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News Headlines
(For the Week of 7/17/2000)
"Starcube" Finalized as New Nintendo Console?
Nintendo's official website in Sweden has reportedly confirmed that the company's new console will in fact be called the Starcube. Here is the English translation of that article, courtesy of FGN Online.
Sources from Nintendo in Japan have now confirmed that Nintendo's new videogame console, earlier called Project Dolphin, will be named Starcube. The network, over which you will be able to play against people all over the world, will be named Star Road. Much more about Starcube and Star Road will be presented at Spaceworld August 24-27.
Although this has yet to be confirmed by Nintendo officials in the United States or Japan, it can be assumed as accurate since this is the official Swedish site. For some, this confirms months of speculation over a possible name. For others, it only deepens the enigma as to what Nintendo's next console will be called.
Another report stated that the name "Starcube" will be tied into an online network called the "Star Road", which will allow owners to exchange data such as levels, players, stats, characters, as well as play online games against one another. The name "Star Road" refers to the warp area in Super Mario World. Again, this story has not been officially confirmed by Nintendo. All will be revealed, however, at the upcoming Nintndo Spaceworld in August.
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Sega Cracks Down on Software Piracy
SAN FRANCISCO - (July 20, 2000) -- As part of Sega's aggressive efforts to cease the counterfeiting of its popular DreamcastÔ videogame titles, Sega of America today announced that they have shut down more than 60 illegal websites and 125 auction sites that were trafficking pirated Dreamcast games. The company is working closely with Yahoo! Lycos, Excite, eBay and Amazon to shut down auctions of people who were attempting to sell illegal games and pirated boot disks.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Sega and all software publishers are protected against software pirates. Any individual selling or proliferating pirated software is liable under civil and criminal prosecution.
"Sega supports a creative community of talented artists. Pirates are parasites that hurt this community and will not be tolerated by Sega," said Peter Moore, president and chief operating officer, Sega. "This is just the first step in an even bigger action the company will undertake to stop this problem. We will continue to take aggressive steps to protect our business, consumers and the creative talent we have at Sega."
"Piracy is one of the biggest business threats our industry faces, and Internet piracy is especially virulent," said Doug Lowenstein, president, Interactive Digital Software Association. "As IDSA fights the war on piracy on behalf of the industry at large, it's vital that individual companies also are vigilant in protecting their intellectual property, as Sega has done today."
The interactive entertainment industry lost more than $3.2 billion to pirates in 1998, not including the millions of dollars lost to Internet piracy. Sega and its third party partners will continue to take aggressive action against counterfeiters in order to protect its intellectual property. To avoid buying counterfeit items, it is recommended that consumers only buy official Sega Dreamcast videogames from major retailers. Consumers can ensure that they have authentic Sega Dreamcast games by looking for the following: 1) The underneath of the game CD should be silver - not black or gold - with three clearly visible tracks; 2) The first track should be large, the middle one small and the third medium-sized. The middle track should state "copyright Sega Entertainment Ltd."
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Rainbow Studios Acquires Motional Realms
PHOENIX - Rainbow Studios, a leading creator of digital entertainment for all media, announced today the acquisition of Motional Realms, developers of the groundbreaking ReelMotion real-time simulator that uses physics and collision detection to realistically animate vehicles and objects. Currently in use at many cutting edge facilities throughout the world, including Digital Domain, Rhythm & Hues, Midway Games and NASA, ReelMotion continues to attract new customers with its robust features and support for leading animation programs such as Maya, 3D Studio Max and Lightwave.
"Adding Motional Realms' technology to the Rainbow Studios brand is a strategic extension of our company," says Tony Stutterheim, president of animation at Rainbow Studios. "We are fortunate and delighted that the software's creator and company President Rick Baltman has joined our team to continue development of the software and help us focus on meeting the needs of both real-time and high-end animation."
Dr. Mark DeSimone, president of games at Rainbow Studios adds, "The ReelMotion physics library has been significantly expanded in the past year and forms a perfect complement to our existing game and animation technology. The powerful combination of an extensive physics simulation library and technology such as Rainbow's Terrain Engine, found in the award winning titles Microsoft's Motocross Madness 1 & 2, work together well to create great entertainment".
By simulating the underlying physics, ReelMotion allows animators to quickly create high quality animation. The product can be used to easily animate any type of two or four- wheeled vehicle, a variety of aircraft and other objects. "Reelmotion is outstanding technology, and we are pleased to be a part of its success," says Nicholas Napp, vice president of animation at Rainbow Studios. "We've been using Reelmotion for several years now, and continue to use it for our most demanding 3D animation and special effects projects like Starship Troopers and Hasbro Toy's Tonka Joe commercials."
"By using ReelMotion in-house, we can continue to develop features and enhance the performance of the software for our customers as well as our games and animation teams," says Scott Novis, vice president of Engineering at Rainbow Studios. "The acquisition of Motional Realms is a win-win situation for everyone involved."
Motional Realms' president Rick Baltman says, "Rainbow Studios has developed some incredible technology for both games and animation. Integrating the ReelMotion physics engine into this framework will allow them to produce remarkable new games and animation tools, and further develop the technology to meet the needs of our customers," says Baltman. "I'm proud to be affiliated with such a talented team."
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Help Us Rename the Racing Games Database
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Hey, everybody. Have you noticed that we've remodeled the site? If you ever visited here before, you certainly have. New graphics, more frequent updates, more sections; all in all, a better site. However, you've probably noticed that our site name, "The Racing Games Databse" kind of, well, sucks. So this is your chance to make your mark on history. You can be the next George Washington, the next Abe Lincoln. How, do you ask? By helping us rename our site. We tried, honestly we did, for about 5 minutes, but then we had other stuff to do. Plus, we were too lazy. So we're putting it in your hands. Send us your suggestions for a new site name, and we'll pick the best one which will christen the halls of our site for all eternity. From now until August 14, send us your ideas. The best one will not only be stamped on every nook, cranny, and crevice of our site, but the winner will get his or her picture up on the site, and a prize. What prize? We don't know. But when we do, you'll be the first ones to know. A Playstation 2? No, if we had one, we'd keep it. But we'll give you something we find around the office. So consider the polls open, and remember...it's just a game.
Send your suggestions HERE
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