1775 lines
90 KiB
Plaintext
1775 lines
90 KiB
Plaintext
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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ÜÛÛÛÜ
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ßßß
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÛ ÞÝÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜ [Pred 94]
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ÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÞÛÛ ÛÛß ßÛÛ ÛÛÛÞ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÞÛÛ ÜÛÛ ÞÛÛ
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ÛÛ² ÛÛ² Û²ÞÛ² ÛÛ²ÞÛ²ÞÝ ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² Û²
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ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÜÛ²ÞÛ² ÛÛ²ÞÛ² Û ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÜÛ²
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ÛÛ± ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛ± ÛÛ±ÞÛ± ÞÝÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛÛÛ±ÞÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÛÛ± ÞÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ±ÞÛ± ÛÞÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ±
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ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛÜ ÜÛ± ÛÛ° ÞÞÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ßÛ° ÛÛ°
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ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ßÛÛÛß ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛÛÛÛ°Þ° ÛÛ°
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C O N S O L E M A G A Z i N E
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FRoNTiER magazine is (c) copyright 1994
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September 1994
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EDiTOR: Gordon Craick
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3Do þ Jaguar þ Genesis þ CD-i þ CD32 þ GenesisCD þ Super Nintendo
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and all other consoles
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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iNDeX TO iSSuE 5
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*******/\*******
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Welcome
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Updates
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Changes
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Feedback
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News
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* Projecting - The Ultra64
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* Atari steps up for the holiday season
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* Philips sets the future with a new CD standard
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* 3DO ][ in development
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* Mortal Kombat 2 hits the streets
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* Jaguar the 10th!
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Commercial Advertising
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Features
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* Ultra 64 - What can we expect?
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* The complete list of upcoming 3DO software and hardware
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* Mortal Kombat 2 - The Moves!
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Editorial/Opinion
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* Is the upcoming console war good or bad?
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Reviews
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* Super Street Fighter 2
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* Ken Griffey JR Major League Baseball
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Mini Reviews
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* Paladin's Quest
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The Cheater's Den
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Trading
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Support sites/distribution
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How *YOU* too can help out Frontier
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How to contact Frontier
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Credits/Thanx
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛ²±°
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ÛÛ Û ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÞÛÝÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ
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ÛÛ Û ÛÛÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛ ßÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛßßß
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°±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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FRONTIER returns, again after a delay of one month to bring you
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lots of exciting news and developments. Apologies and also thanks
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go out to those who contacted me when I planned issue 5 to be
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released. Sorry to let a few people down, but things were looking
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fine until unexpected distractions popped up :( At least it is nice
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to know though that people are waiting eagerly for each issue, its
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good to feel wanted! :) Frontier sort of got left out for a while,
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and by the time I got back to it, it was already mid August. Rather
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than release an incredibly late August issue, I decided that a
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better idea would be to release issue 5 in September.
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There have been a few of these delays lately which you have
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probably noticed, which has made me consider making the magazine
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bi-monthly, or decreasing each issue to mainly include news and a
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few reviews, with feature articles coming every couple of months.
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It is mainly these features articles that take the most time with
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Frontier, and to put together a decent one requires a fair amount
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of my time. Anyway, let me know what you think! it is largely up to
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you as readers as to how you would like the magazine to continue.
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Frontier is still looking for contributions from video game players
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from right across the world to make the magazine even better. The
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quick review format gives you an even greater opportunity to throw
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together a review, just put around 200-300 words together in
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whatever style you like and Frontier will publish it for all to
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read! We are also looking for general feature articles, similar to
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you have already read through previous issues of Frontier. If you
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think you are especially knowledgeable on one area of the video
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game industry, why not put together a feature article on all you
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know? What may seem obvious to you, will most likely be of interest
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to other readers.
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The next few months are definitely going to be one of the most
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exciting of the last few years, with the release of the ineffable
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PS-X, Saturn, 32X, JaguarCD, and also exciting games such as Donkey
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Kong Country, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Doom, uncountable
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racing games, and many more. Advertising is going to reach near
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fever pitch, with just about all the major video game manufacturers
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pouring millions into advertising over the months leading up to
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Christmas. Its going to be hard to ignore the fight no matter where
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you turn, as all the companies will be harping their 32 bit
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machines like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately not all of us are
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rich enough (eg: like me :) ) to afford _all_ of this new
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technology, but then again, it doesn't cost a cent to sit back and
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watch the results unfold with a grin......
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Gordon Craick (Editor -> FRONTiER magazine)
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< September 19th, 1994 >
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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UPDATES
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***/\**
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ALTHOUGH Frontier aims to make fewer mistakes than some other
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magazines, it would be naive to think there wouldn't be any. In
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earlier issues, several people have pointed out some inaccuracies
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or clear mistakes. Thanks to those people who did so, if I don't
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know about it - I can't correct it :) No one has reported any
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obvious errors in issue 4, so there are no updates this month, but
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let me know if you find anything that needs updating next issue.
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CHANGES
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***/\***
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For those who are just wanting to throw a few words together (say
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100-300) on a particular game, Frontier now includes a "Mini
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Review" section for these types of reviews. This should hopefully
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expand the number of reviews that we get in Frontier, as often
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people don't have that much time to throw together a full review.
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Full reviews will of course be preferred, but if you don't want to
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take the time then this is fine.
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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°±²ÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ
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ÛÛ ÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÛ Ûß
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ÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜ
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ÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÜÜÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ßÛ²±°
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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FRONTIER has been very grateful to the readers who have taken their time
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to write to the magazine and express some ideas and opinions. I'm
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_always_ after any sort of feedback, so whether you like everything, or
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something really annoys you let me know. If you're willing to express
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and opinion that you wouldn't mind publishing (maybe you've been
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expressing an opinion in some of the console newsgroups) here's your
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chance to let everybody else know what _you_ think.
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If you feel like a conversation on the console industry (or in fact
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anything!) send my some email, the best ones will be published in
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Frontier for others to join in on.
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±°
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ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜÜ
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ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ Û ÛÛÝßßßßÛÛ
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°±²ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ
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úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
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PROJECTING - THE ULTRA64
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***********=/\=*********
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Work on the Ultra-64 (the new name for Nintendo's Project Reality)
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is getting closer to a working prototype, after many months of
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constant "ifs" and "maybes". Several games are reported to be under
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development, both by Nintendo, and third party developers. Exact
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details are still under tight wraps, but the word is that the major
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video game producers already have the development stations in their
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hands.
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As with Nintendo's style, they are trying to keep all exact
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details secret until much closer to release. While they may be
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trying to dampen some of the (possibly less than impressive?) news
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for the next while, for such a project, even Nintendo will find it
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hard to keep details quiet for long.
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Many reports indicate that the Ultra-64 may be the first console
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to include new projection technology. For those who are a little
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unsure of what this means, imagine your own personal video game
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cinema displayed on your own wall (!) and you will have an idea of
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what Ultra64's projection technology will allow. If this turns out
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to be the case, no longer will you need a television set to enjoy
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your video games - the display device is actually built into the
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console itself! This also seems to agree with Nintendo's promise to
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deliver "virtual reality without a headset" which sounded almost
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entirely hype at first, but now seems a bit more credible.
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Projection technology might not be quite that revolutionary, but it
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will be an exciting experience for players. For more details and
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some guestimates of the final Ultra64, see our feature article in
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this issue!
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ATARi STEPS UP FOR THE HOLiDAY SEASON
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*******************/\****************
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Atari is planning on using the Christmas buying rush to help boost
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its flagging Jaguar sales. Up to $10 million dollars will be spent
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on advertising over the next few months, along with an aggressive
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attack against other console manufacturers such as 3DO, and the
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ageing SNES and Genesis. This campaign will include cable, and
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free-to-air television broadcasting, along with extensive print
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advertising.
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So far, the main problem that Atari has faced is the lack of
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Jaguar machines, as well as software being available in only a
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handful of stores. Atari has been looking carefully at this, and
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has been asking consumers what _they_ think will make the Jaguar
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sell better. To help increase availability, Atari is looking to
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extend new distribution partnerships, and persuade stores reluctant
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to stock Jaguar products to do so. Manufacture of machines at IBM
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is also set to be stepped up, so that more Jaguar units are
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available on the shelves in the Christmas rush.
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Atari has promised that many more Jaguar titles will also be
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released closer to the Christmas holiday period, to make the
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machine more attractive to a wider market. Several titles will be
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released simultaneously in October, and Atari expects up to 20-30
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titles to be available by Christmas.
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Late 1994 will probably decide the fate of the Jaguar. With so many
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other machines coming onto the market, and a stack of exciting
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software to go with them, Atari is going to struggle hard if they
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can't get a large existing base by the end of the year. While the
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machine may be the cheapest to buy, players will be reluctant to
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purchase a machine with a severe lack of recognition (largely media
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driven) and titles.
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PHiLiPS SETS THE FUTURE WiTH A NEW CD STANDARD
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*********************=/\=*********************
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Philips believe they have finally come up with a new CD standard,
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which could revolutionise the gaming market by the end of the
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century, possibly even sooner. Philips are well known for their
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initial development on the first CD's back in the early 1980's,
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where they quickly set the standard for the discs we know and use
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today.
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6-8 gigabytes are reported to be able to be stored on just one
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of Philips new standard-size CD disc, using improved pitting, and
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read-head technology. This is several times more than is currently
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possible on the standard disc, where only (yep, we can say that
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now!) around 500-700 megabytes are possible.
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This standard looks like also dominating the digital video market,
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where a replacement for magnetic video-cassettes has not really
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been viable enough to take off. In mid-1995, Philips will release
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the first players utilising the new standard, which is sure to
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revolutionise both the video game, and home audio-video market. Up
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to 200 minutes of CD audio, or around 134 minutes of very high
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quality MPEG2 compressed video can be filled onto one disk.
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A large question to be asked is just who will be the first video
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game company to include the standard on their machine? Sony,
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Nintendo, and Sega will already have their machines on the market
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by this time, so does this leave 3DO to sweep the board with 3DO2
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and this new standard?
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3DO ][ iN DEVELOPMENT
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*********=/\=********
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The 3DO standard is already making a strong entry into the video
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game market once dominated, and still largely controlled by the
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heavy-weights of Nintendo and Sega. Several companies have obtained
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hardware licenses for the system, and the good, and not so good 3DO
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titles are being now released. This flow isn't just going to dry
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up either, with much more coming its way to the 3DO in the coming
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months. Developers have been quick to see the opportunity to reach
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a newer audience, along with recognising the relative ease of
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programming a powerful machine.
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As first stipulated by the 3DO company, 3DO will not just be a
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single machine, but a growing standard. Keen to keep up with the
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increase in hardware capacity, 3DO has announced its preliminary
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standard for 3DO ][, where the first machines will be released in
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late 1995 or some time in early 1996. While this is only a initial
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standard, the final specs are not likely to be too different.
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PROCESSOR : 66mhz RISC (centered around the PowerPC chipset)
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MEMORY : 4 megabytes RAM. 4k internal processor cache, 4k data
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cache. 64K for save game storage.
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BUS : 400 megabytes a second
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GRAPHICS : 250,000 textured polygons per second. 150,000 triangles
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per second. Hardware texture mapping, Goudrad shading,
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3D perspective. Z-buffer support
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COLOURS : 24 bit (basically the same as the 3DO-1 standard)
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OTHER : MPEG compression as standard, MPEG2 as addon.
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RESOLUTION: 640x480 (interlaced)
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STORAGE : CVD CD-ROM (approx 1.25meg/sec). 2:1 hardware
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compression
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OUTPUT : NTSC, PAL, HDTV, RGB, SVGA as standard (same machine
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for all countries)
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INPUT : Individual 32k RAM save cartridges, further upgradeable
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PRICE : $300-$400
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3DO also plans on releasing a plug-in upgrade for existing 3DO
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units at the same time as 3DO-][ machines are released. Machines
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with this upgrade will supposedly perform the same as the
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individual 3DO2 machines. 3DO estimates a price of around $100-$200
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for the upgrade.
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If the 3DO2 standard turns out as planned, 3DO is definitely going
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to be the power machine of the future. 3DO mk2 blows away all
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current machines, including the Jaguar, Saturn, PS-X, and maybe
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even Ultra-64. 3DO's easy upgrade path will pay off, not only for
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3DO, but for 3DO owners as well.
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MORTAL KOMBAT 2 HiTS THE STREETS
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**************=/\=**************
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September 9th saw the release of one the largest games on this
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years game calendar, with Acclaim/Midway's universal release of
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Mortal Kombat 2. MK2 was released simultaneously on the GameGear,
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Gameboy(!), Super Nintendo, and Genesis along with an extensive
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advertising campaign. Australia, the US, and much of Europe
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witnessed the familiar juxtaposition of screen-shots and live
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actors across their TV screens trying to tempt players.
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Everybody who has so far played MK2 (including me!) find that
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the conversion has been excellent, retaining just about all
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features of the arcade version. MK2 offers a lot more challenge and
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variety than SSF2, making it a must for all beat 'em up fans. MK2
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also puts shame to the original SNES/Genesis first edition (MK1),
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which were released at about the same time last year - the amount
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of changes that have taken place between MK1 and MK2 make it an
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entirely different game (much as SF1 was a lot different to SF2).
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This time, SNES fans have probably received the best version,
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containing the full sound, and graphics from the arcade machine
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without sacrificing the gameplay. This was the main complaint over
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the conversion of MK1, suffering from several serious gameplay
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problems, especially on the SNES. Genesis owners are also in for a
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good conversion, though the game lacks some of the arcade detail
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and colours, but pretty much plays the same.
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Probably the best news for arcade purists was that MK2 marks a
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new marketing direction by Nintendo. No longer will Nintendo
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heavily censor games, and MK2 includes all of the blood, and all of
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the fatalities in their entirety from the arcade. A menu option to
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turn on and off the blood is also included for those wimps out
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there, although the game will still retain a MA15 classification.
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This move is to help beef up the image of Project Reality, where
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Nintendo aims to reach later teenage, and adult audiences, as well
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as the 10-16 year olds.
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For those who are not familiar with the arcade machine, MK2
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contains 12 varied characters, each with their own moves,
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battle-screens, etc. There are also two hidden characters in the
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game, which can be fought if you are good enough. Different to most
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other fighting games, players can execute multiple moves, where the
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timing of the move is equally important.
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Mortal Kombat 2 will probably the last of the continuing Mortal
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Kombat series to be released in such a universal way. Acclaim's
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license with Midway is officially over once MK2 is released on home
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systems, Midway taking up partnership with Nintendo. From
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indications, Nintendo looks to have secured an exclusivity contract
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with Midway, which means Nintendo will have a large say in what
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Midway games will be released for which systems in future.
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JAGUAR THE 10th!
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******=/\=******
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It couldn't really be argued that Jaguar owners have had
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disappointment after disappointment after a promising release of
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the machine late last year. So far there are only seven titles
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available for the machine, a pretty bad record for such any machine
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that has been out for more than 6+ months.
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Hoping to sweeten the year slightly, Atari is planning a big end
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in the last quarter. Along with the JaguarCD addon to be released,
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Atari plans to release a further 15-20 titles by the end of the
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year. This will bring the total to around 20-30 titles, but can we
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still trust this figure?? Five of these will hit the shelves on the
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10th October, when we will finally see the release of the long
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awaited Alien Vs Predator, Club Drive, Doom, Kick Off 3, and Kasumi
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Ninja. Whether this is enough to save the Jaguar is very
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debatable, as the Jaguar will need a lot more games of this
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standard to be a success.
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OTHER NEWS
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***=/\=***
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- Prices on the 3DO (mk1) have also dropped recently to a more
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reasonable $499, with some places offering up to 3 free titles with
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each machine. For those who have been interested in upgrading to
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the machine, it may still be wise to wait a further few months. New
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models by Sanyo, Goldstar, and Samsung are all going to hit the
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market, with a retail price sure to challenge Panasonic's 3DO
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domination of 3DO market-share. When machines such as the PS-X,
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32X, and Saturn hit the stores near the end of the year (or
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beginning of next year at this stage), prices are sure to drop even
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further.
|
|
|
|
- Alien Vs Predator is already in cartridge production, and will be
|
|
released later this month - for months now it has been one of the
|
|
most requested titles of the year. While initially release was
|
|
stated for some time in June, the game was pushed back several
|
|
months to make several improvements. A 3/4 finished version was
|
|
shown at the SCES, as reported in issue 4, but the good news for
|
|
Jag owners is the AvP is even _hotter_ than was shown back in July.
|
|
Texture mapping and lighting has been improved, along with the
|
|
finishing touches to the levels - play testers say that the game is
|
|
even more challenging, and better looking than the king of
|
|
three-dimensional shoot'em ups, Doom. Unfortunately, even Jaguar
|
|
owners are beginning to wonder, is this enough?
|
|
|
|
- Large video game retailers, Babbages, and Software Inc. have
|
|
decided to merge under the one company. While the two stores will
|
|
continue to be trade under their separate names, the partnership
|
|
aims to strengthen both retailers lead in the video game sales
|
|
market.
|
|
|
|
- AT&T has stalled its entry into the video game market for the
|
|
time being, placing on hold its own 3DO machine, which was planned
|
|
to include a built-in modem as standard. AT&T have indicated that
|
|
this is only while they continue to consider their options in the
|
|
video game market. The move is a bit of a mystery to most - maybe
|
|
AT&T didn't believe they could release a product at a suitable
|
|
price-tag for the market?
|
|
|
|
|
|
RUMOURS
|
|
**=/\=*
|
|
Again, remember that this section is nothing more than it
|
|
indicates, and simply rumours from other magazines, talk, media
|
|
sources and the internet newsgroups. It is up to you how seriously
|
|
you take these rumours.
|
|
|
|
- Atari's Jaguar voice-modem could have been dumped, due to a lack
|
|
of interest by the hardware manufacturer (AT&T) and faith in
|
|
profits to be made in this area. This would be a disappointment
|
|
to many Jaguar owners, as the voice-modem would have allowed
|
|
multiple players to play other Jaguar owners right across the
|
|
world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
COMMERCiAL ADVERTiSING
|
|
*********=/\=*********
|
|
OVER the last couple of months I have received a couple of requests for
|
|
advertising of a commercial type nature in Frontier. If you own, or are
|
|
part of a console retailing or mail order company, please contact me via
|
|
one of the methods mentioned at the end of the magazine if you wish to
|
|
organise an ad.
|
|
Frontier offers a great way to help promote and sell your product
|
|
through a potential audience of several thousand in many different
|
|
countries world-wide. Your ad may include borders, ascii logos, etc to
|
|
draw attention to your product or business, but must be under 300 words.
|
|
While readers may protest this as a form of commercialism that
|
|
Frontier has stayed to try clear of in the past, I don't consider it as
|
|
moving too much in this direction. The move is basically to help pay for
|
|
some of the games I buy or hire for review purposes, and in no way to
|
|
make a profit for myself.
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
Ü Ü Ü
|
|
Üß ÞÛ Üß ÜÛ ÜÜ
|
|
Ü ÜÛÛßßÜ ÜÜÜÜÜ Ü ÜÜÜ Ü ÜÜÜÜÜ ÞÛ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜÜÛ ÞÛ ÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÜÜÜ
|
|
Ü ßÛß Ü ÞÛÛ Ûß ßÛÝ ÞÛÝ ÞÛß ßÛ ÞÛ ÞÛÝ ÞÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÜßß ÞÛ ÞÛÝ
|
|
ßÛß Ü ßÛß ÛÛÝ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÝ Û ÜÜÜßß ÞÛ ÛÝ ÛÝ ÞÛ ÞÛ ÛÝ ÛÛ
|
|
ßÛß ßßÛÛ ßßßß ßÛÜÜÜß Û ÜÛÜ ÜÛ ßÛÜ ÛÛ ÜÛÜ ßÜÜÜÜÞÛ ÛÛ ÜÜÛÜÜ ßÛÛÜÛ
|
|
ÛÛ Üß ÞÛ
|
|
ß T R A D I N G ÛÜ Üß
|
|
ßßßß
|
|
United States * Netherlands * Sweden * Belgium * Croatia
|
|
|
|
Exclusive worldwide distributors of the Super Wild Card and
|
|
Super Magic Drive systems
|
|
|
|
The Super Wild Card(tm) and Super Magic Drive(tm) for Super Nintendo(tm)
|
|
and Sega Genesis(tm) respectively allow users to:
|
|
|
|
* Develop their own games
|
|
* Use special cheat codes
|
|
* Backup cartridges onto 3.5" diskette, thus saving on the
|
|
general wear and tear of the original cartridge
|
|
|
|
Some of the other special features of the Super Wild Card and
|
|
Super Magic Drive include:
|
|
|
|
* DOS format disks (for development on MSDOS(tm) systems)
|
|
* Built in high density 3.5" disk drive
|
|
* 24mbit-32mbit (3-4meg) of high speed RAM
|
|
* Upgradeable
|
|
|
|
The RRP for the 24mbit unit is $449US. If you are interested in more
|
|
information on these systems, or in fact wish to purchase one or more of
|
|
these units, please contact Fairlight by one of the methods indicated.
|
|
Fairlight is also looking for exclusive distributors and re-sellers for
|
|
these and other exciting video game products!
|
|
|
|
In the United States 1-800-FAIRLIGHT
|
|
International +1-619-282-5311
|
|
Fax " 619-282-1780
|
|
|
|
Postal Fairlight Trading WorldWide, Inc.
|
|
6415 Reflection Drive, Suite 105
|
|
San Diego, CA 92124-3129 U.S.A
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
°±²ÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±°
|
|
ÛÛ ÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÜÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛÜÜÜÜ
|
|
ÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛßßß ßßßßÛÛ
|
|
ÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
|
|
ULTRA64 - WHAT CAN We ExPECT?
|
|
************=/\=*************
|
|
NOBODY could doubt that with the marketing and technical know how of
|
|
both Nintendo and Silicon Graphics behind the Ultra64, the machine
|
|
is going to be one of the hottest entertainment machines ever seen.
|
|
Not only will it include much the same, if not better,
|
|
specifications than either the Saturn, Jaguar, PlayStation, or any
|
|
other games console, but it will retail at a very affordable $200.
|
|
While all of these other machines may look very impressive, much of
|
|
these are still for those only with a deep pocket, with the
|
|
exception of the Jaguar (which has been largely unsucessful). With
|
|
the Ultra64, Nintendo is aiming the machine squarely at the 10-20
|
|
year old market, where the power of inexpensive 32 bit processing
|
|
has yet to make a real impression over 16 bit technology. Ultra64
|
|
is targeted to be the natural successor to the Super Nintendo, and
|
|
at a very comparable price to even existing 16 bit machines this
|
|
task seems quite achievable, and in a short period too.
|
|
|
|
Nintendo has more than a decade of experience behind them
|
|
when it comes to the video game market, and now well know what sells and
|
|
what will not. Millions in advertising, and other incentives will
|
|
be offered to the video game world as the system comes closer to
|
|
release. Come Christmas 1995, hundreds of thousands of families in
|
|
Western, and Asian countries around the world will be cramming for
|
|
the Ultra64, simply because of the prestige that the name Nintendo
|
|
has brought to the world of gaming.
|
|
While at this stage, much about the Ultra64 is still not known,
|
|
Frontier aims to uncover and speculate on what will likely, and
|
|
what probably won't be included in Nintendo's Killer. To make this
|
|
easier, the article has been broken down into several different
|
|
categories, covering different aspects of what we will see in the
|
|
Ultra64. How much of this will actually be in the final product
|
|
remains to be seen, but whatever happens, mid-1995 is drawing
|
|
faster every month.....
|
|
|
|
STORAGE
|
|
|
|
Nintendo has so far as deliberately stated that the Ultra64 will
|
|
not include CD-ROM for the reason that the format does not include
|
|
enough interactivity, and speed for the games Nintendo wants to
|
|
provide. This seems to be a bit of a hollow excuse, as CD-ROM is
|
|
rapidly approaching a very useable speed, as well as being a very
|
|
affordable format. CD's are not only cheaper to manufacture, but
|
|
are cheaper to package and distribute. Nintendo may in fact have a
|
|
less obvious interior motive in not using CD-ROM, which has more to
|
|
do with profits and control, rather than consideration for gamers.
|
|
If Nintendo went for CD-ROM, not only would 'non-official' games be
|
|
able to be released (being out of Nintendo's profits) quite easily
|
|
with todays CD-ROM development technology, but there would also be
|
|
the probability of unauthorised piracy of Ultra64 games. By going
|
|
for a less well utilised, but still quite useable (and fast)
|
|
standard, Nintendo will be able to continue a firm control on both
|
|
profits and distribution.
|
|
Whatever the real reasons, what Nintendo is likely to use
|
|
instead of CD-ROM is 'Flash ROMs'. For those who are unfamiliar
|
|
with the format, Flash ROM's are roughly credit sized cards which
|
|
can hold a large amount of data (but much less than CD) on an area
|
|
of approximately 10cm x 5cm. The standard flash-ROM card is an
|
|
uncompressed 20megabytes (160megabits), and data can be accessed at
|
|
a speed approaching microseconds per megabyte. More data (possibly
|
|
50%) more can also be stored with forms of compression. While this
|
|
provides a fair amount of storage space, it may limit the scope of
|
|
future U64 games, with only 1/27th the storage capacity of CD-ROM.
|
|
Since Ultra64 will largely rely on real-time texture mapping and
|
|
rendering (see graphics), this may be less of a problem. Long FMV
|
|
and pre-rendered animation sequences that players might be looking
|
|
forward to with the PlayStation, Saturn, and 3DO are what we are
|
|
not going to see on the Ultra64. When it comes down to it though,
|
|
flash-ROM's may be a quite flexible and decent substitute to CD's.
|
|
|
|
GAMES
|
|
|
|
Nintendo looks to be aiming the Ultra64 largely at the same market
|
|
that it has captured with the SNES, from ages 10-16. While Nintendo
|
|
appears to be shifting its strategy to a more open one with regards
|
|
to graphic violence, it doesn't seem likely that we are going to
|
|
see restricted (18 years+) on the U64, like we may on the
|
|
Playstation or 3DO. As the system price reflects, Ultra64 will be
|
|
mainly aimed at the family market, with games that will appeal to a
|
|
wide amount of people.
|
|
The type of games we are going to see will probably be mostly
|
|
action and simulation games that we have been used to on the SNES.
|
|
With a limited storage capacity, large adventure games or complex
|
|
RPG's with high quality 24bit graphics seem unlikely. Expect plenty
|
|
of space, shooting, driving, and fighting games though!
|
|
|
|
GRAPHICS
|
|
|
|
The Ultra64 will include an implementation of SGI's 'Reality'
|
|
engine, only seen in the most expensive of its work stations. The
|
|
Reality engine allows lightning-quick generation and rendering
|
|
(colouring, texture-mapping, lighting, etc) three-dimensional, as
|
|
well as two-dimensional objects in real time at a full 24 bits. The
|
|
advantage with real-time generation is only the textures are
|
|
required for the visuals, everything else is calculated
|
|
mathematically via software and hardware. This may make it
|
|
difficult for some 16 bit developers, but for those who can program
|
|
the machine well, the games will show the results. Truly realistic
|
|
and life-like real-time generation of game graphics is still a holy
|
|
grail for game developers, but it definitely seems possible in the
|
|
U64 with the world's most powerful graphics system at its core.
|
|
Resolution will be television quality, but will likely suffer from
|
|
the same squashed screen problem on PAL sets due to the annoying
|
|
differences in resolution between NTSC and PAL.
|
|
|
|
As stated in the news section, U64 looks like including some sort
|
|
of projection technology. What this will mean is that game images
|
|
will beamed direct from the Ultra64 itself onto your wall in your
|
|
home. This will make the Ultra64 both portable (not needing a TV to
|
|
play games), and also allow greater resolution than television
|
|
currently allows. How this will work in a lit room (who wants to
|
|
play all their games in the dark???) is hard to imagine, but
|
|
Nintendo seems to feel confident they have an answer. There will
|
|
probably be a standard television connection as well as the
|
|
projection window on the Ultra64's case.
|
|
|
|
SOUND
|
|
|
|
At the present moment, there isn't too much further that consoles
|
|
can go than pretty much crystal clear 44khz we are used to with
|
|
CD-ROM. Our ears are only capable of picking up a certain range
|
|
of frequencies and quality anyway, so to go much further is only
|
|
going to be pointless. Ultra64 will surely include CD-quality audio
|
|
which will be mostly generated on the fly by the U64's sound chip
|
|
during play. Three dimensional Dolby technology has also been
|
|
licensed by Nintendo to use on the machine, meaning that music and
|
|
sound effects will appear to come from different angles, giving a
|
|
tremendous feeling of realism. Along with realistic sounding music,
|
|
sound effects and sampled speech will also be possible in small
|
|
numbers, again limited only by the storage capacity. The Ultra64
|
|
plugged into your stereo and playing a game such as Killer Instinct
|
|
should really be an experience!
|
|
|
|
DEVELOPMENT
|
|
|
|
Development for Ultra64 games will be, and is being done on Silicon
|
|
Graphics work stations such as the $100,000 Onyx^2 and $20,000 Indy
|
|
work stations. Even though the machine is long way from production,
|
|
plenty of visuals and game design can still be done before
|
|
developers even see a working machine. Hopefully developers won't
|
|
forget it is the gameplay itself that matters most with the Ultra64
|
|
(or any console in fact), and not just go for rendered graphics
|
|
with not much else. Animation and rendering packages such as Alias
|
|
and SoftImage are used to draw the majority of graphics for Ultra64
|
|
games, which should be easily ported with little loss in quality to
|
|
U64. Because the graphics engines in many of SGI's machines will be
|
|
in many cases almost identical to the Ultra64, what you see being
|
|
illustrated throughout Edge magazine (amongst others) is largely
|
|
what you will see in the final product.
|
|
|
|
EXPANDABILITY/OUTPUT
|
|
|
|
To keep the machine's technology up to date, the Ultra64 should
|
|
include some sort of expansion port to allow the addition of more
|
|
advanced hardware later on (such as CD-ROM). Virtual Reality
|
|
devices, extra peripherals, light guns, and other technologies will
|
|
be a natural step for such powerful three-dimensional rendering on
|
|
board the U64
|
|
|
|
While Nintendo has probably not opted to include CD-ROM storage as
|
|
standard on the Ultra64, that doesn't mean that the machine
|
|
necessarily has to be locked out of the CD-ROM medium altogether.
|
|
Nintendo may opt to take a similar approach to the Jaguar, by
|
|
releasing the straight machine at $200, and then charging an extra
|
|
$200 or so for a CD-ROM addon to provide better FMV, etc. If a
|
|
CD-ROM addon _is_ to be released for the Ultra64, it will not be
|
|
until late 1995 at best. The Ultra64 with the storage capacity of
|
|
CD-ROM will truly be an ultimate gaming machine
|
|
|
|
The Ultra64 may also include some sort of cartridge save system,
|
|
much as the Playstation and Saturn will include. This will allow
|
|
games to store their save/position data on one cartridge, rather
|
|
than including a battery backup on each cartridge (which adds to
|
|
the price of each game).
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSION
|
|
|
|
The Ultra64 will include most of the same technology that is being
|
|
implemented in other 32bit consoles, and probably will not stand
|
|
out too much more on first looks that the Saturn, 3DO, etc. The 64
|
|
bit processor will make a bit of a difference, but as has been
|
|
illustrated with the Jaguar Vs 3DO debate, when it comes to games,
|
|
the jump in processing power doesn't really effect the game itself.
|
|
Where the Ultra64 will really excel is in the graphics department,
|
|
where the 'Reality' engine created by Silicon Graphics will allow
|
|
blindingly fast real-time texture mapping and light sourcing with
|
|
ease. With the millions that Nintendo and Silicon Graphics is
|
|
spending to make the U64 a success, it seems almost impossible that
|
|
the machine can fail come 1995. As more details come to hand,
|
|
Frontier will definitely be publishing them.......
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE COMPLETE LIST OF UPCOMiNG 3DO SOFTWARE AND HARDWARe
|
|
*************************=/\=**************************
|
|
SOFTWARE support for the 3DO is continuing to grown with the
|
|
increased sales of 3DO sales in the United States and Japan. An
|
|
estimated 10,000 3DO units are being sold each month, and look sure
|
|
to better Trip Hawkin's estimate of 50,000 sold by the end of the
|
|
year. Here is a fairly complete chronological listing of all the
|
|
software and hardware that will be released in the next 6 months.
|
|
Thanks go to Michael Delaney for compiling this list.
|
|
|
|
TITLE PUBLISHER RELEASE DATE
|
|
|
|
Kingdom: Far Reaches Interplay September
|
|
Return Fire Silent Soft September
|
|
Tetsujin Panasonic September
|
|
VR Stalker Morpheus September
|
|
Waialae Country Club Golf Panasonic September
|
|
ABS Psygnosis September 15th
|
|
Burning Soldier Panasonic September 15th
|
|
Guardian War Panasonic September 15th
|
|
Lost Files of Shirlock Holmes Electronic Arts September 23rd
|
|
Theme Park Electronic Arts September 23rd
|
|
Rise of the Robots Absolute Entertainment September 30th
|
|
Mahjong ASCII Late September
|
|
Robinson's Requiem ReadySoft Late September
|
|
Shadow Tribecca Late September
|
|
3D Atlas Electronic Arts October
|
|
Alone in the Dark 2 Interplay October
|
|
Bios Fear ASG Technologies October 24th
|
|
Crime Patrol American Laser Games October
|
|
Demolition Man Virgin October
|
|
FIFA Soccer Electronic Arts October
|
|
I-Jam Paramount October
|
|
PaTank PF Falls October
|
|
Santa Fe Trail American Laser Games October
|
|
Space Ace ReadySoft October
|
|
Trance Mission ???? October
|
|
Off-World Interceptor Crystal Dynamics Late October
|
|
Virtuoso 3DO November
|
|
SSF2 Turbo Capcom November
|
|
Quarantine GameTek November
|
|
Creature Shock Virgin November
|
|
Need for Speed Electronic Arts November
|
|
11th Hour (T7G2) Virgin November
|
|
Dragon's Lair 2 ReadySoft November
|
|
Family Fued GameTek November
|
|
World Cup Golf US Gold November
|
|
Flashback US Gold November
|
|
Dino Blaze Virgin November 15th
|
|
GEX Gecko Crystal Dynamics Late November
|
|
?????? Tetragon December
|
|
Ballz PF Falls December
|
|
Clay Fighter II Interplay December
|
|
Conquered Kingdoms QQP 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
DinoPark Tycoon MECC December
|
|
Dragon's Lair (MPEG) ReadySoft December
|
|
Duelin' Firemen Run and Gun December
|
|
Flying Nightmares Domark December
|
|
Jammit Basketball GTE December
|
|
Galactic Casino VideoactV December
|
|
InteractV Aerobics VideoactV December
|
|
Iron Man Panasonic December
|
|
LoadStar Rocket Science December
|
|
Lost Vikings Interplay December
|
|
Plumbers don't wear ties JC December
|
|
Road Rash (MPEG) Electronic Arts December
|
|
Samurai Showdown Crystal Dynamics December
|
|
Star Trek : TNG Spectrum Holobyte December
|
|
Star Wars Chess Software Toolworks December
|
|
Terminator vs Robocop Virgin December
|
|
Tigernauts VideoactV December
|
|
Twisted 2 3DO December
|
|
Yu Yu Hakusyo Tomy December
|
|
PO'ed Any Channel Late December
|
|
????? (sports) Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Akira TH*Q 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Alien Trilogy Acclaim 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Blood Bath Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Chaos Control Infogames 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
C.I.T.Y 2000 ?????? 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Cool Knight ReadySoft 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Cool Spot Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
ESPN Baseball -Pitching Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
ESPN Football -Reciever Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
ESPN Football -Quarterback Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
ESPN Let's Play Baseball Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
ESPN Let's Play Tennis Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Galaxian 3 Namco 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Gatorface ???? 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Ground Zero Texas Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Inspector Danger's Crime Quiz Digital Productions 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Jimmy Connors Tennis UBIsoft 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
LawnMower Man Sony 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Links Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Lost Eden Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Maelstrom ReadySoft 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Magic Carpet Bullfrog 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Meiko Digital Productions Inc. 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Multimedia Travel Guides Frommer 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Myst Sony 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Heart of Darkness Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
NCAA Basketball Software Toolworks 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
NHL Hockey Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Nobunaga's Ambition Koei 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Primeval Sony 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Rebel Assault Software Toolworks 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Rock, Rap 'N Roll 2 Paramount 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
SeaWolf SSN-21 Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Scorched Earth Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Solvalou Namco 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Space Pirates American Laser Games 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Star Trek: TNG Manual Paramount 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
TFX Ocean 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Tital Wave ???? 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Touche US Gold 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Suchi Pai Mahjong Jaleco 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Syndicate Plus Bullfrog 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Wing Commander III Origin 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Whole Dog Almanac Digital Productions Inc. 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Winning Post Koei 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Wizard of Oz ???? 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Mad Dog McCree (MPEG) American Laser Games 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Return to Zork Activision 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Station Invasion 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Time 2 Die 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Scavenger 4 Psygnosis January 1995
|
|
Hognose & Booger ASG Technologies February 1995
|
|
Rock & Roll Racing Interplay February 1995
|
|
Cyberia Interplay March 1995
|
|
????? (AD&D RPG) SSI 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Blustar (Dolphin RPG) Magnetic Interactive 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Policenauts Konami 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Sangokusi Koei 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Solar Moon Station Bandai 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Ultraman Virgin 2nd Qrtr 1995
|
|
Black Death Mask Panasonic 1995
|
|
Dragon Knight III Megatech 1995
|
|
Falcon 3DO Spectrum Holobyte 1995
|
|
Jack Sprite vs The Chrimson Ghost PF Falls 1995
|
|
Power Slide Elite 1995
|
|
Shoot-Out at Old Tuson American Laser Games 1995
|
|
Space Hulk Electronic Arts 1995
|
|
Who shot Johnny Rock? (MPEG) American Laser Games 1995
|
|
|
|
3D Adventures Park Place On Hold
|
|
3D Football Park Place On Hold
|
|
Aces Over Europe Dynamix/Sierra On Hold
|
|
Humans GameTek On Hold
|
|
Peter Pan Electronic Arts On Hold
|
|
PGA Tour Golf Electronic Arts On Hold
|
|
ShadowCaster Origin On Hold
|
|
Universal Studios Orbital MCA On Hold
|
|
World Builders Inc. Electronic Arts On Hold
|
|
|
|
?????? (fighting) GTE TBA
|
|
?????? (action) GTE TBA
|
|
?????? (RPG's) New World Computing TBA
|
|
?????? (action) Capcom TBA
|
|
?????? (sports) Accolade TBA
|
|
Art Treasures of Russia Round Book TBA
|
|
Battledrome Dynamix/Sierra TBA
|
|
Demo CD 3 Panasonic TBA
|
|
Doom - Evil Unleashed Electronic Arts TBA
|
|
In-Line Skate Hockey GTE TBA
|
|
Man With Underwater Eye's Round Book TBA
|
|
Mortal Kombat 2 Acclaim TBA
|
|
NBA Jam Acclaim TBA
|
|
Ridge Racer Namco TBA
|
|
Sampler Disc Vivid Interactive TBA
|
|
Tommy Round Book TBA
|
|
X-Wing Software Toolworks TBA
|
|
|
|
HARDWARE
|
|
Creative Lab's PC 3DO Blaster Card October
|
|
Sanyo 3DO October
|
|
Flight Stick Pro 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
FZ-FV1 Video CD 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Logitec Mouse 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Toshiba Portable 3DO (for cars!) 4th Qrtr 1994
|
|
Goldstar 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Samsung 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Memory Upgrade (for FZ0) 1st Qrtr 1995
|
|
Virtual Reality Glasses 1995
|
|
3DO-2 expansion board December 1995
|
|
AT&T 3DO w/ modem On Hold
|
|
AT&T VoiceSpan Modem for FZ0-1 On Hold
|
|
|
|
|
|
MORTAL KOMBAT 2 - THE MOVES!
|
|
************=/\=************
|
|
MORTAL Kombat 2, like the first edition (MK1) has little in the way
|
|
of a complete move listing for the game in the manual. At best the
|
|
manual just gives you the basic listing, and leaves the rest of the
|
|
discovery up to you. Thanks to Frontier, now rather than spending
|
|
hours fiddling just to find that one fatality, you can now refer to
|
|
this (almost) complete list!
|
|
If you find any further moves, contact Frontier with the exact
|
|
key combination(s) so other MK2 players can benefit from the same
|
|
move in future issues. You might even want to cut this out and
|
|
print a copy to have on hand. Impress your friends....or just to
|
|
show your superiority, beat the hell out of them! While several of
|
|
these moves will take several minutes of trial to pull them off,
|
|
even _with_ the correct combination, most of them are worth the
|
|
wait, especially with the blood mode turned on :) Thanks to Jarrod
|
|
Day for providing the moves for this list.
|
|
|
|
STANDARD MOVES
|
|
--------------
|
|
Face Punch - High Punch CLOSE COMBAT (stand next to enemy)
|
|
Body Punch - Low Punch Speciality - High Punch
|
|
Face kick - High Kick Throw - Low Punch
|
|
Body Kick - Low Kick Knee - High or Low Kick
|
|
|
|
UpperCut - Down+High Punch BLOCKS
|
|
Crouch Punch - Down+Low Punch Attack Block - Block or down, Down+block
|
|
Crouch Kick - Down+High Kick Throw Block - Down+back or Down+back+block
|
|
Ankle Kick - Down+Low Kick
|
|
RoundHouse - Back+High
|
|
Kick Trip - Back+Low Kick
|
|
|
|
AIR ATTACKS
|
|
Jump Kick - Jump and then high or low kick
|
|
Jump Punch - Jump and jigh or low punch
|
|
Hop Kick - Jump up towards enemy and kick
|
|
Hop Punch - Jump up towards enemy and punch
|
|
Back Kick - Jump over enemy, and kick before hitting the ground
|
|
|
|
CHARACTER MOVES
|
|
---------------
|
|
LIU KANG Double elbow - high Punch (stand next to enemy)
|
|
Fireball - forward, forward, High Punch
|
|
Low Fireball - forward, forward, Low Punch
|
|
Flying Kick - forward, forward, High Kick
|
|
Bicycle Kick - low kick (hold for several seconds) then
|
|
let go
|
|
|
|
Pit - back, forward, forward, Low Kick
|
|
Babality - down, down, forward, back, low kick
|
|
Friendship - forward, back, back, back, low kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - down, forward, back, back, high kick
|
|
Fatality 2 - 360 deg. away
|
|
|
|
|
|
KUNG LAO Head - high punch (stand close)
|
|
Teleport - down, up, down (quickly)
|
|
Flying Kick - down+high kick (in air)
|
|
Tornado - (while holding block), up, up, low kick
|
|
|
|
Pit - forward, forward, forward, high punch
|
|
Babality - back, back, forward, forward, high kick
|
|
Friendship - back, back, back, down, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - forward, forward, forward, low kick
|
|
Fatality 2 - (while holding low punch), back, forward
|
|
(release punch button). Control the hat for better
|
|
effect!
|
|
|
|
|
|
JOHNNY CAGE Low jab - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
Axe Kick - high or low kick (near enemy)
|
|
Low bolt - 180deg. towards, low punch
|
|
High bolt - 180deg. away, high punch
|
|
Uppercut - back, down, back, high punch
|
|
Shadow Kick - back, forward, low kick
|
|
Ball breaker - low punch+block
|
|
|
|
Pit - down, down, down, high kick
|
|
Babality - back, back, back, high kick
|
|
Friendship - down, down, down, down, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - down, down, forward, forward, low punch
|
|
Fatality 2 - forward, forward, down, up
|
|
|
|
REPTILE BackHand - high punch (next to enemy)
|
|
Acid Spit - forward, forward, high punch
|
|
Slide - back+low punch+block+low kick
|
|
Forceball - back, back, high punch+low punch
|
|
Invisible - (while holding block), up, up, down, high
|
|
punch
|
|
|
|
Pit - down, forward, forward, block
|
|
Babality - down, back, back, low kick
|
|
Friendship - back, back, down, low kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - back, back, down, low punch
|
|
Fatality 2 - forward, forward, down, high kick
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUB ZERO BackHand - High punch
|
|
IceBall - 90deg. towards enemy, low punch
|
|
Freeze - 90deg. away from enemy, low punch
|
|
Slide - back+low punch+block+low kick
|
|
|
|
Pit - down, forward, forward, block
|
|
Babality - down, back, back, high kick
|
|
Friendship - back, back, down, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - forward, forward, down, high kick
|
|
Fatality 2 - (hold low punch), back, back, down, forward,
|
|
(release)
|
|
|
|
|
|
SHANG TSUNG Flaming skull - back, back, high punch
|
|
Two skulls - back, back, forward, high punch
|
|
Three skulls - back, back, forward, forward, high punch
|
|
|
|
Liu Kang - back, forward, forward, block
|
|
Kung Lao - back, down, back, high kick
|
|
Johnny Cage - back, back, down, low punch
|
|
Reptile - (while holding block), up, down, high punch
|
|
Sub Zero - forward, down, forward, high punch
|
|
Kitana - block, block, block (quickly)
|
|
Mileena - high punch (hold for 2 seconds), (release)
|
|
Baraka - down, down, low kick
|
|
Scorpion - (while holding block), up, up
|
|
Raiden - down, back, forward, low kick
|
|
|
|
Pit - (while holding block), down, down, up, down
|
|
Babality - back, forward, down, high kick
|
|
Friendship - back, back, down, forward, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - high kick (hold for 2 seconds), (then
|
|
release)
|
|
Fatality 2 - (while holding block), up, down, up, low kick
|
|
Fatality 3 - low punch (hold for 30 seconds), (then
|
|
release)
|
|
|
|
|
|
KiTANA Elbow - high punch (next to enemy)
|
|
Fan hit - back+high punch
|
|
Fan throw - forward, forward, high punch+low punch
|
|
Fan lift - back, back, back, high punch
|
|
Air Punch - 90deg. away, high punch
|
|
|
|
Pit - forward, down, forward, high kick
|
|
Babality - down, down, down, low kick
|
|
Friendship - down, down, down, up, low kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - (hold low kick), forward, forward, down, forward
|
|
Fatality 2 - block, block, block (quickly), high kick
|
|
|
|
|
|
JAX Kinghit - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
Ground hit - low kick (hold for 3 seconds), (then release)
|
|
Grab - forward, forward, low punch
|
|
Slam - throw enemy, and then tap high punch
|
|
Energy Wave - 90deg. away, high kick
|
|
Back Breaker - block (in air)
|
|
|
|
Pit - up, up, down, low kick
|
|
Babality - down, up, down, up, low kick
|
|
Friendship - down, down, up, up, low kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - (while holding low punch), forward, forward,
|
|
forward, (release)
|
|
Fatality 2 - block, block, block, block (quickly), low
|
|
punch
|
|
|
|
|
|
MiLEENA Elbow - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
Teleport kick - forward, forward, low kick
|
|
Roll - back, back, down, high kick
|
|
Sai Throw - High punch (for 2 seconds), (then release)
|
|
|
|
Pit - forward, down, forward, low kick
|
|
Babality - down, down, down, high kick
|
|
Friendship - down, down, down, up, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - forward, back, forward, low punch
|
|
Fatality 2 - high kick (for 2 seconds), (then release)
|
|
|
|
|
|
BARAKA Backhand - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
DoubleKick - high kick, high kick (quickly, near enemy)
|
|
Blade hit - back+high punch
|
|
Blade swish - back, back, back, low punch
|
|
Blue bolt - 90deg. away, high punch
|
|
|
|
Pit - forward, forward, down, high kick
|
|
Babality - forward, forward, forward, high kick
|
|
Friendship - (while holding block), up, forward, forward,
|
|
high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - (while holding block), back, back, back,
|
|
back, high punch
|
|
Fatality 2 - back, forward, down, forward, low punch
|
|
|
|
|
|
SCORPiON Backhand - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
Spear - back, back, low punch
|
|
Teleport punch - 90deg. away, high punch
|
|
Grab leg - 90deg, away, low kick
|
|
Air throw - Block (in air)
|
|
|
|
Pit - down, forward, forward, block
|
|
Babality - down, back, back, high kick
|
|
Friendship - back, back, down, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - (while holding block), up, up, high kick
|
|
Fatality 2 - (while holding high punch), down, forward,
|
|
forward, forward, (then release)
|
|
|
|
|
|
RAiDEN Small Uppercut - high punch (near enemy)
|
|
Body throw - back, back, forward
|
|
Lighting - 90deg. towards, low punch
|
|
Teleport - down, up (quickly)
|
|
Electrocute - high punch (hold for 4 seconds, near
|
|
enemy), (then release)
|
|
|
|
Pit - (while holding block), up, up, up, high punch
|
|
Babality - down, back, forward, high kick
|
|
Fatality 1 - low kick (hold for 6 seconds), (then release)
|
|
Fatality 2 - high punch (hold for 8 seconds), (then
|
|
release)
|
|
|
|
OTHER
|
|
-----
|
|
On the 'Dead Pool' stage, hold Low Punch and Low Kick and then
|
|
uppercut them into the pool to eat the flesh from their bones!
|
|
|
|
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÝÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÝ ÛÛ²±°
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛ ÞÛÞÛÝÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÝ ÛÝÛÛÛÝ ÛÛ
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛßÞÛÝÛÛ ÛÝÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÝ ÛÝÛÛ ÛÝÛÛ
|
|
°±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÞÛÛÛ
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
IF you wish to express an opinion in an editorial style article, please
|
|
let me know. Frontier aims to be a focus point for intelligent debate on
|
|
the console industry so you should be willing to backup your opinions
|
|
from readers. If you strongly agree or disagree on an editorial,
|
|
consider writing one of your own with some opposing or contrasting
|
|
opinions.
|
|
|
|
IS THE UPCOMiNG CONSOLE WAR REALLY GOOD oR BAD?
|
|
**********************=/\=*********************
|
|
IT wasn't too long ago that gamers really had only two choices,
|
|
either to go for the incredibly popular 8bit Nintendo, or go for
|
|
the less popular, but slightly more powerful Master System. Only
|
|
five years ago these were the main forces in the video games race
|
|
and things were relatively simple. Even two years ago the choice
|
|
was still simple, game players either went for the sleek and
|
|
impressive SNES, or the Genesis - even many of the same games were
|
|
released on both systems, making the decision not so important. Now
|
|
things have changed dramatically with the introduction of a stack
|
|
of new 32 bit (or better) consoles, each having one or more
|
|
advantages over the others. Not only do they cost much more than
|
|
five years ago, they are also less likely to remain the long life
|
|
time that was once enjoyed by the 8 bit machines.
|
|
No longer is it a simple choice of what game you wanted to play,
|
|
but also a decision on the lasting nature, and number of games that
|
|
are likely to be released for the system before it becomes inferior
|
|
to something else. Now this can be good and bad news for gamers -
|
|
resources, and different publishers are split across many systems,
|
|
but there is also a lot more to choose from. The main down side to
|
|
all of this is that due to the strong competition, console
|
|
companies are always having to bring out some new hardware 'better'
|
|
than their opposition to stay ahead, and retain a reasonable share
|
|
of the market. The life-span of such consoles is therefore
|
|
decreasing to an estimated rate of only 2-3 years, not exactly what
|
|
you want to hear after splashing out $400 or so for the 'latest' in
|
|
90's hardware.
|
|
Already we are seeing plans for the 3DO-2, the Jaguar-2,
|
|
JaguarCD, and even reported add ons for machines such as the Saturn
|
|
and PS-X. Some of these machines are not even _released_ yet and we
|
|
are hearing "hey, if you think this is good, wait for our _next_
|
|
model". While the new hardware might be quite powerful, without a
|
|
steady base of software and games for the system, the system is
|
|
never going to live up to its full potential. If video game
|
|
companies are busy trying to squeeze the last dollar out of their
|
|
customers, at least we will see good _quality_ games, rather than
|
|
games that are just released to try and sell a few more machines.
|
|
Nintendo has largely taken this step with its now ageing SNES
|
|
machine, by mid-1995 it will be four years since the initial
|
|
release of the machine, but the number of decent titles is still
|
|
quite strong, and in fact growing. Earlier on we saw titles that
|
|
really were (not exaggerating either) quite pathetic, just released
|
|
to try and build a bigger software base for the machine so they
|
|
could say "look, we've got XXX games on our machine, which is XXX
|
|
more than our competitor(s)". Now Nintendo (and to extent Sega with
|
|
their Saturn) is beginning to realise, while obviously not stating
|
|
so, that it _is_ going to face stiff opposition until the release
|
|
of their machine, some months after the release of the other
|
|
companies 32 bit 'wonders'. We are seeing more and more decent 16
|
|
bit games, that a larger number are in fact almost _worth_ the flat
|
|
$80 Nintendo is charging for them. Prices on these, and older games
|
|
are also dropping, which means that players can afford much more
|
|
games than if they splashed out with $300+ on a new system with
|
|
only a few games available.
|
|
While Sega, Nintendo, 3DO, and everybody else is designing these
|
|
consoles they are ultimately creating better machines when they
|
|
finally come around to release. If they release something that is
|
|
poor hardware wise, it will not sell, which can be disastrous for
|
|
the company(s) involved. That is why we have constantly seen the
|
|
hush-hush, and changing specifications of many of these machines,
|
|
to tell the truth about how the project is going is often a
|
|
disastrous move.
|
|
|
|
The main winner of the hardware war is ultimately going to be the
|
|
consumer who takes the time to consider which system they want to
|
|
stick with. In several ways the console war is both good and bad,
|
|
and opinions vary greatly between who you speak too. My opinion is
|
|
that while the companies are spending multi-millions trying to
|
|
build the latest machines, _you_ are the only one who can
|
|
ultimately say which machine you think _you_ like. The war means
|
|
greater games available, better quality games available, and above
|
|
all better hardware for the consumer. Nothing is forced upon the
|
|
video gamer, persuaded heavily maybe :) but not forced. If you take
|
|
the time to consider which system(s) look to provide the best games
|
|
currently, and in the near-future, you are ultimately going to be
|
|
the ones who can have the last laugh on the video game giants......
|
|
|
|
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
ÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±°
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜÜ
|
|
ÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ ÜÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ Û ÛÛÝßßßßÛÛ
|
|
°±²ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
THE review section is not an integral part of Frontier, though an
|
|
important one. What is the use of talk on consoles, without reviews to
|
|
assess the quality of games that are available? If you wish to write
|
|
reviews for Frontier for any console, please check out the section: How
|
|
*YOU* too can help out with Frontier. While reviews of new games are
|
|
preferred, reviews of games up to _around_ 6 months old will be
|
|
published.
|
|
|
|
For those who are just wanting to throw a few words together (say
|
|
100-300) on a particular game, Frontier now includes a "Mini Review"
|
|
section for these types of reviews (see after the main reviews). This
|
|
should hopefully expand the number of reviews that we get in Frontier,
|
|
as often people don't have that much time to throw together a full
|
|
review. Full reviews will be preferred and remain a part of Frontier, but
|
|
if you don't want to take the time then this is good alternative. Should
|
|
only take maybe 10-20 minutes of your time, so even if you've only
|
|
played the game for a short while, get a "mini" review into Frontier
|
|
ASAP!
|
|
Format for these mini reviews are pretty much open (include any
|
|
details that you like!), but try and include at least an overall
|
|
percentage - to tell the truth, often that is all that people look at
|
|
anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2
|
|
*********=/\=*********
|
|
.\ By Cyphron (cyphron@netcom.com)
|
|
|
|
TYPE ................ Street Fighting
|
|
FORMAT .............. Capcom
|
|
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Capcom
|
|
RELEASE ............. July 1994
|
|
PRICE ............... $70
|
|
SIZE ................ 32mbit/4 mbyte
|
|
|
|
LEVELS .............. 12 playfields
|
|
DIFFICULTY .......... Variable
|
|
PLAYERS ............. 1/2/simultaneous
|
|
EXTRA INFO .......... n/a
|
|
|
|
Have you ever heard the phrase "milking the cow"? Capcom probably
|
|
doesn't, and no, they're not only milking the cow, they're milking
|
|
it until it bleeds! Capcom has managed to put together four new
|
|
characters (for a total of 12), changed a couple of moves, added a
|
|
couple, slap on "SUPER" and voila, a game that sells!
|
|
|
|
KILLER SOUNDS (Yeah, kill me please!)
|
|
This game really has exploit everything the SNES has to offer and
|
|
it still comes off short in the sound and graphics department. The
|
|
"Round #, FIGHT!" is gone, although after a while of playing I
|
|
didn't really mind. Capcom claimed that it was because of the
|
|
shortage of ROM space, but I think it's because of the limited 64k
|
|
area for sounds in the SNES. Dee Jay lost his "Max Out!" voice when
|
|
he does his, well, Max Out! That's really too bad, because all the
|
|
other characters retained their original voices, albeit a bit bad.
|
|
Guile's voice is the same as the announcer! Boy, talk about
|
|
recycling! Okay, gripes aside, I'd say the sound is terrific for an
|
|
SNES game. How can I compare it to the arcade with its Q-Sound chip
|
|
and superior processors. But the music, I can't really complain.
|
|
Some of the stages have music that's quite good, except for Ken's
|
|
stage, which I think SF2 Turbo did better. However, the music
|
|
seemed "turned down" so you really need to hook up the SVHS cable
|
|
and turn on STEREO to really appreciate it.
|
|
|
|
KILLER GRAPHICS (Well, maybe not)
|
|
The BACKGROUND has got to be the best part of the game and it is
|
|
definitely the best of all the SFII carts for the SNES. There are
|
|
lots of animation and background scrolling for most or all of the
|
|
stages. (Although how come the moon moves with the clouds in Ryu's
|
|
stage? DUH!) The characters and background isn't as highly defined
|
|
as the arcade but then again, is anything as good as the arcade?
|
|
(READ: 3DO) A lot of frames are missing, (which translates to
|
|
missing moves) and you'll notice it immediately during the opening
|
|
cartoons. Overall, not a bad cut-and-paste job from Capcom.
|
|
|
|
SFII PLAYABILITY (What more can you ask?)
|
|
It's Street Fighter 2! 'Nuff said. The computer is rather easy to
|
|
beat with Ryu or Ken on any level because the computer doesn't
|
|
cheat as much. But when you start using other characters, the
|
|
bosses will combo you to death, literally! Well, it's probably
|
|
'cuz I suck at other characters! ;-P FUN FACTOR It's Street Fighter
|
|
2! 'Nuff said. Actually, after awhile, it can be a bit boring...
|
|
|
|
OTHER STUFF
|
|
The endings are mostly like the arcade except some have pictures
|
|
missing. There are an abundant of voices (not enough ROM, hah!) on
|
|
the game and lots of options like VERSUS mode, TOURNAMENT mode, etc.
|
|
What happened to Balrog's ending? He lost one picture (out of his
|
|
two) and he lost the two babes sitting next to him, ARGGHHH! While
|
|
I'm at it, the blood in the VS are now pink, and well, lets just
|
|
say, THERE IS NO BLOOD!!! Nintendo strikes again... And if you
|
|
think this game only has the 4 new characters, think again, because
|
|
the bosses have TONS of new moves or rather new animation which
|
|
would make playing them fun. Bison can be a real killer if you know
|
|
how to use him. And to most of you who are wondering if they have
|
|
SSF2 Turbo in the game, sorry to pop your bubble, but NO. Although
|
|
you do have Turbo speed adjustment. (big deal)
|
|
|
|
SHOULD I BUY IT?
|
|
If you don't have Street Fighter 2 then definitely. If you have
|
|
Street Fighter 2 then definitely. (Sorry, I'm an SF fan). But if
|
|
you aren't into Street Fighting games, then by all means, don't!
|
|
Although I can't see why you aren't a fan...
|
|
|
|
Final analysis
|
|
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|
|
GRAPH SCORE
|
|
|
|
Sound effects |******************************** 80%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Music |********************************** 85%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Sprites |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Backgrounds |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Playability |*************************************** 97%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
IQ factor |********************************** 85%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Fun factor |************************************ 90%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Overall graphics |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
OVERALL |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Percentage % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
|
|
|
|
Extra Comments
|
|
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
SOUND FX : Where's da bass?!?
|
|
MUSIC : Souped up old SF2 music
|
|
SPRITES : Nice but not smooth enough
|
|
BACKGROUNDS : Extremely good BG
|
|
PLAYABILITY : Need I say more?
|
|
IQ. FACTOR : Good against some, suck against Ryu
|
|
FUN FACTOR : Well, with 2 players. Otherwise...
|
|
OVERALL GFX : Good
|
|
OVERALL : Excellent in most departments
|
|
|
|
IMPRESSIONS : Met my expectations.
|
|
CONVERSION : 75% as good as the arcade
|
|
|
|
|
|
KEN GRIFFEY JR. PRESENTS MAJOR LEAUGE BASEBALL
|
|
********************=/\=**********************
|
|
.\ Stan Olson (solso@prairienet.org)
|
|
|
|
TYPE ................ Sports
|
|
FORMAT .............. SNES
|
|
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Nintendo/Software Creations
|
|
RELEASE ............. April 1994
|
|
PRICE ............... $49.95
|
|
SIZE ................ 16 megabit
|
|
|
|
LEVELS .............. ???
|
|
DIFFICULTY .......... Easy to Hard (depends on auto-fielding)
|
|
PLAYERS ............. One/two simultaneous
|
|
EXTRA INFO .......... n/a
|
|
|
|
Over the last 2 years, game programmers and baseball fans have
|
|
looked at the baseball games for the SNES and decided it was time
|
|
to stop messing around and develop a realistic baseball game.
|
|
|
|
There are so many features in Ken Griffey Jr. MLB, I don't know
|
|
where to get started! The AI of the game is unreal. Instead of the
|
|
computer waiting after the ball has past them, they go for the
|
|
ball as soon as it is hit, jumping, diving, whatever they have to
|
|
do to help their team win the game. In other games I have played,
|
|
the realism wasn't there. Either the ball didn't go fast enough,
|
|
the players didn't run right, or the computer didn't know what a
|
|
baseball was! In Ken Griffey Jr. MLB, all of the realism is there.
|
|
If a player hits a deep drive to center field and it looks like it
|
|
will just barely go over the wall, you can climb the wall and try
|
|
to catch the ball. Another great feature is you can play in all 28
|
|
stadiums in Ken Griffey Jr. MLB. The field is realistic like the
|
|
real thing: astro-turf or grass, the color of the wall, the
|
|
distances to the wall, etc. Another cool feature is the auto-
|
|
fielding. This option controls your fielders so you don't really
|
|
have to worry about fielding. You can also turn on manage only
|
|
option to just act as the manager.
|
|
|
|
There are 4 different choices on Ken Griffey Jr. MLB. The first
|
|
is the single game option. Using 1 or 2 players you can pick any
|
|
team to play and any stadium to play in. The second is the all-
|
|
star option. This allows you either to play the all-star game
|
|
or lets you participate in the homerun derby. The third option
|
|
is the world series. Here you can play in the world series
|
|
without having to play a full season. The last option is the
|
|
full season option. You can choose between a 26, 78, or 162
|
|
game season. In the 162 game season you get to play the all-star
|
|
game in the middle of the season.
|
|
|
|
There are some minor flaws that I have seen in the game. There
|
|
should be more sound effects. I don't know if they ran out of
|
|
room or just plain overlooked it, but there should have been more.
|
|
Another little thing is there are no errors, whether you have
|
|
auto-fielding on or off. Also, they should have gotten the
|
|
MLBPA license instead of just the MLB. They probably just got the
|
|
MLB license to keep the price low. I also think they could have
|
|
added a feature to let you scroll around inside of the stadium.
|
|
They went to a lot of trouble to make the parks and too bad
|
|
you can't just look at them without having to hit a homerun!!
|
|
|
|
Overall, Ken Griffey Jr. MLB is a great realistic baseball game
|
|
that needs little improvement. At $49.95 retail and at many
|
|
stores for $39, this game is a great buy!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final analysis
|
|
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|
|
GRAPH SCORE
|
|
|
|
Sound effects |******************** 50%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Music |********************************** 85%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Sprites |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Backgrounds |************************************** 95%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Playability |************************************ 90%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
IQ factor |******************** 50%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Fun factor |************************************ 90%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Overall graphics |************************************ 90%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
OVERALL |********************************** 85%
|
|
+___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I.
|
|
Percentage % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
|
|
|
|
Extra Comments
|
|
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|
|
SOUND FX : Nothing too spectacular, needs much more.
|
|
MUSIC : Great music for the right moments.
|
|
SPRITES : Big and animated. They look realistic.
|
|
BACKGROUNDS : The stadiums are great and match the real ones.
|
|
PLAYABILITY : Pretty good once you get used to it.
|
|
IQ. FACTOR : A bit of skill is required
|
|
FUN FACTOR : Lots of it for a long time!
|
|
OVERALL GFX : Excellent!
|
|
OVERALL : Great! Will be pretty hard to beat!
|
|
|
|
IMPRESSIONS : Great quality and animation. Will have you playing for
|
|
hours!!
|
|
|
|
CONVERSION : n/a
|
|
|
|
INTEREST FACTOR : 90% - This games has lots of features to keep you
|
|
interested a long time!!
|
|
|
|
DIFFICULTY : Easy to medium, depends on skill at the game and/or if
|
|
you have auto-fielding on or what team you are playing!
|
|
|
|
WOULD I BUY THE GAME : Well of course!! The rental stores can't keep
|
|
it in stock long enough just to rent it!
|
|
|
|
OVERALL : It's one of the best baseball games available for the SNES.
|
|
It will be hard to match it. It's a very realistic and animated game.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MiNi REVIEWS!
|
|
*****=/\=****
|
|
Game : Paladin's Quest
|
|
Reviewed by : Bob Anderson (randers@mswisard.kla.com)
|
|
Publisher : Enix
|
|
Format : SNES
|
|
Type : Role Playing
|
|
|
|
Paladin's Quest is a pretty cool RPG from ENIX, who makes the
|
|
Dragon Warrior series. Some people object to their kind of
|
|
cartoonish characters, but I found this game extremely satisfying.
|
|
The story is this: you are an apprentice magician, or spiritualist,
|
|
who is dared by a friend to enter a tower in your town. Of course,
|
|
you cannot refuse (maybe he DOUBLE-dared you) and you enter the
|
|
tower, fight a few baddies and discover at the top.......a button.
|
|
Of course, you push it (you get double-DOG-dared ) and activate
|
|
the ancient machine DAL GREN. Well, you are knocked unconscious
|
|
after this, and when you come to, everything in your town has been
|
|
incinerated and everyone has been killed, save the elder who was
|
|
training you.
|
|
|
|
Now it's up to you to save the world, of course.
|
|
|
|
This is a very satisfying game with an EXCELLENT story. The story
|
|
unfolds by bits; it's a somber-themed apocalyptic story but it's
|
|
hopeful and funny, too. You have two main characters and then you
|
|
meet many others who come and go during the story. The music is
|
|
also very good, sometimes bright and upbeat, and often urgent and
|
|
demanding. It does what it should; it sets the tone for the action
|
|
without being overbearing.
|
|
|
|
Another neat thing about this is the user interface, which makes it
|
|
very easy to select your next move or action without going through
|
|
the sometimes clunky, multi-level, menu-based interfaces in other
|
|
RPGs. Also, you can make your selections and play the game with one
|
|
hand, leaving the other free for mapping (or whacking off.)
|
|
|
|
My only complaint about this game was that it was too short. Great
|
|
game - if you like RPGs, you should definitely play it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
úÄÄÄÄ The Cheater's ÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
ÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛ
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛßßß ÛÛ ÛÛ
|
|
°±²ÛÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛ²±°
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
FRONTIER hopes to include a variety of different cheats, hints,
|
|
solutions, etc for systems and games of all different types. The aim is
|
|
to produce new information that has not been published before, though
|
|
this of course cannot always be guaranteed. If you have discovered a
|
|
secret level, willing to contribute some accurate playing hints, just
|
|
finished a game and are willing to produce a solution, or for that
|
|
matter anything that will help out gamers, Frontier is after them!
|
|
|
|
- For all Game Genie owners, here is an internet service you will
|
|
probably find invaluable for finding codes to all of those games
|
|
that you became stuck on. To learn how to use the service, email
|
|
to game-genie-serv@nvc.cc.ca.us with no subject line. In the
|
|
first line of your message, type:
|
|
|
|
send help
|
|
index
|
|
quit
|
|
|
|
This will send you a list of all the games which have Genie Codes
|
|
on the server, as well as tell you how you can get be sent the
|
|
individual codes via email! Very useful for Genie owners :)
|
|
Thanks to Stan Olson for mentioning this great service.
|
|
|
|
- Ken Griffey JR Major League Baseball, SNES (Game Genie)
|
|
|
|
DFC3 170F 1 ball and you walk
|
|
D4C3 170F 2 balls and you walk
|
|
CBB3 1D2D Can't walk a player
|
|
DFCE 1F0F 1 strike and you're out
|
|
D4CE 1F0F 2 strikes and you're out
|
|
C2BE 179D Can't strike out
|
|
DF27 CFA4 Invisible baserunners
|
|
D4C3 170F 2 outs and whole team is out
|
|
C2A2 4D94 + C2AA 47B4 No outs except strike outs
|
|
C28A-3FA7 + CBB0-4797 + C283-34D7 Computer can't score
|
|
|
|
- Super Street Fighter 2, SNES (Pro Action Replay)
|
|
|
|
7E8E 5900 So you can use the following codes (must enter this one)
|
|
7E00 F014 Super Turbo speed!
|
|
7E05 3706 Cause fireballs to appear with every special move (with Ryu)
|
|
7E05 DA0x Change character (use different values of x)
|
|
7E08 110x Change 2nd character (the above is for player 1)
|
|
7E08 2A00 Do special moves while jumping (player 2)
|
|
7E05 31B0 Unlimited energy for player 2
|
|
7E07 71B0 Unlimited energy for player 1
|
|
7E06 A008 Instant sonic boom (no need to charge up) for player 1
|
|
7E08 E008 Instant sonic boom (no need to charge up) for player 2
|
|
7E06 B808 Instant flash kick (no need to charge up) for player 1
|
|
7E08 F808 Instant flash kick (no need to charge up) for player 2
|
|
|
|
- Wolfenstein, Jaguar (built in)
|
|
|
|
For a music test, press the hash (#) key while the spinning sphere
|
|
is displayed. To exit, press * and # together
|
|
|
|
For a level select, turn the machine off and then on again. On the
|
|
menu screen, move to the 'new game' selection and press 1-3-7-9.
|
|
Select your level!
|
|
|
|
For god mode, and other goodies, reset the game and go to the start
|
|
menu. Start a game as usual, and press 4-6-6-8 for GOD mode
|
|
(invincible!), 4-9-9-6 for maximum ammo, 4-7-8-6 to skip the level,
|
|
and 4-8-8-7 for the debugging info!
|
|
|
|
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
°±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±°
|
|
ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÝ ÞÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ
|
|
ÞÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ
|
|
ÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÝ ÞÛÝÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ
|
|
úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú
|
|
IF you have something console related you would like to _privately_
|
|
sell, contact me and I will include your add for free in the next and
|
|
subsequent issues.
|
|
|
|
Atari 400 system. Sell all or part: upgraded console, disk drive, about
|
|
15 carts -- all the classics like Pac Man, Centipede, Missile Command --
|
|
plus some disks. Inquire for more details to: Eric Balkan, 14704 Seneca
|
|
Castle Ct, Gaithersburg MD 20878 USA; ebalkan@ppbbs.clark.net; PP BBS:
|
|
301-294-0756.
|
|
|
|
Supercom Pro v2 Backup Unit for SNES for sale - Includes 1.6MB disk
|
|
drive, 16MBits RAM upgradeable to 32, power supply, and com I/O pass-through.
|
|
$200 ono 1 yr old. Contact Pete at 313 386-5214 MI, USA
|
|
email: bsc@tiamat.umd.umich.ed
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUPPORT SITES/DISTRIBUTION
|
|
************/\************
|
|
THE following places are the first to receive Frontier each month, and
|
|
also carry previous issues. If you are after the latest issue of
|
|
Frontier, these places are where you will find it:
|
|
|
|
VIOLENT CRIMES (BBS)
|
|
Note: PERMANENTLY OFFLINE!
|
|
|
|
DiGiTAL iLLUSiONS (BBS)
|
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
|
+61-3-558-2771
|
|
Sysop: Messiah
|
|
Extra: logon as 'frontier' with pw 'frontier' for just the magazine
|
|
|
|
EMPIRE (BBS)
|
|
Melbourne, Australia
|
|
+61-3-591-0020
|
|
Sysop: Matthew Clemants
|
|
Extra: This is still being worked on, issues are distributed here
|
|
Fidonet (3:632/530)
|
|
|
|
CUBENet (BBS)
|
|
Munich, Germany
|
|
+49-089-149-8811
|
|
Sysop: Peter Koehnkow
|
|
Extra Info: 44 lines! One of Europe's biggest BBS
|
|
Fidonet (2:2480/66)
|
|
|
|
X=Link BBS
|
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Singapore
|
|
+065-345-2083
|
|
Sysop: Melvin Chia
|
|
Extra Info: 24hrs (Sat/Sun/Singapore public holidays)
|
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1200-0000 (Mon-Fri : Singapore Time)
|
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Fidonet (6:600/638)
|
|
|
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Packet Press BBS
|
|
United States
|
|
+1-301-294-0756
|
|
Sysop: Eric Balkan (balkane@eon.com)
|
|
Extra Info: None applicable - just call!
|
|
|
|
-+-*/ X-TReMe BBS /*-+-
|
|
Steenbergen, The Netherlands
|
|
+31-1670-66390
|
|
SYSoPS: The DoCToR & PYGoR (U055231@HNYKUN11.UCI.KUN.NL)
|
|
Extra Info: General support BBS (too much for one line)
|
|
|
|
Continental Drift BBS
|
|
Sydney, Australia
|
|
+61-2-949-4256
|
|
Sysop: Andre Lackmann (Andre_Lackmann@drift.apana.org.au)
|
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Extra Info: Fidonet (3:714/911)
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|
|
|
FTP
|
|
ftp.digex.net in /pub/access/spatton/frontier_magazine/
|
|
Admin: contact Scott Patton (spatton@access.digex.net)
|
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Extra Info: Only the latest issue of Frontier will be available
|
|
here due to limited archive space.
|
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FTP (non-official)
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California, United States
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wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/msdos_uploads/frontier_magazine/
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Admin: archive@wugate.wustl.edu
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Extra Info: At present only on a temporary basis and is not
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official (could disappear at any time). I know, its not
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DOS related, but where else does it go?
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* Frontier is looking for somebody who can set up some sort of
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internet list-server so that Frontier can be sent via email to
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people who don't have FTP access. Contact the editor if you are
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willing to provide this.
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* You too can become a support site and be added to this list. All
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that is required is for you to hold the current and back issues of
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Frontier, and be able to FTP each issue as it is released.
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Simple...
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HOW *YOU* TOO CAN HELP OUT FRONTIER
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***************=/\=****************
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FOR a magazine such as this to prosper, Frontier needs regular
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contributions from its readers. From general articles, new releases, to
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reviews and opinions, Frontier needs them all. Even small pieces of
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information which you feel may not or may not be important, don't
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hesitate to send them in. Most likely, if it hasn't been mentioned, we
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don't know about it!
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If you wish to become a regular reviewer for Frontier, drop me a line
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|
stating the consoles you own, and which game(s) you want to review and
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I'll email you the 'Frontier reviewer's guide'. This guide should cover
|
|
everything you need to know about writing a review for this magazine, or
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|
for those who have never written a review before and want to.
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|
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|
The following things are specifically needed at present:
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|
- Gameplay co-ordinator position: To compile a list of cheats,
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|
hints and solutions for many games on many different platforms.
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|
You should be an avid game player and be able to discover
|
|
material for yourself - eg: not taken straight from other
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|
magazines.
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- More reviewers: Although many have asked for and have been sent
|
|
the reviewer's guide, I have heard very little back in the way of
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reviews from those people. Please get those reviews in if you
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intend on having them published!
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- More cheats: A lot of the cheats as you may notice are reprints
|
|
of those that have appeared in other magazines. I am trying to
|
|
stay away from this, so if you have an original cheat or hint
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|
please send it in.
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* For information on where to send any material or contributions,
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|
see the following section.
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HOW TO CONTACT FRONTiER
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*********=/\=**********
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IF you need to contact Frontier for any reason, to ask a question, to
|
|
pose a question, to comment on the magazine or industry in general, or
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for any other reason, don't hesitate to mail! (as it were).
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* Gordon Craick (chief editor) *
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.._@/` Post: Gordon Craick For those who do not have access
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16 Gums Avenue to the internet
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Belgrave, Victoria
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AUSTRALIA 3160
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Email: pred@zikzak.apana.org.au For response within a few minutes
|
|
to a few days!
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|
FidoNet: Netmail to 3:632/530 (Gordon Craick)
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.:. If I don't receive your mail, try sending it again. If i
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|
*still* don't receive your message, try posting a 'where are
|
|
you?' post in one of the console newsgroups (which I regularly
|
|
monitor) and I should be able to get back to you. Otherwise,
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|
don't worry, I'm probably just dead :)
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CREDITS/THANKS
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******/\******
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|
KEEP up the great support everybody! Specific thank you's go to:
|
|
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|
. Since the list has grown rather large now, thanks go out to _all_
|
|
who have offered to be a support site. Keep up your support!
|
|
. Stan Olson for his excellent review
|
|
. Cyphron for a cool SSF2 review
|
|
. Jarrod Day for the moves for the MK2 move guide
|
|
. Micheal Delaney for the 3DO release list
|
|
. Bob Anderson for the first ever 'mini' review!
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|
. YOU for reading the magazine!
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* Unless otherwise indicated, all articles are written by Gordon
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|
Craick.
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That's about it from the fifth issue of Frontier! Look out for
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issue six out (hopefully!) in October...
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - FRONTIER MAGAZINE AND ALL ARTICLES
|
|
CONTAINED WITHIN REMAIN THE LEGAL PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR(S) UNDER
|
|
EXISTING WORLDWIDE COPYRIGHT TREATIES AND IS (c) COPYRIGHT 1994. NO
|
|
PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE DISTRIBUTED SEPARATELY OR SOLD FOR
|
|
PROFIT WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION FROM THE EDITOR AND RESPECTIVE
|
|
AUTHOR'S.
|
|
ALL COMPANIES AND NAMES MENTIONED IN THIS MAGAZINE REMAIN
|
|
TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES.
|
|
FRONTIER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES INCURRED FROM
|
|
INFORMATION IN THIS MAGAZINE, EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. WHILE
|
|
CARE IS TAKEN TO ENSURE ACCURATE INFORMATION, FRONTIER CANNOT BE
|
|
HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES INCURRED AS A RESULT THEREOF.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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