Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/3565-4.665/dmg-4434/brodie17/brodie17.rtc

Text File | 1994-01-09 | 31KB | 642 lines

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                    Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie

                          Live from Las Vegas
                   Winter Consumer Electronics Show

                        Friday, Jan. 7th, 1994

                           Host - Lou Rocha

<[HoST] ST.LOU> We have a lot of newcomers here tonight that I would
like to welcome. When you use the /RAI command to call me it will take
me a few minutes to acknowledge you. Please don't /RAI more than once.
It pollutes my screen <grin>

Also please use the /nam command so I know who you are. For example /nam
HoST gives me the HoST that you see. Please use a short nickname
tonight. Please :-)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Welcome to our first Dateline Atari of 1994! Tonight is
the last evening of the Winter Consumer Electronics Show and Atari has
been in Las Vegas showcasing the Jaguar. We expect to hear a report on
the week's events from Bob Brodie, Director of Communications.

Bob has been real busy this week so we really appreciate the extra
effort in joining us tonight. Having done Comdex this year myself, I
know what an exhausting week Bob must have had. Thanks for joining us
on GEnie, Bob!

The last few weeks have seen the posting of various Jaguar developer
lists in the Bulletin Board. Elsewhere ATC stock is starting to inch up
again. Some of our recently enriched observers are speculating on a new
high of 30.00! Time will tell.

There has also been some recent chatter about new production runs for
the TT - Atari's workhorse workstation. Rumours also abound about a
68040 computer being developed by a third party European company. Are
these "visions of sugarplums" or post-holiday bonuses? Why don't you
join us and we'll ask Bob. Bob, the floor is all yours. Please GA

<BOB-BRODIE> Happy New Year, to all of our friends on GEnie! I trust
that you have all enjoyed the holiday season very much. Activity at
Atari is at an all time high as we continue with the our release of the
Jaguar.

For the third month in a row, this session of Dateline: Atari is coming
to you from the road! In November, you may recall that we came to you
live from the New York City Launch event, in December I was back in New
York visiting with retailers. This month, I come to you live from the
Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.

Today's session concluded about an hour ago, and I've rushed back from
the show floor to my hotel room to join you online tonight. We have
lots of exciting news to share with you, so let's get started right
away!!!

The Jaguar can truly be called an award winning product!! Atari was
presented with a number of awards so far here at CES.

Die Hard Game Fan Magazine has presented Atari with two awards, one for
Cybermorph as "December Game of the Month", and another for Jaguar as
the Best New Product of 1993. Video Game Magazine presented Atari with
an award for Best New Product of 1993, and Best Print Ad of 1993 for
the Jaguar.

Game Informer Magazine announced at their 2nd Annual Game Informer
Magazine Awards that they have awarded the Atari Jaguar the Best New
Product of the Year award!! Today, Electronic Games told us that they
were naming Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar the award as Best Game of
CES! We're very excited and pleased with all of the accolades that the
Jaguar has earned to date!!

Atari has returned to the main floor of CES. Our booth is located in
Pavilion A, rather than using a suite as we have in the past few years.
The amount of activity in the booth has been just incredible. We have
visited by retailers from all over the world, and many prominent
members of the media as well.

Today we hosted CNN for coverage of the exciting Jaguar title "Alien
vs. Predator". We're displaying Jaguars in our booth in the interactive
display kiosks that will be available for retailers to utilized. These
kiosks feature the striking Jaguar "cat eye" logo, and use an RGB
monitor, and a set of stereo speakers to showcase the Jaguar's
capabilities.

We also have a large screen TV that we're using to highlight some of
the newest titles, like Alien vs. Predator, and Tempest 2000. We have a
series of Lynx kiosks set up as well, showing off the new titles that
are available for the Lynx.

We're pleased to have some exciting products on display in our booth at
CES for both the Jaguar and the Lynx! For the Lynx, Telegames is
showing Super Off Road, and Krazy Ace Miniature Golf. They have
recently released Desert Strike for the Lynx as well. Atari is showing
Lynx Raiden, Eye of the Beholder, and Ninja Gaiden III. Beyond Games is
showing new titles as well, including Ultra Vortex. I'll make sure that
complete descriptions of the Lynx titles are made available online here
within one week of today. I had expected to have the completed text
files outlining the story lines of all the games by today, but it
didn't reach me in time for the CO tonight. (Sorry!)

On the Jaguar side of things, Alien vs. Predator is coming along very
nicely, and is a huge hit here at the show. This game is a 3D rendered
tunnel/maze game with texture mapped walls, and striking digitized
renderings of the Alien and the Predator creatures. As you play the
game, you have the option of being the Alien, the Predator, or the
Colonial Marine. Each character has their own set of unique skills, and
weapons!!

Telegames is showing a preliminary version of Brutal Sports Football.
Anything goes in this football game, THERE ARE NO RULES! Just pick up
the ball and run for your life!! Players compete on the gridiron
against 16 of the most unforgiving mutant teams ever to separate a
cyborg from his generator pack! Telegames announced that they would be
producing European Soccer Challenge for the Jaguar. This title will be
a significantly enhanced version of the same title currently available
on the Lynx.

In addition to true color graphics, the product will have an expanded
season and playoff format for the 170 teams. A specific personality and
performance ability will be established for each players, and you can
earn the ability to trade payers under certain circumstances. Ultimate
Brain Games is an expanded version of the Ultimate Chess Challenge
title for the Lynx as well. In addition to a chess game, there will be
a backgammon and checkers game. This product will features specific
game set up for computer solution, and digitized graphics.

Atari is showing an early version of Checkered Flag II for the Jaguar,
featuring real time 3D generated action. The player is allowed to
customize racing cars to his wishes. The cars, buildings, and roads are
rendered in real time 3D. Racing speed is intensified by 100 percent
true sound effects, crashes feature realistic sounds and imagery with
parts flying, and tires screeching.

Tempest 2000 is one of the most popular games in arcade history, back
in it's original form as well as in three new versions. On one
cartridge, you get four games! Tempest (original version), Tempest
Plus, Tempest 2000, and Tempest Dual! The games feature two player
cooperative play, the use of an android, cycle shaded webs, and many
new weapons and challenging bonus levels.

All told, there are over 15 new titles that have been announced at the
show for the Jaguar!! Among those are: Battlewheels, Car Wards,
Commando, Doom, Dungeon Depths, Evidence, Hosenose and Booger, Return
to Zork, and Ultra Vortex.

Atari is continuing it's roll out of the Jaguar on a national basis,
effective immediately. All of the partners that we have been working
with in New York and San Francisco that are national accounts, like
Toys R Us, Babbages, and Electronic Boutique, will go national
immediately. We will then roll out to the top ten markets in the US
throughout the first quarter. Beginning in the second quarter, we will
go to the top twenty markets. Our retail partners are pleased with our
promotional efforts to date, and we have agressive marketing plans
scheduled up through June of this year that we have committed to.

I'm sure I could go on for quite awhile longer, but seeing as how we're
getting started a bit late tonight, I think this probably is a good
point to open the floor to any questions, Lou.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> OK, Bob. Lots of people are waiting and we have lots of
newcomers. Folks, remember, only /RAI once. First we have M.BALDEON

<[SWiTCHB0ARD] M.BALDEON> Any new developers (CAPCON, or ACCLAIM?)? Any
new CD ROM info... I don't think lack of software supports is a good
reason to delay it.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> BTW, I can only allow one question in the first round.

<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, there are a number of new developers that are coming
on board. We are having meetings with Capcom here at the show. Re the
CD Rom, the hardware is quite close, and will be available in June.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Any ideas on the price for CD, Bob?

<BOB-BRODIE> BTW, one of the other titles that we're showing in the
booth is Kasumi Ninja, a fighting game with graphic violence. The CD
will go for approx $200, Lou.

<[Dave] D.SHORR> Atari has stated that the rendering speed of the
Jaguar is over 850 Megapixels per second compared to 3DO's 64
Megapixels per second; is this a fair comparison given that Atari's
pixel is represented by a single bit?

<BOB-BRODIE> Of course it is.

<[NewSTar] C.S.SMETON> Bob, I have a question from a friend (Paul
Plants) who does not have a GEnie node in his town. He wants to know
how/if his Atari Explorer subscription will be filled out. Or is the
magazine gone forever?

<BOB-BRODIE> Charles at this point we don't plan to bring Explorer
back. Paul should contact our Customer Service Department and request a
refund. We'll be happy to refund his money.

<[Chris] C.KROWCHUK1> Bob, congrats on success in 93. I am a retailer
in Edmonton offering Atari peripherals & software. I would like to
offer Jags & Falcs but am concerned about warranty. I have left
messages and mail, no response. So, how about it, any plans?

<BOB-BRODIE> On the Falcon side, there are no problems with the
warranty at all. Our policy is quite clear on it, it has a one year
warranty.  Dealers are allowed to replace 6 components in the field;
those are as follows: the keyboard, power supply, hard disk, floppy
disk, ram board, and something else that I can't recall at the moment
(sheepish grin) On the Jaguar side, we're not ready to sell to Canada
yet. That will probably happen around June.

<[Ken] K.STEVENS1> Hi Bob, Got Raiden in yesterday and haven't been
able to stop playing. Great implementation of the arcade game.
Question, Sega and a couple other console developers have released some
of the specs of their game systems. Most are due sometime around
Christmas. From what they have release on the specs they are going to
compete with and beyond the Jaguar. The question, is Atari working on
the Jag II or a  accesssory that will move the Jag to or beyond the
specs of the new game consoles coming out?

<BOB-BRODIE> Ken, I haven't personally seen those specs, but discussed
them with our VP of Technology today. He agrees that the machines sound
neat, but feels that they are going to be priced very high compared to
the Jaguar. Do you recall the price they announced?

<[Ken] K.STEVENS1> Bob, to answer your question about price. About 500
dollars for the Sega Saturn (US dollars). This includes the CD (Quad
Speed)) I personally think that they are biting off more than they can
chew with the specs they have release at that price.

<[Mike Lipson] M.LIPSON> Hi Bob! Do you know if Atari plans on issuing
more stock in 1994?

<BOB-BRODIE> No I don't know the answer to that, Mike. Sorry.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Lots of hands tonight, Bob. Next we have D.VANTREASE

<[SHADOW] D.VANTREASE> Will you post us a list of the national rollout
city schedule? And what's the latest AvP or SVideo release dates?

<BOB-BRODIE> I apologize for not having the national roll out press
release at my side. I will see to it that the information gets put out
ASAP.  Look for the S Video cable the end of this month, and AvP around
April.

<[ED] E.BAIZ> Is Atari going to make a case for the Jag similar to the
one for the Lynx?

<BOB-BRODIE> We're in discussion with a number of companies for
accessories like that, Ed. I'm not sure if we will do it, or allow
other companies to do them for us.

<[Ed & Mac] ERIDDLE> What was 3DO's reaction to the Jaguar being @ CES
in FULL FORCE, What did they have to "combat" the Jags presence?
Waiting for Aliens vs. Predator...

<BOB-BRODIE> Trip Hawkins gave a presentation at CES. He addressed
virtually every competitior EXCEPT Atari in his discussion of the
market.  When he opened up for questions, he was asked specifically
about the Jaguar.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Don't leave us hangin' Bob :-)

<BOB-BRODIE> His response was that he didn't feel that the Jaguar
competed against 3DO because 3DO isn't a Toy.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Hahaha!

<BOB-BRODIE> When it was pointed out to him that the Jaguar is
outselling the 3DO by a factor of 10:1 according to some retailers, he
said "...Go to the Atari booth and see it for yourself!" And hundreds
of people did just that. :) We're grateful. On a slightly more serious
note, I'm told that there are some impressive titles in the 3DO booth.
However, the retailers claim that it simply isn't selling.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Travis Guy from Atari Explorer Online is next!

<[Nat'l Champs] AEO.MAG> Hi Bob, it sounds like everything's going
well.... Can you take a minute and give those of us who can't be there
an anecdote or two that would help convey the reaction the Jaguar is
receiving? (Aside from Trip's reaction! :) I'm interested in what
Jaguar title seems to be generating the most intense interest.

<BOB-BRODIE> We've been showing Alien vs Predator on the big screen, so
it's getting the most interest. There have been a large number of
people that have asked to purchase one on the show floor. We had a
number of employees from Sega and Nintendo visiting the booth, and
playing our games. They seem to be very impressed. Among the more
interesting stories from my role in dealing with the media has been the
many members of the Japanese press who have visited our booth,
DEMANDING review units. :) Many of them were wearing Sega hats, too. :)

<[Sam] SAM-RAPP> I was gonna ask about the cheats for crescent Galaxy,
but I thought I would ask if you have any new developers you can name
specifically? Of course, You could always answer both! ;-)

<BOB-BRODIE> Why don't I talk a little about the cheats, and we'll deal
with the devs AFTER the show. We have some key appointments at the end
of the week. Re the cheats for Cresecent Galaxy....When the Crescent
Galaxy title comes up, press 1193. This will activate the cheat mode
for Crescent Galaxy. The codes are entered in from the second
controller. For example, pressing the joypad to the right will make you
scroll really quickly across the screen.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Still 15 in the queue. If you are waiting, please have
your question ready and wait for Talk-Mode before pressing [RETURN].
Next is B.DUNCAN.

<[BaltimoreBoy] B.DUNCAN12> Will There be a Virtual Reality Device for
the Jag anytime soon?

<BOB-BRODIE> There is one in the works, but I'm not sure how soon it
will be available. We want to be sure it isn't a hokey device like some
of the virual reality stuff.

<[Sir Fransis] K.DRAKE> All of the games until now are 16 meg and
retail at $49.99. As the more visually impressive games will use larger
meg sizes, will the prices get too close to becoming unbearable? (like
the $99.99 price for Sega's VR racing).

<BOB-BRODIE> I don't think so, Kenneth. We do have some developers
talking about $89 games, but I haven't seen any real firm plans for
them yet.  Crescent Galaxy is really impressive graphically, and it
isn't that expensive.

<[Graham] G.NORTON> Bob, I have a few questions for you. 1) We have
been trying for while to get hold of either Shirley Taylor or yourself
for a while and haven't been able to. Can you suggest a good time to
call when we might be able to speak to someone...or is there such a
thing? :)  2) Is Atari going to be addressing the dealer warranty
program that had been canceled any time soon? It is very hard,
especially in Canada, to be sending products down to Atari (or even
Pacific Software) any time we have warranty work, and needless to say
time consuming. 3) What is Atari planning for Canada with regard to
dealers (getting more online), and with regard to both the Jaguar and
Falcon? 4) Lastly, while I realize the Jaguar is Atari's central
product right now, I hope the Falcon hasn't been forgotten. Atari needs
to reduce pricing on the current Falcon and introduces faster machines
just to stay current. As we all know in the computer industry, if you
are not moving forward you are falling behind.

<BOB-BRODIE> Graham, in fairness to everyone here I can only take one
question tonight. Sorry.  We have restored voice mail at Atari, and I
had not received any messages from you in the last few weeks. Please
call and leave your number for either Shirley or I and we'll call you
back to discuss your concerns. Atari was closed between Christmas and
New Years, but I was in the office during that time, and checked my
voice mail daily. I don't recall any messages from you, although I am
about 3 weeks behind in my GEnie mail at this point.

<MIKE-ALLEN> Hi Bob. Glad to see you here. Many Atari computer users,
while glad that Atari is doing so well with the Jag, are feeling a
little nervous. The "real" dealer network seems to be dwindling and
there are fewer and fewer 3rd party offerings. I guess the question is:
is there a future for Atari computers other than just as a Music
machine? Are we Atari computer enthusiasts going to be more orphaned
than we are now?

<BOB-BRODIE> We are still very much interested in the computer market,
Mike. However, the reality is that at this point it time if we are to
be profitable we must pursue the Jaguar. The fundamentals of the
computer side of our business have changed, the most compelly products
for the Falcon are largely music related products. It is our believe
that the capabilities of the Jaguar are well suited for computers as
well, and we are considering how to go about doing that in the best
possible fashion. In any event, we will continue to service the needs
of our computing customers to the best of our ability.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, can you shed any light on the production of TT's
that was mentioned a few months ago? And what is 'compelly'? <grin>

<BOB-BRODIE> <Grin> a typo from lack of sleep, sorry.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> compelly=compelling?

<BOB-BRODIE> The production of TTs _has_ resumed. What I have not been
clear on
** <BOB-BRODIE> disconnected.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> OH OH...  Deja vu ... hang on folks. There are lots of
people in the queue so I am closing it for now. If we move really
quickly, I will take more /RAI later. No more /RAI for now. Thanks.
Bob is back

<[HoST] ST.LOU> I just got a note that the cheat works. Sam is moving
right along :-)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Matt Rivman will be next, them M.MURPHY and Ringo
Montfort

<BOB-BRODIE> Sorry, gang. That's a new record, twice in one night. :)
Did he (Sam) think I would lie??? :) :)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Matt, how about asking your question now?

<[Matt] M.RIVMAN1> Howdy Bob, and welcome. A while back, someone posted
in the Jag topic that their local dealer sold 4 units to some
Electronic Arts folks.  Have they expressed any interest in writing for
the cat to Atari, directly?

<BOB-BRODIE> On an informal basis. Remember that Electronic Arts really
doesn't write that much software themselves. They are largely a
publisher of other people's products, like John Madden Football for
instance.

<[Kid Metal] M.MURPHY31> Happy New Year, Bob, and congratulations on
what sounds to be a successful CES. When can we expect to see Jag TV
ads go nationwide? Can you give us any details of specific ads we'll be
seeing?  Thanks.

<BOB-BRODIE> We will be going in the top 15 teen shows in in the top
ten markets in Feb, and March with the TV spots. There will be cable TV
ads runnning at the same time, and then.... from April through June
we'll be doing the same thing in the top 20 markets with TV. We will be
doing national advertising in the video games mags clear thru June, a
series of mall events, screenvision (in movie theatres), wild postings,
and sponsoring the Scorpions 14 city national tour of the US as part of
the AvP promotions. How's that sound? :)

<[Ringo] R.MONFORT> Hi, Bob. are developers getting new info regarding
computers or new computers? I love the Jaguar. Thanks!

<[HoST] ST.LOU> I'd LOVE to love a Jaguar <grin>

<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Ringo. You should really take that up with Bill
Rehbock, Mike Fulton, or J. Patton. They're the developer support
people. I don't track the current status of their updates to
developers, I'm afraid. I can tell you that part of the efforts on the
Jaguar are resulting in developer sessions here in Las Vegas during
CES.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, everyone is playing their Jags while waiting. They
love your cheats :-) Next we have A.STUDER.

<A.STUDER1> I'm happy to see Atari moving forward, especially into the
future. The Jaguar is a pleasant sight. Do you know when the first
Jaguar title with QSound will be released and what we can expect from
it? Will it use a special adapter or come out the SVHS/composite
cables? Has the Jaguar's IBM development unit been completed? Keep up
the good work! Happy New Year! <I forgot to play Atari today> <tried
CG's 1193, didn't work!>

<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Andy, I'll have to check on the Q Sound info. My good
friend Bernie Stolar is there, and he's been in our booth quite a bit
throughout the show. QSound relies on just two speakers for it's
effects, so you should not need any adapter at all. The PC development
environment is done to the best of my knowledge.

<[SWiTCHB0ARD] M.BALDEON> Congrats on your ad campaign, I live by San
Francisco and to all those people who want to know what they look like
there better then the Sega commercials (that's a compliment). Also
thanks, the CG code worked and I only have one controller... had to
switch it around. Anyway one last question... is Microsoft trying to
get their hands into the Jag market (just a rumor).

<BOB-BRODIE> Not to the best of my knowledge. Today we were told that
the rumor is that Nintendo is trying to buy us...only the umpteenth
time I've heard that one. :)

<[Dave] D.SHORR> What is the STatus of AtariWorks? Will a
telecommunications module be added?

<BOB-BRODIE> We're working on a beta version of 2.0, which at this
point doesn't have a telecomm module, but has lots of other
improvements.
** <BOB-BRODIE> disconnected.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> This might be a sign, folks :-) Hahaha... the Nintendo
spies! I love it, King! Lots of funny /sends.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob is back

<BOB-BRODIE> Sorry gang....one of those nights I guess! Is it GEnie,
the hotel, or the node here in Vegas????

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Did we finish the AtariWorks question?

<BOB-BRODIE> The answer was that there is a beta version of Works 2.0,
but it doesn't have a telcom module at this point in time.

<[Parrot Head] C.CASSADAY> Being the president of an Atari User Group
who would really like to have Atari's presence at our second Fiesta
Atari this June, discretion would lead me not to do this. However, I
feel myself and others would like to hear the rest of the answer to the
TT030 production question.

<BOB-BRODIE> I'm not sure exactly where I fell offline...as I recall,
the question was "Are TT's being built again?". They are, but I am
unclear about what the plans are for them to be distributed, i.e. how
many come to the US, how many will go to Germany, etc.

<[Tony] WETMORE> You mentioned before that AvsP has been delayed until
April.  Will you be able to post a list of "upcoming" Jaguar titles
sometime soon? As I recall, AvsP was one of the next expected titles.
No new games until April would be very bad. [:-(

<BOB-BRODIE> Tempest 2000, Checkered Flag will be out in the next
couple of months. The 3rd party stuff will begin coming out in March
and April as well.

<[James] J.VOGH> When will Eye of the Beholder be out for the Lynx and
how many players will it allow?

<BOB-BRODIE> We're showing it here at the show, I need to double check
on its availability. It requires a different board than the other Lynx
games as it permits you to save your score in the game. The board might
delay availability...but the software is done.

<[Ed & Mac] ERIDDLE> What Role-Playing Games are in developement for
the Jag?  A BIG oversight on the SEGA frontier is the LACK of RPGs.
With a a few good showings you could capture that overlooked part of
the market...

<BOB-BRODIE> I have a list of about 15 titles that are in the works,
guys.  I'll get that up online ASAP. There are some RPGs in there, to
be sure.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> That would be greatly appreciated, Bob. I know you have
been really, really, really busy lately but there has been LOTS of
action in the Jaguar topics in the Bulletin Board.

<BOB-BRODIE> REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, really busy. :)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> When you have a free week, you'll enjoy what is being
posted.

<BOB-BRODIE> And I'm sorry that I haven't been online at all.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Shall I send you some archives ? :-)

<BOB-BRODIE> I will try to get online after I get back home, and
yes...please send the highlights to me!

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Next we have Travis then Graham to close our evening.

<[Nat'l Champs] AEO.MAG> Really Busy Bob, there's a story making its
way around that Atari is trying to "force" Jaguar development to be
done on Falcon030s in a lame attempt to prop up the Falcon. (I'll leave
it to you to figure out where this story is coming from.) What say
you??? (BTW, thanks for the Jaguar cap and Tee-shirt!)

<BOB-BRODIE> At least being in Vegas instead of NY I feel like I'm
getting closer to home!!

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Let me guess who spreads the most rumours per week...

<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Travis...(oops, that last part was for Lou!)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, turn right for Sunnyvale when you leave Vegas :-)

<BOB-BRODIE> That story is 100% false, we are also supporting the PC
environment with the Jaguar. We are trying to force anything on anyone.
Whoever said that simply doesn't know the facts, isn't connected to
anyone that does, and proably isn't living right. :)

<[HoST] ST.LOU> "We are NOT trying to force...." correct?

<BOB-BRODIE> Please stop all the /sends guys...

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Graham Norton, you have the evening's last question.

<[Graham] G.NORTON> Can you tell me why Atari decided that Jags and
games can't be rented. A lot of people like to rent machines and games
before they buy them just to make sure they aren't wasting their money.
Also we have had a number of video game rental stores ask us about
getting Jags.

<BOB-BRODIE> Graham, before I answer your question, I want to be very
clear about my last answer.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Please do :-)

<BOB-BRODIE> I appear to have some hardware problems tonight. Along
with a lot of /sends.

<BOB-BRODIE> We are NOT, I repeat _NOT_ forcing anyone to use the
Falcon or any other TOS based computer for Jaguar development. That is
simply untrue. We are supporting the PC environment fully. Whoever said
that we were attempting to force people to use the Falcon is mistaken,
and if it is whom I think it is that is spreading this rumor, then it
is NO SURPRISE that they don't know what they are talking about.

<BOB-BRODIE> On to your question, (and please respond to my follow up
"What makes you think we are not supporting rental?") One of the
companies that we are working with is Blockbuster Video!

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Graham, please ask your question again...

<[Graham] G.NORTON> Well mainly the notice on the side of the box that
says no rentals allowed...

<BOB-BRODIE> That's just standard legal mumbo jumbo. I don't have a box
in the room. But

<[Graham] G.NORTON> Quoting directly " You may not rent or lease the
Products or parts thereof;

<BOB-BRODIE> I suspect that if I did, there would be a spot that says
something along the line of "unless otherwise specificed", or something
to that effect. I believe that license applies to end users, not
retailers, Graham.

<[Graham] G.NORTON> Ok just wanted to check we want to sell some to
various rental stores.

<BOB-BRODIE> Again, we're working with Blockbuster Video. They are
doing rentals.

<[HoST] ST.LOU> Bob, short goodbyes and thanks tonight. I know how
exhausted you are. Take care. Spend a restful weekend at home. We'll
see you online.

<BOB-BRODIE> Lou, my apologies for all of the problems tonight on this
end. Maybe this Stacy finally needs a tuneup. It has been a trying
evening tonight with all of the line drops. But as always, I have
enjoyed being here. I'm grateful for the support of our users online on
GEnie, our official online service, and thanks to all for attending.
Good night.


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Our next session of Dateline Atari will be held on Friday, February 4th
at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Real Time Conferences in the Atari ST
RoundTable are held every Monday (Desktop Publishing and Graphics) and
Wednesday (Open House) night at 10:00 p.m. and a HelpDesk is available
evry Sunday at 9:00 p.m. On the first and third Thursday there is a
Programmer's RTC at 9:00 p.m.

If you miss a conference, transcripts are made for all formal RTC's
(where there is a special guest) and the programming RTC. You will find
these transcripts in Library 13 - Atari Archives.

Please send your questions, suggestions and comments to RTC$ via
GEmail. Thank you.