SILICON TIMES REPORT ==================== INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE ============================= from STR Electronic Publishing Inc. April 29, 1994 No. 1018 ====================================================================== Silicon Times Report International Online Magazine Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 R.F. Mariano Publisher-Editor ----------------------------------------- Voice: 1-904-783-3319 10am-4pm EST STR Publishing Support BBS Network System * THE BOUNTY BBS * ITCNet 85:881/253 JAX HUB ~ FNET 350 ~ Nest 90:21/350 904-786-4176 MULTI-NODE 24hrs-7 days 2400-57.6 bps V.32-42 bis 16.8 USR Dual Standard FAX: 904-783-3319 12am-6am EST ----------------------------------------- Fido 1:374/147.3 The Bounty STR Support Central 1-904-786-4176 FNET. 620 : Leif's World ................1-904-573-0734 FNET. 690 : PASTE BBS....................1-206-284-8493 FNET. 489 : Steal Your Face BBS..........1-908-920-7981 MNET - Toad Hall BBS.....................1-617-567-8642 ______________________________________________________________________ > 04/29/94 STR 1018 "The Original * Independent * Online Magazine!" """"""""""""""""" - CPU REPORT - COMDEX/Spring'94 - WINDOWS WORLD'94 - Virus Warning! - PIRACY $12.8B - PC DOS 6.3 SHIPS - Pro Turbo News - MEDUSA & LEXICOR - WPWIN 6.0A SHIPS - Gaming News - Sega/MGM + GAMES - The Old Fishin' Hole -* APPLE OPENS NAT'L COMPUTER TRADE-IN DEAL *- -* RUPERT MURDOCH BUYS KESMAI CORP. *- -* POWER MACS BEAT PENTIUMS! *- ====================================================================== STReport International Online Magazine The Original * Independent * Online Magazine -* FEATURING WEEKLY *- "Accurate UP-TO-DATE News and Information" Current Events, Original Articles, Tips, Rumors, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ====================================================================== STReport's BBS - The Bounty BBS, invites all BBS systems, worldwide, to participate in the ITC/PROWL/USENET/NEST/F-Net/Fido Mail Networks. You may also call The Bounty BBS direct @ 1-904-786-4176. Enjoy the wonder and excitement of exchanging all types of useful information relative to c o m puters, worldwide, through the use of excellent International Networking Systems. SysOps, worldwide, are welcome to join the STReport International Conferences. ITC Node is 85:881/250, The Fido Node is 1:374/147.3, Crossnet Code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #620. All computer platforms BBS systems are welcome and invited to participate. ====================================================================== CIS ~ AOL ~ DELPHI ~ BIX ~ PROWL ~ ITC ~ NEST ~ EURONET ~ CIX USENET ~ USPOLNET ~ CLEVELAND FREE-NET ~ INTERNET ~ FNET ~ GENIE ====================================================================== COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; STREPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! CALL: 1-800-848-8199 .. Ask for operator 198 You will receive your complimentary time and be online in no time at all! "Enjoy CompuServe's forums; where information is at its very best! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""" COMDEX/Spring and WINDOWS WORLD '94 which takes place in Atlanta, GA from May 23-26 1994 is right around the corner and the new goodies are flying all over the place! New versions of Word Perfect, WinFax Pro and WinComm have already hit, one can only guess at the number of new, more powerful goodies about to hit the market. Its all very exciting though, especially to those who are emigrating from other less fortunate platforms where the picture is slowly dimming to a sleepy darkness. Rumor has it that the once radiant and ever so promising Commodore Corp. is just about gone. Is all very sad, but this particular shakeout involving a few "splinter platforms" was strongly predicted long ago. This past week, WinFax Pro V4.0 was installed at our place. The review for both it and its sister program WinComm are "in the works". AS far as a preliminary comment I have but one. After the installation, it became obvious I didn't need two fax devices in the office. Anyone in the market for a relatively new Canon FaxPhone/50? The first two hundred dollars takes it and its still under warranty. WinFax Pro v4 went in smoothly, and has so far, performed flawlessly. For those of you who have never been to a Comdex show, GO! This one in Atlanta is not as big as the Las Vegas Show, but for the folks on the eastern seaboard it sure is economical to get to and this one promises to be a "humdinger". Don't miss it if you have any sort of an interest in Computer or Computing. Ralph..... """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU! """""""""""""""" Publisher -Editor """""""""""""""""" Ralph F. Mariano Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs Section Editors """"""""""""""" PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION ---------- ------------- ----------- ------------- R.D. Stevens R. Niles R. Dean D. P. Jacobson STReport Staff Editors: """"""""""""""""""""""" Dana P. Jacobson Michael Arthur John Deegan Lucien Oppler Brad Martin Judith Hamner John Szczepanik Dan Stidham Joseph Mirando Doyle Helms Frank Sereno John Duckworth Jeff Coe Steve Keipe Guillaume Brasseur Melanie Bell Jay Levy John Donohue Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Contributing Correspondents: """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Tim Holt Norman Boucher Harry Steele Clemens Chin Neil Bradley Eric Jerue Ron Deal Robert Dean Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W. Smith Bruno Puglia Paul Haris Kevin Miller Craig Harris Allen Chang Dominick Fontana IMPORTANT NOTICE """""""""""""""" Please, submit letters to the editor, articles, reviews, etc... via E-Mail to: CompuServe................... 70007,4454 America Online..................STReport Delphi......................... RMARIANO BIX............................ RMARIANO FIDONET..................... 1:347/147.3 FNET........................... NODE 350 ITC NET...................... 85:881/253 NEST........................ 90:21/350.0 GEnie......................... ST-REPORT Internet.............RMARIANO@DELPHI.COM """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > CPU STATUS REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS """"""""""""""""" IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I) =========================== Computer Products Update - CPU Report ------------------------ ---------- Weekly Happenings in the Computer World Issue #18 by Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. ******* General Computer News ******* ACER TO OPEN SAUDI ASSEMBLY PLANT Acer Computers is opening a computer assembly plant in the United Arab Emirates. In Dubai, officials with the Far Eastern Acer Group said the firm will start assembling PCs in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in June. Chairman/CEO Stan Shih told a Dubai meeting of information-technology experts that his group currently represents Asia's largest PC-compatible products manufacturer, with $77 million of 1993 earnings on $1.9 billion in total revenues. POWER MACS BEAT PENTIUMS! Apple Computer Inc. released results of an independent study that concluded all three of Apple's new Power Macintosh computers outperform comparably equipped Pentium-based PCs running Microsoft Windows. "The results are conclusive: Power Mac systems beat Pentium processor-based systems, hands down. What's more, they're easier to use, cost less, and with SoftWindows Software from Insignia Solutions, they can run DOS and Windows as well as Macintosh applications," said Ian Diery, executive vice president and general manager of Apple's Personal Computer Division. "These results give DOS and Windows users even more reason to consider switching to Macintosh." Apple said the Ingram Laboratories study found the following: The Apple Power Macintosh 8100/80 outperformed a 66MHz Pentium processor-based computer by an average of 54%. The Apple Power Macintosh 7100/66 outperformed a 66MHz Pentium processor-based computer by an average of 38%. The Apple Power Macintosh 6100/60 outperformed a 66MHz Pentium processor-based computer by an average of 5% and beat a 60Mhz Pentium processor-based computer by an average of 24%. RUPERT MURDOCH BUYS KESMAI CORP. Game publisher KESMAI Corp., producer of the Island of KESMAI and other online features, has been acquired for unspecified terms by the News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch organization that purchased the Delphi online service last autumn. A statement from New York says that starting next month, games and services from the 13-year- old KESMAI Corp. will be accessible through Delphi. "Online games bring a whole new dimension to the online experience which is why we at News Corp. are so pleased to work with the leaders in multi-player games development," said News Corp. Vice President Stan Honey, who also is managing director of its News Technology Group. KESMAI President John Taylor said in the statement, "Multi-player games have always had the potential to become the next major entertainment medium but, until now, have lacked aggressive development. Now, for the first time, a true multi-player games developer will have the resources and technology to create new products, nurture and expand existing business relationships, and offer other games companies a unique vehicle for their products to reach a mass audience." KESMAI Corp. produces Island of KESMAI, Air Warrior, MultiPlayer BattleTech and Harpoon On-line. Murdoch's News Corp. operates TV Guide, Fox Broadcasting Co., Twentieth Century Fox, HarperCollins Publishers, The Times of London newspapers, British Sky Broadcasting and STAR Television. APPLE CUTS MAC PRICE 16 PERCENT The price of the Macintosh Quadra 605 system has been cut by Apple USA, a division of Apple Computer Inc., by 16 percent. Reporting from Campbell, Calif., the price of the Quadra 605 8/160, excluding pre-installed software, is being lowered from $1,269 to $1,069 effective immediately. The system is powered by a 25MHz Motorola 68LC040 microprocessor. IBM RELEASES PC DOS 6.3 IBM Corp. today introduced PC DOS 6.3, a full-featured DOS with integrated data compression, improved memory management and a suite of enhanced utilities. The newest edition of PC DOS, which is IBM's version of the DOS operating system, is available free for the downloading on CompuServe. Business Wire reports the integrated data compression feature of PC DOS 6.3 enables users to increase significantly the storage capacity of their fixed and removable disks without any investment in hardware. The new PC DOS is the only version of DOS that has built-in support for pen-based computers and PCMCIA cards. In addition, PC DOS 6.3 has eight updated full-featured utilities, including IBM's SuperStor/DS, which provides safe and reliable data compression capabilities for DOS and Windows, and Central Point Software's RAMBoost, Central Point Backup, Undelete and Program Scheduler, which allows users to optimize memory, back up or retrieve files and schedule activities. Phoenix Technologies' PhoenixCARD Manager Plus provides PCMCIA support, while IBM's Pen for DOS offers extensions that allow users to replace the mouse with a pen to launch DOS applications. IBM's Anti-Virus protects against more than 2,000 common computer viruses, while Integrated E Editor enables users to draw, perform basic math, sort and edit multiple files. "IBM is committed to the future of DOS, and we're continuing to invest time, money and research and development effort into upgrading PC DOS," said Wally Casey, director of marketing for IBM's Personal Software Products division. "With PC DOS, we're offering a DOS that has consistently been rated superior by leading computer trade publications and has won the respect and trust of millions of DOS users." The PC DOS 6.3 upgrade for all DOS 2.1 or higher users is $77, and a free electronic upgrade is available on CompuServe (GO IBMPCDOSUPGRADE). SEGA & MGM TO DEVELOP GAMES Sega of America Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. have announced plans to jointly develop video games, interactive media, television programs and films. Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but both companies will collaborate in production and marketing of new media products. The products will bear both the MGM and Sega names. MGM and Sega executives said the products to be developed under the agreement will be original concepts, but they may choose in the future to develop interactive games on 1995 and 1996 movie releases from MGM and United Artists. The companies also plan to develop at least two interactive CD-ROM titles for release this year. "We're very excited about being in the fore front of the convergence of entertainment and technology, and we couldn't have a better ally in this effort than Sega," said Frank G. Mancuso, MGM's Chairman and CEO. FIRM WARNS FOR INTERNET VIRUS CD-ROM manufacturer Chinon America Inc. says computer vandals have illegally put its name on a virus-ridden file and release it on Internet. Chinon warns computer users not to download the file called CD-IT.ZIP, saying it will corrupt the user's hard disk. In a statement from Torrance, Calif., Chinon says, "The program, allegedly a shareware PC utility that will convert an ordinary CD-ROM drive into a CD-Recordable (CD-R) device, which is technically impossible, instead destroys critical system files on the user's hard drive. The program also immediately crashes the CPU, forces the user to reboot and stays in memory. The virus has proven thus far to be undetectable to traditional virus-checkers." Chinon says the CD-IT.ZIP file "promises 'to enable read/write to your CD-ROM drive' and lists the program as being authored by Joseph S. Shiner, couriered by HDA, and copyrighted by Chinon Products (sic).'" Saying it has no division by that name, Chinon speculates the vandals picked its company name "to make it seem that the software was being endorsed by a well-known and reputable CD-ROM manufacturer." David Cole, director of research and development for Chinon America, said, "We felt that it was our responsibility as a member of the computing community to alert Internet users of this dangerous virus that is being distributed with our name on it. Even though we have nothing to do with the virus, it is particularly disturbing for us to think that many of our loyal customers could be duped into believing that the software is ours." Cole added that luckily, in addition to attributing the software to a non-existent Chinon division, "the shareware file also includes several other tip-offs that it might be a fraudulent piece of software, including several obscenities in the documentation and a line indicating that the courier company for the software, HDA, stands for 'Haven't Decided a Name Yet.'" Chinon is urging people with information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of those associated with the CD-IT program to call Chinon at 310/533-0274. BSA -> PIRACY COSTS $12.8 BILLION The Business Software Alliance says pirates cost the software publishing and distribution industry about $12.8 billion last year, and that Europe the largest market representing 19 countries -- accounted for 38 percent of that total loss. The BSA estimates Italy has made the greatest strides in fighting piracy, "reducing the percentage of software pirated to 50 percent from a European high of 86 percent of software sales in 1992." PRACTICAL PERIPHERALS MODEMS - V.FAST Practical Peripherals Inc. has introduced a family of V.FAST Class modems, all featuring data communications speeds up to 28,8000 bps and 14,400 bps fax speeds. The ProClass PC288LCD is a desktop modem with a three-line LCD offering more than 50 real-time session status messages, such as length of time online, number of data characters transmitted or received per second, fax and caller ID strings and line quality. Retail price is $529. The MacClass MC288LCD offers the same feature set, but includes a Mac cable and MacComCenter data and fax software. The modem also sells for $529. The Practical PM288PKT is a miniature pocket modem that easily fits into the palm of a hand. Unlike most pocket modems, this one offers eight LEDs for operation status and a real speaker. It also has two RJ-11 ports, allowing use of a telephone without unplugging the modem. It comes with a serial cable, battery pack and leather carrying case. Retail price is $499. For information, contact Practical Peripherals Inc. in the Practical Peripherals Forum (GO PPI) or 375 Conejo Ridge Ave., Thousand Oaks, CA 91361; 805/497-4774 (telephone) or 805/374-7200 (fax). _____________________________________________ > PRO TURBO STR InfoFile """""""""""""""""""""" GRAPHICS PRO TURBO - Fast Professional True Color Accelerator ============================================================ The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO provides professional users with fast 64-bit graphics at high resolutions with up to 16.7 million accelerated colors. No Compromise Performance ------------------------- Provides superior graphics speed in 16.7 million colors at 1280X1024 resolution, with vertical refresh rates up to 100Hz. Supercharged True Color ----------------------- Bring photo-realism to your day-to-day business applications, including electronic presentations and picture databases with fast true color graphics at resolutions up to 1280X1024. Professional Windows -------------------- Provides instant response, true color and superior image definition for graphics intensive applications. Comes with comprehensive tools to enhance Windows operation. Complete CAD Solution --------------------- Provides a flicker-free workspace up to 1280X1024 resolutions for CAD/CAE applications under DOS, Windows, Windows NT or UNIX. Details ------- The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO comes in 2MB or 4MB configurations for ISA, PCI or VESA Local Bus. Complement your 486 or Pentium system with the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO for superior performance under DOS, Windows, Windows NT, OS/2 and UNIX environments. It outperforms other graphics adapters in all resolutions and color modes. The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO uses ATI's mach64 high performance graphics engine which accelerates all functions including Bit Blt, fills, lines and clipping in all color modes. There's even acceleration for motion video applications. And its VRAM memory will give you consistent performance across all resolution, color and refresh selections. So whether you run in high resolution, 16.7 million colors or high refresh rates, the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO provides blazing performance. Unlike most other accelerators, it provides high performance in VGA and Super VGA modes for games, text and graphics applications under DOS. Bring photo-realism to your day-to day business and design applications with fast true color graphics at resolutions up to 1280X1024. The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO has been designed to provide exceptional true color performance, while providing productivity tools to optimize true color operation. All without the price premium associated with professional true color products. The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO uses ATI's 64-bit graphics engine to run faster in 16.7 million colors than lesser accelerators in only 256. And it offers consistently superior performance across a variety of different resolutions, regardless of memory configuration. Are you tired of compromising between high resolution mode for detailed text work and true color mode for rich, photographic colors? ATI's WinSwitch feature allows you to toggle between Windows modes with a simple keystroke. Even with 2MB versions, you can have the best of both worlds... high resolution graphics AND true color graphics without restarting Windows. And if you need more, choose the 4MB version or expand the 2MB model to use detailed 1280X1024 graphics at 16.7 million color all the time. All GRAPHICS PRO TURBO cards come with color calibration software to match color output. Improve your productivity under Windows with the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO. Run your Windows applications faster...view more detail with 1280X1024 resolution...add true photographic colors...and reduce eyestrain with flicker-free refresh rates at up to 100Hz. But the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO is more than just a hardware accelerator, it come with a full complement of software tools to enhance Windows operation, including: WinSwitch: ---------- Provides 'on-the-fly' color and resolution switching without having to leave Windows. Choose your preferred color and resolution settings for any application, even with 2MB models. FlexDesk+: ---------- Customize your Windows screen size, position, color, font display, desktop size, and other settings easily with the FlexDesk+ control panel. Color Calibration: ------------------ Match the colors on your monitor to the final output on your color printer. DeskScan: --------- Allows you to pan and scroll across larger documents or drawings (workspace up to 2048X1536 resolution) when using a smaller size or lower resolution monitors. For CAD/CAE applications under DOS, Windows or UNIX, the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO provides superior performance with flicker-free graphics. Display drawings in 1280X1024 high resolution in full 16.7 million colors at high refresh rates for sharp, stable images with improved drawing accuracy and reduced eye-strain. Unleash the full power of AutoCAD, MicroStation-PC, CADKey and 3D Studio with ATI's enhanced drivers. Plus, the GRAPHICS PRO TURBO comes with SoftEngine F/X, a full featured AutoCAD display list processor that is highly recommended by CAD publications. SoftEngine/FX's many features include: -------------------------------------- Modeless bird's Eye Window: Permanent use definable on-screen window; allows changes of position and zoom depth of the drawing view port simultaneously with real-time updates. Detail Window: Magnifies the portion of the drawing surrounding the AutoCAD cross-hairs; real time updates with adjustable magnification. Graphical Icon Panel with QuickDrag Configuration: Customize your own icon panel by simply dragging and dropping functions from a "grab-bag" of over 25 icons. Experience the new generation of Windows Multimedia Applications with full-motion video acceleration. The GRAPHICS PRO TURBO is ready to enhance motion video playback, without having to invest in additional multimedia hardware. It lets you enlarge small video images to partial or full screen while maintaining smooth motion and improving image quality (using ATI's advanced color interpolation technique). Features ======== 64-bit Performance ------------------ Uses ATI's mach64GX Graphic Accelerator for instant response and superior image definition in graphics intensive applications under DOS, Windows, Windows NT, OS/2 and UNIX. Displays 256, 65,000 and 16.7 million colors at resolutions up to 1280X1024. Accelerated True Color ---------------------- Accelerates 16.7 million colors up to 1280X1024 resolution. VRAM Memory ----------- Ensures higher color depths and high refresh rates without sacrificing speed. Enhances Windows ---------------- Comes with software tools to enhance Windows operations. Dynamically switch color and resolution with WinSwitch, leaving your open Windows applications intact. Use FlexDesk+ to calibrate screen color and change Windows screen size, position, color, font display and desktop size. Pan and scroll using DeskScan, a virtual desktop with up to 2048X1536 resolution. Superior Performance SoftEngine F/X enhances AutoCAD operation with a permanent, on-screen Bird's Eye Window, a real time Detail Window and a Graphical Icon Panel. Also accelerates MicroStation-PC and 3D Studio. Accelerated Motion Video ------------------------ Provide 30 fps playback with hardware assisted image scaling color interpolation. 100Hz flicker-free Display -------------------------- VRAM memory uses non-interlaced refresh rates up to 100Hz; substantially reducing eyestrain without sacrificing performance. Multiple Bus Support -------------------- Comes in ISA, PCI or VESA Local Bus versions. 2 or 4MB Memory --------------- Plug-in memory module allows you to upgrade your 2MB card to 4MB for true color at 1280x1024 resolution. Easy Installation ----------------- No switches to set. Comprehensive software provides extensive diagnostics and automatic configuration. Select your monitor from an extensive list, or use VDIF, (VESA Display Information Format), monitor description file or dynamically customize size and refresh rates. Energy Efficient ---------------- Supports VESA DPMS (Display Power Management Signaling) compliant monitors for energy-savings and extended monitor life. Superior Image Quality ---------------------- ATI uses top quality components and advanced design to provide superior display without fuzziness or blurring. SPECIFICATIONS ============== System Requirements: Intel or compatible 386/486/Pentium system, 4MB minimum system memory for Windows Enhanced Mode. Controller: ATI mach64 Graphics and Multimedia Accelerator Chip. Bus: 16-bit ISA, 32-bit VESA Local Bus (up to 33MHz) or 32-bit PCI Local Bus. Video Display Memory 2MB (expandable) or 4MB VRAM memory. Available Display Modes and Colors under Windows: Resolution Colors(2MB) Colors(4MB) --------------------------------------------------- 1280x1024 256 16.7M 1152x864 65k 16.7M 1024x768 65k 16.7M 800x600 16.7M 16.7M 640x480 16.7M 16.7M Monitor Sync Signals: Resolution Horizontal(kHz) Vertical(Hz) ---------------------------------------------------- 1280x1024 50.0-80.0 43.5-75.0 1152x864 50.0-80.0 43.5-80.0 1024x768 35.5-80.0 43.5-100.0 800x600 31.5-62.5 44.5-100.0 640x480 31.5-52.9 60.0-100.0 Supports all VESA monitor standards. User adjustable timings to support non-standard monitors. Software Support: Comes with enhanced drivers for Windows, Windows NT, MS Word 6.0, WordPerfect 6.0, AutoCAD, AutoShade and 3D Studio, MicroStation-PC, Motion Video Acceleration, VGA and VESA drivers. Additional support supplied by third party software companies. Connectors Analog Video: 15-pin D shell (female) IBM standard VESA: 26-pin header for VGA pass-through. MTBF 120,000 hours Warranty Five years limited _____________________________________________ > BUSYTOWN STR Review This is Really GOOD STUFF! """"""""""""""""""" Kids' Computing Corner ---------------------- Richard Scarry's BUSYTOWN from PARAMOUNT INTERACTIVE Review by Frank Sereno Richard Scarry is a noted author of children's books which are centered on inhabitants of his Busytown. If you are unfamiliar with them, the books tell of the adventures of numerous animals in a friendly town. Lowly Worm and Huckle Cat are the stars in this interactive multi-media extravaganza, but your child will be introduced to many other characters as well as learning and developing many thinking skills. Busytown is available for IBM compatible computers in either floppy or cd-rom format and is recommended for children ages 3 to 7. Busytown will run from DOS, Windows or Kiddesk. The floppy version will require 12 megs of hard drive space for a full installation but a minimal installation will use 5 megs. The CD-rom version is enhanced with extra music and additional digitized voice passages. The CD-rom version only requires 100 bytes of hard drive space as installation only creates a subdirectory, a batch file and a preferences file since the program and data files remain on the CD-rom. For both versions, 550k of free conventional ram is required as well as a VGA display. It is recommended that a sound card capable of digitized sounds be used as well as a mouse. A 286 cpu is required but it is recommended that a 386 or higher cpu be used. This week's review will be of the CD-rom version but the floppy version is very similar. Busytown consists of twelve playgrounds which are displayed on a colorful map. The child will chose the playground he wishes to explore by guiding Lowly Worm in his Applecopter to that playground and clicking. Clicking on the Busytown townhall will cause a policeman to audibly describe how to play Busytown. Each playground has a fire alarm box which will initiate audible help. Flashing stars indicate the next step that the child should take in most of the playgrounds. Bananas Gorilla is at the first playground. The child moves Bananas through a maze of photographers to get a box of bananas. If Bananas is photographed, he must give a banana to the photographer before he can leave the maze. Concepts learned in this exercise are one to one correspondence, cause and effect and learning the numerals 1 through 10. The next playground is Bruno's Deli. Children help Huckle Cat serve food and drinks to customers. Customers come into the deli and announce their orders audibly while it is pictured and written above them. The child moves Huckle to press the correct buttons to deliver the items. Orders start as single items and gradually increase in size and complexity. This exercise teaches children to associate printed words with pictures and the social skills of saying please, thank you, you're welcome, etc. Building a House is the third playground. Assist Huckle in building a house by moving him to the chimney and using the mouse to raise him on the forklift and clicking the mouse button to lay bricks and mortar. Once the chimney is complete, Huckle is moved to the roof where he lays shingles by the child moving the mouse laterally and clicking the button to move Huckle across the roof and nail a shingle. Once the roof is finished, the child will furnish the house by moving objects to fill shaded silhouettes. When the house is furnished, Huckle may then test all the furnishings. Clicking on the lamp will lead to story time in which nursery rhymes are read and displayed to the child. This playground teaches problem solving, sequencing and reading. Captain Salty's ship teaches children part/whole relationships, problem solving and sequencing by building and furnishing the ship. The child uses a loading crane to lift items off a conveyor and match them to their silhouettes on the ship. Captain Salty will then briefly explain the function of each object. Next the child will direct the crew to the proper location on the boat. After the ship is furnished and manned, the child will paint the ship by using the mouse to move Captain Salty across the ship. Finally, the child will launch the ship and watch it sail away. The Delivery Truck playground aids children in learning problem solving and maze tracking. Huckle and Lowly are given an object to deliver in Busytown and the child follows the flashing stars to the delivery point while avoiding potholes, children crossing streets and open manholes. After completing the delivery, the child must then return to the warehouse but is given no guidance on the return route. The next playground is Dr. Diane's Hospital. Oddly enough, Dr. Diane has a very masculine-sounding voice. The child will learn the parts of the body by placing bandages on whichever part of the body is hurting on the patient's body. The process of bandaging goes on until the patient's mouth is bandaged and can no longer tell Dr. Diane where he has an "owie." The Fire Station has the child helping Smokey the Firefighter equipping his truck, dressing for a fire, rescuing residents and putting out a house fire. The child will learn problem solving, maze tracing and planning. First Smokey will outfit his truck. Smokey will pick up objects for the truck and then the child drags them to the flashing star while Smokey describes the purpose of each object. When the fire truck is ready, Smokey will go upstairs to take a nap. When the alarm goes off, he must turn it off by clicking on it and then dress in his raincoat and helmet. Once dressed, he must be directed to the firepole which he will slide down. Once in his truck, the child must guide it across the town by following the flashing star but avoiding obstacles such as garbage cans. Once at the fire site, the child directs Smokey and another Firefighter to use the life net to catch residents as they jump from a second story window. Then Smokey must replace the net, connect his hoses, climb the ladder and then douse the fire. If he doesn't raise the ladder high enough, he will shower the fire victims! Spray the hose by holding down the mouse button. The child will learn counting, matching and estimating by playing at the Gas Station. The child helps Huckle Cat fill gas tanks, fix flat tires, put out engine fires and add oil. To pump gas, listen to the drivers' orders and choose between unleaded and super, then go to the correct pump and click, then move to the vehicle and hold the mouse button until the correct amount is dispensed by watching the numbers go by on the pump. Mr. Fixit's Workshop teaches the child part/whole relationships, cause and effect relationships and how simple machines work. The child places different belts, gears and pulleys from pairs of such items onto a machine to make hot chocolate. If he uses the wrong part, Lowly will tell him "wrong direction" and child can change the part by picking up the remaining member of the pair and placing it the same spot. Junior Seesaw and Seesaw teaches comparing, balancing, addition and subtraction. The Junior Seesaw has less characters than Seesaw. Each character wears a numbered shirt. Click on a character to place him on one side of the seesaw, click on his numbered circle to remove him from the seesaw. Lowly asks the child to balance the seesaw by adding or removing characters. The child places characters on the seesaw on his own whim. It might have been more instructional had Lowly placed characters on the seesaw and then asked the child to balance the seesaw by solving a math problem. Story time is the eleventh playground and as was discussed earlier. It is accessed by completing the Building a House exercise and clicking on the lamp. The twelfth playground is The Wind. Children learn the effects of the wind on various objects, thus providing learning of cause and effect relationships, exploring the environment and testing ideas. The wind is represented by a small whirlwind which the child can use it to interact with a kite, crows in a tree, a boat on the sea and more. The CD-rom has a thirteenth playground which is an animated jukebox showing animations and playing songs from the other playgrounds. To play these songs, your sound card must be connected to the audio out jack or connector on your CD-rom drive. When your child decides to leave Busytown, a virtual book describes the activities and learning experiences that the child has accomplished during his session with Busytown. If the child has been playing alone, this gives the parents an opportunity to see which playgrounds he enjoys and the concepts he has been learning. The manual for Busytown is very complete. It describes each activity in detail and has a reference chart to show the skills to be learned in each playground. The manual also has 13 pages of activities which are played without the computer and an award certificate for the child for completing any of the playgrounds. An extensive five page trouble- shooting guide completes the manual. Now for picking the nits. In some scenes, the animation is a bit blocky or jerky. In a few of the playgrounds, not enough attention to detail is paid to safety concerns. When the chimney is being built, Huckle does not use a safety cage but he is instead working directly from the forks of the lift truck. When he shingles the roof, he has no safety devices or scaffolding. And when he is lifting the heavy objects, he has no appliance dolly, helper or any type of back support to protect him from straining his back. Can you lift a furnace by yourself? In the Fire Station playground, the last resident rescued does a double-somersault dive into the safety net. In the Gas Station playground, a car with luggage on its roof rack stops at the station and all its luggage falls off. Huckle merely throws the luggage back on top of the car and does not secure it in any way. The car speeds off the screen none the better for the experience. I do not mean to say that children are going to rush out and do these activities, but I think it best if safety is taught to children as early as possible because the little lessons learned at this age group will stay with them for their entire lives. Since I am on the Safety Committee at my place of employment, safety is an overriding concern for me. More nits...I already mentioned that Dr. Diane had a male-sounding voice. I also did not like that a band-aid was used as a cure-all for every ailment mentioned by the patient. I would have liked to have seen more female lead characters. Most computer software continues a trend that is popular on television and the movies, the lack of female role- models. I would have liked that the child not be immediately given the flashing star answer in so many of the playgrounds, but to perhaps let him make a mistake or two when matching silhouettes to objects and some of the other exercises. Now for the positives. Busytown passes all the questions on the Edmark Parent Worksheet. The visuals are beautiful. The music is bright and bouncy. It changes musical type with each song. The digitized voices are clearly spoken and the voice acting is fairly well done. The software can be run independently by my 3-1/2 year-old son with little problem. This software does not require reading as audible help is available in every lesson. The lessons are entertaining enough to capture the attention of my very active son. On a scale from 1 to 10, I'd have to give this program at least an 8.5 rating. I recommend this program to anyone with young children. You can contact Paramount by calling 1-800- 821-1177. Next week, a short look at the added features of Kiddesk Family Edition. If you have comments, suggestions or criticisms, please send mail to me at the addresses below: Fidonet: Frank Sereno at 1:2235/10 Internet: frank.sereno@utibbs.chigate.com As always, thanks for reading! ____________________________________________ > WP 6.0a SHIPS! STR Spotlight A superb "Document Processor"! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" WORDPERFECT CORPORATION SHIPS WORDPERFECT 6.0a FOR WINDOWS Interim release improves speed, reliability and ease of use OREM, Utah April 25, 1994 WordPerfect Corporation today shipped WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows, an interim release of WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows which began shipping in October 1993. WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows is free to registered WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows users upon request by calling WordPerfect at (800) 321-4566. Users need to leave WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows installed on their machines as the interim release will ship on a reduced disk set and automatically update the necessary files. "Many changes have been made to improve the overall reliability of the program and to address issues raised by customers," said Todd Titensor, product marketing director of WordPerfect for Windows. "Beyond that, we are continuing to make the product easier to use with features such as QuickCorrect to automatically correct spelling errors and a QuickStart Coach to help DOS users make the transition to Windows. And an optional tools disk gives OS/2 customers a new level of integration with the OS/2 Workplace Shell." New Features ------------ * QuickCorrect. QuickCorrect automatically corrects mistyped or misspelled words. For example, "adn" is replaced with "and" as soon as the user presses the space bar or another word delimiter such as a comma, period, or semi-colon. QuickCorrect also automatically expands abbreviations and corrects errors with two initial caps on the fly. * QuickSelect. WordPerfect 6.0a gives users the flexibility to precisely select text by choosing complete words, sentences and paragraphs as well as individual letters. * QuickStart Coach. An interactive QuickStart Coach appears when first launching WordPerfect 6.0a to give users a brief overview of the product. This coach will assist WordPerfect for DOS users, as well as users of other word processors as they make the transition to WordPerfect for Windows. * Transition Advisor. Accessed from the Help menu, the Transition Advisor offers specific help for WordPerfect DOS users, as well as users of other Windows word processors. The Transition Advisor displays keystrokes and commands from WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS and shows users how to perform equivalent tasks in WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows. * OS/2 Integration. An optional OS/2 WPS Integration Tools disk gives WordPerfect 6.0a users a new level of integration with OS/2's Workplace Shell. The new tools let WordPerfect 6.0a users take full advantage of the drag and drop capabilities of the Workplace Shell. The disk is available on CompuServe, the WordPerfect BBS, or for $4 by calling WordPerfect at (800) 321-4566. * Uninstall. The setup program includes an Uninstall facility which lets users "uninstall" parts of WordPerfect 6.0a such as the tutorials and learning files. Enhancements ------------ * Speed. WordPerfect 6.0a includes speed enhancements in important areas such as scrolling, printing, graphics handling, basic formatting, table editing, ExpressDocs templates and opening large documents. * Size. With code optimization and new compression technology, the standard installation for the interim release has been decreased to 27MB (minimum install is now approximately 8MB). * Better Conversions. To address the needs of WordPerfect 5.x users, file and macro conversions have been improved. * New Document Templates. WP Lite template provides a scaled-down menu and feature list for novice users WPAmiPro template helps Ami Pro users transition to WordPerfect (Microsoft Word template is already included) Templates now available for creating business cards, legal pleading forms, term papers and a new form letter. * New Button Bars. Design Tools for quick access to tools such as borders, drop caps and watermarks Utilities with options to save and close all files Legal with popular features such as Table of Authorities, outlines and revision marking. Toll-free Customer Support -------------------------- With its Classic Service program, WordPerfect Corporation is the only major software vendor to offer six months free, toll-free customer support for its business applications. Classic Service begins with a customer s first support call for each new product. An exception is being made for WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows users, whose six-month Classic Service period will start over with their first support call after May 1. In 1993, WordPerfect Corporation was recognized for outstanding service and support 15 times, including PC World's World Class Award and the highest ratings in PC Magazine's Support and Satisfaction Survey. WordPerfect Corporation, headquartered in Orem, Utah, is a privately held company that develops business software to help people process, share and present information across a wide variety of computer operating systems. Among the company's key products are the world's best-selling word processor, WordPerfect, as well as WordPerfect Office, WordPerfect InForms and WordPerfect Presentations. Recognized for its leadership in providing outstanding customer support, WordPerfect Corporation is represented throughout the world by 57 international affiliates serving 117 countries with products in 28 languages. WORDPERFECT 6.0a FOR WINDOWS OFFERS NEW LEVEL OF OS/2 INTEGRATION WordPerfect for Windows now integrates with the Workplace Shell better than any Windows or OS/2 word processor In conjunction with the release of WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows, WordPerfect Corporation today shipped a tools disk that will give OS/2 users a new level of integration with IBM's OS/2 Workplace Shell (WPS). The OS/2 WPS Integration Tools disk will give OS/2 customers using WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows more Workplace Shell integration than any other Windows or OS/2 word processor. "OS/2 customers are looking for timely releases, speed and compatibility all of which are available now in WordPerfect 6.0a," said Dave Moon, chief technology officer at WordPerfect Corporation. "WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows gives users the latest word processing technology, strong performance and the best integration with the object oriented Workplace Shell." According to a recent OS/2 Magazine study, more than 85 percent of OS/2 users run Windows applications under OS/2. WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows was the winner of the recent word processing review in the March issue of OS/2 Magazine, beating out the native OS/2 word processors Lotus Ami Pro and Describe Inc.'s Describe. The review named WordPerfect for Windows the best word processor for use under OS/2. WordPerfect's OS/2 Workplace Shell integration includes the patent pending Automatic Document Detection (ADD) feature which automatically registers files as document objects on the Workplace Shell. Once objects are registered, users can apply the object oriented capabilities of OS/2 such as drag and drop. Users can turn ADD on for any or all folders to automatically register any WordPerfect 5.x and 6.0 file, as well as any other format that can be opened and converted by WordPerfect 6.0a. WordPerfect 6.0a for Windows also takes advantage of all the drag and drop capabilities of the OS/2 Workplace Shell: LAUNCHING. Dragging a file onto the WordPerfect program object will launch WordPerfect and open the file. OPENING. Dragging a WordPerfect document object to a WordPerfect document window will open the file. Users can also open multiple files this way. INSERTING. Dragging any file to an open WordPerfect document while holding down the Ctrl key will insert the file into the document. Graphic images will be inserted into graphics boxes; spreadsheet and database information will be inserted into tables. LINKING. Dragging a file to an open document, while holding down the Ctrl Shift keys, embeds the file as a subdocument. A link drag with a graphic image will insert the image in the document, but leave it stored on the hard drive or network. A link drag with a spreadsheet or database will create a data link so information can be updated automatically. PRINTING. Dragging a WordPerfect object to an OS/2 printer object will print the file with WordPerfect formatting intact. WordPerfect printers and Windows printers can also be realized as printer objects on the OS/2 desktop. OTHER FILE FORMATS. All drag and drop functionality works with any file format supported by WordPerfect including other word processing, graphics, spreadsheet and database formats. FONTS AND COLORS. Dragging a font from the OS/2 Font Palette into a WordPerfect document will change the font at the insertion point. If text is selected, the font change will apply only to selected text. Color changes can be made to text by dragging colors from the OS/2 Color Palette. The interim release is available free of charge to registered WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows users by calling (800) 321-4566. The OS/2 WPS Integration Tools disk is available separately for $4 by calling the same number, and is also available from CompuServe and the WordPerfect BBS. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo) Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ___ ___ _____ _______ /___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable /____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________ /_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/ /__/|____/|__|________|__/ /__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm /__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/ An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group *** STReport available in MAC RT *** ASCII TEXT for ALL GEnie users! MAC/APPLE SECTION (II) ====================== R. Dean, Editor (Temp) ____________________________________________ > MacXPERTS STR FOCUS! """""""""""""""""""" MacXperts, Inc., CERTIFIED APPLE DEVELOPERS AND PIE PARTNERS IS HIRING Are you tired of working in a stuffy atmosphere with no control over your future? Are you an overworked independent consultant with administrative headaches? Or are you simply a talented engineer uninspired by your current situation? MacXperts is a fun and dynamic company that creates commercial applications and leading-edge custom corporate applications. We have been an independent Apple developer for five years. Currently, we have positions available for experienced MacApp programmers, Newton programmers, and for C++ programmers who want to learn MacApp or the Newton Toolkit. MacXperts offers an excellent development environment using the latest hardware and software tools, competitive salaries and a full benefits package. Headquarters is in an affordable and historic section of the country. For more information, please contact: Kendall Tyler at 1-800-356-8040. Fax: 804-358-3847. CompuServe: 71234,1757 AppleLink: XPERTS. AOL: MacXperts ________________________________________ > MAC REPORT STR InfoFile What's New in the Mac Community """"""""""""""""""""""" COGNOS TO PROVIDE MACINTOSH IMPROMPTU & POWERPLAY COGNOS announced that it will deliver Macintosh Enterprise versions of both Impromptu and POWERPLAY, its desktop data analysis and reporting tools. The new Macintosh version of POWERPLAY will be available in the fall of this year with the new Macintosh version of Impromptu following in the first quarter of 1995. POWERPLAY is Business Intelligence Software used to provide corporate data to managers and executives. It is a multidimensional reporting tool that presents data in the organizational context critical to understanding what's happening in a manager's area of responsibility. Managers can probe and explore data in graphical or numerical format, producing key reports that drive the business. Impromptu is a database reporting tool. It strikes the balance between providing end users with the ability to create sophisticated reports and providing corporate administrators with full control over database access, security and network impact. Many Fortune 1000 companies have adopted both POWERPLAY and Impromptu as their enterprise-wide standard for reporting and analysis. "Impromptu and POWERPLAY are an important part of many organizations' enterprise reporting and analysis strategies," said Alan Rottenberg, vice president of COGNOS' desktop business unit. "A number of our customers and prospects have influenced our commitment to Macintosh versions of Impromptu and POWERPLAY. This is a natural decision given our determination to respond quickly and decisively to market demands." CONTACT: COGNOS Roberta J. Carlton, (617) 229-6600 ext. 2446 KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS ELECTRONICS REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or 800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473 ELEK-TEK TO SELL APPLE LINE THROUGH CATALOG Elek-Tek Inc., said it was named one of only two independent companies authorized to sell Apple Computer Inc's full line of products through its catalog. Elek-Tek said it received authorization in late March and is offering the full Apple product line to its customers nationwide, beginning with its spring/summer catalog. More than one million of these catalogs were mailed in early April, it said. APPLE ANNOUNCES NATIONAL COMPUTER TRADE-IN PROGRAM Apple Selects Micro Exchange Corporation To Help Customers Upgrade to New Apple Products Apple USA, a division of Apple Computer, Inc. announced an attractive trade-in program designed to benefit U.S. customers and resellers alike. Apple has named Micro Exchange, one of the world's largest systems re- sellers, to manage the Apple Exchange Program. With this program, customers can trade virtually any combination of eligible Apple Macintosh, IBM, Compaq, Hewlett Packard or other name brand CPUs, printers or monitors for trade-in dollars good towards the purchase of new Apple equipment, including the recently introduced Power Macintosh . The program is designed to be equally easy for customers and resellers to use, and offers customers the best trade-in values available. The program benefits customers by making the most of their existing hardware investments and offering a financing alternative that maximizes limited capital budgets. Customers get wider options for reducing the cost of upgrading and determining what to do with existing systems. Resellers benefit because the Apple Exchange Program increases Macintosh sales from the cash generated by trade-in transactions. There is no minimum number of machines for trade in and virtually any name brand product is accepted. "The Apple Exchange Program is an excellent opportunity for our customers and channel partners," said George Everhart, vice president and general manager of the PC Business Division at Apple. "The program helps customers step up to Macintosh by making the most of their existing investments. For years, companies have been pushing equipment downward through the organization. But now that there are personal computers from the board room to the mailroom, this downward push is not always feasible or desirable. And in an economy of downsizings and reorganizations, companies frequently end up with excess inventories. Trade-in programs solve that problem. Some customers can even fund the purchase of department-wide upgrades entirely with money raised from excess and displaced inventories." Program Logistics Resellers provide the customer with a pricing schedule and worksheet which gives the customer an idea of the equipment's trade-in value. The customer fills out this worksheet, and the reseller then sends it to Micro Exchange. Within 24 hours Micro Exchange then sends the reseller a firm price quote, good for 30 days. The reseller then forwards the quote to the customer. If the customer accepts the quote, the reseller notifies Micro Exchange, who then contacts the customer and arranges for product preparation, shipping or pickup and invoicing. Once they've received the old equipment, Micro Exchange evaluates it to confirm that its value matches the quote. If there are no revisions in the price quote, Micro Exchange issues a check directly to the customer within 10 days. Funds raised must be applied towards the purchase of new Apple equipment. Micro Exchange As one of the largest systems re-sellers in the world, Micro Exchange has extensive service and retail channels, over $100 million dollars in re-seller experience, full service capabilities that facilitate the acceptance of equipment requiring repairs, and the ability to work with major brands including Apple, AST, Compaq, DEC, Dell, HP, IBM, Sun, Toshiba, Zenith and others. Interested customers should contact their resellers. For the name and number of the reseller nearest them, customers can call 800-538-9696. RADIUS LAUNCHES ATTRACTIVE "TRADE-UP TO THE BEST" Radius Inc. announced that it is offering a $500 rebate towards the purchase of its popular VideoVision Studio desktop video production system. Under terms of the rebate program, any user in North America who currently owns video capture boards from RasterOps, SuperMac, New Video or Sigma Designs can trade-up to a Radius VideoVision Studio board and receive $500 cash back. VideoVision Studio is a QuickTime-based, 24-bit, full-screen, full-motion, 30 frame-per-second, 60-field, digital editing and production system for the Apple Macintosh. Bundled with the latest versions of Adobe Premiere and VideoFusion, VideoVision Studio enables users to combine professional quality digital video, sound, computer graphics and text, and output the result to such media as videotape, hard disk, compact disk and a variety of other formats. After purchasing VideoVision Studio and receiving proof-of-purchase (or invoice) from an authorized Radius reseller, customers are provided with a rebate coupon. Both documents should then be packaged with the used video capture card and sent to Radius for rebate. Competitive products eligible for the $500 rebate are RasterOps' MoviePak and MoviePak2, SuperMac's Digital Film and Video Spigot, New Video's Video IQ and Sigma Design's Movie Movie. "Radius' "Trade-up to the Best" program will enable users of other video capture products to conveniently migrate to the VideoVision Studio environment -- which leading digital video producers claim is the most powerful, flexible, creative and cost-effective solution of its kind in the market," said Aaron Feigin, Radius marketing manager, digital video. "Because Video Vision Studio offers such an assortment of technical and financial benefits -- including a guaranteed Lifetime Warranty -- we expect many video users will take advantage of this attractive rebate program. And once VideoVision Studio is installed, we're confident that it will remain the solution-of-choice for all of their video capturing and editing needs." VideoVision Studio is also a key component in Apple Computer's Professional Video Production System -- a complete, power-packed product that enables video professionals to capture edit, manipulate, and output professional-quality video from the desktop. On the upgrade path from VideoVision Studio is Radius' VideoVision Telecast, a powerful, production-level digital video solution for Macintosh that features broadcast-quality output, 16-bit audio, and Betacam SP input and output in a rack-mountable system to meet both RS170-A and CCIR 624-4 specifications for broadcast video. Scheduled for shipment in mid-summer, VideoVision Telecast delivers 16-bit stereo audio, 30-frame, 60-field full motion video capture and playback, full genlock capability, SMPTE time code for both audio and video, and professional-level audio and video input/output connections. Support for NTSC, PAL, and SECAM standards is also included. For more details about the "Trade-up to the Best" program, customers should contact their local authorized Radius reseller or request a rebate for via the Radius FAXback system at 800/966-7360. Radius Inc. delivers extended computer system performance, faster graphics, high-quality digital video and enhanced viewing and display products to leading-edge computer users in the publishing, graphics, video and education markets. The company's products are available through a worldwide network of Radius authorized resellers, system integrators and distributors and are supported by the Radius "Worry Free" program, which features on-site, overnight replacement of products in the United States and Canada, and by a Lifetime Warranty on all Radius add-on or add-in boards. CONTACT: Radius Inc. Bob Major, 408/954-6403 ********************************************************************** IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= STReport International Online Magazine is available every week for your reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join DELPHI and become a part of a friendly community of enthusiastic computer users there. SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call JOIN --DELPHI -------------- Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002 then... When connected, press RETURN once or twice and... At Password: type STREPORT and press RETURN. DELPHI's Basic Plan offers access for only $6.00 per hour, for any baud rate. The $5.95 monthly fee includes your first hour online. For more information, call: DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005 DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, MA. Try DELPHI for $1 an hour! For a limited time, you can become a trial member of DELPHI, and receive 5 hours of evening and weekend access during this month for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the calendar month with no further obligation. If you keep your account active, you will automatically be enrolled in DELPHI's 10/4 Basic Plan, where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum $10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry, this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press once or twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press again. Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially be a member of DELPHI! DELPHI-It's the BEST Value and getting better all the time! ********************************************************************** ATARI/JAG SECTION (III) ======================= Dana Jacobson, Editor > From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Wow, another week just flew by! The days are getting longer and the sun is finally shining once again! All I can say is that it's about time. In the past few weeks, I've climbed up on a soap box and talked about the continued pressures on Atari computer users to either change platforms, or add one to their current Atari system. A lot of this pressure has come from within our own "ranks" or from those who have recently left our small community. I've received some feedback, most supporting my thoughts on the matter. Additionally, in the past week or so I've continued to witness online activity which keeps proving to me that Atari users are satisfied with the ability of their machines and the results obtained from the software that they use. I'm not going to dwell on the finer points again this week. Those that fit into the above category understand my point. Those who feel otherwise are either frustrated that they no longer have the "latest and greatest," don't have hundreds of new titles to choose from, or have needs that are simply better met with another platform. Personally, the last point seems to make the most sense if a decision to switch to something else is being contemplated. Next week's issue will be somewhat short-changed as two of our regulars will be "missing in action." CompuServe Editor Joe Mirando is getting married tomorrow, so he'll be somewhat indisposed and off on his honeymoon (Best of luck, Joe & Lisa!!). Also, that Marlon Perkins of the Atari world, John Duckworth, will be trading in his PD rod 'n reel for a pair of mouse ears as he'll be vacationing in Disney World for a week or so. Well, let's get on with it. We've got lots to tell you and we also have plenty of Jaguar and gaming-world news for you this week! Until next time... Delphi's Atari Advantage!! TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (4/27/94) (1) WHATIS 6.7 *(6) BOOTXS (2) PHOTOCHROME 4 *(7) EVEREST TEXT EDITOR 3.2 *(3) CANVAS V.1.7 (8) ST_RIP.ZIP (4) CPX MAKER PROGRAM *(9) LHARC 3.01 *(5) SPACE WARS 2000 *(10) AEO PROGRAMMERS' JOURNAL #4 * = New on list HONORARY TOP 10 The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently out-performing every other file in the databases. STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT #10.17) ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO - VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7) Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database. ____________________________________ > The Medusa TT-Clone! STR Spotlight - Medusa Now shipping!! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Lexicor is happy to announce that the TOS license issues have been resolved and Lexicor is now shipping the first of the US machines. Lexicor received confirmation late yesterday from the manufacturer that Lexicor could resume its sales of the Medusa in the U.S. Lexicor, as many may know, has created a U.S. "configuration" named the "Pandora," which is a powerhouse Atari Clone. Lexicor is a fully authorized distributor for the Medusa and is currently shipping the orders received prior to the short pause in shipping due to a request by the manufacturer. Lexicor is very pleased with the performance of the first systems received so far; and has found the hardware quality to be excellent in every respect. For those of you who had ordered and paid for your systems, they are all now in transit to you. You should be receiving them in the next few days. For all those who have placed orders and are waiting for confirmation, please do not send any money until you receive your written configuration confirmation and payment details. This is important. Lexicor wants to have your system in hand and up and running before you make payment. We want to offer no more than a few days turn around time between your payment and delivery. Lexicor will be posting more detailed information about the Pandora (Medusa) in the coming weeks. Thank you for your support Lexicor Software __________________________________________ > Usenet New Newsgroup STR InfoFile! - Lexicor Proposes New """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Product Announcement Area Proposal for a new newsgroup Request for Discussion: comp.sys.atari.announce by: Yat Siu (Lexicor@world.std.com) ----------------------------------- Group name: comp.sys.atari.announce Status: moderated (Lexicor@world.std.com) Distribution: world-wide Summary: a newsgroup for the product announcement of Atari computer hard and software or related (eg. clones). Justification: There are currently comp.sys.atari.st, comp.sys.atari.st.tech, comp.sys.atari.8bit and comp.sys.atari.advocacy; the first three groups are discussion forums for their (specific) related hard and software. Product announcements in these discussion forums of new releases by either commercial or shareware groups can often be considered a service but not encouraged. The Atari computer market is not very widely distributed and it is getting increasingly harder to know more about new products. To begin with, a product announcement group would encourage the people to announce their new products for the benefit of all Atari computer users. It will also allow the reader to focus for a new newsgroup only for product announcements or press releases; and will also make the reader more aware of his/her options. Charter: The proposed group will provide a forum for the announcement and release of new Atari related products: * Atari computer hardware and software * commercial as well as shareware or related * announcements from individual authors, companies or distributors * press releases NOTE: This RFD is being issued in concordance with the guidelines set in the "How to create a new usenet newsgroup" FAQ regularly posted to news.announce.newgroups. Please refer to this article if you have any questions about the newsgroup creation. Unless the discussion indicates a need to resubmit a new RFD, the CFV will be posted approximately three to four weeks after the posting of this RFD. This RFD was (cross)-posted to the following groups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.sys.atari.st, comp.sys.atari.8bit ___________________________________________________ > TAF '94 STR InfoFile! - Atari Festival, Texas Style! """"""""""""""""""""" Dear Atari Vendor/Developer, The Texas Atari Festival '94 will be held in San Antonio on June 4th & 5th on the beautiful campus of St. Mary's University. Some of you will remember us as the Fiesta Atari Computer Show last year. As well as a change of name, we have expanded from a one day show to a two day affair. The ST Atari League of San Antonio, (SALSA), wants you to come down to sunny San Antonio and show us your wares, meet a bunch of really fantastic, fun people, and generally just have a great time! What's in it for you? First and foremost is a chance to show off your product(s) to an eager audience. San Antonio has not had an Atari dealer for over a year now so everything purchased has been either through the mail or on trips out of town. As far as I know, the nearest dealers are in Houston or Dallas and that covers a lot of Atarians, not just the folks in San Antonio. Secondly we don't limit our show to Atari users only. If you have a product(s) that can be used on several platforms then TAF '94 is ideal for you. The show will focus on how to use a computer in general, and what a computer can do for you. Last year we got a good response from users of all platforms, as well as folks who were a bit phobic about computers in general. Our goal is to show people that computers are more than just expensive paper weights or machines that have to be dusted every month! If attendees have questions about why we use Atari computers then we'll be happy to tell them, but our main thrust is towards computer users as a whole. Thirdly, we plan to anchor the show with three main areas of interest. Those areas are MIDI, Desktop Publishing, and gaming, both hand held and console. The idea is a simple one. Use broad areas of interest to encourage people to attend the show and when they get here show them all the other neat stuff that is available to them! I know that there is a lot of interest in MIDI in our area. Currently we plan to have several MIDI demos each day and that should bring in a lot of interested folks. We also plan to have an area dedicated to DTP and all of the things that go along with it. Finally we plan to set up a gaming area featuring the Jaguar and the Lynx. With these three high profile areas as anchors, and an expanded schedule, we hope to have so much traffic we won't know what to do with ourselves!! So what's the bottom line?? Plain and simple, it's sign up and come. The sooner we know that you are coming the sooner we can get the word out. We were successful using local TV, radio, and newspapers and online services last year and we hope to add the national Atari magazines this year. As soon as your application hits our mailbox every Atarian within shouting distance will know about it. Questions? Look through the packet we sent with this letter. If you just want to chat with me you can reach me via snail mail, Ma Bell or on GEnie. Just remember, this isn't a work related trip to a great vacation spot, this a great chance for a vacation that will include a little bit of work and LOTS of fun! Thanks for your consideration, Scott Helsel, Event Coordinator Texas Atari Festival '94 13938 Brantley San Antonio, Texas 78233 210-655-4672 GEnie address - R.Helsel InterNet address - R.Helsel@genie.geis.com GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT TAF '94 Show Times - The show will run from 10 AM to 5 PM both days. You will be able to start setting up at 7 AM Saturday and will need to be totally broken down and on your way by 8 PM Sunday night. Fees - Each vendor area will have one 6' table for display purposes. The fee for the first table is $50. Each additional table is $15. Lodging - St. Mary's University has dorm rooms available for use during the show. One night single occupancy is $20. One night double occupancy is $16 each. Reservations must be made by May 25th and payment must be in advance. These rooms are not fancy but they are cheap and a only a short walk from the show building. Demonstrations/Seminars - SALSA plans to have seminars on MIDI, DTP, and a gaming room. We would strongly encourage you to have a computer up and running to demo your product(s). As was mentioned before there has not been a dealer in San Antonio for more that a year so the chance that someone has seen your product in action is slim, especially if it is new on the market. Most of the club's equipment will probably be in use but if you need something let us know and we'll see what we can do. I can not emphasize this point enough. Reading or hearing about some neat new product is tantalizing but most folks don't reach for their wallets until they've had a chance to play with it or see it in action. Also if you would like to conduct a seminar on your product(s) we would love to put you on our schedule of events, just let us know. Fun - San Antonio has loads of fun things to do and in addition to all of them we, (SALSA), will be having an informal dinner the Friday night before the show. Comfortable clothes are a must and wear something that will look good with barbecue sauce on it!! This is chance for everyone to meet and greet folks and generally have a good time. Your registration fee covers the cost of the dinner so just bring your appetites! Admission - Students, faculty, and staff of St. Mary's University get in free to the show. It is $3.50 a head for everyone else over 5 years old. Your registration covers your admission to the show. Misc. - If we haven't addressed some subject or if you have a question please drop me a note. Also if you know somebody who would like to show their wares but didn't get a packet let me know and before you can say GEM Interface I'll have it in the mail to them!! Thanks for your interest and we hope to see your smiling face in San Antonio this June!! PARTICIPATION RENTAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. All tables are on a first come, first paid basis, subject to space availability. 2. If you have need for electric power, please note your need on this form. Unless specifically asked for, tables will not be equipped with electric power. 3. The facility will be open to EXHIBITORS at 7:00 AM Saturday June 4, 1994. 4. Tables must be set-up and occupied by 9:45 AM Saturday June 4, 1994. 5. Your tables can be resold if you are not checked in by 9:00 AM, Saturday, June 4, 1994. 6. The show will open to the public at 10:00 AM. 7. ALL EXHIBITORS agree to maintain a fully set-up table until 5:00 PM both days and must be out of the facility by Sunday, June 5, 1994 no later than 8:00 PM. 8. The ST Atari League of San Antonio (SALSA), Atari Corp., their officers, board members, agents, general membership, and any other representatives shall not be liable, or responsible for any or all claims arising between buyers and EXHIBITORS, loss or damage to EXHIBITOR'S equipment, physical injury, acts of God or any show cancellation beyond their control. 9. The Owners, Management, and Employees of St. Mary's University, and any other representatives shall not be liable, or responsible for any or all claims arising between buyers and EXHIBITORS, loss or damage to EXHIBITOR'S equipment, physical injury, acts of God or any show cancellation beyond their control. 10. EXHIBITORS agree to represent their merchandise fairly, accurately, and within the appropriate statutes pertaining to patents, federal regulations and copyrights. 11. EXHIBITORS agree to defend and hold the ST Atari League of San Antonio (SALSA) and/or Atari Corp. harmless from any and all claims. 12. No advertising or printed material which, in the opinion of the show organizers, is objectionable shall be distributed or displayed. EXHIBITORS have the right to distribute advertising material from their [booth], EXHIBITORS may not walk the halls or exhibit area to distribute items or place signs in locations other than their own leased space. 13. No pictures or recordings may be taken of the show for the purpose of advertising without permission of above named show organizers. 14. All decorations, lighting, signs, or displays must be in good taste, which is at the sole discretion of the show organizers. No EXHIBITORS will be permitted to so arrange goods as to form a wall, thereby closing off the view of adjacent EXHIBITORS or to obstruct a general view along the aisles. No EXHIBITOR may operate any equipment if same is noisy or objectionable to surrounding EXHIBITORS; nor may EXHIBITORS display special exhibition apparatus that is illuminated or mechanically actuated without special permission. 15. Copyright-protected software offered for sale MUST be the ORIGINAL, complete with original disk(s), packaging and documentation. 16. The EXHIBITOR agrees to conduct sales and demonstrations in a professional manner and will strive to project a positive and businesslike appearance during participation in this event. 17. Exhibitors are responsible to collect all federal, state, and local sales taxes. Texas Atari Festival PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT I agree to the terms of the SALSA Texas Atari Festival '94 Participation rental and Conditions _________________________________________ Date: ______________________ PLEASE PRINT: Company Name (If Applicable): ________________________________________ Your Full Name: ______________________________________________________ Title (If Applicable): _______________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: ____ Zip Code: ________________ Telephone #: _________________________ Extension: ________________ The cost for a 10 foot by 8 foot booth is 50.00 dollars for the first table, 15.00 dollars for each additional table. Please indicate the number to tables you will need for your booth. Total number of table(s) required: __________ Electric Power Requirements: Yes ( ) No ( ) Are you willing to do a seminar? Yes ( ) No ( ) If yes, how much time would you need? ________________________________ Please make your Check and/or money order payable to: SALSA Texas Atari Festival '94 13938 Brantley San Antonio, TX 78233 (210)655-4672 GEnie address - R.Helsel InterNet address - R.Helsel@genie.geis.com Thank You! _____________________________________ > Processor Direct! STR InfoFile! - New Atari Mag Debuts!! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" _______ // // ROCESSOR DIRECT IS HERE! __//____// / / Public Announcement / / on April 5, 1994 '--' by Two Worlds Publishing We're here! Two Worlds Publishing is proud to present to the Atari community our first issue, containing articles by a variety of authors on a wide array of topics from telecommunications to programming, and much more. __ /_/ Just what is Processor Direct? `-`------------------------------- Processor Direct is a magazine for nearly all Atari computer users, containing information valuable to users of the original 520ST up to users of the Falcon030. Processor Direct is also helpful to the new user or even the seasoned expert -- odds are most everyone will find the information they've been looking for. We currently print in a large format (page size is 11.5 inches wide by 13.5 inches tall) with full color covers and black and white internal pages. Each issue's cover is printed on 80 pound gloss paper, with the internal pages on quality 80 pound matte paper. __ /_/ What is in Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------- We offer a variety of columns on topics including Graphics, Music, and Programming, along with reviews of hardware and software of both commercial and shareware nature. We've also got the latest news items on topics like new software and hardware in the Newswire and Recent Developments sections. In the first issue we also have a survey which asks a variety of questions so we can get to know our readers better. The survey itself is 8.5x11 inches so it can be easily photocopied and mailed to us. __ /_/ What won't I find in Processor Direct? `-`--------------------------------------- You won't find long boring articles on topics that no one cares about, and you also won't get page upon page of unbroken dull text on cheap newsprint paper. You're going to be stuck with interesting articles printed on quality paper...we're terribly sorry! __ /_/ Why not just read messages on-line? `-`------------------------------------ Reading messages from USENET newsgroups and from the national on-line services is incredibly time consuming, often costly, and some times the accuracy of the information in the form of news can be doubtful. These networks are excellent to find the answers to your questions and to talk to knowledgeable people, but if you've ever read any of the USENET newsgroups, you know that contradictions and rumor run rampant. We obtain our news directly from the source, with no one to interpret or twist it. Not to mention, with each information packed issue (at only $3.50) you get easy to understand information that would normally take hours to read and compile from one day, forget a whole month. __ /_/ When and where can I get my copy? `-`---------------------------------- Processor Direct is available now for direct order for $3.50 ($4.00 in Canada) each from TWP, and also through a variety of Atari dealers. You can also subscribe to Processor Direct for just $25.00 (US$33 in Canada) for 12 issues. __ /_/ Dealers: Want to carry Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------------------- If you are a dealer and would like to obtain copies for newsstand sales, just contact us and request information. __ /_/ How can I advertise in Processor Direct? `-`----------------------------------------- We have advertising in a wide variety of sizes, with the option of creating your own custom sizes. Effective for both shareware and commercial developers (as well as dealers and many others) Processor Direct may be one of the best ways to tell the community about your product! For more information, contact us and request our Media Package, which contains the guidelines as well as hints and tips on making your ad look best. __ /_/ Want to be published? `-`---------------------- Are you an aspiring writer? Always wanted to be published? Here is your chance! Whether you are a seasoned veteran writer with years of experience or just enjoy it as a hobby, we're always looking for new articles on fresh topics and interesting viewpoints. If you'd like to know more, contact us and request our Submission Guidelines Booklet. __ /_/ On-line and ready to serve you! `-`-------------------------------- If you are a member of an on-line service we are incredibly easy to contact. We have accounts on GEnie and Delphi, as well as two InterNet addresses. If you have a few questions, or just want to say hello, drop us a message! Have a question about an article? We'll forward your mail directly to the writer. Also "Letters to the Editor" can be mailed electronically. __ /_/ For more info: `-`--------------- If you've got questions or want more information, just contact us via one of the addresses below. US Mail: Two Worlds Publishing 3837 Northdale Blvd. #225 Tampa, FL 33624 E-Mail: GEnie: P-DIRECT (P-DIRECT2 for article submissions) Delphi: pdirect Internet: p-direct@genie.geis.com pdirect@delphi.com The Media Package and Submissions Guidelines Booklet are provided free of charge, and will be mailed when completed. __ /_/ Copyrights `-`----------- Contents of this file and the image "COVER.GIF" are Copyright ½1994 Two Worlds Publishing, Inc. This release and the included file "COVER.GIF" may be freely distributed. __________________________________________ > The Old Fishin' Hole STR Feature """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" THE OLD FISHIN' HOLE ==================== -A Guide to the Online PD/Shareware Waters. by John R. Duckworth When the Falcon was being heavily promoted by the Atari representatives online, users were given an extensive list of features and additions to the operating system. Among them were marvelous new color icons which were, in a sense, animated when chosen. Atari users were excited with the possibilities, they were finally going to have terrific looking desktop icons rivaling those of the Mac world. But, as with almost every aspect of the Atari computer line, their hopes were washed away when they realized that they were stuck with the icons included with the system since a TOS 4 icon editor was non-existent. Time passed and finally a resource editor from Europe was released which could do the job of editing and creating new icons for Falcon users. Unfortunately, "Interface" was a bit expensive for those just wanting to add new icons, so most hobbyist users were back where they started. Now thanks to a couple of shareware programmers, Falcon users can edit their desktop icon resource files to change the existing icons into custom ones. I recently acquired two Falcon icon editors worthy of download. The first is called "ICDRAW" and is created by the famous Dr. Bob. The other is by Sam McGee and is entitled "T4 Color Icon Editor" and presently is at version 1.1. Both programs are very similar in operation and features. They will run only on the Falcon030, and the "T4 Editor" will only run in non-extended graphics modes. This means that if you run Screenblaster or Blow-Up 030 you will need to turn them off before trying to run the program. The first step in editing the desktop icons is loading in the DESKICON.RSC file. The "T4 Editor" has the capability of loading two resource files at one time to allow users to move or copy icons between the files. While "ICDRAW" only allows one resource file to be loaded at a time, it is possible to export icons (or groups of them) and load them into another resource file later. Next, the user must select an icon set to edit. The selected icon is then displayed in two boxes (zoomed for ease of editing). In the "T4 Editor" the top for the icon's unselected state and the bottom for the view of the icon when selected. In "ICDRAW" the two boxes represent the selected or unselected view in the first box, and the mask of the appropriate icon in the second. Usually the mask will be solid so that the desktop will not show through any part of the icon, but it may be edited to allow such an effect. Both programs have similar editing functions but "ICDRAW" also allows the user to flip and rotate the edited icon. Once the user is satisfied with their creation, the resource file may be saved with the new information, or in the case of "ICDRAW" icons may be exported for later use. Both packages do a wonderful job of editing the icon files, but they have one huge drawback. Neither editor has the ability to _add_ to the existing 33 icon pairs. This means that if the user want a new icon, he/she will have to lose one of their existing ones. Dr. Bob suggests that adding icons will be in future versions of his program if enough interest is shown. This is not to say that Mr. McGee doesn't have that in mind for future releases of his program as well, but he didn't indicate it in his documentation. It would be very hard for me to recommend one of the editors over the other. Both are very professionally done and seem to do the job nicely. Personally, I will probably stick to "ICDRAW" since it runs great in the extended resolutions I have available with the Blow-Up 030. Neither archive is very large so I suggest you try them both. At any rate, both men should be thanked for filling yet another void left by the geniuses at Atari. The Old Fishin' Hole is going to be taking a weeks hiatus... Disney World is calling my name. See ya in two weeks! As usual, E-mail any comments, complaints, or new programs you feel need exposure to: JDUCKWORTH@delphi.com. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Old Fishin Hole Tackle Box * | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | ICDRAW | | Delphi: Atari Advantage - READ DR BOB | | GEnie: Atari RT - #32545 | | T4 Color Icon Editor | | GEnie: Atari RT - #32687 | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ * The Tackle Box is meant to provide assistance in finding files mentioned in the column. It should not be considered a COMPLETE listing and is provided for convenience only. Delphi Atari Advantage files should be found in the Recent Arrivals section of the database until moved to their appropriate sections. _______________________________________________ > In This Week's Jaguar Section - "Tempest 2000" & "Crescent Galaxy" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" reviews, Developing on the Jaguar, Gaming industry news, and more!! > From the Editor's Controller - "Playing Like It Is!!" """""""""""""""""""""""""""" This week's issue will contain our third "installment" of expanded Jaguar coverage. We've got some exciting articles this week, along with two game reviews. In our next Jaguar-packed issue, we'll start to re-review some of the available games to give you another viewpoint of these currently available games. We're hoping that in May we'll start to see some 3rd-party games start to emerge. Once this happens, we hope to also provide you with reviews on those as well. We're still fine-tuning our developer lists and pending titles. We've got some developer interviews in the works and we hope to have them for you soon. We're also busy compiling a list of game tips and "cheats" to help in those occasional trouble spots! Tempest 2000 is still generating a lot of enthusiasm everywhere I go. Most players have stated that T2K is the first game to come out that clearly shows a lot of the potential of the Jaguar. Check out the review in this issue if you're interested in some of the details. We'll also be doing another well-deserved review in the near future! There are a number of new titles on the horizon, something the avid Jaguar owner is excitedly awaiting. Most of these titles are going through last-minute changes and fine-tuning to ensure quality. Even Atari isn't sure which titles will come out first, so we're all playing the waiting game. ICD's CatBox is scheduled to be released next month, so be on the lookout for it then. Okay, I want to get to the Jaguar reviews as much as you do! Let's get to the latest news and information (and then back to the gameplay - I can feel a good night for Cybermorph!!) Until next time... ___________________________________________ > Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's """"""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out. Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp. J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $49.99 Atari Corp. J9005 Raiden $49.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp. J9001 Trevor McFur/ Crescent Galaxy $49.99 Atari Corp. J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp. Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER CatBox TBA ICD Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER J8001 Jaguar (complete) $249.99 Atari Corp. J8904 Composite Cable $19.95 J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp. J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95 If for some reason you cannot find any of the above items at your local dealer, all items may be ordered directly from Atari. To do so, just select one of the following options most convenient: 1) Fill out the order template below. 2) a. E-Mail (PRIVATELY) this order to any online Atari representative. Ask for it to be forwarded to Don Thomas or Bob Brodie. (BEST METHOD) b. Fax order to 408/745-2088. (SECOND BEST) c. Mail order to P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 d. Call your order to 408/745-2098 (9-5 PST) Note: Phones are often jammed with excited Jaguar callers. Please be patient! FULL NAME TO SHIP: ADDRESS TO SHIP: APARTMENT, SUITE, LOT: CITY, STATE, PROVINCE, POSTAL CODE: DAY PHONE NUMBER: ( ) NIGHT PHONE NUMBER: ( ) ON-LINE SERVICE USED: ON-LINE USER I.D./ADDRESS: NOT THE PASSWORD! ----- Complete if first order in 12 months ------- | FULL NAME ON CREDIT CARD: | | MASTERCARD/VISA NUMBER: | | EXPIRATION DATE: | -------------------------------------------------- EDIT ORDER BELOW: DESCRIPTION QTY EACH EXTENDED ================================================== 1 xxxxxxxxx x $xx.xx $xx.xx 2 3 4 ================================================== SUB TOTAL ............................ $ xx.xx CALIFORNIA TAX (8.25% if applicable).. $ x.xx SHIPPING & HANDLING* ................. $ 4.95 ================================================== TOTAL (U.S. funds) ................... $ xxx.xx _________________________________________ NEW LYNX VALUES FROM ATARI! Now there's NO excuse! Atari Corporation has a new summer deal everyone should enjoy... New low prices on almost every Lynx video game. By special arrangement with the factory, a large but limited quantity of 60 outstanding game titles have been set aside especially for this special offer. Now and for a limited time, buy popular Lynx titles by Atari for as little as 14.99 each (SRP). Enjoy the fast paced action of Pinball Jam or an exciting whirl around the track with up to 6 ComLynx'd friends with Checkered Flag. Look for chilling answers to ghastly problems with Dracula The Undead for only $19.99 each (SRP). Beat incredible odds against an army of adversaries with Ninja Gaiden III for only $29.99 (SRP). In fact, NO specially reduced cartridge is priced any higher than $29.99. Most cartridges are less than $15. If you are tired of the same old thing that the other guys ram in front of your face, then ask your dealer for the system that's exploding with colorful excitement. Find out what head-to-head ComLynx gaming is all about. Spend your allowance on the system that leaves you change for lunch! Can't find the Lynx or great Lynx titles in your area? Call 1-800-221-3343 or 1-800-GO-ATARI toll free, Monday thru Friday; 9am to 5pm Pacific time. OR Write: Atari Lynx "Summer Steal Deal" P.O. 61657 Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1657 OR fax your order to Atari at 1-408-745-2088 OR send a message from any online service through the Internet to CIS:70007,2363 or GE:ATARI Any way you do it... Get Connected... Get the Lynx! ______________________________ > Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > CIS' VIDPUB Forum! STR InfoFile! - Video Games Publishers Online! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Welcome to The Video Games Publishers Forum -- Your CompuServe Resource for Official Support from the Video Games Industry, Including: Takara, Data East, and Galoob. Our Forum is designed to be a one-stop resource for people who have an interest in video gaming and video game-related products for all types of current and future systems. The Video Games Publishers Forum links you to fellow video gamers as well as publishers of popular games/accessories for Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Atari, and other video gaming systems. Customer Support representatives, technical staff, and designers are online here to answer your questions and discuss video game gear with you. We invite you to use the various features of the Video Games Publishers Forum: an electronic bulletin board for message correspondence, libraries for file exchange, and conference rooms for real-time interactive discussions. Please take a moment to enter your various interests in our Membership Directory. Other Publishers are currently building their sections in background. (If you are into video games, you'll _love_ who we have in store for you.) Stay tuned for upcoming section Grand Openings! We are also in the process of adding new Publishers. Let us know who you would like to see online here, and we'll work to bring them online. Please post a message introducing yourself and the products that you are interested in. Remember, this is _your_ video game resource! Welcome to a very special online community! __________________________________________ > Batman Forever!! STR InfoFile! - Batman Coin-Op Arcade Game! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" BURBANK, CALIF./OYSTER BAY, N.Y. (APRIL 26) BUSINESS WIRE - April 26, 1994--Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKLM) today announced the two companies have entered into a pact whereby Batman Forever, the highly anticipated blockbuster Warner Bros. movie starring Michael Keaton, will lead Acclaim's recently announced 1995 entry into the coin-op arcade market. In addition, Batman Forever will headline several Acclaim interactive entertainment software titles for leading home video game cartridge and CD-ROM systems, including those produced by Sega(TM) and Nintendo(R). Dan Romanelli, president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Consumer Products, said, "Batman Forever is going to be THE HOT PROPERTY for 1995. We believe that Acclaim's cutting-edge technology is a great way to capture the excitement of the movie and showcase all the action and adventure of the world's most popular superhero." Under the agreement, Acclaim will develop a coin-op arcade game, as well as software for a variety of home video game systems, based on Batman Forever. The Acclaim Batman Forever coin-op, scheduled for 1995 market introduction, will be developed utilizing both Sega's new, proprietary, advanced Titan hardware system technology, and Acclaim's award-winning motion capture technology. Under a separate agreement, Sega is slated to publish software based on the Batman Forever film for its recently announced Genesis Super 32X and a yet-to-be-introduced hardware platform, code-named Saturn. "We are excited to join with the motion picture powerhouse of Warner Bros. for our entry into the coin-op arcade market with a title as dynamic as Batman Forever," said Robert Holmes, president of Acclaim. "Likewise, we are proud to be utilizing Sega's Titan technology in combination with our own motion capture technology for our coin-op development. We look forward to creating the most innovative interactive Batman games yet for both the coin-operated arcade and home gaming markets." Batman Forever follows the worldwide success of Batman and Batman Returns, the Warner Bros. movies that have generated nearly $700 million in worldwide box office revenues and over $1 billion in movie-related products. Warner Bros. Consumer Products, which includes the Licensing and Studio Stores divisions, is a Time Warner Entertainment company. With interests in film, music, publishing, home video, entertainment and program distribution, Time Warner is the largest media and communications organization in the world. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., with offices in Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, is a leading worldwide publisher of interactive entertainment products under the Acclaim, LJN, Flying Edge and Arena labels. These products include software and peripherals for Nintendo(R) and Sega(TM) hardware systems as well as personal computer and CD-ROM software. The company is publicly traded under the NASDAQ National Market System symbol AKLM. CONTACT: FOR WARNER BROS: FOR ACCLAIM: Michael Peikoff Allyne Mills 818/954-5807 516/624-8888 Alan Uphold 818/954-2336 KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCT Z REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or 800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473 ___________________________________________ > Video Games For Girls?! STR InfoFile - Equal Opportunity Video Games! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" NEW YORK (APRIL 22) BUSINESS WIRE - April 22, 1994 Video games are rapidly becoming an equal opportunity phenomenon. Long held to be an "all-boys network," more girls than ever before are now enjoying video games -- thanks to the increasing availability of game titles that specifically target the pre-teen girls market. In fact, according to Henry A. Kaplan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hi Tech Expressions, girls now account for 25% of primary video game players, a market segment once considered to be much smaller. "It is understandable that the majority of game titles until now have had a disproportionate male slant," explains Kaplan. "Not surprisingly, because software is really what drives this market, game developers have largely focused their efforts on developing titles that would appeal to a mass market of young males. "Now, however, because video game play is expanding beyond the scope of the male youth-oriented market segment, more software developers in general and Hi Tech Expressions in particular are finding a solid niche in developing gameware for girls." Hi Tech Expressions, long a leader in children's video gameware and computer software, is in licensing agreements to bring a number of lovable characters appealing to the girls pre-teen market to the Nintendo, Sega, and PC platforms. The stars of the new titles -- a virtual who's who in young girls entertainment -- include Barbie, Mickey Mouse and Tom & Jerry, to name a few, and feature edutainment games, puzzle solving, and fantasy role playing adventures. In fact, the video game market is experiencing tremendous growth, setting record breaking household penetration levels. One in every three families now owns at least one video game player. While male youth-oriented titles generally focus on action adventure, titles targeting the female youth market place a greater emphasis on fantasy and edutainment with virtually no violence. "When it comes to play time, there are significant differences in the way that young boys and young girls play," continues Kaplan. "These differences are inherent, and while we don't play up to male/female stereotypes, we do recognize that each have their own interests and design our titles to reflect the desires of the respective market segment." To this end, Kaplan points to the company's newly released Barbie(R) series of video and computer gameware. A complete line of fun-filled Barbie video and computer games for girls between the ages of 3 and 9, Barbie games provide young girls with a whole new way to play with their favorite doll and offer an alternative for girls over traditional male-oriented games. Headquartered in New York, Hi Tech Expressions is a leading worldwide publisher of high quality, interactive entertainment software for the entire family. The company markets software for all major video game platforms and IBM-compatible and Apple Macintosh(R) personal computers. CONTACT: Robert E. Griffin Inc., New York Bob Griffin, 212/255-8491 KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCT Z REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or 800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473 ______________________________ > Jaguar STR Focus Developing for the Jaguar """""""""""""""" DEVELOPING FOR THE JAGUAR ========================= by Marty Mankins [Editor's Note: The planned coverage for an interview with a Jaguar developer was postponed at the last minute. We hope to include this coverage in an upcoming issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.] As a developer of software, I understand all of the pressures of trying to create a product that has an incredible demand on the market. Something that will sell many copies and be placed on the desktops of personal computers all over the world. And the man hours that are used to create such a product would cause most consumers to stagger about in a frenzy beyond belief. The same holds true for developers on the Atari Jaguar platform. But there's a twist. This time, it's a completely new gaming platform. And it's competing with the likes of Nintendo and Sega for market share. And the question that a lot of people are asking is, "Can it do well?" or, "Will it be a success?". The answers will take a bit longer to unfold, as all new platforms take time to penetrate the market. Also, it takes a lot of money to market such a product once it's done and ready to go to the store shelves. So the challenge of developing for a new platform remains incredible. Widely different than most desktop PC software programs, the Atari Jaguar has quite the wide age range of targeted buying and game players. From the age of eight to an age that all of us would like to not talk about, the Jaguar has got quite the appeal and action for just about every living being on earth. It's awesome to think of the possibilities. It's even a greater challenge to make games that will provide the best play action and value to this wide range of people. Some of the issues that developers need to look at before deciding on a new platform like the Jaguar are: a) how well does the company (Atari, in this case) plan to support the product, and b) What kind of history does the company have for success? The latter question gives Atari the best clout in the world. Many years ago, Atari was a household name in video games. They dominated the industry in both coin-operated and home video game consoles. They lost out for a while to Nintendo who caught Atari off guard and moved in. Then came Sega. Now it's 1994 and Atari has a whole new look on life. They have 86 current development companies working on Jaguar games. They are serious about this platform. They want it to succeed. They have had their success and lost it. Now it's time to get it back and keep it. That's the governing push that will keep the Jaguar platform going. Do you have a better view of what the challenge is to create games that will be great? It's pretty breath-taking, if you think about it. A task that many companies know they have to take, but with incredible peaks and valleys of positives and negatives that would blow fuses in an electrical current. So what kind of people take this great work upon themselves to create these excellent game titles? They are the kind of people that realize what they need to do to please us game players. They are Jaguar Developers. They have experience that would fill a book. They know that if they do a game that Jaguar owners find boring, they have failed in their task. These talented people understand that their games will be played over and over and over again. Days, weeks or months will go by and game players will still need to be awe-struck with the graphics, the sounds that movement of the players, the enemies and being able to get the highest score. This article is to get all of you readers excited by the great work that will be going into new Jaguar games. Sure, it's a difficult period of time when there are not that many games to choose from. But just ignore the Nintendo displays and the Sega hype. The Jaguar is going to be worth the wait for games that you wouldn't have thought possible just three years ago. A good statement to remember was one made by Juli Wade, a developer at Atari. In a message thread on CompuServe, there was a discussion about the number of titles that Nintendo had versus the number that Jaguar had out. Juli was being very creative with her replies and finally came up with the following slogan: "Do you want titles or do you want games?" I liked that statement so much, that I sent a reply back to Juli and told her that sounded like the next ad campaign for the Jaguar. If anything does materialize into an ad, the catch-line would be: "Atari Jaguar: We sell games, not titles!" So, in conclusion, it's time to get excited. Don't let the pressures of other game systems take control of your life. Open your eyes and see the Jaguar. It's hot! The developers are working as hard as they can to get new games out. They need our support at this time of big changes in the video game market. The Atari Jaguar has incredible potential and it's got what it takes to make Atari a household name again. Just remember: Do you want titles or do you want games???? In future issues, we hope to bring you the inside scoop on developers and the games they are creating. This includes interviews, tips and anything that we can print that will help keep the Jaguar game players on the edge of how the action is created. _________________________________________ > TREVOR McFUR: In The Crescent Galaxy STR Review """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -= Available Now =- TREVOR McFUR: In The Crescent Galaxy Atari Corp. $49.95 Ease of Play: Medium by Allen Chang "Attention all Circle Reserve units. The Crescent Galaxy has fallen. It has been conquered by an entity known only as Odd-It, whose only passion is to make every living thing odd, like it. All of the planets in the galaxy are under his rule and are guarded by his blockade. Our main armada has nearly perished while battling Odd-It, and now you're our only hope... " That is an excerpt from the beginning of the manual, and now you are ready to dive into the first visual extravaganza from Atari. You can basically say that TREVOR would be the game that showcases the power of the Atari Jaguar from their first batch of games that was released before 1994. Visual junkies... hold onto your seats! TREVOR is basically a side scrolling shooter, the story revolves around the invasion by a creature/entity called Odd-It. Your mission is to fly thru the four surrounding moons before you are able to fly into the planet Cosmolite. To finish each of the moons, you have to battle thru the Space Zone to reach the first end boss before you will be able to fly down onto the planet surfaces where you are met with an army of Odd-It's minions before the 2nd end boss comes out. The four moons consist of: Osseous (desert), Grottoneria (cavern), Zephyria (gaseous), Equilibriumite (swamp). And in each round you will come across the most incredible graphics that I have yet to see in a video game (gee, just received T2K today, I think I ll take the day off now >g<). Everything you come across in this game is texture mapped. From the Asteroids that fly across the screen in the Space Zones, to the chromed Cupid that shoots his arrows at you. With all these different objects on the screen at the same time, you can easily appreciate the full power that 64 bits can deliver. Even with the end bosses, they are some of the very best graphics that I have seen on any cartridge (and most CD based) games out there. With your standard Fire and Bomb weapons, you also have nine different special weapons. Throughout the game, you will be able to pick up power-ups that will increase the fire power, upgrade the bombs and give you ammunition for the different special weapons. You get a Magnet, when fired, will attract most objects on screen to follow it forward off the screen (TIP: don't use this weapon when you have something behind you >g<). The Tracer will find the closest enemy and bounce off it to the next one, it lasts for a few seconds . A Beam weapon will fire a straight laser beam and blast everything in sight... except for the end bosses. The Flash weapon is like a smart bomb that blows away almost everything on screen. A Missile weapon will release a projectile that will explode just in front of you and will do some decent damages on the bigger enemies. The Ring will give you a ball that rotates around your ship and is very similar to a shield where it will intercept most things coming at you. The Bolt sends out an energy wave that flies across the screen and taking out almost anything in its way. The Shield is just a shield, not very exciting but indispensable. And finally you have Cutter, that's your female feline wing person, she'll come out and help you for a while before taking off again. To activate any of the power-up weapons, you can use either the numbers on the keypad or the option key to scroll thru them. During game play, I find that I tend to memorize where the Shield and Cutter are on the keypad and for the others, I tend to just scroll thru it. I have found that the game itself is a bit hard to control with the controller because of the fact that there are so many objects on the screen at any one time; it became very hard to maneuver around them. And, I have a sore thumb to prove it. I suspect that with the introduction of 3rd party hardware vendors, we will see different types of controllers to come out; and a joystick will be a good addition to this game. The game play itself isn't all that great. I don't know if it is because of all the hype associated with the Jaguar rollout or the awesome graphics in the game; the game play feels almost tame. The biggest problem I have, and half of the world as well with this cart, is the controls. It requires you to perform some intricate moves that seem almost impossible with the control pads. That is, you are either mesmerized by the graphics and get killed or just overwhelmed by the sheer number of objects on the screen at any one time. The game only starts to get exciting when you start to pick up the power-ups for the different weapons, and you get to blast away at everything in sight. Yes, it does get repetitive but, with the feast for the eyes and the amount of things that I get to blast away, I quite enjoy it. I like the fact that I don't have to be too cerebral when I play this game, and just go in and start blasting away. There is no music trax with the game, but the sound effects are pretty good. Anyway, this is how I feel the game is rated. Graphics: 9.5 Sound FX/Music: 6.5 Control: 5.0 Manual: 7.5 Entertainment: 8.5 Reviewer's Overall: 7.5 I didn't want to give a 10 to the graphics because I do not know if this is all that the Jaguar can deliver. So, I am reserving it for a later date. The sound effects are just a bit above average and there's no sound trax with the game; and I won't penalize the rating for not having it. The control only rated 5.0 because it started to get too hard to move around all the objects on the screen (I'm waiting for a joystick to REALLY get into this game). The Manual... there's really nothing really to say except that it did the job. I rated Entertainment an 8.5 because I enjoy these sort of mindless blast-away type of games.... ____________________________________________ > Jaguar Tempest 2000 STR Review - "Tempest 2000" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -= Available Now =- Developed by: Llamasoft Published by: Atari Corp. Sugg. Retail Price: $59.95 Ease of Play: Average/Difficult by Marty Mankins You find yourself hurled into space. You are the shape of a two-legged spider and all that you have to defend yourself are your guns and an occasional total destruction bomb. You find the only means of fighting back is to get into the web with other creatures that feel like invading your space. You have 100 webs to make it though. Each web gets harder and meaner with nasties trying to capture you and kill you. You move fast around the top of the web to fight your enemies. It gets faster and faster. You have trouble keeping up after a while, but you still keep fighting. On occasion, you are awarded with a new lease on life, but that doesn't last as long as you would like it to. Sounds exciting, doesn't it. And to think you are not watching the Sci-Fi channel on cable. This is the latest game from Atari for the Jaguar. It's called Tempest 2000 and it's hot! In fact, it's so good, that I have made it my favorite game of the decade. Nothing else I have played has been so exciting and so flexible for a wide variety of players. Let me take you on a tour of the webs of Tempest 2000.... GUIDED TOUR Tempest 2000 starts out with some really cool music while is goes through all of the introduction screens. If you leave it for a few minutes, it will go into demo mode. The demo mode is good to watch if you have never played Tempest before. It gives you a good idea of what to expect. Once you decide to play, then hit the A button. It will take you to a screen with 4 choices: Traditional, Tempest Plus, Tempest 2000 and Tempest Duel. Traditional is the original Tempest game from the arcade upright version. It does add the Tempest 2000 music to it, but the game play is exactly as I remember it. Tempest Plus is a mix of the Traditional game and the 2000 version. You have three play modes in Tempest Plus: take on aliens by yourself, get help from A.I. Droid or play against another player. The treats are in Tempest 2000, which is an entirely new game from the original. This one requires some detail because it's the one that I feel most people will play the most. 2000 HOURS OF FUN!! On the first level, you see that the colors have changed. Now hit the first enemy. ZAPP! You see the first surprise. A power-up, which will give you bonuses such as enhanced laser blasts, the A.I. Droid and 2000 point increases. Get enough power-ups and you'll get an EXCELLENT, which gets you a prism in the upper right corner of the screen. These prisms count towards the warp level. You need three EXCELLENTs to enter into the warp level. If you want to warp before having to fight more meanies, then I suggest you get all three EXCELLENTs in the first three levels. THE WARP LEVEL On completing the level you get the third EXCELLENT, instead of moving to the next web, you move to the warp level. So far, I've been able to get to three warp levels. On the first and second warp levels, you pass through rings to advance. When you miss one, you go back to fighting enemies on the webs. When you complete a warp level, you advance five levels. IT KEEPS GETTING HARDER The enemies are plentiful. You have spikers, tankers and phasers trying to kill you. Flippers drive you nuts and mirrors will have you thinking twice about your next shot. And you only get a new blaster every 20,000 points. If all of this seems too hard, there is a cheat you can activate to go from level to level, being able to practice ahead of time without the time and energy of starting at level one. SPOILER AHEAD!!! Here's what you do: At the opening screen where the 4 different games are listed, hold down the 1,4, 7 and * keys and then hit the A button. If it works, you will hear the word "Excellent" in a morphed voice. Now, while playing the game, if the level gets too hard or you want to try higher levels, just hit the OPTION button. It will automatically advance you to the next round (which gives you 5,000 points). If you don't feel like getting the three EXCELLENTs, you can "cheat" into warp mode by holding down 3, 6, 9 and #. On the screen it should say WARP ENABLED. Then finish the level (or press OPTION) and you'll go right into the warp level. Since the warp level takes some time to go through, this cheat may help you get better at going through the warp level. OVERALL IMPRESSION This is one game that is hard to walk away from. I have had the game for less than a week now and I've logged over 60 hours with it. I get hours of enjoyment from this game and so do others that I've had try it. Some people have never played Tempest and will take to it immediately. Those of us that were Tempest addicts in the arcade are finding the increased challenge of Tempest 2000 very good. There were hardly any faults with the game. It would be nice if we discover a cheat where you can type in any level number and go directly to that. But, that's just to see what level 100 will be like in a hurry. The graphics were incredible and sometimes made you feel like you were physically sitting on the top of the web! I really enjoyed the soundtracks in this game. Every 17 levels, they change. The first soundtrack reminds me a lot of "Depeche Mode" music. The next soundtrack has a "hip-hop" sound and beat. Then the third soundtrack is fast-paced and has a heavy "industrial" tone to it. The music sets the tone for playing and gets your blood boiling and your fingers moving as fast as they can go. There are no dull moments with Tempest 2000. It's a game that appeals to just about all players and is very fast with incredible player reactions required. This game will win awards and sell a ton of copies. This one is here to stay. Graphics: 9.0 Sound FX/Music: 10.0 Control: 9.0 Manual: 8.5 Entertainment: 10.0 Reviewer's Overall: 9.5 GAME SUMMARY: Tempest 2000 is an incredible game. It is easy to play by all game players and requires hardly any time to get used to playing it. The graphics are amazing and they really make most of the game happen, but there were times when the 1-UP and the bonus point displays got in the way of game play. There were a couple of times that I lost a life when the points stayed on the screen a bit longer than it should have and hindered the view of where my player was. The sound effects and music were tops. Nothing wrong here. Just prepare for some intense music to keep you on your toes. The game control was very good, but the warp level was a bit backwards, when compared to older navigation-like games such as Star Raiders and Star Wars. The controls are up to go up and down to go down, which is backwards of how the rest of us are used to "flying" a game. The manual was basic and it provided the needed coverage to get you up and running, but there were not enough pictures of the game screens and there needed to be better explanation of the warp rounds, possibly adding a subtle hint or two. The entertainment value was perfect. This is a standard game that all Jaguar owners need to get. There is nothing even close to this game on other game systems. It appeals to all game players and provides hours of nerve-wrenching fun. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" STReport's "EDITORIAL CARTOON" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > A "Quotable Quote" A chuckle a day...... """"""""""""""""" A politician was filling out a job application when he came to the question, "HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED?" He answered, "NO." The next question, intended for people who had answered in the affirmative to the last one, was "WHY?" The politician answered it anyway: "NEVER GOT CAUGHT." ...Know one like this? Hey Dan! Oh Dan!! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > DEALER CLASSIFIED LIST STR InfoFile * Dealer Listings * """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" --------------- ABCO Incorporated ================= P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32221-6155 Est. 1985 1-904-783-3319 1994 SPRING SPECIALS NOW IN EFFECT! ------------------------ ABCO manufactures custom storage devices! INTEL 32 BIT 486/66, VLB w/Math CoProcessor 4MB ram upgradable to 32MB 1MB SVGA VESA VIDEO CARD Sound Blaster Compatible Stereo Sound Card DOS 6.2 - Windows for Workgroups 3.11 Included 128K CACHE - 1.44/1.2 FLOPPY Drives, Mouse & 101 deluxe Keyboard 250MB IDE hd - 2 SERIAL, 1 PARALLEL, 1 GAME PORTS 250W POWER SUPPLY TOWER SYSTEM 14" Non-Interlaced SVGA 1024x768, 28dpi Monitor 40Mhz VLB, S&H Incl 1695.00 695.00 with order, balance COD other higher powered packages available or, design your own! Call for value added pricing! 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