The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/pas-con.zip/PASCON.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-21 | 14KB | 330 lines

  MEDIA VISION ANNOUNCES A SHAREWARE CONTEST FOR THE PRO
               AUDIOSPECTRUM 16 SOUND CARD

Fremont, Calif., January 18, 1993 - Media Vision has today
launched a development contest for its Pro AudioSpectrum 16
sound card. The contest, sponsored  in conjunction with
CompuServe, will be conducted over the data network and will run
through July 15, 1993.

There is no fee to enter the contest and all contest
participants will receive a Media Vision T-shirt. Prizes for the
contest include fifty $100 shopping sprees to be awarded to
fifty developers who qualify as finalists, and grand prizes of
$5,000, $2,000, and $1,000 online shopping sprees. An additional
ten $100 shopping sprees will be awarded to the ten best entries
received before March 31, 1993. All entries will be evaluated
for a potential bundling contract with Media Vision and such
entries may have the opportunity to be included on a Media
Vision CD-ROM.

All entries, shareware or freeware,  that support 16 bit sound
on the Pro AudioSpectrum 16 under DOS or Windows are welcome and
equal  consideration will be given to games, utilities, tools,
business applications, music applications, and others.
Developers can get a copy of the contest rules and entry form
online by accessing CompuServe, (enter GO PASCONTEST and
download PASCON.TXT from library #1, General Information) or the
Media Vision BBS at [phone] or [phone] (in the PAS
Contest area), or by calling [phone] (within the USA) or
by calling [phone] ext211 (international).

Applications will be judged by a panel of industry experts
including Mike Calahan, editor, Shareware Magazine; Bundy
Chanock, manager on-line services, PCWorld Magazine; Jon
Erickson,  editor,  Dr. Dobb's Journal; David English, managing
editor, Compute Magazine; Jim Rooney, publisher, MPC Digest;
Barry Simon,  contributing editor, PC Magazine and Windows
Sources;  Tom Yeager, director, The Multimedia Lab.

Media Vision is making Developer kits available for $25.00 plus
shipping and handling.  These may be obtained by calling
[phone] (within the USA) or by calling [phone]
ext211 (international). Interested participants who are not
CompuServe members may also obtain a free Introductory
Membership including one month basic services and a $15 usage
credit for extended and premium services which includes access
to the contest area. To obtain this free Introductory Membership
from Media Vision simply call either one of the phone numbers listed
above.

Media Vision's  (MVIS:NASDAQ) mission is to popularize
multimedia by offering multimedia solutions at affordable
prices. Media Vision's products range from systems and printed
circuit add-in cards to chips based on emerging multimedia
standards for mainstream personal computers. The Pro
AudioSpectrum 16 is the world's best selling 16 bit sound card.

______________________________________________________________


        PRO AUDIOSPECTRUM 16 SHAREWARE CONTEST RULES:

1.  The Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Shareware Contest is a skill based
contest being conducted in a special area of the CompuServe
Information Service. If you are not a CompuServe subscriber and
would like to become one, Media Vision will provide you with a
free Introductory Membership including one month free basic
services and a $15 usage credit for extended and premium
services which includes access to the contest area.
Participation in this contest is open to residents of the United
States and any other countries where contests such as this are
not prohibited. Employees of CompuServe Incorporated, Media
Vision Incorporated, H&R Block, CompuServe Information
Providers, Computer Express, Contest Judges, SysOps, GameOps,
their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, and
immediate families are ineligible to participate and win prizes.
Players cannot participate using multiple User ID Numbers.  This
contest may be discontinued at any time at the sole discretion
of  Media Vision Incorporated.  The contest is subject to all
local, state, and federal regulations and is void where
prohibited by law.  All taxes are the sole responsibility of the
winners. In the event of any misprinting or similar error in the
execution of this contest Media Vision reserves the right to
cancel this contest without prior notice.

2. HOW TO ENTER.

The entry process consists of two steps.  You must complete both
steps for your entry to be considered:

A: Fill out the entry form and mail to:

Media Vision
Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Shareware contest
3185 Laurelview Ct.
Fremont, CA 94538.


B. Upload your Shareware Program in library #12, PASCONTEST
ENTRIES, of the MIDI B Vendor forum. You can access this forum
within CompuServe by typing:

Go PASCONTEST

The contest ends on July 15, 1993. All entry forms must be
postmarked by midnight July 15, 1993 and all entry programs must
be uploaded into the PASCONTEST ENTRIES area on CompuServe by
midnight July 15, 1993.


3.  DESCRIPTION OF CONTEST AND HOW TO PLAY.

The purpose of the contest is to promote the development of 16
bit sound shareware and freeware applications for the Pro
AudioSpectrum 16 sound card. You will need to upload your
working and tested PAS16 applications to the PASCONTEST ENTRIES
section of the MIDI B Vendor forum on CompuServe for evaluation
by the judges. You can enter as many applications as you like,
but only one prize will be awarded per person, family, or member
number. Media Vision will use your CompuServe user ID number to
verify the author name in the application and the author name on
the contest entry form that you send in to us, so you'll want to
make sure that you upload the program using your own CompuServe
account.

All entries will remain the property of owners and any program
copyrights will remain intact with the uploader. Media Vision
has no responsibility for the security of the programs.

All applications  must be supported by their authors. To insure
that your entry has been debugged and that users are not
experiencing any problems you should log on to CompuServe
periodically and provide some techsupport for your application.
Contestants will be allowed to modify, improve, and enhance
their applications up to the deadline.

4. HOW THE APPLICATIONS WILL BE JUDGED

The applications will be judged by panel of eight industry
experts.  All of  whom have extensive knowledge of shareware and
freeware applications.

The decision of the judges is final and not reviewable by any
other person, agency, or tribunal.  Winners will be notified by
U.S. certified mail on or about August 16, 1993 and their names
will be published on-line in the PASCONTEST ENTRIES section of
the MIDI B Vendor forum.  For a list of prize winners, send a
SASE to Media Vision  Incorporated, Pro AudioSpectrum 16
Shareware Contest, 3185 Laurelview Ct., Fremont, CA 94538.

5. PRIZE STRUCTURE:

- 1st prize - $5,000 On-line shopping spree

- 2nd prize - $2,000 On-line shopping spree

- 3rd prize - $1,000 On-line shopping spree

- 50 finalists will receive a $100 On-line shopping spree

- 10 "Early Bird" prizes consisting of a $100 On-line shopping
spree will be awarded to the  10 best entries received before
midnight March 31, 1993.

- All entries will receive a Media Vision T-shirt.


All entries will be evaluated for a possible bundling contract
with Media Vision and such entries may have the opportunity to
be included on a Media Vision CD-ROM.

The judges will use the point structure described in section 6
to determine the 10 best entries for the Early bird prizes.
Early bird prize recipients will also be eligible to win one of
the 1st, 2nd or 3rd prizes.

No prize may be exchanged, substituted, modified, or redeemed
for cash in whole or in part. All shopping spree prizes are to
be redeemed at Computer Express' online service through
CompuServe's Electronic Mall. One prize per family, individual,
household, or User ID Number.  Prizes are not transferable. All
prizes will be awarded and notification mailed to the
recipient's address contained in CompuServe's online records. By
acceptance of their prizes, recipients consent to publication of
their names, likenesses, biographical information, statements
concerning Media Vision or the contest, and/or User ID. without
further compensation for advertising or promotional purposes.
Prizes not claimed after 21 days of the date of notification,
for any reason whatsoever, will be forfeited. Prize recipient
may be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility and
publicity release within 21 days of notification.
Non-compliance within this time period will result in
disqualification and an alternate recipient will be selected if
possible.

6. DESCRIPTION OF JUDGING CRITERIA

Program requirements:

1. Application must use 16 bit digital sound and must run on Pro
AudioSpectrum 16 and Pro AudioSpectum 16 compatible sound cards.

2. Applications must be considered shareware or freeware.

3. The applications must run on the PC but can be either DOS or
Windows based.

4. Applications must be reasonably bug free.  Any application
that crashes frequently or shows other such problems will not be
considered.


Scoring:

All applications will be judged on a scale of 1 - 100, with 100
being the highest score possible.

1. Use of sound                                         40pts.
Does application make full use of sound in a way that enhances
the application or is it merely a distraction? Does the
application use sound in a creative way? Does it employ special
effects that take advantage of stereo or the enhanced
capabilities of 16 bit sound? Other possibilities for increasing
an application's use of sound include Multimedia help and stereo
panning.

2. Appeal of the application                            40pts.
Is the application engaging? Does it captivate and inspire the
imagination? Is this an application that the judges spend a long
time playing with and do they want to download it for their own
use or do they merely try it out and then delete it from their
hard drives? Does it do the job it is supposed to do? If it's a
utility does it really help the user get the job done? If it's a
game is it really fun? If it's a music application or digital
sampling synthesizer, does it help the user make really great
music?

3. Ease of use                                          20 pts.
Is the application designed in an ergonomically appealing manner?
Are all the buttons and controls easy to find? Is the application
intuitive? Can you use the program without a manual? Authors can
increase their application's "Ease of use" score by providing
frequent and high quality on-line support.

Comments on weighting: The evaluation weighting was set up in
such a way as to reward those developers who come up with an
application that is fun and uses sound to enhance the
application. It is also designed to be fair to all types of
applications.

For instance an entertainment application may rate highly in the
appeal category, but if the sound is not integrated well into
application and the user tends to want to shut the sound off,
then the "use of sound" score will be low.  On the other hand if
the application uses an exciting sound track with awesome stereo
sound effects, then the use of sound score will be high.

A sound recording and playback utility will of course score very
high on the use of sound scale,  but  it will need to be well
designed and incorporate as many useful and exciting features as
possible to get a good appeal rating.

A good strategy to improve an application's ease is to use the
Contest forum  for feedback on the application. Updates and
program enhancements to the applications are encouraged so
upload your  application early and let the people who download
it help you make improvements.

In the event of a tie, the judges will award the prize to the
application that has been downloaded the greatest number of
times.

7.  Prize winners who are citizens or permanent residents of the
United States will be required to provide Media Vision with
their Social Security numbers by completing Federal Tax Form W-9
which will be mailed to all winners.  Prizes valued at $150 or
more will not be distributed until the completed Form W-9 is
received by Media Vision.  Form W-9 will be distributed with
prizes valued at $149.99 or less.  No responsibility is assumed
for lost, misdirected, or late mail.  The value of the prizes
won in the Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Shareware Contest will be
reported by Media Vision on Federal Tax Form 1099 for each
individual awarded a total retail value of at least $600.00 in
Media Vision prizes during tax year 1993. Prize winners who are
citizens of other countries will be solely responsible for
reporting of awarded prizes.

__________________________________________________________________


Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Shareware Contest Entry Form


This entry from will help to make sure that we properly evaluate
your contest entry. Please fill out the form completely and mail
to the address below before midnight July 15, 1993. Make sure
that you have uploaded your program entry to the PASCONTEST
forum on Compuserve. We cannot accept any programs by mail.


Name:_______________________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________________

City: _________________  State: ______   Zip:_______ Country: ______

Phone:______________________________________________________________

Compuserve ID Number:_______________________________________________

Program name:_______________________________________________________

Program type:_______________________________________________________

Platform:___________________________________________________________

Date application first uploaded:____________________________________

Signature:__________________________________________________________


Send entry form to:

Media Vision
Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Shareware Contest
3185 Laurelview Ct.
Fremont, CA 94538