Millions of fraggers around the world will rejoice Tuesday, when the long-awaited sequel to Quake is released upon the world. id Software's kill-or-get-killed Quake 2 updates the original with a female character, a more complex man vs. alien story line, puzzles, and different scenery.
Quake 2's release has been highly anticipated in gaming circles, and the pre-release version won industry-zine accolades at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
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Electra ladyland: AOL's Greenhouse Studios mega-women's-site Electra launched today on the Web. Chock full of supermodels, diet and beauty tips, shopping guides, and career advice, Electra hopes to corner the all-purpose women's market that Women's Wire currently fills. Electra is the second general-interest "network" offering from Greenhouse Studios. The Entertainment Asylum launched last month. (8.Dec.97)
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Radio free CompuServe: CompuServe today launched its foray into the world of Internet "radio." CompuServe Interactive Radio will use RealAudio to deliver its talk shows. The first offering will be "Stein Online," featuring Net-chat personality Eliot Stein, to be streamed every weekday. The service will be free to anyone, but there will be related forums for CompuServe members.
The first week of broadcasts sets a familiar Web tone, mixing the celebrity reminiscences of John Lennon's personal assistant with conspiracy theorists investigating UFOs and the JFK assassination. (8.Dec.97)
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Nonstop bizarre animals: Disney/ABC Cable Networks today announced their plans to create a 24-hour cable network featuring animation. Toon Disney, as the channel will be known, will be aimed at children aged 2 to 11 (many of whom, presumably, keep late hours), and will showcase the company's library of television programming, rather than feature-length Disney films. The channel will launch in April and will be offered to cable operators that already carry the 14-year-old Disney Channel. (8.Dec.97)
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CompUSA won't go Postal: Postal, the ultra violent splatter game whose name enraged postal workers and spawned a boycott by children's groups, has managed to alienate a distributor, too. CompUSA, one of the largest retailers in the States, has decided not to carry the game because "the content wasn't appropriate ... just like we don't carry pornography."
Vince Desi, the epithet-flinging head of game producers Running from Scissors, is calling foul on this line of reasoning - and, indeed, as a GameSpot story noted, CompUSA is still carrying the bloody, inappropriate game Carmageddon and its Splatter Pak.
The original version of Postal involves a man who "goes postal" and blows away everything from a marching band to innocent bystanders; the recently released Postal Christmas patch allows users to blow away Santa Claus, too. (8.Dec.97)
