ST Report: 22-Sep-95 #1138
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 09/30/95-11:39:16 PM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 22-Sep-95 #1138
Date: Sat Sep 30 23:39:16 1995
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From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
A number of interesting incidents occurred in the last few weeks that
have led to some exciting developments for both our readers and STReport.
STReport had been granted some room on a server site thus the WEB Pages
and Domain Name. Much to our chagrin, we discovered through a series of
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email, (one was changed with any warning!), had become common knowledge
among a number of individuals associated with the site holder. As a
result, we decided to pull our files and acquire our own site. After all,
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lines and site. The new site is already under construction it will be a
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line ISDN hookup. This reporter was appalled at the rates the local ISP s
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STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #38
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
-/- Net Wags Dream Up New 'Viruses' -/-
The latest let's-pretend pastime on the Net has been dreaming up
new kinds of computer viruses. The Washington Post this morning sampled
a few of them. For instance:
-:- Oprah Winfrey virus: "Your 200 megabyte hard drive suddenly
shrinks to 80 megabytes, and then slowly expands back to 200."
-:- Politically correct virus: "Never identifies itself as a
'virus.' Prefers 'electronic micro-organism.'"
-:- Adam and Eve virus: "Takes a couple of bytes out of your
Apple."
-:- Ted Turner virus: "Colorizes your monochrome monitor."
-:- Government economist virus: "Nothing works, but all your
diagnostic software says everything is fine."
-:- Federal bureaucrat virus: "Divides your hard disk into
hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but
all of which claim to be the most important part of your computer."
-/- Sides Agree on New CD Standard -/-
In Tokyo, two competing industry alliances have put aside their
differences and agreed to standardize on a single high-capacity CD
standard.
The next generation disc will be able to store feature-length
movies, music and computer data. The standard calls for a maximum
capacity of 4.7GB, compared to the approximately 600MB capacity offered
by current generation CD-ROMs.
The pact brings together Sony and Philips, which supported the
MMCD format, and Toshiba, Time-Warner and several other companies,
which backed the competing SD standard.
The as-yet unnamed new format, an extension of current CD
technology, integrates all of the technical requirements set forth by
both the computer industry's Technical Working Group and the Motion
Picture Advisory Committee. It offers forward and backward
compatibility with current industry CD and CD-ROM standards.
"This new high density CD format will address all consumer and
industry needs for a single music, game, motion picture and multimedia
platform." says Michael P. Schulhof, president and CEO of Sony
Corporation of America.
The alliance allows the industry to sidestep a repeat of the VHS
versus Betamax format war, which confused and frustrated many VCR
shoppers.
-/- Netscape Offers Net Publishing -/-
Hoping to get a jump on Microsoft Corp., Netscape Communications
Corp. is set to introduce new software that gives electronic publishing
capability to users of Internet's World Wide Web.
Reporting from Mountain View, California, United Press
International says the new Netscape Navigator Gold 2.0, which will
enable users to create home pages and other multimedia offerings, will
be available for free on the Internet at the end of October and go on
sale in January.
The program is an enhanced version of the company's Netscape
Navigator 1.0 "browser" program.
UPI notes, "The company currently has three-quarters of the
Web-browsing market. But it could soon face competition from Microsoft,
which plans to introduce a set of publishing tools for the Internet
next year."
Netscape also has announced two other programs, an enhancement of
the current Netscape Navigator aimed at businesses and one that
includes a relational database.
-/- Security Flaw Found in Netscape -/-
Two graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley
have found a serious security flaw in Netscape Communications Corp.'s
Internet web browser, jeopardizing data such as credit-card numbers
that users pass over the Net.
The company acknowledges the flaw and said it is issuing a
software fix, "but," reporter Jared Sandberg of The Wall Street Journal
observes this morning, "as is often the case with Internet security, it
may take time for users to adopt the fix, leaving them vulnerable
meanwhile."
Associated Press writer Nancy Mayer says students Ian Goldberg,
22, and David Wagner, 21, determined a knowledgeable computer user
could break Netscape's coding system in less than a minute. The
findings were published in the "Cypherpunks" Internet group Sunday
evening, where mathematicians and programmers routinely discuss
cryptography.
Netscape Marketing Vice President Mike Homer told AP last night,
"We regularly monitor these newsgroups and, when we saw it, we had our
engineers work on it immediately."
He added the company will release a repaired version of the
software within a week that can be downloaded from its World Wide Web
site (at Web address http://home.netscape.com).
Homer said the company was not aware of any security breaches
among the program's some 8 million users. Thousands of companies use
Netscape software for advertising and sales. Some use the programs to
check bank balances and for catalog shopping. "Customers give their
credit card numbers to companies that provide online services so they
can be billed automatically each month," Mayer notes.
Meanwhile, Dietrich Kappe, a partner with Red Planet L.L.C., an
Chicago Internet consulting firm, told the Journal the flaw is "a very
big trapdoor. You can drive a truck through it. Somebody goofed" at
Netscape.
The Journal reports, "Netscape uses so-called symmetric key
cryptography to scramble sensitive data so that they are unreadable by
hackers snooping on the network. That key is essentially a mathematical
formula so long that it makes it impractical for hackers to crack, even
with powerful computers."
However, Goldberg and Wagner told readers of Cyberpunks that the
random number that generates the mathematical key was "fairly trivial
to guess" and that the key "usually takes less than one minute to
find."
Says Sandberg, "Rather than try to break the encryption 'key,' the
two graduate students examined the so-called 'random number generator'
and discovered that the number isn't so random, allowing them to guess
the encryption key. It took the two students ... two days to identify
the vulnerability and write a software program that could guess the
encryption key in less than one minute."
At Netscape, Jeffrey Treuhaft, security product manager, told the
paper, "The information we were using to create the key is now a known
set of information. We feel it's important to let our consumers know."
As reported earlier, Netscape also sells a far stronger version of
the program that includes 128-bit key length, but is prevented by the
government from distributing it on the Internet. The government fears
that such strong encryption could fall into the hands of terrorists who
might use it to communicate without fear of being tapped by U.S.
security agencies. "Security experts, however, noted that the same
problem exists with the stronger software," the Journal says.
-/- CompuServe Starts CD-ROM Database -/-
CompuServe has launched a new database called CDROMBase Online as
a searchable directory of more than 9,300 CD-ROMs, including
descriptions and pricing information.
The resource, including titles from some 1,800 publishers, details
discs that run on Windows, Macintosh, DOS and 11 other platforms, with
prices ranging from $4.95 to more than $50,000 per year.
Rich Bowers, co-founder/director of the Optical Publishing
Association, compiled CDROMBase Online. (When Bowers created the first
directory of CD-ROM products in 1986, there were 42 titles listed.)
Says Bowers, "CDROMBase Online is one of a kind. It's the largest
and most complete database of CD-ROM titles available to the general
public. Putting it online with CompuServe makes the database easily
accessible while allowing for frequent updates. Our plan in 1996 is to
expand coverage of CD-ROM products available outside North America."
To reach the database, GO CDROM.
-/- Survey Finds Online Interest Up -/-
A national phone survey of households with annual incomes of
$35,000 or more found record levels of online service usage and plans
to add online access capabilities.
In a statement from Princeton, New Jersey, Response Analysis Corp.
reports more than 60 percent of the households surveyed have at least
one PC; 38 percent report having data or fax modems, 18 percent use
online services, and 10 percent access the Internet.
Based on consumer plans, Response Analysis says it expects a 20
percent increase in online service users in the next 12 months.
However, the online gender gap still is wide: Only 42 percent of
online households identify a female user, while over 80 percent
identify a male.
RAC Vice President Raymond Boggs identified "three inhibiting
factors that could dampen the enthusiasm of prospective and current
users," including:
-:- "Fear of Nerding." Curiosity about online services "can be
offset by concern about the commitment required to be a successful
user," the statement says. "Consumers desiring to be online literate
are sometimes discouraged by the effort they think is necessary to
negotiate the Net."
-:- "Post-Traumatic Web Syndrome." Once people go online, they may
find the experience less than satisfying. "Some consumers enjoy the
challenge of independent Web-browsing," the statement comments, "but a
growing number are more interested in the destination than the voyage.
Online dropouts (rather than Nerd converts) are the inevitable result
of user frustration."
-:- "Windows 95 Overload." Regarding the addition of the online
Microsoft Network to Microsoft's new operating system, the pollsters
say, "Rather than just add online capabilities, consumers must consider
whether to upgrade to the new operating system, whether to use the
built-in MSN access, and maybe even whether to upgrade existing
hardware. These considerations may cause potential online customers to
delay making any decision at all."
Boggs also commented, "We know that virtually all computers sold
at retail over the past five years are equipped with modems, yet only
half of PC households are aware that they even have one." He says he
expects "modem consciousness" to increase as more households acquire
PCs for the express purpose of going online.
-/- Intel Plans New Chip Sites -/-
Intel Corp. has announced plans to build a new research and light
manufacturing facility in DuPont, Washington, approximately 50 miles
south of Seattle.
The facility will be Intel's first new U.S. site since it
announced the creation of its Folsom, California, campus in 1985.
The company plans to begin building on the 192-acre site as soon
as all necessary permits, contracts and agreements are approved. Phase
One of the project will include a manufacturing facility and office
building at an estimated cost of $50 million to $100 million. Intel
hopes to begin operating the manufacturing facility by June 1996.
Intel expects to have approximately 1,200 employees at the DuPont
site by the end of 1996. Total site employment could reach 6,000 within
five years. Approximately 70 percent of the employees will be devoted
to research and development, with the balance dedicated to
manufacturing computer systems for the OEM market.
"With personal computer units projected to grow to 100 million
units annually before the end of the decade, we need to take steps to
assure that Intel can meet the demands of this rapidly expanding
market," says Craig Barrett, Intel's executive vice president and chief
operating officer.
-/- Fujitsu to Boost PC Outlets -/-
Look for Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. to try to boost its PC sales by
expanding its sales outlets from 3,500 currently to 5,000 next year.
In Tokyo, Fujitsu officials told the French Agence France-Press
International News Service the company also planned to boost its share
of the domestic personal computer market from the current 10 percent to
35 percent.
A spokeswoman told the wire service, "Our products were mainly
corporate-use oriented before, but now we are targeting individual
computer users."
AFP says Fujitsu produced 450,000 PCs in the year to March and has
targeted output at 1.3 million units for the current year, although the
spokeswoman says the firm actually may produce as many as 1.5 million
units. She noted production in the three months to June came to 213,000
units.
-/- New HP Printers Make Debut -/-
Hewlett-Packard Co. today announced two new printers -- a
high-performance personal laser printer that will sell for less than
$500 and a mobile ink-jet printer featuring wireless printing
capabilities.
The HP LaserJet 5L, which replaces the current LaserJet 4L
printer, is expected to sell for about $479. It features a 600 by 600
dots per inch (dpi) output resolution and HP's PrintSmart, a new
software suite that aims to optimize printing within Windows.
The HP DeskJet 340, which is expected to sell for less than $300,
is the industry's first notebook printer to support wireless printing;
it replaces the DeskJet 320 printer. The product features an infrared
capability for wireless printing, a 30-page sheet feeder for improved
portability and paper handling, and a higher-capacity ink cartridge.
The DeskJet 340 prints black text at a 600 by 300 dpi resolution
with HP's Resolution Enhancement technology. Customers who want color
printing can purchase the HP ColorKit for approximately $39. Users snap
in the color cartridge in exchange for the black cartridge when they
want to print in color.
-/- Seagate to Buy Rival Conner -/-
Disk driver maker Seagate Technology Inc. has agreed to buy arch
rival Conner Peripherals Inc. in a stock swap observers say is valued
at about $1.04 billion.
In The Wall Street Journal this morning, writer Charles McCoy says
the proposed transaction, subject to due diligence and regulatory
approval, would combine two of the four largest makers of disk drives
and other computer-memory components.
"It would make Seagate, already the world's largest drive maker in
terms of revenues and its most consistently profitable performer, an
even more powerful competitor," McCoy observes, "expanding its market
share and broadening its product line."
He quotes analysts as saying the two companies' combined share of
global drive shipments currently stands at about 35 percent.
The paper describes the deal as a surprise and "full of ironies,"
noting that Conner has been "lagging lately because of product snafus
and other problems."
Recent rumors have named Samsung Electronics Inc. or IBM as making
a possible take-over bid. "Seagate wasn't considered a prospective
buyer," the Journal says, "in part because of the bitter rivalry
between the two companies and their leaders."
Conner founder/chairman Finis Conner helped start Seagate, but
left to form his own company in the late 1970s after a falling out
with Seagate's co-founder/chairman Alan Shugart.
"Since then, the two companies have been slugging it out in one of
the most fiercely competitive businesses going," writes McCoy, "and
friends of both say the rivalry at times became personal."
Analyst Todd Bakar of Hambrecht & Quist told the paper, "Conner
and Seagate have been archenemies for years, and to see Conner and
Seagate getting together like this is a little bit of a shock."
The Journal says Seagate proposes swapping 0.442 of a share of its
stock for each of the roughly 52.2 million Conner shares outstanding.
Analysts characterized the deal as part of a bold strategy by
Seagate to diversify and, says the Journal, "to essentially impose
consolidation on the disk-drive industry, which is notorious for savage
price competition that has led to sharp swings in earnings and stock
prices."
-/- Suit Challenges Net Anonymity -/-
Anonymity in cyberspace is being challenged by a Caribbean resort
owner and a scuba instructor who claim they were defamed online. They
are asking a judge to force America Online to reveal the name of a
subscriber so they can sue the person for libel.
If Arnold Bowker and John Joslin are successful in obtaining the
name, "it could have serious implications for millions of people who
use (online services) to think, write and debate in a world where they
are identified by their ideas, not their names," says Associated Press
writer Brian Bergstein.
Daniel Weitzner, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and
Technology in Washington, told Bergstein he and his colleagues fear a
morass of court cases to try to hold computer users accountable for
what they say anonymously online.
"What this case brings up," Weitzner said, "is the specter of
millions of libel suits every time there's a disagreement. ... I think
it's a critical issue."
AP says the motion filed in Chicago's Cook County Circuit Court
charges Bowker's dive shop at the Carib Inn in Bonaire, Netherlands
Antilles, and instructor Joslin were defamed by a message posted on an
AOL bulletin board for scuba divers by a user identified as "Jenny
TRR," who in June wrote that she had a bad experience while learning to
dive at the Carib Inn with an instructor who she alleged used drugs.
Said the note, "Since I'm a little new diving needless to say
diving with a stoned instructor was a little scary. ... I won't mention
his name but he's the only white instructor there."
Lawrence Levin, the attorney for Bowker and Joslin, said a
frequent visitor to the Carib Inn told Bowker about the allegations,
adding that much of the inn's business depends on communication with
customers via computer.
Says AP, "When Bowker investigated the charges made by Jenny TRR
and found them untrue, he posted a message on the same bulletin board
rebutting them and asking Jenny TRR to recant, Levin said. When no
apology came, Bowker decided to sue for damages, claiming his business
had suffered. But first he must find out the identity of Jenny TRR."
Levin commented, "The person who used this abused the privilege of
being able to communicate with people worldwide. ... This has serious
repercussions for businesses."
-/- Two Charged With Cracking Tower -/-
Two California computerists have been indicted on federal charges
they cracked the computers of Tower Video stores nationwide and
collected information on 2,000 credit card accounts.
Reporting from Sacramento, United Press International quotes
federal prosecutors as saying the two -- Terry Patrick Ewing, 21, of
Berkeley, and Michael Yu Kim, 20, of Los Angeles, indicted on
conspiracy, fraud and willful destruction of computer information --
collected private account information on customers from California to
Pennsylvania.
If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison and $250,000
fine.
Authorities allege that between April and August, Ewing and Kim
used their PCs to invade a computer network used by Tower Video stores,
creating a file of credit card information on 2,000 Tower Video
customers.
The indictment says the pair attempted to cover their tracks by
deleting log files used for security. UPI notes court documents don't
allege whether the men actually used the information.
"While the Sacramento Tower Video store was the primary target of
the hackers," says the wire service, "stores in Berkeley, Las Vegas,
New Orleans and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, were also hit."
UPI says the alleged scam was discovered by the computer company
in July, prompting an investigation by local law enforcement, the U.S.
Secret Service, FBI, and U.S. Attorney's Office. A raid on the men's
Berkeley home uncovered 2,000 Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American
Express account files, investigators said.
-/- Radius Slashes Workforce -/-
Radius Inc. says it has reduced its worldwide workforce by
approximately 20 percent.
The Sunnyvale, California-based company says the cuts were needed
to align costs with current market conditions.
"We need to streamline the company and improve operational
efficiency given the reduced margins that are characteristic of today's
personal computer market," says Charles Berger, Radius' chairman and
CEO.
Of Radius' approximately 430 employees worldwide, approximately
90 positions were eliminated from all areas of the company, says a
statement issued by the company.
Radius designs and markets Macintosh OS-based computers and
graphics products for Macintosh and Windows systems. The Mac OS-based
systems are built for Radius by IBM Corp.
-/- Apple Warns of Low Profits -/-
Fourth-quarter profits "significantly below" analysts'
expectations are being predicted by Apple Computer Inc., which says its
income has been dragged down in part by a component shortage and new
product delays.
Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research on average had
predicted earnings of $1.04 a share, business writer Catalina Ortiz of
The Associated Press reported this morning.
"It's disappointing, certainly," analyst John Girton of Van
Kasper & Co. in San Francisco said. Until yesterday, he had forecast
97 cents per share profit, but he lowered that to 51 cents after
studying the company's statement.
"They've been growing in the 20 percent (range) and this will
suggest their growth will certainly dip below that," Girton told AP.
"That could hurt Apple's attempt to boost its share of the
personal computer market," Ortiz comments. (Last year, the company's
share of the worldwide market fell to 8.3 percent, according to
Dataquest Inc.)
Apple said in a brief statement that demand for its PCs remains
strong and that production will increase compared to the fourth quarter
of last year. However, it predicted total shipments, revenue and gross
margins will be hurt by component availability, product delays and
pricing pressures on its older products. The company will report
results for its fiscal fourth quarter in mid-October.
Ortiz observes Apple also has underestimated demand for the Power
Macintosh, a new line intended to compete against PCs using Intel Corp.
chips and Microsoft Corp. software.
Said Girton, "It's fairly well known they've been behind in
production, so it's not a great surprise. The hope has been that they'd
rise to the challenge and increase their production in a timely
fashion, and they haven't been able to do that, apparently."
AP quotes Apple as also saying it has stopped shipments of its
recently announced PowerBook 5300 portable computer because of safety
problems with the lithium ion battery.
"Within the past week," says the wire service, "cells within
batteries in two PowerBooks at Apple got hot enough to cause flames and
damage the machines.... Fewer than 1,000 of the new computers have
shipped since their Aug. 28 introduction, and only a few hundred have
reached consumers."
Company spokeswoman Lisa Byrne said Apple is contacting purchasers
and is replacing the lithium ion batteries with replacement nickel
metal hydride ones.
-/- AT&T Restructures GIS, Cuts Jobs -/-
AT&T Corp. is preparing to slice as many as 10,000 jobs from its
computer operation, charging $1.2 billion against earnings to pay for
the move, reports The Wall Street Journal, which adds that the company
may eventually get out of the PC business altogether.
The job cuts, representing 20 percent of AT&T's computer
workforce, are part of a major restructuring at AT&T's Global
Information Solutions Inc. unit, the former NCR Corp.
An AT&T spokeswoman had no comment on the report.
"Now facing a multibillion-dollar showdown with the Bell
companies, which plan to attack its long-distance market, AT&T may come
to view GIS as an expensive distraction it can no longer afford,"
states the Journal.
The newspaper notes that Dayton, Ohio, where NCR was founded more
than a century ago, will bear the brunt of the cuts. "The once-thriving
center of the world's retail and banking system market, Dayton can no
longer count on the successor of the mighty National Cash Register Co.
to keep it flush with tax revenue," reports the Journal.
-/- Missing Youth's Mom Still Hopes -/-
The mother of a Maryland 10-year-old whose disappearance prompted
a two-year national FBI investigation of child pornography online hopes
this week's dozen arrests will shed new light on what has happened to
her son.
"At least something good is happening out of this," Barbara
Burdynski told Jon Jeter of The Washington Post.
The FBI probe has not yielded any new clues into the case of
George Stanley "Junior" Burdynski, who disappeared in May 1993 from his
Prince George's County neighborhood while riding his bicycle. The FBI
suspect he was lured by computer pedophiles. The boy was never found.
Mrs. Burdynski told The Post that FBI agents say they will
question the people they have arrested about her son and will check
their computers for information about her son. "They specifically told
me if it wasn't for the investigation of Junior's disappearance, they
wouldn't be able to do this," she said. "He's a hero."
As reported yesterday, the FBI arrested a dozen people accused of
trading in child pornography by computer networks, and more arrests are
expected. Federal authorities say their probe monitored America Online
to catch suspects distributing child pornography, as well as those
alleged to be arranging sex with children. AOL cooperated with the
federal agents, who said the online service itself was not under
investigation.
Authorities say the disappearances of Junior Burdynski prompted
the undercover investigation, which it dubbed "Innocent Images."
"I wish I could get a resolution, something," Mrs. Burdynski told
the Post. "You can't go on for the rest of your life wondering.
Sometimes I think it's slowly driving me crazy. I have to stay busy,
or I get very depressed." She added that the FBI investigation "is what
keeps me going."
Jeter says the search for Junior Burdynski led police to "a ring
of pedophiles who preyed on boys from the Brentwood neighborhood where
Junior lived."
Says the paper, "Although no one has been charged with the boy's
abduction, detectives discovered that Junior and his friends spent time
at the Winchester, Virginia, and Hyattsville homes of James A. Kowalski,
64. Junior was one of several children who had used Kowalski's
computer, playing video games and sending electronic messages to
others, according to law enforcement sources and the boy's mother."
Sources told the paper the exchanges typically were innocuous,
"but Kowalski also used the network to boast about his sexual exploits
with children and to send obscene images of nude children to other
network users, including his friend Stephen B. Leak, according to
sources. Although neither man has been charged in Junior's
disappearance, both subsequently were convicted of multiple charges of
child abuse and pornography and sentenced to jail."
Meanwhile, in The Wall Street Journal this morning, reporters
Jared Sandberg and Glenn R. Simpson note this week's porn crackdown
"has inflamed the debate over whether new laws are needed and has
confronted America Online Inc. with a hazardous public-relations
dilemma."
The writers observed that the raids have drawn praise from both
sides of the current cyberporn debate, "jockeying for sound bites."
Sen. James Exon, who has sponsored a tough proposal for trying to
regulate online speech, said in a statement the arrests "illustrate the
growing problem of computer pornography," renewing his call for "more
stringent laws" to "punish those who transmit indecent material over
computer networks where children have open access."
Jerry Berman of the Center for Democracy and Technology, countered
the crackdown shows new laws aren't needed at all. Said Berman, "The
good news is something can be done about this. We hope this will frame
the debate and convince Congress we don't need the kind of blunderbuss
approach advocated by Sen. Exon."
-/- Democrats' Health Data Stolen -/-
(Shades of WaterGate!!)
From Washington comes word that a computer containing Democratic
data on health care legislation has vanished, apparently stolen, from
the office of a senior congressional staff member.
A committee official told the Reuter News Service the desktop
computer was taken during working hours on Tuesday from the office of
the top Democratic staff expert on the health subcommittee of the House
Ways and Means Committee.
"Republicans on the panel are drafting controversial Medicare
legislation, strongly opposed by the Democrats, that is supposed to be
made public shortly," the wire service noted.
Democratic Ways and Means spokeswoman Ellen Dadisman told the wire
service, "We're very distressed," adding the committee did not have
backups for all the most recent information. She said the entire
computer, including the monitor and mouse, was taken.
-/- Organization Warns of Net Perils -/-
New figures from the Computer Security Institute reveal that the
Internet can be a dangerous place for businesses.
According to the San Francisco-based organization's 1995 Internet
Security Survey, one out of every five Net sites has suffered a
security breach. Additionally, while almost 40 percent of Net sites
don't have a security firewall in place, 30 percent of breaches
occurred after a firewall was installed.
Despite the less-than-foolproof protection offered by firewalls,
CSI estimates that sales of the anti-hacker software will grow from
$1.1 billion in 1995 to $16.2 billion in 2000.
-/- Magazine Claims Win95 Email Flawed -/-
A computer magazine is reporting it has found a flaw in Windows
95's electronic mail feature that "can leave proprietary data
unprotected." However, Win95 publisher Microsoft Corp. says it isn't a
bug, but a feature.
At the heart of the issue is the Exchange "universal inbox" that
comes with the new operating system. In a statement from Manhasset, New
York, CMP's Windows Magazine says "a security problem" in Exchange
"means that budget reports, salary information, personnel files,
confidential company documents and more, can be left vulnerable to
exposure and theft."
MS Exchange is an option that allows users to handle MS-Mail,
faxes and email from CompuServe, Microsoft Network and the Internet,
among other capabilities. "It is so attractive," says the magazine's
statement, "that many people who are installing Windows 95 are
converting their current email files to MS Exchange. And this is where
the problem lies."
Editorial Director Fred Langa comments in the statement,
"Exchange, as it turns out, has a security hole that gapes so wide that
literally all your electronic mail may be at risk. You can close the
hole, but if you aren't aware of it, you'd be in for a very nasty
surprise."
When Win95 users convert their old email to the Exchange format,
he said, they are "fooled" into thinking that Exchange will use their
old password to protect their new email.
"Wrong," warns Langa. "If you're using Exchange's default
settings, chances are any of your co-workers can walk up to you machine
and gain access to your 'private' email account with no special
hacking, cracking or other knowledge required. By default, there's
effectively no protection at all. Even though Exchange asks you for
your old password, the software doesn't use the password to protect
your files."
Langa commented this isn't the first time Microsoft has shipped a
product whose default behavior caused security problems.
"A while back," he said, "Windows Magazine discovered and reported
that a default setting in Word 6.0 meant Word files sent electronically
could unexpectedly carry all kinds of possibly embarrassing or
confidential data along with them. When asked about the security hole,
Microsoft told us it really was a feature, not a bug, and the default
settings were just fine."
Microsoft is saying the same thing about the Exchange
characteristic that Windows Magazine is terming a "security gap."
The magazine said Win95 users who want to change the password
setting must do so manually.
Says Langa, "Even if you think you're password-protected, go to
Exchange's Tools/Services menu, select the Personal Folder file (or
whatever it's named on your system) and click on Properties. Now click
on Change Password, enter a new password. Finally, make sure the 'Save
this password' box is not checked."
> Adaptec 294x FAQ STR InfoFile
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
AHA-294X COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q: Why wouldn't an AHA-2940 BIOS banner be displayed when installing the
AHA-2940?
A: Either the board is not in a bus mastering slot, or the PCI slot is not
enabled for bus mastering in the CMOS setup. Check your motherboard
manual to find out if the slot is bus mastering, or how to enable bus
mastering for that slot.
Q: On boot-up I get the error message "Host Adapter Configuration Error."
A: In CMOS setup, enable IRQ for the PCI slot. Alternatively, you can
mark
one of the IRQs as free. Be aware that there may be an IRQ conflict
with a built-in controller on the motherboard. For CMOS settings,
refer
to your PC user's manual.
Q: On boot-up I get a message "BIOS installed Successfully", but my system
hangs.
A: Verify that the CMOS interrupt structure is set to "INTA" and the CMOS
IRQ level matches the jumper setting on the motherboard. Refer to your
PC user's manual.
Q: When I invoke the <Ctrl>-A option, the message "Can not locate host
adapter" is displayed.
A: Update the AHA-2940 BIOS to version 1.11 (checksum 8200). If you have
an EPROM burner, download the file 2940.EXE from the BBS. Otherwise,
call Adaptec Technical Support at (408)-934-7274.
Q: My Intel P90 system hangs during boot-up, while displaying "Starting
MS-DOS...."
A: Contact the system vendor to obtain the latest system BIOS.
Q: When loading ASPI8DOS.SYS the system hangs, and then displays the error
message: "Read BIOS Parameter Failed."
A: Update ASPI8DOS.SYS manager to version 1.10 (EZ-SCSI 3.03).
Q: The ATI (Mach 64) video card installed with my AHA-2940 shows no video
or causes intermittent hangs during boot under DOS or Windows.
A: There are known compatibility issues between the two PCI cards.
Contact
ATI for possible resolution of these issues.
Q: The EZ-SCSI installation hangs on installing the AIC-7870.DLL driver.
A: Update to EZ-SCSI version 3.03.
Q: Upon boot-up, a 486 AMI BIOS system displays the "Device Name Not
Available" message during drive inquiry message.
A. Contact your system vendor to obtain the latest system BIOS.
Q. I heard that there is a new BIOS release for the AHA-2940. Do I need
to
upgrade my adapter?
A. The BIOS v1.11, which replaces v1.10, corrects a problem for the OPTI
chipset only. The problem prevented the user from accessing SCSI
Select
when selecting <Ctrl>-A. An error "No Host Adapter Found" will appear
after selecting <Ctrl>-A. BIOS v1.11 corrects this problem. Unless
you
have an OPTI chipset, there is no need to upgrade the BIOS.
Q. How do I determine which AHA-2940 is the primary card if I am duplexing
under Novell?
A. During boot-up, check the LED on the AHA-2940 cards to see which one
illuminates first.
Q. I recently upgraded from a previous SCSI Host Adapter to an AHA-2940
PCI
adapter and the 78xx.SYS driver. When I removed the old adapter from
the
system, I connected the hard drive to the AHA-2940 and re-booted. Now
the system will not boot. What's wrong?
A. A possible solution is that when the new driver was added to the
NTBOOTDD.SYS, the old driver was also there, and was configured to be
activated at BOOTUP time. The new driver must be set to start at
BOOTUP. This can be done in the Device section of the Control Panel.
The old driver needs to be deleted from the NTBOOTDD.SYS if the card is
no longer in the system. If the old card is still in the system but is
not controlling the boot device, choose the Service section in the
Control
Panel and select the original driver to be started at SYSTEM time not
BOOTUP.
> McAfee 2.26 STR FOCUS!
""""""""""""""""""""""
Errata for VirusScan Version 2.2.6 (9509)
Copyright 1994, 1995 by McAfee, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
These release notes cover what is new in VirusScan 2.2.6 and the
August DAT release (9509) of VirusScan for DOS, VirusScan for
Windows, VirusScan for OS/2 and VShield.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
! NOTE: OS/2 users. IF YOUR OS/2 SYSTEM IS CONNECTED TO OS/2 !
! LANMANAGER, DO NOT RUN OS/2 SCAN FROM STARTUP.CMD. DOING SO !
! COULD RESULT IN LOST DESKTOP OR OTHER UNDESIRABLE RESULTS. !
! !
! McAfee is working with IBM and with several large !
! organizations, which rely heavily on OS/2, to alleviate the !
! corruption problem. !
! !
! The temporary solution is to put VirusScan in a start up !
! group. Not in the log in script or in the start up command !
! file. !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Note for NT users:
You must add the following line in your DEFAULT.CFG and PROFILE1.PRF
file (or any other profile you have chosen to use), residing in the
same directory as WSCAN.EXE.
/NODDA
If you are not familiar with profiles, please refer to VIRUSCAN.TXT
or your printed manual.
-----------------------------------------------------
2.2.6 New Functionality:
The new VSHIELD.EXE is required for VSHIELD to make use of these new
detection strings (DAT files).
/ALL
Now understands the data format of a Microsoft Word (tm) document
file format in order to search for the new breed of Word Macro
viruses. For example:
SCAN C: /ALL /REPORT scan.rpt
------------------------------------------------------
Detectors added or updated in the 9509 DAT file (149):
_383
_383 GENERATION 1
571
_1315
2014
4SEASONS
ADIN.3026
ALAMEDA.DR.B
ALFA.3072
ARARA.1054
ASH.280.B
ASSASSIN.952
BACKFORM.2329 (2345)
BACKFORM.2365 (2381)
BCV
BEACHES
BELORUSSIA
BENGAL.863 (EXE)
BIOSPASS
BOB.448.B
BOOTKILL
BYE
CANNIBAL
CASINO.2330
CCC_381
CECE
CENTENARY
CHCC.2662
CHEMIST.265
CIVIL_IV.594
CLI&HLT.1345
CLOUDS.588
CLOUDS.657
CLOUDS.718
CREPATE
CYBERTECH.503
DAME.LAME.2326
DARK_APOCALYPSE.1020
DARK_AVENGER.G
DEI.1526 GENERATION-1
DIABLO
DIAMOND.DAVID
DREAMER.4808
DRUID.311
DSU.1414
DUAL_GTM.1528
ESPEJO.A
ESPEJO.C
ESTO TE PASA
EXEBUG.A
FAILLURE
FAXFREE.BLINKER
FEEBLEMIND
FRED-657
FF_CHAR.1000
FRED-657
GAMBLER.288
GARDEN
GREEN
HATES.212
HLLO.CVIR.2
HS.903
HS.982
ICELANDIC.2706 (EXE)
ISTANBUL.1349
IVP 365
IVP.683
JERUSALEM.MOCTEZUMA
JESTER.1258
KEYPRESS.BBS.1258
LEPROSY.LUBEC
LITTLE.GIRL.1008
MARAWI.2828
MASSACRE
MING.359
MIRROR.2
MURTI.577
N-XERAM
NATAS.G (MBR)
NARCOSIS
NEUROQUILA.A (MBR)
NEUROQUILA.B (MBR)
NEUROQUILA.VARIENT (MBR)
NIGHT_KNIGHT
NR.300
OVERRIDE
PARITY.BOOT.ENC
PARITY.BOOT.UNE
PEANUT.443
PEANUT.453
PIA
PJ.VARIES
PLAYGAME.A
POSSESSED.2443
PS-MPC.MOM.974
PS-MPC.TRAIN.646
PURE.441.B
PURE.441.CAV
RADISH.8466
RETRIBUTION
RIOT.MULTIPLEX.815
RMNS.456
RMNS.651
RMNS.736
RMNS.736.B
RMNS.MAN
RMNS.WOMAN
RUSSIAN_FLAG.A
SANDY
SAROV.1140
SATURDAY_14TH_2
SCREAMING_FIST.927 (MBR)
SHUTDOWN.698
SIGN.615
SILLYC.126
SLOFTXC
SLUKNOV
SPLIT SECOND 1033
SPLIT SECOND 1035
STRANGER
TALON
TELECO.1000
THIEF
TINY_SHARK
TPE-GEN
TRIVIAL.24
TRIVIAL.25.B
TRIVIAL.31.C
TRIVIAL.54
TRIVIAL.346
TRIVIAL.B&B
VCL.2
VCL.FIRE.206
VIENNA.648.LISBON.H
VIENNA.REBOOT
VLAMIX.1
VODKA.560
VOLGA.A
VOLGA.B
VOLGA.C
VS.985
VVM.204
VVM.207
VVMA.205
WEFLOW.93
WINWORD.CONCEPT (see below)
WORDMACRO.DMV (see below)
XEP.1355
XINIX.CHAOS
Winword.Concept (alias Prank Macro, WordMacro.Concept, WW6Macro)
The new virus, Winword.Concept, representing a new class of viruses,
has been discovered! This virus is a Macro virus. It infects the
Word environment on any hardware platform (PC Compatible, Mac, PowerPC,
etc.) and its .DOC and .DOT files.
Winword.Concept is a benign virus. Your only symptom if you have this
virus is a one time occurance of a dialog box with only "1" as text and
only "OK" as a choice. Following that, it replicates a set of macros
into your global template file (usually NORMAL.DOT) and changes any
file saved using the "Save As..." command to be of the template type.
VirusScan 2.2.6 can be used to scan your .DOC and .DOT files. You must
use the /ALL switch as described above.
If you discover that you have this virus, please enter into Word and read
the .DOC file included in this package. Follow the instructions and apply
them to every .DOC or .DOT file which VirusScan detects as being infected
with the WinWord.Concept virus.
If you determine that you are not infected, please take this opportunity
to protect yourself from this form of viruses. In Word, go to:
Tools
Options...
Save
and enable the "Prompt to Save Normal.dot" option. This will alert you
to any future attempt by any macro viruses to infect your system.
WordMacro.DMV
This one was published shortly after the outbreak of WinWord.Concept.
It is not as widespread as WinWord.Concept.
----------------------------------------------------
Removers added or updated in the 9509 DAT file (74):
_1315
ALFA.3072
ALFA.3072 (MBR)
BONES
BW.MAYBERRY.ANDY.609
BYE
CAZ.722
DESPERADO.C
DIABLO
DUAL_GTM.1528
ESPEJO.B
ESPEJO.C
EXEBUG.A
FAILLURE
HATES.212
ICELANDIC.2706 (EXE)
ISTANBUL.1349
IVP.683
JERUSALEM.1808.NEW8 (COM)
JERUSALEM.1808.NEW8 (EXE)
JERUSALEM.1808.NEW8.A
JERUSALEM.CVEX3.5120.A/C
JUNE_12TH.2660
LITTLE.GIRL.1008
MANZON
MARAWI.2828
MPS-OPC2.682
N-XERAM
NEUROQUILA.A (MBR)
NEUROQUILA.B (MBR)
PARITY.BOOT.ENC
PARITY.BOOT.UNE
PEANUT.443
PEANUT.453
PS-MPC.331.A
PS-MPC.478
PS-MPC.569.D
PS-MPC.644
PS-MPC.644_
PS-MPC.ANARCHIST.524
PS-MPC.G2.585
PS-MPC.G2.MUDSHARK.314
PS-MPC.G2.MUDSHARK.314 (DROPPER)
PS-MPC.GREETINGS.1118
PS-MPC.KERSPLAT.670
PS-MPC.MAYBERRY.OPY.409
PS-MPC.MOM.974
PS-MPC.NAPOLEAN.729
PS-MPC.POWERMAN.717
PS-MPC.SAMH.441
PS-MPC.SCHRUNCH.458
PS-MPC.SKELETON.596.B/601
PS-MPC.SOUL.517
PS-MPC.SWANSONG.1508
PS-MPC.TOYS.773
PS-MPC.TRAIN.646
PS-MPC.TREX
PS-MPC.WALT.311
PS-MPC.WAREZ.1803
PUPPET
RUSSIAN_FLAG.A
SAROV.1140
SAROV.1200A
SAROV.1200B
SATANBUG
SATANBUG.9849
SATANBUG.A
SCREAMING_FIST.927 (MBR)
SLOFTXC
TEKRAR.VAZGEC.561
TRACEBACK.2930.B
TRACEBACK.3066.A
TRACEBACK.3066.B
VIENNA.648.LISBON.H
-----------------------
False Alarms fixed:
KILROY
HLLC.4875.A
----------------------------------------------------
Top active viruses other than those presented above:
AntiCmos (alias: Lixi)
Byway (alias: Dir2.Byway) (*)
Da'Boys (**)
Junkie
MonkeyA
MonkeyB
Natas
NYB (alias: B1)
Ripper
Sampo
V-Sign (alias: Cansu)
WelcomB (alias: BuptBoot)
Winword.Concept
(*) Effective 9508, we adopted the CARO name of Byway. To remove
this virus, boot up with the virus in memory. Copy all executable
files to floppy, with a non-executable extension. Copy all the data
files off. Format harddisk. Replace files.
(**) To remove Da'Boys from a hard disk infection, one needs to
boot from a clean corresponding DOS version and execute the
command "SYS C:".
> ADOBE NEWS! STR InfoFile
""""""""""""""""""""""""
ADOBE SYSTEMS PLANS TO ACQUIRE
CENECA COMMUNICATIONS
Ceneca's Products Expected to Revolutionize Web Site
Creation and Maintenance
Mountain View, Calif., (September 18, 1995) (Nasdaq:ADBE) -- Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced it has signed a letter of intent to acquire
Ceneca Communications, Inc., strengthening Adobe's position as the leading
vendor of professional-quality authoring tools for the Web. Ceneca is a
privately-held developer of World Wide Web publishing and site management
tools. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"The Web continues to experience explosive growth," said Charles M.
Geschke, President of Adobe Systems. "Adobe has long held a leadership
position in the professional and corporate publishing markets with its
popular authoring tools. Now, with the combination of Adobe(TM)
Acrobat(TM) and Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), and Ceneca's
exciting Web authoring and site management products, Adobe provides a
powerful solution to customers interested in taking advantage of the
opportunities provided by the Internet."
Last month Ceneca announced its new suite of Web authoring and site
management tools that simplify the process of Web authoring. Ceneca
PageMill(TM) makes creating Web pages as easy as producing a
word-processed document, while Ceneca SiteMill(TM) dramatically simplifies
site management. In the past, creating Web pages required an understanding
of the details of HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language), as well as knowledge
of URL addresses and various image file formats. The Ceneca Web authoring
products eliminate the need to understand all of the complexities of HTML,
URL addresses and image file formats. Pricing and availability will be
announced shortly.
"We are very excited about becoming part of Adobe," said Robert Seidl,
president and CEO of Ceneca Communications. "Adobe's distribution into the
corporate and professional publishing marketplace with its authoring tools
and more recently with PDF will allow us to address a much wider audience
of customers. In addition, we look forward to combining our technologies
with many of Adobe's existing technologies to offer customers a full suite
of solutions for Web publishing."
With this announcement, Adobe continues to strengthen its position as a
supplier of solutions for Web publishing. Earlier this year, the company
announced Acrobat product integration with Netscape, AT&T, Microsoft (for
its Microsoft Network) and Spyglass. In addition, the company recently
introduced Adobe PageMaker(TM) 6.0 software for the Macintosh(R), which
allows users to create HTML and PDF output.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to
major computer, printing and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of
application software and type products for authoring visually rich
documents. Additionally, the company markets a line of powerful, but easy
to use, products for home and small business users. Adobe has subsidiaries
in Europe and the Pacific Rim serving a worldwide network of dealers and
distributors. AdobeUs 1994 revenue was approximately $598 million.
Ceneca Communications, Inc. develops, markets and supports communication
tools for the World Wide Web. Its products are aimed at marketing and
communications professionals developing external Web sites, as well as
corporate communications professionals and users of company-internal Web
sites. Its main office is in Palo Alto, California.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat and PageMaker are trademarks of Adobe
Systems Incorporated or its subsidiaries and may be registered in certain
jurisdictions. SiteMill and PageMill are trademarks of Ceneca
Communications, Inc. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple
Computer, Inc.
A T T E N T I O N--A T T E N T I O N--A T T E N T I O N
FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent
to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY
600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed
Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to:
STReport's Fargo Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior
to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as
much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this
sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please,
allow at least a one week turn-around)
A T T E N T I O N--A T T E N T I O N--A T T E N T I O N
___ ___ _____ _______
/___| /___| /_____| /_______/
/____|/____| /__/|__| /__/
/_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
/__/|____/|__|________|__/
/__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/_____
/__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
________________________________________
/_______________________________________/
MAC/APPLE SECTION John Deegan, Editor (Temp)
> GATEWAY 2000 Updates STR InfoFile
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For Immediate Release
Gateway 2000 begins PC sales in Japan
Nihon Gateway 2000 K.K.
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D., Sept. 12, 1995 -- Gateway 2000 [Nasdaq: GATE]
today announced that its Japanese affiliate, Nihon Gateway, began selling
PCs last week from Yokohama City, Japan. Gateway 2000s direct sales
business model, which has proven very successful in the U.S. and Europe,
has been implemented in Japan, according to Ted Waitt, Gateway chairman
and CEO.
Plans called for sales operations to start in October, Waitt said.
However, considering the great response from the July announcement, plans
were moved ahead of schedule. Weve studied the market and waited for the
right opportunity. The time is right for Gateway to enter this market.
Gateway will offer Japan the same product value and support that is
offered in the U.S., including customized service and support.
The initial product line-up will include five desktop systems loaded
with Intel Pentium processors ranging from 75MHz to 133MHz and one
notebook system featuring Intel's 100MHz DX-4 processor. Customers can
also take advantage of Gateway's build to order manufacturing process for
specialized needs. All systems will be Microsoft Windows 95 compatible.
About Gateway 2000
Gateway 2000, a Fortune 500 company founded in 1985, currently sells
more PC-compatible systems through the direct market channel in the
United States than any other PC manufacturer. A recent study by Computer
Intelligence/InforCorp shows that PCs from Gateway 2000 led the PC
industry in repeat purchase or brand loyalty ratings during 1994.
Gateway's rating far out-distanced its nearest competitors. The
company's 1994 sales were $2.7 billion. Gateway 2000 is listed on the
Nasdaq market as GATE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gateway 2000 readies all Pentium Processor line up for holiday season
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D., September 12, 1995 Gateway 2000 announced
today that Pentium processor platform sales have reached nearly 90
percent of systems sold and that consumer desktop advertising will be
devoted exclusively to its Pentium- processor systems.
Gateway has been recognized as the leader in Pentium-processor
sales,said Rob Cheng, Gateway vice president of desktop products.
Devoting all consumer desktop advertising to Pentium-processor systems is
the next logical step to give greater exposure to our comprehensive
Pentium-processor line. With the recent introduction of Windows 95 and
the popularity of the Internet, customers are demanding more from their
PCs and performance begins at the processor.
Pentium processor-based systems have met consumer needs for PCs with
enhanced multimedia and communications capabilities, said Mike Aymar,
vice president and general manager desktop products group, Intel
Corporation. Gateway 2000, due to its ability to respond quickly to
consumer demand, is one of the leaders in moving Pentium processor-based
systems into mainstream consumer markets.
Gateway will continue to recognize the requirements of corporate
customers and will continue to provide 486 systems to meet their needs.
However, for the consumer market, the Pentium- processor clearly provides
the best value based on a pure price/performance standpoint.
About Gateway 2000
Gateway 2000, a Fortune 500 company founded in 1985, currently sells
more PC-compatible systems through the direct market channel in the
United States than any other PC manufacturer. A recent study by Computer
Intelligence/InfoCorp shows that PCs from Gateway 2000 led the PC
industry in repeat purchase or brand "loyalty" ratings during 1994.
Gateway's rating far out- distanced its nearest competitors. The
company's 1994 sales were $2.7 billion. Gateway 2000 is listed on the
Nasdaq market as GATE.
Gateway 2000 - "You've got a friend in the business"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
P5-133 XL
FEATURES*
Intel 133MHz Pentium microprocessor
Tower case with 145 watt power supply
256KB Pipeline Burst SRAM cache
16MB EDO DRAM expandable to 128MB
1.44MB 3.5" diskette drive
Sanyo 3 Disk Changer CD-ROM drive
Ensoniq 16-bit Wavetable sound card and
Altec ACS-31 speakers
TelePath 28.8 fax/modem w/ voice mail
1.6 GB Western Digital IDE (9ms)
PCI Enhanced IDE interface
PCI Local Bus graphics accelerator with 2MB WRAM
17" Vivitron color monitor, up to
1280 x 1024 non-interlaced resolution
AMI BIOS
Clock/calendar
2 16-bit ISA slots, 3 32-bit PCI & 1 PCI/ISA slots
104 +Keyboard
MS mouse & Gateway mouse pad
QAPro hardware diagnostics software
Gateway Gold Premium
Microsoft Windows `95
MS Office 95
Fully FCC Certified
3 year limited parts warranty
PRICE $3999
SOFTWARE OPTIONS
Substitute one of the following for MS Office 95** on CD
Gateway Generations Bundle
Microsoft's: Encarta `95, Cinemania `95, Bookshelf,
Works 3.0, Money 3.0, BOB, Publishers Pack, Design
Pack, Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart, Wine Guide,
Dinosaurs, Entertainment Pack #1-4, Arcade, and
IVI's: Mayo Clinic's Family Health and Family
Pharmacist........................................add: $N/C
Publisher's Pack on CD
CorelDraw! 4.0, Corel ArtShow, MS Publisher 2.0, MS
Publisher Design Pack, MS Works 3.0 and Money 3.0
Multimedia Edition...............................add: $N/C
MS Office 95 on diskette**
(with Word,Excel,& Powerpoint)...................add: $100
**Please note that MS Access(diskette customers) and MS Access
and Bookshelf 95 (CD customers) are available for an additional
$10 handling charge, and will be sent separately upon release
Microsoft later this year.
Substitute MS-DOS 6.22/Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11
& MS Office Professional 4.3 on CD.................add: $N/C
MS Office Professional 4.3 & Money 3.0 on diskette.add: $100
DRIVE OPTIONS
1.2MB & 1.44MB combo diskette drive (replace 1.44MB)add: $ 70
540MB Western Digital IDE drive................subtract: $295
730MB Western Digital IDE drive................subtract: $255
1 GB Western Digital IDE drive.................subtract: $185
2 GB Seagate SCSI drive with
Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI adapter...................add: $300
VIDEO OPTIONS
14" CrystalScan 1024NI color monitor...........subtract: $425
15" CrystalScan color monitor..................subtract: $340
15" Vivitron color monitor.....................subtract: $285
17" CrystalScan color monitor..................subtract: $ 75
21" Vivitron color monitor..........................add: $940
PCI local-bus graphics accelerator
with 1MB DRAM.............................subtract: $150
PCI local-bus graphics accelerator
with 2MB DRAM.............................subtract: $100
PCI local-bus graphics accelerator
with 2MB VRAM..................................add: $N/C
PCI local-bus graphics accelerator
with 4MB WRAM..................................add: $165
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
Multimedia Software Starter Pack( Seven exciting
software applications, Allsop's CD cleaning kit
and CD storage rack)............................add: $ 59
Flight Pack Software with Joystick..................add: $ 99
Kid's Backpack......................................add: $ 99
Sports Pack Bundle..................................add: $ 99
Wavetable audio kits(replace sound card/Altecs ACS-31)
Ensoniq Soundscape & Altec ACS-5............subtract: $ 60
10
PRINTERS & PERIPHERALS
Telepath 14.4 fax/modem w/ voice mail..........subtract: $ 70
Jumbo 1400 CMS internal tape backup (w/tape)........add: $199
Trakker 350 external tape backup (w/tape)...........add: $259
3COM Twisted Pair Ethernet adapter..................add: $ 89
3COM Triple Media Ethernet adapter..................add: $109
SMC PCI Twisted Pair Ethernet adapter...............add: $139
Token Ring network adapter..........................add: $279
Epson Stylus Color Ink Jet printer..................add: $549
Epson ActionLaser 1400 laser printer................add: $499
APC Uninterrupted Power Supply......................add: $259
Due to volatility of the memory market,
please call for a quote.
TERMS
Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover accepted. C.O.D
cashier's check acceptable in the continental United States. NET
30-day credit terms and leasing options are available to qualified
commercial customers.
Shipping via two-day air: $95 within the continental U.S; $125 APO.
Delivery times may vary.
09/18/95
*Prices and specifications are subject to change without notice or
obligation. Sales tax will be charged where applicable.
610 Gateway Drive * P.O.Box 2000 * North Sioux City, South Dakota
57049 Telephone 605-232-2000 * Fax 605-232-2023 * Toll Free
800-846-2000
Gateway 2000 is a registered trademark of Gateway 2000, Inc. Intel and
Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Products mentioned
herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.
> Corel Info STR InfoFile
"""""""""""""""""""""""
Dear Corel User
WE WANT YOUR INPUT SO YOU GET THE TOOL YOU WANT FOR UNDER $100
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Please send e-mail to me directly so we do not clog up the Forum.
Send us a fax, give us a call or write. Details at end of file.
This is for all those users who have ever had a problem importing
a CAD DXF file into Corel. Who still want to retain the geometry
of the CAD objects, however you want to be able to import the file
easily and SUCCESSFULLY.
We want your input on features that you would use or like to see
in our new software tool, BEFORE the it is finished and released.
This is what we think the tool should be able to do
------------------------------------------------------------------
The software will be Windows based and process CAD DXF files
according to a user setup. The setup will be from a single window
with point and click options for RAPID and EASY use. The setup
will let you do the following to the CAD DXF file.
Layers ON/OFF
-------------
Any of the layers in the DXF file can be switched on/off before
processing. This will allow you to remove unwanted layers before
you import into Corel. Would this be time saving for you?
Objects ON/OFF
--------------
You will be able to globally switch object types on/off. This means
you could stop all the text from coming through or all the open
polylines or circles etc. Have you ever wanted to do this?
Setting up line widths, line types etc.
---------------------------------------
The setup will automatically pick up the CAD linetypes and polyline
widths or you can set up a global line width for all objects and a
global linetype to be used. How would you easily do this now?
Sizing & Scaling
----------------
You can setup the sizing/scaling and positioning of the CAD file to
fit onto standard page sizes and orientations. Have you ever had a
sizing problem?
Monochrome and Color
--------------------
The software will produce either a monochrome or color file. You
set up to use the CAD colors or overwrite them with any color. Or
you import all the linework in a gray scale to use as a tones
backdrop. Would this be a usefull feature?
Text
----
All CAD text styles will be converted to any defined PostScript
font. All of the text will be editable as if entered by Corel.
Converted file
--------------
The converted file can be saved to any drive or directory.
Pricing
-------
The software will be under US $100
YOUR INPUT PLEASE
-----------------
What other features if any do you want? What problems have you
encountered with CAD files into Corel?
Please send all responses to me directly via CompuServe, phone,
mail or fax.
YOUR INTEREST
-------------
We are taking advance orders of interest prior to shipping. If you
think something like this could save you time and money, let us know.
Once again please contact me directly via CompuServe, phone, mail
or fax.
OUR EXPERIENCE
--------------
We have considerable programming experience (3 years) in this area
and already have production software on the market. However, we
believe that a RAPID and low cost solution to this problem is needed.
Your help will confirm our suspicions.
Thanks for your co-operation.
Contact information:
--------------------
John Walker [AutoSET]
John Walker Graphics Pty. Ltd.
11 Grandview Avenue
East Ringwood 3135
Melbourne Australia
Phone: ++6 13 9879 4388 Fax: ++6 13 9879 7074
CompuServe: 100353,1354
LapTop & Entertainment Marty Mankins, Editor
STReport Jaguar Game Review: Super BurnOut
-= Available Now =-
Developed by: Shen/Virtual Xperience
Published by: Atari
Sugg. Retail Price: $59.95
Ease of Play: Average/Intermediate
by Marty Mankins
11
Behind every driver of a car is a person wanting to get onto a race track
and open it up and beat the rest of the drivers. Atari's first attempt to
satisfy this craving was not done as well as what were expecting.
Checkered Flag was ok, and had some good options, but it was simply
lacking in control over the car. While waiting for another racing game,
Atari decided to sneak Super BurnOut (known as SBO from here on) and many
were pleased. I, for one, am grateful. SBO is an amazing racing game,
pitting motorcycles against each other in a race for First Place. You
will be sure to spend many hours playing this game and taking the
different tracks with the assortment of bikes and your skills.
GAME PLAY
SBO is easy to play. You get a bike, pick a track and go. Steering is
done by the cursor pad. By default, pressing B will get you acceleration.
A push of the A button will stop you with the brakes and the C button is
used by the clutch. (for the manual transmission, if you choose to pick
that over the more convenient automatic gear box) There is some confusion
in the buttons when selecting options and starting games. C normally will
start the game, but sometimes B will get you to the next level of play and
start the game. Pushing A will exit you back a screen to change your
options.
The first thing I did was went into the Option screen and changed the
controls so that A is accelerate, B is brake and C is left for the clutch.
This helped a lot, so that I could use my two fingers (middle and index)
to stay on both the gas and the brake. Then when I am racing and come to
a corner, I can leave my finger on the gas, press B for the brake at the
same time, and then let up on B once I come out of the corner. This also
allows me to tap on B a few times to slow down just a tad, making sure I
don't wipe out, but being able to take the corner without losing too much
acceleration.
Two-player mode was fun, but the split screen was bothersome. It seems to
be the best way to have designed this game. What would be really nice is
for the jaguar to support two monitors with SBO. This way, each player
has their own screen, just like in the arcades with something like Virtua
Racing. Maybe a future title that works with the CatBox to support
multiple monitors. Who knows? I bet someone else in your house will be
willing to give up their TV for a few days to let you play. <g>
TRACKS AND BIKES
Amongst the many tracks to select from, there was no one favorite. You
get used to each one by playing them over and over. The tracks are
America High Speed, Australia Technical, Brazil Technical, Canada High
Speed, France Semi-Technical, Germany High Speed, Hungary High Speed,
Japan Technical. The curves are not easy to take at high speeds and all
tracks have plenty of curves. It's nice when you hit a straightway like
on the France track, and it does help you to get caught up real fast. But
a curve comes a bit too soon and you must slow down a lot or prepare to
get bucked off your bike.
This is where bike selection comes in. If you are a speed maven, you need
to pick a bike that had less grip on the road. The better the grip, the
slower top speed your bike will reach. Your choice of bikes is Super
Rabbit, which has a medium grip and a top speed of 155mph. Or you could
go a bit slower with a lot more grip by choosing the Killing Turtle. And
a slow (148mph) bike this is, when compared to the others. Reflex Z is a
bit faster, but still at 169mph, it's not going to break records. For
that purpose, pick Wheels of Terror (200mph and a low grip), Lightning
Racer (maxing out at 217mph) or my favorite, Sliding Thunder. The grip on
this bike is very low, so you must slow to a crawl on corners, but man,
will you fly on the straight track.. With a top speed of 227mph, is
doesn't get any faster.
Drones are the other bikes you race against. These guys just simply are
the ones to beat when playing against the computer.. You get to choose
the number of laps to race, from 2 to 7. Racing modes are where you pick
what kind of racing challenge you want to experience. Training mode is
where you get to try out your skills. This is where you learn the tracks,
bikes and road conditions. Versus Mode is for racing against another
person. Two-player mode is really fun, but make sure to watch your own
screen. The screen is split top and bottom, so it can be distracting at
times. Championship is where you race all tracks in a row. When you are
finished, it shows you want position you placed in for each track and how
many points you won and the ranking. Naturally, I hardly ever got past C
(rankings are from A for excellent to E for not so hot).
Record mode is good if you don't want to see someone else's best times on
the screen. And what's nice, there are no other bikes to get in the way.
Just you and the road. Oh, and the same curves you need to slow down for.
The drones are missed, but once your record time is on the screen, you can
go back to Trainer mode or go racing for the top spot.
In all options, drones can be set to be weak, average or strong. I've
raced with strong drones and normally come in 5th, 6th or 7th place. They
are hard to beat. The number of laps I like to race is 7. The reason for
this is that it gives me more time to catch up when I get behind. If my
thumb is hurting really bad, then I'll drop that down to 4 or 5. Two laps
is just too few, unless you are wanting just a quick trip around the
track.
CONCLUSION
Super BurnOut is a racing game that deserves to be played often. It's
addicting and the exciting game play keeps you coming back for more. It's
very good at working around the lack of control that Checkered Flag had
and keeps control of the bike you are using. The graphics are nice and
the tracks are well designed. This is what makes the Jaguar worth
playing. Games like SBO need to happen more often.
Graphics: 9.0
Sound FX/Music: 8.5
Control: 8.5
Manual: 8.0
Entertainment: 9.5
Reviewer's Overall: 8.5
This is one game where graphics matter. And they do in this title. All
of the best screen rewrites are here. It's nice to see that this game
does appear to use some 64-bit technology. You couldn't do this, with the
details of the bikes, on a 16-bit system. The Sound and music is really
good, but could have added some skidding sound and maybe a few voice
enhancements for the riders (e.g. "Hey!" or "Watch it!"). The opening
voice is done well and is really nice, giving it that actual racing feel.
The manual is ok, but lacks some details like the control options and a
few more tips about playing in two player mode. The entertainment value
is excellent and is going to remain a Jaguar favorite for quite a while.
STReport Jaguar Game Review: Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls
-= Available Now =-
Developed by: Tradewest, Inc.
Published by: Williams Entertainment
Sugg. Retail Price: $59.95
Ease of Play: Intermediate/Difficult
by Marty Mankins
As a teenager, I used to play the original Double Dragon in the arcades.
Many quarters were spent trying to get good at this game. I remember the
different levels and the many times I had to save my girl from the evil
gang. And beating these guys up was just half the fun. Well, it what is
supposed to be the fifth sequel, Double Dragon makes it to the Jaguar in
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls. You have all new characters and they
are done well, but there is something lacking in this game. Maybe it's
all the time I spent in the arcade and I expected more after years of
revisions. But, not all is lost. There is some good game play and it
works very well. But it's not the best. It falls somewhere in between.
GAME PLAY
The general idea to Double Dragon V (known as DDV from here on) is to beat
all opponents until they you have gone through the different levels.
These levels are Dragon Dojo, Cody's Nutron Grill, Metro City Sewer
System, Chemical Factory, Dusty's Garage, Fusion Plant, Shadow Dojo
Interior, Shadow Dojo Exterior and Metro City Hotel. Your first game will
start you at the Metro City Hotel. From there you fight with any of the
characters. You can choose which character you would like to be. Or if
12
you are in two player mode, your opponent chooses which character they
want to fight with.
The characters are often referred to as dossiers. The list is impressive.
You can choose from Billy Lee, Jimmy Lee, Jawbreaker, Bones, Countdown,
Dominique, Sekka, Shadow Master and Sickle. Each has their own power
weapon. For example, Sickle will often throw a lightning bolt your way.
Your job is to duck out of the way. Learning the controls is what you
need to get good at. Learning the special moves of each player is also
good to get used to. It seems that the special moves are done to take a
lot of power from the enemy. And once you learn how to do them, they
really do help.
CONTROL AND GRAPHICS
Using the cursor pad, there are 8 different moves you can make. Also
listed in the manual is a special move for each character. These special
moves are helpful when the chips are down and you need to take more life
away from your enemy. Jawbreaker's move is my favorite. He lunches
forward into a headbutt. And it's one of the easiest moves to make.
All three buttons are used. A is for a light punch. B is for a medium
punch and C is for a hard punch. Also, on the keypad, you can use 3 for a
light kick. The 6 key is for a medium kick and, the obvious 9 key is for
the hard kick. While not exciting, there are a good amount of moves to
make. And if for some reason you don't like these default key locations,
you can customize them in the Options screen.
There are statistics on each player that are good to read, as they inform
you of what kind of fighter you are up against (or playing with). DDV has
some of the better fighting characters on this type of game, when compared
to Kasumi Ninja and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. But, maybe there should
have been more than one special move for each character. If there were,
then you add a bit more variety to doing the same moves.
One really cool feature is being able to choose what and how many
attributes your fighter will have. You get a total of 11 attributes to
use. The more you have in one area, the better you will be in fighting
with that attribute. Strength is important and I will sometimes make that
4 or 5, taking away from the Special attribute. Defense is important, but
so is the Reserve attribute, which you should leave at least one in. Try
the different levels of attributes for each one. It's fun and makes the
game a little more interesting. I've played a game where I try to stay
back most of the time, but have my Strength at 9, with 2 in Reserve. This
can take down your enemy really fast, but one hit and your just about
dead.
OVERALL ENTERTAINMENT
DD5 is good, but not really good. The fight moves are nice and they do
have some action to them, but this game is not a 64-bit version of Double
Dragon. It's a 32-bit version living in a 64-bit game system. The
screens are nice, the fighters are detailed to a degree, but there are
some game play values missing. I find that there are other options that
could have made game play a bit nicer. Also, the fighters seem to move
faster than is needed at times.
CONCLUSION
Double Dragon V is not a bad Jaguar title. In fact, I like it. But it's
not all that good. There is room for improvement. Perhaps when Double
Dragon VI comes around, we'll see the 64-bit enhancements and have a
better chance at gaining some more gaming value for the high price it
commands.
Graphics: 6.0
Sound FX/Music: 5.0
Control: 5.0
Manual 5.0
Entertainment: 5.5
Reviewer's Overall: 5.5
Graphics were the best thing about Double Dragon V. The details were good
and the fighters had some details when moving and jumping. The sound and
FX were lacking for a fighting game. Kicks and punches should have had
more definition. The control of the players is good, but nothing stellar.
Actually, the amount of moves that were possible was good, it was how to
execute these moves that needed a little work. The manual is very
interesting, as it is laid out like a comic book, telling a story of how
to play the game. It's different, but not completely welcome. Stick to a
regular manual format. And the entertainment value is good for a fighting
game, but it could have been better.
STReport Jaguar Game Review: Ultra Vortek
-= Available Now =-
Developed by: Beyond Games, Inc.
Published by: Atari
Sugg. Retail Price: $69.95
Ease of Play: Average/Intermediate
by Marty Mankins
No one makes a fuss when there are tons of fighting games for a game
system. Of course, when this system is the Super Nintendo and there are
over 300 games available, then 4 fighting games are not a big deal. But
when you bring into play that the Jaguar has 3 fighting games (Dragon,
Double Dragon V, Kasumi Ninja), adding a fourth game of mean dude vs. bad
guy brings people into thinking that maybe there are too many fighting
games. But, bring in Ultra Vortek and you forget about the other 3
fighting games. In fact, you will be so busy with Ultra Vortek, you will
wonder why it took so long to come out with this game.
Never fear. Ultra Vortek (known as UV from here on) is here to stay.
It's amazing how much this game has blown me away. It has chewed up a
good 40 hours of my time, and I've had it less than one week. No game
since Pacman and Dig Dug has taken this much time in a week. So enough
about the talk about how great UV is. Let's get into this game.
STORY LINE
The basic goal of UV is to fight all of the characters (and some others)
and to get pieces of the Ultra Vortek tablet along the way. Then you must
fight the guardian. This sound easy, but it's really hard. You have four
levels of play: Training, Normal, Hard and Killer. I've been through both
Training and Normal levels and have beaten the Guardian (who is tough son
of a gun). But the Hard and Killer levels are where I'll spend the rest
of my time trying to beat and get past that Guardian.
FIGHTERS
Speaking of the Guardian, he's one of the creatures you need to beat to
get to be the ruler of the Ultra Vortek. Being able to beat the Guardian
is really hard compared to fighting with the others. You get to pick
which character you want to fight with. I've chosen Volcana for this
review. She's the most popular (well, not with my wife) and has a certain
"fire" about her. Her main weapons are the ability to throw fireballs and
to dissolve into a cloud of fire and smoke to get away from the enemy.
Lucius uses a lightning blast that really hurts if you're not used to it.
He's also got a secret hawk attack that far from a tickle. Dreadloc is a
remnant from Jamaica and likes to fight near my residence (kicking and
slicing people near an older Utah site you find while playing the game).
Buzzsaw uses an actual saw to take skin off of you. Skullcrusher is one
of my favorite, not for the fact that he can use his laser eye to zap you
(and cause a shock wave in the ground that sends you to your feet), but
for the fact that he takes his head and can really give you a headache.
Grok likes to rock and roll, literally. He can make you hurt by simply
running into you or by taking his rock formation and pounding some blood
out of you. And finally, there is Mercury, who reminds me a lot of the T-
1000 Terminator (from the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day). He tends to
melt when you nail him just right.
Enough about the fighters. Let's get to fighting! As I mentioned above,
I picked Volcana. She's a fighter. And not to sound like I'm some male
he-man, but this chick can really beat the crap out of someone! She's got
moves, she spits and throws fire and she can really disappear when the
going gets tough. Then re-appear on the other side of your enemy to give
them that fatal kick or punch.
The first one I fight is Skullcrusher. I learn to duck from his laser
eye. I learn to jump when his laser eye beams the ground and causes a
shock wave that needs to be avoided. After two rounds, I fight Grok. The
13
rock bad guy is really not that hard to beat, but you need to make sure
you keep kicking him and knocking him down. It's hard to punch and kick
him, so the slide kick helps take him down, albeit slower.
Taking Mercury out is a bit distracting. You are in an abandoned subway
station that's closer to hell than you think. (given the 3 structure poles
with the number 6 on each of them). Occasionally a subway train will go
by, which is where one distraction comes in. The other distraction is the
deconstruction around you and getting stuck next the edge of the debris of
this subway station. Fighting Dreadloc is done in Utah, as is noticed by
an older site in the game (for the second time, I won't tell! <g>).
Avoiding his bladed-staff is not easy, but can be done by making sure you
are moving out of the way before he gets wild.
Buzzsaw is no easy task to avoid. It's amazing how much power he holds in
his hand. Just stay low and kick hard and you can take him down with
several hits and punches. And Lucious, or as I like to refer to him as
"Lightning Man", comes on strong. He'll take you down if you are not
ready. And it hurts, really bad.
"HIDDEN" FIGHTERS
Ok, so you've fought the other fighters. You feel ready to beat the
Guardian. Not so fast. It's not over quite yet. You are placed in the
round with the shadows of the previous fighters. Not only are the shadows
mad and ticked off, but they are harder to see. You really have to watch
your ass, literally. Playing Volcana was not easy and I always had to
watch out for every move. I even got to fight my own evil double in
shadow form. And just when you think you have beat them all, you need to
beat another. And you don't get a refresh of your power meter. You must
last through several shadow fighters before you can end the round.
And just when your thumb was starting to feel good, it hurts really bad
when you reach the Guardian. Beat him, and you have both a numb thumb and
a holding spot of the Ultra Vortek. To get to this spot requires a lot of
kicking to the head and getting out of the way before you die. The
Guardian is like a mini-Satan, with a tail that will whip your ass until
you are beaten. And you often don't have a chance to get out of the way.
Just keep yourself back far enough and you will be safe.
The background scenery is awesome. It's very entertaining at times, and
as the subway station shows, it's slightly distracting. But that adds to
the game play. And the action never slows down. The graphics are
incredible and the display of the characters are without flashing. Their
movements are perfect and very easy to control. I found many times of
wanting to look closer at the details than at getting myself beaten down
by Buzzsaw.
CONCLUSION
Ultra Vortek is a must buy. If there is any doubt in your mind about
whether you should plink down $70 (or less) on this game, erase it. This
is the title all Jaguar owners need to have. Even if you don't like
fighting games, you can learn to like this one. All fighting games should
wish they were this good. So what would they do for an encore? Ultra
Vortek 3D. How about it, Beyond Games and Atari?
Graphics: 10.0
Sound FX/Music: 10.0
Control: 10.0
Manual: 9.5
Entertainment: 10.0
Reviewer's Overall: 10.0
What's to say after seeing the numbers? The only exception is the manual,
which could have been slightly better at explaing the game levels.
Instead, it told the story, which was entertaining, but for game play, a
few bits of information could have helped. Not a problem, since the
manual is not really looked at after you start playing the game all the
time.
ATARI/JAG SECTION Dana Jacobson, Editor
> From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I've had the Suzy B's Software double-CD set for about a month now
and I still haven't managed to look over everything that's available to
me! If you have a CDROM attached to your favorite Atari computer and
you're a collector of public domain/shareware programs, graphics,
games, animations, and TONS of other topics - order this double-CD set
today!
Michael Burkley has been collecting public domain software for a
number of years and he and his wife, Suzy, have been offering PD disks
for sale through their "Honey of a Deal" program with Suzy B's. Now
you can buy most of that collection, on two CDs! I did. I'm still
deleting files from my hard drive that I've been collecting over the
years - it's nice to have some available hard drive space again; and I
can use a bunch of floppies to "store" other stuff!
And the programs that, even though they've been around for some
time (in some cases), I've never seen before or never managed to
download! Unbelievable!
Most of the programs and assorted goodies that I've looked at so
far are all for the Falcon, primarily. Since my Falcon purchase is
relatively recent, I haven't had a chance to look around and see what's
available for it online. Now, I don't have to bother; Suzy B's
provided much of it for me! I figure that maybe by the end of the
year, I'll have managed to look at most of the 1.3 gigabytes of
software! And, I understand that a new collection is underway!
I'm still working on other CD articles; and I'm also looking into
obtaining some more for review. I'm anticipating a well-rounded "best-
of" series to provide you an informative review of what's available.
You'd be surprised what is out there that's not Atari-specific, but can
be used with a CDROM on your Atari machine.
This is going to be a longer-than-usual issue this week due to a
lot of exciting news on the Jaguar front, so let me move on. It's
really getting difficult to split up my time looking at CD titles on my
Falcon and getting in some playing time with the Jaguar! So little
time, so much to do! <g>
Until next time...
Delphi's Atari Advantage!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (9/20/95)
(1) LIGHTNING STORM ANIMATION (6) ATARI COMMUNITY E-MAIL LIST
(2) T.A.F. WWW BROWSER (7) GEMHEXED 1.00
(3) REJOINDER (8) FOG - FALCON DISKLETTER
(4) GEMVIEW 3.15 (9) CINDY SITUP MPEG
(5) PYSGHAM 1.5 *(10) ORACLE SOURCE: DELPHI VERSION
* = New on list
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HONORARY TOP 10
The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently
out-performing every other file in the databases.
ST REPORT (Current issue: STREPORT 11.37
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
TOAD COMPUTERS ANNOUNCES MIRROR OF UMICH FTP SITE SEPTEMBER 12 1995
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SEVERNA PARK, MD, USA--Sept. 12 1995--Toad Computers, a supplier of
Atari hardware and software, today announced that they will make
available a mirror of the University of Michigan Atari Software
Archive. The University of Michigan Atari Software Archive has been the
primary FTP site for Atari eight-bit and ST public-domain software for
years. However, due to its popularity, it has often been very difficult
to get into the site. Various mirrors of the "umich" Atari site exist
(wuarchive.wustl.edu), but these are sometimes just as difficult to
reach.
Toad Computers this week announces that they will maintain a
mirror of the "umich" archive at their ftp site, "ftp.toad.net". Toad
spokesperson David Troy explains, "We are very excited to be able to
14
offer Atari users something extra; something that goes beyond just our
homepage." Since November 1994, Toad Computers has offered a
World-Wide-Web homepage which provides news, prices, product
information and online ordering to Atari users. Since August 10, 1995,
Toad Computers has been connected to the Internet through a
high-speed/high-capacity T1 line (1.54MBps).
The Toad Computers "umich" mirror can be reached by ftp at the
following address:
ftp://ftp.toad.net/pub/umich/
The Toad "umich" mirror archive is updated daily and contains
over 700MB of compressed public domain software for the Atari 8-Bit,
ST, STE, TT030 and Falcon computers. It is accessible from anywhere in
the world through the Internet and such online services as GEnie,
Delphi, CompuServe, America Online, and the Microsoft Network.
Toad Computers is a reseller of hardware and software to Atari
users and also provides Internet services in the Annapolis, Maryland
area. The company is one of the largest Atari resellers in the world
and ships worldwide.
Toad Computers is located at 570 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park,
Maryland, 21146; 410/544-6943.
EMAIL: info@toad.net
ORDERS: 800-448-8623
FAX: 410-544-1329
INFO: 410-544-6943
WEB: http://www.toad.net/
FTP: ftp://ftp.toad.net/
Toad Computers offers the "umich" mirror as free public-domain and
shareware software, makes no warranty as to its suitability for any
application and assumes no liability for its content.
NOTE: The "at" symbol in Internet addresses does not
always translate correctly; there is an at sign
in info"at sign"toad.net
------------------------------------ (C) 1995 Toad Computers Inc. -----
* LED v1.31 * Join AtariNet - Stay Informed - Freq ATARINET @ 1:209/745!
***************************** ANNOUNCEMENT ****************************
Coming soon:
***********************************************************************
** SampleC - MIDI sample dump, sample conversion and librarian program*
** for the Atari ST, TT, Falcon series of computers. *
***********************************************************************
List of features:
1) Supported formats:
AVR signed and unsigned, AIFF including Cubase Audio, AIFF-C
(uncompressed), WAVE (.WAV), CDP soundfiles. Stereo and mono,
8-16 bit.
2) Can receive and transmit 9-16 bit samples via the MIDI sample dump
protocol.
3) Supports Atari CDP soundfile system (Soundstreamer etc.).
4) Converts between all supported formats - stereo to mono, bit
conversion.
5) Non-modal interface, optimised for MagiC operating system.
6) VA_START and FREEDOM support for multiple file loading. Recursive
file selector allowing every available sample to be loaded in one
operation.
7) Intuitive interface - drag and drop samples, enhanced GEM
facilities, 'iconification' on all TOS systems.
8) ST-GUIDE on-line manual, KOBOLD support.
9) Active registered user support.
SampleC should be available within the next month, and will probably
cost 12 UK pounds for registration within the UK - overseas costs TBA.
An unregistered version, which is fully functional but places an 80K
limit on all sample sizes and does not include the ST-GUIDE manual,
will be available.
If you would like to receive the unregistered version, please send me a
DSDD disc with a stamped, self addressed envelope - I cannot return
discs with no postage paid.
Send to: SampleC demonstration,
Richard Evans,
3, Gervis Crescent,
Parkstone,
Poole,
Dorset,
UK.
BH14 0LR.
Your details will be stored on computer for reference, they will not be
passed on in any manner to any individual or organisation. If you are
willing for this to happen, please include a signed statement to this
effect. If you do not wish to have your details stored, please state
this in writing also.
Richard Evans.
All trademarks acknowledged.
--
Richard Evans | JANET | mud08@keele.ac.uk
>In This Week's Jaguar Section - It's JaguarCD Time!! Rayman!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Ultra Vortek! VLM! VidGrid!
Blue Lightning! CATnips!
And MUCH more! Let the Games Begin!
>From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I don't know where to begin this week!! The exciting news is that
the JaguarCD is available and selling well (according to the few
retailers that I talked with this past week). It's nice to see that
Atari is finally getting some good press for a change. The users are
happy, the retailers are happy, and Atari is glad to see the JagCD
finally out!
We'll have ours shortly, with special efforts by Atari's Jeanne
Winding and Don Thomas. We've received a number of items lately,
including an in-progress version of Highlander. Our Jaguar staff is
playing and reviewing a number of games at the moment. We hope to have
some in this issue, if all goes well. If not, look for LOTS of reviews
in the next few issues. Games are coming in and going out just as
fast! My local post office workers know me by sight these days and are
constantly asking me which games are going out with each visit. I have
a feeling that they're all going to be buying Jaguars after hearing me
talk about the games while waiting for them to be weighed and shipped!
Well, this issue is jam-packed with news, information, online
comments about the new games and the JagCD, and reviews (hopefully!).
Let's get to it! The weekend is upon us and I'm going to grab a couple
of Pepsis and settle in to my easy chair and turn on the Jaguar and
play until my hands get too sore to play any more!
Until next time...
> Jaguar Catalog STR InfoFile - What's currently available, what's
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" coming out.
Current Available Titles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
J9000 Cybermorph $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9006 Evolution:Dino Dudes $29.99 Atari Corp.
J9005 Raiden $29.99 FABTEK, Inc/Atari Corp.
J9001 Trevor McFur/
Crescent Galaxy $29.99 Atari Corp.
J9010 Tempest 2000 $59.95 Llamasoft/Atari Corp.
J9028 Wolfenstein 3D $69.95 id/Atari Corp.
JA100 Brutal Sports FtBall $69.95 Telegames
J9008 Alien vs. Predator $69.99 Rebellion/Atari Corp.
J9029 Doom $69.99 id/Atari Corp.
J9036 Dragon: Bruce Lee $39.99 Atari Corp.
J9003 Club Drive $59.99 Atari Corp.
J9007 Checkered Flag $39.99 Atari Corp.
J9012 Kasumi Ninja $69.99 Atari Corp.
J9042 Zool 2 $59.99 Atari Corp
J9020 Bubsy $49.99 Atari Corp
J9026 Iron Soldier $59.99 Atari Corp
J9060 Val D'Isere Skiing $59.99 Atari Corp.
15
Cannon Fodder $49.99 Virgin/C-West
Syndicate $69.99 Ocean
Troy Aikman Ftball $69.99 Williams
Theme Park $69.99 Ocean
Sensible Soccer Telegames
Double Dragon V $59.99 Williams
J9009E Hover Strike $59.99 Atari Corp.
J0144E Pinball Fantasies $59.99 C-West
J9052E Super Burnout $59.99 Atari
White Men Can't Jump $69.99 Atari
Flashback $59.99 U.S. Gold
VidGrid (CD) Atari Corp
Blue Lightning (CD) $59.99 Atari Corp
Flip-Out $49.99 Atari Corp
Ultra Vortek $69.99 Atari Corp
Rayman $69.99 Ubi Soft
Available Soon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER
Pitfall $59.99 Atari
Power Drive Rally TBD TWI
Dragon's Lair TBD Readysoft
Hover Strike CD $59.99 Atari
Demolition Man $59.99 Atari
Hardware and Peripherals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT # TITLE MSRP MANUFACTURER
J8001 Jaguar (complete) $189.99 Atari Corp.
J8001 Jaguar (no cart) $159.99 Atari Corp.
J8904 Composite Cable $19.95
J8901 Controller/Joypad $24.95 Atari Corp.
J8905 S-Video Cable $19.95
CatBox $69.95 ICD
Jaguar CD-ROM $149.99 Atari Corp.
>Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CONTACT: Patricia Kerr or Jennifer Hansen
Dorf & Stanton Communications, Inc.
(310) 479-4997 or (800) 444-6663
Atari Jaguar CD System Pounces onto Multimedia Marketplace
SUNNYVALE, CA -- (September 22, 1995) -- According to video game
enthusiasts, it was well worth the wait. Atari Corporation's highly
anticipated multimedia compact disc player for the Jaguar 64
interactive home entertainment system has hit the stores and is jumping
off the shelves.
Atari Corporation has already sold out of its first production run of
the CD peripheral, and is stepping up production to fill the high
demand of retailers' reorders.
"Our first order of Jaguar CDs has been largely consumed by our
customer pre-orders," said Peter Roithmayr, Senior Buyer from
Electronic Boutique. "We have already reordered and are excited by the
strong sales we are seeing for the Jaguar CD."
The combination of the Jaguar 64-bit console and the advanced CD
technology yields a system with explosive power. As the first CD system
coupled with 64-bit technology to hit the market, the Jaguar CD is on
the leading edge of "next generation" home entertainment systems at
only $149.95.
Gamers experience intense true color, full motion video and CD-quality
stereo sound when upgrading to the Jaguar CD system. The CD component
plugs into the Jaguar 64 console providing 790 Megabytes of raw data
storage. Approximately 15 Jaguar CD titles will be available for sale
later this year including hits like "Myst", "Primal Rage" from Time
Warner Interactive, "Black ICE\White Noise", "Highlander", and
"Commander Blood".
"The launch of our Jaguar CD exemplifies Atari Corporation's commitmeet
to providing consumers value priced components for their Atari
entertainment system," said Ted Hoff, President of Atari's North
American Operations. "Now, Jaguar owners can quickly and economically
upgrade to a CD system and dramatically enhance their gaming
experience."
In addition to the awesome gaming capabilities, the Jaguar CD elevates
home entertainment to an entirely new level as it plays audio discs
while providing simultaneous access to Atari's cartridge media. Players
can experience a laser light show in their own homes with "The Virtual
Light Machine" that is built into the Jaguar CD system. As audio discs
play on the Jaguar CD, "The Virtual Light Machine" morphs, contorts and
pulsates psychedelic light with the beat of the music.
With a suggested retail price of only $149.95, the Jaguar CD system is
undoubtedly the best value on the market. Atari Corporation, however,
takes their commitment to value-pricing one step further in giving
Jaguar consumers a bonus pack with the CD peripheral. More than $100 in
fast-action interactive software will be included free with the system.
The software bonus pack contains:
* Blue Lightning -- Gamers pilot a plane from a squadron of United
nations operatives as they fight to stop General Drako, the UN
member turned terrorist. Players design flight plans and use their
quick maneuvering skills to destroy key enemy locations and basis.
* Vid Grid -- An innovative way to "play" music videos. As players
watch the video, the screen is divided into squares and placed out
of order. Players must unscramble each video before it finishes
playing. Vid Grid features videos from hot rock artist Guns 'n Roses,
Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Ozzie Osbourne, Van Halen, Red Hot Chili
Peppers, Peter Gabriel, Aerosmith, and Sound Garden.
* Myst -- Jaguar CD consumers will be treated to a demo of the first
level of game play for the wildly popular title. Players must use
their intellect to unlock the secrets of ages past. Every detail,
no matter how insignificant it first seems could be the key to
unlocking the mystery.
* Tempest 2000 -- Consumers receive the audio CD to this all-time
favorite Atari hit. With Jaguar CD capabilities, the Tempest 2000
soundtrack can by played with "The Virtual Light Machine".
The Jaguar CD peripheral with the bonus software pack-in is available
in stores nationwide. Atari Corporation notified tens of thousands of
Jaguar 64 users of the new Jaguar CD release through the company's
Jaguar Alert consumer postcard program.
For more than twenty years, Atari Corporation has provided consumers
with high quality value priced entertainment.
Atari Corporation markets Jaguar, the only American-made advanced
64-bit entertainment system and is located in Sunnyvale, California.
# # #
Atari, the Atari logo and Jaguar are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation. All Rights Reserved. All listed
software is authorized by Atari for use with the Jaguar 64-Bit
Multimedia System.
VID GRID (c)1994-1995 Geffen Records, Inc. and Jasmine Multimedia
publishing. All Rights Reserved. Produced by Norman Bell and Jasmine
Multimedia Publishing. Licensed to Atari Corporation. Vid Grid is a
trademark of Jasmine Multimedia Publishing and Geffen Records Inc.
MYST software copyright (c)1993 Cyan, Inc. and Sun Corporation. All
Rights Reserved. Atari Jaguar Adaptation (Worldwide) (c)1995 Atari
Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Myst is a registered trademark of
Cyan, Inc.
Blue Lightning (c)1989, 1995 Epyx. All Rights Reserved. (c)1995 Atari
Corporation. Blue Lightning is a trademark of Epyx, licensed for use by
16
Atari Corporation.
# # #
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (Sept. 19) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 19, 1995--Atari Corp.
Tuesday morning announced the launch of "Rayman" for the Jaguar 64
entertainment system.
"Rayman" is a challenging, unique game developed and published for
Atari by Ubi Soft for the powerful Next Generation Jaguar.
"Rayman" transports players to a mystical world with vibrant
animation and an upbeat soundtrack as they help the affable adventure
hero defeat bizarre enemies, rescue his friends and restore peace and
harmony to the world.
Combining challenging game play, cartoon-like animation and
authentic sound effects, "Rayman" appeals to gamers of all ages and
skill levels. Players explore multi-layered worlds with independently
scrolling backdrops leading to clever enemies that learn each gamer's
playing style and fight back with wicked skill.
"Ubi Soft has developed an outstanding game for the Jaguar 64,"
said Ted Hoff, Atari's president of North American operations. "The
animation for 'Rayman' consists of over 50 hand-drawn characters,
65,000 colors and 60-frame-per-second movement, all of which highlight
the superiority of Jaguar's 64-bit technology."
Gaming capabilities and sophisticated visual presentation have the
industry buzzing about this new game for Jaguar 64. In the September
issue, Electronic Gaming Monthly awards "Rayman" for Atari's Jaguar 64
the Editor's Gold Choice Award.
"Rayman" is rated (KA) for kids through adults, is in stores now and
has a suggested retail price of $69.99.
For more than 20 years, Atari has provided consumers with high
quality, value-priced entertainment. Atari markets Jaguar 64, the
only American-made, advanced 64-bit system and is located in Sunnyvale.
With headquarters just outside of Paris, Ubi Soft develops,
publishes and distributes video games and computer entertainment
software throughout the world, with offices in the United States,
Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.
-/- Sega Enters CD-ROM Market -/-
Sega Enterprises Ltd.'s Sega of America, best known for its video
cartridges for dedicated game machines, is jumping into the PC game
market this fall with its first CD-ROM games.
Reporting from Redwood City, California, the Reuter News Service
quotes Sega as saying it will port enhanced 16- and 32-bit Sega games
to Pentium-based PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 95.
Initially, the Sega CD-ROM lineup includes "Ecco the Dolphin,"
"Tomcat Alley" and Comix Zone."
"An upgrade of Sega's hit arcade and Sega Saturn title 'Virtua
Fighter Remix,' which requires a multimedia accelerator board by
Diamond Multimedia, Systems Inc. is scheduled to hit the market as a
pack-in with the Diamond Edge 3D board starting in October," Reuters
adds.
Also, later this year look for the Sega Saturn "Panzer Dragoon"
to be available for the PC using the Edge 3D accelerator, the wire
service says.
-/- Microsoft Offers New Joystick -/-
A new joystick is seen as Microsoft Corp.'s latest weapon in its
effort to lure video game enthusiasts to personal computers.
Part of a growing line of Microsoft hardware peripherals for the
consumer market, the joystick "is aimed in part at taking advantage of
the Windows 95 operating system, which is being positioned as a far
better gaming system than previous versions of Windows," says the
Reuter News Service.
The Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro, available in mid-October for
about $60, will operate older games, but will include a total of eight
buttons rather than the usual four, to allow game designers to add new
options. Microsoft officials told the wire service the product will
take advantage of new digital-optical technology to give gamers more
precise control.
It will be packaged with Activision's MechWarrior 2 combat game
for about $80. Microsoft also said it will offer a two-button analog
joystick called SideWinder for about $30.
With the new Windows 95 system, Microsoft has made a major effort
to entice game players and developers from rival platforms, such as the
Sega and Nintendo dedicated game devices.
"Not only are the video-game devices far less expensive than
personal computers, until now they also have provided faster response
for action games than computers," Reuters comments. "Microsoft
officials are hoping that game players can be won over to computers by
improvements such as the new operating system, specially designed games
and input devices."
Besides the joystick, Microsoft's consumer division produces
several mouse units and an ergonomically designed keyboard.
-/- Panasonic Plans PC/Mac CD-ROMs -/-
Panasonic Software Co., the entertainment publishing division of
Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, says it will begin publishing
CD-ROM software titles for the Macintosh and PC.
Panasonic Software, located in Santa Clara, California, was
established in April 1994 to publish interactive software titles for
the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system.
The company first PC title will be Cyberdillo, a 3-D adventure
game in which players guide a half armadillo, half cybernetic machine,
on a scavenger hunt. Cyberdillo will be available in November. No price
has been announced.
Planned Macintosh titles include Theo the Dinosaur and Isis. Theo
the Dinosaur is a children's interactive playbook that encourages kids
to read and recycle. The story is based on cartoonist Phil Yeh's book,
Theo the Dinosaur. The title is set to ship in November. No price has
been announced.
Isis is a cinematic adventure game in which players must rescue a
beautiful goddess by finding the gems that harness the elemental forces
of Earth, Wind & Fire. This game features the music of Earth, Wind &
Fire with live interviews and concert footage. Isis will be available
in December. No price has been announced.
>Jaguar Developers STR InfoFile - Current Developer Lists & Titles
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Game Title Date Game Type MSRP Publisher
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Air Cars TBA Racing/Combat $59.99 MidNite Ent.
Alien vs Predator NOW Role Play/Adventure $69.99 Atari
Alien vs Predator CD 2/96 Role Play/Adventure TBD Atari
Arena Football 11/95 Sports $69.99 V Reel
Assault 2Q/95 Action/Combat $59.99 MidNite Ent.
Atari Kart 11/95 Driving TBD Atari
Att. of Mut. Penguins 12/95 Arcade $59.99 Atari
Baldies (CD) 11/95 Action/Simulation $59.99 Atari
Batman Forever (CD) 4/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari
Battlemorph (CD) 11/95 Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Battlesphere 12/95 Space/Combat TBD 4-Play
Battlestar 11/95 Space/Combat TBD ?
Battle Wheels 2Q/95 Racing/Combat TBD Beyond Games
Black ICE/White Noise 12/95 Action/Adventure $69.99 Atari
Blue Lightning (CD) NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Braindead 13 (CD) 10/95 Action/Adventure TBD ReadySoft
Breakout 2000 12/95 Puzzle $49.99 Atari
Brett Hull Hockey 11/95 Sports TBD Atari
Brett Hull Hockey (CD) 1Q/96 Sports $69.99 Atari
Brutal Sports Football NOW Sports/Combat $69.99 Telegames
Bubsy NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Cannon Fodder NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Virgin
Chas Barkley Basketball10/95 Sports $59.99 Atari
Checkered Flag NOW Racing $69.99 Atari
Club Drive NOW Racing $59.99 Atari
Commando (CD) 11/95 Action (3D) TBD Atari
Commander Blood (CD) 11/95 RPG $69.99 Atari
Creature Shock (CD) 10/95 Adventure/Sci-Fi $59.99 Atari/Virgin
Cybermorph NOW Flying/Action $59.99 Atari
Dactyl Joust 11/95 Action TBD Atari
Dante (CD) 6/96 Action TBD Atari
17
Deathwatch 11/95 Arcade TBD Atari
Defender 2000 11/95 Arcade $59.99 Atari
Demolition Man (CD) 10/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Doom NOW Action/Combat $69.99 Atari
Double Dragon V NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Williams
Dragon:Bruce Lee Story NOW Combat $59.99 Atari
Dragon's Lair (CD) 9/95 Adventure TBD Ready Soft
Dragon's Lair 2 (CD) 10/95 Adventure TBD ReadySoft
Dreadnought (CD) 2Q/95 Adventure TBD Atari
Dune Racer (CD) 1/96 Racing TBD Atari
Dungeon Depths 2Q/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 MidNite Ent.
Evolution: Dino Dudes NOW Puzzle/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Fever Pitch 11/95 Sports TBD Atari
Fight For Life TBA Combat TBD Atari
Flashback NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 US Gold
Flip-Out NOW Puzzle $49.99 Atari
Formula 1 Racing (CD) 11/95 Racing TBD Atari
Frank Thomas Baseball 4/96 Sports TBD Atari
Gotcha! 1/95 ? TBD ---
Hardball Baseball 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Highlander I (CD) 10/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Highlander II (CD) 2/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari
Highlander III (CD) 4/96 Action/Adventure TBD Atari
Horrorscope 2Q/95 Combat TBD V Reel
Hover Strike NOW Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Hover Strike CD 9/95 Action/Combat $59.99 Atari
Hyper Force TBA ? TBD Comp. West
Ironman/XO-Manowar 4/96 Action TBD Atari
Iron Soldier NOW Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari
Iron Soldier II (CD) 11/95 Action/Strategy $59.99 Atari
Jack Nicklaus Golf(CD) 2Q/95 Sports TBD Atari
Kasumi Ninja NOW Combat $69.99 Atari
Magic Carpet (CD) 12/95 Action/RPG TBD Atari
Max Force (CD) 12/95 Action $59.99 Atari
Mindripper (CD) 2/96 Adventure TBD Atari
Missile Command 12/95 Action/Arcade TBD Atari
Mortal Kombat 3 4/96 Fighting TBD Atari
Myst (CD) 10/95 Interactive Novel $59.99 Atari
NBA Jam T.E. 12/95 Sports $69.99 Atari
Netwar (aka Redemption)11/95 Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Phase Zero 10/95 Action/Arcade $59.99 Atari
Pinball Fantasies NOW Arcade $59.95 Comp. West
Pitfall - Mayan Adv. 10/95 Arcade $59.99 Activision
Power Drive Rally 9/95 Driving TBD TWI
Primal Rage (CD) 11/95 Fighting TBD TWI
Rage Rally 2Q/95 Racing TBD Atari
Raiden NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Rayman NOW Action/Adventure TBD UBI Soft
Return Fire (CD) 1Q/96 Combat TBD Atari
Rise of the Robots (CD)11/95 Action/Arcade TBD TWI
Robinson's Requiem (CD)11/95 Adventure $59.99 Atari
Rocky Horror Inter.(CD) 4/96 Adventure TBD Atari
Ruiner Pinball 10/95 Arcade $59.99 Atari
Sensible Soccer NOW Sports Telegames
Sky Hammer (CD) 12/95 Flying/Action TBD Atari
Soccer Kid 2Q/95 Sports TBD Ocean
Soul Star (CD) 9/95 Action/Sci-Fi TBD Atari
Space Ace (CD) 9/95 Space/Combat TBD ReadySoft
Space War 9/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Starlight BowlaRama CD 10/95 Simulation/Sports TBD Atari
Star Raiders 2Q/95 Space Simulation TBD Atari
Sudden Impact 12/95 Action TBD Atari
Super Burnout NOW Racing $59.99 Atari
Supercross 3D 11/95 Sports $59.99 Atari
Syndicate NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean
Tempest 2000 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Thea Realm Fighters(CD)1Q/96 Action/Fighting TBD Atari
Theme Park NOW Simulation $69.99 Ocean
Trevor McFur NOW Action/Adventure $49.99 Atari
Troy Aikman NFL Ftball NOW Sports $69.99 Williams
Ultimate Brain Games 2Q/95 Puzzle TBD Telegames
Ultra Vortek NOW Action/Adventure $69.99 Beyond Games
Val D'Isere Skiing... NOW Sports $59.99 Atari
Varuna's Forces (CD) 12/95 Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
VidGrid (CD) NOW Puzzle/Music Video --- Atari
Wayne Gretzky NHL (CD) 12/95 Sports TBD TWI
White Men Can't Jump NOW Sports (w/Team Tap) $69.99 TriMark
Wolfenstein 3D NOW Combat/Action $59.99 Atari
Zero 5 1/96 Space/Combat TBD Atari
Zone Hunter 12/95 Action/Adventure TBD Atari
Zool2 NOW Action/Adventure $59.99 Atari
Zoop 12/95 Puzzle TBD Viacom
[Editor's note: Titles, scheduled release dates, and prices are
verified from Atari - all subject to change]
>Jaguar Online STR InfoFile Online Users Growl & Purr!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (950917)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I expect this issue of CATnips will turn out being a bit unique. It
looks like it will be a long one and I hope people like it because I've
spent hours and hours putting this together. <g> I urge everyone to
read ALL the comments because I picked a lot of the ones brought to my
attention for their informative value. Please help copy and distribute
this issue so as many people as possible have it available to them.
CD-ROM is here!
As you will see, Atari has had an explosive end of week last week. Not
only has "FlipOut!", "White Men Can't Jump", "Rayman" and "Ultra
Vortek" been released on carts recently, the CD-ROM is hitting stores
in quantities and gamers are ecstatic. I don't expect you to take my
"biased" word for it, so I've collected "a few" comments from
CompuServe, the Internet, GEnie, CATscan and Prodigy. It seems that
Mr. Hoff is a bit of a hero at Atari. In my opinion, he deserves the
recognition!
On last Wednesday, Mr. Hoff helped launch the CD-ROM with a live RTC
(Round Table Conference) on GEnie and within hours of that event,
CD-ROM's were being cited in popular gaming retailers across the
country. My EMail box on all the popular services is filled. Special
thanks to Frans Keylard for his tireless efforts to keep me up-to-date
with Internet traffic. (Yes, I appreciate Travis Guy and Dana Jacobson
too. <g>) Another unsung hero is Mr. Laury Scott who has had to put a
lot of work to meet the deadlines established to keep Atari's
schedules. I also think Atari's Customer Service Department deserves a
LOT of that-a-person's (politically corrected that-a-boys <g>). In
particular, I'd like to say "thanks" to Carolyn, Barbara, Renee,
Claudia, Geraldine and Arnold. They put up with a lot of people who
have, well let's say, very anxious ways of telling Atari that they'd
like their CD-ROM. <g>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Coming October 6, Plug in the WIRE network."
"On October 6, Atari Corporation, CompuServe Information
Service, Atari Explorer Online Magazine and Silicon
Times Report unveil something big for the online
community."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FOR COUNTRY MUSIC FANS...
Before I unleash the frenzied feedback from friends who found the
CD-ROM <g>, let me offer a suggestion as one of the first audio CDs
you may wish to play on it. Just recently, a young lady who we (my
family) know in the humble town of Manteca released her first album on
CD and cassette. Her mother used to babysit my son, and I remember the
long hours that her daughter would practice singing and training her
voice. The other night, I took my son to see "Hackers" (got to keep up
with these things <g>) and the theater was playing Kristin's new CD:
"Neon Romeo" before the movie started. Wow! Kristin sounded good!
It occurs to me that there may be a few Country Music lovers in the
Internet as well as on the major online services. I think Kristin may
very well teach me to appreciate Country Music a lot more. I admit I
am biased, but Kristin has a unique quality in her voice and she has
managed to perfect it over the years. I think she has a great shot at
making a name for herself.
Kristin's mom is a super lady. If she's not doing something for
Kristin, it's for another family member or one of her friends. Kathy
has co-produced the CD and the family made the trek to Hilltop Studios
18
in Nashville, Tennessee to record it.
It's been a little while since I have seen Kathy and Kristin Rich
since our son is now on a different schedule and they don't watch him
during the day any longer. I do think Kristin sounds great and I know
how much work their family has put into putting out their first
bonafide album. So, I've offered to help spread the word... especially
since all the Jaguar owners I know are getting something cool to play
Kristin's new CD on. <g>
Here's the deal... The CD is $15 and the cassette is $10. The cassette
and the CD are professionally packaged (although I can't find a
barcode... hmmm). As an offer to anyone reading this, both Kristin and
Kathy have agreed to sign your copy. (Kathy and Kristin both sing on
the CD). You can have the sleeve signed, the CD or both. Just ask.
There are 10 songs and Kristin's best is in every one of them. Since
this is the teenager's first, this may be a great opportunity to
preview what is in store for her fans down that Country road! Here are
the selections:
Just Wanna Rodeo With You Take It From Me
You Said You'd Call Me Trouble With Love
A Mile a Minute We're Talkin Tears
Never Stop Lovin' Me Love's Looking Back
Runnin' On Love Forever Young
If you're inclined to help launch this young woman's success AND
benefit from a great "limited edition, signed" audio CD or cassette,
then send $15 for CD or $10 for cassette (plus $3.00 S&H) to:
Kristin Rich - NEON ROMEO Special Offer
c/o Artisan SW
P.O. Box 849
Manteca, CA 95337
Checks and Money Orders accepted. Make checks out to "Kristin
Rich-Neon Romeo offer". California orders, please add sales tax.
Distributor, resale and bulk purchase inquiries welcome.
SMALL PRINT -- Please note that this offer is not endorsed or
affiliated with Atari Corporation or it's licensees. I am admittedly
taking advantage of my distribution channels to help Kristin sell her
new CD. I have not nor do I intend to personally benefit financially
or otherwise from this offer. Have I missed anything? Send E-Mail
inquiries to: 75300.1267@compuserve.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RAYMAN!!!!!
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 02:47:26
From: Lenorah@aol.com
To: Multiple recipients <jaguar@bucknell.edu>
Subject: RAYMAN!!!!!!
Comment: Discussion of the Atari Jaguar and
video gaming industry
I picked up my copy of Rayman today. The moment I got home, I made
straight for EB. Sure enough, it was there on the shelf (the empty box
with the NEW RELEASE on it anyway), I headed to the checkout so quick
I was just a blur. I struggled to write the check fast enough, and
waited impatiently for the clerk to clear it. I took the fast route
home, and had Rayman inserted into the cart port the instant I was
through the door.
So far I've played for a little over two hours, and I'm having a BLAST!
The control is perfect, the sound is great, the music is OK (I was
hoping for stereo, but I guess memory is limited when graphics this
detailed are used), and the graphics are extremely sharp. Parallax,
shmerillax, the three scrolls are detailed enough to suffice. It's my
guess, that the only reason the PSX version has more parallax, is
because it has plenty of space on the CD, and it doesn't play music
from memory. UBI has packed a lot into limited cart space, the
characters movements incredibly varied (I just love breaking the teeth
out of the fish's mouth), and there are tons of little mushrooms
moving, stacking up, and jumping around in the first word. I can't
really say if I've seen any Slowdown (TM Nintendo), I think this game
is so fluid, that I just imagine it, but it rarely occurs, and only an
extremely tiny hint of it then.
The music fits the game extremely well, it's crystal clear, and as
stated before I would've preferred stereo, but that doesn't bother me
(unless my Jag isn't hooked up right, my TV is supposedly smart and
detects mono signals when cable is connected to the right input jack).
The SFX are clear and fit right into the action, there is always sound
coming from something. The only thing missing in the audio is voices,
at the startup screen, you can see Rayman's mouth moving as to say
"Rayman", but no voice is heard. Also, when you stand still for a
while he says something, but nothing comes out. It doesn't impact the
game though.
Well, that's my review.
> >Stephen > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM PRODIGY...
SERVICE: PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service
TIME: 09/16 3:01 AM
BOARD: VIDEO GAMES BB
TOPIC: ATARI JAGUAR
SUBJECT: UV AND RAYMAN
TO: DONALD THOMAS JR (EUKG11A)
FROM: ROBERT JOHNSON JR (LTTY44A)
Don --
I just picked up copies of Rayman & UV this morning locally in the Bay
Area -- both are fantastic & were worth waiting for. Rayman in
particular is spectacular. As you wrote, my local dealer said the CD
unit should be in by early next week. I can barely wait!! And on behalf
of everyone on this board, I wish to take this opportunity to
personally thank you for your candid input on the Jaguar. And also
thanks to all the Jaguar fans who post notes on my favorite board. See
you all tomorrow night.
Robert
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JAG CD-ROM IMPRESSES AMERICA ON-LINE USER...
DATE: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 23:59:00
FROM: Lenorah@aol.com
TO: Multiple recipients <jaguar@bucknell.edu>
SUBJECT: I GOT MY JAG-CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COMMENT: Discussion of the Atari Jaguar and
video gaming industry
YES, YES, YES!!!! Ya Mon! Woo Hoo!!
The moment I saw the posts that the JagCD was out, I grabbed the check
book and flew out the door <zipp>. The moment I got to EB I sighted my
crosshairs on the Jag stuff and locked on to the CD display box. After
an excruciating(sp?) wait at the check out counter, I hurried to my
car. Just to make sure it was really real, I opened the box and looked
in, it was real! I never thought I would visit EB two days in a row
and walk out with something new (not returns or trades) both times.
Rayman and JagCD within a day of each other, hurray for us! I guess my
patience paid off ;) .
The only thing I didn't like about getting them is the tax, around here
it is 8.25%, which is high for tax in this area. I've got Rayman and
my JagCD, so I'm not going to be spending any more for a while anyway.
As soon as I got home, I fulfilled my promise I made a long time ago,
the first disk I put in it was the T2K soundtrack (my old one, I'll
keep the new one in the wrapper), VLM is everything the hype makes it
out to be. My mom likes it as well, and my dad keeps saying the images
are fractals, I don't really know but I don't think so. Next, I played
the Myst demo (talk about short demo), very nice color, the sound that
goes with the FMV was a bit scratchy, but that is common with most FMV
anyway.
Next, I played BL, the cinemas looked really good, and the music during
the game is crystal clear. Load time is minimal, only about 10 seconds,
it jumps to the FMV quickly too. It will take a while to get used to
the control, but its not impossible, I've only played it a few times
19
so far.
The Jaguar can now be truly called a Multimedia System. I could be
wrong, but I can say that I speak for the majority of Jag owners who
are impatiently awaiting their JagCD when I say "YES!! YES!! YES!!
YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!! YES!!"
I don't normally listen to country (I feel the need every once in
a while for some reason), but the VLM seems to respond well to it.
I'll have to try some of my soundtracks next, most have a bit of
orchestrated tracks in them.
Excuse me while I go watch the VLM some more..... =8)
> >Stephen > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And YET ANOTHER AOL FAN!!!
DATE: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 19:06:15
FROM: Marvin15@aol.com
TO: Multiple recipients <jaguar@bucknell.edu>
SUBJECT: JAGUAR CD
COMMENT: Discussion of the Atari Jaguar and
video gaming industry
Well, I got it and WOW.
This thing rocks and you cannot beat the price. A kick-a$$ system and
4 discs for 150 dollars. Vid Grid really shows off the system's FMV
abilities. Blue Lightning is not that great but it will do. I haven't
listened to the Tempest soundtrack yet but still, It is great techo
judging from the game. I also haven't opened Myst but it should be
nice. The VLM is ultimate and really works well to the Dangerous Minds
Soundtrack. Well, I have to get back to playing and I just hope that
this doesn't go the same way the Jag did and take almost 2 years for
a good number of games to come out. Good Job Atari. BTW, I got it from
Babbages in St. Louis in case anyone is wondering what areas have
gotten them yet.
> >Derek > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANOTHER DANCE AT CD-ROM PROM...
DATE: Sat, 16 Sep 1995 21:03:27 -0400
FROM: mbates@stocko.com (Marlin Bates, IV)
TO: Multiple recipients <jaguar@bucknell.edu>
SUBJECT: JAGUAR CD
COMMENT: Discussion of the Atari Jaguar and
video gaming industry
Well, I got mine today. Just thought I would do a quick overview of
the system and software.
Location: Stockton, CA (Northern Calif)
Bought it at Electronic Boutique in Concord, CA for $149. Last one out
of 10 they got. In a nice box similar in design to the Jag box. Comes
with the four discs which you know about. The holders for the CD-ROM
games (except Myst) come in very cool tri-fold CD holders (similar to
the ones some audio CDs come in). Myst, since it is a demo, is simply
in a Cardboard sleeve. The power supply is IDENTICAL to the Jag base
which is cool and odd at the same time.
Included is of course the multi national owners manual and a flyer
about a Memory Track. It is a cart sized memory backup for high scores
on CD games. Which is very cool to know.
One thing I was disappointed with was the loss of the boot up roar. Too
be sure the new effects with the Logo and VLM at boot up are too cool!
Also, I did not think I was going to like Vid Grid but it IS GREAT!
The difficulty accelerates at a good but challenging pace. I'm not too
hot on all of the groups but they picked songs which span a good
variety and don't annoy those not familiar with all of them. Also the
opening shots in here are OUTSTANDING. Very fluid.
If you fail to put either a cart or disk in a cool ? Disk comes up
(similar to the Mac ? disk) when you do not put a disk in at boot)
Blue Lightning is graphically excellent but the controls are a bit
picky.
MYST IS EXCELLENT. I had owned the Mac version and this is BETTER
graphics and speed wise and this is only a demo!
All-in-all I would rate everything about this a 9. And not a 10 only
because I have had to wait so long!
> > Marlin > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ULTRA VORTEK REVIEW FROM INTERNET...
FROM: fkeylard@on-ramp.ior.com (Frans Keylard)
TO: 75300.1267@compuserve.com
SUBJECT: Re: Ultra Vortek Opinion
DATE: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 21:39:45
In rec.games.video.atari, tiptron@aol.com (Tiptron) wrote:
Ultra Vortex - Beyond Games
Review By: Larry Tipton
Ultra Vortek finally answers the question "Can the Atari Jaguar Do
Fighting Games?" The answer, a resounding YES!!!
If you are a fan of MK/MKII, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, or NEO
GEO fighters go out and get this game now!
The control is splendid, the special moves are new an fresh, the sound
effects are bone crunching great, the music FITS this game:
Hyper-Grunge-Garage Band Guitar Rock.
Ultra Vortek is not hyper fast like some of the fighter games are
today. You know, where the characters move soooo fast you cant see
them and they nail you with 100 punches and kicks in 2 seconds. The
action in this game just feels right.
The look.... No blurry images. Incredible backgrounds. This thing
oozes with next generation style. The playfields are about two TV
screens wide. There is plenty of room to fight, escape, etc. The first
two levels of difficulty are pretty easy. I was able to reach the
Guardian in Normal mode. What an ugly dude!!!! Watch his tail! Ouch.
The Hard Level setting is where you can find the real game. The Hyper
level is for folks who love to feel pain of losing to a superior CPU
opponent!
The move are easy to pull off, not frustration like those found in
Kasumi Ninja. It feels natural! The booklet does not give away all of
the special moves, well have to figure those out for ourselves! I've
seen quite a few Annihilation moves performed by the CPU at the hard
setting. Three by Mercury alone. I have not figured out how to do them
yet. All of the characters have the same basic moves: Punch, Pummel,
Kick, Jab, Uppercut, Sweep, Retreat, Escape, Jump, Crouch, Block.
Feels very similar to MK/MK2/MK3. But, they also have their own special
moves. Lucious' Hawk Attack looks incredible! Buzzsaw's Pain Machine
looks like a Daggit on steroids! And who wouldn't love Skullcrusher's
"Choke and Thump!" Volcano's fire moves are Hyper-Toasty <g>.
Did I mention that the backgrounds are incredible? Or that the control
is top-notch? Yes! -and- Yes!
Oh, and the shadow fights are also incredible looking. Look,
transparencies! Very tough too! Save your strength, you are going to
need it. :-)
Rating on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest score
possible.
Graphics: 10
Control: 10
Sound: 10
Music: 9
Playability: 10
Originality: 8
20
Overall: 9.5
Beyond Games and Atari did this one right! I just can't say enough good
things about this title!!!!!
> > Larry Tipton > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM THE ATARI JAGUAR SUPPORT AREA ON COMPUSERVE...
SERVICE: CompuServe
DATE: Saturday, September 16, 1995
TOPIC: Jaguar General
SUBJECT: Congratulations, Atari
MSG#: 92804
FROM: Daniel Skelton, 73742,464
To Don, Lynn, Laury, Loic, and everybody at Atari who've had to put up
with lots of griping over the past few weeks (much of it from me):
Congratulations to all of you for the finest week in the life span of
the Jaguar. Rayman, Ultra Vortek, Blue Lightning, Vid-Grid, Virtual
Light Machine, and the Myst demo. Okay, I don't want to hear ANYBODY
complaining about no new software being released. That's SIX new
programs in one week, including what may be three of the best ever
released for the system, Rayman, Ultra Vortek, and VLM.
Finally, the Jaguar has a world-class platform game, one which is
being released at the same time as other platforms' versions (not
months after), a game that screams "next generation."
Finally, the Jaguar has a solid two-person fighter, one which has
aroused even my interest, and I have about as much love for two-person
fighters as I have for memorizing DOS commands. Every delay taken by
Atari to improve this program was time well-spent. I can only hope
that Fight For Life is utilizing its extra time as well.
Finally, the CD-ROM is available, and Virtual Light Machine is the
kind of program I dreamed of running some 15 years ago when I did an
electronic music radio program on college radio - this is EXACTLY what
I had wanted to broadcast on video to accompany the music.
Keep up the pace, keep up the good work, and many thanks from one
happy Jag owner having a GREAT weekend!
-- Dan Skelton
Antique Videogame Aficionado and Proud Jaguar Owner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FRANS FINDS ANOTHER ULTRA VORTEK FAN ON THE INTERNET...
FROM: fkeylard@on-ramp.ior.com (Frans Keylard)
TO: 75300.1267@compuserve.com
SUBJECT: Da_n UV ! It gave me a blister!
DATE: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 21:41:00
In rec.games.video.atari, mnelson@netcom.com (Michael
Nelson) wrote:
I picked up Ultra Vortek this morning. The game is excellent! In fact,
I haven't had this much fun with a Jag game since IS. The graphics are
crisp, smooth, and interesting. I have no idea where the animation
complaints came from. I was also impressed by the energetic music. Not
quite in the same league with T2K, but still very good. They make heavy
use of a heavily distorted guitar sound - >very cool.
I was a bit concerned when I breezed through the trainee level
opponents (uh oh, KN all over again). Fortunately, the game got harder
on the normal setting. The guardian kicked my weenie a$$. A big
problem I had with KN was that opponents (even on Ninja God level)
would fall easily to repeated attacks. I can run the table using only
a high kick. UV opponents, though, will have none of this. Only on
Trainee level could I repeatedly use the same attack and consistently
win bouts. This is good.
Do I have any regrets about buying this game? Yup, I've got a great
big blister on my joypad thumb. I'm gonna have to wait for it to heal
before I play UV again.
> > Michael > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHAT WAS IT THEY SAY ABOUT RAYMAN AGAIN?...
FROM: fkeylard@on-ramp.ior.com (Frans Keylard)
TO: 75300.1267@compuserve.com
SUBJECT: RAYMAN is awesome !!!!!!!!!!
DATE: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 21:44:26
In rec.games.video.atari, rcdebaca@nmsu.edu (Richard CDeBaca) wrote:
Just bought Rayman this Friday and all I can say is I feel sorry for
the people that sold their jaguars, the fun is just beginning. The
bright colors, and animations even look great on an old cheap 13" TV.
Everyone in my student apartments that walks by and sees the screen
wants to know more about the Jag. Who cares if people only find out
about the Jag now. It is never too late. I think this game will
definitely sell some systems!
Later.
> > Richard > >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OKAY, BUT I NEED MORE BEFORE I'LL BELIEVE IT...
FROM: fkeylard@on-ramp.ior.com (Frans Keylard)
TO: 75300.1267@compuserve.com
SUBJECT: Reviews: Rayman and Ultra Vortek
DATE: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 21:45:55
In rec.games.video.atari, TheShirt@interramp.com (Boomer)
wrote:
Yesterday I bought, sight unseen, Rayman and Ultra Vortek from my local
Babbages. (They had *two* whole copies of Ultra Vortek shipped to
them?) Although the sales person seemed somewhat surprised, I couldn't
have been happier when I got them home.... and that was after paying
Babbages exorbitant price of $69.99 each (what can a guy do when only
one store in a city of 100,000 plus carries Jaguar stuff). Anyway, here
goes:
Rayman (after about one hour of playing)
A new classic in the realm of platformers. Though I usually don't pay
much attention to platformers (my daughters do), it beats, hands down,
any other platform I have played.... including DKC. Of course, I prefer
game play to prettiness, so keep that in mind. I'm sure, over time, I
will put in the effort to finish it (something I usually don't do).
Definitely a *MUST BUY*, even at $69.99.
Ultra Vortek (after about 30 minutes of playing)
This games rocks....and I don't just mean the soundtrack. I have played
MK, MKII, SF, SFIIT, Primal Rage, etc., and I personally think this
beats them all..... truly a Jaguar victory!!!
The graphics are superb, the music is superb, the gameplay is superb!
An 11, 11, 11 straight across on a scale of 1-10. Buy it, buy it, buy
it..... if you like fighters, you won't be disappointed. I really
question whether MKIII will be able to beat it.
Bottom line... I think the question of 64 bits? (one I never doubted)
has clearly been answered by both of these games.
BTW, I have the disposable income to buy Saturn or Playstation or
whatever else I want, but with the release of these two games, I see
there is no longer a reason to even think about them! There is no doubt
in my mind that Atari is on the right track and there are many
*GREAT* things to come.
See Ya,
> > The Shirt > >
21
E-mail: TheShirt@interramp.com
Without Atari's almighty pong
No video game console would be going strong
If playing any console and thinking "Hey, this is for me"
Be sure and thank the creator, the mighty Atari!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VLM=VERY LIKABLE MACHINE!!!!
SERVICE: Prodigy
BOARD: VIDEO GAMES BB
TOPIC: ATARI JAGUAR
SUBJECT: UV AND RAYMAN
TO: DONALD THOMAS JR (EUKG11A)
FROM: JERRY DANZIG (PSFT55A)
DATE: 09/17/95, 12:59 PM
Don,
The VLM is a universal favorite because it's such a mindblower! I mean,
I was looking forward to it, and it still far exceeds my expectations;
I'm having a wonderful time running all my old psychedelic CDs on it,
with incredible results. If Atari can keep stuff coming that blows
people's minds like this, the Jag can still hold its own against the
latest onslaught from the Far East. I'd also like to say that I think
Blue Lightning is much better than some of the reviews I've seen; it's
the best fighter simulation I've played, though I don't have an
exhaustive knowledge of the genre...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JERRY LOVES THE JAGUAR CD-ROM...
SERVICE: Prodigy
BOARD: VIDEO GAMES BB
TOPIC: ATARI JAGUAR
SUBJECT: CD: HAPPY JOY JOY!!!
TO: ALL
FROM: JERRY DANZIG (PSFT55A)
DATE: 09/15/95, 4:47 PM
YES!! The day after I scored a copy of Rayman, what else did I see
sitting on the EB shelf... can it be... THE JAG CD!!! (I'm here in
NYC.) How is it?
F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!!! Here are my initial observations, after just a
few hours messing around with it:
1) THE VLM IS WORTH THE PRICE ALONE!!! Yes, I qualify as an "ex-hippie",
but you have simply got to see the Virtual Light Machine in action to
believe it. This is the finest light show I've ever seen, and it's not
at the old Fillmore... it's on your TV, lighting up your favorite CDs.
[Don Thomas, if you're listening, you MUST show the VLM in a TV ad;
words and a static picture alone don't do it justice. And it's a
feature none of the other systems has!] What's really cool is to pick
one of the nine VLM banks and set the Jag for random, so it changes
effects within the bank every twenty seconds. AWESOME!!! Smoke 'em if
you got 'em!!! Minter to the rescue!!!
2) Blue Lightning looks great too, with texture mapping on all
surfaces, smooth flight, choice of planes, intro FMV, voices, stereo
is the video selection, which seems to favor videos with quick cuts
and weird images, like Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. The only gripe is
I hear some static on the audio, which I don't hear when playing audio
CD's.
3) Demo of Myst looks impressive too, with interactive demo of library
plus slide show of later scenes. I was so excited to have the CD (and
so broke), I didn't even look to see what if any games were available.
Between Flip Out, Rayman, Blue Lightning, and Vid Grid, I have plenty
to keep me occupied for a while. There is also mention in the package
of a separate "Memory Track" cartridge which plugs in the cartridge
slot and retains CD game settings; I'd like to know if this is
available yet too. At any rate, Jag fans, I HIGHLY recommend the CD
unit and suggest you RUN, don't walk, to your game store to pick one
up. (By the way, I was afraid mine wasn't working when I first hooked
it up; it turned out I hadn't plugged it all the way into the base
unit -- make sure you hear it click into place...)
Happy to answer further questions when I'm not playing. (I'm currently
"watching" the Beatle's Magical Mystery Tour, and it's something to
see!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CATscan IS BUZZING TOO...
CATscan E-Mail (209/239-1552)
Sent By: (#27) John Hardie
Sent To: (#1) Don Thomas - Atari Corporation
Sent On: September 16, 1995 at 8:35pm
Recv On: September 17, 1995 at 3:47pm
Subject: CD,etc.
Jag CD, Rayman, and Ultra Vortek! Don, I've gone to Atari heaven!!!
Everything is great, VLM, VidGrid, Blue, Myst Demo, all are very good.
Thanks again for the informative conference the other night. All this
talk of Oct. 6, should I get myself a CompuServe account?? Talk to you
later.
-- John
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YET ANOTHER CATscan PURRRRk...
Message: = Open Discussion = #221 of 221 [20 Lines]
Sent On: September 17, 1995 at 12:55am
Sent By: Marlin Bates - All Hail the Fuji!
Sent To: All
Replies: None
Subject: JAGUAR CD
Just thought I would call and post a message to the effect that I think
this Jag CD is COOL! Another quality program from the people in he
land of the Fuji! I am curious (but very happy to see it) as to the
Memory Track cart and when we will see it available for purchase?
Everything about the Jag CD from packaging to performance is top notch.
Blue Lightning is a bit tough for my not so nimble reactions but other
than that I am VERY glad to have purchased it.
I do like the new opening Logo screen. I also have to admit that I did
not think I would like Vid Grid (h_ll, I don't even like some of the
groups!) but Vid Grid is incredibly addictive. I just keep playing it
and playing it. Sometimes just to watch the videos! Outstanding game!
Will we see more of these? Maybe volumes II & III? Howsabout some
Elton John (since he has some Geffen albums)? Dan Folgelburg?
Keep it up! I love it! BTW, the Concord Electronics Boutique was sold
out of Jag CDs! I bought the last one!
--Marlin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND FROM THE LAND OF BOTTLED WISHES...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/15/95, 08:49 PM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: P.FLETCHER4
I GOT MINE!!! I GOT MINE!!!! I GOT MINE!!!!
FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN!
Ok I'm still a bit excited, but gee was I happy when EB called today
and I cruised to the mall straight after work. :)
First impressions......... The unit is very well built. it always
looked so flimsy on the advertisements, but man this sucker is strong.
VLM....... Looked a bit weird at first, but once I began playing with
it..... its great! Cool effects and tons of options.
VID GRID...... Actually pretty fun. The videos are a bit grainier
than I had expected, but it certainly looks better than standard MPEG
movies on the PC. I only played this for maybe 15 minutes so I'll have
to make my judgments at a later time.
22
MYST DEMO..... Graphics are nice and the demo is fairly interesting if
you like this sort of look at stills and interact with them sort of
game.
BLUE LIGHTNING..... Graphics are really cool... FMV is used but is
easily skipped by pressing a button. The FMV is of a nice quality, but
I hate FMV as a rule so I doubt I'll ever watch it again. The game is
basically the Lynx version with a 90's paint job. It's good, but not a
game that will last the test of time.
TEMPEST CD..... Already have a Minter signed copy so who cares???? :)
Good job Atari. I'm glad that the week of Sept 11th was a true date.
I only live an hour from EB world headquarters so we in the
Philadelphia area may have a jump start on other Atarians, but believe
me the wait is OVER!!!!
--Pete
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SHORT BUT TO THE POINT...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/15/95, 09:12 PM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: JOHN.KING.T
I bought six Rayman and three Ultra Vortek carts today from my local
Babbages'. One of each is for me, the rest are Xmas presents. Don't
you wish you were on my list?
:-}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DID SOMEONE SAY RAYMAN?...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/16/95, 03:19 AM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: T.STEED1
Hi folks! Sorry I haven't been on lately, I've been busy playing....
R - A - Y - M - A - N ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Yahooooooooooooooooooooo! My little buddy was everything I expected,
and more!!!!!! It was SO impressive, we hooked up a Jag to one of our
monitors (don't tell anyone!) and let passersby play it! Lots of people
asked "Is this the Playstation?" And I had to frequently answer, "No,
it's the Jaguar, at almost half the price. Sure LOOKS like a
Playstation, though doesn't it? Except the case is cooler!" Just
today, I sold 3 systems WITH Rayman alone. Sold more Jags today than
the Playstation and Saturn put together.....
THEN..... when it was getting sort of slow, Mr. UPS shows up with
Ultra Vortek. Now, I normally am not a fighter fan (Though I eagerly
await Primal Rage) but this title was worth the wait, too! The evil
voice person should be hired for Atari Customer Service, and that
Volcana chick can come by my place anytime... oh, the game! Yes! It
sure is a relief after Kasumi (no slam intended). WOW. Anyone have any
codes/fatalities?
AND THEN, just to ruin my day, I read the latest issue of DHGF which
also arrived today... and in the Dragon's Lair review, they mention,
AGAIN, that the Jag CD is single speed. Well, being the smart-allelic
that I am, I took the liberty of writing them a scathing letter
(civilized, but scathing) and,..... get this!.... I mailed it in a
box with about 200 Jaguar brochures, the one with the JagCD specs on
the back, stating that it is indeed a DOUBLE SPEED drive.... I don't
know if they'll be happy or not, but I continued my role as
smartie-pants...mission-complete. :-) DHGF will be assimilated....
resistance is futile.... you will become one with the Fuji.... inferior
gaming magazines will be assimilated.....
What a MONTH.... WHAT a MONTH Atari.... (clap, clap, clap, clap,
clap...)
--Tim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/16/95, 08:18 AM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: B.LAMBERT4
Last night, on Friday, September 15, I walked proudly into the
Electronics Boutique at the Mall of America and purchased a Jaguar CD.
I had, after buying Rayman, originally planned to wait until next
month, but several things changed my mind. First, and foremost, was
the fact that -despite- talk here and elsewhere, they really did ship
in quantity this week. That was what we were told would happen on the
24th, and all previous delays aside, that's actually what -did- happen.
Second, I've been feeling very pro-underdog lately, and with the
Playstation out, it couldn't hurt Atari to have another first-day sale.
Third, Rayman for the Jaguar made enough of my Genesis platformers
obsolete that I got a good discount for turning them in. :)
First, I'd like to thank Atari for producing such a dang fine piece
of hardware. A box with a plug. Simple, easy, snaps right in, and gives
me a brand-new cartridge port (which is great, seeing as how the old
one was acting up!) Second, I'd like to officially nominate Jeff Minter
as Programming God. VLM is fantastic. It'll take some experimenting to
find the really cool effects (nothing seems to work very well with
hip-hop yet, but I'll be looking) but as a piece of work, -wow-.
Third, it's a good thing they included Blue Lightning as a pack-in,
because anybody who actually -bought- woulda screamed bloody murder.
As a pack-in, it makes nice eye-candy. Fourth, Vid-Grid's a lot more
fun than I thought it would be. But "Enter Sandman" is gonna give me
the fits for weeks, I think. Strobe effects, anyone? Fifth, boy, that
Myst demo is... limited. Sixth, I have -got- to go and get me a new
composite/stereo cable.
All in all, it's here, and it's a Good Thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DID SOMEONE ON GEnie SAY RAYMAN?...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/16/95, 10:16 AM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: EXPLORER.3
Picked up my Jag CD and Rayman here yesterday at the Queens Center Mall
in NY. Didn't even hook up the CD till around 10 last night as I was
running Rayman through it's paces. Needless to say, I was up till
4 a.m. Briefly, VLM is great!, Vid Grid is excellent, but seems to get
hard pretty quickly. Also, some parts of the videos are crystal clear,
while others seem a bit too grainy. I haven't gotten into Blue
Lightning too much yet, but the graphics and sound are great. Myst
Demo has some great graphics, but if the game requires me to read all
those books and remember what's in them, I don't think I'll enjoy it
too much. I've been rockin' with the T2K CD for a while so it was
nothing new. All in all, a great package and as someone else said, It
actually was available the week of the 11th.
--John
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANYONE GET A JagCD???...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/15/95, 11:50 PM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: T.MCCOMB
This one dynamite package folks. Run. Don't walk.
VLM: words don't (can't) do it justice.
Blue Lightning: Not ground breaking, but FUN none the less.
VidGrid: Very interesting. The Wife likes it. 'Nuff
Said.
MYST Demo: I'm VERY glad they included this. I didn't
think it would appeal to me at all. When it's
released I'll be first in line to buy a copy.
23
T2K CD: Got one already. But what a great way to exercise
VLM!
Buck for buck this package CAN NOT BE BEAT.
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
I got my JagCD!!!
-Tom McComb
{11:47 pm} Friday, September 15, 1995
Jaguar...it runs rings around Saturn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A CLASSIC COMMENT...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/17/95, 02:12 AM
CATEGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: M.LIPSON
I'm playing Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Op. 130, on
the VLM. Anyone who says the VLM won't sell Jaguars is a MORON. For
the VLM, Minter deserves the Nobel Prize. Zeppelin are next. VLM is
incredible. Who the **** cares about videogames?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GEnie MEMBERS ARE GEnuises...
SERVICE: GEnie
DATE: 9/17/95, 06:42 PM
CATAGORY: The Jaguar - Atari's latest Game Console!
FROM: SAM-RAPP
Here is the most recent list of CD+G discs I could find on the
Internet. There doesn't seem to be a lot.
(p) - disk is available as a promo only (not for resale)
NON-CLASSICAL:
==============
[*] Alphaville "The Breathtaking Blue"
e Atl 81943
Anita Baker "Rapture"
<*> Laura Brannigan "Laura Brannigan" Atl 19289
[*] Crosby, Stills & Nash "Live It Up" Atl 82107
<*> Firesign Theatre "Eat Or Be Eaten"
Ella Fitzgerald "Ella/Things Ain't What ..."
Flamin' Groovies "Groovies Greatest Grooves"
WB 25948
[*] Fleetwood Mac "Behind The Mask" WB 26111
Frozen Ghost "Nice Place To Visit" Atl 81875
<*> Emmylou Harris "Pieces In The Sky"
[*] Jimi Hendrix "Smash Hits" WB 2276
Honeymoon Suite "Racing After Midnight"
WB 25652
<*>
[*] Information Society "Information Society" WB 25691
[*] Chris Isaak "Silvertone" WB 25156
Little Feat "Hoy Hoy" WB 3538
Little Feat "Representing The Mambo"
WB 26163
Van Dyke Parks "Tokyo Rose" WB 25968
Gram Parsons "GP/Grievious Angel" WB 26108
Bonnie Raitt "Green Light" WB 3630
Bonnie Raitt "Nine Lives" WB 25486
[*] Lou Reed "New York" WB 25829
Simply Red "Picture Book" Ele 60452
<*> Phoebe Snow "Something Real"
<*> Donna Summer "Another Place And Time"
<*>
[*] Talking Heads "Naked" WB 25654
<*> 10,000 Maniacs "Blind Man's Zoo" Ele 60815
<*>
[*] Various "CD+G: A New Dimension"
WNM PRO-15027
(p)
[*] Various "Tribute to Woodie Guthrie"
WB 26036
[*] Various "The Home Video Album"
RCA 60354-2-RC
CLASSICAL:
==========
J. S. Bach "St. Matthew Passion" WNM 15010
Beethoven "String Quartet No. 14"
WNM 15011
Beethoven "Symphony No. 7" WNM 15008
Beethoven/Liszt "Symphony No. 9" WNM 15009
Hector Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique"
WNM 15015
Anton Bruckner "Symphony No. 9" WNM 15004
Placido Domingo "Belcanto Domingo" WNM 15014
Gustav Holst "The Planets" WNM 15001
Gustav Mahler "Symphony No. 5" WNM 15007
Felix Mendelssohn "Symphony No. 2" WNM 15029
Felix Mendelssohn "Symphony No. 3" WNM 15003
Felix Mendelssohn "Symphony No. 4" WNM 15013
Mozart "Abduction from the Seraglio"
WNM 15016
Mozart "Magic Flute Highlights"
WNM 15012
[*] Sergei Prokofiev "Peter And The Wolf" WNM 15028
Henry Purcell "Dido and Aeneas" WNM 15005
LONG DESCRIPTIONS --- CD+G discs
================================
Alphaville "The Breathtaking Blue" Atl 81943
A series of black and white photographs are panned
and scanned while the lyrics (1 - English, 2 -
French) are constantly displayed below the pictures.
Crosby, Stills & Nash "Live It Up" Atl 82107
Various pictures, relating to songs (well, looks like
the folks who did this CD+G never actually listened
to the lyrics of the song "Live It Up"). One of the
best done and nicest looking CD+Gs around -- if you
can find it.
Fleetwood Mac "Behind The Mask" WB 26111
A series of band and related pictures are shown,
along with lyrical accompaniment.
Jimi Hendrix "Smash Hits" WB 2276
Bizarre, psychedelic CD+G as large pictures (which
are collages of both computer art and real photos)
are panned. Through the entire CD+G, the brightest
palettes are continually being shifted, giving a
non-stop strobe effect.
Information Society "Information Society" WB 25691
Miscellaneous pictures (both real and computer art)
are displayed, while the lyrics are constantly
updated at the bottom of the screen. One of the
nicest CD+Gs available with regard to lack of
repetitiveness (except lots of the computer pictures
are cut and pasted throughout the CD+G).
Chris Isaak "Silvertone" WB 25156
A variety of different Chris Isaak pictures are
shown, and sometimes, even a pic or two relating to a
song. Golly!
Sergei Prokofiev "Peter And The Wolf" WNM 15028
2 tracks - the first is an illustrated version of
Peter And The Wolf, as read by Sir John Geilgud. The
second track (which I believe has almost identical
audio) is the annotated version, that is the audio
track is accompanied by commentary about which
instrument is being used and it's significance in the
story. The music is performed by the Academy of
London (Richard Stamp conduction).
24
Lou Reed "New York" WB 25829
Various black and white pictures are interspersed
with the lyrics (available in English, Spanish,
French and Italian).
Talking Heads "Naked" WB 25654
Each track is displayed showing what instruments are
being used for what part of each song, along with
this are 2 lyric windows, one has 4 to 5 lines in it,
while the other (constantly being updated) shows the
lyrics along with the guitar chords so that you can
strum along at home.
Various "CD+G: A New Dimension"
WNM PRO-15027
Various artists from other CD+Gs are on this sampler
(including Jimi Hendrix, Bonnie Raitt, Chris Isaak,
Arlo Guthrie and a few tracks from the classical
CD+Gs). Essentially an advertising tool telling you
about other Warner New Media CD+Gs.
Various "Tribute to Woodie Guthrie"
WB 26036
As each songs begins, photos from the 1930s and 1940s
are shown to accompany Guthrie's songs about the
Great Depression, WWII, and other events of the time.
Artists include: Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan,
Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Odetta, Tom Paxton and
Pete Seger.
=========================================================
Note that not all CDs listed are CD+Gs, for instance, CDs ordered
through a record club may not be, and also some later reissues of CDs
are not CD+Gs (for instance Lou Reed's "New York" and the Talking Heads
"Naked".) Generally there will be a sticker on the CD stating that it
is a CD+G. If you're dealing with used CDs, then there is generally a
"CD+G" on the CD's hub (or sometimes an additional "G" after the
catalog number), or it is quite clearly labeled "CD + Graphics" on the
title side of the disc. If you have any questions about this, contact
me.
--Dr. Moze (Steve Marsh) marsh@anvil.nrl.navy.mil
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Coming October 6, Plug in the WIRE network."
# # # E N D O F F I L E # # #
> ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine The wires are a hummin'!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PEOPLE... ARE TALKING
=====================
On CompuServe
-------------
compiled by
Joe Mirando
73637,2262
Hidi ho good neighbors and neighborettes. It won't be long 'till the
leaves turn red and gold and we find it much easier to stay inside and
pound away at our keyboards. C'mon now, admit it... you've been spending
less time in front of your computer than you'd like to, haven't you?
There's always been the lawn to mow, the house to paint, and a multitude
of other things. Yes, summer is tough on us computer folks. But now
that the days are getting noticeably shorter, we'll have the time to
just sit there and compute away. Of course we'll have to watch out for
power outages and snow storms and all of the other things that go along
with fall and winter.
Well, at any rate, you can always catch up on what you've missed by
loggin onto my favorite online service: CompuServe. Let's take a
look...
From the Atari Computing Forums
===============================
Big Dick McGee, DOS dude, asks:
"How do i view binary pictures that I have downloaded. I have a
program to view gif and jpg file but this does not work. I am using an
ibm pc with windows please forgive my ignorance on this subject but I
am new to this. Any help would be greatly appreciated."
Sysop Jim Ness tells Dick:
"If you are trying to view Atari pics, you'll need one of the PC
viewers in the library here which can view that type of pic."
I'll tell ya, folks, it's a good feeling when someone with a "popular"
machine is impressed with pictures for the ST series of computers. Why?
I don't know, but it's cool none the less. Meanwhile, Bob Caroles posts:
"I've got a question about MagicMac and printing to an HP LaserJet
4Plus with a JetDirect interface.
I am under the assumption that I'll be able to run my Atari program
under Magicmac and print as normal, and the printing will be carried
out by the Macintosh, via localtalk, to the HP? Is it as
straightforward and easy as this, or am I missing something?"
Chris Roth tells Bob:
"As far as I know, you would need NVDI 3 MagiCMac too. Then, every
GDOS output can be printed via any Mac printer.
Can't tell exactly though 'cause I haven't a Mac yet."
On the subject of using the graphics speeder-upper NVDI with an Atari
SLM804 laser printer, Brian Gockley posts:
"I tried NVDI, but there was no way to change the page size defaults
for my SLM printer. It seemed to always add a quarter inch offset, as
well as assume an A4 page size.
I tried the MAKEPRN.APP, but there was no SLM option. With Speedo,
there was a DRIVERS.PRG that allowed me to "Set Offsets," and when I
turn them off, a one inch indent starts at one inch. With NVDI, a one
inch margin starts at one and a quarter inches.
The only other thing was a lack of any stand alone font selector. For
a WYSIWYG font technology, this is a real lack. Other than these two
things, I was really impressed by the speed of NVDI both in printing
and in screen redraws. The SLM driver was TWICE as fast as the Speedo
one!"
Chris Roth tells Brian:
"From what I know, the printer driver within NVDI always uses the
minimum offsets the printer requires. So for maximum printable output
size, you'll have to set all offsets to zero. I wasn't aware that that
could annoy someone.
Strange with your SLM though, I can choose between several page sizes
wiht my Stylus driver (A4, letter, legal, double, etc.). But even user
defined sizes should be available. It's really strange that makeprn.app
shouldn't support the SLM. Did you contact the support already? I think
they should know that. Same with the fontselector. I completely agree
with you. Thath should be included in the package. I have recently
downloaded 'Arkus' which is really quite a nice software. It handles
all the fonts and shows you information, but again there is a shareware
fee to pay. I too would have been glad if there were a few utilites
included."
Brian asks:
"What is Arkus? Where is the support area for NVDI?"
Chris tells Brian:
"Arkus is a German shareware font manager for GDOS/NVDI. I found it in
25
the Mausnet.
I don't know of any specific support area for NVDI but the company's
own bbs, the ASH mailbox, which I never called (it's in Germany)."
Barrie George Keast asks for...
"Help! I am an IBM PC man running Windows with no experience of Atari.
My brother in law with no pc experience has obtained an Atari520ST with
Amstrad DMP3160 printer and SM125 mono monitor. Software limited to
Atari 1st. Word, Spell It and a couple of games. He wants to use it
before lashing out and buying new . Any advice on getting best use out
of this machine? Basic needs are word processing and basic spreadsheet
and database. Must say I liked the desktop of this pc despite age and
slowness."
Ben Voiles tells Barrie:
"There are many good word processing, data base, and spreadsheet
programs for the ST. I'm just not sure where you will be able to get
them now. Hopefully some other members can help. I had microsoft
write which was a very good program but it did not come with a spell
checker and it required two drives to use some of the fonts. There are
many good programs, some of them shareware from germany. I'm sure your
brother-in-law will get a lot of use from his ST if he can obtain the
software.
There are many good word processing, data base, and spreadsheet
programs for the ST. I'm just not sure where you will be able to get
them now. Hopefully some other members can help. I had microsoft
write which was a very good program but it did not come with a spell
checker and it required two drives to use some of the fonts. There are
many good programs, some of them shareware from germany. I'm sure your
brother-in-law will get a lot of use from his ST if he can obtain the
software."
Harry Bintley asks for info:
"My son has a Mega STE and wants to fit a much larger (740K?) hard disk
for use in conjunction with a music sampler/editor.
(a) Are we right in thinking the new disk should be SCSI?
(b) Are there any problems of initialising and partitioning a large
disk (the existing one is a mere 60Mb)?
Since sampled music takes about 10Mb per minute, he obviously needs to
create as large a partition as possible. Does the operating system have
any silly restrictions like the old PC DOS 32K limit? If so are there
ways round it?
We would be very grateful for any advice."
Frank Heller tells Harry:
"A SCSI drive would be the drive of choice. I would suggest contacting
ICD Inc. (815)968-2228 and talk to Tom Harker (Ext320). What you will
need is his ICD SCSI HD Utilities package and a LINK II. With these
tools, you'll be able to use just about any size SCSI drive available
on the market. The LINK II is a DMA/SCSI adaptor. It is self-powered
from pin 26 on the SCSI side. If your HD drive of choice does not
provide power on pin 26 (and this is rare) it can be jumped over.
The utilities package provides a neat program called ICDBOOT. This
little gem gets around ALL the restrictive junk that TOS xxx creates
for HD's. I use this in my 1040 STe and Falcon. I can't say enough good
things about these products.
And BTW, Its approximately 1 minute of stereo 44.1kHz recording for
every 10 meg. of HD space used."
Harry tells Frank:
"Thanks for your reply. Since I wrote my first message the problem has
crystallized. David's new hardware consists of an external blackbox a-d
d-a converter and a card (known as Sound Tools 2) which sits in the
Mega 4. This appears to use the Atari just as a means of reading and
writing to the hard disk and the combination is a pretty sophisticated
digital read/write/edit tape recorder. His Mega had an internal Quantum
60 Mb SCSI HD - he bought yesterday a Quantum 740Mb SCSI as an internal
replacement. When he tried to set it up with Hinstall, he got the
message
"No available logical drive for installation of driver" and there is
not hard disk icon. I went over to his house (he lives in a town
about 10 miles away) last night, and could get no further.
So the problem becomes, how do we install internally a replacement
SCSI drive? It is many years since I myself had an Atari STF (no HD)
and I am unfamiliar with its successors and enhancements (business has
taken me the PC way - I know how to cope with PC disks!) and am at a
loss about how to proceed. The Mega manual appears to suggest
reformatting the HD. My experience is mainly with IDE disks, which are
preformatted (Ilow level) by the factory and have internal logic which
turns the hardware sector/track arrangement into any logical
arrangement you set up in your BIOS - so I hesitate to advise him to
reformat. However, I may be wrong - the Atari format may merely be a
high-level format. I don't know.
Here in England there doesn't appear to be the range of Atari
utilities etc. that you have in the US, nor does David know any
knowledgeable dealers.
Any suggestions you have for further progress would be very much
appreciated."
Frank tells Harry:
"Ah ha...an internal SCSI HD. I had completely forgotten about the
Mega 4's internal SCSI capability. Right off the bat: my suggestion of
an ICD LINK II won't help. This is for external units.
Try this: Make sure your new drive is set for SCSI ID# 0. Run HINSTALL
from the floppy. Click on the B drive icon (so it's highlighted) and
then, from the OPTIONS menu, select INSTALL DISK DRIVE. If you can
proceed...great. If not...well that may be another story.
As I am not all that completely familiar with the inner workings of a
Mega 4, I'll assume it has the same problems that the Falcon does, in
regards to formatting external SCSI HD's. In fact, a stock Falcon is
totally incapable of formatting or recognizing anything external if it
doesn't have an internal drive up and running. This may be your Mega
4's problem as well. (The Falcon's internal was also factory formatted)
Assuming the worst...I'll continue:
(If there is someone else looking in on this thread...please jump in
if you know something that will help...other than throwing more money
at it, which I am about to suggest).
My problem was solved by installing (initially by floppy) a program
called ICDBOOT. This is manufactured by a company in the US called ICD
Inc. They have a forum here in the Atari section (GO ATARIVEN). ICDBOOT
gets around a bug in TOS that apparently blinds the computer to
external SCSI HD's, which your Mega 4 may be doing. (Again...someone
correct me if I'm wrong about this) The Mega may be looking at the
external as an internal. In any case, ICDBOOT will permit you to format
and partition a new SCSI drive, internal or external. It also takes
care of a few other messy little TOS bugs:
(1) Permits creating partitions larger than 256 meg.
(2) Increases the 14 partition limit
(3) Permits external/internal drives larger than 1 gig.
For digital audio recording...these extras are a must. (My opinion)
You are going to have to purchase ICDBOOT v6.5.5. You won't find it in
the ICD library, I'm afraid...but there may be a few free utilities in
there somewhere.
I would also like to point out that it was someone at the Atari Corp.
who pointed out the ICD utility package when I encountered the same
problems. C-LAB, the present company manufacturing Falcons, installs
the ICD utilities on the factory internal HD, as they leave the
factory.
I know it isn't a Mega 4...but the TOS never got improved in this
respect as far as the Falcon was concerned...so I'm assuming the Mega 4
HAS to have the same problems.
26
That said, try: System Solutions 081-693-3355. They may distribute ICD
in your neck of the woods. If not..try the ICD forum for a distributor,
pricing and "Will it work?" type questions. Address your queries to:
Tom Harker. He wrote the program and is a very nice person.
By the way:
Here in the US, we have very few Atari developers actively updating
and selling products as well. (In comparison to Mac or PC developers).
We do have one major supplier/distributor: TOAD computers.
800-448-8623 They are the US equivalent of System Solutions, from what
I understand. Also: Pick up a copy of Sound On Sound. This is a UK
magazine that seems to have a fair amount of Atari related musical
product reviews and advertisements within its pages. There are also
one or two "Atari only" type magazines published in the UK. I'm afraid
I don't know names of them...but any major newstand should carry them.
I'm sure someone else will chime in with other sources of Atari
information."
Chris Roth adds:
"I'll try to be of help with your SCSI setup:
Other than Frank said (sorry ;), the Falcon is quite different from
the MegaST or the MegaSTE. In fact, only the MegaSTE (and TT) had a
built-in SCSI harddisk. The Falcon was the first one to add IDE drives.
So there can't be any conflicts with the IDE bus.
The internal SCSI bus of the Mega however is not able to perform parity
checking. So you'll have to disable parity checking on the HD (with a
jumper usually).
Set the ID(s) concurrently, starting at #0.
You _must_ first format and partition the SCSI drive to be able to use
it. If you have the original Atari software, that would be done by
using HDX (latest version 5.04).
Boot the computer with a floppy disk containing AHDI.PRG (Atari hard
disk driver, latest version 6.061) in the Auto folder.
Then, you can install the auto-boot driver on the harddisk via
HINSTALL.PRG, which frees you from using the boot floppy.
The dialog 'No available logic drive for installation of driver' means
that simply the harddisk is not formatted and partitioned.
Don't forget you'll have to assign the partitions on the desktop. It
depends whether you have an old or a new desktop if it's one or more
mouseclicks.
HD Driver is a good choice for SCSI utilities too. It's also available
in the UK. It's quite cheap and also very sophisticated, as well as
SCSI Tools. Plus, they're 100% AHDI compatible and support also the
latest features on the SCSI bus (f.i. bus arbitration for connecting
more than one SCSI master).
A good Atari magazine f.i. is 'Atari World', produced in the UK,
distributed by Specialist Magazines. There you can find a lot of
British advertisments.
If necessary, I can mail you the original Atari hard disk software in
it's newest version."
Mike Mortilla adds his thoughts:
"I don't think there is a problem with the size of the HD, but is the
sampler in the Mega or is it external?
He probably can't share the HD between the ST and the sampler, and
transfers between the 2 via MIDI might be a little slow.
What kind of sampler and editing program will he be using, and can you
tell us a little about the set-up?
Finally, if the SYSOPs are reading this, perhaps they will move it to
the music section for us?"
Well folks, that's about it for this time around. Tune in again next
week, same time, same station and be ready to listen to what they are
saying when...
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