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GameSlice Daily Editorial

The Week Ending November 22, 1999

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Page 2

An Unreal Match up
Frequent readers of this column know I often lament the fact so many games are released between now and the end of the year. Well, I don't think any example better illustrates this point than the fact both Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena will likely arrive on store shelves within a weeks of each other. This week, Epic announced that Unreal Tournament is gold, and with the Quake 3 Arena demo being released over the weekend, there's no doubt id's deathmatch-oriented game is en route to going gold in the near future. The real question is whether these games are going to cannibalize each other's sales. To be honest, I think it's inevitable that outside of the hard-core online fanbase, few gamers will buy both titles. Now, the real question is, which game will dominate the market? Based on what I've seen, both games are worthy of praise. Therefore, it's unfortunate they are likely to ship so close to each other – This kind of situation is akin to rival Hollywood Studios putting two mega-hit movies out on the same weekend, both of which appeal to the exact same demographic. It will indeed be interesting to see how sales and fan reaction shakes out over the coming months.
EA Sports NHL 2000
I think there has only been one game series I've constantly praised over the years on GameSlice, and that series is NHL PC from EA Sports. Ever since the advent of 3D acceleration, the series has been a constant benchmark for graphic performance, and the gameplay -- especially with a gamepad -- has been nothing short of spectacular. Although I've always felt yearly updates of sports games are often uncalled for and a huge cash cow for the publisher, EA has never been complacent with the NHL series, constantly innovating it year after year. This year's game is basically no different than previous incarnations, but there are added features, including a more intuitive fighting interface and options for "dekes" and "hits." Furthermore, the package is rounded out by some great licensed music from bands like Garbage. Overall, this is another solid effort from EA, and by far the best PC hockey game on the market.
Your Comments?
Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your opinions.
Next Week:
Next Monday evening I'll unveil the Big 8 Games for the holiday season! Stay tuned to see if your favorite game makes the list. Have a suggestion? E-mail me: editor@gameslice.com Remember that games must be scheduled to ship between November 15^th and December 31^st and can't be any of the ones mentioned in our fall list, even if their release date has slipped.
Thanks for reading! That's the Gist of It.

Geoff Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice