's Virtual World engine offers you an interactive 3D world, which you can explore with full freedom of movement. You can follow any one of three paths through the story that lead to seven different endings. Each path reveals unique scenes, new puzzles and plot twists. There are two levels of play, the first offering a complete on-line hint system, the second with no hints available. The game stars notable Hollywood actors Barry Corbin (Northern Exposure and War Games), Tanya Roberts (View to a Kill, Beastmaster), and Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Just Cause). This title is for MS-DOS CD-ROM machines.

FOOTBALL TITLE ARRIVES
Accolade has released Unnecessary Roughness '96. This title is for CD-ROM on PCs and contains its own construction kit with which you can create your own teams and plays. Over 1,500 NFL player superstars' stats are included in the game. Or, you can compete in both exhibition games or complete season against all 30 NFL professional league cities. With what is known as the OOMPH button, you can dive, spin, even hurdle over other players. You can also play as a General Manager or coach and take care of drafts, salary caps and trades. Using more than 30 categories, 125 league and individual leader stats are tracked and these comprise league standings and leaders which you can print any time you wish. There's even a HelmetCam(TM) for a first-person perspective of the game. You'll need at least a 486/66 PC, 8MB of RAM and a VESA compatible SVGA video card.

ACTION GAME RESULTS FROM ALLIANCE
Time Command, created by multimedia producer Frederick Raynal, will be published by Activision, Inc., thanks to an exclusive deal signed with Adeline Software (Paris, France). For Windows, MS-DOS and Sony PlayStation, this game features 3D game play that immerses you in a world of combat. There are nine distinct time periods and you travel in time as you try to return to your own era, using more than 50 types of weapons and battling over 60 enemies.

OFFICES CLOSED, BUT NEW PRODUCT RELEASES
American Laser Games has closed Quantum Quality Productions (QQP) offices as the company is consolidating all operations into their Albuquerque, NM, location. Strategy titles will continue to be pulished under the QQP name. All inquiries regarding QQP, including tech support, will be handled thorugh American Laser Games' main phone number at 505-880-1718.

BEST-SELLING TITLE
It only took one week for Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness from Blizzard Entertainment (part of Davidson & Associates, Inc., software family) to become the best selling PC entertainment title. This fantasy strat has sold-in over 300,000 units, with 50,000 units sold at retail during the first weekend of this title's release. That ain't bad, folks! Reorders for WC2 began just two days after the game shipped. The title is currently available for PC CD-ROM.

LINE OF FANTASY FIGHTERS
Domark Software (415-513-8929) has announced the first title in their new line of Fighting Fantasy 3D adventure games. The first offering is Deathrap Dungeon, based on Penguin Book's best-selling line of Fighting Fantasy action/adventure novels. This title features a new, state-of-the-art 3D game engine and feature dungeon adventrues created by Ian Livingston and Steve Jackson, the founders of Games Workshop.

SONY PLAYSTATION TITLES SHIP FROM ELECTRONIC ARTS
Look for them now--Shockwave Assault and Viewpoint--both from Electronic Arts, if you are a Sony PlayStation owner. The former is what is known as an interactive science-fiction combat move. You're involved in a struggle to liberate Earth from an invading and highly alien army. There are 15, 3D combat missions, over 50 minutes of video, Dolby(R) Surround Sound, futuristic weaponry and texture-mapped locations. The latter is an arcade action game with 3D rendered action. Using SGI-rendered graphics, you'll find enormous robotic monsters in six levels of play. Toss in CD-quality soundtracks, firebombs, shockwaves, homing bombs, and the wherewithal to vary your shooting power, you must navigate through a variety of worlds filled with terror. Each level included different enemies and you must formulate new strategies to win.

MIL SIM STRAT AND FLIGHT TITLE
From empire Interactive (301-916-9302) comes Navy Strike, a modern-day military strategy and flight sim. From Rown Software, this title is available for PC CD-ROM and runs with Windows 95. This sim operates in real time and finds you commanding a United Nations' task force to combat political unrest around the world. You must prepare and command an allied task force consisting of carriers, battleships, cruisers and an entire carrier-based air wing. You'll fly the F/A-18E, the advanced F-22N or the band new AX bomber to combat chemical warfare in the Iraq-Kuwait and Libyan regional scenarios. This new offering is for PC CD-ROM.

PC HEROINE
FormGen Inc. (602-443-4109) has released Mimi and the Mites, a new action puzzle-type game for PC CD-ROM machines. Between using her wit and her unique weapons, Mimi must keep the mites at bay as she enters and exits each screen. She teleports from one level to another, trying to keep one step of her persuers. And they're going to do all they can to prevent her from shutting down the mite production facility. If she runs into a mite, they'll toss her around for a while and Mimi loses a turn. This title is recommended for all ages.

MAC GAMERS GET DESCENT
Yep, it's finally happened! MacPlay has released Descent(TM), the game that has topped the Internet Top 100 for the last several months, in Macintosh format. This full retail version on CD-ROM combines 30 levels in a 3D, first-person arcade/action game that boasts full 360-degree movement. Mac Descent players will be able to battle each other over a network or compete with enemies that are playing Interplay's PC version on the same network, thanks to Novell's MacIPX(TM) network software. Mac Descent requires a PowerPC-based Macintosh. New players can enter the game at any time. A future version will support Apple's QuickDraw(TM) 3D technology for use with hardware cards that acclerate the drawing of texture-mapped polygons. Developed by Parallax Software, this title is set deep in the mines of Lunar Base I where an unknown alien race has taken over the outposts of the Post Terran Mineral Corporation. You must adjust your play as top becomes bottom and hang onto your senses as you plunge straight down into mine shafts in a fully self-contained futuristic sublight fighter. You must rescue stranded hostages, destroy each command center, and get out alive. More info can be obtained at MacPlay's WWW site at http://www.macplay.com.

MATCH BOX & CABBAGE PATCH
Next month you're going to be hearing from Mattel that they have decided to enter the consumer software and interactive products market. With a host of characters already familiar to today's toy players, Mattel will broaden their reach through an exclusive distribution pact with Davidson & Associates. Mattel's Fisher-Price division will work with Compaq and you'll hear announcements of their work at Winter CES next month in Vegas. Just think of the possibilities--Polly Pockets, See 'N Say, Cabbage Patch, yes, even Barbie! In the case of the latter property, software will be created that will allow users to design an entire wardrobe on their computer for the doll and can then print out that pattern on fabric that's sticky-backed. Add a few sequins, paint and glitter and have a design Barbie can wear, created by you.

21ST CENTURY STRAT RELEASES
Developed by the company's MicroProse Studio, Spectrum HoloByte has released This Means War! You take command in a world in the throes of complete breakdown in the 21st century. You create and destory, using real-time strategy to control a war-torn world and prevent others from coming to power. There are 40 scenarios, each using different units and terrains and presenting various challenges. You have to manage your resources as well as fight, making certain you have enough food, energy and minerals to build units you need. Once built, you can then produce the military weapons needed to win the game.

NEW MEDIA TO BE DISCUSSED
Cannes, France, from February 8th through the 12th is going to be the center of a convocation of experts from around the world who intend to direct the future of new media. Called MILIA 96, this convention addresses the international publishing and new media market and featuers Nicholas Negroponte, Laurie Anderson and John Perry Barlow as its keynote speakers. MILIA 95 attraced 2,340 companies from 45 countries and more than 7,500 interested industry attendees. Over 27 countries are now represented by exhibitors at MILIA 96, with entires for the MILIA awards now being accepted until January 15, 1996. The Milia WWW site also opens this month and may be reached at http://www.reedmidem.milia.com for more information.

GAMES ON NEC
CAPS Software has sold an 8-1/2 percent interest in the company to NEC Corporation. With titles in entertainment and education titles, NEC now plans to localize these offerings for the Japanese market as well as perhaps selling CAPS software through the net and on-line. The purchase price for this interest is estimated to be around 2 million dollars.

COMBAT THRILLER SWOOPS IN
EF2000(TM) has debuted from Ocean of America, Inc. (408-289-1200). This is a combat flight sim that includes newly declassified military design and combat strategy and can be played via a network against as many as eight competitors or allies. The game was developed by Digital Image Design and the EF2000 was created to imitate the Eurofighter 2000, a technologically advanced aircraft once under development by Italian, German, British and Spanish military intelligence to protect NATO from aggressor nations. The fighter plane was designed to offer the most sophisticated air and ground attack capabilities of any combat aircraft ever developed with fully integrated avionics systems and state-of-the-art cockpit configuration. The plane is a light, highly agile air-to-air fighter with secondary air-to-ground capabilities, including stealth characteristics, with an altitude level speed of Mach 2 with a combat radius of up to 500 nautical miles.
   The developer applied next-generation 3D graphics, polygon mapping techniques and an artificial intelligence battlefield generation program that ensures no two identical missions. In addition, more than four million suqare kilometers or real goegraphic locations have been graphically reproduced for your missions. In this sim, a Russian force has encroached into Norwegian and Swedish territory, attempting to gain a stronghold in Northern Europe. Your squadron is called upon to perform a number of airbonre tasks ranging from flying combat air patrol to performing precies strategic ground strikes. You can obtain further info on this title at the WWW site www.ef2000.com/game. This title is for PC CD-ROM.

HAVOC REIGNS
The highly-anticipated 3D arcade action game from Reality Bytes, HAVOC(TM), has finally been released and this title supports Windows(R) 95 and the Macintosh(TM) OWS. This game features cross-platform play directly out of the box and you can select to go on a solo mission or compete with a friend in this 3D octane action. You command a BattleCycle, HyperTank or HoverCraft while firing, jumping and throttling across post-apocalyptic terrain. You can combat anyone of LAN or modem, no matter if your opponent is Macintosh or Windows-based. There's also 360 degrees of outdoor action, with the code optimized for Pentium(R) and accelerated for Power Mac(TM). Plus, the newest VR headsets and joysticks are fully supported.

MULTIMEDIA TITLES TO RESULT
A new agreement between Santucary Woods Multimedia and game development studio Morpheus Interactive will result in a number of 3D action titles in 1996. The company also has exclusive rights to outright purchase the company and its assets. Expect announcements at Winter CES regarding a list of titles for 1996, both entertainment and edutainment in genre.

COP SIM ARRIVES
The fifth in Sierra On-Line's Police Quest series has debuted. Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT was created with the insights and expertise of former Los Angeles Police Department and SWAT founder Drayl. F. Gates. This title is an intense, photo-realistic tactical sim that will have you facing increasingly perilous crisis situations, each one demanding a distinct combo of skills and instincts. As a new member of L.A.P.D.'s elite D Platoon, the Special Weapons and Tactics unit, you learn first-hand the tactics, weaponry and maneuvers employed by the most specialized and most revered law enfordcement group ever assembled. As you survive, you advance through the department ranks. Sophisticated video-capturing techniques were used to film actual D Platoon officers and Los Angeles environments, including the SWAT training facilities and academy shooting ranges. You train to become the team's sniper, using a Robar .308 with Leupold 10 powered scope. You can interview actual SWAT officers for in-depth explanations of the department's history, equipment and tactics. This title is for Windows CD-ROM.

OUT NOW
Sir-Tech Software has just released a brand new fantasy role-playing game, one that finds you entering a 3D world where you immerse yourself in a strange culture. This is an environment full of mystery, magic and deception. For PC CD-ROM, the title is Druid: Demons of the Mind(TM), and is available now.

RACING SIM DEFIES GRAVITY
Direct from Sony Interactive PC Software America (where, that's a mouthful, folks!) (415-655-8000) comes WipeOut for the Sony PlayStation and, this month, for PC CD-ROM. This is a futuristic racing game that exploits real-time 3D graphics and plunges you into some pretty exhilerating race tracks. The game's futuristic setting and anti-gravity style of racing separates this racing sim from others of this genre. There are eight selectable vehciles that hover over a magnetized track that's part road and part rollercoaster. These tracks are packed with hang-ten jumps and drops, hairpin twists and "power-up" hot spots. You can also blast away at other drivers. The game fully supports the link cable for PXS consoles for two-player PXS-to-PSX action and there are special, customizable weapons available for two-player games. The PC version will also support multiplayer net capability. This game was developed by Sony's inhouse Interactive Studios Europe, formerly known as Psygnosis, with graphic styling by The Designers Republic, a Sheffield, England, design agency.

TO DIE IS GOOD
Also from Sony Interactive PC Software America is Eastern Mind: The Lost Souls of Tong Nou for PC and Macintosh CD-ROM platforms. This is currently one of the top-selling titles in Japan and does not follow the typical storyline. You don't use tactics to remain alive-in fact, you should die in this offering, perhaps even several times during the game. This game is loosely based on the eastern philosophy of self-improvement through reincarnation. You'll enter beautifully rendered lands where you'll face bizarre, yet appealing, characters, each important to the success of your journey. There are 40 to 50 hours of gameplay and you should try not to miss a room or pick up an object or click on the unobvious.

OFFERING USES ACTUAL TV SERIES ANIMATION
Sound Source Interactive has actually gone to the "source" to bring the look and feel of the TV series "The Adventures of Batman & Robin" from Warner Brothers animation to a new CD-ROM MovieBook title. You'll find not only educational activities that are actually fun to play, but also storybooks that allow parents and kids to read-along with the screen activities. There are three combo action/adventure tales that bring in sound effects, puzzles, games, the aforementioned television series video clips, and photos. There are over yo pages of reading material in three storybooks that each contain at least 20 pages of text and graphics. With the MovieBook, you simply click on the door that leads into the gothicly recreated, 3D Arkham Gallery. Yep, it's here that the craziest of the crazies within Gotham City are held. The storybooks, each one being a hallway, then follow the exploits of the dynamic duo as they go after Harley Quinn, The Riddler, or Mr. Freeze. You follow in their footsteps as you participate in the capture of the bad folks. Kids can either read each adventure story for themselves, or go with the narrative option. The latter choice takes them through the story and triggers animations and video clips on cue. With the former choice, children received puzzle pieces which, when combined, form different graphics scenes. This offering has a SRP of $29.95 and will run on 386//33's with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. You must have at least 8MB of RAM, a 256-color monitor, sound card and 2x CD-ROM drive.

SUPER MILSIM DEBUTS
Volume II in Strategic Simulation's 5-Star Series(TM) has released: Allied General(TM). Your effectiveness is continually tested as a military leader in this Windows(R) 95 release. You may play as an American, British or Russion general in 3 different campaigns and over 35 scenarios. You have special troops, like rangers and engineers, to add to the already huge number of units in the game. You decide if you invade Norway in 1944, or actaully execute Operation Jupiter that was planned by Churchill.

THRUSTMASTER SUES WICO
Patent infringement is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by ThrustMaster Inc. against the parent company of Suncom Technologies, WICO Corporation of Niles, Illinois. ThrustMaster asserts that Suncom is infringing ThrustMaster's patent rights concerning reconfigurable game and simulation controllers. Additionally, ThrustMaster has requested the court to enjoin Suncom from making or selling any joysticks correspond to the patented technology. Damages are being sought.

* VIDEO GAME NEWS *

3DO BUYING POWER
The 3DO Company has agreed to acquire the assets of Cyclone Studios. The latter is a company who develops action and arcade-style video games. The company will operate as an independent divison within Studio 3DO and will report to Bob Lindsey, the General Manager of Studio 3DO. They will develop titles for PC and M2 platform machines. More company info is available at http://www.3do.com.

CLASSIC COMES TO JAGUAR
The price of the Atari Jaguar is now down to $99 SRP. That's good. But Atari Jaguar games still remain short in play and rather lackluster in the number of super titles available for that platform. However, here comes hope-Missile Command 3D. This title is based on the arcade game classic so many of us enjoyed. There are three options with this ofering: Original Missile Command, 3D Missile Command and Virtual Missile Command. The latter feature, naturally, 3D worlds, stereo sound and texture mapped graphics. The original game looks and feels just like the classic. The SRP is $59.99.

GEX FOR PSX
One of the hottest games for Crystal Dynamics on the SNES and Genesis systems has been GEX. Now this wise-cracking hyper gecko lizard is about to debut on the Sony PlayStation. This poor gecko has been sucked into the evil Media Dimension. There's some pretty cheesy movies and 70s TV shows that reign in this environment, and GEX must successfully travel through various worlds to destroy TV sets and eliminate the evil Rez and his nasty minions. What have you got to help you manage this action? A tail that can thrash like crazy, hands and feet possessing suction cups, plus a smart mouth, courtesy of comedian Dana Gould.

SPORTS SERIES DEBUTS FIRST TITLE
The first 5-on-5 basketball video game has debuted from Konami. Called NBA In the Zone, this is the first title in that company's new Konami Sports Series for the Sony PlayStation. As many as eight players may participate simultaneously and the game offers 3D, enhanced grpahics, plus smart defensive and offensive players who all enjoy displaying their specialty moves. The Konami Sport Series also will include NFL Full Contact for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, International Superstar Soccer Deluxe for SNES and two additional titles for the PSX, Goal Storm and MLBPA Bottom of the 9th.

3DO 64-BIT GAMES FOR NEW PLAYER
The new Matsushita Electric Industrial company's new 64-bit game player, expected to debut in late 1996, will run software developed by the 3DO Company. The hope is for at least 10 games, all utilized M2 graphics system technology. Titles will also be developed at Studio 3DO.

SOFTWARE SDK COMING TO NEC
The development of entertainment and edutainment software is now the plan of NEC Home Electronics. The company is going to unveil the software development environment for their PC-FX, the company's 32-bit home video game unit. NEC is now marketing their PC-FXGA game accelerator board to PC gamers. They can then use the tools to create 32-bit apps on their PC for the upcoming game machine.

PROJECTIONS ARE FOR 3 MILLION UNITS
Nintendo has never been reserved about their projections. This statement continues to hold true, as the president of Nintendo Company has now projected that Nintento 64 video game machine will sell three million units during its first year of release. Also indicated that the games created for the Nintendo 64 will all be highly playable and exciting, unlike the majority of titles that swamp the market for current consoles. Nintendo stated they'll have about ten or so major releases at the time the Nintendo 64 ships. Toss in the talks between Nintendo and Netscape Communications, and you can bet your yen that there will be some form of Internet access for this new video game unit. The date for release remains April, with release in Europe set for sometime in 1977.

KILLER SPACECRAFT  & BOMBS ENROUTE
This is a fast and furious 3D title for Nintendo's Virtual Boy game system. You engate with battleships, drones and other space hazards that are ready to thwart your mission to save good ol' Earth. Vertical Force is the name of the game, and this 3D, 8-meg, space-shooter fings Mittgrad, a giant computer, gone beserk. The computer is determined to destroy humanity and has programmed a lethal horde of Android Industrial drones to pulverize the Earth into dust. Take your seat in the cockpit of an ancient starfighter named Rangenrock and test the limits of this craft as you pilot through six levels swarming with Mittgard's lethal drones. You navigate around land masses, under battleships and over enemies in this 3D battleground. Challenge bosses at the end of each level on your quest for the ultimate face off with the big guy himself, Mittgard. Virtual Boys is a RISC-based 32-bit system which uses two high-res, mirror scanning LED (light emitting diode) displays to produce a 3D experience that immerse you in a universe of high-res red images against a deep, black background. The 3D effect is enhanced with stereo sound and a new and unique double grip controller that accommodates multi-dimensional spatial movement.
   Also for Virtual Boy is Panic Bomber, a one-player title that presents the first puzzle game for this system. The ultimate goal is to keep the playing field from filling up to the top. You compete against computer-controlled opponents which increase in difficulty as the game progresses. You must match three or more of the falling objects in order to clear them from the field. For each match made, unlit bombs are produced and placed at the bottom of the play field. When a lit bomb drops from the top and is placed next to abomb at the bottom, they all explode and reappear on the opponents side. An added game element is the Decker Bomb Meter. Once the meter reaches the top, it releases a gigantic lit bomb which creates an enormous explosion, clearing a wide area of the play field. The Decker Bomb meter increases with each match made. There are four levels of difficulty, five different groups of objects to choose from, and a password to continue the progress of a saved game.

VEGAS FOR GAME BOY
A new title from Nintendo for the Nintendo Game Boy is Vegas Stakes, a 4-megabit, one-player video game where you must master five games of chance in order to earn you way into a prestigious, members-only casino where the minimum bet is $1,000 and the sky's the limit. The ultimate goal is to acquire the $10 million the casino has been reluctant to part with. The casino games are Blackjack, Slot Machines, Roulette, Craps, and Seven-Card Stud Poker. You start with $1,000 and can play one or a combo of these games. Before you receive a high-rollers invitation to the big time, high-stakes action of The Laurel Palace casino, you must build your bank account. An added game feature is included as each of the three casinos has several patrons who could increase the fortunes of the player by offering them deals. There are also patrons who might steal a percentage of the player's money. Because of this, saving their winnings from time to time is a major advantage.

ZINE TO RUN ON SATURN
Sega is going to create a new digital magazine that'll be released quarterly during 1996, a zine that will run of the Saturn game machine. In CD-ROM format, this Game-Ware offering will have three serial games, interactive advertising (naturally!), digital gallery, info on games and films, as well as mail-order sales. Debuting in March, there will be 100,000 copies created to be sold in Japan.

EUROPEAN SEGA LOCATION
A new Sega video-game arcade/amusement facility is going to open in Germany. The company has already opened a similar site in Valencia, Spain, and plans another for Madrid that'll appear in 1996. A site near Euro Disneyland near Paris, as well as one in a nearby hotel, are also planned. Sega's projections are for around 80 arcade sites in Europe over the next several years.

SATURN ENHANCEMENTS
Because the Saturn is a CD-ROM based video game machine and because this unit currently does not have the capabilities necessary to become a communications machine, Sega is working on new software, modem capability, plus a new memory system that will aid all of this networking stuff come to pass. Watch for new announcements this spring regarding alliances and peripherals that'll make the Saturn a cyberspace cruiser.
   To this end, Sega is going to use the X-Band System. This was developed by Catapult Entertainment. This technology will be incorporated into networking technology from Nissho Iwai resulting in a connectivity kit add-on for this console unit. The added peripherals will include a CD-ROM and a modem.

SMASH DISNEY COMPUTER FEATURE COMING SOON
A new licensing agreement between Disney Interactive and T-HQ, Inc. will result in Toy Story being created for the Nintendo Game Boy. The company indicates this will be a direct conversion of the film as well as the SNES and Sega Genesis games based on this computer-animated film. Additionally, TH-Q will create a Nintendo Game Boy version of Disney's Pocahontas. This offering is expected to debut in late Q1 '96.

DKC2 NOW REQUIRES "RESERVATION"
Deja-vu . . .last year, Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country broke all kinds of records as far as video game sales are concerned-16-bit video game carts, that is. This year, it appears as though Nintendo is, once again, rocketing into the stratosphere with Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. In fact, so many have flown off the shelves that Toys "R" Us now requires a reservation for a copy. The retailer will offer a free copy of a 128-page Nintendo Official DKC2 Player's Guide which contains hints and tips plus a guarantee of DKC2 delivery by February 1, 1996. This game which uses Alias Research graphics technology requires you help Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong through 100 levels. There's a truly spooky forest, a giant bee hive, and swamps that are incredibly treacherous. This cartridge is for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

PREHISTORIC CRITTERS RULE ON PSX
Just released for the Sony PlayStation from Time Warner is Primal Rage(TM), the strategy combat game that finds dinosaur versus dinosaur in battles for survival, one-on-one. The game was already a huge success in the arcades and now the same head-to-head battle with arcade-quality graphics and gameplay has come to this video console system. 3D cinematics and a new "Endurance" and Tug-O'-War game play modes are also included. The entire Primal Rage product line is going to be supported by an $8 million marketing and sales program.