News! Getcha News heahh!!!! ... ... Funny.. It's very hard to type with a Boston accent... .. but I digress... .. Well gamers, let's try to find some interesting tidbits for you to nibble on for another issue.
DataEast and Capcom have been going at each others throats for a time now. The issue is all about how Capcom believes DataEast is stepping a little too close to Street Fighter 2 cash cow with DataEast's own Fighter's History. The judge, however, has come down on the side of Data East and it's full fireballs ahead. Capcom's request for an injunction against DataEast has fallen on deaf ears it would seem. Capcom, however, is betting heavily on their SNES and Genesis versions of 'Super' SF2 that will be released this summer.
A teaser - Gamers, your humble editor's prayers have been answered. I can't feed you the details yet but the angelic news from above has come at last - LODE RUNNER LIVES!! Yes, this editor's all-time favorite game on any platform, the game that has been crying out for a sequel/re-make for over 5 years now, the game that has caused more sleepless nights that even Civilization is coming back! And it's coming back in style. I can't divulge who it's coming from yet (working on getting their permission now.. .), but rest assured it's a HIGHLY reputable developer and it's going to retain the pure 'soul' of Lode Runner while undergoing a major facelift, sporting brand-new high-res graphics, the now-obvious high-quality sound support, and support for today's real peripherals like mice. Loderunner fanatics will know like I that it's a futile exercise to try to run the floppy-only version of circa-1983 Lode runner on a 486/66 machine. Watch for the big return in the late summer time-frame (I'm guessing August).
Alas, we wait at least another month or so for Mech Warrior 2...
CH Products engineers are burning some midnight oil now preparing for the release of their rudder pedals to go head-to-head with the Thrustmaster offering (RCS). I like competition. Everybody wins by having better and better products developed. CH is also working on their throttle stick as well, but it remains further out in the year. A Virtual Pilot Pro is also in the works (more buttons, a hat).
Baseball is now in full swing and there's plenty get excited about. Micro Sports is very close to releasing their latest creation - Pro League Baseball '93. Since the first version, the Holt crew have been very busy upgrading and increasing both the graphical look and feel of the game and the underlying engine. Watch for it to show imminently. Pat Cook is hard at work in the midst of Front Page Sports: Baseball and it's reported that we can look forward to Hardball 4 later this summer or early fall. Mum's still the word on whether we'll see Tony La Russa III anytime soon. I would lay odds for opening day, 1995 if I were a bettin' man.
I'm starting to get some early indications that one of the most unique and startling new programs we can expect this fall Christmas season is the long-awaited sequel to Shadow President. This second generation product from D.C. True sports the unlikely name - Cyber Judas. This game takes the concept of Sim-President/Foreign Policy to the next level by adding intrigue. Someone on your staff is a traitor and while 'running the world', you also have to figure out who's trying to do you in. And graphics? Woah.. The game is being rendered on $100K Silicon Graphics workstations using Gameware graphics which are nothing short of mind- blowing. Watch for this one, gamers. I think you're gonna be impressed!
Mallard Software is precariously poised to plummet off the precipice... (I enjoyed that... did you?). The money isn't flowing, the products aren't shipping, and the employees aren't hanging around for the fun of it, so it appears that we might be looking for a new publisher for Wesson's Tower product and other flight-sim adjuncts. The final nail isn't in the coffin so we'll keep you posted.
This article is Copyright (C) 1994 by Ross Erickson for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.