Atari Explorer Online: 12-Sep-94 #0311
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 09/17/94-11:15:40 AM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: Atari Explorer Online: 12-Sep-94 #0311
Date: Sat Sep 17 11:15:40 1994
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: Volume 3 - Issue 11 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 12 September 1994 ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: ::
:: ATARI .............. News, reviews, & solutions ............ ATARI ::
:: EXPLORER ............ for the online Atari .......... EXPLORER ::
:: ONLINE ................. Community .............. ONLINE ::
:: ::
:: Published and Copyright (c) 1993-1994 by Subspace Publishers ::
:: All Rights Reserved ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: Publisher ........................... Michael Lindsay EXPLORER ::
:: Editor .................................. Travis Guy AEO.MAG ::
:: Assistant Editor GEnie................ Ron Robinson EXPLORER.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor CompuServe.......... Albert Dayes AEO.1 ::
:: Assistant Editor Delphi......... Andreas Barbiero AEO.2 ::
:: Assistant Editor Internet........ Timothy Wilson AEO.8 ::
:: Atari Asylum ... [Closed] ...... Gregg Anderson AEO.7 ::
:: Unabashed Atariophile ..... Michael R. Burkley AEO.4 ::
:: Atari Artist ................... Peter Donoso EXPLORER.2 ::
:: Jaguar Junkie ............... Tal Funke-Bilu EXPLORER.5 ::
:: User Group Coordinator ........ Ron Whittam EXPLORER.4 ::
:: UK Correspondent ............. Lea Anthony ::
:: ::
:: Contributors: ::
:: """"""""""""" ::
:: Michael Forget, Greg Kopchak ::
:: Adam Urbano, David A. Wright ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: Telecommunicated to you via: ::
:: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" ::
:: GEnie: AEO.MAG ::
:: CompuServe: 70007,3615 ::
:: Delphi: AEO_MAG ::
:: Fnet: AEO Conference, Node 319 ::
:: AtariNet: AEO Conference, Node 51:1/10 ::
:: ::
:: Internet mailing address: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com ::
:: FTP recent AEO issues from: rahul.net:pub/wilsont/AEO ::
:: Search gopherspace under "aeo" for back issues ::
:: ::
:: Internet subscription service: stzmagazine-request@virginia.edu ::
:: (Internet subscription requests ONLY!) ::
:: ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Table of Contents
* From the Editors ........................................... Remember us?
* Digital Briefs ....................... Computer, high-tech and videogame
industry news.
* Rare Gems ......................................... Quotes worth quoting.
* Brutal Sports Football Rreview ................. Hack, slash, SCORE! Tal
goes over Telegames'
first Jaguar title.
* Jaguar Tackboard ................... Development list - Brodie on Jaguar
status - Bumpersticker Photo
Contest Winner - KN info -
Press Releases.
* Jaguar Focus Group Market Research ....... How would you like to be part
of a marketing group that is
asked what Jaguar products
you would like to see?
Here's a report.
* Videogame Profiteering ................. How do videogame manufacturer's
control their profit machines?
* Atari Artist .................. CT show report - New hardware & software
for the creative Atarian!
* Andreas' Den ........................ Publishing, software and standards.
* Binary <-> ASCII Conversion ............. ESS-Code's author explains how
to store and retrieve (and
EMail) binary data as text!
* The Unabashed Atariophile ................... PD and Shareware files for
_your_ Atari computer.
* Seattle FilmWorks ....................... They're not Photo CDs, but you
CAN put your photos on disk.
* Developing News ..................... ORA Announces TrueImage
... and Papyrus Gold
NeoDesk 4 Ships
Put your Falcon in Overdrive
Take the Fast Path from TraceTech
Avant Vector 2.0
* Shutdown ............................ Around the world and up your block.
--==--==--==--==--
||| From the Editors ....... Atari Explorer Online: The Next Generation
||| Travis Guy
/ | \ GEnie: AEO.MAG Delphi: AEO_MAG Internet: aeo.mag@genie.geis.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone, we're back!
After a year and a half of running AEO, I was advised by a close
friend inside Atari to take a vacation. It wasn't an easy thing to do,
but after enjoying the splendors of NW Florida for a month, I can now
say that I'm well rejuvenated, and ready to go.
Reading online discussions for the past month, I've got a few things
I want to get off my chest regarding the Jaguar "Game Drain".
I took a few weeks off, hoping that things would be rolling by the
time I got back.
Personally, I am not happy that KN/CD/CF/etc. aren't in production
yet... but I know that they (and more) will be in production VERY
SOON. New versions of a few games were shown inside Atari last week,
and the people who saw them have commented on how much better things
look than they did at CES.
Can AvP look and sound better than it did on the AEO video? YES. How
does KN compare to 3DO's Way of the Warrior? (Close to twice the
animation frames than the CD-based WOTW.) Can CF be a Virtua Racing
killer? Looks like it.
(On another subject, I'm glad to report that television advertisements
HAVE STARTED airing on cable in the US. Don't have cable? Don't have a
cow, man - the ads will also appear on selected network shows.)
Writing a "perfect" piece of software takes time. Once the ROM masks
are burned (or the CD master is cut), it's difficult to justify going
back and redoing something. Atari's crackerjack testing department
noticed a few =minor= flaws in Alien vs Predator during the past few
days. As a result, the roll to production was brought to a momentary
halt, as fixes were added and tested. I have been assured (as of 5pm
CDT today) that "AvP production is imminent. (Soon.)" I am glad that
Atari are holding their programmers to a high degree of quality.
As far as I can discern, videogame programming is a little bit of
science, a little bit of math, and a little bit of art. No one can
"force it to happen" any quicker than it does. No Jaguar programmer
can be bribed into coding faster and with less bugs than he or she
currently is. Only a handful of developers have had development
systems for over a year.
Neither Atari nor any of the programmers benefit from NOT having a
game ready. It is not in anyone's interest to have dissatisfied
customers. Think about it people.
This Holiday season will be an Jaguar owner's dream. Count on it,
Veronica.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Digital Briefs - Industry News
||| By: Albert Dayes
/ | \ CIS: 70007,3615 GEnie: AEO.1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Technology Update
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Airspace Management in 3D - US Air Force Special Operations
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Command has selected E-Systems
Dynamic Airspace Management System as the standard tool for airspace
management. DAMS is a 3-dimensional airspace planning, scheduling and
deconfliction software program for use on commercial workstations. It
dramatically increases the ability of the airspace manager to detect
flight path conflicts and more efficiently allocate flight time.
//// Wings Discovered?? - Discover Magazine named Aviation Partners a
""""""""""""""""""""""" finalist of the magazine's annual awards
ceremony for Technological Innovation in the Aviation and Aerospace
category.
Louis B. Gratzer, Ph.D., chief aerodynamicist for Aviation Partners
and the person responsible for the design of the SPIROID Winglet
invention accepted the award. The SPIROID Winglet innovation is an
aerodynamic device comprising a uniquely shaped spiral surface which
can be mounted on aircraft wing tips to improve efficiency and
performance in all flight situations. This is accomplished by the
SPIROID reducing drag by more than 10 percent relative to the basic
airplane. In addition to better fuel consumption, SPIROID also
promises reduction in noise because of better climb and descent
performance and reduced vortex (wake turbulence) which safer flights
around congested
//// BattleZone 21st Century? - Motorola Government and Systems
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Technology Group (GSTG) has been
awarded a contract with estimated value up to $44 million from the
Department of Defense for development of the 21st Century Land Warrior
Generation II Soldier system.
The Generation II Soldier is an advanced head-to-toe fighting system
with data, communication and protective equipment designed for ground
forces. It will provide night vision, friend or foe identification
and enemy position knowledge, and other capabilities designed to give
soldiers enhanced fighting and survival ability.
//// 50 years of Data Communications - ACM's Special Interest Group
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" in Data Communications -
SIGCOMM - has given Paul Green, of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research
Center, the group's prestigious lifetime achievement award for his
outstanding contributions to the field. Green's work in data
communications theory, protocols, architectures and technology spans
50 years, making a major contribution in each of five decades: the
first spread-spectrum system in the 1950s, channel-adaptive receivers
in the 1960s, peer-centralized networks in the 1970s, protocol
conversion in the 1980s and most recently, all-optical networks with
IBM's wavelength-division multiplexing project in the 1990s.
//// TI Loses Patent Fight with Fujitsu - Texas Instruments today
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" announced it will appeal
the Tokyo District Court's ruling that Texas Instruments Japanese
Patent 320,275 - known as the Kilby Patent - is not infringed by
Fujitsu in its manufacturing of 1-megabit and 4-megabit dynamic random
access memories (DRAMs) and 32K erasable, programmable, read-only
memories (EPROMs).
Speaking of the court's decision, Richard J. Agnich, TI senior vice
president and general counsel said, "We are disappointed. The
inventor, Jack Kilby, his invention of the integrated circuit and the
resulting patents have been recognized by industry and academia in
Japan and throughout the world, and by legal systems throughout the
world outside of Japan.
"We are deeply disturbed by a patent system that keeps a major
invention tied up in the Japan Patent Office for 29 years, and, when
the patent is issued, in effect claims that it covers old technology
and does not pertain to products made today," said Mr. Agnich. "The
decision by the court calls into question the availability of
intellectual property protection in Japan. TI has manufactured and
operated in Japan for 30 years. We have had Japanese lawyers and
patent professionals working with the Japanese Patent Office and the
courts for decades. We have played by Japanese rules, seeking to
obtain recognition for the Kilby invention within the framework
established by Japan."
Fujitsu filed suit against TI in 1991 asking the court to declare
that the Kilby Patent does not pertain to its products. TI filed a
"Kari Shobun" (injunctive relief) action to stop the use, production
and sale by Fujitsu of products that infringe TI's '275 Kilby Patent.
Because of the similarity of the two cases, the court heard them
together. The court ruled that Fujitsu's production of 1-megabit and
4-megabit DRAMs and 32K EPROMs does not infringe the Kilby Patent.
//// Pizza on the Internet - The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and Pizza
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Hut announced "PizzaNet," a pilot
program that enables computer users, for the first time, to
electronically order pizza delivery from their local Pizza Hut
restaurant via the worldwide Internet.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Computer News
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Software Patents for free? - The Software Patent Institute (SPI)
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" announced that it has become an
independent non-profit corporation. "Being independent will allow SPI
to redouble and focus its efforts on building its on-line database of
software technologies and its courses for patent examiners and
others," says Bernard Galler, chair of the Board of Trustees. "After
two and one-half years of being a project at the Industrial Technology
Institutein Ann Arbor, Michigan, we are ready to move to the next
stage of making our efforts available to the United States Patent &
Trademark Office (USPTO), patent professionals, the software industry,
and the general public."
//// Reality is Virtual - RPI Advanced Technology Group announced
""""""""""""""""""""""" availability of an industrial, wearable
virtual reality and visualization product incorporating voice command,
VGA resolution glasses, a wearable computer, noise cancellation
headphones, wireless interface and telecommunications.
The device, PortaVis, consists of the world's smallest head mounted
display and a wearable mini-computer. Twenty-year old technology
foundry, RPI, produced the first consumer virtual reality headsets and
is now providing complete systems to the growing marketplace for
visualization and networked use.
Applications for the system include security guards with nightvision
and intruder maps projected in their field-of-vision; warehouse
directories that show exact items and their locations; training
systems that assist in facility layout prior to hammering the first
nail; police in-the-field tactical displays that show the positions of
all officers, suspects and tactical data; wireless military infantry
vehicle-side support; medical training systems showing actual surgical
data overlaid on the patient; high-end walk-through entertainment
environments and various other deployments.
//// 300 MHz Semiconductor - DEC reported a major breakthrough in
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" semiconductor technology with the
introduction of the world's first commercially available
microprocessor capable of issuing more than one billion instructions
per second (BIPS). In announcing the accomplishment, Digial's
President and CEO Robert Palmer said the Alpha AXP 21164 chip (over 9
million transistors) is also the computer industry's most powerful and
the first to break the 300MHz barrier.
//// Computers burned? - The U.S. economy has wasted $1 trillion
"""""""""""""""""""""" over the past decade on computing resources
it hasn't used, and - says Charles B. Wang, one of the world's leading
experts on business computing - these losses will continue unless
business leaders overcome their techno-illiteracy with techno-vision.
Chairman of $2.1 billion Computer Associates International and author
of the forthcoming book "Techno Vision - The Executive's Survival
Guide to Understanding and Managing Information Technology," Wang
called "The misuse and abuse of technology a screw-up of tragic
proportions."
//// PostScript Added - The Adobe and Aldus merger was approved by
""""""""""""""""""""" shareholders making it the fourth largest
software maker. The previous lawsuit involving Aldus was settled
recently paving the way for this over 400 million dollar merger.
//// Syquest goes Mad! - Syquest licensed MAD magazine's boy called
"""""""""""""""""""""" Alfred. "We chose the Alfred character
because he's a cultural icon that represents the epitome of 'ignorant
bliss,'" noted Ronald Brown, vice president of corporate marketing for
SyQuest. "Additionally, with the line 'What - Me Worry?' and his
reputation for being overly optimistic, Alfred is the perfect tie to
the dangers of not backing up data," added Brown.
//// Computers Paid More than Humans - Nearly 40% of the 908 computer
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" professionals responding to
Computerworld newspaper's eighth annual salary survey said their
companies offer pay-for-performance compensation plans tied directly
to job, company or information systems (IS) department performance -
and of those whose companies don't offer such plans, 41% wish they
did.
//// Yearly Windows - Microsoft announced Windows(TM) 95 as the
""""""""""""""""""" official name for the next major release of the
Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) operating system, previously known by its
code name, "Chicago." The name Windows 95 was chosen to make it easier
for consumers to identify the most current version of Microsoft
Windows.
//// The Crime Network Online - Science Applications International
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Corp (SAIC) has won a major contract
to design and develop the FBI's Interstate Identification Index
computer system. This system is an on-line criminal SAIC will provide
IAFIS with criminal and civil subject search capabilities, criminal
history file maintenance, response generation, ad hoc queries of the
criminal history file and storage and retrieval of criminal subject
photographs. It also will provide access to federal, state and local
law enforcement agencies via the National Crime Information Center
network.
Under the eight-year contract, the SAIC team will design, implement
and provide operations and maintenance support for the Interstate
Identification Index. The contract has an estimated value of $27.6
million.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Video Games
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 3D0 Set to Follow Jaguar to 64-bit Realm - The 3DO Company plans
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" to introduce the M2
Accelerator, an add-on upgrade designed to provide current owners of
the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system with the power and punch of
true 64-bit performance.
As part of this strategy, the company announced that it is working
with IBM, Motorola, and Matsushita Electric Industrial, Co., Ltd., to
develop a new, state-of-the-art, 64-bit multiprocessor that will
include a PowerPC microprocessor specifically designed for this kind
of application, and multiple custom graphics and sound processors
designed by 3DO. IBM and Motorola plan to engineer and manufacture
the PowerPC microprocessor for 3DO.
//// Sega Downloaded - Beginning Aug. 22, over 200 video games for
"""""""""""""""""""" the Sega Genesis system will be available in
unlimited quantities in 10 Columbia area Blockbuster Video stores.
The Game Factory system (designed by NewLeaf Entertainment) stores
video game software electronically at retail stores and then it
downloads on-demand onto specially-designed reprogrammable video game
cartridges. Once a game has been programmed onto a cartridge, it
looks and plays just like a standard video game cartridge.
//// Another 3DO Cut - Matsushita Consumer Electronics announced on
"""""""""""""""""""" August 31, a price reduction of 20 percent on
the Panasonic FZ-1 REAL(TM) 3D0(TM) Interactive Multiplayer(TM).
Effective immediately, the manufacturer's suggested retail price will
be $399.95.
//// TWI is Active Everywhere - Time Warner Interactive announced the
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" creation of the TWi Forum on America
Online. The forum is available 24 hours a day, free of charge to
America Online subscribers and will serve as an information source and
meeting place for TWI customers and others interested in what the
company is doing.
Establishing the TWi Forum on America Online is the first step for
Time Warner Interactive, which has plans to set up similar forums on
CompuServe, GEnie, eWorld, Delphi, ImagiNation and Prodigy.
--==--==--==--==--
||| Rare Gems
||| Compiled by: David A. Wright
/ | \ Internet:centaur@hartford.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for August 21 to 27,
1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc. and
David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM) Compilation
copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or
monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is
retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and
other publications, may not be distributed without further
authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. May
cause mass hysteria. --:Dave
===
Beware what you preach. The gullible have limits. --Unknown
"Oh boy... What's the world coming to?" "My house, to collect
money." --"Momma" strip by Mell Lazarus
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.
--Mark Twain
It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete
yourself. --Betty Friedan
Don't let your opinion sway your judgment. --Samuel Goldwyn
The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the end
in an awful hurry. --Unknown
The journey is the reward. --Tao saying
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for August 28 to
September 3, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed
Noninc. and David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM)
Compilation copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each
weekly or monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this
notice is retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print,
electronic, and other publications, may not be distributed without
further authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright
law. And the award for best plot device in a crime drama goes to...
<opening envelope> O.J. Simpson's knife! --:Dave
===
If they like it, it serves four; otherwise, six.
--Recipe by Elsie Zussman
No man should travel until he has learned the language of the
country he visits, otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great
baby - so helpless and ridiculous. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
A marvelous creature. A model of specialization... Who else could
suck an ant up his nose and enjoy it? --About anteaters, "B.C."
strip by Johnny Hart
Saving is a very fine thing. Especially when your parents have done
it for you. --Winston Churchill
I am debarred from putting her in her place - she hasn't got one.
--Dame Edith Sitwell
A good ninja is hard to find. --Unknown
I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.
--James Baldwin
The following are the "Rare Gems (sm)" selections for September 4 to
10, 1994. "Rare Gems" is a service mark (sm) of Rare Breed Noninc.
and David Alan Wright. (Internet: CENTAUR@HARTFORD.COM) Compilation
copyright 1994 by same. All Wright's rights reserved. Each weekly or
monthly collection may be distributed freely as long as this notice is
retained. Multiple collections, such as CD-ROM, print, electronic, and
other publications, may not be distributed without further
authorization. All quotes covered by "fair use" of copyright law. I
could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. -- :Dave
===
Trust me, but look to thyself. --Irish proverb
There are no whole truths. All truths are half-truths. It is
trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.
--Alfred North Whitehead
The man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies.
--Thomas Jefferson
Today the real test of power is not capacity to make war but
capacity to prevent it. --Anne O'Hare McCormick
Always remember to pillage before you burn. --Unknown
There is no such thing as inevitable war. If war comes it will be
from failure of human wisdom. --Bonar Law
Those who foresee the future and recognize it as tragic are often
seized by a madness which forces them to commit the very acts which
makes it certain that what they dread shall happen.
--Dame Rebecca West
--==--==--==--==--
||| Review: Brutal Sports Football
||| By: Tal Funke-Bilu
/ | \ Delphi: AEXPLORER GEnie: EXPLORER.5
------------------------------------------------------------------
Well folks, it's been a while since the last regularly scheduled AEO,
but I made it... about 4000 miles, 6 hours of video tape, a ton of
orders, a new Tempest high score (4,513,945), a new job, new pad, and
a huge crush on a new girl! Oh yeah, and a new game to add to my
Jaguar library... all that and I still find time to write for my
favorite online mag. ;) Seriously though, here is the official AEO
review of the first 3rd party game to surface for the most powerful
home entertainment system ever created, Atari's Jaguar.
Brought to you by Telegames, Brutal Sports Football (BSF) captures the
essence of rugby, football, and good ole smear the queer and throws
them all together in to one sport. To call BSF a sport is rather
ironic, since most sports have rules by which you abide by. BSF as you
might already know, has no rules.
The game starts off with a tip off by the referee much like
basketball, and then, for the next seven minutes, it's a free for all.
Use a variety of methods ranging from punching, stomping, passing,
kicking, diving, jumping, blocking, slashing, hacking, freezing,
decapitating, tackling, shocking, etc. to find a way to put the
football into your opponent's goal. Yet before the game begins, you
must choose your team. Assassins, lizards, goats, rhinos, warlords,
and many other compilations of barbarous savages adorn your screen as
you decide who (or what) you will use to wreak havoc against the
opposition.
Before you make that choice, you must determine how you will use your
arsenal... whether it be in a single elimination Knockout tournament,
a quick and simple Unfriendly match, or an entrance into actual League
play; the choice is yours. In both Knockout and Unfriendly play, your
team starts out at full health at the beginning of each match, while
after each League game you have the option of using moneys won during
play to "rebuild" your team. You can acquire new heads, more health,
and even a speed increase for the next game. Now that we have all of
the "pre-game" activities out of the way, let's see what the game is
really like.
[] GRAPHICS: For better or for worse, BSF's graphics have been one of
the most talked about aspects of this game. The general consensus has
been that BSF has 16 bit graphics. Well, they might not be
64-bit-in-your-face-this-is-what-the-Jag-can-do graphics like Alien
Vs. Predator, but they definitely aren't bad. I'd say they're average.
You have nice character animation, nice scrolling, nice body parts
flying, nice blood. It is all NICE, nothing amazing, but very nice.
Everything is happening at the same time which also contributes to
this game's niceness. I didn't notice any slowdown, even though I had
practically ten different guys on the screen all doing different
things, with about two or three heads bouncing in different directions
and blood spurting all over the place. I love a good decapitation!
The bottom line? The graphics are nice, not superb, and not 16 bit
like the many net-perfectionists make them out to be... just nice.
Rating - 7
[] PLAYABILITY: This is definitely the strongest point of BSF. It is
one of the most fun games I have played, especially in two player
mode. Granted, the computer is fun, but hey, we all know that you
eventually figure out a way to beat the computer. Nothing can beat a
good seven on seven Unfriendly tournament with a group of friends.
The controls are very responsive. You move your players, and they go
where you want them to. They dive where you want them to, and jump
like you expect them to. The power-ups are a perfect addition to game
that is already great fun to play. Swords, axes, and shields add
another dimension to basic punching and stomping, while other
power-ups like Lightning and Ice Cubes can be used effectively towards
the end of a game to alter the expected outcome. The bottom line? The
game is responsive and has enough cool power-ups to keep your interest
much longer than a normal sports game.
Rating - 9
[] SOUND: Nothing great here. The music during gameplay is OK, and the
sound effects are slightly better. There are a few grunts and thuds
that would be very cool if their volume was increased, but f/x control
in BSF was one feature that was missing. The crowd reacts to different
tackles, punches, etc in different ways, and is definitely a good
addition. Again, the sound effects are nice, while more would have
been a good addition, they definitely aren't bad. The bottom line? The
sound doesn't stand out, nor does become annoying... it sort of blends
into the game, a feature I was not disappointed in.
Rating - 6.5
[] VALUE: While I will be the first to tell you that BSF is a very fun
game and should definitely be played before it is discounted, I will
warn you that I don't feel it is worth the $69.99 price tag. Sorry
Telegames, with games like AvP, Kasumi Ninja, and Checkered Flag
coming out at the $69.99 price range, it is hard to see paying that
much for BSF. Maybe for Brutal Sports Baseball if they beef up the
graphics and sound, but right now BSF looks like a $50 - $60 game.
The bottom line? Buy it with a friend.
Rating - 4
[] OVERALL: BSF's playability is definitely the high point of this
game. So much in fact that it makes you realize that you don't need
the flashy graphics and sounds to make a fun game. The bottom line?
While the graphics aren't mind blowing, and the sound isn't special,
the game is a blast to play. My brother and about six of his friends
had a six and a half hour BSF session last weekend, so I know I'm not
the only one who feels that way!
Rating - 7.5
What else in Atariville? Well, if AvP isn't already in production, it
should be by the time you read this, and when it is you will see it
posted across many different forms of bandwidth. Whoever said
Halloween was being a little over pessimistic ;)
Speaking about AvP, how would you loyal Atarians like to be treated to
the 1st AvP review? That's right, the first review of AvP in its FINAL
FORM. Don't wait for it to hit the shelves for reviews, don't wait
till next month's issues of mags with reviews of unfinished EEPROMs -
get it here, in the virtual pages of AEO. Sound good? Keep reading the
only online mag recommended by Atari Corporation itself! You know, if
you guys are really cool, I might be able to snag some killer screen
captures of some stuff that hasn't been seen before! You know, I also
remember doing some sound files for T2K... I'm sure that could all be
arranged. No promises, you'll just have to wait and see....;)
--==--==--==--==--
||| Jaguar Tackboard
||| Confirmed information about Atari's Jaguar
/ | \ Compiled from online and official sources
-----------------------------------------------------------------
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Independent Association of Jaguar Developers
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The IAJD (Independent Association of Jaguar Developers) has started
accepting members on GEnie. The IAJD is a private group where
confidential discussions can be freely held. (Category 64 of the ST
RoundTable is the IAJD meeting place.) Consequently, membership in the
IAJD is limited to Jaguar developers who are registered with Atari
Corp. To apply for membership, send EMail to ENTRY$ on GEnie (or
<entry$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie). Regular EMail
correspondence with the IAJD should be sent to IAJD$ (again, or
<iajd$@genie.geis.com> if you're not on GEnie).
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Internet Jaguar Mailing List
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Anyone with Internet EMail access can join the discussions on the
Jaguar mailing list. To "subscribe" to the list, send an EMail to
the following address: <listserv@ctrc.fs.saci.org>
Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the EMail, include this
line:
subscribe jaguar-l FirstName LastName
(Where "FirstName" is your first name and "LastName" is your last
name.)
To send mail to be read on the Jaguar list, address your letter to:
<jaguar-l@ctrc.fs.saci.org>. It will go to the list server and be
sent to the over 200 readers of the list.
IMPORTANT: If your mail server charges you by the character or by the
letter, please be aware that the Jaguar list can generate dozens, and
up to a hundred EMails in a day.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Developer / Game List 1.15
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Editor: The following developers, licensees and game titles have
been confirmed to the best of AEO's ability as of September 9, 1994.
Entries in the "S"tatus column reflects any "e"rrors, "u"pdates, "n"ew
titles, new "d"evelopers, or "?"uestionable listings since the last
AEO list. Titles in brackets (e.g. [Cybermorph]) have been completed
and are available in the US.
Expected dates are dates that have been provided by the developer.
Expected Date
or Titles
S Developer/Licensee Rating under development
" """""""""""""""""" """""" """""""""""""""""
20th Centrury Fox
Interactive
u 21st Century Software Q3/94 Pinball Dreams
3D Games - Rainbow Warrior
- MORE
e 4Play - StarBattle
Accent Media Productions - Varuna's Forces CD-ROM
Accolade - Al Michaels Announces Hardball
- Brett Hull Hockey
- Charles Barkley's Shut Up and Jam
Acid Software
Activision - Return to Zork CD-ROM
Alfaro Corporation
Limited
All Systems Go Q1/95 Hosenose and Booger CD-ROM
Q1/95 Video Jukebox (cart multiplexer)
- BIOS Fear CD-ROM
- (IR controller station)
American Laser Games - Mad Dog McCree
Anco Software Ltd. - Kick Off 3 (for Imagineer)
- World Cup
Anthill Industries
Argonaut Software - Creature Shock CD-ROM (For Virgin)
Atari Corp. - Battlezone 2000
- Chaos Agenda CD-ROM
- Club Drive
*5* [Crescent Galaxy]
- Highlander
- MPEG 1 and 2 carts
- Space War (was Star Raiders 2000)
u 12/94 Tiny Toons Adventures
- VR Helmet
MORE
Atari Games Corp. - Arcade Games Using Jaguar
Attention to Detail - Battlemorph: Cybermorph 2 CD-ROM
- Blue Lightning CD-ROM
*7* [Cybermorph]
(For Atari)
Audio-Visual Magic
B.S.A.
Bando Svenska AB
Beris
Bethesda Softworks
Beyond Games Inc. 12/94 Battlewheels
Q3/94 Ultra Vortex
BitMotion Software
Bizzare Computing
Black Scorpion Software
Borta & Associates
Brainstorm - [x86 Jaguar Development System]
Brandlewood Computers
Ltd.
Bullfrog Productions Ltd. Q3/94 Syndicate (For Ocean)
Q3/94 Theme Park (For Ocean)
Cannonball Software
Celebrity Systems Inc.
Clearwater Software
Computer Music Consulting
Condor Software
Cross Products Ltd. - [Jaguar Development System]
Cybervision
CyberWare
DAP
Data Design
Delta Music Systems Inc. - Nanoterror
- Droppings
Denton Designs Ltd.
Dimension Technologies
Diskimage
Domark Group Ltd. - F1 Racer
DTMC - Lester the Unlikely
- Mountain Sports
- (Miniature Golf)
u Eclipse Q4/94 Iron Soldier (For Atari)
Electro Brain Corp.
Electrom
Elite
E-On
Eurosoft
Extreme
EZ Score Software Inc.
Factor 5
Flair Software Ltd.
Frankenstein Software
Funcom Productions a/s
GameTek Inc.
Genus Microprogramming
Inc.
Gremlin Graphics Ltd. 10/94 Zool 2
- UNKNOWN TITLE (racing) - MORE?
H2O Design Corp.
Hand Made Software - Kasumi Ninja (For Atari)
u Q4/94 Jack Nicholas Cyber Golf CD-ROM
(For Atari through Accolade)
High Voltage Software 10/94 White Men Can't Jump (for Trimark)
- Ruiner (pinball)
Hisoft
Human Soft Ltd.
ICD Inc. - Cat Box (AV & comm expansion box)
id Software - Doom: Evil Unleashed
*8* [Wolfenstein 3D]
i-Space
iThink - (3D simulation)
Imagineer Company Ltd.
Imagitec Design Inc. *6* [Evolution Dino-Dudes]
*6* [Raiden]
- Freelancer 2120 CD-ROM
- Bubsy in Clawed Encounters
of the Furried Kind (For Accolade)
- Dino Dudes 2
Interplay - BattleChess CD-ROM - MORE?
Jaleco - Cisco Heat
- Bases Loaded
- MORE CD-ROM
JVC Musical Industries - Valus Force
Krisalis Software Ltd. - Soccer Kid
Kungariket Multimedia
Limelight Media Inc.
LlamaSoft *10* [Tempest 2000] (For Atari)
n - Defender 2000 (!!!!! :-) (For Atari)
- MORE MINTER!
Loricel S.A.
Lost in Time Software
Malibu Interactive
Manley & Associates Inc.
Maxis Software
Media Technology Scandinavia
Merit Industries Inc.
Michton Inc.
Microids 1995 Evidence
12/94 Commando
Microprose - Gunship 2000
- MORE SIMULATIONS
MidNite Entertainment 10/94 Air Cars
10/94 Dungeon Depths
Q1/95 Assault
u Millenium/Teque *7* [Brutal Sports Football] (For Telegames)
Miracle Designs
Nebulous Games
Neon-Buttner
Network 23 Software
NMS Software Ltd.
Ocean Software Ltd. 12/94 Apeshi- (working title)
1995 Lobo CD-ROM
Odyssey Software Inc.
-unnamed- - -unnamed-
Photosurrealism - Galactic Gladiators
Phobyx
Pixel Satori
PIXIS Interactive - Neurodancer CD-ROM
Rage Software Ltd. - Rally
u Rainmaker Software Inc. - Nerves of Steel (was Tunnel Rat)
- Virtual Warriors
ReadySoft Incorporated - Dragon's Lair CD-ROM
- Dragon's Lair II CD-ROM
- Space Ace CD-ROM
u Rebellion Software Ltd. 10/94 Alien vs. Predator (For Atari)
u 10/94 Checkered Flag II (For Atari)
- Legions of the Undead (For Atari)
- Hammerhead
Rest Energy
Riedel Software Prod.
Scangames Interactive
Sculptured Software Inc.
Selgus Limited
Shadowsoft Inc.
Sigma Designs Q4/94 "Jaguar on a PC" PC card
u Silmarils Q3/94 Robinson's Requiem CD-ROM
Sinister Developments
Soft Enterprises
Softgold Gmbh
Software 2000
Software Creations
Software Development Systems
Spaceball Technologies Inc.
Steinberg Soft-und-
Hardware Gmbh
Tantalus Entertainment
Tantalus Incorporated
Team Infinity
Team 17 Software Ltd.
Tecnation Digital World
Techtonics
Telegames - Casino Royale
- European Soccer Challenge
u Q3/94 Ultimate Brain Games
- Super Off-Road
- World Class Cricket
Teque London Ltd.
Thrustmaster
Tiertex Ltd. - Flashback (for U.S. Gold)
Time-Warner Interactive - Rise of the Robots
Titus
Trimark Interactive
Twlight
U.S. Gold Ltd.
UBI Soft International - RayMan
- MORE (American Football)
V-Reel Productions - Arena Football
- Horrorscope
Virgin Interactive
Entertainment Ltd. - Cannon Fodder
- Dragon
- Demolition Man
Virtual Artistry, Inc.
Virtual Xperience - Indiana Jags (platform)
- Zzyorxx II (vertical shooter)
- Burn Out (m/c racing)
Visual Concepts
Visual Impact
Wave Quest Inc.
Williams Brothers
u Williams Entertainment 11/94 Troy Aikman NFL Football
Q4/94 Double Dragon 5: The Shadow Falls
WMS Industries
Zeppelin Games - Center Court Tennis
Pts Stars AEO Ratings
""" """"" """""""""""
10 ***** GAMING NIRVANA!!! - You have left reality behind... for good.
9 ****+ Unbelieveable GAME!! - Your family notices you're often absent.
8 **** Fantastic Game!! - You can't get enough playtime in on this.
7 ***+ Great Game! - Something to show off to friends or 3DOers.
6 *** Good game - You find yourself playing this from time to time.
5 **+ Ho-hum - If there's nothing else to do, you play this.
4 ** Waste of time - Better to play this than play in traffic.
3 *+ Sucks - Playing in traffic sounds like more fun.
2 * Sucks Badly - You'd rather face an IRS audit than play this.
1 + Forget it - ... but you can't; it's so badly done, it haunts you.
0 - Burn it - Disallow programmer from ever writing games again.
=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Quotes
=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Atari's former Director of Communications, Bob Brodie
<bobbro@delphi.com> had this to say recently:
[] Well you're certainly welcome to your opinion, but opinions all
stand up a little bit better with a good dose of facts...something
your post seems to be a tad shy of. :-)
Yes, Atari is slow in getting things out the door. But you're
overlooking a couple of things. First, when Atari had their
initial press conference announcing the Jaguar, they showed
prototypes of everything. Very few units (probably less than 12)
were in the hands of developers. Some of the tools were still
under development...indeed; the entire CD system was still in
development. Puts quite a kink in the plans for devs that wanted
to do strictly CD ROM development, doesn't it?
Basically, it is reasonable to expect a quality title to take 9-12
months to be developed. It's also reasonable to add say 45 days of
slack time to any announced date, as no software from any company
is ever ready on time. Plus, in the case of the Jaguar, you had to
factor in another 30 days just for the developers to learn how to
write Jaguar software since it was a brand new machine! We saw
some nasty cases of "creeping featuritis" at Atari, as our
programmers learned how to do a lot of things better/faster/ more
effectively. This inevitably lead to coders wanting more time to
re-do portions of the game so it would be better. My discussions
with some of the software houses indicates that Atari isn't alone
in suffering with this creeping featuritis. :-)
Jags began shipping in quantity in NY and SF in November of last
year. Some developers held off signing on until they saw that Atari
was indeed going to push the Jaguar in the target areas. And,
Atari did! They not only did national print advertising, but ran
an effective TV <gasp!> campaign for the Jaguar, and supplemented
that with co-opt print ads for major retailers, like Nobody Beats
The Wiz, Toys R Us, Electronic Boutique, and The Good Guys. Having
seen Atari do what they said they would, plus some of the cool
demos from games like AvP, Tempest, and other, developers began
signing on in good numbers in early '94. So we're just about in the
time frame where a lot of the games (probably 20-30) should be
complete.
The downside is that the games are getting finished too late to
get coverage for the Holidays from most of the mainstream gaming
pubs. GamePro has over a 90 day leadtime...their Christmas issue is
probably already done. Same thing with Video Games, EGM, Electronic
Games, and the other pubs...about the only mag that will be able to
do a really quick turn around on their coverage of the Jaguar will
be Die Hard Game Fan. Their cut off is about 3 weeks prior to
printing. Which is part of the reason that they always seem to have
the news first.
Although I'm no longer at Atari, I stay in contact with my friends
there. And right now AvP is very close to release. And it looks
fabulous! Is it a system seller? Absolutely!!! Just as Mario and
Sonic made Nintendo and Sega household names, I believe that AvP
will make the Jaguar a success.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// AEO Jaguar Bumpersticker Photo Contest Winner
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Before AEO went on hiatus, we announced a photo contest whereby
readers would send in a photograph of their Jaguar bumpersticker on
their vehicle to be randomly picked to receive an AEO at SCES 94
video AND a "really cool" Atari Jaguar in-store display banner.
We were stunned at the amount of photos received. You people
certainly want to show off your Jaguar support! A large enough
container was used to hold the photographs, and the drawing was held
by an impartial panel. (My elderly parents, TJ & Nellie.)
The winner of the AEO video and Jaguar banner is:
Ken Baum, of Jenkintown, PA.
Congratulations to Ken, and to all of those who entered, our thanks!
We're brainstorming for another cool giveaway - keep reading the
virtual pages of AEO for our next contest.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Kasumi Ninja Overview
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The story takes place on the small island of Kasumi in the West
Pacific Rim. For many generations, the island has been the source of
some of the greatest Ninja Warriors. The existence of the island and
its inhabitants is a secret, and the secrecy has been maintained with
the help of the Ninja Gods. An invisibility mist shrouds the island,
making it undetectable, even by modern technology such as satellites
and radar. The Ninja Gods ensure that no ships find it by diverting
their course.
Recently, one of the eldest Ninjas, Gyaku, went berserk and killed all
of the other elders on the island. It is said that Gyaku is possessed
by spirits from the Demon World. Now, the Evil Ninja Gyaku has
proclaimed himself Lord of Kasumi Island.
The Ninja Gods have chosen you, a neophyte Ninja, to defeat Gyaku and
re-claim the Dragon Cloud Temple, where Gyaku is planning his
overthrow of the Island. The Dragon Cloud temple is said to have a
portal to the Demon World, and with such awesome power, Gyaku could
not only rule Kasumi Island, but he could very well rule the world.
The Gods cannot help you directly, but they can help you as the Ninja
to gain more confidence and skill. This is done by your Ninja
character assuming the persona of a great fighter from one of the
world's fighting races. Fighting as all of the characters, and
defeating all of the different characters will prepare you for your
final confrontation with Gyaku.
Eventually, you must find your way through the Labyrinth beneath the
Dragon Cloud Temple, and defeat Gyaku. Before you do that, defeated
opponents will each give you clues and items to help you find your way
through the maze. Then, via the underground Labyrinth, you must find
your way to the Portal. The way will be dangerous, but with the help
of the Ninja Gods, you can make it to face Gyaku, and destroy him
before he unleashes his Demon Minions.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Kasumi Ninja Characters
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The characters will be explained in order starting to the right
of the long hallway the player sees at the character selection screen.
//// The Orange Ninja: Habaki
Habaki is the Eldest of the two Ninja brothers (by 10 minutes).
of the Kiri-ga-kure family. The Ninja Gods have chosen Habaki to face
Gyaku because he shows great promise as a Ninja Warrior. Habaki is
very adept at the Ninja skill of Teleportation.
//// Chagi: The Kickboxer
In his nation, Kick Boxer Chagi is undefeated. He has taken
the art of Kick Boxing and Martial Arts to their very limits. The Ninja
Gods have chosen his persona because of his great speed and agility.
//// Alaric, King of the Goths
The reason the Ninja Gods have chosen Alaric, King of the
Goths, is well known. Alaric was one of history's most feared and
ferocious fighters. Alaric helped to bring down the mighty Roman
Empire, and conquered great portions of Central Europe. Alaric is
feared, because he possesses an exploding Bamboo Stick which he found
in battle. Alaric uses this Bamboo Stick to keep his people loyal, as
well as to defend himself.
//// Thundra, The Amazon Queen
Now living on the island of Mazos near Somothrace. Thundra is
the Amazon that led her race to Victory over the Gargarians, and
negotiated the original treaty between the two races. The Ninja Gods
have chosen her because of her close relation to the animals of the
jungle. This relation has helped to make her an agile and powerful
warrior.
//// Danja, The Urban Gang Leader
Danja grew up to become the leader of a gang of fighting
women. They spent many years cleaning up their turf of lower street
life. Danja fights using the dirtiest street tricks she can come up
with. She is well respected by her sisters in the neighborhood. Danja
has spent most of her life learning to use the Bolas as a powerful,
and devastating weapon. She has developed an exploding tip for the
bolas that has proven to be deadly in combat, and, through
elimination, made her the leader of her gang.
//// Pakawa: The Comanche Indian Warrior
Pakawa is the Chief of the Comanche fighting tribe
Tu-Wee-Kah. The Tu-Wee-Kah were equivalent to the Greet Berets in
their time. They were the ones that were sent in first, to stealthily
attack the opposition, and disable key warriors. The rest of the tribe
would then attack. Pakawa is very adept with his hunting blade. He has
collected many scalps to prove his bravery, and fighting skill.
//// The Green Ninja: Senzo
Senzo is the younger of the Ninja Twins. The Gods have chosen
him because of his great speed, and agility with the Ninja art of
throwing Fireballs.
//// Angus McGreggor: The Scottish Brawler
Angus is a burly fighter from the Highlands. He has spent his
life mastering the Caber Toss, and is known to use this special skill
against unwary opponents in battle. Angus has also learned the fine
art of tossing fireballs, although his delivery is somewhat
unorthodox. Beware the Glasgow Kiss!
//// Gyaku:
No Information
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// Jaguar Press Releases
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Contact: Diane Carlini Ron Beltramo
Edelman Public Relations Atari Corporation
(415) 433-5381 (408) 745-8852
Terry Grantham
Telegames, Inc.
(214) 228-0690 ext.901
For Immediate Release
//// ATARI ABOLISHES ALL RULES -
//// SCORES TOUCHDOWN WITH NEW "BRUTAL SPORTS FOOTBALL"
Title Is First Of Many Third-Party Games For Award-Winning, 64-Bit
Atari Jaguar
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (August 22, 1994) -- Imagine no rules on the
football field as you decapitate your opponent as he runs toward the
goal line. The only game you'll experience it on is Brutal Sports
Football and the only video game system you'll play it on is Atari's
award- winning Jaguar. The first of many third-party video games,
Brutal Sports Football also is the first sports-related, fast-action
game developed for the 64-bit Jaguar system.
Initially released for sale in mid August, with national
availability in September, Brutal Sports Football represents a hybrid
in video games -- coupling the sporting elements of rugby with the
blood-and-guts mayhem of the most popular video games. The product is
designed for action gamers and football fans who are tired of the same
old set of moves and rules. The new rules are simple ... there are
none. Players simply pick up the ball and run for their video game
life while avoiding the head-hunting opposition.
"Brutal Sports Football was our chance to work with the most
sophisticated video game platform on the market, the 64-bit Jaguar,"
said Telegames' Terry Grantham. "We've been developing software for
Atari hardware since 1982 and believe this is our most innovative
product yet." Brutal Sports Football, retailing for $69.95 at consumer
electronics and toy stores nationwide, is the first of numerous games
Telegames is developing for the Jaguar platform including World Class
Cricket, Ultimate Brain Games, Casino Royale, and Operation Starfish
(James Pond 3).
Atari's Jaguar game system has approximately 30 software titles
planned for release before the holiday season. Popular titles in the
works include Alien Vs. Predator, Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story, Doom,
Busby, Troy Aikman Football, and Kasumi Ninja.
"We've challenged our software designers to develop games that
use the full technological capacity of the 64- bit Jaguar," said Atari
Corporation President Sam Tramiel. "This means players can look
forward to some incredible titles in the near future because our
developers are not constrained by less-sophisticated 16-bit or 32-bit
technology." More than 150 independent developers currently are
working on Jaguar-compatible products.
Since its release in November 1993, Atari's Jaguar game system
has been named the industry's "Best New Game System" (Video Games
Magazine), "Best New Hardware System" (Game Informer) and "1993
Technical Achievement of the Year" (DieHard GameFan). The Jaguar is
the only video game system manufactured in the United States.
Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., designs and
markets 64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems and video
games.
# # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
Contact: Ron Beltramo
Atari Corporation
(408) 745-8852
//// VIDEO GAMERS NEED NOT WAIT 'TILL LATE 1995 TO EXPERIENCE
//// 64-BIT POWER
Wolfenstein 3D, Alien Vs. Predator, Kasumi Ninja and Doom Among Many
Hot New Titles Available by Christmas on the Award-Winning, 64-bit
Atari Jaguar
SUNNYVALE, CA (August 29,1994) -- Sega, Nintendo, 3DO and Sony
continue to tell game enthusiasts that they must wait until late 1995
to experience advanced video game technology and performance. But the
Atari Jaguar, the world's first 64-bit multimedia home entertainment
system, already is available. "By Christmas 1994, Jaguar fans will be
playing 30-50 new game titles on their 64-bit systems while our
competitors continue to play catch up and beg their followers to be
patient," said Sam Tramiel, Atari president and CEO. "Its nice to know
American companies are once again leading the way in technology."
The Atari Jaguar is the only video game system manufactured in the
United States. Jaguar, the most powerful multimedia system available,
was recently named the industry's Best New Game System (Video Games
Magazine), Best New Hardware Systems (Game Informer) and 1993
Technical Achievement of the Year (Die Hard Game Fan). Jaguar also
recently was given the European Computer Trade Show Award for Best
Hardware of the Year. "We still have the best hardware on the market.
And now we have great titles rolling in." said Tramiel. "So if you can
buy 64-bit power today for under $250, why should you wait until 1995
to spend close to $500?" said Tramiel.
In September, Atari will launch an aggressive advertising campaign
highlighting the great gameplay made possible by the Atari Jaguar's
64-bit power. One of the campaign spots stresses the immersive, 3D
nature of Jaguar games by focusing on upcoming title Alien Vs.
Predator. "The 3D graphics and texture mapping take full advantage of
the Jaguar's technological superiority and create an experience that
is out of this world," said Tramiel.
Atari Corporation, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., designs and markets
64-bit interactive multimedia entertainment systems and video games.
###
Jaguar is a trademark for Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
//// JAGUAR PHOTO CONTEST
What would you do to promote the Jaguar? Do you have an idea that
could be expressed on film? STReport wants to see it. And, we're
ready to reward the person (or group) with the best idea, in picture
format.
That's right, just send us a photograph of how you would promote the
Jaguar! You'll also need to send us your name and address, of course.
1st Prize will be an official Atari Jaguar tee-shirt AND an official
in-store promotional Jaguar banner!
2nd prize will be a Jaguar tee-shirt (identical to the one above).
3rd prize will be a "JAG RULES!" rubber stamp which is normally
available exclusively from Artisan Software!
Photographs will be judged and prizes will be awarded by the
Atari/Jaguar editor of STReport, Dana Jacobson.
All photographs must be received by September 20, 1994. The winners
will be announced in STReport online magazine, in the issue scheduled
to be released on Friday, September 23, 1994.
To be eligible, please submit a clear photograph (color preferred) of
your idea. Also include your name and address with the photo! All
photographs submitted will become the property of STReport; they will
not be returned to you. Contest is valid in the United States and
Canada only. Employees of Atari Corporation and staff members of
STReport or Amiga Report are not elegible to win. This contest is
void where prohibited by law.
Send your photograph, your name and address to:
Jaguar Photo Contest
STReport Online Magazine
1121 Saratoga Street
East Boston, MA 02128-1225
USA
Again, 1st prize includes a Jaguar tee-shirt and a Jaguar banner! The
tee-shirt is 100% cotton. It's a black crew-neck shirt with the Atari
Jaguar name on the chest. On the back is the famous Jaguar logo. The
banner is the same as you've seen at your favorite Jaguar dealer.
What? You haven't seen one? Well, it measures 4 feet wide and 2 feet
tall! The Jaguar logo consists of those piercing yellow Jaguar eyes
above the dark red Jaguar, claw marks and all! These banners are
collector's items which are almost impossible to get anywhere! Rumor
has it that this one may have been discovered in a rare cache
somewhere in the bowels of Sunnyvale. And it can be all yours! Show
it off proudly on the wall of your room or fly it out your window!
All of your friends will want one, but only you will have one. It's
awesome! JAG RULES!
The 2nd prize consists of the Jaguar tee-shirt, as described above.
The 3rd prize is the official "JAG RULES!" rubber stamp! Use a bright
red ink pad (not included) for a vivid 2.25" by 1.5" image of JAG
RULES in the impact of the Jaguar logo type style. Use it as an
economical way to advertise your enthusiasm of the Atari Jaguar. Stamp
your letters and your envelopes. Stamp your arm as a tattoo. Stamp
your money. Stamp school notebooks and post-its. Writing a letter to
your favorite software company? Stamp it! Sending a birthday card to
your best friend? Stamp it! Dropping a postcard to your brother at
school? Stamp it! Let everyone know you're a Jaguar gamer. After
all, in the empire of high technology entertainment systems, JAG
RULES!
For an example of the JAG RULES logo, call the CATscan BBS. Dial
209/239-1552. Download file: JAGRULES.ZIP. File is ZIP'd and requires
PKUNZIP to decompress. Or, call your favorite online service to find
it!
Need a tip to help you start thinking of some ideas? Drop us a line
in E-Mail to either DPJ on Delphi, 71051,3327 on Compuserve,
D.JACOBSON2 on GEnie, or Internet mail at dpj@delphi.com. Or, call us
at Toad Hall BBS at (617)567-8642 and leave a private message to Dana
Jacobson.
Are you still here? Grab that camera and start taking some pictures!
One of them may just be the winner!
Credits: STReport and its staff would like to thank Atari Corporation
for its generous donation of the banner and tee-shirts.
=======================================================================
Tradenames herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
owning companies. Permission hereby granted to re-post this contest
text, in its entirety, anywhere that you feel it would be appropriate
- your favorite BBS, user group newsletter, magazine, etc. Please
spread the word!
--==--==--==--==--
||| Atari Jaguar Focus Group Market Research
||| By: Adam Urbano
/ | \ Internet: adamu@Garg.Campbell.CA.US
-----------------------------------------------------------------
On August 18, Viveros and Associates Inc, a marketing service firm,
held a research forum dealing with the Atari Jaguar which I was
invited to attend. It is in forums like these that companies test out
their marketing strategies, find out about the public's opinion on
product, and basically find out how to go about taking a market by
storm. I could have saved Viveros a huge portion of time by telling
them to advise Atari to just release Alien Vs. Predator <g>. These
forums last for about three hours, and during that time the company
tries to find out about the public's opinion through a wide variety of
tactics.
First off, well before the forum begins, the attendee is sent a letter
containing a questionnaire. The basic premise of this is to get a feel
for the persons views of gaming: likes and dislikes, knowledge, and
views towards the Jaguar in an unbiased fashion. Questions asked of
me ranged from "What systems do you own?", to "What systems will be
released in the next year?". Also asked were questions on favorite
games of all time, opinions towards the best and worst features of ALL
the systems, views on the possibility of many new hardware items, and
opinions on favorite video game print and TV ads.
Upon arriving and checking in, the first thing I noticed, besides the
free food, was the massive quantities of Jaguar boxes that are in the
back room. It obviously took quite a large quantity of time for all
the workers involved in this forum to set it up. There are only 10
people invited to attend each session (one person did not show up for
our group). This seems to be a low number until it is realized the
massive amount of questions and discussions that go on during the
three hours.
After everyone arrived it was time for the session of 12-17 year olds
to begin. In case anyone out there was wondering (or cares) I am 16,
and I was probably the oldest person in our group. First off we
entered the conference room, which consisted of a table with 10 chairs
at the side and one at the end for the mediator, a desk for the note
taker, 3 walls full of kiosks and Jag Hardware, and one giant mirror
wall. It was pretty darn obvious that it was a two-way mirror with
people watching. We began the forum by introducing ourselves, and
giving our gaming stories (what systems we owned, favorite games,
etc.) Collectively we owned all current systems with the exception of
the 3DO. Everyone owned at least one 16 bit system, about four out of
the nine owned a Jaguar, and 3 or 4 of us owned all of the major
players.
>From this point on I will try to give the major opinions of the group,
and from what kind of people they came from (i.e. Jag owners, Non-Jag
owners), since our opinions may very well guide where the company
heads in some respects. At the very least it will tell what people
think of the Jaguar. This portion of the forum shed some light on our
gaming opinions. Fighting games seemed to still be the big thing,
although all of us "older" attendees agreed that that genre was
beginning to get old. This was followed by sports games, and adventure
games. The younger crowd at the group (about two 12 year olds and a
couple 13 year olds) agreed that they liked the fighting games such as
Mortal Kombat 2, "because they were violent and bloody", while
everyone else seemed to be geared towards strategy, move combos, and
ground-breaking graphics.
After the introductions it was on to America's favorite pasttime,
commercials. The basic format was to watch a commercial, answer a
question form asking opinions/ratings on it, and then watch the next
one. The first commercial was the already seen Tempest 2000 commercial
with the fifties-ish characters in the foreground. Everyone seemed to
love the lengthy game clips in the commercial, and the music in the
game. (Who doesn't?) The 50's people were a toss up, the younger kids
seemed to find them cute, while the older kids could care less. We all
felt there needs to be a HUGE disclaimer saying "ACTUAL GAME MUSIC".
I still hold strong on the fact the game sells itself, everyone there
loved it (again, who doesn't?), but I think the game really has to be
played to be appreciated, screen clips just do not do it justice.
The next commercial is an Alien Vs. Predator specific one. It
involved an intermixing of shots of a scared, sweaty game player, and
game screen shots. The ending shows the boy with his mom's hand on his
shoulder. After the camera cuts away from the boy it shows an Alien's
arm holding out the mom's arm. Neat feature... the "DO THE MATH"
slogan is intermixed by showing some graphics of a medical scanner
with the slogan popping on. Everyone felt the commercial was funny and
very well done, but again, the game sort of sells itself. There were a
few suggestions on this one though; the game shots seemed short, in
the one to two second range, and we felt longer clips would be better.
(Some of the shots of the game player could have easily been cut.)
About three or four of the people there felt that the game looked
choppy. I was sort of, lightly, left with that impression after they
mentioned it, but the shots where SO short it was tough to tell.
Everyone wanted the game though (hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge,
nudge).
Finally we came to the "school teacher" commercial. This one begins
with a teacher on the blackboard showing the 16 bit Genesis, 32 bit
3DO, and 64 bit Jaguar in a bit comparison. She would ask students
(all of which where adults in suits and ties) questions as to which
had better stats or which system was better and they would respond,
with "duh" or "hmm". This one was obviously the "Kids, do you know
what a Jaguar is?" commercial, designed to give them basic knowledge.
Intertwined were VERY short clips of Kasumi Ninja, Checkered Flag
Doom, and AVP. there were more but those stood out in my mind. All of
these games looked EXCELLENT, and there was no doubt about their
smoothness. The younger kids loved this one. They felt it was
hilarious. I still don't find it directly funny, but it is when one
realizes the similarity to the Sega commercials. It was mentioned that
someone did not like the negative comments towards other systems. I
for one could care less about that part, but since this is an
introduction to the Jag commercial I mentioned they could throw in
some specs for good measure, it would fit the commercial perfectly.
EVERYONE felt it needed longer screen shots.
After this we all filled out surveys on our opinions of possible
hardware add-ons. These included virtual reality, voice modem,
networking, CD-ROM, skeeball, steering wheels, and flight yokes. Keep
in mind we where told all of these are products Atari is THINKING of
doing. (Not INTENDING to do.)
We then tested the steering and flight joysticks. The steering wheel
was excellent, it had perfect tension on it, and it even had a pedal
mechanism and gearshift. Everyone liked it, but the shifter was
garbage, 2 gears, and very flimsy. The flight stick was also great, it
was the Thrustmaster weapons control system from the PC. It seemed
well built and it has buttons for every possible situation, and
another "joystick" on top to change views. The only problem was that
there has yet to be a console game that demands this type of hardware,
hopefully that will change.
Next up, after a fun-filled restroom break, was the product testing
time. During this we were given no prices, so we would remain
completely objective. (The prices came later.) We would rotate to each
of the stations, spend about five minutes at each, come back and fill
out a questionnaire, and then discuss at the end. The stations were
Virtual Light Machine, a video puzzle game, skeeball, and Club Drive
with voice modem.
Since I am a constant reader of rec.games.video.atari (on the
Internet), I knew of all these beforehand, so it was a little less of
a surprise to me than the others. First up for me was Virtual Light
Machine on the CD-ROM. I assume that from reading AEO everyone has
already heard of it so I'll skip the explanation. The interaction had
yet to be worked in but we could switch between the 90 or something
displays. It was technologically great. Everything anyone may have
heard of it is true, it is gorgeous. But, onto the group's opinion.
As a whole it was found to be boring. No one said they would pay money
for it because they were uninterested. I personally think some of that
would be different if the interaction had been built in. After
discussion it was agreed it was MUCH better than any comparable play
system on the other CD-ROM systems. And it was EXCELLENT if one didn't
already have a CD player. If one would play a CD, it was great to just
leave the VLM on. Another factor that really hurt it was that they
where never told about price. But everyone did say IF it were built in
to the CD-ROM they would love to have it. But since I read AEO, I knew
it was built-in from the start.
Next up was VidGrid; a potential CD-ROM pack in. This was a puzzle
that played music videos in a 1/4 box in the middle of the screen. The
video could be broken up into 1 to 32 pieces and is randomized. The
goal is to pick up each of these blocks with the pointer and move the
piece until the video is put back together, BEFORE the video ends. For
added difficulty the pieces can be flipped at the start. The music
video constantly played and it even continued in the squares one picks
up. There was a wide selection of musical groups, Aerosmith,
SoundGarden, classic rock, etc., about 8 songs. It was viewed as
relatively fun, but it was agreed it would have to have both a wide
selection of music/upgrade and a cheap price.
Next is a prototype skeeball machine. The premise is to roll a ball up
a plastic ramp and have the Jaguar keep score. We all felt it really
had no use for the Jaguar, and really just disliked the idea. They
seem to be taking the "multimedia" a bit too far.
Club Drive, ahh Club Drive. The game itself was said to be 90-95%
complete. It is a pure blast. And the voice modem was great also. No
slowdown, and it delivers a crisp clear voice. There really isn't
much to say except, wow.
We then finished with the testing and got into the heavy duty
discussion on items and the Jag in general. All the discussion
happened in a pretty haphazard and random way, so I'll attempt to give
it some order.
First off we discussed the products on the list. Everyone wanted
virtual reality, and the price mentioned was $200.00. No one cared
about the price, we all wanted it. The CD-ROM was mentioned at
$200.00, but people's decisions to buy it were based around several
things. Everyone wanted a pack in. Something that was graphically
impressive was number one on the list, number two was some sort of a
classics disk. There also needed to be a fairly large assortment of
games for it to be a "must have". The skeeball was mentioned at about
$50, we talked it down to about 20, but were still inactive.
The driving wheel was said to be $129.95. We all thought this was a
bit steep for a controller, especially given the historical track
record for accessories. The price we felt was more reasonable was
around $100 or possibly less. If there was some sort of a pack in game
though, we all felt the $130 price was great. Some people mentioned
that there would have to be something that was REALLY a great racing
game, like Daytona, making it a "must purchase". But it was felt there
needed to be at least 4 or 5 racing games out before it becomes a
great value. A light gun was suggested by us with a possible price of
$20. As long as there are some games, that seemed pretty good. Now for
what we felt to be the major letdown. The possible mentioned price for
the voice-modem was $200.00. We ALL felt this might be a little steep
for this sort of an add-on. The price would have to be at most $150.00
or more ideally $100 for us to bite. But again, a pack in would change
that all.
On the upper side though, the price for the network connection was
$20.00. We felt this was GREAT, especially since you can connect more
than 2 people.
The final portion of the forum was to get a general idea of the
public's perception of the Jaguar. From this I could tell that the
video game magazines were really hurting Atari. The kids knew of only
a few of the games in development, and ALL of those came from
magazines like EGM. It seemed everyone there read Electronic Gaming
Monthly, and thus knew VERY little of the games to come out. NONE of
them even knew of games like Battlemorph. Everyone knew that Atari had
150 developers, but they said that only about 30 of them were making
games. A lot of them where also upset with Atari's release dates as
they were printed, and delayed. It seems to me ALL magazines should
print the AEO developers/games list. It was the general opinion that
the biggest thing hurting Atari was the lack of games. Walking into a
software store and seeing 2 new games in 7 months discouraged us all,
but we all seem encouraged by Atari's goal of 30-50 titles out by
Christmas. I hold firm that if they try, REALLY try, the 30-50 goal
can be reached.
I'll end this article with some of the more positive things said, I
don't want you to go away unhappy, you know! Everyone agreed that the
Jaguar IS a 64 bit system, even after being drilled on not believing
everything that they hear. Everyone agreed on the enormous potential
that the Jaguar has, and the only thing stopping it from being the
king of the jungle is the lack of software. I personally (and I think,
everyone else there), had a great time. It was a great chance for me
to give input on my favorite game machine. The only thing that could
have made it better would have been me stuffing a Jag CD-ROM and a
Club Drive EPROM in my pocket.... 8-)
--==--==--==--==--
||| Profits: Videogame style
||| By: Andreas Barbiero
/ | \ Delphi: ABARBIERO GEnie: AEO.2
---------------------------------------------------------------
The video game, once considered a fad, has grown into a multi-billion
dollar industry. The video game industry is unique in many ways, but
has some similarity to other entertainment media such as books or
music. High turnover, a short title life-span, and a are the major
driving factors behind these markets, and entertainment software is
possibly even more competitive than any other consumer entertainment
products. At an estimated $6 billion marketplace, with 13 different
platforms in as much as 50 million homes, the competition to have
games that sell, and quickly is enormous. Out of over 700 reported
games released for all video game platforms only 20% of these games
sold the magic number of over 100,000 units. This is only for the game
console market, and it is considerably larger than the computer game
market. The Software Publishing Association estimated that North
America sold about $342 million in gaming software for 1992.
So now we know the numbers, and with so many games released, and so
few big winners, what do the numbers really mean? Who controls all the
dollars? Recently in Game Developer magazine, a small sidebar
illustrated the money trail that gives a game cartridge life in the
hands of a user. The top two hardware manufacturers are Japanese, and
through typical Japanese monomania they have cornered the market. This
is not just in owning the lion's share of hardware sold, but the
entire process of making a game.
Sega and Nintendo own the mechanism that manufactures a cartridge for
their systems - the actual cart, label, manual, box, and even warranty
cards are all made and assembled in Japan. They also own the rest of
the system. Until last year, all licensees were limited to three
releases a year, and they had to be approved by Sega and Nintendo's
evaluators. Games that scored well enough for these folks would not be
counted though. So say you have a sure million-seller and you want to
put your hot little cart in the hands of 14 year old game-players
everywhere. A 50,000 unit shipment of a 12megabit cart like Street
Fighter II with battery-backup costs $25 or more per unit. It takes
three months for to get it manufactured, and you have to buy your
carts, paid up front! So after four months, the carts go to the store,
and after six months, your $1.25 million dollar order, floated for
over six months, you get paid.
New players are challenging the existing structure. Both Atari and 3DO
have a totally new method of licensing and software development. The
high pressure retail market is the same, slow selling titles will not
be given precious shelf space. Video games need to sell, but the
market will go where the money is. Even with a lower initial installed
user-base making the profit more accessible and the costs lower to
developers, other developers will come running. CD-ROMs are much
cheaper as they can be made in small quantities locally. There is far
less risk with 5000 CD-ROMS vs. a million dollars for the minimums
demanded by the Japanese.
Atari is following the same pattern, away from the Japanese model.
This will allow a small group to develop software, even on cart for
the Jaguar, at a lower cost and give the user a larger selection of
software than just stuff from the people who could front a million or
two dollars in hack for six months.
Having the hardware made my IBM is a bigger step than it first may
seem. Modern consumer electronics in the past twenty years have gone
offshore, the Japanese have conquered the audio/video market by a
combination of appealing to American greed, illegal dumping, and
corporate strategic partnerships. Every item that can be made in the
USA is a step to staunch this hemorrhage. And even items made by a
Japanese firm in the USA is not that great a deal when the profits are
going overseas and taxes are only paid minimally here in the US. The
few numbers of jobs provided by these companies are actually minimal
recompense for the loss of American manufacturing firms.
When all the cards are counted, the hardware manufacturer that makes
access to their technology as easy as possible and can control the
quality of software to assure gameplay first and profiteering second
will be able to take back the fire from Nintendo and Sega.
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||| Atari Artist
||| By: Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek
/ | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ ATARI ARTIST ] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Very much alive... and kickin'! That's the prognosis for ST/STe/TT/
Falcon users for the remainder of '94, well on into '95... and beyond.
Though the continuing development of next-generation Atari computers
is anybody's guess at this point, (the torch looks to be falling in
the direction of third-parties - a course which, in the overall scheme
of things, could well be a tremendous boon to Atari lovers everywhere
in the form of both greatly- improved user support and the real
possibility of some exciting new directions for the platform) there
certainly is no shortage of new and exciting software for Atari
computers of all ages. Though the emphasis continues to be centered
around the Atari model which offers the most possibilities for a
variety of applications (the Falcon 030), a number of companies have
started to adopt a more universal, feature-enabled approach in their
development of new products for the market.
While most features of a program remain accessible to ST/STe/TT users,
some additional options that require greater processing power may only
be available to Falcon 030 users. This is a really smart approach that
benefits everyone. Developers are able to market their product to the
widest possible audience, while users end up benefiting through the
availability of continued new product. A by-product for all concerned
is that the platform stays alive and robust. This notion, of producing
products which offer a roster of power-packed features for the largest
group of users while tailoring certain options to the individual
abilities of a particular model, looks to be the industry's smart
choice for generating both present and continued future sales.
In other developments, serious discussion has begun among developers
on adopting a set of programming standards for all applications!
Initial discussions have begun on the subject of key commands and
whether to use those most often favored by German programmers or those
used by the mjority of the computer world.
Of course, the common Copy, Cut and Paste functions generally all use
the X-C-V keys, but then some programs use these in conjunction with
the Control key while others favor the Alt key. On other functions,
such as Close - Ctrl/W (as in Close File) the two camps seem to be
somewhat divided bewteen Germany and the rest of the world (is this
some kind of karmic thing or what?). The German standard is Ctrl/U, so
go figure!
At this point, any movement in the general direction of standardising
our user interface is welcomed news indeed! Once the key command
standard is set, the next item on the agenda is developing a program
that will automatically alter all their present GEM-based programs'
key commands to adopt to the final arrived at set of standards,
Regular readers of Atari Artist have heard us rant on a number of
occasions about the lack of common standards for our favorite
platform - an approach that gave Macintosh computers' claim of being
"user-friendly" so convincing, and one which Microsoft enviously
recognized as the one singular must-have for their new Windows-driven
DOS GUI! It just makes sense that the basic functions of all programs
within a specific platform should all share a set of common
procedures!
Back to the issue of hardware versus software. Hey, let's face it, any
intelligent, observant person will see that it's really the software
- not necessarily the latest doubling or quadrupling of a chip's
processor power - that provides a major portion of the fuel to push an
otherwise "less- powerful" computer into overdrive! As far as I'm
aware, Atari is the ONLY platform which has software-based
accelerators, and they work as well as any clock-increased upgrade -
without ever having to open up your machine!
One need look no further than such innovative German companies as
Steinberg, Digital Arts and DMC to see what amazing stuff can be done
as a result of employing tight, ingenious, programming with a minimum
of code. Hard drive storage requirements for individual
DOS/Windows-based programs is unbelievably HUGE! No question about it
- programming plays a mucho major role!
Without software - hey, ANY computer's just a box, and that's the
irrefutable bottom line! Keeping that in mind ,the following list is
certainly solid proof that Atari users can expect to be fed an ever-
increasingly powerful mixture of fuel into their favorite computer for
years to come. Just look at what's either recently been released or
right around the corner!
//// Word Processing
The evolution of word processing presses onward for greater
flexibility and improved user interfaces, as evidenced by the upcoming
release of Papyrus - a very promising program which brings a number of
DTP capabilities to a feature-packed w.p. environment. There are also
some impressive updates coming for a number of popular Atari staples.
Write On 2, That's Write 3 and Protext 6.5 are all salted to be
released in the next few months.
//// Font Management
Compo's Speedo G-DOS 5, which, as of this moment, has actually
physically landed at Atari dealers nationwide, offers Atari computers
a significant increase in font choices. In addition to the huge
selection of Speedo fonts, users can now use the same true-type and
Adobe post-script Type 1 fonts available to Windows and Mac users.
This is indeed a major improvement to an already great font management
system, giving Atari-based DTP users greater job opportunities in
being able to provide clients with a customer's specific font
requirements.
//// Multi-Tasking
The number of choices Atari users have for multi-tasking on their
favorite machine continues to grow. MagiC (formerly called MagiX)
looks to be a very versatile - and fast! - environment. Black
Scorpion's very hot-looking DEXtrous incorporates multi-tasking
capabilities while offering some very slick GUI file and graphic
features. Ease is an alternate desktop with a difference - it allows
for assembly of an Launch Applications menu, as well as simultaneous
display of primary icon, combination icon/text, and two-column
text-based windows which displays file name, extension and Kbyte. A
new version of MINT is due to be released in the next month or so, and
is rumored to bring some faster routines to Atari's Multi-TOS.
//// File Management Utilities
Utility programs such as Kobold bring a significant increase to file
copying and management. Harlequin 3 and Mortimer Deluxe have brought
two popular accessories which perform a host of functions while taking
up only one Desk slot up to full Atari model compatibility while
adding even more features. Powerful hard disk utilities such as
Diamond Edge and Diamond Back have followed suit.
//// DTP
There's no question that desktop publishing has never looked better!
Digital Arts has revamped its Didot Professional DTP package, and is
soon set to release it's latest incarnation as DA's Layout TC. Calamus
SL is also due for a significant and major update with the coming
release of v. 2.0, Gut'n'berg, BlowUp's fully-featured
Speedo-supported document processor, is also expected to see a late
fall release.
//// Image Processing
One of the hottest new Atari areas of software development, image
processing shows no signs of slowing down, as reflected in the number
of both recent and soon-to-be releases. Admittedly, it took a while
for the Atari world to catch up to its Macintosh/PC relatives in this
area, but that's all well in the past now! In addition to the awesome
power of Digital Art's DA's Picture, we will soon have the equally
powerful Chroma Studio24, as well as HiSoft's TrueImage. Image Copy 3
is around the corner, and if no one told you otherwise, you might feel
hard-pressed to believe that such powerful editing utilities as
Eclipse and Spectra are, in fact, PD Shareware programs.
//// Painting /Drawing
Artistically, the much-anticipated release of Arabesque 2 is just
around the corner. If you were even the least bit impressed with the
original mono version of this wonderfully versatile, must-have
raster/vector drawing program, you'll be knocked out by this new color
version! Elsewhere, DA's Vector is now Vector Pro, while Chagall
continues to garnish rave reviews. Rainbow, EZ Art Professional and
PixArt round out the addition of some incredible new paint programs to
a roster of already impressive products.
//// Music /MIDI /Digital Recording
On the music end, things just get better and better. Musicom 2,
Trackcom and Clarity Falcon all extend the capabilities of the Falcon
030, while the latest version of Cubase Audio 2.0 puts Atari's
flagship bird light-years ahead of ANY other computer on the market -
period! Sixteen tracks of digital audio right out of the box with the
addition of only a fast external hard drive and a full compliment of
RAM - two ingredients which are already a must-have requirement for
any kind of serious digital-audio processing, no matter what the
computer platform - along with a host of very powerful, detailed
satellite modules and utilities make for THE most affordable digital
music recording computer platform the world has ever seen. And let's
not forget Logic, and Logic Audio, Emagic's excellent successor to the
immensely-popular Notator sequencing /notation software. Soon-to-be
released Atari-based voice answering systems from both HiSoft and
Compo will offer Falcon users voice mail, as well as the ability to
put together full production OGM messages and announcements - voice,
music and sound effects - totally in the digital domain!
//// Just the Beginning...!
By the first quarter of '95 complete video editing packages, such as
DA's Movie and Titan's video editing package (still to be named), said
to have a number of similar features to a special video-oriented
version of the soon to be released Chroma Studio 24. You'll also be
seeing some easy-to-use 3-D modeling/ rendering programs that will let
you create objects and perform texture mapping, ray tracing and
animation without having to get bogged down in mathematical formulas
and computations.
So hang in there, all ye who have doubts - it looks to be a great
future for Atari computer owners everywhere!
This issue, we cover a number of new releases in a variety of
categories: music, paint/drawing/image processing. We also take a
first-hand look at two of the digital voice mail systems for the
Falcon which are in the final stages of development. And now - away we
go....
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- - -=-=-=- [ SHOW NEWS ] -=-=-=- - -
= =
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
//// 1994 CONNECTICUT ATARI FEST
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The major Atari eastern regional show was once again held recently in
Connecticut at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn. Sponsored once again by the
ACT Atari group ([A]ffiliated [C]onnecticu[T]), this marked the show's
fourth successful year. With the sad demise of the Washington
W.A.C.C.E. show and the announced cancellation of this year's
traditional west coast Glendale Atari show (due primarily to personal
difficulties for a number of the show's traditional organizers) this
show was certainly one of the largest Atari shows of the year, and
arguably a contender as THE strongest Atari show in the country for
1994. If you missed it... shame on you! For those unable to attend,
here's a brief run-down of the show.
The two-day event featured a total of 23 developers and vendors, many
of whom were offering a number of great specials and show deals. Door
prizes consisting of either software packages or free online time for
Compuserve were given away every hour, and a grand prize at the end
of each day was an Atari Jaguar entertainment system, all donated by
Atari Corp.
In addition, a major Jaguar competition consisting of five stations
running such popular games as Tempest 2000, Cybermorph, Crescent
Galaxy and Raiden, along with the latest (and very cool-looking)
additions to the Jaguar game roster Brutal Sports Football and
Wolfenstein 3D ran every hour over the course of both days. Each event
winner received a prize and when the dust finally cleared on Sunday
the one left standing got to walk away with a complete Jaguar system,
also donated by Atari Corp.
//// SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
[] WIZZTRONICS picked up steam after getting a late start, hoping to
have finished Falcon Racks to sell at the show. Unfortunately the
spray shop was unable to meet the show deadline, though Steve
Cohen was able to get a finished face plate complete with black
anodizing and silk screened lettering for display. The final
revised panel has slots for ventilation and an additional 5 1/4"
opening for mounting either a Syquest or CD-ROM drive. The rack
includes a 230 watt power supply, capacity for two internal hard
drives, along with two external rear SCSI ports and an internal
DEKA 2 keyboard interface for using any XT/AT compatible PC
keyboard.
Steve Cohen was swamped with orders for the rack case at the show.
Wizztronics has already shipped 25 units and will begin shipping
their second batch this week, 15 of which were show orders. Also
for sale was the external version of their DEKA 2 unit, handsomely
packaged in a light grey sand-textured plastic case.
Wizztronics handed out their eye-catching flyer announcing the
nearly-completed Barracuda 040 Accelerator Board, whose ultimate
release continues to be held up in awaiting Atari's response to
the final leg of a seemingly interminable round of contract
negotiations. Steve was also besieged with showgoers ready to
plunk deposits down sight-unseen on the piece - a remarkable
showing of the level of trust Steve has managed to garner from the
Atari community as a result of his unrelenting instance on
customer satisfaction. It's this same continued commitment which
prohibited him from taking any deposits until the piece is a
reality and ready to ship - but that didn't stop him from taking
names and phone numbers.
Though it seems like everyone here in both the US and Europe are
growing increasingly anxious to get their hands on the Barracuda,
no one is showing more strain than Steve himself, who has been
meeting each new setback and developmental frustration with a
tenacious showing of perseverance and "can do" attitude. Make no
mistake about it, the Barracuda will not only make it to market,
but certainly blow everyone away with its outstanding quality
construction, blistering performance and open-ended design for
plug 'n play future expansion!
Wizztronics
P.O. Box 122
Port Jefferson, NY 11776
(516) 473-2507
[] GRIBNIF SOFTWARE was showing off their long-awaited release of
NEO-DESK 4 - and all I can say is WOW! The number of new and
improved features is truly impressive, including expanded powerful
file search capabilities, menus for each individual open window,
grouping of folders, files and programs from any number of hard
drive partitions, all of which can be launched with one key
command when running under a multi-tasking system such as GENEVA
or Multi-TOS. Though all the improvements would take a couple of
pages to list, the one that stuck in my mind as being the most
impressive was it's ability to perform multitasking-like
file-related functions, such as Copy or Move, in the background -
REGARDLESS of whether Neo-Desk is running within a multitasking
environment or not!!! No matter what ST model you've got, you owe
it to yourself to check out Neo-Desk 4!
I was really hoping to see a pre-release demo of ARABESQUE 2, but
no such luck. Rick Flashman did assure me that they have a
contract in place for US distribution when it's ready - possibly
by as a soon as the first quarter of '95.
Gribnif Software
P.O. Box 779
Northampton, MA 01061
(413) 247-5620 / 247-5622 Fax
[] OREGON RESEARCH showed off PAPYRUS, their feature-packed word
processor/document formatter, and TRUE IMAGE, a very easy to use
and powerful image editing program. Demonstrations for these
programs drew a healthy crowd and attendees were duly impressed by
the abilities of both programs. I also finally had a chance to
check out the new features of HARLEQUIN 3, their multi-featured
desk accessory which does just about everything but walk the dog.
Now fully Falcon-compatible, I was awed enough to run all the way
back home to NYC for my Harlequin 2 disk so as to qualify for the
upgrade!
Oregon Research Associates
16200 SW Pacific Hwy Suite #162
Tigard, OR 97224
(503) 620-4919 / 624-2940 Fax
[] LEXICOR SOFTWARE captured a considerable portion of my time on
Sunday. Phase 4 maven Yat Sun started off with by putting a
totally re-worked PRISM PAINT II through it's paces - wow! In my
opinion the new floating icon-based multi-layered interface
(somewhat reminiscent of Arabesque) really makes accessing the
program's host of features much easier. Then he showed me
XENOMORPH 2, which boasts a slew of new and improved features,
including over 120 new texture maps and a user-creatable texture
map feature.
Next came RAYTRACER, an amazingly fast! and easy-to-use raytracing
program which requires no math! He rendered a sphere with all of
the program's options selected and configured in under four
minutes! Yat began to look like a magician pulling one rabbit out
of his hat after another. MORPH was introduced as the only program
(pay attention StrataVision and 3-D Studio Mac users) which is
capable of morphing 3-D texture-mapped objects in an animation. I
saw a demo which squeezed the mouth of a horizontally-floating
pitcher, as if it were a blow-fish which used an invisible jet of
air to propel itself by expanding and contracting its abdomen.
Wow! Then I watched Lexicor's GENESIS generate topographically
rendered planets right before my eyes. The included accompanying
TERRAIN program also did some pretty impressive imaginary
landscapes. Phase 4's SYSTEMS UTILITIES disk includes KINETICS,
which plays .DLT and .FLM animations, as well as their
OVERLAY.ACC, which allows one .FLM to be overlaid on another for
generating some interesting possible effects.
Rounding out the list were two other programs. CYBER COLOR, allows
any CYBER SCULPTURE object to color individual surfaces, offering
full 360 rotation of the object and application of a full palette
of colors. In addition you can also add an unlimited number of new
surfaces without having to import your object back into CYBER
SCULPT. CYBER COLOR can also run as an accessory. ANM LINK
provides the vital link for transferring your animations from
CHRONOS over to XENOMORPH 2 for texture mapping.
I was very impressed with how these programs were able to work
together, albeit as separate applications. This "unified"
separateness made me wish Lexicor had taken an integrated
environment approach, giving users the opportunity to access any
and all of these programs as "modules" - an idea I think would
make the overall system more attractive to both first-time as well
as experienced users - much like CALAMUS SL and CUBASE - and one
which I strongly feel warrants serious consideration. That said,
these programs now seem to bridge a number of gaps which I felt
were impeding the ideal of being able to bring a 3-D object from
beginning inception through animation and texture mapping and on
to to the final process of creating a truly impressive- looking
finished product.
Speaking of truly impressive (is that beginning to sound like a
looped sound-bite? Observant, aren't you!) after all of this I
took a short breather before descending into DAs PICTURE. All I
can say is if you've been looking for Adobe PhotoShop to be
released on the Atari - it's here! Though HiSoft's True Image is
well-suited for the beginner and intermediately experienced user,
and offers a number of powerful features, DAs PICTURE can take you
way beyond into the finer points of both photo retouching and
image manipulation. Lexicor will be distributing all of DAs
products, including DAs VECTOR, VECTOR PRO and LAYOUT.
Lastly I got a chance to see BLOWUP 030, a screen resolution
enhancer similar to SCREENBLASTER, but which offers a more
sophisticated configuration utility program and hence a somewhat
more flexible range of resolutions. I was impressed (There's that
word again...Hey, my dog ate my Thesaurus, ok?) so much so that I
bought one right there and then... well, I'll let your imagination
take it from there.
Lexicor Software
58 Redwood Road
Fairfax, CA 94930
(415) 453-0271
[] IT'S ALL RELATIVE were demoing PHOTO SHOW PRO 2.2, their great-
looking photo CD display program which allows you to easily
assemble multimedia presentations combining stills, graphics,
titling (using G-DOS/Speedo fonts or the 24-bit .BMP format images
created in true-color for MS Windows) along with any ,AVR sound
file. There's a selection of twenty different special fades,
dissolves, wipes and transitions which can add special effects,
including image overlays, and it supports VGA, RGB and standard
TVs. It also features a special Corel mode for producing shows
using the Corel series of photo CD images, and the disk includes a
driver for Multi-TOS, along with drivers for a large number of CD
manufacturers. You can easily write scripts for creating specific
effects and pics to coincide with sound and graphics display, and
either directly access any Kodak Photo CD, which use the Kodak PCD
format, or assemble them straight from your hard drive using the
FTC 16-bit true color format. All I can say about the finished
demos they had running were... wow!
They also have the CD AUDIO PLAYER which turns your CD ROM player
into a CD music disc player, complete with a control panel which
has all the familiar features found on most CD players and it will
let you assign song names to each track, which you can save,
assemble into a multi-disc data base and recall later to create
your own custom sequence lists!
ART FOR KIDS is their appealing and easy to use drawing
application which takes full advantage of the TT/Falcon models,
combining a lot of whacky paint effects with crazy sounds and
animation, hidden pictures that suddenly appear and a host of
special stamps.
ExtenDOS 1.21 makes plugging in any CD ROM player into any Atari
ST/STe (using The Link from ICD) /TT/Falcon a breeze and easy to
use. If you're thinking about getting a CD ROM unit, you NEED
this extension! Avoid the horror stories of using Multi-TOS and
getting weird garbage and corrupted files on your hard disk.
ExtenDOS makes CD ROMs a plug'n play experience.
It's All Relative also has a generous selection of inexpensive CD
ROMs, both Atari-specific and generic, including the hard-to-get
German PD/Shareware Volumes I & II, which contain a ton of
easy-to-use programs never seen anywhere else! They have a number
of great photo CDs, as well as clip art and Windows programs.
It's All Relative
2233 Keeven Lane
Florissant, MO
(314) 831-9482
[] ICD INC. had the pre-release demo of their awesome CATBOX, the
ultimate JAGUAR accessory which allows for RGB output to a
monitor, S-Video output, composite and ComLynx for multi-networked
capability. In addition you have RCA stereo outs. The CATBOX PLUS
adds two headphones jacks with volume controls and an RS422 serial
network port for future networking features.
ICD
1220 Rock Street
Rockford, IL 61101
(815) 968-2228
[] STEINBERG-JONES rep Greg Undo was showing CUBASE AUDIO FALCON 2.0
with 16 tracks of digital audio, along with their STUDIO MODULE,
FDI SDIF optical digital in/out interface and SA-8 eight-channel
output.
Steinberg / Jones
17700 Raymer Street Suite 1001
Northbridge, CA 91325
(818) 993-4161 or 993-4091
[] MAJICSOFT was showing M.A.G.E., their programming enhancement tool
for GFA BASIC which adds over 200 commands, along with a cool game
called NERTZ - solitaire with an attitude!
Majicsoft
741 Bultman Drive Colony Sq.
Sumter, SC 29150
(800) 845-3070
[] FOUCH SOFTWARE were showing off the latest version of their
MAILING MANAGER 2 which makes it easy to perform mail merges with
a number of Atari word processors and text editors.
Fouch Software
1823 West 8th Street
Erie, PA 16505
(814) 455-1294
[] A & D SOFTWARE, home of the indispensable Universal Item Selector,
has managed to pick up a number of titles from various developers.
They now carry Digital Horizons' excellent series of MIDI
educational music products. Now called MIDI MUSIC LESSONS, they
include NOTE WIZARD, CHORD WIZARD, RHYTHM TIME and SCALE MASTER,
and can be bought as a complete package for only $69 - originally
the average price for each program by itself!
They've also picked up Phil Comeau/Wintertree's GRAM SLAM, GRAMMAR
EXPERT, and SPELLING SENTRY. The WINTERTREE THESAURUS program,
which was schedule to debut at the show, was unfortunately held up
for some final bug-fixes, and will be released by September. Also
shown was MEGA CHECK 2, the check printing/accounting/report
program which has many new features added.
A & D Software
280 Peach Street
Merlin, OR 97532
(800) 800-2563 Orders / (503) 476-0071 Voice
[] BINARY SOUNDS, the new distributor of the SMPTE/EDIT TRACK series,
was there showing these and the rest of the former Hybrid Arts/
Barefoot Software line of Atari MIDI music products. They plan to
continue support and development, and are currently working on a
new notation program for use with SMPTE/EDIT TRACK.
Binary Sounds
431 Oakdale
Stafford, TX 77477
(713) 776-9118
[] BEST ELECTRONICS' Brad Koda brought his usual two huge suitcases,
the contents of which he spread out amongst four tables, filled
with but a small sampling of his huge inventory of Atari products.
Brad did a brisk business, but I really would have loved to have
seen the reaction of airport security as he put them through the
x-ray machines and then had to explain all the stuff he had in
those two bags.
Best Electronics
2021 The Alameda, Suite 290
San Jose, CA 95126
(408) 243-6950
//// SHOW A GREAT SUCCESS!
Show attendance numbered a little more than 400 over the two days,
down slightly from last year, but almost everyone there was a serious
buyer, and the dealers I spoke to - TOAD, COMPUTER ZONE, MICRO
COMPUTER DEPOT, SOFTWARE SPECTRUM and EAST HARTFORD COMPUTER REPAIR
all said it was financially even better than last year and well worth
the trip. Co-Master of ceremonies Brian & Angela Gockley did a
fabulous job and worked hard to make sure that every exhibitor's
requests and stomachs were well attended to. Rounding out the roster
of leading people who made it all look easy were ACT's Doug Finch and
Berne Paist.
Can't wait for Connecticut '95 - be there!
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//// EMAGIC UPDATE ON LOGIC / LOGIC AUDIO FALCON
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Officially released in Europe in July, Logic Audio Falcon is now
available here in the U.S. However due to a number of market and
hardware problems which directly relate to running Logic Audio on the
Falcon, Emagic has had to rethink its position on the future of the
Falcon version Audio Logic.
So as not to panic users, lets start out by stating unequivocally that
Emagic's Logic sequencer /notation program for the Atari will
continue to receive both tech support and development for years to
come. Though the response for Logic Audio on the Mac platform has been
quite strong, the Falcon version has initially had far less of a
response than was originally expected. Emagic maintains that the
program itself is rock- solid, and works fine on Falcons that have had
the timing fix. More on this later.
//// Great Deals All Around
Emagic is offering a number of special upgrade offers for both owners
of C-Lab Notator /Creator /Alpha products and current Logic owners.
For those C-Lab product owners who have been thinking about upgrading
to Logic, Emagic is offering a special incentive price of $200. You
get to keep your old sequencer software AND upgrade to the full
version of Logic 2.0! This is the complete package, which includes
Emagic's LOG3 MIDI interface, offering 3 additional MIDI ports, a
built-in key which allows you to run both Logic AND Notator SL 3.2 and
its own built-in cartridge extension port to plug in your Export or
other C-Lab modules. Emagic will also provide Notator SL 3.2 free of
charge to any user upgrading to Logic who requests it! In addition,
any upgrade from those former C-Lab products to any version of Logic
also includes a video tutorial on using Logic - a regular $39.95 value
- free!
C-Lab product owners of the above mentioned 3 programs also have the
option of upgrading to the Windows or Mac versions of Logic for $150.
Logic Atari owners can do the same for $100, and either Atari product
owner also has the option of upgrading directly to the Mac version of
Logic Audio for only $299!
//// Logic Audio Falcon Deal Of A Lifetime!
Now here's the real kicker! Present owners of the Atari version of
Logic can upgrade to Logic Audio Falcon 2.0 FREE!!!. You heard me
right - Logic owners who are lucky enough to own a Falcon can have all
the MIDI-generated power offered by Logic AND 8 tracks of digital
audio, as well as a number of DSP-related digital audio features, FREE
OF CHARGE!! If you want the manual for the program, it's $30 -
certainly reasonable. This also means that any C-Lab product owners
who update to Atari Logic will also be eligible for this free upgrade
to Logic Audio Falcon.
What gives? Well, the down side is that, as of now, Emagic will not be
offering tech support to Logic Audio Falcon owners and, also as of
now, is making no promises as to future development of Logic Audio
Falcon. As mentioned earlier, this in no way affects the Atari
version of Logic, which will continue to receive both tech support and
future development.
The timing problem, which a number of U.S. Falcons have, requires a
hardware fix in order to run Logic Audio (as well as Cubase Audio).
This, in addition to Atari's uncertainty over continued computer
development has made it financially and economically impossible for
Emagic to continue development and support for Logic Audio Falcon.
Though Atari owners reap immediate benefits from these developments,
we feel it's really a shame. Such an excellent and promising product
as this should really not be ending as soon as it barely begins.
Apart from excellent notation and MIDI tools, the program offers a
number of unique DSP processing features: simultaneous digital audio
pitch shifting and time expansion/compression in one pass;
audio-to-MIDI groove templates, which allow you to capture any audio
track and save it as a groove template.
Of course, Emagic will be watching closely to see whether enough
response - translated as a large-enough user base - will warrant a
reconsidering of their present decision. As is often the case with
most software, it's fate is really in the hands of its users.
Emagic can be reached at (916) 477-1051 /Fax 477-1052 /24-hour product
information 477-1053
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//// TRAKCOM
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Trakcom is a mono sample sequencing program for the Falcon030.
Although it does not support direct recording (but supports loading
and saving Musicom and FalconD2D formats, as well as common .AVR and
.WAV formats) it does offer some powerful sample editing features.
Trakcom allows you to set the start, end and loop points for a sample,
make it louder or softer, fade in and out, reverse it, or change the
tuning.
The program supports up to 10 tracks of digital audio, the maximum
number being sample dependent. A maximum of 6 tracks will allow you to
maintain a CD semblance of quality, while increasing the number to the
maximum of 10 will decrease the rate to around 25Khz. Although lacking
the cross-fade capabilities of Sound Tools, it does have a number of
features in common.
Samples can be assembled into a play list which is laid out as a
series of columns. Each column represents a track, and along the left
side is the common display of time which governs all tracks. If you
simply want to play a set of samples in sequence, you only need work
within one column (track). However, if you'd like to mix samples
together during playback, Trakcom offers a fairly easy to use
interface, though not exactly musical in the way you set things up.
Patterns are determined by the number of steps, called "lines" and
subdivided into "shifts", while tempo is measured in lines per second.
You can cut, copy and paste samples and patterns, and mute tracks, and
change sample rates on the fly.
Trakcom will be available in September from Compo (415) 355-0862, and
is expected to retail for somewhere around $70.
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//// Digital Audio Answering Systems
I would doubt that anyone who has owned a phone answering machine has
not wanted to heave it out the window at some point during the tenure
of it's functioning life. Maybe it never responded to your outside
commands to retrieve messages, or it kept swallowing important
messages that you would only find out about two weeks later, or it
simply enjoyed eating cassettes for dinner. Sure, there are those
sophisticated digital phone answering machines out there now, but
they're not cheap, the amount of allotted recording time they offer is
pretty short, and manufacturers still don't seem to see the value of
including an Audio In jack on any of the models presently out there to
facilitate transfer of an OGM production message from your multi-track
or stereo cassette tape player or your Atari Falcon 030 computer.
Well, within the next six months not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 -
count 'em - 4 systems systems will be out, from such prestigious
companies as HiSoft, Compo and BlowUp. Let's, as my old walk-up
tenement residence's superintendent use to say, "gib ah louk" at what
each system has to offer.
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//// T'PHONE / VOICEMAIL
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Compo's T'Phone + VoiceMail system consists of a hardware box which
contains two standard phone plugs - one for plugging into the wall,
the other for attaching your phone, although if you have extension
jacks elsewhere in the room, you don't need to plug a phone directly
into the box - a three-foot cord which gets plugged into your Falcon's
modem port, two wired mini jack cables which plug into the Falcon's
mic and speaker ports and a set of mic/speaker thru ports which allow
you continued access to those ports for other uses. If you're in front
of your computer all day, you can plug a headset phone into these
jacks - cool! If you use a modem, you'll also want to get an A/B box
to avoid plugging and unplugging your modem all the time.
The software includes the T_Phone accessory ,which offers you access
to your computer's phone set-up - pulse or tone, mute, a button for
playing a sound file - eminently suited for playing pre-recorded
music - as well as a host of sampled phone rings. The T_Phone program
holds a number of pre-recorded messages that lets you know the hard
drive is full, that the outgoing recording has been disabled,
acknowledgment of receiving a remote code before retrieving your
messages, before incoming messages are replayed and when there are no
messages.
You can enable the familiar toll-saver feature, as well as determine
the number of rings before the machine picks up to indicate that you
have one or more messages. In addition, you can set an independent
sample rate and volume for playing your outgoing message and recording
your incoming messages, determine how many seconds of recording time
for an incoming message as well as the number of seconds of silence to
be detected before the program automatically disengages the line. You
can also configure your own remote access code (up to six-digits) and
if installed in your Auto folder T_Phone.PRG will automatically reload
it's saved configuration and start up in answer mode when power
resumes as the result of a power outage!
The VoiceMail feature will be an additional add-on option which will
allow you to set up a number of mailboxes and voice menus to allow
callers to navigate through a set of menu options, as well as assign
specific call-in codes to allow access to or restrict any number of
mail-boxes. The system is very open-ended, powerful and extremely
flexible, allowing for number of business applications as well as home
use.
The T_Phone is slated to be available here by the end of the year,
retailing for somewhere around $250, while the complete system for
will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $450.
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//// TRUE ANSWER ???
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Though HiSoft hasn't decided on a final title, one would think
TrueVoice to be the perfect choice - that is if it wasn't for the
fact that AT&T already has dibbs on it, having claimed it for their
own digital voice system. Whatever it's called, the Hisoft product
looks to be a very promising and powerful system for home and the
small business owner. Not quite as developed as T_Phone, preliminary
reports indicate that it will offer multiple mail boxes. a phone book,
and such features as reset or saving individual messages for later
monitoring. Although no hardware interface has