Weekly News & Notes (4/23)
It's been a long time, but now I'm back and on a new night! Come see what has happened in the Wonderful World of Videogames.
Published: April 23, 2001
Alot of news to get to, so I won't waste any more time.
+ TOP STORY - U.S. Attorney General and "Enemy of Fun" John Ashcroft once again mounted his high horse to attack the entertainment industry, and more directly, the video entertainment industry. On Wednesday he held a press conference where he highlighted various videogames, television shows and even a game called "Dope Wars" that can be downloaded on the Internet as examples of the "the culture of violence'' that may have contributed to a spate of recent deadly school shootings. In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Ashcroft took aim at the game in which the player makes money by buying and selling drugs while avoiding hazards such as the police and muggers.
The Web site described "Dope Wars,'' saying, "This low-tech but high-fun game casts you as a debt-ridden drug dealer -- $2000 in your pocket, but $5500 in debt to a Loan Shark. If you think you have played something similar, you probably have. This game can be found in many different forms for many different O/Ss, including the calculator version on the TI-83." The only way to get out of this debt trap is to make money by buying the available drugs and then moving to a new location and hoping the price moves up, or is driven up by market demands,'' it said, adding that players have to shoot it out with the police.
Ashcroft mentioned the game after saying parents have an important role to play and must take responsibility for what their children have access to. According to the Web site, only those 18 or older can download "Dope Wars.'' Ashcroft said one of the shooters in the 1999 attack on Columbine High School in Colorado, in which 15 people were killed, played the videogame "Doom'' and programmed it so it looked like his own neighborhood. Ashcroft said a school shooter in Paducah, Kentucky, had never used a gun before, but played violent videogames which simulated shootings. [blockquote]"We all have to do our part to replace a culture of violence with a culture of responsibility," Ashcroft said.[/blockquote]As our frequent readers know, I am not a fan of Mr. Ashcroft, but his voice has the same right to be heard as anyone else's (even though he is wrong, in my opinion). Please direct any reactions to our Forum on the Interact board.
+ HEADLINES - What can we expect from Sony at next months Electronics Entertainment Expo? Well, some very fine games for starters. Sony has confirmed some of their first party games that they'll be showing at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in L.A next month.
Wipeout Fusion and World Rally Championship 2001 will be taking pride of place on Sony's E3 stand. Also rumored to be shown, is London-based gangster game The Getaway, which might allow people to have some hands-on fun. Wipeout Fusion is the next generation successor to the massively popular PSOne Wipeout games. The game will be in playable form at E3. Expect some sleek graphics and some of the fastest racing action ever experienced. This is good news indeed.
World Rally Championship 2001 is being billed as the next generation Colin McRae Rally. The game will also be shown in playable form. The graphics already look amazing realistic. Now we'll get a chance to see if the game lives up to the same standard.
+ OTHER NEWS - Today Sony's gaming website Station.com announced it had reached the 10 million registered members mark. Sony Online Entertainment announced today that their online gaming website www.Station.com now has 10 million registered members. Launched on March 1997, The Station now receives one million daily users. The Station provides online gaming content and network servers. [blockquote]"We are pleased to offer the casual websurfer and serious game enthusiasts the best in online entertainment," said Scott McDaniel, Executive Director, Marketing of Sony Online Entertainment. "With games such as the ever-popular Jeopardy! Online, the blockbuster hit EverQuest, and future games such as the much anticipated Star Wars Galaxies, we expect that our member base will continue to rapidly expand."[/blockquote]+ FINANCIAL NEWS - Microsoft Corp. has announced the results of its third-quarter 2001, which ended March 31. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion in the quarter, up 14% over the $5.66 billion it earned in the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $2.45 billion ($0.44 per share), compared to the $2.39 billion ($0.43 per share) it had in Q3 2000. Looking forward, Microsoft indicated that it expects revenue in the fourth quarter to be "n the range of $6.30 billion and $6.50 billion," and that fiscal 2002 is forecasted to have revenue of between $28 billion and $29 billion, with diluted earnings to be in the range of $1.90 to $1.94 per share. Expect Microsoft stock to increase with the launch of the Xbox drawing closer, along with the eventual launch, where there will be lots of profit to be made from licensing agreements and sales.
+ OTAKU NEWS - Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI), the parent company who oversees all of the activities concerning the Playstation and Playstation 2, has finally brought to light a few brief but promising details concerning the online plans for the PS2 in a recent press conference in Japan. Ken Kutaragi, the father of the PlayStation, confirmed that his company's online network will be up and running in Tokyo and its surrounding areas sometime this July using fiber optic connections and that the PS2 Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will be also be available at that time. Pricing and plans for the U.S. have yet to be discussed but E3, the biggest Electronics Show in North America, seems to be a good place to at least start to talk about that. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge...
+ PICK OF THE WEEK - Yes, it's been a long time since the last WNN, but what a great time to be a gamer. Because of my elated absence, I have a short list of the games you should be playing plus a little blurb about each.[blockquote]1. Metal Gear Solid 2 demo - If you've played it, you know there is nothing that has to be said except that, "DAMN I WANT THIS GAME!!!"
2. Zone Of Enders - What Konami considers Hideo Kojima's little side-project is a damn fine game on it's own, plus you get the MGS2 demo with it for free. Please don't skip over this one to get to the demo.
3. Crash Bandicoot 3 - Yes, it's an oldie, but a goodie. My girlfriend took my PS One and stayed up all night to beat this one (without a memory card, no doubt). After not playing it since it came out, I sat down and said I would play it for 10-15 minutes to remember what was so cool about it. I ended up playing it all night too.[/blockquote]That's all for this week, come back every Monday night to catch up on what I tell the monkey to write about!
+ TOP STORY - U.S. Attorney General and "Enemy of Fun" John Ashcroft once again mounted his high horse to attack the entertainment industry, and more directly, the video entertainment industry. On Wednesday he held a press conference where he highlighted various videogames, television shows and even a game called "Dope Wars" that can be downloaded on the Internet as examples of the "the culture of violence'' that may have contributed to a spate of recent deadly school shootings. In a speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Ashcroft took aim at the game in which the player makes money by buying and selling drugs while avoiding hazards such as the police and muggers.
The Web site described "Dope Wars,'' saying, "This low-tech but high-fun game casts you as a debt-ridden drug dealer -- $2000 in your pocket, but $5500 in debt to a Loan Shark. If you think you have played something similar, you probably have. This game can be found in many different forms for many different O/Ss, including the calculator version on the TI-83." The only way to get out of this debt trap is to make money by buying the available drugs and then moving to a new location and hoping the price moves up, or is driven up by market demands,'' it said, adding that players have to shoot it out with the police.
Ashcroft mentioned the game after saying parents have an important role to play and must take responsibility for what their children have access to. According to the Web site, only those 18 or older can download "Dope Wars.'' Ashcroft said one of the shooters in the 1999 attack on Columbine High School in Colorado, in which 15 people were killed, played the videogame "Doom'' and programmed it so it looked like his own neighborhood. Ashcroft said a school shooter in Paducah, Kentucky, had never used a gun before, but played violent videogames which simulated shootings. [blockquote]"We all have to do our part to replace a culture of violence with a culture of responsibility," Ashcroft said.[/blockquote]As our frequent readers know, I am not a fan of Mr. Ashcroft, but his voice has the same right to be heard as anyone else's (even though he is wrong, in my opinion). Please direct any reactions to our Forum on the Interact board.
+ HEADLINES - What can we expect from Sony at next months Electronics Entertainment Expo? Well, some very fine games for starters. Sony has confirmed some of their first party games that they'll be showing at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in L.A next month.
Wipeout Fusion and World Rally Championship 2001 will be taking pride of place on Sony's E3 stand. Also rumored to be shown, is London-based gangster game The Getaway, which might allow people to have some hands-on fun. Wipeout Fusion is the next generation successor to the massively popular PSOne Wipeout games. The game will be in playable form at E3. Expect some sleek graphics and some of the fastest racing action ever experienced. This is good news indeed.
World Rally Championship 2001 is being billed as the next generation Colin McRae Rally. The game will also be shown in playable form. The graphics already look amazing realistic. Now we'll get a chance to see if the game lives up to the same standard.
+ OTHER NEWS - Today Sony's gaming website Station.com announced it had reached the 10 million registered members mark. Sony Online Entertainment announced today that their online gaming website www.Station.com now has 10 million registered members. Launched on March 1997, The Station now receives one million daily users. The Station provides online gaming content and network servers. [blockquote]"We are pleased to offer the casual websurfer and serious game enthusiasts the best in online entertainment," said Scott McDaniel, Executive Director, Marketing of Sony Online Entertainment. "With games such as the ever-popular Jeopardy! Online, the blockbuster hit EverQuest, and future games such as the much anticipated Star Wars Galaxies, we expect that our member base will continue to rapidly expand."[/blockquote]+ FINANCIAL NEWS - Microsoft Corp. has announced the results of its third-quarter 2001, which ended March 31. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion in the quarter, up 14% over the $5.66 billion it earned in the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $2.45 billion ($0.44 per share), compared to the $2.39 billion ($0.43 per share) it had in Q3 2000. Looking forward, Microsoft indicated that it expects revenue in the fourth quarter to be "n the range of $6.30 billion and $6.50 billion," and that fiscal 2002 is forecasted to have revenue of between $28 billion and $29 billion, with diluted earnings to be in the range of $1.90 to $1.94 per share. Expect Microsoft stock to increase with the launch of the Xbox drawing closer, along with the eventual launch, where there will be lots of profit to be made from licensing agreements and sales.
+ OTAKU NEWS - Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI), the parent company who oversees all of the activities concerning the Playstation and Playstation 2, has finally brought to light a few brief but promising details concerning the online plans for the PS2 in a recent press conference in Japan. Ken Kutaragi, the father of the PlayStation, confirmed that his company's online network will be up and running in Tokyo and its surrounding areas sometime this July using fiber optic connections and that the PS2 Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will be also be available at that time. Pricing and plans for the U.S. have yet to be discussed but E3, the biggest Electronics Show in North America, seems to be a good place to at least start to talk about that. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge...
+ PICK OF THE WEEK - Yes, it's been a long time since the last WNN, but what a great time to be a gamer. Because of my elated absence, I have a short list of the games you should be playing plus a little blurb about each.[blockquote]1. Metal Gear Solid 2 demo - If you've played it, you know there is nothing that has to be said except that, "DAMN I WANT THIS GAME!!!"
2. Zone Of Enders - What Konami considers Hideo Kojima's little side-project is a damn fine game on it's own, plus you get the MGS2 demo with it for free. Please don't skip over this one to get to the demo.
3. Crash Bandicoot 3 - Yes, it's an oldie, but a goodie. My girlfriend took my PS One and stayed up all night to beat this one (without a memory card, no doubt). After not playing it since it came out, I sat down and said I would play it for 10-15 minutes to remember what was so cool about it. I ended up playing it all night too.[/blockquote]That's all for this week, come back every Monday night to catch up on what I tell the monkey to write about!
