Atari Alumni Reunite and Take Over from TB
wednesday, april 30, 2003
Please mark your calendars for the Atari Reunion Saturday, May 3, 2003. Thanks to Larry Spivak, we will have a "Wine Tasting" at Mirassou Champagne Cellars in San Jose.
Time: Saturday, May 3rd, 1 - 3 PM
Location: 3000 Aborn Road, San Jose
Directions: Take Hwy 101 to Capital Expressway East exit. Turn right on Aborn Road A map is available on the Mirassou Website http://www.mirassou.com/
The cost is $5 per person at the door for the wine tasting. Please bring
an appetizer to share with everyone. There is plenty of parking, shade, and places to sit.
Please join us and feel free to pass the word. Confirmation is not required but high desired. To confirm, please send email to (Leslie Wolf) lzwolf@attbi.com, so we can get a head count for planning purposes.
Thanks,
Bonnie Umphreys & Leslie Wolf The reunion organizers

Return to Castle Wolfenstein Public Beta
friday, april 25, 2003
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Public test has begun. This currently includes the first map of a total of six maps that will be available with Enemy Territory. If you don't own return to Castle Wolfenstein, don't worry, this is a stand alone version and you won't need the original to play. Download the test from gamelord.org's mirror here thanks to Keith Hall.

Enter the Matrix launches in a Month
tuesday, april 22, 2003
LOS ANGELES, April 18, 2003 -- Atari and Shiny Entertainment are pleased to announce that development is complete on "Enter The Matrix" for the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft, the Nintendo GameCube(TM) and the personal computer. The worldwide launch of the game to retail outlets will occur on schedule on May 15, 2003, day and date with the theatrical release of the highly anticipated Warner Brothers action movie "The Matrix Reloaded."

Power Line Broadband Tests
monday, april 21, 2003
100 Hyde Park residents in Cincinnati have began testing broadband Internet access via power lines. The technology allows secure data transfers over power lines. Alex Pardo, a spokesman for Cinergy, explained that getting connected is a simple process. "The modem plugs into the wall, and you plug a cord into the USB port, and you're connected," Pardo said. "Ultimately, it turns every electric outlet into a broadband Internet connection." The technology uses a fiber-optic line to inject an Internet signal into a power line after it has left a power station. The signal then moves to neighborhoods, using equipment on power poles to leapfrog transformers and flow into homes. Then every outlet in the house becomes a broadband outlet. Broadband over power lines is almost a reality in North America.

Namco Courts Sega
friday, april 18, 2003
News.com reports Namco is trying to reopen merger talks with Sega. Japanese software maker Namco, known for its "Tekken" fighting games, on Thursday said it wants struggling fellow game maker Sega, creator of "Sonic the Hedgehog," to reopen merger talks. A deal would torpedo Sega's planned October union with pinball machine maker Sammy, a move widely seen as a takeover of Sega by financially sound Sammy. Sega said it is studying Namco's proposal but has not set any deadline for a decision. Click here for full story.

Maria Hernandez returns from Japan
After a year of travel, the mighty Maria Hernandez has returned from the land of the rising sun. Apparently, Japan has no scissors since Maria's hair is longer but fans don't fret, she hasn't changed a bit. Except maybe she needs a job. If you have a job for her, contact her or email here and we'll forward it to her.

Activision and Spark Join Forces
thursday, april 17, 2003
Activision, Inc. announced today that the company has signed an exclusive, long-term agreement to publish games developed by Spark Unlimited, a newly formed studio comprised of 28 of the individuals who developed titles in the Medal of Honor console and PC series, including several of the production leads. Members of the Spark team have worked on such best-selling games as Medal of Honor Frontline, Medal of Honor Allied Assault, Medal of Honor Underground and Medal of Honor. Under the terms of the agreement, Spark will develop three console-based games for Activision that will be released on multiple platforms. The first title, which will be released under the Call of Duty brand, will be a first-person action game that is slated for release in 2004.

Acclaim Needs Cash
wednesday, april 16, 2003
Acclaim Entertainment Inc.'s two top officials put up $2 million as collateral against new bank borrowings, but the company is sweetening the deal by issuing the officials 2 million shares each and warrants to buy 500,000 more shares.In addition, cash-strapped Acclaim, the Glen Cove video-game maker, is guaranteeing the loans made by the two officials, co-chairman and chief executive officer, Gregory Fischbach and co-chairman James Scoroposki, by agreeing to forgive existing loans Acclaim has made to them should the company default on the bank borrowings.

Square Final Fantasy Beta/UT Competition
monday, april 14, 2003
Blues News reports that Square has started accepting sign ups for the Final Fantasy Online project, Final Fantasy XI. You can click here to fill out the form. Blues News also reports a new competition for Unreal Tournament in which sign up are free but they are giving out $500 in prizes. Click here to sign up and get info to this tourney.

G.O. Acquires New Editor of Content
friday, april 11, 2003
Newark, CA - As Gamelord.org has need for more resources and new plans to build up staffing, they have acquired Keith "Weas" Hall as the new Editor of Content. Hall has joined Gamelord.org with a background in engineering and has plans for exciting content on the site. Hall comments, "Great people want to work with other great people, it's as simple as that. We are pleased that our corporate culture attracts such stellar people, and we will continue to challenge them with cutting-edge technology problems and interesting work." You can read his two new reviews by clicking here or on the Reviews tab to your left. You can also find his contact info in the staff section here.

DOJ Shutsdown Top Mod Chip Site
thursday, april 10, 2003
David M. Rocci, 22, of Blacksburg, Va., who used the online screen name “krazy8,” pleaded guilty on December 19, 2002, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, to conspiring to import, market and sell circumvention devices known as modification (or “mod”) chips in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Mod chips are designed to circumvent copyright protections built into game consoles such as the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation 2, and once installed, allow the unlimited play of pirated games on those consoles. As a condition of his plea, Rocci agreed to surrender to the government his public website, www.iSONEWS.com, which he used to facilitate his illegal activity.

Southern Hills Golfland is Gone
tuesday, march 11, 2003
Many of you Capcom/SNK fans may remember the resting ground to many Street Fighter and fighting game fans called Southern Hills Golfland. The NEOGEO mailing list reported today that this Golfland has been leveled and seemingly shutdown. Many Street Fighter tournaments and SNK tournaments were held at this establishment and SNK used this location as their primary arcade test location during the '90's. Konami recently held a DDR tournament here only a few years ago. Only Pacman's arcade in Pasadena has held as much tradition as this golfland. This golfland was also featured in the movie about Street Fighters called bang the machine. With the demise of the coin-operated games in the US, their didn't seem much doubt that we'd lose a few of the most legendary arcades in America.

Mike Riccio and Jim Buck Back And Better

friday, februaray 28, 2003
Once responsible for the programming needs of some of the Twisted Metal games for Sony, these two engineers are back with Red Zone and back with Sony. Jim Buck, pictured on the left, is a force to be reckoned with. Mike Riccio, on the right, is not to be confused with the Mike Riccio of EA. Redzone just recently lossed Chris Waley and other founders of Red Zone. More news as we receive it. Sony could not have found better programmers with the re-acquistion of Jim Buck and Mike Riccio.

Sega Merges with Sammy Corp.
friday, february 14, 2003
Japan's Sega Corp 7964.T , suffering after sports video games flopped in the U.S., said on Thursday it would merge with 'pachinko' game machine maker Sammy Corp 6426.T and cut its 2002/03 profit forecast by 90 percent.The merger, scheduled for October, means that Sega, Japan's largest game arcade operator and creator of videogame character Sonic the Hedgehog, has abandoned plans to restructure on its own and has turned for help to financially sound Sammy, Japan's largest maker of pachinko pinball-style machines.The deal will create a firm with a combined market value of $2.4 billion, with Sega accounting for around 54 percent.

Comdex is Gone
monday, february 10, 2003
The technology trade show company Key3Media Group, crippled by the plunge of technology industries and cutbacks in corporate travel, is planning to file for bankruptcy protection today, the company said yesterday. Attendance at the Comdex show in Las Vegas, once one of the biggest trade shows in the world with more than 200,000 visitors and some 2,000 exhibitors, has dropped by nearly half. Profitability has also plunged. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2002, the company lost $299.6 million on revenue of $111.6 million before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization.

Midway West is Gone
friday, february 7, 2003
According to computer and videogames, Midway West has shutdown. Midway bought out Atari games and took over there office in Sunnyvale, which was renamed ot Midway West. This is the same Atari Games from way back in the beginning of videogames. Atari Games is not to be confused with Atari Corp which is now owned by infogrames and had it's own fame with the legendary 64-bit Jaguar - do the math. Atari Games was well known for the orignal Tetris on the Nintendo 8-bit and many other Atari Arcade game translations including Rolling Thunder. It's a sad day in VideoGames and Gamelord.org will fly their flags at half-mast.

NEC is back!
thursday, february 6, 2003
NEC is back in the VideoGame fray as a a third-party publisher for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance handheld systems, and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft. Headed by former senior vice-president of Capcom Entertainment, Inc., Clint Kurahashi, NEC Interchannel expects to release its first product in February 2003, a futuristic racing title for the Nintendo GameCube entitled Tube Slider. NEC is well known for their Turbo Graphx 16 and add-ons.

Where's Steve Rish?
tuesday, february 4, 2003
Anyone who's wondering where Steve Rish went after he left EA last year will be happy to know that he's backpacking through New Zealand right now and will be heading to Australia very soon. He's alone on this trek and welcomes all to join him. First, Steve Rish goes around the world, then Amol Kabe joins a start-up. Click here to see Steve Rish's great pictures.

EQ Online Adventures Party for the People
monday, february 3, 2003
Throughout the night, Sony (SOE) will be giving away prizes, gifts, coupons, certificates and all kinds of other crap just so you'll come down to the metreon and experience the PS2 online version of Everquest. So be there or be square.

WHEN: Friday, February 7th, 2003
6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
WHERE: Metreon - A Sony Entertainment Center
101 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA
The PlayStation® store is on the ground floor.

Two For One Deal at Mary Margaret.com
friday, january 31, 2003
Mary-Margaret.com will give away a Classic Pass to the 2003 Game Developers Conference on Monday, February 3, 2003. Enter here for a chance to win! The winner will be posted here at our web site on February 4, 2003.The winner will receive one Classic Pass to the 2003 Game Developers Conference only. The winner is responsible for transportation and lodging and any other associated costs. The winner must be present at the San Jose Convention Center to receive the pass. Pass must be used by the winner and is not transferrable. Prize cannot be resold. Click here to enter this gracious contest.