News

Week of May 1-May 7, 2000

[Friday, May 5, 2000]

Nival Distributes Cyro
Nival Interactive is acquiring Cyro's entire product line for distribution in Russia. Nival, which has had success with Cyro games in the past, will fully localize the games for distribution throughout Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Baltic nations. Nival plans to have nine Cryo titles ready before the end of the year.

PC Data's Top Ten
Regis continues his quest to take the top spot back from The Sims in PC Data's list of the top ten PC games for the week of April 16-22, 2000.

1. The Sims, Electronic Arts
2. Wants To Be A Millionaire, Disney
3. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon, Hasbro Interactive
4. MP Roller Coaster Tycoon Corkscrew Follies, Hasbro Interactive
5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Urban Operations, Red Storm Int.
6. Microsoft Age of Empires II: Age Of Kings, Microsoft
7. Grand Slam Bridge III, Electronic Arts
8. Frogger, Hasbro Interactive
9. Star Wars: Force Commander, LucasArts
10. Unreal Tournament, GT Interactive

[Thursday, May 4, 2000]

EA Q4
Electronics Arts' reports a 54 percent drop in fourth quarter net income. Though fourth quarter revenues were up a modest five percent from last year's fourth quarter, to $294.3 million this year, falling game prices and operating losses at two new acquisitions pulled down earnings. The company is reporting that earnings totaled $10.8 million, before expenses of $4.2 million and charges of $6.5 million related to the acquisitions of Kesmai and Dreamworks. These results mark the first quarther of the new EA.com tracking stock, and the Internet subsidiary posted an encouraging 46 percent jump in revenues, to $6.8 million, though operating losses still came in at $13.3 million. EA is eyeing an end to the sagging games market with the coming of the next-generation consoles. "Looking ahead, the transition from the current slate of console platforms to next generation technology presents a challenging market environment but we are very excited about the opportunities," said EA's Larry Probst, "We continue to focus on being the leading third party publisher on PlayStation 2, with more than 20 products currently in development."

Silicon Knights Investment
Nintendo of America is making an equity investment in Canada's Silicon Knights. The end result of the undisclosed investment is that the Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain developer will join Retro, Rare, and Left Field Productions in the rank of exclusive, long term Nintendo developers. Silicon Knights' projects will include Dolphin games, but the first product of the new partnership will a N64 titles called Eternal Darkness. "Quality always has been the Nintendo mantra, so investing in Silicon Knights fits perfectly with our corporate goal," said Nintendo of America President Minoru Arakawa.

GoD's On Deck
Gathering of Developers is launching a new label to sell value-priced games from up and coming developers. The line will operate under the name On Deck Interactive, and is positioned as a sort of minor league affiliate of the Gathering label. The company will seek out new development teams to create games to be sold at lower price points. Titles on the way from the On Deck label include KISS Pinball and a Duke Nukem based hunting game. On Deck is led by former Valu Soft marketing chief Robert Westmoreland, the man credited with giving birth to the game Deer Hunter while employed at Wal Mart. "Gathering has always supported the spirit of the independent developer but was unable to work with all the great talent that approached us," said Gathering CEO Mike Wilson, "[On Deck Interactive] will help new teams get off on the right foot with good technology, a shortened development cycle, and in most cases, a hot license."

[Wednesday, May 3, 2000]

No GeForce 2 for Mac
Nvidia's GeForce will not be heading to the Mac. According to Mac Gaming.com, an Nvidia spokesperson at chip's recent WinHEC launch informed Mac gamers, "We are continuing to research the Mac/Apple market, but at this time it does not look like we will be introducing a product to the Mac market." Nvidia has yet to endorse any of its chipsets for Macintosh use, though long time rival 3dfx has recently embraced the platform and the newly announced Radeon 256 is described by maker ATI as being built from the ground up to support Mac.

3DO Hires Klein
Former ASC Games head David Klein has landed at 3DO. Klein had previously served as president and chief operating officer of troubled games publisher ASC Games, and had worked for Atari Games early in his career. Klein is also no stranger to 3DO chief Trip Hawkins, having been one of the first twenty employees at Electronic Arts. At 3DO, Klein will take on the role of vice president of sales. "He's also an avid gamer who has stayed in touch with the customer. I'm delighted to be working with him again," said Hawkins.

[Tuesday, May 2, 2000]

EA Branding
Electronic Arts is creating a unified brand image for all of its products. Taking a page from the successful branding of the EA Sports line-up, EA is expanding the same brand aesthetic in to new brands called EA Games and EA.com. The EA Games mark will take in games previously pushed under the many names of EA's owned studios, like Maxis, Westwood, and Bullfrog. EA.com encompasses EA's co-branded AOL Games Channel content. "EA SPORTS is a brand that stands for state-of-the-art quality graphics and game play. By adapting the imagery of EA SPORTS and applying it to EA Games and EA.com, we're telling consumers that these games are developed by the same teams with the same integrity and attention to quality and detail," said EA President of Worldwide Sales Don Mattrick. EA is taken the unified brand beyond packages by creating a single installer and splash screen set for the entire range.

[Monday, May 1, 2000]

GoD Bought
Gathering of Developers is becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. The deal has Gathering operating autonomously and continuing to handle its properties and games in North America. The arrangement gives Gathering better access to Take-Two's extensive European and North American distribution network while Take Two gains Gathering's top end PC and console game catalog. The two companies have been working together since the founding of Gathering in 1998, when Take Two provided part of the company's initial funding. That relationship expanded in 1999 when Take Two took a minority stake in GoD. Take Two has signed a five year contract with Gathering CEO Mike Wilson and and a three year deal with Gathering President Harry Miller to keep them on in their current positions. Gathering's management will stay in place to continue the development of the company's catalog. "Our alliance with Take-Two allows us to offer an even stronger developer deal that includes greater distribution, stronger capital reserves, and console publishing expertise," said Miller. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Nintendo Unfazed
Nintendo is insisting that the European Commission's formal warning about anti-trust violations won't affects its earnings. Nintendo's confidence that the allegations of cartel-like price fixing arrangements in its European distribution practices won't adversely affect the company, however, stem from Nintendo's belief that the company will be exonerated. "We are confident this will have no impact on our earnings as we are doing business with the understanding that we had and have no such arrangements in Europe," said a Nintendo spokesperson. Nintendo could face huge fines if it is found to be in violation.

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