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The Week Ending November 1, 1999

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Real PC Sports Games!
Last week I read about an interesting new technology from a Boston-based company, Trakus, that will allow for sporting events to be digitally re-created. For example, at a hockey game, Trakus can insert a transponder into the helmet of each player and then record player movement, speed, acceleration, and even the force of a collision on the ice.   All this electronic data gets sent to a computer and, conceivably, their can be a digital re-creation of the game in real time. So, why should this be exciting to gamers?   Imagine the possibility of using the Internet and NHL 2000 to watch the Stanley Cup Finals on your PC.   Better yet, imagine watching a real hockey game on TV and then downloading the Internet file of that game in order to actually play it in NHL 2000 -- Play from one player's perspective, and have complete camera control! The possibilities are endless with an exciting technology like this -- A virtual hockey game is only the tip of the iceberg. You can learn more about Trakus Inc. at its website.
Where's the Story, 3D?
It has been almost a year since Half-Life hit store shelves and looking at what's on tap for this holiday season I'm a bit alarmed there doesn't seem to be one big story-driven first person shooter schedule to appear. Was Half-Life that far ahead of its time that developers still haven't been able to pick up on what gamers really want in a story-driven first person shooter?   This holiday season it seems fans of 3D action games will be stuck with the deathmatch-only type of gameplay in titles like Quake 3: Arena and Unreal Tournament. While I agree that segment of the market is an important one, it looks like we will have to keep waiting until 2000 for big games like Duke Nukem Forever, Justin Chin's Unreal-engine based action game and Valve's next effort. Of course there's still potential that Sierra's Half-Life add-on, Opposing Force, might fill the void; based on what I'm hearing we should know in mid-November if Opposing Force is going to deliver on its promises. Let's hope so, because otherwise, the first person single-player experience seems like a no-man's land for the holidays.
The New Pong Demo
Although the Internet community has just about resigned itself to the fact most game demos clock in at over 50 megs, sometimes size doesn't mean everything when it comes to demos. A case in point is the recent Pong demo from Hasbro Interactive -- It's just over 3 megs in size and well worth the download. I have to admit I downloaded the demo with a lot of trepidation, mostly due to the fact Hasbro is the name behind two really lame 3D re-makes of classic arcade games (Frogger and Centipede), but the new 3D-accelerated Pong game is a lot of fun. It appears the full game will offer a number of classic variations on Pong. (The demo shows a soccer-like game where you can actually catch the ball as a goalie.) For those who just loved the original as it was, the game doesn't muck with the formula that worked the first time around. Maybe Hasbro has finally learned their lesson after the nightmare that was Frogger – Then again, it would be pretty sad if they screwed up Pong in the conversion to 3D and made it unplayable!   In addition, the full game promises a multiplayer mode, and forgive me for sounding weak, but I'd actually be pretty interested in playing someone in Pong over the net if there wasn't any lag!   Although the demo has a time limit feature that limits its long-term value, in light of its size you definitely should check it out.
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