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Text File
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1995-03-01
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17KB
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330 lines
Here's the APE Online SCES Report from Clint Smith. Hot off the press!
c.smith89@genie.geis.com writes:
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> Atari Power Entertainment Online- A Monthly On-Line supplement to the
> A.P.E. Newsletter
>
> JULY 94(Summer CES 94 Special)
> Issue 3
>
> Atari Rocks at Summer CES
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>
> As you walked into McCormick Place North(the hotbed for video games and
> electronic entertainment), the large Nintendo booth was to the left,
> Acclaim's big, loud section(obviously they felt they had to make up for
> in the noise department since Sega didn't have floor space this show), and
> just to the right was the very noticeable Atari area.
>
> Black and Red were the colors of preference and yellow cat's eyes were
> everywhere. Located at the SouthWest corner of the booth was a Jag kiosk
> with the long awaited Jag CD churning away. Two 19 inch monitors flanked
> the unit and they were showing the same display as the kiosk's monitor.
> The Jag CD was running some of the best full motion video I've ever seen
> (that didn't have the assistance of an MPEG cart). This was all being done
> with the built-in Cinepak compression and it was much better than 3DO and
> light years beyond chunky Sega CD video). You could tell that it wasn't
> quite VHS quality(some mild pixelezation was present) but it was more than
> good enough to make people's jaws drop wide open. This was usually followed
> by the person going up and looking(to make sure the CD was really running)
> and then they'd grab a Jag CD info sheet. I saw this scene repeated 100s
> of times over the 3 days.
>
> The continuously running FMV display consisted of:
> A letterbox sized sequence of the climax of "Jaws" when Roy Scheider blows
> the shark to bit.
> Next, came a full screen sequence of the tie fighter/Millenium Falcon
> dogfight from "Star Wars".
> Then, the action sequence from the conclusion of "Back to the Future 3"
> where Doc rescues his girlfriend with the hoverboard, the Delorean hits
> 88 and leaves the flame trail off the unfinished train tressle, and then
> the train engine dives into the ravine and explodes.
> Finally, it finsished up with the entire preview from the Maverick movie.
>
> Along with the great video, the sound was tremendous(unlike the audio
> during FMV on the Sega CD). Not bad for a $200 CD-Rom drive. Unlike a
> lot of drives, it won't have some built-in wimpy amount of battery backed
> up ram to save games with. Instead, it uses seperate carts(something the
> Sega CD was supposed to have by now) for game saves, high scores, etc.
> Don't look for a power supply to come with it because it gets all the
> power it needs supplied direct from the Jag.
>
> Behind the FMV display, the Jag CD was showing off it's built-in Virtual
> Light Machine program as it did some incredible graphics to all kinds of
> different music. If you were lucky, you might even get a demo from Jeff
> Minter himself. Minter mania was running wild at the show as tons of
> people wanted to meet the man behind Tempest 2000. I even saw someone
> have him sign their game manual. No, I'm not kidding.
>
> At the SouthEast corner of the booth, Atari had a BIG tv(I'd guess 35 to
> 40 inches) setup with a killer sound system. They used this to show off
> their showcase titles. Tempest 2000 spent a lot of time here(blowing
> people away with it's incredible music and action). AvP got demoed and
> people got mindblowing looks at the awesome new fighter Ultra Vortex and
> the amazing polygon fest that is Iron Solider(more on these 2 killer
> games later). The game that owned this display for the third day was the
> long awaited Kasumi Ninja. People crowded around trying to get a glimpse
> of the very bloody beat'em up. Even though it only had half of it's
> characters done and was still lacking it's in-game music, people were
> captivated by it. Atari also had one of the coolest promo items at the
> show in the form of it's Kasumi Ninja headband. This beauty features
> the Kasumi Ninja logo across the front with the Atari fuji at one end and
> the Jag logo at the other end. I managed to get one on my second try
> (although I think the guy may have taken it easy on me).
>
> Lynx enthusiasts should take heart in the fact that 6 Lynx units were
> on display but nothing new was being shown except for a limited edition
> title from Telegames called Bubble Trouble(which was quite good)which will
> be out in July. Atari is wisely putting all it's efforts into the Jag
> right now and will worry about the Lynx once they've got the Jag established.
>
> Along with the first 5 games, about 20 new Jag titles were being shown
> (actually more people had titles but there just wasn't enough room to
> accomodate).
>
> Atari Titles
> XXXXXXXXXXXXX
>
> Alien Vs. Predator is getting ever closer(they figure it'll be finsished
> up in 4 more weeks). This was a constant draw throughout the show and
> people were consistently blown away by it's smooth detailed graphics,
> the killer animation of the Aliens and the Predators, and digitized sounds
> straight from the movies(the motion tracker was extremely effective).
> You can really get into this game. I saw more than one person jump when
> something lunged at them. Believe the hype.
>
> Checkered Flag has some very smooth, fast, Virtua Racing style graphics.
> The control still needs some work(I'm betting a driving controller might
> be the answer)and it only had one track(the famous...or infamous bow-tie).
> Actually, they're probably not even going to use that one and the final
> version will have 10 tracks. They're also going to be improving the sound
> effects and adding a pit stop with a working pit crew.
>
> Blue Lightning was on display in early form. It was running off a cart(it's
> going to be a CD game) and looked pretty good. A lot of good looking
> texture mapping(especially on the mountains). In the final game you'll
> have a choice of 8 different aircraft. An A-10 Warthog for tank busting,
> F-14 and F-18s for dogfighting, and some European and Soviet fighters(it's
> a multi-national operation). The final game will also have 36 levels.
>
> Club Drive still needs some work on it's San Francisco section and the
> futuristic skate park or stunt track(whichever it's going to be). The
> house and wild west sections do appear to be done or very close and they
> rock. Fast 3-d polygons, cool different viewpoints, and excellent control.
> The 2 player, split-screen tag game is a blast. The game has built-in
> support for a steering controlller and will also utilize the upcoming Jag
> voice modem for two player games.
>
> Kasumi Ninja attracted quite a bit of attention at the show for it's
> excellent graphics and cool fighting gameplay. By the end of a round, the
> ground is covered in blood and the fatalities they have so far are real
> attention-getters. For those who wish to screen their kids from such things,
> it will feature a parent programmable password to turn off the gore.
> In the final game, you'll gain opponent's powers as you defeat them as you
> make your way to the evil boss bad guy. There's going to be hour mech through a city,
> complete with skyscrapers. You fight enemy robots(to see one of these
> walking around is a thing of beauty), artillery units, tanks, and some of
> the best ploygon attack choopers I've ever seen(which are also texture
> mapped). When you blast a buliding, it explodes in a rain of a ton of
> polgon cubes. As your robot walks, you can move your view so you can look
> up or down. If you look down, you'll see your beautifully animated robot
> legs chugging along as you step on enemy forces. The game will also support
> the voice modem and the Jag's network capability for 2 player action.
> This is going to be VERY,VERY, VERY HOT!
>
> Beyond Games
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>
> They blew us away with Battlewheels on the Lynx and now they're going to
> show Jag owners what is what with their new fighting game, Ultra Vortex.
> UV uses digitized fighter that look incredible and have some excellent
> moves. Stunning photorealistic animated backgrounds, rocking techno music,
> and one of the most deep, evil announcer voices you've ever heard. This
> is also going to be whopping 32 megabits(4 megabytes for computer enthusiasts)
> and it shows. They're still adding characters(they're going to be doing
> some awesome characters using clay animation and other techniques that will
> knock your socks off) and they hope to be done in 2 more months. Look for
> hidden stuff in this as well and a wide range of fatalities(and a parental
> thing similar to Kasumi). This and Kasumi will both be worth buying for
> fighting fans. Mortal what?
>
> Id
> XXX
>
> Wolfenstein 3d was on display in finished cart form and it looks and sounds
> great. Look for it in the next couple of weeks.
>
> Doom was only being shown the first day(it kept locking up if you'd press
> thr wrong thing) but it looked good and it was very smooth and fast. Still
> a lot of work to go on it but so far so good. It will also support the
> voice modem and we're hoping for 4 player network capability(cross your
> fingers).
>
> Telegames
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>
> They were the first third party developer to release a game for the Lynx
> so it's not strange that they're also going to have the first third party
> Jag game with Brutal Sports Football. This Euro import is sort of like
> Speedball meets football meets rugby meets soccer meets Mortal Kombat. It's
> a lot of fun, especially with 2 players going at each other. Some gorgeous
> arcade quality graphics and the music is really good.
>
> Telegeames was also showing an unplayable demo of a game based on a sport
> that you're probably not too familiar with. I'm talking about World Class
> Cricket. Yes, you heard me right, Cricket. Could be interesting.
>
> Telegames will also be releasing their chess/checkers/backgammon game
> Ultimate Brain Games, World Class Soccer, and a gambling game called Casino
> Royale. They have also announced 3 more Jag games. Something called
> Virtuoso(?), one of the James Pond sequels, Operation Starfish, and Elite's
> 3-d driving game called Powerslide.
>
> Williams Entertainment
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>
> This new company which consists of an allegiance of Tradewest and Bally
> Midway, had their fighting game, Double Dragon V. It's very street
> fighterish and shows potential. The cartoon character fighters though don't
> stack up well graphically against Kasumi Ninja and Ultra Vortex.
>
> An unplayable demo of Troy Aikman NFL Football was also being shown and it
> looks very promising. The setup screens look great.
>
> V-Reel
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>
> This firm was showing an unplayable demo of their football game based on
> the Arena Football league. It looks promising as well and they plan for
> it to support the voice modem.
>
> High Voltage
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>
> High Voltage was showing an early along pinball title called Ruiner that
> showed potential.
>
> They also showed an early version of their in-your-face one-on-one street
> basketball game, White Men Can't Jump for Trimark Interactive. It utilizes
> digitized players and a field that scales as you head down the court towards
> the net.
>
> Imagitec
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>
> at Imagitec are busy doing not one but two conversions of
> popular run and jump mario-style contests. They're handling Zool 2 for
> Gremlin and Accolade's Bubsy for Atari. They both look quite good so far
> and based on the music they did for Tempest 2000, sound expectations are
> quite high.
>
> Ubi Soft
> XXXXXXXXX
>
> One of the true shockers at the show was Ubi Soft's stunning mario-type
> game called Rayman. The game has gorgeous 24 frame per second animated
> characters who look like they stepped out of a cartoon combined with
> 24-bit True Color backgrounds with multiple layers of parallax scrolling
> that look like they're out of a Disney film. When magazines start running
> their CES coverage you will be hearing about Rayman for the Jag.
>
> US Gold
> XXXXXXXX
>
> US Gold had an early version of Flashback for the Jaguar running in their
> own booth. I was a little disappointed at first since it looked just like
> the Genesis version(although the animation sequences were much faster).
> Especially after I caught a glimpse of the new Sega CD version with better
> music and new workstation generated FMV sequences(mind you they were
> the typical chunky Sega CD quality). I was bummed until I read in their
> press kit that the Jag version isn't going to be a cart but a CD. So we
> can expect those new animated sequences only of a much higher quality.
>
> 4Play
> XXXXXX
>
> This is a new company who is dedicated to making high quality Jag titles
> that use the systems full capabilities(texture mapping, polygons, voice
> modem play, network multiplayer, etc.). They were running an early demo
> of their tentatively titled Star Battle game. The 3-d light shaded ploygon
> ships on display looked great(I'm especially fond of the axe-blade shaped
> craft called the Castrator(ouch)). The game should be very Star Raiders-ish.
>
>
> I do have some extra info I picked up at the show but I'm gonna save that
> for the printed edition of APE(due early July). If you're a subscriber,
> keep your eye out for it. If not, check out the special deal coming up.
>
> Magazine Watch
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>
> There's not much of interest in current issues of game magazines for Jag
> onwers(besides, all the really hot stuff just happened at CES).
>
> I do have to tell you to skip the upcoming July issue of Diehard GameFan.
> For the first time in months, the cupboard is bare. There's a little
> something on the Jag version of Cannon Fodder in the Europa column but
> that's it.
>
> CES Followup
> XXXXXXXXXXXXX
>
> This was the best CES(Atari-wise) that I ever attended. The Atari area
> was constantly packed with people and games like Kasumi,Ultra Vortex, AvP,
> Tempest 2000, Iron Soldier, and RayMan were blowing people's minds. 3rd
> party developers were there in force checking things out and I wouldn't
> be suprised if you see more big names hopping on the 64-bit bandwagon.
> Buyers and stores were also extremely interested in the Jag as well so
> don't be too suprised when it starts showing up in more and more locations.
> The looks on people's faces when they saw the Jag CD's FMV in action or
> when they spotted somebody doing a fatality in Kasumi were priceless.
> It's a whole new world folks.
>
> Get a Free YEAR of APE
> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
>
> In an attempt to get a larger subscriber base, I've decided to be a little
> bold. Instead of just getting 1 issue to check out, you can now get a
> free 1 year subscription to APE. To get your free subscription, all you
> have to do is give me your mailing address. You can GE-Mail the info to
> me at Genie via C.SMITH89 or through the Internet at
> c.smith89@genie.geis.com
>
> If you don't have access to Genie or Internet you can mail your free
> issue request to:
>
> APE Newsletter
> 2104 North Kostner
> Chicago,IL 60639
>
> You'll receive your subscription starting with issue 16(the Summer CES
> issue due early July) and you'll get a back issue order form. Hopefully,
> once your year of issues is done, you'll be interested in renewing.
>
> Unfortunately, I can only extend this offer to people in the USA and
> Canada(overseas mailing costs would kill me). Also, former subscribers
> to APE can only take advantage of this if your subscription ran out over
> a year ago.
>
> Please feel free to pass this around to any other information services or
> bulletin boards where interested Jag and Lynx owners might be.
Thanks to Clint for sending this to post to r.g.v.a !
Denny
--
Denman (Denny) Hyett
------------------------------------*------------------------------------------
NOTE: The views expressed here do not represent those of the Jet Propulsion Lab