ECTS Part 2; what won and what stunk?


WHAT WON AND WHAT STUNK AT ECTS.

This years ECTS was in some ways like the Buffalo Sabres of '98; after many years of waiting they finally thought they were ready to become number one, only for things to conspire against them once again. In some ways it stunk like a dead woodchuck in a hot summer house: top developers like Electronic Arts and Activision ignored the show altogether, and other top names almost halved their stand size from the levels of previous years. Most of the complaints stemmed from a huge increase in stand prices over the last few years, and it was left to the smaller developers to wow the crowds with new, and adventurous games.

Game of the show undoubtedly went to the first look of Grand Prix 3 from Hasbro, who look to have made an inspired move by signing up Geoff Crammond to produce their new title. Also, Tom Clancy's Red Storm Studios were showing the stunning new Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, which stole the Multiplayer Game of the Show crown form the spate of Dreamcast titles who expected to take this award. Most surprising was the news that Microsoft, who are increasingly taking a grip on the PC world, having signed Digital Anvil and the rights to publish Konami games on the PC, and had a large stand at ECTS, may be developing a new "super console" with a load of current PC board manufacturers. Based on a 500mHz processor, it would certainly annoy Sega, whose "fastest console in history" Dreamcast has only just been released. The Euopean release date for THAT console has just been put back to late October, amid fears that their exciting new modem concept may not work in Europe.

Other news items were:

· Developers Binary Asylum, who had been developing the good looking Star Trek: New Worlds for Interplay, have gone belly up. Parent company CDGM entertainment went belly up in August, leaving Interplay having lost their development money, and with a large gap in their winter release schedule. Their is speculation that Interplay may take the final stages of the development in-house just to recoup some of their investment.

· Also, the winners of the Game of the Year Awards, as voted for by international gaming magazines, were announced and are as follows:

Game of the Year - Japan: Ultima Online (PC), EA Game of the Year - Russia: Half-Life (PC), Havas Game of the Year - Scandinavia: Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC), Hasbro Interactive

The copyright of the article ECTS Part 2; what won and what stunk? in Computer Game Companies is owned by Dan Caines. Permission to republish ECTS Part 2; what won and what stunk? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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