Have all those ideas got your mouth watering? If not, then think up some other suggestions for future games, and send them to:
Official UK Rubbish Tip,
39 Choppington Lane,
Chopsville
(Don't forget to include a stamped addressed envelope, so the postie knows who to look for.)
Of course, if games are going to feature top-notch graphics, sound, and depth, they can't just run in a local washing-machine, so we're going to take a look at...
The Ultimate Computer:
The specifications are quite simply frightening - you've never seen anything like these before, so please don't blame us if, erm, something happens.
Graphics Data:
33,554,432 colours on screen from a palette of 33,554,432 - that's twice the amount of colours available on the Amiga 1200!
Memory Data:
3200 Megabytes of Fast RAM, and 850 Megabytes of Chip RAM. This isn't really necessary for games, as they're instantly loaded from the Hyper-CD drive attached - but for serious software, all this memory is required.
Storage Capacity:
Hyper-CD drive holds 3 compact discs - each of which hold 30,000 Megabytes of data. Any part of any disc can be read instantly.
Central Processing Unit:
Cyronetric's C8090 is the processor fitted inside the machine. It runs over 20 times
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faster than the Cray 4, which is, er, pretty fast!
Custom Chips:
Sorry, not needed. "But this is supposed to be the ultimate computer, isn't it?" Well, yes, it is; "So why aren't there any custom chips?" I'll tell you why - because it DOESN'T NEED ANY! There, I've said it. Don't you realise that if the processor is fast enough (in this case, it most certainly is!), no chips are needed. The CPU can handle all of the vectors and graphics itself, so what's the point in having something there for the sake of it?
Sound:
32-bit better-than-CD-quality sound, with 64 channels. Full
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stereo, of course.
Price:
You can pick them up at the local shop for around £35. You may be able to get them cheaper if you shop around, though.
Software costs around £16
Size:
Nothing more than the size of the keyboard and CD drive (which itself is coin-sized - and the CDs themselves are even smaller!). No power supply or anything - chips have now got so small that the computer itself is the smallest it can possibly be.
So there we have it - the ultimate computer and the ultimate games. Now all we can do is wait!...
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Hack 'n' slash-tastic!
If you can remember, some time ago, Mev Dinc and his Vivid Image crew produced a top platform slasher known as The First Samurai. At the time, this was regarded as something of a classic and received rave reviews, but, unfortunately for the team, Mirrorsoft - the company who Vivid Image licensed their game to - went under, leaving the game without a distributor. Lots of hard work, but nothing gained.
But they're back!
Yep, rather than sulk all day in the corner, the team are working away on a sequel - inevitably titled The Second Samurai. They've been hard at it for a year and a bit, but now completion is nearing; and from what we've seen, The Second Samurai could well be something of a classic.
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"So what's the game like, then?"
Well, it's an exploration/platformy/ puzzley/adventurey/action-based sort of thing, with the hero having the usual sword to slash the enemies with (which, in this case, involves bats, blobs, dragons and stuff). "It'll be more interactive" this time round, in a similar fashion to Zool, but different, if you know what I mean. The Second Samurai features the usual ducking/avoiding/slashing procedures, but promises to add a lot more to the tired genre.
This time there're two!
The Second Samurai includes a 2-player mode, so now you and a pal can go slashing the baddies together - great! Vivid Image have included a couple of twists to add some interaction/competition between the two players.
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Second's away!
As there's little space left, I'll give a list of all the other features planned in the game - namely, larger sprites with more animation, secret levels, large sub-games, and loads, loads more...
The Second Samurai should make an appearance via Psygnosis later this year on all major formats.
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