ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÜÛÛÛÜ ßßß ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÛ ÞÝÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜ [Pred 94] ÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÞÛÛ ÛÛß ßÛÛ ÛÛÛÞ ÛÛÛ ÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÞÛÛ ÜÛÛ ÞÛÛ ÛÛ² ÛÛ² Û²ÞÛ² ÛÛ²ÞÛ²ÞÝ ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² Û² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÜÛ²ÞÛ² ÛÛ²ÞÛ² Û ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÛÛ² ÜÛ² ÛÛ± ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛ± ÛÛ±ÞÛ± ÞÝÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛÛÛ±ÞÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛ± ÞÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ±ÞÛ± ÛÞÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ± ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛÜ ÜÛ± ÛÛ° ÞÞÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ßÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ßÛÛÛß ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛ° ÛÛÛÛÛ°Þ° ÛÛ° C O N S O L E M A G A Z i N E FRoNTiER magazine is (c) copyright 1994 July 1994 EDiTOR: Gordon Craick 3Do þ Jaguar þ Genesis þ CD-i þ CD32 þ GenesisCD þ Super Nintendo and all other consoles ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ iNDeX TO iSSuE 4 *******/\******* Welcome Updates Changes Feedback News: * 32X - The Ultimate Genesis addon * Project Reality now for 1995 * Street Fighter movie to be filmed in Australia * Nintendo goes for blood * Jaguar Voice-Modem * Jaguar-CD well on its way * 3DO sales goes on the increase * 3DO the only system to receive SSF2T Features: * The Summer CES Report * Saturn FAQ 1.15 * Commodore - The End Editorial/Opinion: * Do we expect too much from CD? Reviews: * Clay Fighter (SNES) * Flash Hiders (PC Engine CD) The Cheater's Den Trading Support sites/distribution How *YOU* too can help out Frontier How to contact Frontier Credits/Thanx -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛ²±° ÛÛ Û ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÞÛÝÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ Û ÛÛÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛ ßÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛßßß °±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú AFTER a break of one issue, Frontier is back to keep you informed on the exciting world of consoles and video games! While it was stated that issue 4 would be released in June, exams and a large workload meant that I decided to put it off until this month. Sorry about the inconvenience, however there wasn't much I could do to remedy this. Frontier would have also been out on the first of this month, except the late inclusion of the CES information meant a delay of an extra week. It was that or no CES info folks.... Some of the information and articles in this issue may be a little old by now, though they should provide interest for those who don't get to read that many other magazines, and since I spent the time writing/researching them, there seems little point in discarding them altogether. This month was of course saw the Summer CES come and go, which provided a number of insights into where the industry was heading in the next year. A growing number of new and exciting games were shown for all systems, which provided many new news and speculation. While I didn't attend personally, the number of internet postings from those that did has meant that Frontier is well up on what happened. For more information - see our extensive first CES Show coverage! That's all for now, enjoy this issue - I feel it is one our more informative ones to date. Only another six months to the Winter CES now, maybe we can get somebody there to represent Frontier... interested? :) Gordon Craick (Editor -> FRONTiER magazine) < July 8th, 1994 > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- UPDATES ***/\** ALTHOUGH Frontier aims to make fewer mistakes than some other magazines, it would be naive to think there wouldn't be any. In issue one several people have pointed out some inaccuracies or clear mistakes. Thanks to those people who did so, if I don't know about it - I can't correct it :) CHANGES ***/\** The release file now only includes all upcoming titles for the next few months, and is more general in release dates. See the release list (FRNTR-RE.004) for more information. Inclusion of non-profit console/video game shows - While Frontier charges for any direct form of commercial advertising, console trade and non-profit shows are accepted for publication in the magazine at no cost. If you are organising, or know of any shows along similar lines to that below, send in your press release/advertisement or any related information and they will be published in Frontier for a few months. ATARISHW.TXT arrived in my mailbox recently, should be interesting for those interested in Atari and most especially the Jaguar. Refer to it for all the details. Frontier will accept advertisements of a commercial nature to try and help pay for some of the games I review - the cost of advertising is a flat rate of $20 per ad, per issue for an ad of under 400 words. See the feedback section for more information. úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú °±²ÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÛ Ûß ÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛßßÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÜÜÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ßÛ²±° úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú FRONTIER has been very grateful to the readers who have taken their time to write to the magazine and express some ideas and opinions. I'm _always_ after any sort of feedback, so whether you like everything, or something really annoys you let me know. If you're willing to express and opinion that you wouldn't mind publishing (maybe you've been expressing an opinion in some of the console newsgroups) here's your chance to let everybody else know what _you_ think. If you feel like a conversation on the console industry (or in fact anything!) send my some email, the best ones will be published in Frontier for others to join in on. Over the last couple of months I have received a couple of requests for advertising of a commercial type nature in Frontier. A decision has been made to charge a flat cost of $US20 per ad, per issue for an ad up to 400 words. This may include borders, ascii logos, etc (not counted in the 400) to draw attention to your product or business. Please send your advertisements in the form you would like them to appear, along with payment to the address listed at the end of the magazine. If you own, or are part of a console retailing or mail order company, Frontier offers a great way to help promote and sell your product through a potential audience of several thousand in many different countries world-wide. While readers may protest this as a form of commercialism that Frontier has stayed to try clear of in the past, I don't consider it as moving too much in this direction. The move is basically to help pay for some of the games I buy or hire for review purposes, and in no way to make a profit for myself (and at $20 I am hardly going to!). úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±° ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ Û ÛÛÝßßßßÛÛ °±²ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú 32X - THE ULTiMATE GENESiS ADDoN **************/\**************** Rumours have been rampant over what Sega's plans were going to be for entry in the 32 bit console race. Reports have been circulating of an expensive new stand-alone console, or an add-on for the Genesis machine as early as 1991. Now Sega has finally announced its formal hardware strategy over the next year, two 32 bit consoles for release in the next 6 months. Later this year will see the introduction of the 32X, a plug-in enhancement for the Genesis/Megadrive system. The 32X will provide a 32 bit processor, a specialised graphics chip based around the technology to be implemented in the Saturn. Following the release will be a wealth of new titles for the 32X, greatly extending the life of the Genesis unit. This will come as comforting news to those who were maybe seeing the onslaught of the newer 32 bit consoles, feeling just a little left behind, and ready to upgrade their Genesis to a newer, more powerful system. Now the millions of Genesis owners can do this without having to sell their old machine - at the relatively small price of $150. What is looking now to be an early 1995 Japanese release, will also be the release of the Saturn. The Saturn will be the more powerful of the two systems, implementing CD storage as standard and set to be Sega's main product for the next four years at least. The Saturn is also likely to be the more expensive of the two machines, at about $400. The news will be worrying for Sega's main contender, Nintendo who's plans for a 32 bit addon for the SNES was cancelled during the last stages of development in late 1993. Nintendo will have tough competition trying to market its aging 16 bit SNES unit against a much more powerful 32 bit addon for the Genesis. * For more information, and the actual specifications of the Saturn, check out the Saturn/32X FAQ included with this issue. PROJECT REALiTY NOW FOR 1995 *************/\************* Nintendo has recently announced that it will push forward its next generation console for a release some time next year. Current indications seem to be an arcade implementation by mid-1995, and a home implementation by Christmas 1995 -- Originally PR was scheduled for consumer release in late 1996. The move comes to assure the video game market that Project Reality^ is a lot closer than just a development (though from all indications that is still what it is!), and that shorter wait will be well worth it. This will be worrying news to many of the other video game companies, who were gleefully dismissive of Project Reality, seeing it as little to worry about in the next few years. A 1996 release for the home market, as was planned by Nintendo would have allowed many of the newer 32bit consoles to build up a reasonably strong consumer base. This would have made it hard for Nintendo to remain a strong force in the video game market, and in fact making the entry of PR quite tough. The current specifications talked about by Nintendo are far from complete, however some rumours of the proposed Project Reality are beginning to filter through. Project Reality is set to revolve around a 64 bit MIPPS instruction set processor, running at approximately 100mhz. Graphical processing will be done through a probably cut down version of Silicon Graphic's 'Reality Engine', used for many special effects in movies, so far only now been included in SGI's $60,000+ work stations. Storage is set to revolve around an implementation of 'Flash ROM', able to store many megabytes on a single credit-card sized piece of electronics. While all of this technology is far beyond that of the consumer, Nintendo believes (or in fact is banking heavily on the fact) that it can release a home console for around the $300US mark. A hard task, however, most believe that Silicon Graphics and Nintendo indeed do have the financial and technical know-how to achieve such a mammoth project in such a relatively short period of time. ^ this is only actually the project name, the machine will now be called something more consumer-orientated closer to release STREET FiGHTER MOViE TO BE FiLMED iN AUSTRALiA *********************/\*********************** While it has been mentioned in many other magazines that a Street Fighter movie was in production in the past, many of that news is now inaccurate due to changes in the last few months. The final details are that the movie will in fact be filmed right here in Australia - to be exact, the Warner Bros Studio in Queensland. While at first the idea of a movie based on a video game doesn't look all that promising, Time Warner obviously feels there is enough there for a popular film. Filming on a budget of $40 million, the movie features two big names in the form of Jean Claude VanDamme (the famous ex-kick boxer who have starred in several films) as Ken, and Kylie Minogue (Yuppie UK pop singer :) and part-time actor) most likely as Chun-Li. Now while the Mario Bros movie turned mainly into a non-event for more mature audiences, Street Fighter is aiming to attempt quite the opposite. By including plenty of street-fighting action, along with the trademark VanDamme violence, the movie will likely rate either as Mature or Restricted when released. "Street Fighter" as it has been titled, is now in production, and should be released in April next year in the US, followed by May in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. NiNTENDO GOES FOR BLOOD **********/\*********** Finally Nintendo has woken up to the fact that players do not want censored or cut games, and in fact lose money when certain parts of games are removed. To try and still remain responsible, while also restricting new games, Nintendo's new self-classification system will allow graphically violent games to appear on the SNES as long as they include the appropriate rating. This is excellent news for fans of Mortal Kombat, who had to put up with a non-blooded version, when the Genesis version had all of the fatalities and blood seen in the arcades. The first graphically violent SNES game to be released to the public will be Mortal Kombat 2, which will supposedly only be available to those over 17 years of age. Mortal Kombat 2 will include all of the fatalities, babalities, and blood and guts that the arcade machine does. There will also be a lockout code built into the cartridge to allow parents to turn off the graphic features in the game, if desired. Certainly good news for mature players of the SNES, and also a good sign that Project Reality won't just be for kids. JAGUAR VOiCE MODEM ********/\******** In the race to get a useable mutli-player system up and running, Atari is banking on the soon to be released Jaguar Voice-Modem. Similar in operation to a conventional modem, players can dial each other up over standard phone lines, and play against/in co-operation with each other. While with standard use the voice-modem will probably be limited to one-on-one usage over phone lines, two or three Jaguar units may be linked up together (say in the same room) using the standard Jag Network (what Atari is now calling the Com-Lynx port) and then to a third party somewhere else. The term 'Voice-Modem' isn't just there as a fancy marketing name either, as players will be able to chat/scream/abuse :) each other while playing the game! This feature allows a number of exciting, and also realistic games to be produced that will take full advantage of the new peripheral. While many may already be aware that Alien vs Predator has been delayed until September, this in fact may come as a blessing for owners of the voice-modem. Frontier wouldn't be surprised that the extra time being taken is to incorporate the voice-modem capability. The other hot title that will be voice-modem 'capable' will be Doom, allowing up to four-players to link up and roam the corridors, while talking or communicating at the same time! Should be real experience, even for those who have played PC Doom over a network. It is expected that the voice-modem will operate at about 9600bps, quite enough for the transferal of game data. The Voice-Modem will probably be only second only to the Jaguar-CD for Jag owners, altogether its ultimate success will probably rely on the number of good games that will support it. While an exact price has not been set, an estimated price being talked about is $150. NB: Similar features to the Jaguar Voice-Modem will be incorporated into the AT&T 3DO when it is released, which will be good news to 3DO owners also. JAGUAR-CD WELL ON iTS WAY ************/\************ The Jaguar-CD drive, which many believed would never be released at all is nearing completion. A prototype was shown at the SCES, and while there was little to show on the system, was a relief to those who bought a Jaguar in the hope of a good CD system. The Jaguar-CD will include the option of an MPEG-1 cartridge (with an estimated cost of $150) to add to the system, which is almost becoming industry standard in the video game world. Other features Jeff Minter's exciting 'Virtual Light' technology, which allows enticing displays to be shown on your screen while playing audio CD's. The display changes in response to subtle changes in the music, and should really be something to show off the system. Promising reports have been coming from developers of the system, many stating that the internal Jaguar compression gives a generally sharper and clearer quality than that seen on the 3DO's custom 'Cine-pak' technology. A number of titles are on there way for release on Jaguar-CD, many of them having being in development for over a year. Time has been spent on these titles to ensure that they remain just as playable as any cartridge game, so hopefully we won't be seeing any titles that have just been put on CD for the hell of it. Some of the titles lined up include: Blue Lightning (a translation of the Lynx game), BattleMorph (Cybermorph 2 -- also for release on cartridge), several ports of adventure games, a 'fighting game', and at least one Role Playing game. This time Jaguar owners may have something to show many of the capabilities of their new system when released. Atari is assuring people that the Jaguar-CD will be out in the the US in September with a RRP of $200. 3DO SALES GO ON THE iNCREASE *************/\************* The future is looking much brighter for the 3DO than it did just a month or two ago when the number of releases had slowed, and there didn't look as though there was much else on the way. Shares dropped, and it looked as 3DO might even be in trouble. Since that time however, 3DO has adopted a more aggressive sales pitch in an attempt to lure good licensees and developers. Many exciting and exclusive titles coming to the system in the next year -- assuring the system as grabbing a reasonable share of the video game market in the next year or two. Trip Hawkins estimated goal of 500,000 units in the first year of release may in fact be met, despite the initial scepticism that it brought. So far 3DO estimates 250,000 machines have been sold world-wide since October, well on the way to meeting that figure (considering the sales curve for any new product). In Japan, where the machine was released a few months ago, sales have taken off to an even greater extent than in the United States. This may be partly due to more stores stocking 3DO than in the US, but for whatever the reason, an estimated 70,000 have been sold there in the first two months. Japanese developers have been quick to recognise the system, and a large number of Japanese produced 3DO titles are already on their way. Such developers include Capcom, Konami, Koei, Taito, and much more. So far hardware licensees for 3DO (those who will be making 3DO compatible machines) include: Toshiba, AT&T, Panasonic/Matsushita (already released), Sanyo, Samsung, Goldstar and Creative Labs (who will be making a 3DO compatible card for the IBM PC). 3DO THE ONLY SYSTEM TO RECEiVE SSF2T *****************/\***************** Showed recently at the SCES (see this issue), Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (phew!) is set for release soon on the 3DO. 3DO has an exclusive license for the game, and is the only system which Capcom has agreed to license the game to at the present time. This game alone will provide a great boost to the system, the game to date probably being one of the most successful of all video games. While other systems are just seeing releases of just SSF2 (not turbo), the 3DO will be releasing the full arcade version of SSF2T. Even greater news for 3DO owners is that SSF2T will be an almost exact port of the arcade machine, and there are also hints of a number of enhancements that may be included. Definitely a game to watch out for, and even those who have stayed clear of the 3DO in the past may want to re-consider, especially with such quality games such as this coming our way. SSF2T will be available on 3DO in November. OTHER NEWS ****/\**** - The Wall Street Journal has again gone out on a limb, this time suggest Atari does not have the financial strengths to successfully market and make Jaguar units. This is the second time the WSJ has gone on the video game attack, only recently dubbing 3DO has having very little hope of success (sales since then have taken off). Atari is quick to defend this claim, stating that they well have the goods to market the Jaguar successfully. Another case that just shows how little the wider media really does know about video games. - Samsung's 3DO will incorporate 3DO's MPEG-1 cartridge into its architecture. This makes the Samsung machine a good alternative for those who like 3DO and want MPEG, but feel that the extra price of a separate MPEG cartridge is a little too high. The price of the Samsung 3DO is likely to be much less than the combined purchase price of a Panasonic 3DO and MPEG cartridge. Recently shown at the SCES (see this issue), the Samsung 3DO appears slightly slicker in appearance to the Panasonic model, much like the Sanyo model. These will be fully compatible (eg: one game will run on any 3DO machine), so players only have to worry about which system they like best, with the cheapest price tag. RUMOURS ***/\** Again, remember that this section is nothing more than it indicates, and simply rumours from other magazines, talk, media sources and the internet newsgroups. It is up to you how seriously you take these rumours. - Nintendo is planning on bring back its 'exclusivity' contract in with the release of games for Project Reality. If true, this will mean that any game released on PR may not be released on any other platform. If this is in fact the case, Nintendo is definitely going to lose out, as developers are hardly going to flock to the system if they have to remain locked with the one system for each game. It seems illogical, but that is Nintendo for you! - There are plenty around, but really no new ones! úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú °±²ÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±° ÛÛ ÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÜÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜÞÛÛÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛßßßÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛßßß ßßßßÛÛ ÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú THE SUMMER CES REPORT **********/\********* THE Consumer Entertainment Show has risen to become one of the most widely attended and important shows on the video game calender over the last few years. While the Summer CES was probably the lesser of the two shows held in the States this year (the other of course being the Winter CES), it still provided a good insight into some of the products and innovations that consumers will be seeing in the next year or so. Held from the 19th-24th of June, this years show attracted many tens of thousands to the event. Each year the CES just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the WCES to be held in November is an event definitely not one to be missed. While Frontier did not actually attend the SCES, the amount of published information on the Internet, and with correspondence from those who attended makes this possible. Many different 'my thoughts on the SCES' were looked into, so hopefully this coverage should give pretty much the same indication that I gained from others. Frontier is looking for somebody reliable and with a good understanding of the video game industry to attend the WCES this November. Please contact me well in advance, so Frontier can organise an actual first-person narrative of the event. You may even be able to get your own press pass, which will mean you may end up with a lot more information, and also be able to get more 'inside' information from the companies attending -- well worth the effort I'm sure. After debating a bit on how to set out this coverage, I've decided to cover each of the main companies, and some of the main products that attracted the big attention. Of course all of the companies were showing off many of there new releases, however these are not really covered - as Frontier is mainly interested in what was 'new' at the SCES. NiNTENDo Nintendo definitely was in force at this seasons CES, and their stand by far took up the largest portion of the hall. They easily proved that there is still plenty of life left in the essentially two-sided 16 bit market. This may have also been to hide the fact that Project Reality is still pretty much a pipe-dream until we actually see a prototype _console_ from them sometime next year (possibly the WCES). Probably one of the most notable of the companies attending, Nintendo attracted the largest amount of crowds and attention throughout the show. Notable Products Donkey Kong Country - Probably _the_ most impressive games at the whole show, and most in fact dubbed it their 'Game of the SCES'. Many describe how at first glance you could be forgiven if you thought you were looking at a Silicon Graphics work station. DKC is probably _the_ most impressive game graphically seen on any 16 bit system. All the graphics are rendered using SGi work stations, and then ported over using "technology never before implemented on the SNES". All of this has been squashed into a 32 meg cart. DKC includes much of what the original Donkey Kong oozed back in the earlier 1980's. Simple, but interesting and exciting gameplay. Essentially a platform game, DKC contains a number of different levels, multiple players, the works. The best thing was that it was proudly proclaimed that the game would be available in as little as a month or so, and the version shown was around 95% completed. Definitely impressive, and also likely candidate for 16 bit game of the year. Project Reality - Yet again, no sign of a prototype version of PR in sight. Instead, Nintendo had strategically placed several Silicon Graphics Work stations showing several reasonably impressive demos with things such as Yoshi, Mario, etc. Visually exciting for many, but there seemed little in the actual way of even one whole game/concept. Attention drawing, but considering these work stations cost a staggering $50,000 in 1994 - can they be cut down into a $200-$300 console by as little as mid next year? Many remain extremely sceptical (myself included). For certain show attendees there was a closed conference to try and hype up PR to developers, and the press. Still, general attendees were not admitted, so whatever happened in that shortish conference is not for us to know obviously (I wonder why?). It was also _hinted_ that there might finally be a console prototype at the WCES.... Final Fantasy 3 - While there been *five* Final Fantasy games released in Japan on the SNES, elsewhere in the world we have had to be satisfied with only the two. While the SNES the SNES has few RPG's, FF3 (FF6 in Japan) looked like being one of the most impressive RPG's seen to date (yes, even better than Zelda). The English translation was excellent, and strong features included excellent sound, and equally appealing graphics. Super Street Fighter 2 - A finished 32mbit version of SSF2 was shown, which was big news to all fighting fans. Pretty much an exact translation of the arcade machine, there isn't much more that can be said! To owners of SF2T there seems little incentive to buy the newer version, unless of course you are a huge fan of SSF2 from the arcades. Mortal Kombat 2 - An 80% from complete MK2 was shown, which brought much attention. For the few that actually got a play at the game, the general view seems to be that it played and looked pretty much the same as the arcade machine. All of the blood, fatalities, and other features were included on the SNES version, and there seemed little missing. Way of the Warrior - While SSF2 and MK2 were definitely the more widely noticed of the SNES fighting titles, Way of the Warrior looked like becoming a close third. A good conversion, but not quite perfect version of the arcade, though including the same sized fighters and detailed backgrounds. The game was also very playable, and at least something different to those who have been playing SF2 for the last two years! Samurai Showdown - Yet another fighting game that grabbed people's attention. The character movements weren't quite up to the arcade, though they may be fixed before release. Another promising title for the next few months. FX games - A number of games implementing the new FX chip were shown, though from general indications none were really too impressive. The main problem seems to be that while the chip is innovative, the newer 32 bit systems overshadow it greatly. Why pay more for an extra chip in a game, when you can have a system in which _every_ game implements such technology? Super Game Boy - The new peripheral for the SNES was shown, though it brought little attention from the discerning crowds. I have seen the Super Game Boy here in Australia, and while the graphics look about 8 bit Nintendo quality there seems little else to attract attention or make the purchase worthwhile. When the Super Game Boy cartridge costs about the same as an actual GameBoy unit, you can begin to wonder whether Nintendo has got its marketing strategy right. General impressions given: While there were many other titles shown, most have already been seen in many magazines over the last few months. Nobody has pointed out much else of note, so it can be surmised that while Nintendo had the largest and most impressive stand, there wasn't very much Nintendo had to compete against the newer 32bit contenders. While Nintendo definitely isn't dead, there appeared to be a general lack of something unique or new for their systems. Project Reality is still a year or so away, and still very little except hype has been produced from Nintendo. To some, Nintendo appeared below the surface a little arrogant, which cannot in the video game world be a good sign when there are at least three strong competitors biting at the company's feet! SEGA Sega had very little to do with this summer's CES, despite the fact that Saturn and 32X will be well on their way quite soon. While not having an actual formal stand, there were a few presentations given at hotels and other places around the city. A demo of the 32X was shown, which was quite impressive - showing off Virtua Racing as its show-piece. Other than the already seen Saturn promotional material retained from the last WCES, there was very little in the way of new information or announcements of new games. The main reason for this seems to be that Sega is saving up all their hype and excitement for this year's WCES, where working prototypes of the 32X/Megadrive-32 and Saturn, plus completed titles will be shown. You can almost predict in advance that Sega will grab company of the WCES this November, as Saturn and the 32X will clearly put Nintendo to shame *:) 3DO 3DO appeared to be second only to Nintendo at this season's show, clearly stating itself as a major contender for the video game market. 25 completed, or near completed titles were shown at the show, giving a new breath of hope to 3DO owners who have been disappointed at the batch of titles shown since release. Quick to go on the attack, 3DO again went possibly a little overboard trying to hype many of its games. 3DO at this season's CES definitely showed that it was here to stay. Notable Products The Sanyo 3DO - Several completed units of the Sanyo 3DO machine was on display, and was being used to demo quite a few of the 3DO titles on display. Compared to the Panasonic FZ-1, most felt that the machine played identically, which in 3DO's case is a good thing. The main difference between the two 3DO machines was a more compact and more attractive look on the Sanyo. Otherwise the controller and software use was _identical_. The price of the Sanyo 3DO was estimated to be much lower than that of the FZ-1, mainly due to a more integrated single-chip architecture. News was that the Sanyo was completed and it mass production, and should be available in the US in the next few months -- sure to help out 3DO sales in general. Samsung 3DO - Also on show, the Samsung 3DO was a fair way from completion. Again, better looking than the Panasonic. The main difference between the Samsung and other 3DO's was the fact that MPEG will be built in as standard. Probably set for release around November/December this year. Disk drive for 3DO - Interesting to many 3DO owners, was the 3.5" external disk drive. This allows certain games to allow save games/scores to disk, definitely one of the things that the 3DO is currently lacking. Several games in development, and more to come will support the disk drive, allowing the saving of more complex data (such as for big RPG's, adventure games, etc). Bad news is that such a peripheral costs a bit too much for what you are getting -- if only the 3DO had included better writeable storage on its system, then owners would never have to worry about such a drive. Way of the Warrior - Another conversion of the arcade machine to a home console. This version looked quite a bit better than the SNES version, while also being a bit more similar to the arcade play-wise. The only probablem was that at the stage shown, some of the animation wasn't quite up to scratch. Not better than SF2, but a good enough fighting game to help the 3DO's cause. Gex - Many were putting this game up there with Sonic and Mario. An immense platform game, features heaps of different bad guys, and lots to do. Plenty of variety, and some of the best graphics and animation seen on any video or computer game _ever_. This is sure to be a game that attracts quick sequels on the 3DO. Burning Soldier - A game along the lines of Operation Wolf and Cannon Fodder. Your characters (two players can also play at once) run along, shooting at anything that moves. Lots of variety, and lots to shoot at too :) One of best features will be the rendered cut scenes shown between each stage, which attendees saw as being especially impressive. Nothing special, but looks like being a simple and very playable game. Guardian War (also known as Powers Kingdom) - What looks like being an impressive strategy/kingdom game in the vain of Populous or Civilization. Features hundreds of individually different characters, and the strategy component looks quite solid and playable. Should be a very popular strategy game for any system. Slayer - Finally, a properly licensed AD&D title, and serious RPG for a home console! This one is by SSI, one of the most prolific producers of strategy and RPG software on the PC. Slayer takes place with a first person perspective, similar to Ultima Underworld(s). Players can look up, down, jump, crawl, fight, cast spells, run and other actions, while also solving puzzles and destroying monsters, creatures, etc. Everything is based around the AD&D genre, therefore will be familiar to RPG fans. Everything is 90 degrees (similar to Wolfenstein), though fully texture mapped and light rendered. Certainly an immense game, as each dungeon/game is generated from many millions of combinations. Basically, every time the player plays a new game things will be different. Apparently, graphically it is very impressive, and has none of the texture mapping problems associated with the other 3D first-person game on the 3DO, Monster Manor. Road Rash - One of the most playable of the games shown, Road Rash includes much of the original features that made the original a hit on the Genesis. An excellent soundtrack (from the _real_ SoundGarden(!), Swervedriver, and some other lesser know bands) that really keeps the player into the action. Video sequences were reportedly quite terrible compared to other 3DO, however they were much better quality than those used to the SegaCD. Definitely a title for 3DO owner's collection. Soccer Kid - This was announced for release at the show under 3DO's 3rd party 'Affiliated Label' system. Will be a side scrolling platform game, featuring lots of smooth scrolling animation, and stacks of levels. Others shown - Patank, StarControl 2, Tetsujin, Super Off-Road, Return Fire, and lots more. General Impressions Most people seemed extremely impressed at the way 3DO presented itself at the CES. Just about all the titles shown were just about ready for sales release, so no game crashes or another annoying things greeted players. Many quality licenses have been secured, such as Way of the Warrior, AD&D, and especially SSF2T -- enough to please both kids and adults. It seems that as long as 3DO can keep the price down on its hardware at >$400, it will remain dominate in the 32 bit market, even against the tough Saturn. Sanyo's unit promised such a buyable price, so there seems little doubt 3DO is going to reach the predicted 500,000 by October. ATARi How Atari was presented at the show seems to vary greatly between those who attended. Some thought that Atari really had a good showing, considering Atari's past performances at the CES over the last few years. Others believed that Atari was really out of place amongst such big contenders as Nintendo and 3DO, with some titles that were impressive, but not enough. My general impression is that people were looking for too much from Atari, considering the relatively recent release of the Jaguar. A number of excellent games were shown, and most attendees never gave any of the games less than a 'looks average' tone. Notable Products Iron Soldier - This was possibly one of Atari's best games shown at the SCES, and many believed that the game could have even received an overall best of show. While only in Alpha stage, after development of only a few weeks(!), the game looked as though it had enormous potential. Reminiscent of the game B.O.T.T.S, Ultra Vortex places the player in a Battle-Tech environment, where the giant mechs battle it out over a city, and other landscapes. Brilliant polygon graphics (yet shaded and texture mapped, though the programmer assured people that it would be later on), and plenty of car-stomping and other destruction. It is also likely the game will be multi-player, and probably also voice-modem compatible, certainly a prime contender. Looked hot, even to those who were quite dismissive of the Jaguar at the SCES. Kasumi Ninja - This appears as though it is going to be one of the most popular of all the Jaguar games released this year from all accounts. Backgrounds are superbly rendered in 24 bit, and the characters are all digitised from real figures (a'la MK). While at first the game looked a bit suspect as a serious fighting competitor (pun intended!), KN now looks as though the gameplay will be well up with MK2 and the SF2's. Many dubbed it "much better than MK2", and even the less glowing reports dubbed it as a "quite decent fighting game". Only a few characters were available on the SCES version, however there was plenty of blood to splash around. Alien vs Predator - While one of the most widely requested Jaguar titles, it has been put back yet again, this time until September. While it has the same flat walls as Wolfenstein, it includes more shading and more 'realism' to make it potentially more popular (and less controversial :) ). Most seem to feel that the game was very atmospheric and everything mostly up to a good to very good standard. It was compared to being as playable as Doom, which means that AvP ought to be a good alternative to those who find killing demons just isn't their thing :) Atari was keen to point out that a specific TV advertising campaign for AvP will begin in mid August. Doom - ID software has been polishing up Doom on the Jaguar for several months, trying to assure its success. Resolution is slightly in between that of Doom on hi-res and low-res modes, so isn't quite as impressive as the PC version on a 486. This has ensured that the frame rate is consistent and smooth, at a very decent 20 fps. Should be a big Jaguar hit, as Doom on any system is one of the most playable action games ever. Wolfenstein - A completed version of Wolfenstein was shown to the public, which brought crowds for those who have never played the PC version. Graphics seemed to be a little better, and the action much smoother (than a fast 486dx at least) and a bit more impressive than the original PC hit. Otherwise, there weren't _too_ many changes, but still appeared to be a potentially popular title. For those who have just played the SNES version, don't be dissuaded -- the Jag version is guaranteed to be much better. Now on sale as of the SCES. Ray Man - A few levels of the upcoming platform game was shown several times. While far from complete, most feel the game is very playable and fun to play, and almost a competitor against Mario and Sonic. The game includes beautifully rendered and colourful 16 bit graphics, plus a CD-quality soundtrack. Many feel that it was a bit too 'cute' for the Jaguar, though that is what can attract many players. Worthy of being a strong Jaguar seller. Jaguar-CD - The first working prototype of the Jag-CD was finally shown to the public. There weren't really enough completed, or even close to completed CD games shown to really tell whether the CD add-on will be a seller -- the main reason most feel was to assure players that it is well on its way, and to show a little of what it will be like. The main demo piece shown was Jeff Minter's Virtual Light technology, though unfortunately this was still a month or so from completion (it crashed a few times). Others shown (far from finished) - Battlezone 2000, Ultra Vortex, Club Drive, Zool 2, Star Raiders 2000, StarBattle, a cricket game, Double Dragon 5, Blue Lightning CD. General Impressions Certainly Atari has a certain lack of titles that 3DO and others have plenty more of. It seems many of the good licenses have either gone to 3DO or to other systems, due to a general lack of trust after Atari's past performances. This is not to say that there aren't some good licenses obtained so far, just that the Jaguar could have possibly been much more if some of the other new 32bit systems were not around (esp. the 3DO). What was good news to Atari fans was that just about all the Jaguar games have been modelled on the requests of Atari to be playable and saleable. Jaguar owners are not going to have to put up with below quality titles, just to have them on the market. This is one of the main reasons why so many Jaguar titles have been pushed back (eg: Doom, AvP, Kasumi Ninja, Tiny Toons, Bubsy, Club Drive, more), if Atari doesn't like the game they politely tell the developer to re-vamp it. While some may disapprove of this strategy, for those who want lasting games and value for money the Jaguar is certainly a good bet. OTHER There was a stack of new PC and PC-CD games which will be good news to those who own a PC. While personally I am interested in what is happening in the PC games world, since Frontier is essentially a video game magazine this report won't go into any details. For that, check out issue #21 of Gamebytes which will be out soon -- simply _the_ best PC games mag anywhere (thank me for the review Ross :) ) Philips was demonstrating a number of fairly interesting CD-i titles at the SCES, although most were too pre-occupied with what was happening at booths such as 3DO, Nintendo, and Atari. WHAT WILL BE AT THE WINTER CES 1994? This is maybe a bit too speculative, however on what was shown at the SCES, some of the big features of the WCES (in November) should include: * First prototype demonstration of Project Reality. Can Nintendo re-assure the video game world that Project Reality will be here in 1995, or at least affordable? Also probably Nintendo's toughest show ever, few in the way of original 16 bit titles, the GameBoy fading in popularity, increasing 32 bit competition, and a new system a way off. * A near completed, if not completed prototype Saturn machine, plus several nearly finished games on display. Finally we will see how the Saturn can stack up to the other 32 bit systems. * Plenty of 32X systems and around 20-30 games shown by Sega, following its recent release in October. Can the 32X kill off the SNES and Nintendo's hold of the 16 bit market in one $150 swoop? * Atari's Jag-CD should be completed by the WCES, fully completed and hopefully ready for sale. This will also be a chance to show-case Atari's selection of 1994 titles, when about 20 out of 25 should be finished and on sale. Atari should make an impressive stand, rather than just showing a number of unfinished beta products. * All five 3DO machines fully completed and ready for sale. The Samsung, Sanyo, AT&T, Goldstar, and of course Panasonic machine will be all available. By then the price on 3DO in general should have dropped, making it very strong. Software wise, SSF2T and around 50 other completed titles should be available. * Many peripherals that have been in development for just about all of the 32 bit systems will be shown. THE SATURN/32X FAQ VERSION 1.15 **************/\*************** Rather than try and explain everything that Frontier knows about the Saturn and 32X that people have been asking me about in the actual issue - this month, included with Frontier is my Saturn/32X FAQ. This has been posted a few times to the rec.games.video.sega and rec.games.video.misc newsgroups on the internet - but for those who do not have access or missed it, here is the perfect opportunity for you to learn everything about the Saturn and 32X which will be out soon. The main reason I started the FAQ was to clear up a lot of the misconceptions, and inaccurate claims people had been making about the machine across many sources. Much as this magazine itself aims to do, the FAQ should clear a lot of this up. I've tried to make the FAQ as fair and as unbiased as possible, though of course this is difficult - as I have found out :) At least I can pretty much say that it seems fairly accurate and balanced. If YOU know something more about the Saturn or 32X that isn't covered in the FAQ, or would actually like another topic to be covered in it - let me know and I'll probably include it. The FAQ is included as SATURN.FAQ (really? :) ), so please read over it and tell me what you think. Regular updates will be posted in the rec.games.video.sega and rec.games.video.misc newsgroups when they are available, and probably won't appear in another issue of Frontier. As it says in the FAQ itself, distribute it separately and wherever you like - just remember that I took the time to compile it all for the good of all :) ........... COMMODORE - THE END ********/\********* The 28th April saw the end of one of major computer manufacturers of the 1980's. Commodore Business Machines International has formally gone into liquidation, signaling the end of the multi-million dollar company. The liquidation reaches further than just the closure of the company, and will have far reaching effects on owners of Commodore owners. Commodore began operations in the late 1960's with the manufacture of mainly typewriters. Probably the biggest growth in Commodore occurred in 1986, with the Amiga 500 - the first computer to offer unbelievable graphics and sound far several years before its time to the home consumer. At the time, the Amiga was more powerful than its IBM PC counterparts, which have since moved on to become the dominant computer system. While the IBM compatible rapidly made in-roads into the Amiga market and specifications, the Amiga still continued to remain popular amongst the home and entertainment markets due to its multi-media capabilities. It was about the 1990's that Commodore began to take a downturn. By this time the PC compatible had well established itself as the dominate home and office computer, offering much of what the Amiga offered, and at a cheaper price. 1993 saw the introduction of the CD32 console, which once again looked like securing a share of the market. While externally Commodore looked be doing quite well, still selling many hundreds of thousands of computers each year (especially in the European markets), internally it was a different matter. Last year Commodore lost many more millions that it had made, which combined with several other years losses meant its eventual downfall. What will this mean to existing Amiga and CD32 owners? Unfortunately the news isn't too good. Along with the death of Commodore comes the death of Commodore support, and ultimately the death of software for the both Amiga and CD32. The position by 3rd party software developers is still quite uncertain, and will continue to be for a few months to come. While there is still money to be made in the short term marketing of Amiga and CD32 software, there is little incentive to continue producing software for a system(s) that will ultimately begin to die out. Electronic Arts however, have been one quick to announce that it will be continuing to market and produce CD32 and Amiga software for at least the next year - showing that they still believe there is money to be made from existing Commodore owners. This is at least one good sign. Commodore's death may in fact be a good thing to many - ironically sales after Commodore's demise may actually increase. Liquidation will involve the selling off of all assets, including machines already manufactured and in stores. This will more than likely include _drastic_ price cuts across all hardware. The CD32's RRP price which is now $400 may drop to as little as $200 simply to regain some of the money spend in their production. At that price, it may in fact entice people who would have otherwise been fairly uninterested in the CD32. Even though their may be few titles available and likely to be available, there are enough to make a $200 purchase worthwhile. Cheap software will also likely follow to further enhance sales potential. This may not in fact be the last epitaph on the CD32, and we may in fact see the purchase of rights to CD32 from another company. This in fact now seems unlikely, considering the amount of time passed since its downfall, and general lack of interest. Negotiations were underway with Samsung to purchase the rights to the CD32, though this doesn't seem to have proved a viable option for the company. Have a few million dollars to purchase the rights to CD32? Well here's your opportunity :) What does this mean for Frontier coverage of the CD32? Well, nothing really - reviews (not that there are any presently, but there could be if people are people still willing) and any additional news will continue to be published. Eventually of course this will disappear, along with new software for the machine, but until that time the CD32 is alive as it ever was.... úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÝÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÝ ÛÛ²±° ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛ ÞÛÞÛÝÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÝ ÛÝÛÛÛÝ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛßÞÛÝÛÛ ÛÝÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÝ ÛÝÛÛ ÛÝÛÛ °±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÞÛÛÛ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú IF you wish to express an opinion in an editorial style article, please let me know. Frontier aims to be a focus point for intelligent debate on the console industry so you should be willing to backup your opinions from readers. If you strongly agree or disagree on an editorial, consider writing one of your own with some opposing or contrasting opinions. DO WE EXPECT TOO MUCH OF CD? ************/\************** EVER since CD storage was introduced in the video/computer game market, most magazines and everybody else has been looking for that 'killer app' that people believe must come along with CD. Little, if anything has really added up to this expectation, though everybody is looking for that game that will provide the 'definitive' benchmark for a CD game, which can be used as a measure against any other releases. Many reviews of CD games in game magazines have been scathing of any attempt at trying to utilise the tremendous space of CD-ROM -- they especially looking for the best game of all time coming off the wondrous CD. For those developers that try, if the space is not used fully, most complain that the game is not living up to its greatest potential. Alternatively, if it is used up with fancy visuals, they are quick to jump on the attack again - stating a lack of gameplay or playability. Either way, publishers are stuck in between two sides of the hard place. Many companies have in fact been hesitant to except CD as a viable format for that very reason, not confident enough to move to the format - worried that their strong following will desert them if they produce what the media may call a "below-standard" CD game. More often than not, developers are in fact making the right decision in staying with other storage formats. Why bother producing a game which could quite easily fit on disk or cartridge when it the game does not even warrant rendered graphics or other visual wonders? A game never necessarily becomes any better if it is bigger. Take Tetris, the most simplest of games, and yet one of the most widely played and popular of them all - across _all_ formats. There are many more examples. The main factor that needs to be looked into when analysing the potential of CD is the extra amount of time that needs to be taken by developers to include all of the fancy digitised animation, sound, etc. Almost any CD game takes much more time to develop than any conventional storage game, so unless the time is taken the game is of course going to be below standard. Developers no longer have years and years to spend on a game as they maybe once did -- in the 90's consumers want games in under a year of development. If time is stretched beyond that, by that time often the machine that it has been developed for is well out of date, or the game looks poor against what technology can offer. Small time developers have little chance of implementing all 5xx megabytes in a short time without a massive team of individual graphic artists, producers, and musicians that the large companies have at their disposable. The other is what can actually be stored on CD. A game on CD can really only be improved by the use of a CD-soundtrack, digitised speech or some form of FMV. More often that not, the voices are unrealistic and rather bad in acting, actually making the game less enjoyable, not more so. Graphics, while still nice looking, have a long way into fooling a person that what they are watching is in fact synthesised. So far video games have been much like a book, using the players own imagination to draw them into the world of the game. Moving away from that towards the 'Hollywood mentality' is just becoming more destructive of games. If we want to watch fancy visuals and special effects we will watch a movie, not play a video game. While the merger of Hollywood and video games will ultimately come eventually, we need to see quite a number of technological changes to facilitate the change. It certainly won't be in the next five years. While it would be stubborn to deny that CD-ROM will/and has in fact become a popular storage format, dubbing the "next level of gaming" as *having* to implement CD-ROM is certainly premature. What many have not woken up to is the fact that CD can not hope to increase the gameplay or playability of a game. CD-ROM as the name suggests is a storage format _only_ it is not a new technology, and certainly not an entertainment device in itself (in the video game world at least). CD is only a wider medium with which players can interact with, in _conjunction_ with other new technologies. The use of 32 bit processors, which most hardware designers are moving towards in the video game world, are what most would say could be be classed into the said "new technologies". Faster graphics, and greater processing power means more realistic 'virtual space', that begins to grow closer to what we usually define as solid 'reality'. CD-ROM moves us closer to this by providing the storage for the elements of this space. In itself, CD can never hope to add to games to a considerable extent without the driving force of other new technologies. CD can never begin to enhance games to a great extent, with what is currently available, and some of the limitations that it still brings. It is still impossible for a game to pull textures off a CD-ROM and render them fully sourced real-time, which will ultimately be the way which games will move in the next decade. It is still impossible for data to even be pulled off CD at a decent speed to make fast action games (with rendered backgrounds, sprites, etc) possible to a great extent. Until that time where these things are possible, CD remains largely a uninteractive format by nature, and it is pointless believing that CD in itself can make games any more interactive. Most would have to agree that the 'killer app' of CD-ROM is just a myth, much as that perfect piece of art, or that perfect composition..... úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú ÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±° ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ ÜÛÛÞÛÛÞÛÛßßß ÛÛ Û ÛÛÝßßßßÛÛ °±²ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú THE review section is not an integral part of Frontier, though an important one. What is the use of talk on consoles, without reviews to assess the quality of games that are available? If you wish to write reviews for Frontier for any console, please check out the section: How *YOU* too can help out with Frontier. While reviews of new games is preferred, reviews of games up to around 6 months old will be published. Check back on issue 2 for changes to the game ratings system. This new rating system I believe gives the best and most complete seen in any other magazine. Lets watch the others try and copy it :) CLAY FiGHTER *****/\***** TYPE ................ Action/beat 'em up FORMAT .............. SNES DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Interplay RELEASE ............. April 1994 PRICE ............... $90 SIZE ................ 16 megabit LEVELS .............. ??? (around 10 play-fields) DIFFICULTY .......... Medium (depends on difficulty) PLAYERS ............. One/two simultaneous EXTRA INFO .......... n/a WHO would have thought you'd be able to throw some pieces of coloured plasticine together and have a decent fighting game? That is exactly what Interplay have done, creating Clay Fighter - one of the strangest SNES, and definitely the strangest fighting game. Clay Fighter pits 10 different and varied characters against each other, either to beat your friend, or to reach the final battle. Each of these includes a number of special moves, from firing blobs of clay, to cartwheels, and many others. Unlike SF2, these moves are more of a novelty - rather than an actual great help against your opponents (bit like the babalities in MK2). Some of the characters include Blob - basically just a blob of Clay, Itchy Bod Clay - the jack-o-lantern, and Tiny - who looks like a piece of clay on steroids(!). There are a number more, all being quite different and each having their strengths and weaknesses. When sitting down to play the game for the first time, you'd have to be incredibly serious if you didn't at least get one smile on your face from playing. Clay Fighter includes plenty of cartoon humour, which is a mix of somewhere between Gumby and Bugs Bunny. Just seeing the two pieces of coloured clay belting the hell out of each other is funny enough! All of the sprites Clay Fighter, as the title suggests, have been moulded from clay - in fact, probably plasticine :) Each character has been moulded from clay, manipulated for each part of the movement, and then digitised by a video camera to provide the game visuals. This method is not in fact as uncommon as you probably might at first think. Many games (Doom is an example) and even some movies have used moulded figures, instead of the extensive and time-consuming method of drawing each individual frame. While this allows potentially a greater amount of animation, in Clay Fighter it has been used to provide a pretty average number of frames. The animation is only about the same standard of SF2, and from what I can tell, even less than Mortal Kombat. While it is good compared to many SNES games, Clay Fighter could have been a lot more visually appealing -- maybe this is due to the 16mbit restriction that seems to plague many games now days? The start of Clay-Fighter is certainly not what you'd expect from a SNES game. After the Interplay logo flashes across the screen, up starts the drum-beat and the sampled singing of "Clay Fighter...Clay, Clay Fighter". While some people may like that sort of thing, to me it wasn't really impressive (hey, I like hard rock/metal, what do you expect? :) ), and a bit too 'Americanised' for my liking. A try at CD-style soundtrack, but on seeing Clay Fighter I've soon decided that developers should wait for 32 bit bit systems that include a _real_ CD-player. While the start may be impressive to some, there is not too much more in the way of background music during the game, which is disappointing. This could have been because of a lack of space, or that they just couldn't be bothered. In the sound effect department, Clay Fighter is definitely impressive. Squelching clay, and digitised speech accompany each of the game characters to good effect. The quality of the digitised samples is probably the best heard on the SNES, especially the "XXXX wins the battle!" after each round. The lack of background music is improved greatly by the sampled sounds, and Clay Fighter just wouldn't be the same without them. Overall, Clay Fighter is let down by a number of factors - the presentation is generally good, but not excellent. The characters are varied and fun to play, however many are badly matched. Most fighting games try to provide a good balance of characters to keep the player interested, but Clay Fighter has not attempted it too successfully. Once you have chosen a character to play, you tend to stick to it (the operative word is *it* in Clay Fighter), as changing characters means having to learn completely new button combinations. While some may find the humour of Clay Fighter long lasting, to me it soon wore off. After a day or so of play, the strange characters and moves, while at first different, begin to even get a bit frustrating. While Clay Fighter is fun as a just a game, those who want a serious fighting game will probably find that CF is not really up to it. Note: Clay Fighter is also undergoing a conversion to 3DO, which will include a number of enhancements over the SNES version. The potential is there for a good 3DO title. Final analysis -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- GRAPH SCORE Sound effects |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Music |******************************* 78% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Sprites |************************************* 92% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Backgrounds |******************************** 80% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Playability |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. IQ factor |****************** 45% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Fun factor |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Overall graphics |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. OVERALL |********************************** 85% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Percentage % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Extra Comments -=-=-=-=-=-=-= SOUND FX : Excellent and funny speech MUSIC : Not really enough music, slightly lame SPRITES : Nice and animated. Very cartoon looking! BACKGROUNDS : Colourful and cartoony background PLAYABILITY : Bit difficult to pull off some moves IQ. FACTOR : A bit of strategy required FUN FACTOR : Extreme! for a while at least OVERALL GFX : Again, the overall effect is of a cartoon OVERALL : Good, but not enough to be a beat 'em up competitor really. IMPRESSIONS : Quite comical at first, and the game will definitely have you grinning. Especially fun with two players. CONVERSION : n/a INTEREST FACTOR : 60% - after the initial interest has worn off, the fighting aspect isn't really that good DIFFICULTY : Easy on medium, but a fair challenge on the hardest level. About two days-week to finish the game on difficult. WOULD I BUY THE GAME : Probably not. While it is fun to hire/borrow, it doesn't really offer enough for the beat 'em up fan. OVERALL : The first time you play the game everything is very enjoyable. After the first few games, and after you have pulled off most of the character's moves, there isn't really enough of a fighting engine to keep you playing for that long. FLASH HiDERS *****/\***** |=| By Robert Morrison (robertm@cardinal.ncsc.org) TYPE ................ Versus Fighting FORMAT .............. PC Engine Super CD DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Right Stuff RELEASE ............. December 19, 1993 (Japan [no US release planned]) PRICE ............... 7800 Yen ($70) SIZE ................ N/A (CDROM) LEVELS .............. 3 Modes, varying levels (see below) DIFFICULTY .......... Variable PLAYERS ............. One/Two EXTRA INFO .......... Has Arcade Card support Street Fighter mania has taken the world by storm. Many fighting games have appeared in the gaming industry. You have Street Fighter II (and all editions thereof) Fatal Fury I/II, Art of Fighting, World of Heroes, and even japanese animation (anime) inspired games such as Ranma 1/2 and Dragonball Z. But now an innovative new game has recently popped up in Japan for PC Engine and Anime fans. This game combines the aspects of cinematic intermission with punch-'em up, duke-it-out fighting. Flash Hiders has arrived. Flash Hiders is a fighting game with a story line to it. A traveling fighter, Bang Bipot, and his bodyguard, Tiria Rozette are going around to various places to fight for the battle tycoon championship. Along the way they meet various bands of fighters who join them. A story about a tyrant's wish to take over the planet gradually unfolds. This tyrant is Moonrise, and he has come from another planet. Another from this planet, Erue, has come to stop him. There are three modes in this game, scenario, advance, and versus. With advance and scenario modes, you can pick a difficulty rating of easy, normal, hard, metal, truth, or DEATH! Scenario is the mode in which you follow a story line as you battle your way through many places. The game is filled with animated cinematic intermissions. It is as if you are watching japanese animation. After a few minutes of intermission, you are challenged by an opponent. When you defeat that opponent, you see some more of the story as well as going to a new place, and meeting a new opponent. Some of your opponents will join you, but some are double- crossers. Next there is advance mode. This is simply fighting your way through many opponents, w/o the story. There are 9 opponents, as well as 2 final boss opponents. Each character levels up at a different rate, and has different ratings for offense, defense, and speed. You pick who you want to fight, but the way that your offense, defense, and speed levels up, depends on who you fight. At the beginning of each match you offered the opportunity to distribute 20 points anyway you wish to increase offense, defense, or speed. You must also pay attention to your opponents levels. You can get stuck fighting a level 10 opponent while you are at level 5 if you leave them unchallenged for a long time. In addition you gain money as you progress. You can visit a shop and purchase items to increase your offense, defense, and speed. You have the opportunity to save your progress, as it does take a while to fight everyone, and you can get password codes that represent your characters level of power. Finally there is versus mode. You can challenge the computer or you get the chance to fight a human challenger. It is the typical versus mode that one would find in Street Fighter. You choose a player, adjust your levels of offense, defense, speed, then you fight. One interesting feature though is that you can take a password from a character that you use in advance mode and use him/her in versus mode. The game has very good graphics. Remember, PC Engine is an 8-bit graphics machine. But you wouldn't know that by playing this game. Characters animation during the battle scenes are very good. The back- grounds are also animated and quite detailed. The graphics aren't jerky or flickery and the characters respond to all controls very well. PC Engine has a 2-button controller and 6-button controller available for it, and Flash Hiders makes use of both. What,impossible to play this game with 2 buttons, you say? It is very surprising, but one can do about 10 moves with just 2 buttons. They are very easy to pull off as well. Each characters has an anime-type like to him/her. Typical green/ blue/purple haired, big eyed, cool looking people is what they look like. They aren't very serious-looking except for the half-human/half machine characters. Because of this, they aren't very bulky-looking characters. They don't have that 3D look that other fighting games have. Sound quality is excellent. The background music is digitally recorded onto the CD and is simply played back when needed. This makes for professional sounding music quality. Each character has his/her own music. Each music selection reflects that characters personality. This personality becomes very distinct as you play the game and watch the intermissions. Most of the music is very techno-pop sounding. The music is loaded with bass. In order to get the full effect you would have to hear it on a good quality stereo. But then there is some music that is erie, and elevatorish, but this is only to represent some of the big, mysterious characters. The music is some of the best that can be heard. If you get bored of the game, it always makes a good audio listening-only CD. Just pop into your CD player and press play. (But watch out for the data tracks) The sound effects are amazingly good as well. The sound processor in the PC Engine and TG 16 isn't very good, so digitally sampled sounds are used, not puny video-game-type, pac-man sound effects. Each character has their own vocal sfx accompaniment which doesn't sound muffled or hissy. Movement sounds are also pretty good, but not the best I have heard. This game is very good example of the great game quality that can be created the the PC Engine CD architecture. It boasts great graphics, animation, voice acting, and music. This game has some very humorous intermissions. Of course, the only drawback, is that you would have to understand some Japanese in order to understand the story line. Unfortunately, it will most likely never be available in English, but it is still one of the best and most different, fighting games you would ever play. This game is what the US and the rest of the world is missing. This is one of the games that could have saved the Turbo Grafx 16. Final analysis -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- GRAPH SCORE Sound effects |******************************** 80% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Music |*************************************** 97% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Sprites |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Backgrounds |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Playability |******************************** 80% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. IQ factor |************** 35% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Fun factor |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Overall graphics |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. OVERALL |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Percentage % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Extra Comments -=-=-=-=-=-=-= SOUND FX : Characters have nice things to say when they win MUSIC : Bass-thumping techno-pop. #1 on my list SPRITES : Little jagged, but everything is detailed well BACKGROUNDS : Animated, and semi-interesting. Look very good PLAYABILITY : Easy to pull of moves, good handling IQ. FACTOR : Just have to choose opponents wisely, and remember moves FUN FACTOR : Fun story, and fun to try new moves and techniques OVERALL GFX : The excellent intermissions say it all! OVERALL : Excellent. Good GFX, SFX, and music! IMPRESSIONS : Blew me away! The game is very likable. You have 9 characters to master and the music will blow your mind! This is one of those games where there is always something fun to do. CONVERSION : Nice change of pace from the typical fighting game genre INTEREST FACTOR : 75% - You can't have fun beating people up forever. DIFFICULTY: It is chooseable, but relatively easy to master the moves and therefore progress. WOULD I BUY THE GAME: Yes I would, and that is why I did. The first time I saw this game I knew I had to have it. (I do choose wisely, as I get the funds for them once in a blue moon) OVERALL: Excellent package. You can't beat having good GFX and music at the same time. Parts of the game are very funny. For example, every time Bang is about to start a round, instead of your normal bow to your partner, he gives his opponent the middle finger! But the music, I just can't get over the wonderful music! There is even a song that is actually sung by a band for the ending! úÄÄÄÄ The Cheater's ÄÄÄÄÄú ÛÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÜÜÜ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛßßß ÛÛ ÛÛ °±²ÛÛÛÛÛßÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛ ÛÛ²±° úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú FRONTIER hopes to include a variety of different cheats, hints, solutions, etc for systems and games of all different types. The aim is to produce new information that has not been published before, though this of course cannot always be guaranteed. If you have discovered a secret level, willing to contribute some accurate playing hints, just finished a game and are willing to produce a solution, or for that matter anything that will help out gamers, Frontier is after them! úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú °±²ÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÜÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÝÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ²±° ÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÝ ÞÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÞÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜßÞÛÛÛÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÝÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÞÛÛ ÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÝ ÞÛÝÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÝÛÛ ÛÛÞÛÛÛÛÛÛ úÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄú IF you have something console related you would like to _privately_ sell, contact me and I will include your add for free in the next and subsequent issues. Atari 400 system. Sell all or part: upgraded console, disk drive, about 15 carts -- all the classics like Pac Man, Centipede, Missile Command -- plus some disks. Inquire for more details to: Eric Balkan, 14704 Seneca Castle Ct, Gaithersburg MD 20878 USA; ebalkan@ppbbs.clark.net; PP BBS: 301-294-0756. Supercom Pro v2 Backup Unit for SNES for sale - Includes 1.6MB disk drive, 16MBits RAM upgradable to 32, power supply, and com I/O pass-through. $200 obo 1 yr old. Contact Pete at 313 386-5214 MI, USA email: bsc@tiamat.umd.umich.ed SUPPORT SITES/DISTRIBUTION ************/\************ THE following places are the first to receive Frontier each month, and also carry previous issues. If you are after the latest issue of Frontier, these places are where you will find it: VIOLENT CRIMES (BBS) Note: PERMANENTLY OFFLINE! DiGiTAL iLLUSiONS Melbourne, Australia +61-3-558-2771 Sysop: Messiah Extra: logon as 'frontier' with pw 'frontier' for just the magazine EMPIRE (BBS) Melbourne, Australia +61-3-591-0020 Sysop: Matthew Clemants Extra: This is still being worked on, issues are distributed here Fidonet (3:632/530) CUBENet (BBS) Munich, Germany +49-089-149-8811 Sysop: Peter Koehnkow Extra Info: 44 lines! One of Europe's biggest BBS Fidonet (2:2480/66) X=Link BBS Singapore +065-345-2083 Sysop: Melvin Chia Extra Info: 24hrs (Sat/Sun/Singapore public holidays) 1200-0000 (Mon-Fri : Singapore Time) Fidonet (6:600/638) Packet Press BBS United States +1-301-294-0756 Sysop: Eric Balkan (balkane@eon.com) Extra Info: None applicable - just call! -+-*/ X-TReMe BBS /*-+- Steenbergen, The Netherlands +31-1670-66390 SYSoPS: The DoCToR & PYGoR (U055231@HNYKUN11.UCI.KUN.NL) Extra Info: General support BBS (too much for one line) Continental Drift BBS Sydney, Australia +61-2-949-4256 Sysop: Andre Lackmann (Andre_Lackmann@drift.apana.org.au) Extra Info: Fidonet (3:714/911) FTP ftp.digex.net in /pub/access/spatton/frontier_magazine/ Admin: contact Scott Patton (spatton@access.digex.net) Extra Info: Only the latest issue of Frontier will be available here due to limited archive space. FTP (non-official) California, United States wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/msdos_uploads/frontier_magazine/ Admin: archive@wugate.wustl.edu Extra Info: At present only on a temporary basis and is not official (could disappear at any time). I know, its not DOS related, but where else does it go? * Frontier is looking for somebody who can set up some sort of internet list-server so that Frontier can be sent via email to people who don't have FTP access. Contact the editor if you are willing to provide this. * You too can become a support site and be added to this list. All that is required is for you to hold the current and back issues of Frontier, and be able to FTP each issue as it is released. Simple... HOW *YOU* TOO CAN HELP OUT FRONTIER ***************/\****************** FOR a magazine such as this to prosper, Frontier needs regular contributions from its readers. From general articles, new releases, to reviews and opinions, Frontier needs them all. Even small pieces of information which you feel may not or may not be important, don't hesitate to send them in. Most likely, if it hasn't been mentioned, we don't know about it! If you wish to become a regular reviewer for Frontier, drop me a line stating the consoles you own, and which game(s) you want to review and I'll email you the 'Frontier reviewer's guide'. This guide should cover everything you need to know about writing a review for this magazine, or for those who have never written a review before and want to. The following things are specifically needed at present: - Gameplay co-ordinator position: To compile a list of cheats, hints and solutions for many games on many different platforms. You should be an avid game player and be able to discover material for yourself - eg: not taken straight from other magazines. - More reviewers: Although many have asked for and have been sent the reviewer's guide, I have heard very little back in the way of reviews from those people. Please get those reviews in if you intend on having them published! - More cheats: A lot of the cheats as you may notice are reprints of those that have appeared in other magazines. I am trying to stay away from this, so if you have an original cheat or hint please send it in. * For information on where to send any material or contributions, see the following section. HOW TO CONTACT FRONTiER **********/\*********** IF you need to contact Frontier for any reason, to ask a question, to pose a question, to comment on the magazine or industry in general, or for any other reason, don't hesitate to mail! (as it were). * Gordon Craick (chief editor) * .._@/` Post: Gordon Craick For those who do not have access 16 Gums Avenue to the internet Belgrave, Victoria AUSTRALIA 3160 Email: pred@zikzak.apana.org.au For response within a few minutes to a few days! FidoNet: Netmail to 3:632/530 (Gordon Craick) .:. If I don't receive your mail, try sending it again. If i *still* don't receive your message, try posting a 'where are you?' post in one of the console newsgroups (which I regularly monitor) and I should be able to get back to you. Otherwise, don't worry, I'm probably just dead :) CREDITS/THANKS ******/\****** KEEP up the great support everybody! Specific thank you's go to: . Robert Morrison - for his excellent PCE Flash Hiders review . Since the list has grown rather large now, thanks go out to _all_ who have offered to be a support site. Keep up your support! . Those who posted CES information, you know who you are. . Those who have helped out with the Saturn FAQ and continue to. . David Mansell - For CD32 related information . DiE productions OZ - Distribution, support and more! . YOU * Unless otherwise indicated, all articles are written by Gordon Craick. That's about it from the forth issue of Frontier! Look out for issue five out in early August... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION - FRONTIER MAGAZINE AND ALL ARTICLES CONTAINED WITHIN REMAIN THE LEGAL PROPERTY OF THE AUTHOR(S) UNDER EXISTING WORLDWIDE COPYRIGHT TREATIES AND IS (c) COPYRIGHT 1994. NO PART OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY BE DISTRIBUTED SEPARATELY OR SOLD FOR PROFIT WITHOUT EXPLICIT PERMISSION FROM THE EDITOR AND RESPECTIVE AUTHOR'S. ALL COMPANIES AND NAMES MENTIONED IN THIS MAGAZINE REMAIN TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES. FRONTIER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES INCURRED FROM INFORMATION IN THIS MAGAZINE, EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. WHILE CARE IS TAKEN TO ENSURE ACCURATE INFORMATION, FRONTIER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES INCURRED AS A RESULT. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-