Zelda 64: First Hands-On Preview Inside Nintendo®^* PlayStation • Saturn • Super NES • Genesis • Arcade February,1998 $4.99/$6.50 Canada 70992 Gamer First Aid stop the Call for game. help. Act quickly. The victim may faint. Get to the nearest hospital. In most Eidos-related emergencies, your first response will be to finish the victim's game, potentially resulting in the loss of a lot more than a friendship. So before playing games like Tomb Raider 2 or Deathtrap Dungeon, study the enclosed first aid instructions. Then mount them in an easily nccesible location near your PlayStation" And rest assured that once you've assisted the injured, you can finish what their lame ass couldn't. eiDOS You’ve been warned. Editorial By Ken Williams • ken_williams@zd.com T here is an important trend in gaming that’s gaining in popuiarity. Multiplayer gaming has clearly become the catalyst for growth in our industry—GoldenEye 007 and sports titles are among the hottest sellers on the market, and Location-Based Entertainment faciiities, or LBEs, are popping up everywhere. We have long since zoomed past the halcyon days of dark, seedy arcade hangouts and lone rebel gaming. Instead, gaming has become...gosp...socially acceptable. Things haven’t always been this social. In my early teens, nothing like LBEs or multiplayer games even existed. Arcades were seedy at best; usually poorly lit, cement-floor caves where I could escape the pressures of adolescence. The older kids smoked while playing a lone game of Space Invaders or Asteroids, their quarters lined up along the bottom of the screen. Arcades were usually crowded, yet there was a distinct lack of conversation. This was a soli¬ tary time; a time to be alone with a single goal—defeat the game—not a social gathering on par with school sporting events and mixers. It’s no wonder arcades were blamed for the cor¬ ruption of youth. Even at our best, we looked more like entranced zombies than the future of America. And then came the home systems—talk about a social placebo! I was one of the shameless statistics, joining a legion of teens frozen for hours, mesmerized by the dazzling graphics and engrossing gameplay of the latest Atari game. Social withdrawal? Certainly. But hey, I was developing hand-eye coordination, rightT'In hindsight, I’m amazed the FDA didn’t move to classify video games as some sort of narcotic. There was no alternative to reaching that looth round of Defender. Gaming was like a drug, and I, like many of my peers, was addicted for life. Sports fans have a name for such an intense focus; I was “In The Zone.” The problem was, being In The Zone was pretty lonely. Gradually, more games began to allow for more than one player at a time. It was the start of sornething big. Then the first four-player simultaneous titles began to filter into arcades and console systems. Anyone remember Warlords on the Atari 2600 and in the arcades? Now that was a game that required some pals to really enjoy. There suddenly was a social aspect to playing video games. Fast forward to my late teens, where arcades had undergone a radical transformation. Clean, well-lit game rooms started popping up everywhere. It got to the point where a kid only had to take a short walk to the nearest corner or mall to meet his buddies for a game of four-player Gauntlet or Cyberball. Martial arts games required a human competitor to have the most fun. Street Fighter, Double Dragon, Final Fight and Bad Dudes machines were constantly packed with two friends (or enemies) hacking away at each other. Suddenly, arcade games weren’t so much of a rebel, loner pastime anymore. Sure, many of us hunkered down at home at night to enjoy the latest incarnation of Mario, but gaming would never be the same. Today, home games have once again caught up with arcades in embellishing the human element of video gaming. Now we’re playing games like GoldenEye 007, Duke Nukem 3D, Bomberman, Mario Kart 64 and countless sports titles, all of which support—and are arguably at their best in—Multiplayer Mode. With the exception of a few genres like RPGs, many games require a friend to realize the full entertainment value. Even here at EGM, we used to grab our favorite titles and hunker down for some serious gaming binges, alone. Now we play sports, various fighting games and racing games as a group. We sometimes even visit the local Dave & Busters for merriment and mayhem. There’s only one thing missing in this pleasant evolution; multiplayer RPGs. With advanced Internet capabilities linking computers worldwide, PCs have had a head start. Breakthrough titles like Diablo, Meridian 59 and recently Ultima Online create virtual communities complete with unique, diverse roles for gamers. Whereas before you were forced to be the lone hero, now you can join a party of real friends, slay a dragon and battle the forces of evil as a team, sharing the glory and bonding of victory, and the humiliation and finger-pointing of defeat. Home consoles are the final frontier for multiplayer RPGs. Final Fantasy VIII Online? We can’t wait! There’s no question, the latest trend in gaming requires a little help from your friends... Number 11.21 February 1998 I Jonathan Lane Editorial Director Joe Funk • joejunkgizd.coi Ken Williams • ken_williams® 2 d.com Features Editor Crispin Boyer • crispin_boyer@>zd.com Associate Editors Dean Hager • dean_hager@ 2 d.e 0 m Dan Hsu • dan_hsuiizd.com Kraig Kujawa * kraig_kujawa@zd.com John Ricciardi • john_ricciardi@zd.com Shawn Smith • shawn_smith@zd.com Sushi-X • sushi_x@zd.com Junior Astronaut Michael Stassus • m_stassus@zd.com Senior Art Dlre^or Cyril Wochok • cyril_wochok@zd.com Associate Art Directors Andrew Burwell, Jason Hinman, Scott Parus Third-Party Liaison John Stockhausen • john stockhausen@zd.com News Editor (International & Domestic) Chris Johnston • chrisjohnston@zd.com West (toast Editor Kelly Rickards • kelly rickards@zd.com TMcks Editor Terry Minnich • tricks@zd.com Arcade Editor Chief Correspondent Ed Semrad • ed_semrad@ 2 d.e 0 m Forelqn Correspondents Stuart Levy, David Rider M. Damen, Dan Peluso Paul Ojeda Production Assistant Chris Melody Network Manager Analyst Mark LeFebvre • mark lefebvre@zd.cor Don Galen Circulation Coordinator Ann-Marie Mrozynski Subscription Service Humber: 303-665-8930 _ Business Manager Cathy Bendoff Advertising Inquires Contact: Ziff-Davis Inc., 19Z0 Highland Ave., Lombard, IL 60148 Telephone: 630-916-7Z22 FAX: 630-916-9254 Assoc. Publisher Sales & Marketing Account Executive Suzanne Farrell District Ad Sales Manager, Midwest & East Coast Anthony George West Coast District Ad Sales Manager, Northwest John Yoffie, 135 Main Street, 14th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: 415-357-5322 FAX: 415-357-5201 E-mail: jon yoffie@zd.com West Coast District Ad Sales Manager, Southwest Karen Landon, 135 Main Street, 14th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: 415-357-5460 FAX: 415-357-5201 E-mail: karen landon@zd.com _ Send Advertising Materials Tk EG^^ 5 discs deep. A universe wide. Say goodbye. going to be away a long time Presenting Masters of Teras Kasi, an all-out fighting frenzy featuring 9 Star Wars characters and introducing a new villain masterfully trained in the ancient martial art of teras kasi. Battle through 9 action-packed arenas. Engage in weapon-to- weapon or hand-to-hand combat. Wield lightsabers, blasters, flame throwers and battle axes to engage in the ultimate conflict. Heck, even the Empire never struck back this hard, www.lucasarts.com Contents Electronic Gaming Monthly, February 1998, Issue 103 Game Directory 48 180-Degree Snowboarding 53 AeroGauge 105 Bomberman 64 62 Breath of Fire III 114 Broken Sword Chameleon Twist Colony Wars FIFA: RTWC 98 Fifth Element Fighter’s Destiny Fighting Force F-Zero X Lode Runner . Mythologies: 118.130 Moto Racer ^OQ n - Legend of Zelda: TOoT 64 - R-Types, PS 67 - Tekken 3, PS 70 - Bushido Blade 2, PS 70- Riven, PS 72 - Alien Resurrection, P 72 - C, PS 72 - Fifth Element, PS 76 - Last Blade, Arcade 76-Rival Schools: UBF, A Turn to the Tricks section to look at the princess in her new ou 84 ~ Where. Oh Where. Has My Little Arcade Gone? We trace the evolution of arcades, from the Nickel-in-the-Slot joints of the old days to today’s mammoth entertainment centers. 96 -10 Games You Should Not Play Alone There are good games, and then there are those that are oh-so-much better when you’re pulverizing your friends. Departments 4 - Editorial Gaming: it ain’t what it was 10 years ago. 12 ~ Letters Angry fathers and gay men don’t mix. 20 “ News Someone’s making a new system...and it’s not Nintendo, Sony or Sega. 32 - Gaming Gossip PlayStation 64 development kits are shipping 37- Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, N64 46 - F-Zero X, N64 48-NBA Basketball, N64 49 - Mario Artist Series, N64 52 - Super Mario RPG 2, N64 53-Mother3, N64 54 - Fighter’s Destiny, N64 58 - Burning Rangers, SAT 62 - Breath of Fire III, PS 104 “ Review Crew Is this the last big wave of Saturn games we’ll see? 126 “ Jump Start Get off on the right wheel with Diddy Kong Racing strategies. 128 “ Tricks of the Trade Wanna see Princess Leia in her slave outfit? 132 - Get Some! Check out the new Street Fighter V anime and a $5,000 dinosaur. u’tf la aw Winter Heat ts no wmtei wonderland, ettder. You'll be sucking down the ibuprofen as you face Winter Heat’s tl nutbustmg Olympic events, Including Ski Jumping, Speed Skating, Dwnhill apd Slalom, lip to 4 players can go for the gold at once for more dope Pn how to got these ■gamos, contact us at 1-888*SEGA-SAtES or www.sega.cotn. Tbo/doctor will see you nOW.'‘ 1 letters Compiled by: Dan “Shoe” Hsu Growing Up a been observing the trend of nostalgia that has been sweeping the past few issues of your magazine, and I’ve given it some thought. It would appear the top loo list, readers’ responses and even Ed Semrad’s most recent column have demonstrated what fierce loyalty so many people possess toward the games of yesterday (and how many others don’t). It seems to me that video games, like other branches of the enter¬ tainment industry (movies, television, etc.) are subject to this form of appreciation mainly because of the many unique (and not-so-unique) viewpoints of younger and older gamers. Semrad stated in his column how unimpressed his son was with the games that Semrad himself appreciated. His son di( grow up with those games. Similarly, I didn’t grow up watching black-and-white serials at my local movie theater. Those who don’t grow up with certain things usually don’t appreciate them the same way. in fact. I’m imagining today’s youth growing up and becoming nostalgic about today’s games in an era that makes GoldenEye look like Pac-Man and hearing their kids say, “Yeah, I’m bored with that. Look at how much more fun today’s games are. The graphics are better too.” I could be completely wrong, of course. But the point I’m ing to make is that video games, like everything else, are sub¬ ject to individual interpretation and appreciation (except for dogs like Shaq-Fu), and while the era many games arrived in is now gone, lots of people still like them because their original charm isn’t gone. It all depends on who you are as a gamer as far as many of the aspects of game quality go. But that’s just my opinion. Ivan Henley—Broken Arrow, OK Whenever we bring up an old game in fond memory, we’re always wondering, “Do we still like this game because we liked it so much when we were younger? Or is it a genuinely good game, even by today’s standards?’’ More than one fantasy was destroyed when we brought out the classics in making the Top 100. We found out some of these "awesome oldies” aren’t so awesome anymore. it’s not always nostalgia, however, that makes a classic good in our minds. Games like Ms. Pac-Man are still fun because they were made with one thing in mind: great gameplay. Thanks for your tetter. EGM Letters gives you the chance to praise, gripe, ask, speculate or simply reflect. 5GM will discuss some of today's 1 8930 or by going to: htt(?://subscribe.egn respond to any letter^ We reserve the right to edit; 1920 Highland Avenue, i Lombard, IL6014S e-mail: EGM_Mail@zd. Dukespeak Did you know that most of Duke Nukem’s quotes are from the Evil Dead movies? “Come get some,” “Hail to the king, baby,” are all such quotes. Also, the “kicking @$$ and chewing bubble gum” thing is from the movie They Live. Just wanted to let you know if you didn’t already and give you a few more reasons why Duke rocks! vmiletic@facstaff.w' George Presard, 3D Realms’ product manager on the original Duke Nukem (for the PC), told us that the Duke team wanted the game to be a pop-culture refer¬ ence fest. So, they threw in a few memorable quotes from some of the team’s favorite cult movies, the Evil Dead series and They Live. Good thing the developers aren’t fans of Coo/As/ce. On Ms Side I want to let you know that 1 totally agree that Resident Evil is over¬ rated. In fact, I think Resident Evil is probably the most overrated game in history! I bought the game because of the hype surrounding it, but when I played it, I was very disappointed. First off, I was forced to hear the horrible voice acting! Then there was the storage system, which made me want to puke. Overall, the game was OK, but it shouldn’t have gotten that much praise. By the way, that picture of Cloud’s ass cracked le up! Tom Vitale—Staten Island, NY Heh...heh...heh...he said ass cracked. Well, we’re glad someone w OK with us not including Resident Evil in the top 100. Political Turmoil Your response to issue #ioo’s “Letter of the Month” dismayed me. In that particular issue, you blame House and Senate conserv¬ ative Republicans for the ongoing political nagging over video games (you replied, “Then the conserva¬ tive senator/parent wouldn’t have anything to worry [or complain] about...” in that issue’s letters col¬ umn). You have put the blame on the wrong political wing, gentle¬ men. Video gaming’s most vocal Washington, D.C. opponents are Democrats, and more specifically liberal Democrats. The whole “let’s have the government rate video games” ordeal and its subsequent “Violence in video games” hear¬ ings were proposed by Senator Lieberman, an outspoken and extremely left-wing Democrat. . So why does EGM keep blaming conservatives for video games’ never-ending political turmoil? Perhaps the evidently-too-young sub-college-age editors are failing their poli-sci classes, unaware of the differences between right- and left-wing politics? Why, it was uber-Republican himself Ronald Reagan who once said something to the effect of “If parents would I watch their kids more closely and Video Game TV Show Looking For Staff Do you play video games and work in TV production? Ziff- Davis Television wants you! ZDTV is looking for segment producers, production associ¬ ates and interns for its daily gaming show. Only those with a passion for video games need apply. Staffing up in the first quarter of 1998, ZDTV’s gaming show will feature competitions, along with the latest previews, reviews, tips, tricks and news in the world of video gaming. Covering the entire spectrum from consoles to PCs, arcade to online, ZDTV is looking for team players capable of all aspects of production. The ability to operate a video camera, produce field segments and direct edit sessions is a must. Candidates should be familiar with studio production, and most of all, must be avid gamers. All interested parties should mail a resume and reel with a brief cover letter to: EM Capuano ZDTV 650 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94103 f dtffcretit ti ditiefctit tc £• d^ffercftl cfearaetcKS to choose fpOEK KiTfW|K -Tips 8c Tricks/^ ^ |jk?Yci' simtLk tancotts / tettk 5, races. O'rzi f toirts* hliiiti oftti I©©# if ■y' 0 U' 5'2 1 t;t 3 &i 3 §ii yiTLLIS fltt|>l// |«s:*C«ltt egm letters intently, there would be no need at all for game rating systems and their like.” Truly, it’s the political leftists who want more and more govern¬ ment in our lives; video games are just another issue to them. Neiljohnson-f-mr.kotter@juno.com First off, we never blamed any Republicans. Second, If you had any political savvy, you’d realize that the “liberal” and “conservative” tags mean less now than ever when applied to the Republican and Democratic parties. You’d realize that lately we’ve seen the rise of the so-called “New Democrats,” who take a decidedly moderate approach in an attempt to please the majority of their constituents. Sen. Joe Lieberman is considered by many to be the “captain” of this new Capitol Hill crew, and that’s why we’re seeing a conservative policy- such as the game rating system—along with liberal views from a Democrat. Whew...we’ll get off our soapbox now. And The Name of This Game Is... The game you were talking about in issue 102 on page 16 is Astrod [sic], i know it is Astrod because you can go to Wal-Mart and check out the arcade file. Desmond Johnson, Jr.— Havelock, NC OK, thanks. Mission: Delayed, But Not Impossible I am writing to you to express my frustration over Nintendo 64’s Mission: impossible. Every time I get my new issue of EGM, I turn to the Coming Soon list and see Mission: Impossibly being pushed back another month. What’s the deal? Mike Wolfe—Indianapolis, iN We theorized that Ocean/Infogrames (the joint developers of Mission: Impossible) took their game back to the drawing boards upon seeing what an utterly fantastic job Rare did with GoldenEye 007. A spokesperson for Ocean, of course, denied this. He told us the game is being held back for its own reasons—being that M:l contains “revolu¬ tionary game mechanics,” the game is taking much longer to complete than anyone there anticipated. Right now, the game is slated for a sec¬ ond quarter release, 1998. Hopefully, it’ll be worth the wait. Macintosh Loyalist m writing in response to a comment made in your 102nd issue, “if it’s games you’re into, forget about a Mac—it’s not even worth consid¬ ering anymore.” I know that the PC game market is a hell of a lot bigger than the Mac’s, but I would also like to make it clear that there are a ton of great games for the Macintosh such as Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, MechWarrior il and so on. i also couldn’t help but notice that you at EGM use the Macintosh too. On page 178 in your looth issue (in the picture in the right-hand corner), you show a keyboard with the Apple logo on it. in the future, please think before hopping on the Macs-are-good-for- nothing bandwagon, especially if you use them yourselves. Lucifero63@aol.com We never said that Macintoshes are poor computers for production (which is what we use them for). We simply wouldn’t recommend them if you’re looking for a strong gaming machine. That is, unless you prefer shopping amongst the few games on that tiny island dis¬ play at the video game shop over the rest of the store. By the way, all those games you mentioned are also available on the PC. Wait, don’t get too excited here. We’re not looking for new edi¬ tors (well, not until Joe Funk catches Crispin sleeping again, anyway). We want your input. We want to know what childish antics you perform when you’re losing in a game (joypad tossing, name calling, etc.). Mail your best stuff to: LOSERS c/o EGM 1920 Highland Ave. #222 We'll publish some of the more creative responses in an upcom¬ ing feature in EGM. It Takes Guts '_ i want to commend you for print¬ ing the letter from Richard Spoonts, the gay man from Harvard [EGM Letters, issue #101]. I felt the mere fact that you let it see print deserves a big pat on the back. Why? Because presently, the world, in general, is taking an extremely “anti-gay” attitude. I’m sure that you received piles upon piles of letters blatantly trashing you for printing said letter. But you didn’t discriminate at all, and you let another point of view see light, it’s a gutsy move that i’m sure freaked many readers out, but one that validates my faith in you guys that you won’t be pushed around. As a straight white male, I get really tired of hearing others in my demographic group whine on and on about this issue. I don’t know about other readers out there, but the “hate those awful gays” attitude gets stale real fast. So another thumbs up to you guys at EGM. You could have sacrificed Richard’s letter for the purposes of a joke, hurting him in the process, but you didn’t, which I think deserves acclaim. ira Wells—wells_d@agt.net We hardly received any letters complaining about us printing Mr. Spoonts’ letter. We did get a couple, including one from a father who cancelled his sons’ subscription because he didn’t want his children exposed to such “filth.” We’re surprised this family is even reading Electronic Gaming Monthly; we certainly can’t imagine these kids play¬ ing video games. The electronic images and strange noises emanating from the “moving picture box” must be frightening to people living in the Stone Age. I And hey! We’re perfectly 1 capable of printing letters 1 without cracking a joke or | poking fun of (or insulting) | the author. Now...can you tell i us what the hell kind of name is Ira Wells? Sounds like a ' girly name... Question of the Moment We shouldn’t need to see a Direcipr’s Cut since [the cen- sored sCenes] should’ve been included in tbe first place. Many gamers are getting ripped off. In the case of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, i feel Capcom shouldifecaLl the game and refund the gamers who foolish¬ ly bought it. Censored director’s cuts...what ; Eric^feasterly@xn.xerox.com an oxymoron. mojorecords@juno.com Just because Director’s Cut is censored doesn’t mean it’s a had game. Don’t go whmin| about how the game’s uncut, because it’s still a great game no mat¬ ter what you do to it. happystickman® mail.geocities.com A director’s cut is a version ^ of a product in which the director expresses his/her original vision. Censorship of a director’s cut is hypo¬ critical and not at all true to its label. RJStuff@aol.co Next Month’s Question of the Moment: What classic game(s) would you like to see revived for today’s systems? Send your short (very short, please), but sweet, responses to: EGM Mail@zd.com with the subject heading: Classics ■NltPiB egm letters All you folks (look up sarcasm in the dictionary, by the way) who wrote in and told us that this game is called Asteroids clearly did not check with this “Wal-Mart Arcade File,” whatever that • is. So the next time you’re in the mood for some classic arcade shootin’, go to your local video game retailer and ask to see their Astrod. Trust us, it’ll be fun! himself). Make sure to check out www.herb.lsa.umich.edu if you want to learn more about the fascinating world of fungi. Wake up guys! If you’ve ever seen the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on UPN, you would clearly see that Toad Is a male. Thomas Duffin—Berthoud, CO We never caught the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on TV because we never seem to want to turn to that channel. Want to know why? We’ll spell it out for you: U-P-N. ’Nuff said. Gender Bender I’m responding to your article about Toad in issue #101. You thought Virgin’s Cool Spot may possibly be a “chick.” Well in issue #88, page 50 and 51, there is a Cool Spot Goes To Hollywood ad with the heading, “He’s Flirting With Disaster!” See? He. Hrt flirting with disaster. So next time you tackle gender issues, get the facts at least almost straight. Chase Macri—Hampton, VA Kee-ripes! Take it easy! Run out of laxatives, did we? The Toad story was done in fun, so chill. Besides, there is more than one Spot. Remember the early 7*UP commercials with Spots running ram¬ pant? Well, who do you think gave birth to all those Spots? A momma Spot. I saw your piece on Toad [What’s the Deal With Toad?—EGM #101]. My observation is that Toad is not a male or a female.: He is both. Science tells us that life cells of mold, spores or related fungi have no sex. Toad is a mushroom, and so are all of his people, right? Mushrooms are mem¬ bers of the fungi family. This explains it all, ya? Oh, except for one thing—all of the fungi family are asexual. This; means they breed amongst themselves and are both male and female, Clint Riese — Hibbing, MN I want to respectfully talk about Zero, from the Mega Man X series. You forgot to include (him or her) in your list of androgynous characters in the Toad feature. I think that Zero is a female hero. Can you solve the problem of this enigmatic character? Lymari Zayas—Patillas, P.R. In last month’s Video Same Timeline story, we Milton Bradley released Its Microvision handheld syst correct year was *979. We wish to thank Leonard author of the book Phoenix: The Rise and Fall Videogames, for clearing up the matter. Also, we’d Ito ti thank Steven Kent, author of the forthcoming book Electronic Nation, for contributing to the feature. Zero is male. You can read this for yourself in the Mega Man X4 manual. You can question his feminine appearance, and you can question his long, blond hair, but you can’t question his gender. Actually, fungi is neither male nor female, and mush¬ rooms themselves are not fungi (but merely a product of them). Bob Fogel, professor of biology at the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor (and curator of fungi at the U of M Herbarium), told us, “Mushrooms are the fruit bodies of certain fungi. Mushrooms are reproductive structures like apples on an apple tree, that’s made to spread the spores produced by asexual reproduction.” in short: Mushrooms do not reproduce (and therefore, have no sex). The fungi that makes them do reproduce (but have no sex— they either self-reproduce or match up with compatible fungi —however, they do it “plus” to “minus,” not male to female). What does this mean for our lil’ buddy Toad? It means he’s probably a bastard child of some nasty fungus somewhere, and he cannot be classified as male or female (and he defi¬ nitely cannot breed /EGMA and make other Toads *Dr at least get gaur name and work in the magazine and win goorsell a great prize IfIRST PLACE ONLYil. W NNER Close, but no controller OK, this is not envelope art. It’s a sculpture. Wanna make something oi it! POWER and AcliVisloH When you’re busy leaping treacherous chasms and swinging across deadly pits. don’t have )ntemplate life’s mysteries. After ail, being a legendary jungle adventurer suddenly thrust into a mystical universe Besides, you’ve already learned more than the meaning of life... You’ve learned what it means to The Medium Is The Message Nintendo proves that the DD is more than just your average add-on playable games and the delay was displaced by the games Nintendo showed on tape for the DD—including Mother 3 (Earthbound 64), Pocket Monsters Stadium, Pocket Monsters Snap, Super Mario RPG 2, Picture Maker, Polygon Maker, Talent Maker, SimCity 64 and SimCopter. All incorporate Nintendo’s vision of the DD—writability and creativity. The DD also opens up the option of bringing two separate games together, either by expanding a current cartridge or combining data from two different titles. “You could have a game, and we have talked about this in the context of the SimCity product family, where SimCity might be a disk-based game and SimCopter might be a cartridge-based game that would read the city data that you generated off SimCity and then would let you fly around your own SimCity. Or Streets of SimCity could be another add-on Sim file,” said Jim Merrick, Nintendo’s project manager of soft¬ ware engineering. “It actually is something that Maxis is working on now.” The method of com¬ bining data from one title to use in another is also being used in the Mario Artist Series. Merrick says that Nintendo will not be push¬ ing developers to make disk games over the current cartridge format. “That is up to the developer. We want people to support the DD. We think it offers many advantages for the licenses and the consumer. But it’s up to the developer ultimately as to what they choose to write for,” he says. “There are some games that there might be a cartridge version and a disk version, and the disk version might offer some enhancements over the cartridge version. So that is up in the air right now. We are not going to pull the plug on cartridges...” The added storage space and lower cost of producing a disk game will undoubtedly be tempting to developers who have not yet joined Nintendo’s ranks. However, 64 Megabytes still isn’t as much storage as a CD (650 MB), a drawback which might be considered by some to be fatal. CD audio and full-motion video are luxuries not afforded to developers by the DD. Could Nintendo have increased the storage space that the DD could hold per disk? “Yes, it could have been larger. You know, it doesn’t seem as large now when you have a cartridge game [Zelda 64] that is 32 MB. That’s half the size of the DD. But we’re really aware of the price sensitivity issue. We feel that overtime prices of games are going to drive down,” Merrick says. “It still is quite a bit of storage capacity when you con¬ sider that we are not advocates for full- motion video and other things that eat up a lot of CD space. The real¬ time stuff that you see in Zelda or Star Fox is every bit is as dramatic as FMV sequences and still tells the story equally as well, but uses the real models A s expected, the 64DD made its appear¬ ance at this year’s Nintendo Space World 1997, held Nov. 21-24 at the Makuhari Messe outside of Tokyo. The device hadn’t been seen or heard from since last year’s show, and while Nintendo announced a handful of additional titles that will be coming to the DD (and peripherals to go with them), no games were playable. During his annual speech, Nintendo presi¬ dent Hiroshi Yamauchi announced that the DD will hit Japanese shelves in June of ’98, instead of April as originally planned. The exact cost of the system will be announced in early 1998. But the disappointment from the lack of I Peripheral Visions Nintendo 64 Capture Cassette T he most interesting part of Space World ’97 (apart from the games) was the sheer num¬ ber of peripherals for the N64 and Game Boy. At least a few of these will make their way across the Pacific, so to give you a glimpse of what you might be adding to your GB or N64, here's a rundown of the peripherals of Space World: The Game Boy Pocket Camera and Pocket Printer capitalize on the current photo sticker booth craze by allowing people to use the Game Boy as a digi¬ tal camera. The screen acts as the viewfinder, and you can snap and save up to 30 pictures on a sin¬ gle cartridge. The snapshots can then be edited or painted on, and then printed out onto stickers using the Pocket Printer. Both go on sale in Japan in February for about $50, and also come in differ¬ ent colors (corresponding to the 6B Packet colors). Moving to the N64, Nintendo has a way for gamers to bring portable games home and play them on the N64 and vice versa. Pokemon (short for Pocket Monsters), having sold 7.5 million copies in Japan, is the main reason behind the device, which lets the N64 share data with the Game Boy and vice versa. Pokemon fans can then bring their monsters home, use them to battle using the Pokemon Stadium 64DD game and then take them on the road with the Game Boy. There’s no doubt that this will give Japanese gamers a huge incentive to buy a Nintendo 64 and a DO to go along with it (just to play Pokemon). One of the strangest N64 peripherals yet comes with BioTetris, currently scheduled for a March release in japan from Amtek. The game comes with a clip that clips to your ear, and connects to the N64 controller. It reads your biorhythms and adjusts the game’s difficulty accordingly. You might Ever find yourself talking to ynur favorite game? Nintendo and Marigui intend to capitalize on this by bringing out a Voice Recognition System for the N64. The first game to use it is Pikachu Genki De Chu, starring one of the more popular (and cute) characters from Pokemon, Scheduled for release next fall, the VRS will retail for about $30 in japan. Nintendo’s also got a host of N64 peripherals to use with upcoming games. The Nintendo 64 Mouse will come in handy for games like SimCity 2000, SimCity 64 and the Mario Artist Series. Mario Artist will also take fuU advantage of the Capture Cassette—which has video, audio and microphone inputs for collecting video and audio data to use.' There^s also a digital camera interface cartridge coming from Nintendo. Fuff Film and Tokyo Electron next fall (in Japan). It allows you to take full-color pictures with a Fuji-standard digital camera and then interface its data module into the N64. The pictures can then be stored in a virtual photo album or used with the Mario Artist series. You can also just retouch them using the M64 then take them to your local photomat and have them print¬ ed on higher quality paper. The interface cartridge will set you back about $92. We'll keep you updated on whether any of these new peripherals, all announced at Space World, Nintendo 64 Voice Recognition Syster Amtex’s Bio-Tetris Game Boy Pocket Camera and Printer and takes a fraction of the space.” Multidisk games are definitely a possibility in the future, and Merrick told us that there are actually seven different ratios of read to write that a DD disk can have. The entire disk car be used as read-only, and up to 38.44 MB of a disk can be writable. The drive spins at one continuous rate, so there’s a trade-off between write and read speed as the heads read closer to the center of the disk. Merrick told us that developers will have to decide how to use that to their advantage. The U.S. release of the 64DD remains sketchy. George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s vice president of marketing and corporate com¬ munications, told us that the DD would hit the U.S. after its Japanese release. “We won’t talk about our plans [for the U.S.] until ET It won’t go until the software is ready. What we are seeing here is a demon¬ stration of several new prod¬ ucts but we still have to deter¬ mine which one we will launch it with,” he said. “We find that we will have to sell the DD to somewhere between 60 and Jim Merrick, Nintendo of America’s project manager of software engineering discusses with fGAf the advantages the 64DD offers developers. 80 percent of the N64 installed base and that will be quite a challenge. It is something that never has been done before.” The idea that a peripheral could be accepted by over half of the installed base of the original system would be a feat not duplicated in the video game industry before. But Nintendo has already done the impossible by introducing a success¬ ful cartridge-based game system in an industry dominated by the CD stor¬ age medium. At in May, Nintendo will show the DD for the first time on U.S. soil, and will probably at that time introduce addition¬ al games to launch it with in North America. Check out our previews of Nintendo’s new N64 and DD games later on in this issue. Pocket Monsters Stadium, a DD version of the popular Game Boy series will help make the 64DD a hit in Japan. The mega-popular series has sold over 7.5 million units for the Game Boy since its introduction in February 1997. ACTliOCALlY NAME: Douglas McClure NONETIWN: Kokomo, IN mmm net nGNTER: ist DEGREES EARNED: 235,000, traded 27,500 to buy Quake* in the HEAT store TumwimmrsmsT Asimi/AusBnm KnmsTm.mai ‘S^J ^^^ OKHaTMTS Knrma,imTBnm mmmYmm Turns ustmaBK 99 lUTKaMMIE; reniu TI»RNANENTREetR0:l2-2 swinging knife decapitation TMSRTAUEXCaPT: “Now that's what you cal! a super¬ close shave!" %nmmmn GAMES IN REAT.NET: Quake," Hexen II," Outlaws,” Diablo," WarCraft 11" NETnGliTER,'T1IE8NlYHEHTIN6 LOCALLY-get the HEAT internet game network box at your local computer store! GLOBALLY- Tr you can divert your anger off the streets and onto the net against real, live people GUKAUir ON NEAT.NET/ GAME ON THE INTERNET!! log on to HEAT.NET NOW! Through HEAT.NET and the miracle of CyberDiverslon, all over the globe! You’ll feel better, die whole world will feel better! NAME; Bill Shultz HOMETOWN: Portsmouth, VA IANKINNETn6NTER:2nd DEGREES EARNED: 197,500, traded 17,500 to buy Scud: Industrial Evolution” in the HEAT store MitaanrmmHr nuns, AMD OH aa mi mmoHun mimoFacH pasmuHTBOs. thoia mammmmieom pmiMrriammasiH mmmoHmTJtn AomTonamm mAim Tomi mrmimmoBS imiHBraiamiimciosi mCAHEff RUTVSEIIHAHE: thunderhammer TNRMAHEMTIECIID:9 3 FAVIRfTESRECMLNOfE: forked lightning kick TRASR TAW EXCERPT:-Stop hitting like a sissy girl!” ITRER TAVIRrTE GAMES IN NEAT.NET: Blood,” Duke Nukemr Total Annihilation,' Shadow Warrior,” Rental” "iH/TBIK* \T HPATMPT ar Playing With Digital Poison Senators Lieberman and Kohl tell the industry what they're doiny riyht, and what they're not V iolence in video games once again took center stage in Washington in late November when The National Institute for Media and the Family, along with Senators Joseph Lieberman and Herbert Kohl, released the second annual report card on the interactive entertainment industry. The results were favorable. The arcade indus¬ try has yet to adopt the industry-wide ratings system, so they received an incomplete grade. Both rental and retail aspects of the interactive entertainment got high marks for ratings, but lacked enforcement of those ratings. “These developments are very encouraging, and I want to join Senator Kohl in praising the video game community for their cooperation and commitment to making the rating system a real success,” said Senator Joseph Lieberman, who, along with Senator Herbert Kohl, brought the video game violence issue to light over Mortal Kombat’s depiction of fatalities and Night Trap’s B-movie scenes. However, even with the high marks given to the industry, Lieberman is quick to point out that violence is still prevalent in many popular games. “The bad news, however, is that there remains a small but significant element within the industry that insists on churning out ever¬ more graphic, gruesome and grotesque prod¬ ucts,” he says, citing the PC titles Postal and Carmageddon. “Let there be no doubt: These games are not harmless fun, as some suggest, but digital poison.” Doug Lowenstein, of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), issued a state¬ ment presenting the industry’s viewpoint. “Video and computer games are used by people of all ages, genders and interests. Some products are not intended for children, just as some books and movies are not intended for younger audiences. And the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings tell parents when this is the case. That’s how it should work—consumers are provided with the credible information they need to make their own informed purchasing decisions.” Lowenstein says that children are an impor¬ tant part of the market, but that because 73 percent of PC gamers and 46 percent of video gamers are over 18, sanitizing the content for younger players ignores the inter¬ ests of older consumers. Before Thanksgiving, the National Institute for Media and the Family also issued a guide for parents called KidScore: The 1997 Parents' Guide to Software and Video Games. The guide rates games by violent content, giving parents the information they need when buying games for their children. To give you an example. Final Fantasy VII is summarized by the guide: “This game contains some violence, illegal and harm¬ ful behavior, disrespectful language and has the ability to cause fear in children.” The guide can be obtained by calling (888) 772-2264. mediaandthefamily.org Dead Air The Sega Channel ends its broadcast day Wish For A Mega Hero Capcom grants a young boy's wish to meet his hero D uring the first week of December, a special wish was granted to Joey, an 8-year-old boy from Ohio who suffers from a life-threatening form of cancer. Capcom and the Make-a-Wish Foundation fulfilled Joey’s wish to meet Mega Man. Joey and his family visited the Capcom Entertainment offices, where he played Mega Man Neo, saw how Capcom’s games are designed and was presented with many Mega Man gifts—including Mega Man cake, a sketch of \ Mega Man by 4 the game’s creator, a Mega Man RC car and video games. Capcom also digi¬ tized a picture of Joey’s face and composed it into the image of Mega Man, so that he could become his favorite video game hero. “We really couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present. In a time where violence in video games seems to take the center stage, it’s nice to show the world the positive side to video gam¬ ing,” said Bill Gardner, president of Capcom Entertainment. “Joey is a young man that Capcom will not forget.” www.capcom.com D uring the Genesis’ reign of the 16-Bit market, Sega toyed with the idea of “games on demand." That came to fruition through the Sega Channel, a 24-hour-a-day service that allowed players to download and play Genesis titles for a monthly fee. The idea worked, for the most part, but there were a few draw¬ backs. Sega’s older, bigger con¬ figuration of the Genesis system couldn’t be used with the Sega Channel adapter, making it hard to sell the idea to gamers who “o"’* watch J\l, ptaylV had bought a Genesis early in was the Sega Channel's motto, its life. When the Sega Channel debuted, it was toward the end of the Genesis’ rule, and only had 150,000 subscribers out of the 20 million homes it was offered in. In late November, it was announced that the Sega Channel will stop broadcasting on June 30,1998. Run apart from Sega of America, the service had watched its subscriber base dwindle with the rise of 32-Bit consoles. Reportedly the Sega Channel had been toying with the idea of providing its games-on-demand service to personal computers, but with the rise of cable modems and Internet gaming, the need for a system like that through a coaxial cable also dried up. www.sega.com Tidbits... Games that Go Platinum According to Ninterrdo, Diddy Kong Racing reached sales of 1 million copies in early December. Nintendo says that DKR is the fastest-selling v video game in history. Not to be outdone, Sohy also announced that Final Fantasy Vtt has exceeded sates of t million copies. Considering that FFVII is an RP6, this is a huge leap for the genre. Digitally Immortalized Ever dream of starring in a video game? Welt, with a new contest from Electronic Arts and Mello Yello, you can! EA will create digitized images of three lucky grand-prize winners to appear in a future EA game. The three winners get an all-expense-paid trip to EA’s HCi near San Francisco for a tour and a chance to check out the company's future games. To win, look under the caps of 20- oz., 1 liter and a liter bottles of Mello Yello. Each bottle includes an offer for $10 off EA’s games. The promotion runs through Feb. 28,1998 in markets throughout the Southeast. Robotech Still On Early In December, CameTek iled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Wheel of Fortune, the campany’s first N64 release. Is currently on shelves, jeopardy! has also just been released. But the project that might have, fallen Is their N64 title Robotech: Crystal Dreams. According to the company, the game is still on and making progress and will not be effected by the bankruptcy, According to CameTek’s Milt Bland, the game is stl ln development and is look¬ ing great, and should be out soon. “We want to make sure that this is the best game we can make before releasing it." If that holds true, then Robotech fans should be very pleased by the results. X Marks The Spot VM Labs hopes Ihst their new hardware will become the next big thing T here’s a new video game system on the horizon, but it’s not from any of the names you’ve heard before—no Sega, Sony, Nintendo, 3DO, Atari or Amiga. Dubbed the “Project X,’’ this new machine has been in development for three years by Los Altos, Calif.-based VM Labs. Shrouded in secrecy, the company has finally been able to share some of the details with EGM. According to VM Labs’ founder and CEO Richard Miller, who once served as Atari’s vice president of technology, the new system is “sev¬ eral generations ahead of the current gaming platforms.” Miller declined to cite exact system specifications, but the guys at VM Labs stress the fact that this machine will change the way games are made, allowing developers an unprecedented amount of freedom. They would not put a number on the main processor (64-Bit, 128-Bit, etc.), but did say that it’s several times more powerful than current machines. that software development began ramping up about a month ago. VM Labs also points out that developers who have seen their technology are enthusiastic. They provided comments from Gerry Blau at AndNow LLC, who said “At first I was skeptical about the introduction of a new gaming platform in what is already an extremely competitive mar¬ ket, ruled by formidable players. However, by the end of our meeting with the wizards at VM Labs, I found it very difficult to think of any pos¬ sible outcome other than success for this new machine.” Previous credits from AndNow’s staff include Mr. Bones on the Saturn as well as Ecco the Dolphin and X-Men 1 and 2 on the Genesis. Formed in 1996, the company has yet to release its first game but are working on projects for other platforms. Japanese software support is also of concern, and one that VM Labs recognizes, but has not yet addressed. A majority of software for video Don’t forget to visit GameSpot News for the latest 111 video game headlines! http://headtine.gamespot.com Building the hardware is only half of the battle that VM Labs has ahead. Bringing out a new video game system is never a cake walk, and to handle manufacturing, the company is dealing with several major consumer electronics compa¬ nies. According to Miller, more than one compa¬ ny will be involved in producing “Project X” hardware, although specific hardware partners have yet to be disclosed. With the PlayStation currently at the peak of its success, 1998 may be the best time to release a new system. Current consoles are get¬ ting serious competition from the PC market in terms of graphics superiority, so it’s a good time to release hardware that could once again tip the scales toward the console side. The price of the machine will be a factor in its mass mar¬ ket appeal, and VM Labs told us that their machine will land at a price that’s competitive with current consoles. Once you have good hardware and a manufac¬ turer, the next vital step is software. A steady flow of software is a key factor in the success or failure of a system. While many consider Tempest 2000 as the jaguar’s killer app, lacklus¬ ter software support eventually killed the machine. VM Labs claims that they have gained the interest of developers and publishers and game systems comes from Japan, and while U.S. and European development can sustain a sys¬ tem for a while, Japanese development will be vital to the long-term success of “Project X.” Some will say that there just Is not enough room in the video game industry for another hardware platform. Bill Rehbock, VM Labs’vice president of third-party development points out that when Sony first introduced the PlayStation, there were as many as six systems on the mar¬ ket, and that at the time, Sony was new to the video game industry. Jeff Minter, who was behind what is widely considered the Jaguar’s best title. Tempest 2000, is also an active member of the Project X team. As a game developer, VM Labs says that Minter’s knowledge has helped them keep the project on the right track and focusing on the right things. Art created by Minter using early Project X tools can be seen at his Web site (http://www.magic- net.net/~yak/). If all the factors come together—software, solid hardware, a big marketing and promotional push, worldwide software support and a mass market price, then the “Project X” at the very [east has a chance. We will have more updates on the “Project X” in future issues of EGM. www.vmlabs.com Sushi-X Files e-mail: sushi..x@zd.com (c Something Special For Our Loyal Subscribers! shawn_smith@zd.com THE BLOB 3 Hoppy Stomp Charge #< 3 +Kick Rabbit Shortarm ^ ® + Punch (close) Rabbit Longarm -^tt'^ac^ + PunchCfar) Hoppy Kick + Kick Jackrabbit Punch 003 + Punch SUPER MOVES Hash ’N Bash #3 003 0 +Kick Mega Carrot M. Gun 0^0#^^ +Punch Rabbit Punch Overdrive -i '3 0 'i '3 0 +Punch CLAYTALITY Rabbit Out of a Hat ^♦00 SR Rabbit Pellets SL Gum Toss +Kick Taffy Twist + Punch Jelly Roll Charge 00 + Punch Air Twist 'S-SO + Punch (in air) SUPER MOVES Big Gun Charge Punch, hit Kick Super Twist + Punch KickO’ Plenty #000 + Kick CLAYTALITY Who Da Man! #3 0 SR Fireworks ^0^0 Splat! SL, SR, SL, SR Buzz Saw Charge 00 + Punch Blob Raid 0«#Et^ + Kick L.A.P.D. + Punch Dragon Glove #3 0 +Punch SUPER MOVES Irvine Axe Massacre #®0#K><3 + Kick Super Lunge Punch # 30#30 + Punch Overhead Axe #i2<3#»4a + Punch CLAYTALITY Launch From Island ##SL ## Da Bomb Knock Off Top Half 0#0SR #«OSR Meat Grinder Bite ### SL SL ##0 SL Hit_and Run ##00 + HP (2 inches away) Pac-Man SR BAD MR. FROSTY J ( ICKYBDOCLAY ) Ice Bash + Punch Unearthly Travel #65 0 + Punch Snow Ball Great Pumpkin Charge •^0+Punch #3 0+ Punch Blizzard Ghoul Roll #«0 +Kick Charge 00 +Punch Ice Pick Bats in the Belfry ♦ ^ 0 + Punch 0#® + Punch Ice Skate Dash Opener Boohooken Charge 00+ Punch 0#3 + Punch SUPER MOVES Rising Ghoul Roll Frozen Frenzy ♦ »0®#30 + Kick 0«#«0 + Kick Icky Kick 0e#3 0 + Kick Super Kicks #30#fl0 + Kick SUPER MOVES Super Hurricane 03#»00 +Kick Evil Presence ♦ t50#t40 + LP CLAYTALITY Snowcone Squeeze Icky Shuffle OoOO +Kick 0##0 SL Haifa Loaf of Clay-Fu Knock Off Top Half #«0#«0 + Kick 0#00 a few steps away CLAYTALITY Squish Demon Spin ♦ 0 ♦ 0 a few steps away 0^#30SL Launch From Island Scary ##SL, SR ♦ #00 SR ( BANKER ) rEARTHWDRMJIM ) Merry-Go-Clown #ttO +Kick Fire! Fire! #30 + Punch Get ’Em Fifi EWj Punch ♦ fi #■ + Punch 0#a + Punch Ferris Wheel #«# +Kick Tumbleworm ♦ «0 +Kick SUPER MOVES Worm Ball Welcome to the Big Top ##+ Kick ♦ «##«# + Kick Big Fifi #a0>#*0 +Punch Supers ♦ BO#ttO + Kick CLAYTALITY SUPER MOVES Super Fire ♦ 30#«0 + Punch Stairway to Heaven #65 0#*0 +Punch Super Propeller # 65 0# 16 0 +Kick Super EWJ Punch Cannon Claytality ♦#♦♦ ♦ flO#3 0 + Kick CLAYTALITY Off the Island Claytality 0000 Knock Off Top Half 0#0 SR ^e^djbutt Claytality Cow From the Sky #♦# SR, SL Squish 0000 SR RUNG POW Crane Technique #eO + Punch Egg Fu Young 0#3 + Kick The Crane #+ HK (in the air) Nunchakus #3 0 + Punch SUPER MOVES Pork Fried Rice #3 0#3 0 + Kick Fu Manchu #fl 0#3 0 + Punch Lo Mein #»##feO + Kick CLAYTALITY Bruce Lee Squish ### Slice & Dice 000 Round Toss #♦00 Pan Toss o#o# ( HDUNGAN ) Voodoo Surfing #^0 +Kick Air Voodoo Surfing #® # + Kick (in Air) Chicken Baseball ♦ 3 0 + Punch Voodoo Mask Smash ♦# + Kick (in Air) Curse Crawl ♦ 0 + Kick (in Air) Upperkick 0#« + Kick SUPER MOVES Super Twirl #E5<3#»0 + Kick Graveyard Shift 00#«0 +Punch CLAYTALITY Claytal Hand Grope ### SL Claytal Bad Hand ♦ SR Claytal Bad Mojo 0 e# 30 SL Clay Fighter 631/3 The Cast of Clay Fighter 631/3 Bad Mr. Frosty An evil snowman with bad habits. Bonker ; Whoever said I downs were fun? } Kung Pow Stereotypes go crazy with Kung. T. Hoppy A rabbit with a real Rambo complex. The Blob The name realty says it all. Taffy This guy's really bad for your teeth. Ickybod Clay A typical scary, Halloween type. Houngan A witch doctor and his chicken. Earthworm Jim Interplay’s token character! SECRET What do you think? ■, We’re trying something a little new with the Sushi-X Files these days. So what do you think? We still want your feedback, so don't slop those letters. The Idea here is to not only give you some- - thing to laugh at or enjoy, but also present some useful infor- ^ mation—be it strategy for a game, a move list for a new fighting game, or other info to help take your gaming J further. So keep your ideas coming: tor Sushi-X Files 1920 Highland Ave. Ste. 222 ' Lombard, IL 60148 ^ 'Grumby” Speaks His Mind No, not Gumby. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford Gutnby, so we got the second best thing, Grumbyt Being Gumby’s body-double, Grumby has an intimate knowledge of the green clay friend’s life and realm. Since Clay Fighter 631/3 deals with clay and violence, we thought we’d get Grumby’s opinion on violence in video games. Specifically, we asked Grumby the following; , - EGMt How do you feel about the amount of violence in video games' these days? Grnmby: Well, i think back to when we had to work with the Blockheads. 1 mean here are two guys who are constantly causing trouble. If they're not hoisting someone up on a ladder, theyVe top¬ pling over boxes. Even with all the mess they made, we never once had to resort to vtetence. Sure, we would’ve liked to mett them down or blow them up, but we didn’t ^ * EGM: So it’s fair to say that you think there’s too much of a focus on death and destruction? » ■; Grumby: 1 think sb, but ■ then again—the triore I I think, about it, themore 1 ; killed those two. 1 mean, what A-hotes they: were! £GM: Oh; wet,..sorry 1 to bring back those free s^scription to your • lrelf:Yeah...uh,..see A History of Clay Clay Fighter has really been around for some time. Starting way back on the Genesis and : Super NES, the little clay fighters have been at ' each other’s throats. Of course, if it weren’t for all of the gore of Mortal Kombat and the stan¬ dard Street Fighter set, we most likely would never have even seen one game tike Clayfighter made —let alone a half dozen or so! So here’s a short history of clay in video games. Clay Fighter Clay Fighter 2: judgement Clay Clay Fighter: Tournament Ed. Clay Fighter 2: judgement Clay PlayStation: Clay Fighter Extreme Nintendo 64: Clay Fighter 63 1/3 On a side note, we shouldn’t forget Claymates on the Super NES and the upcoming Skullmonkeys (even though they’re not really in the CF series). Point Does Clay Fighter do a good job at being both fun and funny? POINT: Yes. for two reasons. One, the game does a good job of mixing several fight¬ ing game engines, and the control is very responsive. It just feels right. Two, Interplay rounded up several recognizable voice actors to lend each character a hilarious goofball personality. —Crispin Boyer COUNTERPOINT: No way. Sure, the game may be funny, but when it comes right down to it, I just wasn’t impressed with Clayfighter as a fight¬ ing game. It’s sup¬ posed to be funny, but that sure isn’t worth $60 to me! I’ll go with something that may not make me laugh, but will last a lot longer. Point Counter Join America's favorite racing famiiy. Newman/Haas Racing. We’ve got racing in our blood. International News By John Ricciardi john_ricciardi@zd.com -:x-X Yamauchi Says “Stop Playing Dull Games” S pace World ’97 kicked off with an address by Nintendo Co., Ltd. president Hiroshi Yamauchi. He repeated Nintendo’s battie cry with both the Game Boy (which is stiil going strong after neariy nine years), N64 and 64DD: quaiity over quantity, innovation over duilness. According to Yamauchi, Nintendo has the formula for success, and that their 64DD and upcoming N64 titles will revitalize boring, drab market. “The recent TV game market is losing momentum. Naturally, it’s because of too many boring or too complicated software, that ordinary users can’t enjoy playing. Such games are flooding the market,” Yamauchi told the assembled crowd. The DD, in Nintendo’s estimation, will change the way video games are made—for the better. “We can’t have a bright future prospect for the TV video games right now. This is why we are about to offer the 64DD, to bring about a quali¬ tative change in games. Without introducing unique new ideas, we can’t persuade users to accept the 64DD, and that is why it’s taking a long time to launch the system,” he said. “As for the price, I want to make it as cheap as pos- sibie, but i can’t say how much it will be right now. We would like to make the notable differ¬ ence with the existing TV games.” “Now, the game industry is facing the turning point for the developers toward the next year and thereafter. The current TV game market is just the setting sun, and it must realize the changes. 1 beiieve the overseas [outside of Japan] TV game market is fine compared with Japan, but we can’t be optimistic. It, too, is facing the turning point, i think.” Yamauchi aiso announced that an N64 version of Derby Stallion, a hugely popular PlayStation horse racer, is coming. Plus, he confirmed that the U.S. wili be getting Pocket Monsters (with a new name because of trade¬ mark issues) sometime in 1998. At the show, Nintendo offered players a special Pocket Monsters monster, and thousands of kids and their parents descended onto the Space World floor. Pokemon madness was so widespread that Nintendo added a fourth day to the show to accommo¬ date the over¬ whelming number of eager players. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter: The Story So Far S ega recently released their n Megabyte RAM upgrade cartridge for the Saturn in Japan. The cart, four times as big as the previous RAM cart (which was used with Marvel Super Heroes, Metal Slug, King of Fighters ’96 and several other titles), comes bundled with the fantastic Saturn conversion of Capcom’s X-Men Vs. Street Fighter. While the 4 Meg cart isn’t backwardly compatible with the aforementioned smaller cart games, it does work with Marvel Super Heroes—and there are several games planned for it in Japan, including Vampire Savior, Dungeons & Dragons Collection and Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter. Without this cart, whose U.S. release is stilt up in the air, it’s highly doubtful that any of these games wilt ever make it to the U,S. In other XM Vs. SF news, Capcom announced a version of the game for the PlayStation, but it’s a bit different The current title is X-Men Vs.: Street Fighter EX Edition (no, it’s not g-O). Because of the PlayStation’s RAM limitations, only one player can fight ofi each side. Instead of a tag team. You'll still be able to choose two per team, but only one of them will do the fight¬ ing—the other only comes in during special moves. To make up for the loss, they are includ¬ ing Training and Survival Modes—two options that aren’t available in the Saturn version of the game. A U.S. release 1 of the “EX Edition” is I slated for this spring, T according to Capcom I USA representatives, f Look for a preview in EGMsoon. Enix Brings DQto GB Enix's Popular Dragon Quest Series Goes Portable The Ten Best-Selling Games As of Nov. 23 | |in I n a surprise move, Enix of Japan recently announced that the company’s hugely successful RPG series. Dragon Quest (known as Dragon Warrior in the U.S.), would be coming to the Game Boy. Titled Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland, this first-ever portable Dragon Quest will be released in March 1998 overseas and will weigh in at a hefty 8 Megabits. Not much information has been released about the game yet, but it will be compatible with the Game Boy Link Cable, just like Nintendo’s Pocket Monsters, which as we reported earlier has sold over 7 million copies in Japan. Thanks to DQ’s enormous popularity in Japan, it’s expected that sales of this hot title will burst into the millions within weeks of its release. DQ fans might recognize the character Terry from Dragon Quest VI, the 1995 Super Famicom RPG that was never released in the United States. fapan ^ J.League Pro Soccer Club Tsukurou! 2 (Sega)-SS m ^ Gallop Racer 2 (Tecmoj-PS Q Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo)-N64 Einhander (Square)-PS 0 Let’s & Goll WGP Hyper Heat (Jalecoj-PS 0 Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Atlus)-SS 0 Pocket Monsters (NIntendoj-GB 0 Power Dolls 2 (ASCII)-PS 0 Everybody’s Golf (Sony)-PS 0 Game De Hakkenl! Tamagotchi 2 (Bandai)-GB A. Rcsr'V' -f! HPation logo are-lrademarf Iwemark of the fntei^ive Df are property of their re^ntive r Video Game Gossip G Speculation Madden football from Fox? EA, Virgin deal dead Rewritable PlayStation games? PS64 dev kits arriving this summer? Durai release pushed back to 1999 Rare working on new Bond game? Quartermann S by a slew of urtent messages on our,wtretess EGM Mk2 satellite communicajfbn device. Here’s vyjiafbur Q-sleuths have unearthed 0He’sM alutations Quarterfans! It is I, the great Q-holio, PlayStation 64 Tidbits reporting live from sunny Foster City, Canf.,,hQtnje-- ^xtsterCity, Calif.JJerry and I have uncovered a mother lode of of Sony of America’s HQ. Right nowH-W hiding in info on the l^ayStation successor. According to our Q-spies, the the bushes with my Nippojies'e buddy, Terry Aki. format of the PlayStatTofk64 has not been finalized as of yet. We were just abouUfH'nfiltrate Sony’s stronghold although the field has been narrowed down to two well-qualified via the air conditkrning vent, when we got^ddu_g^^_flflaiists. The first candidate in qVstion is the Mini Disc HD. As one wouTcTsutnii^se from the name, this new format is basically a high-density versfen-Qf the current gendr^tion Mini Disc. Unlike the existing Mini Disc {vvhich boasts aroundazo megabytes of rewritable storage space), th^ new MD HD i^^aid to feature over __4oo Megabytes of infinitely revirtjtable storage\pace. This new high'd'errsity version of the Mini Df^c is a format^ony has been working on foHhe last few years anHjs targeted tb,be the succes- ..._...... ....____ sor to the Mini DisKThe PS64 would bp a prime can'qlidate to TV (njTndshare earned by- -—-ttseJhJs format si format dfilieir own w wdLrtd..give th€^PS64 tf ' candidate i'p a —recent possibilityiXDVD-RW. 6ver the past ye'pr, Sony and\Philips No H/s Mine / (San Mateo, Cal/f.)This just in,/'We hear several reportsTrfffhb Q-informants t^at Fox Interactive is the latest gaipTrfg company launching a shorts lineup. According to those M-the-know, Fox is looking to leverage their presence ;e Nintendo is also irttroducing a rewritable witfr-phe DD64. If used, the MD HD\format 4 the sTprage capacity df a CD and tne ndcE their p'l the Fox Spirts label) to bring sports ganphg to a PlayStation and N64 near you by Christ/nas 1998. Considering how lucrativethe sports galling genre if with the gamifJg consoles/sports games make up,himost 50 percent of the video game raarkqt), this newv -tcuchl ^Ju^J=ll3lULy:\y’ comes ai little shocl^'to fans of sports video gdmes; Howevet, —ha.ye'ljeen woVin^on a rewri\able DVD formW. In contract to someonp else may fihd this move td be a shock to/their system. Toshi^atf DVD-f^W format, the '^ony/Philips dVd-RW is designed Who coi|ld that be? None other thah the leadpr misports/ga/nm^: {pbechdaper a|id n^ore efficient than Toshiba’s rewritable DVD, Electronic Arts. | ! i i 1 \ \ wJiichlwduld result ih lower licensing costs toidevelopers] Sony is You see, EA ownd.a sports franchise that 19 very near apd\ - 'hop^g the DVD/-RW.format wil.! be inexpensive enough tofuse by dear to tjiem: Madden Football. Up Until now, the fact that Jqlnh.,.^ tbe'tinTe the PldyStption 64 is/ready to roll. At this point, ^the mair Madden '(and Pat Surbrnerall, who is\also featured ir1\EA’s garhes)._stufhblmg blpck wbuld be (wjiit for it) cost. ^Ithough the/final 1 television announcer for Fox Spotts was not^big'bqncern to format hafh’t bpen chosen yet, the Mini Dis/: HD seems to be the rriDrelogj,c4l path. / / / "Tri other-.PS64 news, Spny approached fdveral devetofrers late ir sjpdcsc^" .. I announcer for Fox Spotts was not'a^bigbqi EA as Foxy/as not in direct competitioiVwith EA Spbcts. fhatjs until now. Hhe news tha'bFox InteractiveViay launch a''sp,prts divi¬ sion (perhad^s even a football game) comp^fipates things grehtly.^.^ ippb Wifh proposed So what’s goi^na happen? At this point, it’s hkd to say. On hand, the Madden franchisees established naTns with great brand awareness among football gamers. On the othfer-hand, it’s difficult to dispute the fact th'bt john Madden is not the sole" property of Electroflip Arts and has obligations with Fox Will heads roll? The Cb-fyiann guaranteeVit... Westwood But EA Wouldnit — (Irrine, Calif.) Speaking of EA^-f^nd don’t we always?) talks"" between the sports gaming beherribth. and Virgin Interactive a reportedly dead in the water. Inside soufe-esjjeveal Virgin Interactive has until March 31,1998 to raise eh'ougtLcapitai to stay in business. Virgin initially wanted to hand.fl\ieLtti£j:Dinp to EA in exchange for a cool $215 million-bcash only, thank yo J very much. EA then countered that with a jbid of around $150 million (most of which would be EA stock)|and back and forth |lh( negotiations went. Things reportedly camb to a screeching haljt 1 when Brett Sperry, head of Westwood Studios (a subsidiary of " ^^-Quickies Virgin), demanded to be a member of £A’d board of directors. EA politely said no and proceeded to kick Virgin to the curb. Down, but not out. Virgin is reportedly speaking jto several other inter¬ ested heavyweight industry players (a nuijnber of which are very attracted to the idea of acquiring the yvell-ifegarded Westwood ^ __: ^ ^ Studios in the bargain). We do know dne tjhmgTbrl^ulellthe eafTy ig^lWenythatlusf about wraps it up for this month is ticking for Virgin. As soon as we he|r m(3.taVjxgiain£afr.Qm.lhe_0;fan5.CatcfLyalater* Q-crew, we’ll let you know. last month’s Q-Mannt I broke the news person shooter being worked qn by Rare using the GoldenEye engine. Well, our sources ipdicjate the game in question will be another Bond game, although it will not be a sequel to Golden- Eye. The game is currentlyjwel in development and is due out in ^The "0" turned out most de.vdlopers were not (rapPY with the'design so Sony scrapped.it'and started to rede^gn the systeib. Because of this delaj(,-de'velopment systems Vjifn not be available until june of a9'98'at the earliest. The PS64 (yhow said to h^Ve four times as much memory as the curren)>PlayStation (3.^,