|
 News
Week
of January 17- January 23, 2000
[Friday,
January 21, 2000]
Midway
Income Increases
Revenues for Midway's second quarter increased a healthy 17.5 percent
compared to the same period one year ago, but net income for the quarter
increased a more impressive 76.1 percent. Net income rose to $18 million
on revenues of $147 million. Home video game incomer rose 58.5 percent,
with Dreamcast games accounting for $25 million of $118 million in home
game revenue. Midway believe that these results underscore their belief
that the fiscal year ending June 30 will see the company reach record
revenues and earnings. Midway's third quarter will see 7 new titles on
four platforms as well as the debut of four new arcade games to add to
the thirteen new products released by the company in the second quarter.
Rage
Buys Wayward
British game developer Rage Software has made an initial payment of $3.4
million to acquire flight simulator developer Wayward Design. The three
year old company has yet to ship a game, but is nearing complete of it's
first effort, B17: Flying Fortress - the Mighty Eighth. "This deal
with Wayward is another excellent example of our strategy to grow the
business through the recruitment of talented teams," explained Rage CEO
Paul Finnegan, "it is essential to continue to attract and retain respected
developers whose skills and creativity are well suited to working at the
cutting-edge of technology." Wayward skills will be put to use in the
development of Playstation 2 titles, where positive results could add
an additional $400,000 to the sale price is the company meets it performance
criteria over the next three years.
Dassault
Leaves Monolith
Monolith's Mike Dassault is leaving that company for the greener pastures
of fellow Seattle developers Valve. Dassault was a key figure in the development
of Monolith's Lith Tech 3D engine technology, and will continue to devote
his energies towards 3D engine design for an unannounced Valve project.
"[Mike] has helped to build a great and highly skilled engine team, and
his personal efforts have been nothing short of spectacular over the last
few years," said Monolith CEO Jason Hall in a farewell message.
[Wednesday,
January 19, 2000]
Game
Gems Wanted
The creators of the Graphics Gems series, now a five volume set containing
countless bits of practical graphics programming wisdom coupled with source
code and reference, have put out a call for submissions to a new series
focusing on game programming. Game Programming Gems will be published
later this year in cooperation with Charles River Media, and editor Mark
DeLoura is looking for game programmers to submit "really useful stuff
that you could rip the code from and jam into your own projects." If you
have a potential gem, or if you want to learn more, visit the Game
Programming Gems homepage.
Gamescon
Expo
Organizers of the Gamescon Expo are expecting somewhere in the neighborhood
of 20,000 attendee to pack into San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition Center
on February 19 and 20. The expo seeks to bring developers and gamers closer
together by combining a technology exhibition with a game playing area
where attendee can chat with developers behind the products. The show
will also feature a series of celebrity challenge game matches and host
of roundtables on gaming topics. An onsite CompUSA sales outline will
be provided, allowing attendees to buy once they have tried.
Wilson
Goes to EA
Jay Wilson, late of the ill-fated Cavedog title Amen, will put his design
talents to use for the people at Electronic Arts. Before joining EA, and
before Amen, Wilson made his name as lead designer on Monolith's Blood
2. Wilson will be working on an unnamed new project for EA.
GOD
Visits Sundance
Whether they are drawn by the independent artist spirit, or perhaps the
hope that their Blair Witch game might cash in Blair Witch style, Gather
of Developers will be showcasing it's year 2000 games line up at the annual
Sundance Film Festival. The GOD pavilion will put upcoming titles Rune,
F.A.K.K. 2, Psycho Circus, and Max Payne under the eyes of festival attendees
as part of the Interactive Village exhibit. GOD's Blair Witch Project
projects are not scheduled to appear.
Playstation.com
Sony's new online sales arm is slated to come to life as a new company
on February 1. Sony Computer Entertainment will be footing the entire
bill for the new concern, providing of the $4.5 million dollars in capitalization
for Playstation.com Japan. The company will start its service in mid February
selling Playstation software and parts and will eventually offer Playstation
2 sales. The new firm will be a key part of Sony's strategy to distribute
software, music, and movies via Playstation 2.
[Tuesday,
January 18, 2000]
CGDA
Chooses Miller Freeman
The Computer Game Developers Association announced today that it has entered
into a management agreement with the Miller Freeman Game Group. The CGDA
hopes the arrangement will allow it to expand and develop its membership
base while exploiting the new opportunities created by the partnership.
The Miller Freeman Game Group is also the parent organization of the Game
Developers Conference, Game Developer Magazine, and Gamasutra.
Game Group Director Jennifer Pahlka will serve as the Computer Game Developers
Association's interim executive director until a permanent director is
named.
Eidos Sales Slump
Though Eidos won't formally announce it holiday financial results until
the end of February, the company is warning that the numbers will be well
below expectations. Eidos blames its sales slump on a combination of weak
performance in it traditionally strong French and German markets as late
shipping titles like Urban Chaos and Daikatana. The company is not planning
any major changes to compensate for the poor results, instead hoping to
capitalize on the 25 titles it will ship in the next 12 months and the
seven games currently under development for the Playstation 2.
Cyberlife Changes
Cyberlife Technology has announced a major restructuring that will focus
the company exclusively on games. The artificial life company plans to
phase out its industrial and business applications to concentrate on entertainment
products. The name Cyberlife will also disappear in favor of the new moniker
Creature Labs. In addition to the new the new name the company has a new
chief executive in the person of Chris McKee.
Acclaim's New Executive
Acclaim Entertainment has named Mark Bilger as the new Executive Vice
President for Worldwide Product Development. Bilger will oversee production
at six Acclaim studios worldwide as well as Acclaim's external game development.
Prior to joining Acclaim Bilger served as senior vice president for product
development at Hyperion Solutions Corporation.
PC
Data's Top Ten
The final tally is in, and PC Data is ready to unveil the PC games winners
of the holiday sales bonanza that was December, 1999.
1.Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Disney
2. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon, Hasbro Interactive
3. Microsoft Age Of Empires II: Age of Kings, Microsoft
4. Quake III Arena, Activision
5. Barbie Generation Girl Gotta Groove, Mattel Interactive
6. Deer Hunter III, GT Interactive
7. Toy Story 2 Action Game, Disney
8. Frogger, Hasbro Interactive
9. Sim City 3000, Electronic Arts
10. Microsoft Flight Simulator, Microsoft
Past
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