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Gold Medal Software 5
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Gold Medal Software - Volume 5 (Gold Medal) (1995).iso
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NFL
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Wrap
Text File
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1994-10-18
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5KB
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78 lines
Review of NFL Sportsguide
review by
Gail B.C. Marsella
The NFL Sportsguide is one in a series of Sportsguides from
Momentum Development, Inc. It is essentially a PIM (Personal
Information Manager) with a note pad, calendar, appointment book,
and phone book, but its structure is organized around the specifics
of professional football. (College football is not included.) There
are wallpapers for each of the teams, an NFL screensaver, a trivia
game, complete game schedules for the entire season, and a database
of statistics, stadium maps, and team information (a ddress, phone,
coach, owner, team colors, local radio station that covers games,
and so on.) A BBS is available by subscription for those who wish to
update this information periodically.
The program installs conventionally by selecting RUN from the
Program Manager File menu, and then SETUP from the floppy disk.
When loaded, the introductory screen asks for a team choice, and
then the window that opens has the logo of that team as the
background. Several windows can be open simultaneously for
different teams. A menu bar allows access to the different
features. To review the program for usability and fan interest, it
was necessary to locate a dedicated football fan and observe his
behavi or as he explored it. I found him in the next room, watching
ESPN.
I seated the test subject in front of a Compaq portable with
which he was comfortable, and loaded the Sportsguide with a window
for the Detroit Lions. A big smile came over his face when he saw
the game schedules. The display can show either the schedule for
the selected team, or the entire league schedule, with times and TV
networks noted. Additionally, portions of the schedule can be
copied to the clipboard, or selected and printed directly from the
File menu. He thought the wallpapers were "neat to l ook at,"
although he also thought they were too bright and annoying for
general use. Additionally, once a football wallpaper is installed,
there is no way to remove it from within the Sportsguide; you have
to go out to Windows control panel.
The trivia game took up significant evaluation time. Playable
from the stats of either a particular team or the entire league, it
establishes the player's intelligence level as play progresses.
(Goalpost and potato were at the low end of the IQ scale; coach and
owner were near the top.)
The PIM features also elicited interest. The calendar and
appointment/phone book can be called together or separately. Their
layouts are complete, fairly standard, and uncluttered; the
appointment book has a search function for individual phrases, a
print function, and a schedule button for listing games on the
displayed day. On the calendar, clicking on an individual day also
displays a list of the scheduled games. The test subject noted that
he would have preferred that game days be highlighted in so me way
on the calendar, because the Thursday games are infrequent, but he
thought the basic features were very useful.
The General Info menu has all the choices for statistics and
team information, as well as a notepad. ("What are you going to put
on the notepad?" I asked. He looked at me in astonishment. "Scores
and stuff, of course!" Of course.) The stadium maps also include a
phone number for ordering tickets, and the statistics are divided
into several categories, including team stats, team rankings, league
standings, NFC leaders, and AFC leaders. The test subject was
disappointed that the stats sections lacked a s earch function, but
he judged the statistics to be complete and accurate up to the
publication date of the software. Overall, this would make a good
gift for a football fan.
Note: Although the Sportsguide ran without a hitch on the
Compaq, it makes trouble on a Gateway 2000. I tried the Gateway
before the Compaq; at best it ran, but always gave an error message
before loading. At worst the entire system seized up. A call to
MDI technical support identified the problem: the video drivers
shipped with Gateway systems. Gateway owners can obtain updates
from the video card manufacturer's BBS, which should fix the
problem. The number is 1-905-764-9404; download LOADER.ZIP, M3
2W23.TXT, and M32W23.ZIP, and follow the instructions.
Momentum Development, Inc.
240 East Hersey Street, Suite 11
Ashland, Oregon 97520
(503) 488-2015