Catnips 95.10.15

[Frans Keylard]

CATnips... Jaguar tidbits from Don Thomas (95.10.15)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
There's a lot happening real fast at Atari Corporation and
I have a lot of ground to cover.

Atari's new World Wide Web Domain has accumulated more than
210,000 visits from onliners as of 10 PM Pacific Time this
past Friday evening sustaining a daily average of over
30,000 hits per day. If you haven't stopped by yet, then
you may be missing something. Here's what Robert Daniels
tells me from America OnLine:

From: INTERNET:Rob...@aol.com
TO: Donald A. Thomas, Jr. 75300,1267
DATE: 10/11/95 7:56 PM
RE: WWW Page

Mr. Thomas,

...

I think your page is fantastic. Hats off to Atomix for
putting together a great site, and to Atari for choosing
Atomix to represent them. The pages load quickly (even on
my dialup 14.4 connection), and are easy to
read/understand. I like that some games are featured
before their releases.

I especially appreciate the AVI files. Seeing D2000 in
action has made a believer out of me. Jeff Minter is
certainly as close to deity as a human can get. I
digress.

Keep up the good work, and please consider the order form
idea. Thanks for supporting the on-line Atari community.

Cordially,
Robert Daniels

Atari's JAGWIRE Domain URL is http://www.atari.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Jaguar Forum on CompuServe is alive with activity and
has just enjoyed Atari's naming of them as Atari's official
commercial support site. According to a story found on the
United Press International on Friday, CompuServe is about
to embark on its most aggressive advertising blitz in its
history. The new campaign includes national television,
print ads, direct mail, inserts and special promotional
campaigns beginning Sunday, October 15. A new slogan will
be adopted stating "Enter CompuServe" an a new image will
be part of the propaganda which promotes CompuServe as a
global information service.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A lot of people ask me if Blue Lightning is a great game or
not. Although we all know bigger, better, greater is what
Atari always strives for with each new release, here's what
Gordon Glenn tells users in the rec.games.video.atari news
group on the Internet.

I finally completed Blue Lightning today thanks to my
memory cart that saves the last level completed.
Overall, I am glad they packed this game. I might never
have purchased it and would have missed a very enjoyable
blastathon. The Arctic mission is pretty cool and less
"flat" looking. Save your jets because Draco escapes
after the arctic mission and in a "celebrity voice
impersonated" that sounds like Jack Nicholson, he says
you missed his secret base. You then have four more
flights to complete the game which is tough if you only
have one or two slow jets. Once Draco is killed there is
a short full motion animated video of you chasing Draco
and blasting his jet inside a canyon. That is the end of
the game and then it starts the attract mode.

One nice thing. Once the game is completed, if you select
your pilot that won the game, they repeat the ending
video of you blasting Draco. My final score was a bit
over 764,000 points. Naturally, I did this game on the
easy level. That was plenty exciting for me. Now lets
get some more CD games SOON!

--Boojiboy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason Duncan of Video Reaction asked me to pass this news
on to you. It sounds exciting so I am very happy to do so.

The newest issue of Video Reaction is sponsoring (which
should be shipping by next Wednesday) a contest
spotlighting the Atari Jaguar. The lucky winner will
receive a new copy of Defender 2000 (when available).
All entries must mailed to the following address and must
include the applicant's name and complete mailing
address. All entries must be received by December 15,
1995. The drawing will be held on December 16. The winner
will receive his/her prize by priority mail.

Send your entry to:

Video Reaction
ATTN: Jaguar Contest
423 W Vermont Canal Square, #245
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3258

<<Please note that this contest and Video Reaction is not
affiliated with Atari Corporation.>>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Power Drive Rally is hot...

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 1995 18:54:59
From: JSM...@gnn.com (Sean McKay)
To: Multiple recipients <jag...@bucknell.edu>
Subject: PDR thoughts...

Well, I've played Power Drive Rally for a couple of
hours, and this is what I think...

It's pretty d@$& good...

Graphically, it's fantastic! (I particularly like the
cattle carcasses on the sides of the Arizona tracks <g>)
And that's just the beginning. The cars are rendered
perfectly, and things such as shadows are well correlated
to the layout of the landscape. The shadows of the nearby
cliffs, etc., pass over your car correspondingly as well.
I know I'm focusing on little things graphically, but
that's what is so good about the graphics - the detail.
The backgrounds are done very well with just the right
touches here and there....

The control is spot on dead perfect, as far as I can
tell! I mean, it is so tight that if you tap the
controller at all, the car responds. And with the way
these tracks twist and turn, believe me, you'll want the
control that tight! The cars respond to conditions and
movements well, complete with fish-tailing and power
slides. You couldn't ask for more.

The sounds are well done, all the squeals, squeaks,
crunches, crashes, dings, and "Dangs!" are there (of
course, you provide the "Dangs!" when you screw up...
<g>). The co-pilot's voice can get annoying, but after a
while, at least for me, it was extremely helpful, since
it tells you what's coming ahead... Finally, the music is
okay. I don't know what it was about it that bugged me,
it just did. Maybe because the game comes with the music
up so loud. I turned it down, just to provide background
tunes (and I mean WAY background) and now they don't
bother me...

The gameplay is good. It's repetitive. H@$#, what did you
expect? You go around tracks over and over. That's what I
call repetitive. However, you have TONS of tracks, so
it's not like some games we know (can you say RR, Sony?),
and in that respect it's fun. Although after a couple of
laps you understand the layout of the track, when you go
to the next track, it's "feel your way around" all over
again. The ability to get new cars after a while is good
too, although I have yet to notice *too* much difference
in the way they drive...

Overall
-------
Graphics: 9
Control: 10
Music/Sound: 7 (due primarily to music)
Gameplay: 7
Overall: 8

Please take note: I am not a big driving game fan (hence
the lower gameplay score). For me to give a driving game
an overall of 8 is unusual (gameplay usually drops it
down for me), so you driving fans out there, I imagine,
can add 0.5 to 1.0 to the final score to get the
equivalent of what you'd probably rate it.

As always, though, some of you will take what I say with
a big grain of salt (and you know who you are....) 8^)

Sean McKay
<JSM...@aol.com>
<JSM...@gnn.com>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The latest issue of Atari Explorer Online is out and is
packed with Jaguar coverage. For the first time in years as
far as I know, Silicon Times Report is a little late. I'm
told that an untimely power outage may have forced the
Publisher to reexamine the issue carefully to see what may
have been affected. I expect the newest issue will be
available buy the time this issue of CATnips is released.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please note that there are several new items shipping from
Atari...

MEMORY TRACK
------------
The first batch of Memory Tracks sold out as fast as we got
them in. Check your retailer fast if you want one, because
(s)he may not have them long. With the Memory Track for the
Atari Jaguar CD, you can keep track of important
information that you want to save for Jaguar CD games. The
cartridge easily fits in the cartridge slot provided by the
Jaguar CD ROM player. Compatible CD-based games allow
gamers to store high scores, game progress, character
configurations, custom level designs and more. Up to 250
Jaguar games could be stored to one Memory Track depending
on the amount of data each game requires. The MSRP is
$29.95 US.

PITFALL: The Mayan Adventure
-------
Based on the incredibly successful Pitfall! from the Atari
2600 by Activision. This version combines the fun
remembered with the eye-popping technologies of graphics,
play and sound expected. The version on the Jaguar includes
countless improved nuances not found on any other platform.
The adventure is challenging and exciting. Help Harry Jr.
save his father and find the secret to unlocking the
original version of Pitfall! hidden in the game. The MSRP
for this cartridge is $59.99. Look for it from your
retailer within the next few days.

JAGLINK
-------
Now you can connect two Jaguars together to play two-player
versions of Doom and other forthcoming JagLink compatible
Jaguar game titles. Use the phone cable included with the
JagLink kit, or purchase a standard phone cable of longer
lengths from any telephone retailer. The MSRP for JagLink
is only $29.95 and is licensed for connection to any Atari
Jaguar game system. Look for it in stores within the next
few days.

TEAM TAP
--------
Team Tap is in and will be shipping as a separate
peripheral as soon as Charles Barkley Basketball, NBA Jam
Tournament Edition, Arena Football and other Team Tap
compatible games become available. Team Tap is currently
packed as a FREE bonus with White Men Can't Jump while
quantities of that special pack are available. After that,
Team Tap's MSRP is $24.95. Team Tap converts either Jaguar
game controller port into four separate ports for use with
Team Tap compatible games.

ProController
-------------
Hat's off to Atari's Laury Scott on this one. It's the long
awaited 6-punch button controller and it will be shipping
this week. The slick new Joypad design integrates the
proven ergonomic appeal of the original Jaguar joypad with
5 extra buttons. Now there's a total of 6-punch buttons
instead of the original three PLUS there are two "shift
buttons for the index fingers along the top of the
controller. Designed with features suggested by actual
Jaguar gamers, the added control increases the flexibility
of multiple button control and versatility to any
ProController compatible game. The ProController is also
100% compatible with all existing Jaguar software. The
ProController's MSRP is only $29.95.

Make certain you ask your retailer for these and other
Jaguar gaming products between now and Christmas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the October 16 issue of Adweek magazine, Atari's new TV
commercial will be featured as one of Adweek's hot spot of
the month for September. Adweek is the trade weekly news
magazine in the advertising industry. Atari's new
commercial features a young adult male who is has numerous
light bulbs attached to his scalp. An off-camera female
scientist demonstrates various impulses sent to the
patient's brain to indicate which parts are responsible for
basic human responses. With regard to the one related to
reason, the patient is compelled to ask himself why he
might spend so much money on other video game systems when
he can get a 64-bit Jaguar for only $150. The new Jaguar
spot is running now through Christmas in an aggressive
campaign including the most watched cable television
programs. Check out the latest issues of Atari Explorer
Online and Silicon Times Report for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

### END OF FILE ###

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE - The Premier Online Resource
AEO WWW page: http://www.ior.com/~fkeylard/aeo.htm
Atari Corp.: http://www.atcon.com/jagwire/menu.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[John Yeates]

In article <45sqc0$t...@express.ior.com>,

someone, via Frans Keylard <fkey...@on-ramp.ior.com> wrote:
> The pages load quickly (even on
> my dialup 14.4 connection), and are easy to
> read/understand.

Not on this side of the Atlantic, they don't. Any chance of a European
mirror, Atari? (Or at least someone mirroring the D2K AVI?)

-- John Yeates (J.Ye...@susx.ac.uk) ------- http://www.susx.ac.uk/~johny/ --
For a good time, call gettimeofday().

[Karl J. von Laudermann]

In article <460e46$a...@maxwell11.ee>, <ma...@mtu.edu> wrote:
>Frans Keylard (fkey...@on-ramp.ior.com) wrote:
>
><PORTIONS OF CATNIPS NIPPED ;) >
>:
>: PITFALL: The Mayan Adventure

>: -------
>: Based on the incredibly successful Pitfall! from the Atari
>: 2600 by Activision. This version combines the fun
>: remembered with the eye-popping technologies of graphics,
>: play and sound expected. The version on the Jaguar includes
>: countless improved nuances not found on any other platform.
>: The adventure is challenging and exciting. Help Harry Jr.
>: save his father and find the secret to unlocking the
>: original version of Pitfall! hidden in the game. The MSRP
>: for this cartridge is $59.99. Look for it from your
>: retailer within the next few days.

>:
>
>If there is actually the original version of pitfall hidden in there,
>count me in. Now all we need is a couple of more games with original
>easter eggs and we'll be all set.

I'm sure it will be in there, considering that it was in the
Genesis and SNES versions as well.

--
Karl J. von Laudermann | "'I' is for 'simple.'" - television ad for AT+T
pen...@ccs.neu.edu | "Cleans Tough Foods Easily!" - bottle of Sunlight
-----------------------+ dishwashing liquid | "All food is finger food!" - me
"Made with multiple organisms" - container of Stonyfield Farm brand yogurt