Master Gamer News

November 3, 2000
   Nintendo's principal owner Hiroshi Yamauchi makes a complete jackass out 
of himself in almost every single interview he does, and his most recent 
interview with a Japanese web site was no exception.  Regarding third-party 
developers, which any console needs to be successful, Yamauchi said, 
"Software companies have been popping up like flies, and many of them are 
not helping the industry at all.  We will accept those software companies 
that want to make great games, and once we accept them, we'll talk with them
to ensure they don't make poor games... it's no longer a race to see how 
many useless companies you can get on your side."
   Yamauchi also took some thinly-veiled shots at Microsoft, which were 
about as subtle as a "your mama" joke.  He said, "There are many people in 
the industry that know nothing about games.  In particular, a large American
company is trying to engulf software houses with money, but I don't believe 
that will go well.  It looks like they'll sell their game system next year, 
but we'll see the answer to that the following year."
   Regarding the PlayStation 2, Yamauchi said, "Currently, most games 
released for the PlayStation 2 are not selling well at all in Japan.  I am
confident this is because game makers truly believe that they cannot make 
money on the PS2.  Large-scale games are done for.  If they continue to be 
made, then companies around the world will go under."  Apparently, by 
"large-scale games," he means "not Pokemon."

   A psychic by the name of Uri Geller has filed a lawsuit against Nintendo 
for featuring his name in Pokemon without his prior permission.  
Specifically, Geller objects to Pokemon's Evil-Geller character (known as 
Kadabra in the US) and its symbol of a bent spoon.  While presumably 
struggling to keep a straight face, Geller said, "Nintendo has turned me 
into an evil, occult Pokemon character.  Nintendo stole my identity by using
my name and my signature image of a bent spoon."  That's right, Geller's 
"signature image" is really a bent spoon.  
   Geller continued, "I'm filing this lawsuit against Nintendo not only to 
protect my name, but also to tell the world before the start of the holiday 
season that I have nothing to do with these violent characters, which have a
negative impact on children."  Geller announced back in January that he 
intended to sue Nintendo over this matter, but he just now got around to 
doing it.  
   Nintendo has not yet issued a public statement on the lawsuit, but we all
know that 99% of the time a lawsuit is filed against a company, the company 
being sued says, "These claims are without merit, and we intend to defend 
ourselves vigorously."
     
   Vice Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman has reiterated his "challenge" 
to makers of video games, movies, and music.  In a mass e-mail sent to 
executives at numerous companies, Lieberman wrote, "If your industries do 
not take the steps called for by the FTC within the next six months, and do 
not commit to policies with real teeth, then Vice President Gore and I will 
call on the FTC to bring action."  In the most disturbing sentence in the 
e-mail, Lieberman said, "If we find that the FTC lacks sufficient authority 
to respond to this problem, then we will recommend legislation to provide 
the necessary authority."  

   Not a single GameCube development kit has been shipped to any third-party
developers, despite the fact that the system is scheduled to be released 
less than one year from now.  Nintendo hopes to begin shipping its 
development kits to third-parties in late November or early December.  
Nintendo claims that when it does ship its development kits at that time, 
they will be the final development kits rather than half-finished kits.
(Sony shipped half-finished PS2 development kits five months before the 
final ones.)

   After losing more than $800 million in two years and predicting that it
would post a small profit this year, Sega has announced that its previous 
predictions were overly optimistic.  The company now expects to post a net 
loss of just under $200 million for the current year.  This is an 
improvement over the $400 million losses posted in 1998 and 1999, but a $200
million loss is bad news any way you look at it.

   LucasArts has announced that when the N64 version of Indiana Jones and 
the Infernal Machine is released this December, it will a rental-only game 
at Blockbuster Video.  If you want to buy the game, your choice of where to 
buy it will be limited to lucasarts.com and blockbuster.com.  
        
   Microsoft has the publishing rights to the next four Oddworld games, not 
just Munch's Oddysee.  No announcements have been made concerning the other 
three games, but they are probably Munch's Exoddus, The Hand of Odd, and one
other game.  The fourth game could be Squeak's Oddysee, which Oddworld's 
Lorne Lanning mentioned as being the third chapter in the Oddworld 
Quintology in an interview several years ago.
 
   Sony has finally started to air TV commercials for the PlayStation 2.  
Believe it or not, the ad says "New For 2078" and then talks about the 
telepathically-controlled PlayStation 9.  No gameplay footage or artwork is 
shown from any PlayStation 2 games, and the PS2 hardware is only mentioned 
in the final two seconds of the commercial.

   Sony Europe has threatened to take legal action against the European 
Trade Commission in order to avoid a two percent tax on importing 
PlayStation 2 systems into Europe.  Sony wants the ETC to classify the PS2 
as a computer (which would mean it could imported and exported freely), not 
as a video game system (which makes it subject to a two percent tax).

   The TV show based on You Don't Know Jack is going to employ the services 
of Paul Reubens as its host after all.  Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman) signed 
on to be the host of the show last year, then backed away in January 2000, 
and has now signed on once again.  ABC has ordered 13 episodes of the show 
from the producers at Carsey-Werner.

   Capcom is gearing up for the proposed late 2001 release of its online 
gaming network.  This network will supposedly allow gamers to play certain 
games with each other regardless of whether they own the Dreamcast, 
PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube version of the game.  The first game that's
rumored to use the new network is a doozy: The next installment of the 
Resident Evil series.

   The original Nintendo Entertainment System recently celebrated its 15th 
birthday.  Over 60 million NES systems have been sold worldwide.  That's 
only slightly less than the PlayStation's mark of 70 million, but much less 
than the Game Boy, whose numerous revisions (Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy 
Color, etc.) have sold a combined 100 million units worldwide.

   3DO's bottom line has gone from a $13 million net loss to a $43 million 
net loss in the past year.  Not so coincidentally, just a few days after 
this news came the announcement that 3DO is in the process of receiving $15 
million in "financing" from the personal money of the company's CEO, Trip 
Hawkins.  

   Midway's bottom line has gone from an $11 million net profit to a $10 
million net loss in the past year.  Meanwhile, Business Week reports that 
Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, when he's not complaining about the WWF's 
possible purchase of WCW, is also interested in taking over Midway.  
Redstone already owns 31 percent of Midway and is rumored to be interested 
in the other 69 percent.

   Reuters, "The World's Leading Provider of Financial News," recently made 
a big mistake in a report about the Game Boy Advance.  The news service 
initially reported that Nintendo would ship ten million GBA systems in the 
system's first ten days of availability in Japan.  The next day, Reuters 
corrected its story and brought that number down to one million.  Oops!

   Microsoft has hinted that it is interested in the possibility of 
producing a portable game system in the future.  Microsoft's VP of mobile
technology Paul Gross says, "I think over time, as we establish the Xbox as 
a successful gaming device, the concept of a companion gaming device is a 
very interesting thing.  We could potentially leverage a lot of what we've 
done in the richness of a Pocket PC."

   The Gathering of Developers seems to make a habit out of removing the 
multi-player modes from its PC-to-Dreamcast ports at the last minute.  They 
did it with the Dreamcast version of Railroad Tycoon 2, and now they have 
done it with Kiss Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child.  The game has no 
multi-player modes of any kind, online or off.

   Ubi Soft is running what could be the worst contest of all time in order 
to promote the release of "Disney's Donald Duck Goin' Quackers" (and no, I 
didn't make up that title).  Five hundred people will win a copy of the 
game, and 500 others will win a "Disney's Donald Duck Goin' Quackers 
inflatable chair."  And the grand prize that only goes to one "lucky 
winner"?  Is it a two-year lease for a car as with a recent Titus contest?  
No, it's a year's supply of Donald Duck Orange Juice for a family of four.  
What the hell am I going to do with 500 gallons of orange juice?

DELAYS
Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare for Dreamcast and PlayStation
old release date: first quarter 2001 (January, February, or March)
new release date: second quarter 2001 (April, May, or June)

Blair Witch Volume 3: The Elly Kedward Tale for PC
old release date: November or December 2000
new release date: first quarter 2001

Conker's Bad Fur Day for Nintendo 64
old release date: January 2001
new release date: March 5, 2001

Knockout Kings 2001 for PlayStation 2
old release date: Fall 2000
new release date: early 2001

Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX for PlayStation
old release date: Fall 2000
new release date: February 2001

Paper Mario for Nintendo 64
old release date: January 2001
new release date: February 5, 2001

Sega Dreamcast Broadband Adapter
old release date: late November or early December
new release date: "late December or early January"
(note: this adapter will cost $60, and it only works if you don't have a 
pre-existing DSL or cable modem connection)

The World Is Not Enough for PlayStation 2 and PC
old release date: Fall 2000
new release date: first half of 2001

NEWS BRIEFS
   When asked why Square and Electronic Arts aren't currently on the big 
list of Xbox developers, Microsoft executive Seamus Blackley replied, "You 
didn't look closely enough.  Try resting your eyes for a few weeks, then 
look again."

   Approximately 1.2 million Dreamcast systems have been sold in the US 
since the beginning of this year.  In the four months of 1999 that the 
Dreamcast was available in the US, about 1.5 million systems were sold.

   Westwood Studios has revealed that it is working on a massively multi-
player online RPG called Earth and Beyond.
 
   With Eidos Interactive nowhere near profitability and no signs of a turn-
around in the future, the company's CEO, Charles Cornwall, has left the 
company.  The official company line is that Cornwall left "to pursue 
technology and mining interests in America and South Africa."

   Sega has revealed that the "50 free hours" offer for SegaNet is actually 
valid for one full month.  If you were to spend 500 hours on SegaNet in your
first month of access, it would all be free.

   The Dreamcast version of Austin Powers: Mojo Rally has been cancelled.

   Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto 3 is in development 
for the PlayStation 2.  It will be released in late 2001.

   The success stories of Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale have returned 
Interplay to profitability, although just barely.  The company posted a net 
profit of $100,000 in the most recent financial quarter, which is a far cry 
from the $17 million loss that was announced at this time last year.

   Sony has announced a summer 2001 release date for the next edition of the
Twisted Metal series, Twisted Metal Black.  The game is being co-developed 
by Incognito Studios and a Sony team in Santa Monica, California.

   Verant Interactive has announced that EverQuest now has over 300,000 
members.  With a membership fee of $10 per month, that's $3 million of 
guaranteed revenue per month.

   Sony has decided not to sell PlayStation 2 systems on its playstation.com
web site due to suspicions among retailers that Sony would give its online 
store preferential treatment over retailers.

   Business Week Magazine reports that Nvidia could be trying to purchase 
3dfx.  It wouldn't be surprising if the deal went through because 3dfx is 
nowhere near profitable and hasn't been for a very long time.

SALES CHARTS
   The following sales charts are based on unit sales for the week of 
October 22 to 28.

Top Ten Best-Selling Games For All Systems
1. Zelda: Majora's Mask for Nintendo 64
2. Pokemon Silver for Game Boy Color
3. Pokemon Gold for Game Boy Color
4. Madden NFL 2001 for PlayStation 2
5. Tekken Tag Tournament for PlayStation 2
6. SSX Snowboarding for PlayStation 2 (click on the blue text for Master 
Gamer's review of the game)
7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 for PlayStation
8. Ridge Racer 5 for PlayStation 2
9. TimeSplitters for PlayStation 2
10.NHL 2001 for PlayStation 2

Top Three Best-Selling Games For Each Individual System
PlayStation 2
-Madden NFL 2001, Tekken Tag Tournament, SSX Snowboarding

Dreamcast
-Quake 3: Arena, NFL 2K1, Ready 2 Rumble: Round 2

PlayStation
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Medal of Honor Underground, NBA Live 2001

Nintendo 64
-Zelda: Majora's Mask, The World Is Not Enough, Mario Tennis

PC
-The Sims, The Sims: Livin' Large, Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator

   The following is a list of old games that are currently among the top ten
best-sellers for their respective systems:
-Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for PlayStation
-Gran Turismo 2 for PlayStation
-Driver for PlayStation
-Star Wars Episode I: Racer for Nintendo 64
-RollerCoaster Tycoon for PC
-Age of Empires 2 for PC

Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News, 
GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Daily Radar, 
Sega X, PSX 2 Online, Nintendorks, IGN, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming 
Age, The NPD Group, PC Data, www.cowdance.com

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