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by
Daniel Huebner and Jennifer Olsen
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 News
Week
of July 10 - July 16, 2000
[Friday,
July 14, 2000]
Interplay
and Walmart
Interplay has inked a distribution deal with Walmart. The agreement has
Interplay distributing its PC game catalog directly to the Walmart chain,
while Walmart will retain the right to not stock titles its deem inappropriate
for its costumers. Interplay has been aggressively pursuing partnerships
with major retailers as the company looks to better control its distribution
channels.
[Thursday,
July 13, 2000]
New
Kid Distribution
Ubi Soft has entered into a multi-year deal to handle international publishing
for New Kid Co's videogame titles. The deal will see Ubi Soft bring New
Kid Co's Playstation and Game Boy Color titles, based on licensed characters
from Disney Interactive, Sesame Workshop, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers
and others, to PAL territories including Europe, Australia, New Zealand
and South Africa. New Kid Co will handle its own distribution in North
American, ending a distribution deal with Mattel.
[Wednesday,
July 12, 2000]
Microsoft
Keeps Score
Microsoft has acquired Net Games USA, a maker of statistical technologies
for games. Microsoft will bring Net Games' developers from their current
Kansas base to Redmond, WA, where the group will work on integrating the
company's core ngStats game tracking technology into an SDK for PC game
developers. The company will also focus on creating new technologies for
upcoming titles as well as for Microsoft's Xbox.
Rated X
Authorities in British Columbia have given Soldier of Fortune the
equivalent of an X rating. The game is the first in Canada to be classified
as an adult movie, making it illegal to sell the title to anyone under
18. The classification came after a parent complained about the game's
violent content. Provincial director of film classification Mary-Louise
McCausland the rating was given becuase "[Soldier of Fortune's]
depictions of violence against persons and animals are brutal and portrayed
realistically and explicitly.'' The classification, which can be appealed,
carries penalties of up to six months in jail and a fine.
PC
Data Top Ten
PC Data has arranged the ten best selling PC games for the week of June
25 to July 1 into an easy to read list.
1. Diablo 2, Havas Interactive
2. Diablo 2: Collector's Ed, Havas Interactive
3. The Sims, Electronic Arts
4. Icewind Dale, nterplay
5. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition, Disney
6. Roller Coaster Tycoon, Hasbro Interactive
7. Shogun: Total War, Electronic Arts
8. Deus Ex, Eidos
9. Roller Coaster Tycoon Corkscrew Follies, Hasbro Interactive
10. Starcraft, Havas Interactive
[Tuesday,
July 11, 2000]
Infogrames
and Eidos
Despite protestations to the contrary, reports say Infogrames is closing
in on a deal to buy Eidos. The Financial Times is reporting that Infogrames
could close the deal in a matter of weeks, though contentious valuation
and management issues could yet sink the buyout. Infogrames has reportedly
offered an all-share package that values Eidos at up $1.06 billion. A
combined Infogrames and Eidos would be Europe's biggest computer software
publishing company, with annual turnover of more than $1.6 billion.
Funcom
Chooses
Xbox Funcom has dropped Playstation 2 development in favor of an all Xbox
approach. The company says that the change will allow it to reduce the
cost and production cycle of next generation games by as much as 20 percent.
"After evaluating PlayStation 2 and Xbox technology for several months
we have taken the strategic decision to go for Xbox," said Funcom President
Andre Backen, "Transferring our long-term experience from console, PC
and Internet development into Xbox development is only a matter of small
organizational adjustments."
Past
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