Electronic Entertainment Vol.1 No.1

News and Views

• Editor's Page: Face the Future (Editor-in-Chief Gina Smith introduces herself and her co-editors in this inaugural issue)
• E² Mail (Letters from readers; send them by postal mail, fax, or e-mail via MCI account or CompuServe)
• Sharp Edge (The latest on the CD set-top war, lightning-fast car racing on your PC, a sleek multimedia upgrade, a rock-'n'-roll game that'll blow your socks off, and more.)
• Leader Board (The best-selling PC, Mac, and CD-ROM entertainment software.)
• Spotlight (We review jamming multimedia systems, spacey software, the first CD-ROM movies, and edutainment for kids.)
• Tube Man (Will interactive TV make a difference to the world's couch potatoes? Keith Ferrell predicts.)
• Game On (Our games editor Rusel DeMaria reflects on his first time...playing Space War. What did you think we were talking about, ya perverts?)
• Party Girl (E²'s roving gadfly crashes the valley's hottest party to meet Bill Gates dressed as Jay Gatsby. Also known as the rumour column.)
• Game Over (Nolan Bushnell, the father of video games, explains why newer isn't always better.)

Features

• Sweaty Palms by Ben Calica (Take the interactive ride of your life at today's hottest virtual-reality game parlors. Plus tips on winning BattleTech, a real ride on Air Combat U.S.A., and a glimpse into VR's future.)
• Brave New TV by Daniel Tynan (Interactive television could mean the biggest change in American lifestyles since the dawn of TV. Find out how you can turn on, tune in, and play along.)
• 3DO: A First Look A The Games by Gregg Keizer and Gina Smith (3DO is the most powerful game system you can buy. But what good is the box without the greatest games? Take a look at the first 22 titles.)
  • Crash 'N Burn
  • Shock Wave
  • IntelliPlay Football
  • Twisted
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Stellar 7
  • Total Eclipse
  • 3D Football
  • Mad Dog McCree
  • The Oceans Below
  • PGA Tour Golf
  • Space Shuttle
  • Road Rash
  • Out of This World
  • Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
  • Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
  • John Madden Football
  • Peter Pan
  • Battle Chess
  • The San Diego Zoo Presents The Animals!
  • Lemmings
  • Shelley Duvall's It's a Bird's Life

  [*]COVER STORY: The First Annual Electronic Entertainment Gift Guide edited by Donna Meyerson (Get that shopping list ready. Here's your ultimate guide to the top games, interactive titles, and multimedia hardware on the market.) [*]Multimaniac: How I Made My Computer Croon by Paul Bonner (Consumed by gadget lust, the Multimaniac drops his last dime on some powerful PC multimedia equipment. The first in a continuing series.)

State of the Game

• Game of the Month
  • Myst by Bob Lindstrom ("Myst's gorgeous gorgeous 3-D graphics and haunting soundtrack make it one of the most compelling games on the market today.") 10/10 (Macintosh)

  [*]Role-playing Games

  • Dark Sun: Shattered Lands reviewed by Peter Olafson ("The king is dead, long live the new one.") 8/10 (PC)
  • Gateway II: Homeworld reviewed by Peter Olafson ("For a text adventure, Gateway II is positively dynamic.") 8/10 (PC)
  • The Silver Seed reviewed by Barry Brenesal ("This is a remarkable instance of an artifact from the past becoming a modern-day gaming bugfix.") 7/10 (PC)
  • Ecco the Dolphin reviewed by Wes Nihei ("Ecco the Dolphin is the deepest adventure game currently available for the Sega CD -- and that's no fish story.") 9/10 (Sega CD)

  [*]Simulation Games

  • Aces Over Europe reviewed by Joe Hutsko ("[W]hether you win the war or plow into the German countryside, you'll be rewarded with a great experience.") 9/10 (PC)
  • SimFarm reviewed by Richard Raucci ("If you dream about leaving it all behind for the peaceful life in rural America, try SimFarm first. You'll find life on the farm anything but relaxing.") 8/10 (PC)
  • Wing Commander Academy reviewed by Bernie Yee ("Wing Commander Academy is a temporary fix for Wing Commander fans while they wait for Wing Commander III and Privateer[.]") 6/10 (PC)

  [*]Virtual Worlds

  • Iron Helix reviewed by Bob Lindstrom ("The excitement will have you breathing heavily--and grateful for a little R&R after completing your compelling tour of duty.") 8/10 (PC)

  [*]Strategy Games

  • SEAL Team reviewed by Wayne Kawamoto ("If you love the smell of napalm in the morning, wake up with SEAL Team.") 7/10 (PC)
  • V For Victory: Gold, Juno, Sword reviewed by Ed Ferrell ("If you think you've got what it takes to push back the Germans and liberate France, this is the game for you.") 8/10 (PC)
  • Warlords II reviewed by Barry Brenesal ("Saddle up your dragons then, and venture forth onto the battlefields of Warlords II. You won't be disappointed.") 8/10 (PC)

  [*]Sports Games

  • APBA Presents Baseball for Windows reviewed by Larry Canale ("The true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool, box-score-devouring, hot dog-chomping baseball fan would pay hard cash to see the series of games I just finished on APBA Presents Baseball for Windows.") 10/10 (PC)
  • Microsoft Golf for Windows reviewed by Mike Kogan ("[T]his game breaks new ground in its integration of videos into the game play and will be an asset to any sports-loving MPC owner.") 8/10 (PC)
  • A League of Your Own NHL Hockey reviewed by Dan Muse ("EA Sports has gone the extra mile to ensure a true feel for the game.") 8/10 (PC)
  • Front Page Sports: Football Pro reviewed by Wayne Kawamoto ("Without a doubt, Front Page has the best graphics and animation of any PC football game on the market today.") 9/10 (PC)

   

Tech Shop

• The Joy of Sticks (Christopher Lindquist takes a three-page look at the basics of controller peripherals, their types, their uses, and what users should look out for when choosing one for themselves.)
• Tech Spot: Sound (IRQ, DMA, MIDI, and FM Synthesis. If you're already lost, Christopher Lindquist has your back with this article on how sound cards work and, more importantly, how you can get them to work on your machine.)
• S.O.S. (The editors trouble-shoot reader-submitted computer problems.)

Notable Stuff:

• It's really impressive to see the number of female editors and writers involved in the production of this magazine, when computer gaming in general in the 1990s was considered such a male-dominated hobby.
• Ecco the Dolphin is an RPG? Um...oooookay...?
• The smackdown response to Tom Aspden's letter requesting help finding ways to avoid playing either 900-number fees or forking over money for a game's hint book (on page 135) is absolutely hilarious.
• Nolan Bushnell is always worth reading, and his "Game Over" column is just as applicable today (maybe even moreso in light of modern-day console complexity) as it was when written.
• Likewise, Rusel DeMaria's "Game On." This man is the closest thing to a full-on gaming historian and sage the industry ever spawned, at least the closest one who is still alive. (RIP Bill Kunkel...)
• "Five hundred channels is an ocean of opportunity. Somethings got to fill it, even if it's awful." Could this pull quote from the 'Brave New TV' article be any more prescient?