Remember the arcade game Asteroids? Well, Atlantean Interactive Games has turned the game into what is should have been from the start... AstroRock! It's a wild interstellar rock adventure where the metal music blares and the spaceships are made by Fender. AstroRock, you say? This is the first game this writer has seen which recommends 16" woofers! If you have not already done so, go to the computer store, grab a splitter cable for your sound card, add 20 feet of lamp cord, and connect your PC to your stereo system. Then prepare to launch, prepare to fire, and...get ready to Rock!
In 1978, progressive scientists at NASA determined the best way to introduce extra-terrestrial life to the Human Race was to broadcast music into the heavens. According to the site, "The year is now 9,999, and the biggest bash of the millennium is about to take place. All the known rock bands of the galaxies have gathered together in the Hendrix System to jam their tunes...But the ancient waves of rock 'n' roll have recently crossed a small distorted world in the Bee-Gee cluster, and its warped inhabitants have found the music to be...so mind -numbingly horrible that they have decided to venture out and destroy all things associated with Mankind." You're Captain Zed Nepher and it's up to you to go forth and kick butt so Rock 'n' Roll may once again blaze across the interstellar vastness. So hop into your Fender Astrocaster Annihilator 9000, and fly off to do battle!
Forget the line drawings of the past—AstroRock features fully rendered 3-D graphics, fluid movement through space and limitless levels of challenge. As you get better, so does the game. The Windows 95 version supports a joystick and is designed for Internet play; up to eight players are supported. Join in at any time and find out how much fun it is to blow your friends—or co-workers—to bits! AstroRock is also available in Macintosh and DOS versions, and at the Web site, there are both Windows 95 (10.6Mb) and Macintosh (7.4Mb) demos available.
According to Jennifer Marier, Atlantean's Director of Public Relations, the Web is now a part of each new product from the initial planning stages. Jennifer said, "The Web is a good way to promote products and to be connected to the rest of the world. The Web is a rapidly growing market and Atlantean is committed to being there as it develops. Our biggest fear is a result of that rapid growth, becoming lost in the crowd."
Atlantean's Web site is operated by Web Magic, whose President and CEO, Greg McLemore, says, "In today's marketplace, it is a necessity for companies to be online just for the image, if nothing else. 1995 was the year everyone put pages up. 1996 is the year things are starting to be done with those pages, like adding commerce. 1997 will be the year to expand, adding new technologies. While Java is of interest, security is a concern."
Eric Johnson, Vice President of Marketing for Activision, says, "The Web is a great method for communicating new products and cool features. We reuse art assets from within the games to create mini-Web sites, and use Shockwave to explore puzzles from the games, which can deliver the feel and sounds found on the CD-ROM." Eric continued, "There will be more and more game play on the Web in 1997; it is a quick method of publishing. A product may be released on Monday, and online by Tuesday." Eric pointed out, "Potential customers have been pre-selected by their having a computer and modem. If you're online and checking things out...you're qualified!"
In 1977, a team of MIT computer scientists introduced game players to the Zork universe in Dungeon, a mainframe-based text adventure that glued players to their computer monitors. Nineteen years and seven Zork titles later, Activision electrifies the farthest reaches of the legendary empire with amazing graphics and immersive sound design unimaginable to original Zork players. In Zork Nemesis, players are transported to an unexplored corner of the Zork universe, the Forbidden Lands. There the player encounters the tortured souls of the Empire's alchemists, who have been trapped by an evil spirit—the Nemesis. Only by mastering the science of alchemy can players discover the mystery behind a nightmarish world and undo a mysterious curse that will save the universe—and themselves.
In talking about Activision's Spycraft, Eric said, "The Web offers a blend of fiction and reality, and can quickly blur the difference." With a Netscape- style browser incorporated into Spycraft, a player may actually link into the Web and gather information from the CIA and FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Lists. According to Eric, "Video has television, movies have theaters—games have the Web."
George Grayson, Chairman and CEO at 7th Level, says they have a straightforward strategy: "First, assemble an elite team of visionaries from the entertainment and music industries and combine them with leaders from the world of high technology; then, define the cutting edge of interactive multimedia using their integrated talents. 7th Level believes the introduction of the interactive element to entertainment, which permits the user to participate in and influence the entertainment experience, represents a fundamental change from traditional linear entertainment media such as television and motion pictures."
Mary Crisp, 7th Level's Communications Manager, added, "The retro craze has struck hard at 7th Level." Then she offered to "Fart in [my] general direction!" (something about a company motto) while handing me a Special Signature Edition of Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail. Working closely with Eric Idle and all the original Python cast to create PythOnline has totally warped everyone at 7th Level's headquarters!
"What excites me the most about this game is how we've managed to take an extremely innovative, popular, classic comedy film and convert it into an experience that is totally interactive, yet which still manages to keep the feel of the original film entirely intact," said Bob Ezrin, President of 7th Level.
The Python spirit is infectious; nearly everyone at the studios has been afflicted. "Play the game," said Grayson. "You won't be sorry, unless you're already a good-for-nothing loser." The game is so accurate, my own neighbor has been dancing, singing along and hurling insults with a bad accent ever since the disc arrived!
Eric Idle, executive co-producer of the game, says of the entire experience, "Blimey, blimey, I'm an Englishman! Let us take some tea and scones and watch a game of cricket!" Idle went on to add, "I see once again 7th Level has hired some second-rate incompetent bastard to write quotes for me." [Writer's note: Mary blushed—busted, Mary!]
7th Level has taken clips from the movie, given the gamer control of King Arthur, his assistant Patsy, the Knights of the Round Table, and offered the experience of literally walking through the film. While seeking clues, gold, coconuts and other oddities from the movie, you will also encounter some 90s updates of some very familiar games. Remember Tetris? Remember the plague scene ("Bring out your dead!") in Holy Grail? 7th Level has combined them into Drop Dead, complete with very vocal protests from those cadavers who swear, "I'm not dead yet!" The game of Simon, where you had to follow the colored lights in sequence, is now Burn the Witch. From old carnivals, the Bop the Gopher game has turned into Spank the Virgins—be extra careful to spank only the naughty ones! If you like sword fighting, you may duel the Black Knight, history's original troubled loner. And Holy Grail's Catch the Cow could more aptly be labeled Run Away!
Matt Lee is 7th Level's Director of Support Services and WebMaster for PythOnline. His greatest anticipation is the implementation of 7th Level's new Top Gun Plug-in for Windows 95 users with either Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer. According to the Web site, "Top Gun is a fabulous invention thingy which allows you to play real games with moving on-screen animation..." According to Matt, "It will allow a full screen interactive game file to be as small as 200 to 300K," which compares very favorably against other plug-in viewer and file sizes. For Windows 3.1 users, there is a demo (4.3Mb) available at 7th Level's Web site.
This column is to be interactive! If you have questions about doing business on the Internet, here's your chance to have the best in the business give you an answer. Send an email to me at adventures@rothmedia.com and let me know your anticipations, expectations, and concerns.