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The Week Ending October 4, 1999

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PlayStation 2

View the PlayStation 2 Hardware

Just over a week ago Sony officially announced the specs for their forthcoming PlayStation 2 hardware that will launch in Japan for March 2000 and arrive in the United States next fall. Perhaps the biggest news is the inclusion of a DVD drive, in addition to the fact the machine will be backwards compatible with old PlayStation games – a stroke of genius on the part of Sony. Featuring sleek futuristic styling in a black box with blue accents, the PlayStation 2 hardware looks like a powerful machine, and the horsepower underneath confirms that Sony's emotion engine is going to rival even high-end 3D accelerated PCs. To be honest, there's not much to complain about when it comes to PlayStation 2, and given the machine's power, I expect to see a lot of PC game developers take a stab at doing some exclusive games for the system. Although we don't really know how easy it's going to be to develop on the platform, the inclusion of features such as a DVD drive signal the merging of home entertainment and gaming. Although Sega may have the spotlight this year thanks to the Dreamcast, come next fall there's no question the Dreamcast is going to need to deliver a lot of triple-A quality software to compete with Sony's next-generation technology.
Sierra Re-organization
Last week Sierra announced yet another re-organization of its software studios including massive staff reductions at Eugene, Oregon-based developer Dynamix, best known for their online multiplayer game Tribes. Although I certainly understand the need to restructure and refocus a business, didn't Sierra just re-engineer the company only six months ago? Remember the news from earlier this year that their Oakhurst studio would be shut down but games like Babylon 5 would continue development and be moved to Seattle? Well, those employees who made the trip to Seattle were given pink slips last week as Babylon 5 was abruptly cancelled. Still, what really irks me is a comment I read from Sierra President David Grenewetzki in an Oregon newspaper article discussing the restructuring. In the piece, Grenewetzki describes the hard-core gamer as, "the guys who the only color in their skin comes from the light of the computer and the light in the refrigerator." It's always a great idea to insult your customers, David…
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