컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 蔔栢� 賽� 蔔栢栢栢 栢白 蔔栢� 栢� 死栢魄栢栢栢栢査栢栢査栢白 [Pred 94] 栢� 複� 査� 栢� 賞� 栢魄 栢� 栢� 複� 査� 蔔� 査� 栢� 栢� 昉査� 栢꿈昉死 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 昉 栢� 栢� 蔔꿈昉 栢꿈昉 � 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 蔔� 栢� 栢査栢栢� 栢� 栢급旁 死栢� 栢� 栢� 栢栢급栢栢幡 栢� 査� 栢� 栢� 栢급旁 魄旁 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 蔔� 栢� 沙方 栢� 栢� 栢� 賞� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 賞栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢� 栢栢方斌 栢� C O N S O L E M A G A Z i N E FRoNTiER magazine is (c) copyright 1994 September 1994 EDiTOR: Gordon Craick 3Do � Jaguar � Genesis � CD-i � CD32 � GenesisCD � Super Nintendo and all other consoles 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� iNDeX TO iSSuE 5 *******/\******* Welcome Updates Changes Feedback News * Projecting - The Ultra64 * Atari steps up for the holiday season * Philips sets the future with a new CD standard * 3DO ][ in development * Mortal Kombat 2 hits the streets * Jaguar the 10th! Commercial Advertising Features * Ultra 64 - What can we expect? * The complete list of upcoming 3DO software and hardware * Mortal Kombat 2 - The Moves! Editorial/Opinion * Is the upcoming console war good or bad? Reviews * Super Street Fighter 2 * Ken Griffey JR Major League Baseball Mini Reviews * Paladin's Quest The Cheater's Den Trading Support sites/distribution How *YOU* too can help out Frontier How to contact Frontier Credits/Thanx -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 栢 栢査栢栢朋� 栢栢栢査栢栢朋栢栢栢査栢栢껑� 栢 � 栢査白複査� 栢 栢 栢朋魄百栢査白複 栢 � 栢査幡賽査� 賞 栢 栢朋� 栢査幡賽 갚꾼栢栢栢査栢栢朋栢栢魄栢栢査栢栢朋� 栢査栢栢� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� FRONTIER returns, again after a delay of one month to bring you lots of exciting news and developments. Apologies and also thanks go out to those who contacted me when I planned issue 5 to be released. Sorry to let a few people down, but things were looking fine until unexpected distractions popped up :( At least it is nice to know though that people are waiting eagerly for each issue, its good to feel wanted! :) Frontier sort of got left out for a while, and by the time I got back to it, it was already mid August. Rather than release an incredibly late August issue, I decided that a better idea would be to release issue 5 in September. There have been a few of these delays lately which you have probably noticed, which has made me consider making the magazine bi-monthly, or decreasing each issue to mainly include news and a few reviews, with feature articles coming every couple of months. It is mainly these features articles that take the most time with Frontier, and to put together a decent one requires a fair amount of my time. Anyway, let me know what you think! it is largely up to you as readers as to how you would like the magazine to continue. Frontier is still looking for contributions from video game players from right across the world to make the magazine even better. The quick review format gives you an even greater opportunity to throw together a review, just put around 200-300 words together in whatever style you like and Frontier will publish it for all to read! We are also looking for general feature articles, similar to you have already read through previous issues of Frontier. If you think you are especially knowledgeable on one area of the video game industry, why not put together a feature article on all you know? What may seem obvious to you, will most likely be of interest to other readers. The next few months are definitely going to be one of the most exciting of the last few years, with the release of the ineffable PS-X, Saturn, 32X, JaguarCD, and also exciting games such as Donkey Kong Country, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Doom, uncountable racing games, and many more. Advertising is going to reach near fever pitch, with just about all the major video game manufacturers pouring millions into advertising over the months leading up to Christmas. Its going to be hard to ignore the fight no matter where you turn, as all the companies will be harping their 32 bit machines like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately not all of us are rich enough (eg: like me :) ) to afford _all_ of this new technology, but then again, it doesn't cost a cent to sit back and watch the results unfold with a grin...... Gordon Craick (Editor -> FRONTiER magazine) < September 19th, 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 earlier issues, 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 :) No one has reported any obvious errors in issue 4, so there are no updates this month, but let me know if you find anything that needs updating next issue. CHANGES ***/\*** For those who are just wanting to throw a few words together (say 100-300) on a particular game, Frontier now includes a "Mini Review" section for these types of reviews. This should hopefully expand the number of reviews that we get in Frontier, as often people don't have that much time to throw together a full review. Full reviews will of course be preferred, but if you don't want to take the time then this is fine. 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 갚꾼栢栢朋栢栢査栢栢朋栢栢輹栢栢栢査栢栢魄栢栢栢査� 栢 栢 査白複査白複査� 栢朋� 栢査� 栢査� 栢� 幡 栢栢 査幡賽査幡賽査� 栢朋幡賞輹栢栢栢査� 栢栢� 栢 査栢栢査栢栢朋栢栢璽栢複栢査� 栢査栢栢魄栢 賞껑� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 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. 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 栢栢栢魄栢栢栢査 栢朋栢栢昉굅 栢 栢査白複 栢 栢朋白複� 栢 栢査幡賽 栢 � 栢鵬賽賞� 갚꾼� 栢査栢栢魄栢栢栢朋栢栢� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 PROJECTING - THE ULTRA64 ***********=/\=********* Work on the Ultra-64 (the new name for Nintendo's Project Reality) is getting closer to a working prototype, after many months of constant "ifs" and "maybes". Several games are reported to be under development, both by Nintendo, and third party developers. Exact details are still under tight wraps, but the word is that the major video game producers already have the development stations in their hands. As with Nintendo's style, they are trying to keep all exact details secret until much closer to release. While they may be trying to dampen some of the (possibly less than impressive?) news for the next while, for such a project, even Nintendo will find it hard to keep details quiet for long. Many reports indicate that the Ultra-64 may be the first console to include new projection technology. For those who are a little unsure of what this means, imagine your own personal video game cinema displayed on your own wall (!) and you will have an idea of what Ultra64's projection technology will allow. If this turns out to be the case, no longer will you need a television set to enjoy your video games - the display device is actually built into the console itself! This also seems to agree with Nintendo's promise to deliver "virtual reality without a headset" which sounded almost entirely hype at first, but now seems a bit more credible. Projection technology might not be quite that revolutionary, but it will be an exciting experience for players. For more details and some guestimates of the final Ultra64, see our feature article in this issue! ATARi STEPS UP FOR THE HOLiDAY SEASON *******************/\**************** Atari is planning on using the Christmas buying rush to help boost its flagging Jaguar sales. Up to $10 million dollars will be spent on advertising over the next few months, along with an aggressive attack against other console manufacturers such as 3DO, and the ageing SNES and Genesis. This campaign will include cable, and free-to-air television broadcasting, along with extensive print advertising. So far, the main problem that Atari has faced is the lack of Jaguar machines, as well as software being available in only a handful of stores. Atari has been looking carefully at this, and has been asking consumers what _they_ think will make the Jaguar sell better. To help increase availability, Atari is looking to extend new distribution partnerships, and persuade stores reluctant to stock Jaguar products to do so. Manufacture of machines at IBM is also set to be stepped up, so that more Jaguar units are available on the shelves in the Christmas rush. Atari has promised that many more Jaguar titles will also be released closer to the Christmas holiday period, to make the machine more attractive to a wider market. Several titles will be released simultaneously in October, and Atari expects up to 20-30 titles to be available by Christmas. Late 1994 will probably decide the fate of the Jaguar. With so many other machines coming onto the market, and a stack of exciting software to go with them, Atari is going to struggle hard if they can't get a large existing base by the end of the year. While the machine may be the cheapest to buy, players will be reluctant to purchase a machine with a severe lack of recognition (largely media driven) and titles. PHiLiPS SETS THE FUTURE WiTH A NEW CD STANDARD *********************=/\=********************* Philips believe they have finally come up with a new CD standard, which could revolutionise the gaming market by the end of the century, possibly even sooner. Philips are well known for their initial development on the first CD's back in the early 1980's, where they quickly set the standard for the discs we know and use today. 6-8 gigabytes are reported to be able to be stored on just one of Philips new standard-size CD disc, using improved pitting, and read-head technology. This is several times more than is currently possible on the standard disc, where only (yep, we can say that now!) around 500-700 megabytes are possible. This standard looks like also dominating the digital video market, where a replacement for magnetic video-cassettes has not really been viable enough to take off. In mid-1995, Philips will release the first players utilising the new standard, which is sure to revolutionise both the video game, and home audio-video market. Up to 200 minutes of CD audio, or around 134 minutes of very high quality MPEG2 compressed video can be filled onto one disk. A large question to be asked is just who will be the first video game company to include the standard on their machine? Sony, Nintendo, and Sega will already have their machines on the market by this time, so does this leave 3DO to sweep the board with 3DO2 and this new standard? 3DO ][ iN DEVELOPMENT *********=/\=******** The 3DO standard is already making a strong entry into the video game market once dominated, and still largely controlled by the heavy-weights of Nintendo and Sega. Several companies have obtained hardware licenses for the system, and the good, and not so good 3DO titles are being now released. This flow isn't just going to dry up either, with much more coming its way to the 3DO in the coming months. Developers have been quick to see the opportunity to reach a newer audience, along with recognising the relative ease of programming a powerful machine. As first stipulated by the 3DO company, 3DO will not just be a single machine, but a growing standard. Keen to keep up with the increase in hardware capacity, 3DO has announced its preliminary standard for 3DO ][, where the first machines will be released in late 1995 or some time in early 1996. While this is only a initial standard, the final specs are not likely to be too different. PROCESSOR : 66mhz RISC (centered around the PowerPC chipset) MEMORY : 4 megabytes RAM. 4k internal processor cache, 4k data cache. 64K for save game storage. BUS : 400 megabytes a second GRAPHICS : 250,000 textured polygons per second. 150,000 triangles per second. Hardware texture mapping, Goudrad shading, 3D perspective. Z-buffer support COLOURS : 24 bit (basically the same as the 3DO-1 standard) OTHER : MPEG compression as standard, MPEG2 as addon. RESOLUTION: 640x480 (interlaced) STORAGE : CVD CD-ROM (approx 1.25meg/sec). 2:1 hardware compression OUTPUT : NTSC, PAL, HDTV, RGB, SVGA as standard (same machine for all countries) INPUT : Individual 32k RAM save cartridges, further upgradeable PRICE : $300-$400 3DO also plans on releasing a plug-in upgrade for existing 3DO units at the same time as 3DO-][ machines are released. Machines with this upgrade will supposedly perform the same as the individual 3DO2 machines. 3DO estimates a price of around $100-$200 for the upgrade. If the 3DO2 standard turns out as planned, 3DO is definitely going to be the power machine of the future. 3DO mk2 blows away all current machines, including the Jaguar, Saturn, PS-X, and maybe even Ultra-64. 3DO's easy upgrade path will pay off, not only for 3DO, but for 3DO owners as well. MORTAL KOMBAT 2 HiTS THE STREETS **************=/\=************** September 9th saw the release of one the largest games on this years game calendar, with Acclaim/Midway's universal release of Mortal Kombat 2. MK2 was released simultaneously on the GameGear, Gameboy(!), Super Nintendo, and Genesis along with an extensive advertising campaign. Australia, the US, and much of Europe witnessed the familiar juxtaposition of screen-shots and live actors across their TV screens trying to tempt players. Everybody who has so far played MK2 (including me!) find that the conversion has been excellent, retaining just about all features of the arcade version. MK2 offers a lot more challenge and variety than SSF2, making it a must for all beat 'em up fans. MK2 also puts shame to the original SNES/Genesis first edition (MK1), which were released at about the same time last year - the amount of changes that have taken place between MK1 and MK2 make it an entirely different game (much as SF1 was a lot different to SF2). This time, SNES fans have probably received the best version, containing the full sound, and graphics from the arcade machine without sacrificing the gameplay. This was the main complaint over the conversion of MK1, suffering from several serious gameplay problems, especially on the SNES. Genesis owners are also in for a good conversion, though the game lacks some of the arcade detail and colours, but pretty much plays the same. Probably the best news for arcade purists was that MK2 marks a new marketing direction by Nintendo. No longer will Nintendo heavily censor games, and MK2 includes all of the blood, and all of the fatalities in their entirety from the arcade. A menu option to turn on and off the blood is also included for those wimps out there, although the game will still retain a MA15 classification. This move is to help beef up the image of Project Reality, where Nintendo aims to reach later teenage, and adult audiences, as well as the 10-16 year olds. For those who are not familiar with the arcade machine, MK2 contains 12 varied characters, each with their own moves, battle-screens, etc. There are also two hidden characters in the game, which can be fought if you are good enough. Different to most other fighting games, players can execute multiple moves, where the timing of the move is equally important. Mortal Kombat 2 will probably the last of the continuing Mortal Kombat series to be released in such a universal way. Acclaim's license with Midway is officially over once MK2 is released on home systems, Midway taking up partnership with Nintendo. From indications, Nintendo looks to have secured an exclusivity contract with Midway, which means Nintendo will have a large say in what Midway games will be released for which systems in future. JAGUAR THE 10th! ******=/\=****** It couldn't really be argued that Jaguar owners have had disappointment after disappointment after a promising release of the machine late last year. So far there are only seven titles available for the machine, a pretty bad record for such any machine that has been out for more than 6+ months. Hoping to sweeten the year slightly, Atari is planning a big end in the last quarter. Along with the JaguarCD addon to be released, Atari plans to release a further 15-20 titles by the end of the year. This will bring the total to around 20-30 titles, but can we still trust this figure?? Five of these will hit the shelves on the 10th October, when we will finally see the release of the long awaited Alien Vs Predator, Club Drive, Doom, Kick Off 3, and Kasumi Ninja. Whether this is enough to save the Jaguar is very debatable, as the Jaguar will need a lot more games of this standard to be a success. OTHER NEWS ***=/\=*** - Prices on the 3DO (mk1) have also dropped recently to a more reasonable $499, with some places offering up to 3 free titles with each machine. For those who have been interested in upgrading to the machine, it may still be wise to wait a further few months. New models by Sanyo, Goldstar, and Samsung are all going to hit the market, with a retail price sure to challenge Panasonic's 3DO domination of 3DO market-share. When machines such as the PS-X, 32X, and Saturn hit the stores near the end of the year (or beginning of next year at this stage), prices are sure to drop even further. - Alien Vs Predator is already in cartridge production, and will be released later this month - for months now it has been one of the most requested titles of the year. While initially release was stated for some time in June, the game was pushed back several months to make several improvements. A 3/4 finished version was shown at the SCES, as reported in issue 4, but the good news for Jag owners is the AvP is even _hotter_ than was shown back in July. Texture mapping and lighting has been improved, along with the finishing touches to the levels - play testers say that the game is even more challenging, and better looking than the king of three-dimensional shoot'em ups, Doom. Unfortunately, even Jaguar owners are beginning to wonder, is this enough? - Large video game retailers, Babbages, and Software Inc. have decided to merge under the one company. While the two stores will continue to be trade under their separate names, the partnership aims to strengthen both retailers lead in the video game sales market. - AT&T has stalled its entry into the video game market for the time being, placing on hold its own 3DO machine, which was planned to include a built-in modem as standard. AT&T have indicated that this is only while they continue to consider their options in the video game market. The move is a bit of a mystery to most - maybe AT&T didn't believe they could release a product at a suitable price-tag for the market? 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. - Atari's Jaguar voice-modem could have been dumped, due to a lack of interest by the hardware manufacturer (AT&T) and faith in profits to be made in this area. This would be a disappointment to many Jaguar owners, as the voice-modem would have allowed multiple players to play other Jaguar owners right across the world. COMMERCiAL ADVERTiSING *********=/\=********* OVER the last couple of months I have received a couple of requests for advertising of a commercial type nature in Frontier. If you own, or are part of a console retailing or mail order company, please contact me via one of the methods mentioned at the end of the magazine if you wish to organise an ad. 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. Your ad may include borders, ascii logos, etc to draw attention to your product or business, but must be under 300 words. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- � � � 輻 査 輻 蔔 複 � 蔔幡霜 複複� � 複� � 複複� 査 複� 複複蔔 査 複複 複栢複� � 賞� � 査� 幡 賞� 査� 査� 賞 査 査� 査� 査 査輻� 査 査� 賞� � 賞� 栢� 栢 栢 百 � 複輻� 査 百 百 査 査 百 栢 賞� 賽栢 賽賽 賞複輻 � 蔔� 蔔 賞� 栢 蔔� 霜複輹� 栢 複白� 賞白� 栢 輻 査 � T R A D I N G 白 輻 賽賽 United States * Netherlands * Sweden * Belgium * Croatia Exclusive worldwide distributors of the Super Wild Card and Super Magic Drive systems The Super Wild Card(tm) and Super Magic Drive(tm) for Super Nintendo(tm) and Sega Genesis(tm) respectively allow users to: * Develop their own games * Use special cheat codes * Backup cartridges onto 3.5" diskette, thus saving on the general wear and tear of the original cartridge Some of the other special features of the Super Wild Card and Super Magic Drive include: * DOS format disks (for development on MSDOS(tm) systems) * Built in high density 3.5" disk drive * 24mbit-32mbit (3-4meg) of high speed RAM * Upgradeable The RRP for the 24mbit unit is $449US. If you are interested in more information on these systems, or in fact wish to purchase one or more of these units, please contact Fairlight by one of the methods indicated. Fairlight is also looking for exclusive distributors and re-sellers for these and other exciting video game products! In the United States 1-800-FAIRLIGHT International +1-619-282-5311 Fax " 619-282-1780 Postal Fairlight Trading WorldWide, Inc. 6415 Reflection Drive, Suite 105 San Diego, CA 92124-3129 U.S.A ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 갚꾼栢栢朋栢栢査栢栢魄栢栢栢� 栢査栢栢輹栢栢魄栢栢栢껑� 栢 査白複査� 栢 栢� 蔔 栢査� 栢査白複査白複� 栢栢 査幡賽査栢栢� 栢� 栢 栢査栢白璽栢賽� 賽賽栢 栢 査栢栢査� 栢 栢� 栢栢栢魄栢 栢査栢栢査栢栢� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� ULTRA64 - WHAT CAN We ExPECT? ************=/\=************* NOBODY could doubt that with the marketing and technical know how of both Nintendo and Silicon Graphics behind the Ultra64, the machine is going to be one of the hottest entertainment machines ever seen. Not only will it include much the same, if not better, specifications than either the Saturn, Jaguar, PlayStation, or any other games console, but it will retail at a very affordable $200. While all of these other machines may look very impressive, much of these are still for those only with a deep pocket, with the exception of the Jaguar (which has been largely unsucessful). With the Ultra64, Nintendo is aiming the machine squarely at the 10-20 year old market, where the power of inexpensive 32 bit processing has yet to make a real impression over 16 bit technology. Ultra64 is targeted to be the natural successor to the Super Nintendo, and at a very comparable price to even existing 16 bit machines this task seems quite achievable, and in a short period too. Nintendo has more than a decade of experience behind them when it comes to the video game market, and now well know what sells and what will not. Millions in advertising, and other incentives will be offered to the video game world as the system comes closer to release. Come Christmas 1995, hundreds of thousands of families in Western, and Asian countries around the world will be cramming for the Ultra64, simply because of the prestige that the name Nintendo has brought to the world of gaming. While at this stage, much about the Ultra64 is still not known, Frontier aims to uncover and speculate on what will likely, and what probably won't be included in Nintendo's Killer. To make this easier, the article has been broken down into several different categories, covering different aspects of what we will see in the Ultra64. How much of this will actually be in the final product remains to be seen, but whatever happens, mid-1995 is drawing faster every month..... STORAGE Nintendo has so far as deliberately stated that the Ultra64 will not include CD-ROM for the reason that the format does not include enough interactivity, and speed for the games Nintendo wants to provide. This seems to be a bit of a hollow excuse, as CD-ROM is rapidly approaching a very useable speed, as well as being a very affordable format. CD's are not only cheaper to manufacture, but are cheaper to package and distribute. Nintendo may in fact have a less obvious interior motive in not using CD-ROM, which has more to do with profits and control, rather than consideration for gamers. If Nintendo went for CD-ROM, not only would 'non-official' games be able to be released (being out of Nintendo's profits) quite easily with todays CD-ROM development technology, but there would also be the probability of unauthorised piracy of Ultra64 games. By going for a less well utilised, but still quite useable (and fast) standard, Nintendo will be able to continue a firm control on both profits and distribution. Whatever the real reasons, what Nintendo is likely to use instead of CD-ROM is 'Flash ROMs'. For those who are unfamiliar with the format, Flash ROM's are roughly credit sized cards which can hold a large amount of data (but much less than CD) on an area of approximately 10cm x 5cm. The standard flash-ROM card is an uncompressed 20megabytes (160megabits), and data can be accessed at a speed approaching microseconds per megabyte. More data (possibly 50%) more can also be stored with forms of compression. While this provides a fair amount of storage space, it may limit the scope of future U64 games, with only 1/27th the storage capacity of CD-ROM. Since Ultra64 will largely rely on real-time texture mapping and rendering (see graphics), this may be less of a problem. Long FMV and pre-rendered animation sequences that players might be looking forward to with the PlayStation, Saturn, and 3DO are what we are not going to see on the Ultra64. When it comes down to it though, flash-ROM's may be a quite flexible and decent substitute to CD's. GAMES Nintendo looks to be aiming the Ultra64 largely at the same market that it has captured with the SNES, from ages 10-16. While Nintendo appears to be shifting its strategy to a more open one with regards to graphic violence, it doesn't seem likely that we are going to see restricted (18 years+) on the U64, like we may on the Playstation or 3DO. As the system price reflects, Ultra64 will be mainly aimed at the family market, with games that will appeal to a wide amount of people. The type of games we are going to see will probably be mostly action and simulation games that we have been used to on the SNES. With a limited storage capacity, large adventure games or complex RPG's with high quality 24bit graphics seem unlikely. Expect plenty of space, shooting, driving, and fighting games though! GRAPHICS The Ultra64 will include an implementation of SGI's 'Reality' engine, only seen in the most expensive of its work stations. The Reality engine allows lightning-quick generation and rendering (colouring, texture-mapping, lighting, etc) three-dimensional, as well as two-dimensional objects in real time at a full 24 bits. The advantage with real-time generation is only the textures are required for the visuals, everything else is calculated mathematically via software and hardware. This may make it difficult for some 16 bit developers, but for those who can program the machine well, the games will show the results. Truly realistic and life-like real-time generation of game graphics is still a holy grail for game developers, but it definitely seems possible in the U64 with the world's most powerful graphics system at its core. Resolution will be television quality, but will likely suffer from the same squashed screen problem on PAL sets due to the annoying differences in resolution between NTSC and PAL. As stated in the news section, U64 looks like including some sort of projection technology. What this will mean is that game images will beamed direct from the Ultra64 itself onto your wall in your home. This will make the Ultra64 both portable (not needing a TV to play games), and also allow greater resolution than television currently allows. How this will work in a lit room (who wants to play all their games in the dark???) is hard to imagine, but Nintendo seems to feel confident they have an answer. There will probably be a standard television connection as well as the projection window on the Ultra64's case. SOUND At the present moment, there isn't too much further that consoles can go than pretty much crystal clear 44khz we are used to with CD-ROM. Our ears are only capable of picking up a certain range of frequencies and quality anyway, so to go much further is only going to be pointless. Ultra64 will surely include CD-quality audio which will be mostly generated on the fly by the U64's sound chip during play. Three dimensional Dolby technology has also been licensed by Nintendo to use on the machine, meaning that music and sound effects will appear to come from different angles, giving a tremendous feeling of realism. Along with realistic sounding music, sound effects and sampled speech will also be possible in small numbers, again limited only by the storage capacity. The Ultra64 plugged into your stereo and playing a game such as Killer Instinct should really be an experience! DEVELOPMENT Development for Ultra64 games will be, and is being done on Silicon Graphics work stations such as the $100,000 Onyx^2 and $20,000 Indy work stations. Even though the machine is long way from production, plenty of visuals and game design can still be done before developers even see a working machine. Hopefully developers won't forget it is the gameplay itself that matters most with the Ultra64 (or any console in fact), and not just go for rendered graphics with not much else. Animation and rendering packages such as Alias and SoftImage are used to draw the majority of graphics for Ultra64 games, which should be easily ported with little loss in quality to U64. Because the graphics engines in many of SGI's machines will be in many cases almost identical to the Ultra64, what you see being illustrated throughout Edge magazine (amongst others) is largely what you will see in the final product. EXPANDABILITY/OUTPUT To keep the machine's technology up to date, the Ultra64 should include some sort of expansion port to allow the addition of more advanced hardware later on (such as CD-ROM). Virtual Reality devices, extra peripherals, light guns, and other technologies will be a natural step for such powerful three-dimensional rendering on board the U64 While Nintendo has probably not opted to include CD-ROM storage as standard on the Ultra64, that doesn't mean that the machine necessarily has to be locked out of the CD-ROM medium altogether. Nintendo may opt to take a similar approach to the Jaguar, by releasing the straight machine at $200, and then charging an extra $200 or so for a CD-ROM addon to provide better FMV, etc. If a CD-ROM addon _is_ to be released for the Ultra64, it will not be until late 1995 at best. The Ultra64 with the storage capacity of CD-ROM will truly be an ultimate gaming machine The Ultra64 may also include some sort of cartridge save system, much as the Playstation and Saturn will include. This will allow games to store their save/position data on one cartridge, rather than including a battery backup on each cartridge (which adds to the price of each game). CONCLUSION The Ultra64 will include most of the same technology that is being implemented in other 32bit consoles, and probably will not stand out too much more on first looks that the Saturn, 3DO, etc. The 64 bit processor will make a bit of a difference, but as has been illustrated with the Jaguar Vs 3DO debate, when it comes to games, the jump in processing power doesn't really effect the game itself. Where the Ultra64 will really excel is in the graphics department, where the 'Reality' engine created by Silicon Graphics will allow blindingly fast real-time texture mapping and light sourcing with ease. With the millions that Nintendo and Silicon Graphics is spending to make the U64 a success, it seems almost impossible that the machine can fail come 1995. As more details come to hand, Frontier will definitely be publishing them....... THE COMPLETE LIST OF UPCOMiNG 3DO SOFTWARE AND HARDWARe *************************=/\=************************** SOFTWARE support for the 3DO is continuing to grown with the increased sales of 3DO sales in the United States and Japan. An estimated 10,000 3DO units are being sold each month, and look sure to better Trip Hawkin's estimate of 50,000 sold by the end of the year. Here is a fairly complete chronological listing of all the software and hardware that will be released in the next 6 months. Thanks go to Michael Delaney for compiling this list. TITLE PUBLISHER RELEASE DATE Kingdom: Far Reaches Interplay September Return Fire Silent Soft September Tetsujin Panasonic September VR Stalker Morpheus September Waialae Country Club Golf Panasonic September ABS Psygnosis September 15th Burning Soldier Panasonic September 15th Guardian War Panasonic September 15th Lost Files of Shirlock Holmes Electronic Arts September 23rd Theme Park Electronic Arts September 23rd Rise of the Robots Absolute Entertainment September 30th Mahjong ASCII Late September Robinson's Requiem ReadySoft Late September Shadow Tribecca Late September 3D Atlas Electronic Arts October Alone in the Dark 2 Interplay October Bios Fear ASG Technologies October 24th Crime Patrol American Laser Games October Demolition Man Virgin October FIFA Soccer Electronic Arts October I-Jam Paramount October PaTank PF Falls October Santa Fe Trail American Laser Games October Space Ace ReadySoft October Trance Mission ???? October Off-World Interceptor Crystal Dynamics Late October Virtuoso 3DO November SSF2 Turbo Capcom November Quarantine GameTek November Creature Shock Virgin November Need for Speed Electronic Arts November 11th Hour (T7G2) Virgin November Dragon's Lair 2 ReadySoft November Family Fued GameTek November World Cup Golf US Gold November Flashback US Gold November Dino Blaze Virgin November 15th GEX Gecko Crystal Dynamics Late November ?????? Tetragon December Ballz PF Falls December Clay Fighter II Interplay December Conquered Kingdoms QQP 4th Qrtr 1994 DinoPark Tycoon MECC December Dragon's Lair (MPEG) ReadySoft December Duelin' Firemen Run and Gun December Flying Nightmares Domark December Jammit Basketball GTE December Galactic Casino VideoactV December InteractV Aerobics VideoactV December Iron Man Panasonic December LoadStar Rocket Science December Lost Vikings Interplay December Plumbers don't wear ties JC December Road Rash (MPEG) Electronic Arts December Samurai Showdown Crystal Dynamics December Star Trek : TNG Spectrum Holobyte December Star Wars Chess Software Toolworks December Terminator vs Robocop Virgin December Tigernauts VideoactV December Twisted 2 3DO December Yu Yu Hakusyo Tomy December PO'ed Any Channel Late December ????? (sports) Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994 Akira TH*Q 4th Qrtr 1994 Alien Trilogy Acclaim 4th Qrtr 1994 Blood Bath Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 Chaos Control Infogames 4th Qrtr 1994 C.I.T.Y 2000 ?????? 4th Qrtr 1994 Cool Knight ReadySoft 4th Qrtr 1994 Cool Spot Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 ESPN Baseball -Pitching Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994 ESPN Football -Reciever Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994 ESPN Football -Quarterback Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994 ESPN Let's Play Baseball Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994 ESPN Let's Play Tennis Intellimedia 4th Qrtr 1994 Galaxian 3 Namco 4th Qrtr 1994 Gatorface ???? 4th Qrtr 1994 Ground Zero Texas Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 Inspector Danger's Crime Quiz Digital Productions 4th Qrtr 1994 Jimmy Connors Tennis UBIsoft 4th Qrtr 1994 LawnMower Man Sony 4th Qrtr 1994 Links Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 Lost Eden Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 Maelstrom ReadySoft 4th Qrtr 1994 Magic Carpet Bullfrog 4th Qrtr 1994 Meiko Digital Productions Inc. 4th Qrtr 1994 Multimedia Travel Guides Frommer 4th Qrtr 1994 Myst Sony 4th Qrtr 1994 Heart of Darkness Virgin 4th Qrtr 1994 NCAA Basketball Software Toolworks 4th Qrtr 1994 NHL Hockey Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994 Nobunaga's Ambition Koei 4th Qrtr 1994 Primeval Sony 4th Qrtr 1994 Rebel Assault Software Toolworks 4th Qrtr 1994 Rock, Rap 'N Roll 2 Paramount 4th Qrtr 1994 SeaWolf SSN-21 Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994 Scorched Earth Electronic Arts 4th Qrtr 1994 Solvalou Namco 4th Qrtr 1994 Space Pirates American Laser Games 4th Qrtr 1994 Star Trek: TNG Manual Paramount 4th Qrtr 1994 TFX Ocean 4th Qrtr 1994 Tital Wave ???? 4th Qrtr 1994 Touche US Gold 4th Qrtr 1994 Suchi Pai Mahjong Jaleco 4th Qrtr 1994 Syndicate Plus Bullfrog 4th Qrtr 1994 Wing Commander III Origin 4th Qrtr 1994 Whole Dog Almanac Digital Productions Inc. 4th Qrtr 1994 Winning Post Koei 4th Qrtr 1994 Wizard of Oz ???? 4th Qrtr 1994 Mad Dog McCree (MPEG) American Laser Games 1st Qrtr 1995 Return to Zork Activision 1st Qrtr 1995 Station Invasion 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995 Time 2 Die 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995 Scavenger 4 Psygnosis January 1995 Hognose & Booger ASG Technologies February 1995 Rock & Roll Racing Interplay February 1995 Cyberia Interplay March 1995 ????? (AD&D RPG) SSI 2nd Qrtr 1995 Blustar (Dolphin RPG) Magnetic Interactive 2nd Qrtr 1995 Policenauts Konami 2nd Qrtr 1995 Sangokusi Koei 2nd Qrtr 1995 Solar Moon Station Bandai 2nd Qrtr 1995 Ultraman Virgin 2nd Qrtr 1995 Black Death Mask Panasonic 1995 Dragon Knight III Megatech 1995 Falcon 3DO Spectrum Holobyte 1995 Jack Sprite vs The Chrimson Ghost PF Falls 1995 Power Slide Elite 1995 Shoot-Out at Old Tuson American Laser Games 1995 Space Hulk Electronic Arts 1995 Who shot Johnny Rock? (MPEG) American Laser Games 1995 3D Adventures Park Place On Hold 3D Football Park Place On Hold Aces Over Europe Dynamix/Sierra On Hold Humans GameTek On Hold Peter Pan Electronic Arts On Hold PGA Tour Golf Electronic Arts On Hold ShadowCaster Origin On Hold Universal Studios Orbital MCA On Hold World Builders Inc. Electronic Arts On Hold ?????? (fighting) GTE TBA ?????? (action) GTE TBA ?????? (RPG's) New World Computing TBA ?????? (action) Capcom TBA ?????? (sports) Accolade TBA Art Treasures of Russia Round Book TBA Battledrome Dynamix/Sierra TBA Demo CD 3 Panasonic TBA Doom - Evil Unleashed Electronic Arts TBA In-Line Skate Hockey GTE TBA Man With Underwater Eye's Round Book TBA Mortal Kombat 2 Acclaim TBA NBA Jam Acclaim TBA Ridge Racer Namco TBA Sampler Disc Vivid Interactive TBA Tommy Round Book TBA X-Wing Software Toolworks TBA HARDWARE Creative Lab's PC 3DO Blaster Card October Sanyo 3DO October Flight Stick Pro 4th Qrtr 1994 FZ-FV1 Video CD 4th Qrtr 1994 Logitec Mouse 4th Qrtr 1994 Toshiba Portable 3DO (for cars!) 4th Qrtr 1994 Goldstar 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995 Samsung 3DO 1st Qrtr 1995 Memory Upgrade (for FZ0) 1st Qrtr 1995 Virtual Reality Glasses 1995 3DO-2 expansion board December 1995 AT&T 3DO w/ modem On Hold AT&T VoiceSpan Modem for FZ0-1 On Hold MORTAL KOMBAT 2 - THE MOVES! ************=/\=************ MORTAL Kombat 2, like the first edition (MK1) has little in the way of a complete move listing for the game in the manual. At best the manual just gives you the basic listing, and leaves the rest of the discovery up to you. Thanks to Frontier, now rather than spending hours fiddling just to find that one fatality, you can now refer to this (almost) complete list! If you find any further moves, contact Frontier with the exact key combination(s) so other MK2 players can benefit from the same move in future issues. You might even want to cut this out and print a copy to have on hand. Impress your friends....or just to show your superiority, beat the hell out of them! While several of these moves will take several minutes of trial to pull them off, even _with_ the correct combination, most of them are worth the wait, especially with the blood mode turned on :) Thanks to Jarrod Day for providing the moves for this list. STANDARD MOVES -------------- Face Punch - High Punch CLOSE COMBAT (stand next to enemy) Body Punch - Low Punch Speciality - High Punch Face kick - High Kick Throw - Low Punch Body Kick - Low Kick Knee - High or Low Kick UpperCut - Down+High Punch BLOCKS Crouch Punch - Down+Low Punch Attack Block - Block or down, Down+block Crouch Kick - Down+High Kick Throw Block - Down+back or Down+back+block Ankle Kick - Down+Low Kick RoundHouse - Back+High Kick Trip - Back+Low Kick AIR ATTACKS Jump Kick - Jump and then high or low kick Jump Punch - Jump and jigh or low punch Hop Kick - Jump up towards enemy and kick Hop Punch - Jump up towards enemy and punch Back Kick - Jump over enemy, and kick before hitting the ground CHARACTER MOVES --------------- LIU KANG Double elbow - high Punch (stand next to enemy) Fireball - forward, forward, High Punch Low Fireball - forward, forward, Low Punch Flying Kick - forward, forward, High Kick Bicycle Kick - low kick (hold for several seconds) then let go Pit - back, forward, forward, Low Kick Babality - down, down, forward, back, low kick Friendship - forward, back, back, back, low kick Fatality 1 - down, forward, back, back, high kick Fatality 2 - 360 deg. away KUNG LAO Head - high punch (stand close) Teleport - down, up, down (quickly) Flying Kick - down+high kick (in air) Tornado - (while holding block), up, up, low kick Pit - forward, forward, forward, high punch Babality - back, back, forward, forward, high kick Friendship - back, back, back, down, high kick Fatality 1 - forward, forward, forward, low kick Fatality 2 - (while holding low punch), back, forward (release punch button). Control the hat for better effect! JOHNNY CAGE Low jab - high punch (near enemy) Axe Kick - high or low kick (near enemy) Low bolt - 180deg. towards, low punch High bolt - 180deg. away, high punch Uppercut - back, down, back, high punch Shadow Kick - back, forward, low kick Ball breaker - low punch+block Pit - down, down, down, high kick Babality - back, back, back, high kick Friendship - down, down, down, down, high kick Fatality 1 - down, down, forward, forward, low punch Fatality 2 - forward, forward, down, up REPTILE BackHand - high punch (next to enemy) Acid Spit - forward, forward, high punch Slide - back+low punch+block+low kick Forceball - back, back, high punch+low punch Invisible - (while holding block), up, up, down, high punch Pit - down, forward, forward, block Babality - down, back, back, low kick Friendship - back, back, down, low kick Fatality 1 - back, back, down, low punch Fatality 2 - forward, forward, down, high kick SUB ZERO BackHand - High punch IceBall - 90deg. towards enemy, low punch Freeze - 90deg. away from enemy, low punch Slide - back+low punch+block+low kick Pit - down, forward, forward, block Babality - down, back, back, high kick Friendship - back, back, down, high kick Fatality 1 - forward, forward, down, high kick Fatality 2 - (hold low punch), back, back, down, forward, (release) SHANG TSUNG Flaming skull - back, back, high punch Two skulls - back, back, forward, high punch Three skulls - back, back, forward, forward, high punch Liu Kang - back, forward, forward, block Kung Lao - back, down, back, high kick Johnny Cage - back, back, down, low punch Reptile - (while holding block), up, down, high punch Sub Zero - forward, down, forward, high punch Kitana - block, block, block (quickly) Mileena - high punch (hold for 2 seconds), (release) Baraka - down, down, low kick Scorpion - (while holding block), up, up Raiden - down, back, forward, low kick Pit - (while holding block), down, down, up, down Babality - back, forward, down, high kick Friendship - back, back, down, forward, high kick Fatality 1 - high kick (hold for 2 seconds), (then release) Fatality 2 - (while holding block), up, down, up, low kick Fatality 3 - low punch (hold for 30 seconds), (then release) KiTANA Elbow - high punch (next to enemy) Fan hit - back+high punch Fan throw - forward, forward, high punch+low punch Fan lift - back, back, back, high punch Air Punch - 90deg. away, high punch Pit - forward, down, forward, high kick Babality - down, down, down, low kick Friendship - down, down, down, up, low kick Fatality 1 - (hold low kick), forward, forward, down, forward Fatality 2 - block, block, block (quickly), high kick JAX Kinghit - high punch (near enemy) Ground hit - low kick (hold for 3 seconds), (then release) Grab - forward, forward, low punch Slam - throw enemy, and then tap high punch Energy Wave - 90deg. away, high kick Back Breaker - block (in air) Pit - up, up, down, low kick Babality - down, up, down, up, low kick Friendship - down, down, up, up, low kick Fatality 1 - (while holding low punch), forward, forward, forward, (release) Fatality 2 - block, block, block, block (quickly), low punch MiLEENA Elbow - high punch (near enemy) Teleport kick - forward, forward, low kick Roll - back, back, down, high kick Sai Throw - High punch (for 2 seconds), (then release) Pit - forward, down, forward, low kick Babality - down, down, down, high kick Friendship - down, down, down, up, high kick Fatality 1 - forward, back, forward, low punch Fatality 2 - high kick (for 2 seconds), (then release) BARAKA Backhand - high punch (near enemy) DoubleKick - high kick, high kick (quickly, near enemy) Blade hit - back+high punch Blade swish - back, back, back, low punch Blue bolt - 90deg. away, high punch Pit - forward, forward, down, high kick Babality - forward, forward, forward, high kick Friendship - (while holding block), up, forward, forward, high kick Fatality 1 - (while holding block), back, back, back, back, high punch Fatality 2 - back, forward, down, forward, low punch SCORPiON Backhand - high punch (near enemy) Spear - back, back, low punch Teleport punch - 90deg. away, high punch Grab leg - 90deg, away, low kick Air throw - Block (in air) Pit - down, forward, forward, block Babality - down, back, back, high kick Friendship - back, back, down, high kick Fatality 1 - (while holding block), up, up, high kick Fatality 2 - (while holding high punch), down, forward, forward, forward, (then release) RAiDEN Small Uppercut - high punch (near enemy) Body throw - back, back, forward Lighting - 90deg. towards, low punch Teleport - down, up (quickly) Electrocute - high punch (hold for 4 seconds, near enemy), (then release) Pit - (while holding block), up, up, up, high punch Babality - down, back, forward, high kick Fatality 1 - low kick (hold for 6 seconds), (then release) Fatality 2 - high punch (hold for 8 seconds), (then release) OTHER ----- On the 'Dead Pool' stage, hold Low Punch and Low Kick and then uppercut them into the pool to eat the flesh from their bones! 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 栢栢栢査栢白査朋百 栢査魄栢栢百栢� 栢껑� 栢 栢査 査査朋栢� 栢査魄百 百栢百 栢 栢 栢査栢幡査朋� 百栢査魄百 百栢 百栢 갚꾼栢栢魄栢 栢朋� 査栢査魄栢栢百栢 査栢 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 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. IS THE UPCOMiNG CONSOLE WAR REALLY GOOD oR BAD? **********************=/\=********************* IT wasn't too long ago that gamers really had only two choices, either to go for the incredibly popular 8bit Nintendo, or go for the less popular, but slightly more powerful Master System. Only five years ago these were the main forces in the video games race and things were relatively simple. Even two years ago the choice was still simple, game players either went for the sleek and impressive SNES, or the Genesis - even many of the same games were released on both systems, making the decision not so important. Now things have changed dramatically with the introduction of a stack of new 32 bit (or better) consoles, each having one or more advantages over the others. Not only do they cost much more than five years ago, they are also less likely to remain the long life time that was once enjoyed by the 8 bit machines. No longer is it a simple choice of what game you wanted to play, but also a decision on the lasting nature, and number of games that are likely to be released for the system before it becomes inferior to something else. Now this can be good and bad news for gamers - resources, and different publishers are split across many systems, but there is also a lot more to choose from. The main down side to all of this is that due to the strong competition, console companies are always having to bring out some new hardware 'better' than their opposition to stay ahead, and retain a reasonable share of the market. The life-span of such consoles is therefore decreasing to an estimated rate of only 2-3 years, not exactly what you want to hear after splashing out $400 or so for the 'latest' in 90's hardware. Already we are seeing plans for the 3DO-2, the Jaguar-2, JaguarCD, and even reported add ons for machines such as the Saturn and PS-X. Some of these machines are not even _released_ yet and we are hearing "hey, if you think this is good, wait for our _next_ model". While the new hardware might be quite powerful, without a steady base of software and games for the system, the system is never going to live up to its full potential. If video game companies are busy trying to squeeze the last dollar out of their customers, at least we will see good _quality_ games, rather than games that are just released to try and sell a few more machines. Nintendo has largely taken this step with its now ageing SNES machine, by mid-1995 it will be four years since the initial release of the machine, but the number of decent titles is still quite strong, and in fact growing. Earlier on we saw titles that really were (not exaggerating either) quite pathetic, just released to try and build a bigger software base for the machine so they could say "look, we've got XXX games on our machine, which is XXX more than our competitor(s)". Now Nintendo (and to extent Sega with their Saturn) is beginning to realise, while obviously not stating so, that it _is_ going to face stiff opposition until the release of their machine, some months after the release of the other companies 32 bit 'wonders'. We are seeing more and more decent 16 bit games, that a larger number are in fact almost _worth_ the flat $80 Nintendo is charging for them. Prices on these, and older games are also dropping, which means that players can afford much more games than if they splashed out with $300+ on a new system with only a few games available. While Sega, Nintendo, 3DO, and everybody else is designing these consoles they are ultimately creating better machines when they finally come around to release. If they release something that is poor hardware wise, it will not sell, which can be disastrous for the company(s) involved. That is why we have constantly seen the hush-hush, and changing specifications of many of these machines, to tell the truth about how the project is going is often a disastrous move. The main winner of the hardware war is ultimately going to be the consumer who takes the time to consider which system they want to stick with. In several ways the console war is both good and bad, and opinions vary greatly between who you speak too. My opinion is that while the companies are spending multi-millions trying to build the latest machines, _you_ are the only one who can ultimately say which machine you think _you_ like. The war means greater games available, better quality games available, and above all better hardware for the consumer. Nothing is forced upon the video gamer, persuaded heavily maybe :) but not forced. If you take the time to consider which system(s) look to provide the best games currently, and in the near-future, you are ultimately going to be the ones who can have the last laugh on the video game giants...... 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 栢栢白査栢栢魄� 栢査魄栢栢栢査 栢朋栢栢昉굅 栢 栢査白複 栢 栢査魄栢複� 栢 栢朋白複� 栢栢輻査幡賽 栢 蔔魄栢査幡賽 栢 � 栢鵬賽賞� 갚꾼� 栢査栢栢魄栢栢璽栢査栢栢魄栢栢栢朋栢栢� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 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 are preferred, reviews of games up to _around_ 6 months old will be published. For those who are just wanting to throw a few words together (say 100-300) on a particular game, Frontier now includes a "Mini Review" section for these types of reviews (see after the main reviews). This should hopefully expand the number of reviews that we get in Frontier, as often people don't have that much time to throw together a full review. Full reviews will be preferred and remain a part of Frontier, but if you don't want to take the time then this is good alternative. Should only take maybe 10-20 minutes of your time, so even if you've only played the game for a short while, get a "mini" review into Frontier ASAP! Format for these mini reviews are pretty much open (include any details that you like!), but try and include at least an overall percentage - to tell the truth, often that is all that people look at anyway. SUPER STREET FIGHTER 2 *********=/\=********* .\ By Cyphron (cyphron@netcom.com) TYPE ................ Street Fighting FORMAT .............. Capcom DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Capcom RELEASE ............. July 1994 PRICE ............... $70 SIZE ................ 32mbit/4 mbyte LEVELS .............. 12 playfields DIFFICULTY .......... Variable PLAYERS ............. 1/2/simultaneous EXTRA INFO .......... n/a Have you ever heard the phrase "milking the cow"? Capcom probably doesn't, and no, they're not only milking the cow, they're milking it until it bleeds! Capcom has managed to put together four new characters (for a total of 12), changed a couple of moves, added a couple, slap on "SUPER" and voila, a game that sells! KILLER SOUNDS (Yeah, kill me please!) This game really has exploit everything the SNES has to offer and it still comes off short in the sound and graphics department. The "Round #, FIGHT!" is gone, although after a while of playing I didn't really mind. Capcom claimed that it was because of the shortage of ROM space, but I think it's because of the limited 64k area for sounds in the SNES. Dee Jay lost his "Max Out!" voice when he does his, well, Max Out! That's really too bad, because all the other characters retained their original voices, albeit a bit bad. Guile's voice is the same as the announcer! Boy, talk about recycling! Okay, gripes aside, I'd say the sound is terrific for an SNES game. How can I compare it to the arcade with its Q-Sound chip and superior processors. But the music, I can't really complain. Some of the stages have music that's quite good, except for Ken's stage, which I think SF2 Turbo did better. However, the music seemed "turned down" so you really need to hook up the SVHS cable and turn on STEREO to really appreciate it. KILLER GRAPHICS (Well, maybe not) The BACKGROUND has got to be the best part of the game and it is definitely the best of all the SFII carts for the SNES. There are lots of animation and background scrolling for most or all of the stages. (Although how come the moon moves with the clouds in Ryu's stage? DUH!) The characters and background isn't as highly defined as the arcade but then again, is anything as good as the arcade? (READ: 3DO) A lot of frames are missing, (which translates to missing moves) and you'll notice it immediately during the opening cartoons. Overall, not a bad cut-and-paste job from Capcom. SFII PLAYABILITY (What more can you ask?) It's Street Fighter 2! 'Nuff said. The computer is rather easy to beat with Ryu or Ken on any level because the computer doesn't cheat as much. But when you start using other characters, the bosses will combo you to death, literally! Well, it's probably 'cuz I suck at other characters! ;-P FUN FACTOR It's Street Fighter 2! 'Nuff said. Actually, after awhile, it can be a bit boring... OTHER STUFF The endings are mostly like the arcade except some have pictures missing. There are an abundant of voices (not enough ROM, hah!) on the game and lots of options like VERSUS mode, TOURNAMENT mode, etc. What happened to Balrog's ending? He lost one picture (out of his two) and he lost the two babes sitting next to him, ARGGHHH! While I'm at it, the blood in the VS are now pink, and well, lets just say, THERE IS NO BLOOD!!! Nintendo strikes again... And if you think this game only has the 4 new characters, think again, because the bosses have TONS of new moves or rather new animation which would make playing them fun. Bison can be a real killer if you know how to use him. And to most of you who are wondering if they have SSF2 Turbo in the game, sorry to pop your bubble, but NO. Although you do have Turbo speed adjustment. (big deal) SHOULD I BUY IT? If you don't have Street Fighter 2 then definitely. If you have Street Fighter 2 then definitely. (Sorry, I'm an SF fan). But if you aren't into Street Fighting games, then by all means, don't! Although I can't see why you aren't a fan... Final analysis -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- GRAPH SCORE Sound effects |******************************** 80% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Music |********************************** 85% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Sprites |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Backgrounds |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Playability |*************************************** 97% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. IQ factor |********************************** 85% +___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 : Where's da bass?!? MUSIC : Souped up old SF2 music SPRITES : Nice but not smooth enough BACKGROUNDS : Extremely good BG PLAYABILITY : Need I say more? IQ. FACTOR : Good against some, suck against Ryu FUN FACTOR : Well, with 2 players. Otherwise... OVERALL GFX : Good OVERALL : Excellent in most departments IMPRESSIONS : Met my expectations. CONVERSION : 75% as good as the arcade KEN GRIFFEY JR. PRESENTS MAJOR LEAUGE BASEBALL ********************=/\=********************** .\ Stan Olson (solso@prairienet.org) TYPE ................ Sports FORMAT .............. SNES DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER . Nintendo/Software Creations RELEASE ............. April 1994 PRICE ............... $49.95 SIZE ................ 16 megabit LEVELS .............. ??? DIFFICULTY .......... Easy to Hard (depends on auto-fielding) PLAYERS ............. One/two simultaneous EXTRA INFO .......... n/a Over the last 2 years, game programmers and baseball fans have looked at the baseball games for the SNES and decided it was time to stop messing around and develop a realistic baseball game. There are so many features in Ken Griffey Jr. MLB, I don't know where to get started! The AI of the game is unreal. Instead of the computer waiting after the ball has past them, they go for the ball as soon as it is hit, jumping, diving, whatever they have to do to help their team win the game. In other games I have played, the realism wasn't there. Either the ball didn't go fast enough, the players didn't run right, or the computer didn't know what a baseball was! In Ken Griffey Jr. MLB, all of the realism is there. If a player hits a deep drive to center field and it looks like it will just barely go over the wall, you can climb the wall and try to catch the ball. Another great feature is you can play in all 28 stadiums in Ken Griffey Jr. MLB. The field is realistic like the real thing: astro-turf or grass, the color of the wall, the distances to the wall, etc. Another cool feature is the auto- fielding. This option controls your fielders so you don't really have to worry about fielding. You can also turn on manage only option to just act as the manager. There are 4 different choices on Ken Griffey Jr. MLB. The first is the single game option. Using 1 or 2 players you can pick any team to play and any stadium to play in. The second is the all- star option. This allows you either to play the all-star game or lets you participate in the homerun derby. The third option is the world series. Here you can play in the world series without having to play a full season. The last option is the full season option. You can choose between a 26, 78, or 162 game season. In the 162 game season you get to play the all-star game in the middle of the season. There are some minor flaws that I have seen in the game. There should be more sound effects. I don't know if they ran out of room or just plain overlooked it, but there should have been more. Another little thing is there are no errors, whether you have auto-fielding on or off. Also, they should have gotten the MLBPA license instead of just the MLB. They probably just got the MLB license to keep the price low. I also think they could have added a feature to let you scroll around inside of the stadium. They went to a lot of trouble to make the parks and too bad you can't just look at them without having to hit a homerun!! Overall, Ken Griffey Jr. MLB is a great realistic baseball game that needs little improvement. At $49.95 retail and at many stores for $39, this game is a great buy! Final analysis -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- GRAPH SCORE Sound effects |******************** 50% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Music |********************************** 85% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Sprites |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Backgrounds |************************************** 95% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. Playability |************************************ 90% +___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I. IQ factor |******************** 50% +___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 : Nothing too spectacular, needs much more. MUSIC : Great music for the right moments. SPRITES : Big and animated. They look realistic. BACKGROUNDS : The stadiums are great and match the real ones. PLAYABILITY : Pretty good once you get used to it. IQ. FACTOR : A bit of skill is required FUN FACTOR : Lots of it for a long time! OVERALL GFX : Excellent! OVERALL : Great! Will be pretty hard to beat! IMPRESSIONS : Great quality and animation. Will have you playing for hours!! CONVERSION : n/a INTEREST FACTOR : 90% - This games has lots of features to keep you interested a long time!! DIFFICULTY : Easy to medium, depends on skill at the game and/or if you have auto-fielding on or what team you are playing! WOULD I BUY THE GAME : Well of course!! The rental stores can't keep it in stock long enough just to rent it! OVERALL : It's one of the best baseball games available for the SNES. It will be hard to match it. It's a very realistic and animated game. MiNi REVIEWS! *****=/\=**** Game : Paladin's Quest Reviewed by : Bob Anderson (randers@mswisard.kla.com) Publisher : Enix Format : SNES Type : Role Playing Paladin's Quest is a pretty cool RPG from ENIX, who makes the Dragon Warrior series. Some people object to their kind of cartoonish characters, but I found this game extremely satisfying. The story is this: you are an apprentice magician, or spiritualist, who is dared by a friend to enter a tower in your town. Of course, you cannot refuse (maybe he DOUBLE-dared you) and you enter the tower, fight a few baddies and discover at the top.......a button. Of course, you push it (you get double-DOG-dared ) and activate the ancient machine DAL GREN. Well, you are knocked unconscious after this, and when you come to, everything in your town has been incinerated and everyone has been killed, save the elder who was training you. Now it's up to you to save the world, of course. This is a very satisfying game with an EXCELLENT story. The story unfolds by bits; it's a somber-themed apocalyptic story but it's hopeful and funny, too. You have two main characters and then you meet many others who come and go during the story. The music is also very good, sometimes bright and upbeat, and often urgent and demanding. It does what it should; it sets the tone for the action without being overbearing. Another neat thing about this is the user interface, which makes it very easy to select your next move or action without going through the sometimes clunky, multi-level, menu-based interfaces in other RPGs. Also, you can make your selections and play the game with one hand, leaving the other free for mapping (or whacking off.) My only complaint about this game was that it was too short. Great game - if you like RPGs, you should definitely play it! 饗컴� The Cheater's 컴컴퀭 栢栢白査栢栢魄栢栢栢 栢 栢朋白複 栢 栢 栢 栢朋幡賽 栢 栢 갚꾼栢栢璽栢栢栢査 栢껑� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 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! - For all Game Genie owners, here is an internet service you will probably find invaluable for finding codes to all of those games that you became stuck on. To learn how to use the service, email to game-genie-serv@nvc.cc.ca.us with no subject line. In the first line of your message, type: send help index quit This will send you a list of all the games which have Genie Codes on the server, as well as tell you how you can get be sent the individual codes via email! Very useful for Genie owners :) Thanks to Stan Olson for mentioning this great service. - Ken Griffey JR Major League Baseball, SNES (Game Genie) DFC3 170F 1 ball and you walk D4C3 170F 2 balls and you walk CBB3 1D2D Can't walk a player DFCE 1F0F 1 strike and you're out D4CE 1F0F 2 strikes and you're out C2BE 179D Can't strike out DF27 CFA4 Invisible baserunners D4C3 170F 2 outs and whole team is out C2A2 4D94 + C2AA 47B4 No outs except strike outs C28A-3FA7 + CBB0-4797 + C283-34D7 Computer can't score - Super Street Fighter 2, SNES (Pro Action Replay) 7E8E 5900 So you can use the following codes (must enter this one) 7E00 F014 Super Turbo speed! 7E05 3706 Cause fireballs to appear with every special move (with Ryu) 7E05 DA0x Change character (use different values of x) 7E08 110x Change 2nd character (the above is for player 1) 7E08 2A00 Do special moves while jumping (player 2) 7E05 31B0 Unlimited energy for player 2 7E07 71B0 Unlimited energy for player 1 7E06 A008 Instant sonic boom (no need to charge up) for player 1 7E08 E008 Instant sonic boom (no need to charge up) for player 2 7E06 B808 Instant flash kick (no need to charge up) for player 1 7E08 F808 Instant flash kick (no need to charge up) for player 2 - Wolfenstein, Jaguar (built in) For a music test, press the hash (#) key while the spinning sphere is displayed. To exit, press * and # together For a level select, turn the machine off and then on again. On the menu screen, move to the 'new game' selection and press 1-3-7-9. Select your level! For god mode, and other goodies, reset the game and go to the start menu. Start a game as usual, and press 4-6-6-8 for GOD mode (invincible!), 4-9-9-6 for maximum ammo, 4-7-8-6 to skip the level, and 4-8-8-7 for the debugging info! 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 갚꾼栢栢魄栢栢輹栢栢百栢栢白 栢朋栢栢栢査栢栢昉굅 栢 栢 栢査� 査朋� 栢朋百栢 栢査� 査� 栢栢輻査栢栢朋� 栢朋百栢 栢査� 栢 査� 栢 栢査� 査朋栢栢� 栢朋� 栢査栢栢� 饗컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴퀭 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 upgradeable to 32, power supply, and com I/O pass-through. $200 ono 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 (BBS) 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: . 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! . Stan Olson for his excellent review . Cyphron for a cool SSF2 review . Jarrod Day for the moves for the MK2 move guide . Micheal Delaney for the 3DO release list . Bob Anderson for the first ever 'mini' review! . YOU for reading the magazine! * Unless otherwise indicated, all articles are written by Gordon Craick. That's about it from the fifth issue of Frontier! Look out for issue six out (hopefully!) in October... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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 THEREOF. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-