Here's some of the tastier news snippets I've found around the net, in magazines, and in industry trade papers. I try to give credit where I can.
BLIMEY. I dunno why I even bothered with this section. I never update it. However, expect a BRAND SPANKING NEW ECTS report later this year!
Also included in this section are show reports (such as the ECTS).
If anyone happens to have any juicy bits of news that just need to revealed, don't even think about not mailing me at [email protected], ok???
DREAMCAST
JUDGE DREDD GETS A NEW HOME
Features news and photos taken at this years main European computer trade show in London, England.
PRICE DROP OFFICIAL. Soon after Sega Of America dropped the price of the US DC ($199 to $149), Sega Europe followed suit and dropped the price from £199 to £149. This will make little difference to sales as most high street chains and videogame shops dropped the price months ago in the face of poor sales in the UK. However, it now means that the DC is half the price of the PS2 - and this Xmas, when parents find that they can't get their kiddies a PS2, the DC will be sitting there, on the shelf, with an established range of top titles and a low RRP. Let's hope that common sense wins this holiday season...
The name 2000AD may not mean anything to many of you in the States, but here in England, the mere mention of the name can send many male 20-somethings into fits of nostalga. 2000AD is an English sci-fi/fantasy comic book, first published way back in 1977. Since then, over 700 characters have featured in their own strips, the most famous being futuristic law enforcer Judge Dredd, who was lucky (or unlucky, depending on your opinion) enough to have a Hollywood film made about him. However, don't let the dire Sylvester Stallone flick put you off - the Judge Dredd comic strip is a stunning piece of work, as is the rest of 2000AD. Many of the top comic artists working in the US today cut their teeth on the publication.
Now the comic has a new owner. British coders Rebellion (Alien Vs. Predator on Jaguar and PC, the upcoming Gunlock on PC) have bought the magazine and now have creative control over the content of the comic. Chris Kingsley, co-founder of Rebellion along with his brother, Jason, had this to say of the deal:
"Obviously we're delighted about it. We approached them because we're both huge fans and have been reading 2000AD since issue 1. We've just always thought it was such an incredibly cool comic"
As well as making the comic even better, Rebellion are of course looking at bringing several key 2000AD characters to the home computers and consoles. After the terrible movie tie in (released back in 95 for the Genesis, SNES, Gameboy and Game Gear) and the dire Time Crisis style shooting title for the PSX, there will be many a Dredd fan hoping that Rebellion can do the great man justice (pardon the the pun). Also, there is talk of the deal going the other way too - Gunlock may get its own comic strip in the magazine, as may several other upcoming Rebellion titles. The Kingsley brothers have hinted that Dredd will star in a action/adventure game, and work has already started on its production. As Jason Kingsley says; "2000AD is a goldmine of intellectual properties" and many of the characters featured in its pages were born to have videogames based on them - let's hope that Rebellion are up to the job. Looking at AvP and Gunlock, it seems that they could be.
