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AllAbout Games Newsletter volume 1, issue 2, v1.1
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### Here's the second issue of the glorious AllAbout Games E-Mail
Newsletter.  This week's slogan is: Gameplay over Glitter!  No
Hype! Take multimedia only as directed!  Do Not Put In Eye! OK!
OK!

### If the preceeding paragraph completely turned you off, or if
you really have no idea what this is, there's instructions for
canceling your subscription at the end of this file.

### This week's issue being sent to 46, no, 48 subscribers!  Ack,
help, our e-mail box is filling up!  51!  57!  HIKE!


Fable Finale' Finally
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### SirTech's new Fable finale'?  Well, before I go off on a
tear, let me give you some background.  Fable is an interactive
fiction title created for the European market for Telstar UK, a
fine group of folks.  The game features some groovy graphics,
offbeat humor, and an excellent troupe of vocal artists.  The
ending of the original version is almost Felliniesque in its
strangeness. Definately NOT a "happily ever after" kind of thing.
So, when Sir-Tech purchased the rights to distribute Fable in the
US, they decided the ending was just too wierd for American
tastes.  The result?  Here's how it goes:

Your protagonist now refuses to activate the final device which
triggers the finale movie on the CD. Instead, you must navigate
to a different area and start a conversation with someone--which
conversation in the UK version tells a long and twisted story
about how you've been misled, and in the US version immediately
ends as soon as it begins with you returning to your village for
a "hero's welcome."  This new ending isn't a 3D rendering like
the original, it's just a bit of animation tacked together.

Editorial:  I'm disappointed both in the new ending and the
decision to omit the original.  Sir-Tech is not a company known
for being shy about creating unique content, so I find this all
the more mysterious.  I pled with our contact at Sir-Tech to at
the very least provide a setting to view the original ending,
but that didn't pan out.  So, our tech wizards at AAG are
considering a PATCH to convert the new US version back into the
European version--and when we get our final retail release of
Fable, we'll see if this is viable without megs and megs of data.
(Our Gold Disc seems to imply it, but only a few dozen exist.)


Reviewettes
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### Sleepless Software's "PocoMan" game, just re-released for
Windows 95, with bugfixes, is a free version of the popular
Sokoban solitaire game.  Push objects around a convoluted maze to
designated destinations to solve a level. The graphics are very
plain, sound is sparse.  The concept is there, though, and some
clever mouse control options make the game easier to play. Levels
are quite challenging, and the disk space requirement is minimal.
This is a good laptop game or something to play while on the
phone with your mother.  Absolutely free for the downloading.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/pocoman


### Accolade's Test Drive Off-Road.  We played it, we loved it.
The first 3D driving game we've seen that lets you go off the
race course.  Have a blast jumping hills, ramming trees, and
rolling cab over camshaft when you take a spill off a berm.  This
is not only the best Test Drive yet, but one of the better racing
games.  The final will feature network play, which is sure to be
one of the make or break features of '97.  Our readers are split
50/50 between Awesome and Feh.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/testdriveor


### Accolade No. 2: Jack Nicklaus 4.  As golf games go, this one
is the picture-postcard cake taker.  The visuals are unmatched,
except for that darned depth-fog.  Redraws are pathetic on a
P100, so you'll want the latest MMX screamer from Intel before
you boot this bear up. Control combines a beautiful flight-arrow
with the familiar powerbar system (which I despise).  Much golfer
customization, and the full version includes an outstanding
course designer.  If Maxis' Sim Golf is the Acura of golf sims,
this is the Cadillac.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/jacknicklaus4


### Neophyte, Alien Software.  "Teen-agers wrote this game, and
teen-agers did all the art."  Okay, yeah?  This wants to be a
Windows 95 workalike for the immensely popular Square Co.
overhead roleplaying genre, except that combat takes place in
real-time.  You start out as a teenager and are assigned various
mundane tasks such as rescuing daughters of the mayor of the
town. Along the way, fight the monsters, get the weapons, and
suffer because you can't have a REAL hero's welcome when you come
back home cos you're a teenager. Okay--at least that's what this
game WANTS to be.  Still unfinished, the demo has nice looking
art, limited sound effects, some combat problems and is generally
a bit amateurish.  These guys need to take a hard look at their
design and make sure it'll stand up to consistent gameplay, not
just look good.

  http://www.aliensoftware.com/


AAG Updates
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### Activision.  The spectacular announcements of a month ago
have given way to fevered development action.  Even so, the
announcement of a combo Mechwarrior title has appeared.  NetMech
and Ghost Bear's Legacy have been retooled for the Mercenaries
engine and will be released next month as the MechWarrior 2
Battle Pack.  Dark Reign: The Future of War, a realtime tactical
combat game, their most interesting upcoming title, is now slated
for sometime in the spring.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/activision


### Actual Entertainment.  The aptly-named company's first title
Gubble is now available for Windows 95.  We like this one, an
arcade game which features you as a cute alien fellow running
around in mazes trying to remove bolts, screws and nuts from the
floor while being chased by assorted meanies.  Much fun.  
Playable demo available.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/actualent


### AlterNet Realities' Phoenix Armada, a combination RPG/Doom
game that lives only online with simultaneous play for thousands,
has filled their beta slots. We'll try to get in anyway.  From
our observations, it seems like they are focussing on the
interactivity of the game rather than simple combat.  Smart
approach.  And, they're not rushing it out the door, like the
horribly dull Meridian 59 from 3DO.  These games need time to
mature.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/alternetrealities


### Amazing Media, the developers of the interactive movies
Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster, and Mummy: Tomb of
the Pharaoh, are quiescent, but have recently updated their
website to include all prior titles.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/amazingmedia


### Telstar Electronic Studios, subsidiary of the giant, have
announced three Playstation titles for release shortly, and have
expanded their UK/Europe distribution of older titles at
semi-bargain prices.  Wreckin Crew, a 3D "fun" racing game and
Formula Karts, a 3D "serious" racing game, both for PSX, are due
out in a month or so.  Excalibur 2555AD, a true 3D RPG also for
PSX, looks like it might have something special.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/telstarelectronicstudios


### Any Channel (PO'ed): Working on Seekrit Projects?  We added
cheats for both 3DO and PSX versions of PO'ed to AAG, but other
than that nothing out of these guys for almost six months.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/anychannel


### Ambrosia Software, Inc.  Latest Mac release is a utility, so
we're not gonna cover it.  Look for more games from these folks
in a month or two, the same team that brought us Chiral and
Maelstrom.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/ambrosiasoftware


### Antennahead Industries.  The developers of Screaming Cabala,
the ultra-fast 3D engine for Mac, have updated their ShatterBat
surreal 3D arcade-style shooter shareware title.  Development on
the commercial product Sanctity is slow but progresses.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/antennaheadind


### Apogee Software.  Prexy Scott Miller has announced "Software
Branding" like he's invented the concept.  Branding?  No, not
registration keys, releasing titles under a genre-specific label
so customers can identify a game's type by its company name.
Their first brand was "3D Realms" and the next one will be
"Pinball Wizards" for a line of 3D Rendered pin games starting
with Balls of Steel.  I think this will ultimately prove to be a
mistake if applied generically, but in this case it makes sense.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/apogeesoftware


News From the Industry
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### A sad note, GTE's game division is shutting up shop in March.
Apparently, they simply didn't want to be in the game industry
anymore.  All attempts at contacting their PR folks for more
detail have been unanswered.  These are the folks that brought us
Titanic, Adventure Out Of Time and Timelapse.  Damn.

### GameTek have released Ayso Soccer '97, based on the American
Youth Soccer Organization tournaments.  A related contest will be
held on the GameTek website via a Shockwave game to win copies of
the title.

### Broderbund gets Presto Studios' Journeyman Project 3 and
future sequels in a deal signed recently.  That three-quel should
be out by Christmas.

### Access Software has started work on sequel to Pandora
Directive. Should be out by late next year.

### Eternal Software out of Australia are putting the finishing
touches on three years of a game called Scarab.  Yet another 
realtime tactical combat title, this one seems to be more well-
thought-out than others.  Demo to be released in April, final 
this summer.   They're looking for a publisher now, but no 
website for them yet.

### Sierra On-Line have released the final version of the FPS
Football '97 patch.  Perhaps the letters from readers complaining
about this great game with great bugs will stop....


AAG News
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### We've arranged an exclusive deal for cheats, tips and
walkthroughs from the long-running disk magazine Cheet Sheets,
out of the UK.  Editor Wayne Roberts has agreed to provide us
first bash at his content in exchange for use of our reviews in
his non-web magazine.  Great news--now we'll be able to bring you
more game detail without simply going to other sites and stealing
it from someone else.  This is the main reason why we're shy
content in some areas.  If we can't create it, we feel pretty bad
about ripping it off.


Reader Survey
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If you haven't already, I encourage you to take the AllAbout
Games Reader Survey.  This on-line survey is designed to help us
learn more about what you'd like to see online, what we're doing
right, and what we're doing wrong.  You're already interested in
AAG by being a subscriber, so don't hesitate to tell us exactly
what you want to see us do in the future.

  http://www.allaboutgames.com/survey



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Legal and Plead
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The AllAbout Games Newsletter is copyright 1997 by AFS, Inc, All
Rights Reserved.  Feel free to redistribute this post, now that 
it's stale.  Comments to: in...@allaboutgames.com