| Sierra and Relic Launch Web Site [4-5-99
5:32pm ET]
Sierra Studios and Relic Entertainment announced the launch of a new Web Site
dedicated to their upcoming game, Homeworld. www.homeworld.net features screen shots, an official newsletter, and
general information about the game which is due to ship this June.
Mattel Announces Release Schedule [4-5-99
4:33pm ET]
Mattel Media has released
its list of new titles that will be available in the fall of 1999. On the list are:
Barbie Gotta Groove CD-ROM, a title allowing girls to choreograph 3D dance
routines on the computer.
Barbie Super Sports CD-ROM, a game that lets girls snowboard and in-line
skate.
Barbie Riding Club for the PlayStation. The first Barbie console title, Riding
Club allows girls to choose a horse and then race it.
Hot Wheels Crash CD-ROM, a title that lets players re-create Hollywood
movie destruction scenes using virtual Hot Wheels.
Matchbox Caterpillar On The Job Construction CD-ROM, lets kids use virtual
Caterpillar vehicles to dig tunnels, move earth, demolish buildings and more.
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus CD-ROM and Gift Set, the game
allows men and women to answer questions about the opposite sex. The gift set contains a
card game and excerpts from the book, as well as the CD-ROM.
Due Out this spring is:
Barbie Ocean Discovery for Game Boy Color, an underwater adventure based
on the PC CD-ROM title. The game lets players solve puzzles and games.
Call to Power Hits Stores [4-5-99
4:00pm ET]
Activision, Inc.’s
game Civilization: Call to Power is now available in retail stores. The title is
a world-building game that challenges players to create the greatest empire of all time.
The game is launching with a multi-million dollar
marketing campaign that includes broad-based print and online advertising, retail-specific
promotions and in-store merchandising. Call to Power has a suggested retail price
of $49.95.
Project Two Announces Release Dates [4-5-99
4:00pm ET]
Project Two Interactive, a GT affiliate based in the Netherlands, has announced
that it will be releasing MadTrax and Liath in the United States on
September 1, 1999. MadTrax is a futuristic combat racing game and Liath is
a point and click adventure title.
The Learning Co. Hires New General Manager [4-5-99
2:55pm ET]
The Learning
Company has given Jim Dredge the position of general manager of its school division.
Dredge will oversee all of the school division’s operations including product
development, sales and marketing. He will also manage operations for Learning Services, an
educational software reseller owned by The Learning Company.
Before joining The Learning Company, Dredge held senior
management positions with companies including Simon and Schuster, Invest Learning
Corporation, Jostens Learning Corporation and Control Data Corporation.
Age of Empires Expansion Still Popular [4-5-99 2:55pm ET]
According to Microsoft,
its Age of Empires Expansion: The Rise of Rome has surpassed more than one
million downloads from its official Microsoft site. In addition, the company says the
expansion is the second-most popular strategy game download on CNET Download.com, with
more than 350,000 downloads to date.
The expansion was released in November of last year but is
apparently still a popular item. The Age of Empires Gold Edition, a bundle
package combining Age of Empires and Age of Empires Expansion was
released last month. It sells for $39.99.
Amazon and Wal-Mart Settle Out of Court [4-5-99
2:30pm ET]
Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores
are in the process of settling a lawsuit filed by Wal-Mart. The suit claimed that the
bookseller hired employees away from Wal-Mart to steal the retailer’s trade secrets.
As part of the settlement, Amazon.com agreed to reassign
former Wal-Mart employees to new jobs different from those they held at Wal-Mart. In
addition, Amazon.com will return information brought to the company from former Wal-Mart
employees. The settlement did not call for Amazon.com to pay Wal-Mart damages and
Amazon.com did not have to admit any wrongdoing.
A&L Hired to Promote Computec Media [4-5-99 2:30pm ET]
Computec Media, a publisher of PC and videogame magazines based in Germany, has
hired Anderson & Lembke to launch an ad campaign. The campaign will push Computec
Media’s forth-coming North American consumer publications. It will include
television, print, outdoor, cinema and Web advertising.
According to company officials, Anderson & Lembke was
chosen because of its experience promoting game titles such as Flight Simulator, Age
of Empires and Motocross Madness.
Win South Park Arcade Game [4-5-99
2:30pm ET]
Comedycentral.com is
giving fans a chance to win a South Park arcade pinball game. Those interested simply need
to play the online version of the game. This person with the highest score will receive
the arcade game. The contest starts today and runs through April 30. The South Park arcade
pinball game was developed and is distributed by Sega. It can be found in arcades
throughout the country.
Railroad Tycoon II Expansion Pack Prepared [4-5-99 12:40pm ET]
PopTop Software announced
today that it will be releasing Railroad Tycoon II: the Second Century, an
expansion pack for Railroad Tycoon II.
"The Second Century will provide
even more challenging and intriguing gameplay for all those gamers who have been
‘working on the railroad’ since we released Railroad Tycoon II in
November," said Phil Steinmeyer, PopTop Software’s CEO and lead designer of Railroad
Tycoon II in a press release today.
The expansion pack will feature new trains and 15
stand-alone maps. It is due for release in late April.
Dynamix Plans New Flight Sim [4-5-99
12:40pm ET]
Dynamix is developing a new
flight simulation entitled Desert Fighters. The title is re-inacting the World
War II North Africa campaign of operations.
"The ‘Battle of Supplies’ that took place
in North Africa is one of the most important, yet least explored, historical campaigns
that pilots faced during World War II," said Mike Jones, executive director of Desert
Fighters.
The release date for Desert Fighters is October
of 1999.
Elysium Development Stops [4-5-99
11:50am ET]
Cavedog Entertainment has
decided to stop development of Elysium and is reassigning members of that
development team to other projects. John Cutter, lead designer, has been assigned to work
on a new game. Cavedog has not yet announced what the new game will be. The company did
not specify why it was stopping work on the game.
Play Fierce Harmony Beta Free [4-5-99
11:50am ET]
A free beta version of Fierce Harmony is available at GameStorm, an online gaming site. The
title is a ritual sword fighting game that allows competitors to develop combat maneuvers
and strategies to battle other players. After the free beta period, the game will be added
to GameStorm’s list of premium offerings.
Midway Ships New Arcade Game [4-5-99
11:50am ET]
Midway Games Inc. announced
today that its latest arcade game NBA Showtime: the NBA on NBC shipped nationwide
to arcades last week. The title is a four-player game featuring Shaquille O’Neal,
Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and more.
AMD Launches Next Volley At Intel [4-5-99
11:20am ET]
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.,
competing head to head with Intel
Corporation’s Pentium technology, today launched a faster computer chip aimed at
the consumer and small business personal computer markets.
The Company said its new AMD-K6-2 microprocessor -- the
brains of a computer -- clips along at 475 megahertz and is quicker than Intel's fastest
Pentium II processor, a chip used extensively in consumer and small-business PCs. AMD said
International Business Machines Corporation would use the chip in an Aptiva consumer PC
system it plans to release to the retail market.
NEWS FROM FRIDAY
Nvidia and Guillemot Partner in EB Promotion [4-2-99
2:15pm ET]
Nvidia Corp. and Guillemot
International will be jointly promoting graphics boards based on Nvidia’s new TNT
2 chip at Electronics Boutique stores.
Guillemot’s new board line called Xentor will be aimed specifically at the gaming
market. The boards are being offered with either 16 MB of video memory at an
estimated street price of $149.99 or with 32 MB of video memory at $229.99. EB has
started a pre-sell program for the boards at its site.
Microsoft’s Likely Ad Focus Shift [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
With Microsoft Corp.’s long-awaited
reorganization announcement, the Company says they will put more emphasis in product
groups with customer focused advertising which suggests a shift away from the broad
product-specific ads they have been promoting towards ads promoting solutions targeted at
a certain customer type. The Company expects there to be “a little extra
zing” in its marketing and product development due to the increase in autonomy among
the product groups.
Sega Selects CA Solution for IT Operations [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
Computer Associates International Inc. has announced
that Sega Enterprises Ltd. is deploying
CA’s Inicenter TNG to increase the efficiency of its IT operations and improve
service levels. Sega had wanted to improve desktop management, specifically in-house
software delivery and asset management. In Fiscal 1999, Sega plans to expand the
number of nodes that will be managed by Unicenter TNG. The Company also plans to
introduce Unicenter TNG at its individual amusement facilities, where it will be deployed
in the nationwide system used for managing sales and staff attendance at approximately 900
outlets administered by 53 sales offices throughout Japan. Sega plans to use
Unicenter TNG for the comprehensive management of all system resources.
Staples Picks Charlotte for New Distribution
Hub [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
Staples, Inc. has announced it has signed a lease
for a multi-channel distribution center in Charlotte, N.C. which will be operational in
the Fall of 1999 and will serve contract, catalog and e-commerce customers. The Company
feels the new center will help support its expansion in the Southeast and by moving to a
multi-channel distribution strategy will result in lower delivery costs and better
customer service.
IBM Gets Tough on Sites [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
According to its interactive advertising agency, OgilvyOne, IBM
Corp. will pull its web advertising from any web site that does not post a privacy
policy. The new policy takes effect on June 1 for North America-based sites. IBM
officials estimate that approximately 70 percent of the 800 web sites that currently carry
their advertising would not make the cut today if the policy went into effect immediately.
Compaq Introduces Prosignia Line at Retail [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
Compaq Computer Corp. recently made available their
Prosignia line of personal computers in 600 retail outlets across the U.S. The line
will be available in select CompUSA, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples stores. The
Company is also rolling out 1,300 kiosks where customers can custom-configure Prosignia
products.
Yahoo! Looks Into Its Crystal Ball [4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
Yahoo!’s president, Jeff Mallett, declared
yesterday that three companies would dominate the Internet by the end of next year and
those three would be Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft Network. Yahoo! plans on securing its
position as one of the dominant three by making acquisitions in three key areas on a
continuous basis: media, communications and direct services. The Company has
announced it will invest $6.08 billion in Broadcast.com.
CyberShop Refocuses On Off-Price/Outlet Store Market
[4-2-99 2:15pm ET]
CyberShop International, Inc., an e-tailer, has
decided to refocus its main site and concentrate
its merchandising offerings on the off-price and outlet store categories. The
Company plans to sell brand name, first-quality, end-of-season and excess merchandise at
deep discounts of 20 to 80 percent off original prices everyday. Some of the current
deals offered are: N64 Console with two controllers priced at $129.99 versus the regular
price of $150, Sony PlayStation Console priced at $99.99 versus the regular price of $130
and Nintendo’s Game Boy Color hand-held system priced at $69.99 versus the regular
price of $80.
Heavy Gear II Tourney Begins [4-2-99 11:45am ET]
Activision
announced that its Heavy Gear II Duelist Tournament started yesterday over Case’s Ladder and Mplayer. The first phase of the
tournament continues through May 28th. The contest can be entered by downloading the game
demo or purchasing the full retail version, then registering on either of the tourney
sites (www.casesladder.com/hg2
and www.mplayer.com/join/hg2).
Play takes place on Mplayer with Case’s being the "reporting" site for
scores.
The top 250 scores on Case’s and other qualifier
tournaments will continue to the semifinals, a set of four battles taking place on May
29th and 30th. The winner of each semifinal will be flown (with a guest) to
Activision’s Santa Monica, Calif., headquarters for the finals on June 26, with the
overall champion taking home $5,000. The other combatants will have a prize breakdown of
$2,500 for second place, $1,500 for third place and $1,000 for fourth place.
StarCraft Tourney Ends First Season [4-2-99 11:45am ET]
Blizzard Entertainment announced that the
first season in the StarCraft: Brood War World Championships on Battle.net has concluded, and the top 16
players are now set to fight it out through April 15th for pride, over $3,000 in prizes
and entry into the World Championships. Subsequently, Season 2 started yesterday and will
run through June 30th; and the final battle for over $14,000 in prizes will be held August
2-4.
Thanks to the use of unique names in StarCraft: Brood
War, the list of first-season winners has an interesting look. Trust us, in typing
this up we accidentally put our modem on a noisy phone line:
1. X'Ds~Grrrr
2. Kain-The-Feared
3.CrazyJim~LiZaD
4. min-ah
5. +illusia+
6. [33]Aviatrix
7. Shin_Ju_Young
8. sk01
9. D22-soso
10. :+:Stinger:+:
11. [Legend]Daddy
12. Chris_Low
13. @~Thuggy~
14. Lee.Joo-wan
15. CoP~Slayer
16. {PH}Expo
Digital River Hires New VP of DM [4-2-99 10:30am ET]
Digital River, Inc. has
announced the hiring of Linda C. Ireland as Vice President of Direct Marketing. Ms.
Ireland will manage the direct marketing, merchandising and promotional services that the
Company provides to its software publisher and online retail clients.
Disney Names New Marketing Head of Consumer Products
[4-2-99 10:30am ET]
Disney Consumer Products has announced the appointment of Judy Fearing to the newly
created position of Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Studio Development.
Ms. Fearing will be responsible for developing and implementing marketing and branding
strategies around the world for all of Disney’s Consumer Products’ businesses:
Disney Interactive, Disney Direct Marketing, Licensing, The Disney Store, Buena Vista
Publishing and Walt Disney Art Classics. |
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