From real-time to DVD, E3 shows off best in games

Discount Store News, June 23, 1997 by Robert Scally

ROBERT SCALLY

This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo showcases a number of trends taking place within the video game industry.

Some of the most exciting developments coming out of this year's show include new action-adventure games, a collection of titles aimed at girls, programs that take advantage of Intel's MMX chip and new 3-D video cards, as well as host of new titles for next generation game platforms such as PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Saturn, and the growing number of Internet components being added to games.

'The hot thing on the PC side of the business will be 3-D accelerator cards, and we have a big buzz around Internet gaming and how that's getting better and better,' said Eric Johnson, vp of marketing for Activison.

For the PC, about 50 real-time action strategy games are being introduced at E3, Johnson said.

Activision weighed in With two real-time, action strategy titles, Dark Rain and Net Storm.

Activision's partnership with id Software is spawning 3-D accelerator Quake II and Hexen II.

A popular subgenre of combat gaming is giant robots fighting it out on some distant planet, and Activision is introducing Heavy Gear a sequel to Mech Warrior.

'We're kind of the kings of the giant robot games,' Johnson said.

Latching on to the boom in sales of software for the next-generation consoles, Activison is also working on a number of titles for the PlayStation.

Activision also is unveiling its first two DVD-ROM titles, Spycraft: The Great Game and Muppet Treasure Island. Video and audio sequences in both titles have been reprogrammed to take advantage of the format's superior video and sound capabilities.

Johnson predicts that action-strategy games, combat simulations and real-time shooting games will be among the most popular genres for hard-core gamers.

MGM Interactive will make a strong statement during the first quarter of 1998 when it ships Rollerball for the PC and PlayStation. Based on the classic 1975 United Artist's science fiction film 'Rollerball,' the interactive titles combine the team strategies of hockey and football with kick-boxing and demolition derby racing.

MGM is also taking advantage of 3-D texture mapping in its WarGames and Machine Hunter titles.

All of MGM Interactive's new titles will be available in PlayStation version, said Ronald Frankel, executive vp and general manager of MGM Interactive. 'We saw in the last quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year that console software outsold PC software on an installed base basis,' he said.

Although shooting games with sci-fi themes are still popular, the interactive entertainment world has reached into new gaming arenas to tap new audiences. Hasbro Interactive scored some big hits taking classic board games such as Battleship, Scabble and Monopoly, and translating them into interactive computer games.

'Our products have truly proven that there is a mass market for interactive computer games,' said Thomas Dusenberry, president of Hasbro Interactive.

Best Buy and Comp-USA have dedicated shelf space for Hasbro titles, and results have been very good, Dusenberry said. But sales of Hasbro titles have also been strong in Wal-Mart, Toys 'R' Us and Circuit City, as well as in the office supply superstore chains.

Hasbro will continue to adapt more classic games such as Sorry and Mr. Potato Head to the digital world while also creating some original titles. 'We'll also be supporting the Sony PlayStation,' Dusenberry said.

Hasbro has also joined forces with LucasArts for Monopoly Star Wars, a version of the classic Atari game Frogger and H.E.D.Z., a shooting game. Tonka Search and Rescue, a follow-up to Hasbro's popular Tonka Construction game from last year, is also expected to street this fall.

Tonka Construction has sold more than 350,000 units and is continuing to sell well, he said.

Hasbro is also leaping into the Internet in a big way.

'We are also Gaming Zone enabling all of our products for Microsoft's Internet initiative,' Dusenberry said.

'The reason I think we're going to sell more through retail is because everybody who wants to play on the Zone needs to have [software on] a CD-ROM product,' Dusenberry said. 'It's going to stimulate second purchases for friends, so they both have and can play it together over the Internet.'

LucasArts also recently signed with Microsoft Gaming Zone as the primary host for three of its new multiplayer 'Star Wars' titles, X-wing vs. TIE Fighter, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and Star Wars Rebellion.

Virgin Interactive is also testing the Internet gaming waters with Subspace, said Virgin's Simon Jeffries. With very little advertising, Virgin has managed to attract 150,000 regular users to the site, he said. Subspace will eventually expand into a subscription gaming Web site, he added.

Also coming from Virgin is a line of flight simulators starting with the mission-based Korean War game Saber Ace. Virgin will also publish titles for the PlayStation.

On a kinder, gentler front in the interactive software business, numerous quality children's and family titles are also being shown at E3. Creative Wonders has renewed its relationship with Children's Television Workshop for the Sesame Street line and will create five new CD-ROMs in the line during the next few years, said Louis Roitblat, Creative Wonders vp of marketing. New titles that extend the Sesame Street line (Toddlers Deluxe, Elmo's Preschool Deluxe and Get Set For Kindergarten Deluxe) were released recently, and Preschool Reading Series: The Three Groucheteers will street in August.