February 1994

Video Game Newsroom Time Machine

The world goes ga-ga over game violence; Sega reports horrible losses & Doom redefines PC gaming!

These stories and many more on this episode of the VGNRTM

This episode we will look back at the biggest stories in and around the video game industry in February 1994. As always, we'll mostly be using magazine cover dates, and those are of course always a bit behind the actual events.

Alex Smith of They Create Worlds is our cohost. Check out his podcast here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/ and order his book here: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/book

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Links: If you don't see all the links, find them here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103514526

7 Minutes in Heaven: Batman The Animated Series Video Version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/103482653 https://www.mobygames.com/game/5525/batman-the-animated-series/

Corrections: January 1994 Ep - https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-1994-100523595 Ethan's fine site The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ https://ko-fi.com/post/PC-FX-Sales-W7W1SYM97 https://archive.org/details/AtariCorporationAnnualReport1994

1994: Atari launches showcase 33 https://archive.org/details/cashbox57unse_18/page/33/mode/1up

Taito goes 3D Sanyo Links With Taito On 3-D Video Game System, Newsbytes News Network, February 23, 1994

Aussie's launch game regulations CRACKDOWN ON VIDEO GAMES, COURIER-MAIL, February 15, 1994 Tuesday

British politicians target sex and violence in games and anime British politicians try to curb Japanese 'manga', Japan Economic Newswire, FEBRUARY 17, 1994, THURSDAY

Knesset bill calls for game censorship KNESSET BRIEFS, The Jerusalem Post, February 17, 1994, Thursday, NEWS; Pg. 14

Singapore moves to ban games Ban on video games with too much violence and sex, Agence France Presse -- English, February 19, 1994 08:02 Eastern Time

Video game violence scare reaches China JOJO MOYES reports on recent allegations linking brutality and pornography in video games and real life violence., South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), February 20, 1994, Sunday Edition; Pg. 4

Sega takes the lead! Sega gains in key video-game segment, United Press International, February 14, 1994, Monday, BC cycle

Sega enters electronics market Sega to break into electronic notebook market, Japan Economic Newswire, FEBRUARY 14, 1994, MONDAY Sega Moves Into Electronic Toys; Lead Item Is a Learning Aid, Pico, A Hit Among Japanese Preschool Set ADWEEK, February 14, 1994, All Southeast EditionSouthwest EditionWestern Advertising News Edition, Section: CLIENT NEWS https://segaretro.org/IR_7000_Communicator

Howard Lincoln becomes Chairman of the Board Howard Lincoln appointed chairman of the board of Nintendo of America, Inc., Business Wire, February 15, 1994, Tuesday NINTENDO NAMES NEW CHIEF IN COMEBACK BID, Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), February 16, 1994, Wednesday, Section: News; Pg. P2D Nintendo plots leap over Sega, USA TODAY, February 16, 1994, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION, Section: MONEY; Pg. 1B

Sega drops forecasts Nikkei closes week on a higher note, Financial Times (London,England), February 19, 1994, Saturday, London; Section: World Stock Markets (Asia Pacific); Pg. 19 Sega blames strong yen for decline; Analysts say competition has eaten into margins, The Independent (London), February 19, 1994, Saturday, Section: BUSINESS & CITY PAGE; Page 19. Sega sounds losses warning, Evening Standard (London), February 18, 1994, Section: Pg. 33 Soaring Sega grounded by European slump; Stock Tumbles 25% On Earnings Outlook, The Nikkei Weekly (Japan), February 7, 1994, Section: INDUSTRY; Pg. 9 Nintendo workers first to feel NAFTA NAFTA claims first U.S. victims: Nintendo takes Seattle plant south, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia), February 7, 1994, Monday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. D9, Byline: SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Sega to beef up overseas production Sega to step up overseas production, Japan Economic Newswire, FEBRUARY 25, 1994, FRIDAY

Sony gathers devs Japan - Sony Links With 200 Video Game Software Firms,Newsbytes, February 1, 1994, Tuesday

Nintendo disses CDs "Experts baffled by break-ins on Internet, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), February 13, 1994, Sunday, City Edition, BUSINESS; TECH TALK; Pg. 9H; DIGEST Nintendo announces long-awaited format for Project Reality; 64-bit state-of- the-art video game system will employ the fastest storage media available, Business Wire. February 10, 1994, Thursday" Nintendo intends to play with solid state over CD-ROM, The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia), February 12, 1994, Saturday, FINAL EDITION, Section: BUSINESS; Pg. H3, Byline: N.Y. TIMES NEWS SERVICE https://vgprintads.tumblr.com/post/77390106108/strider-genesismega-drive-simpsons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64

3DO slashes prices 3DO cuts price on multiplayer, United Press International, February 22, 1994, Tuesday, BC cycle Matsushita cuts price of new video game, The Daily Yomiuri, February 19, 1994, Saturday Matushita buys into Interplay Universal Studios Parent Teams Up With Video, Computer Game Outfit, Associated Press Worldstream, February 10, 1994, Thursday 21:47 Eastern Time, Section: Financial pages

Laseractive goes 3D http://videogamekraken.com/laseractive-by-pioneer-corporation Pioneer Develops 3-D Software For Laser Disk Player, Newsbytes, February 23, 1994, Wednesday https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/44971/PEASJ1012/3D-Museum https://youtu.be/bF2Y6v6GXhE?si=ZV-wsiG4HRiwZhaw

NEC launches Laseractive https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20055%20%28February%201994%29/page/n81/mode/1up?view=theater

Sega looks to license Saturn tech https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n17/mode/2up Court dismisses Fairchild claims Nintendo wins patent infringement ruling; federal judge dismisses Fairchild, Semiconductor lawsuit, Business Wire, February 17, 1994, Thursday https://patents.google.com/patent/US4095791A/en https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_Game_Pak#Design_change

Commodore takes on Sega Amiga Format, Feb. 1994, pg. 10

Sega announces CDX https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20055%20%28February%201994%29/page/n61/mode/1up?view=theater https://segaretro.org/Sega_Multi-Mega

JVC to launch X-Eye https://segaretro.org/Wondermega https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20055%20%28February%201994%29/page/n61/mode/1up?view=theater

Sonic goes Third Release of the new "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" takes country by storm, Wednesday, Feb. 2 Sega celebrates "Hedgehog Day" with release of "Sonic 3", Business Wire, February 2, 1994, Wednesday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3#Release

Nintendo goes big on Ken Griffey promotion Nintendo's promotional grand slam; limited-edition Griffey baseball card, available with new Nintendo video game, Business Wire, February 28, 1994, Monday

Nintendo doesn't like vowels https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n117/mode/1up?view=theater

Viacom goes multimedia https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater Viacom's win only a start Much lies ahead in merging companies, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, February 16, 1994, Wednesday, Section: BUSINESS; Section F; Page 1

Acclaim shows off animation system https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n13/mode/1up?view=theater https://youtu.be/qgsyw9r-sc4?si=mOi8bIyDF6nM39G7 Gregory Fischbach Part 2 - Acclaim - https://www.patreon.com/posts/47720122

Core goes it alone https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n13/mode/1up?view=theater

Game makers go after Chinese pirates Mainland Super Marios upset overseas video-game makers, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), February 19, 1994, Business; Pg. 1 https://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/11/the-chinese-gaming-console-with-the-jackie-chan-seal-of-approval/ Microsoft wants further action against fakers, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), February 22, 1994, Business; Pg. 1

MAS Systems brings arcade controls into the home https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamingMonthly_201902/Electronic%20Gaming%20Monthly%20Issue%20055%20%28February%201994%29/page/n63/mode/1up?view=theater https://kotaku.com/arcade-stick-pioneers-die-in-tragic-accident-1846700437

Doom gets reviewed https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n3/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n35/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n43/mode/2up

Artist Graphics brings 3D acceleration to the PC https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_115/page/n9/mode/2up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmKKyiTCWNc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xONCBNipb8k Master your games with the Games Master https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n17/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_123/page/n151/mode/1up?q=master&view=theater https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n31/mode/2up

A1200 CD drive a no go https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-070/page/n10/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-070/page/n13/mode/1up

Xplora 1 released https://www.mobygames.com/game/11394/xplora-1-peter-gabriels-secret-world/ https://archive.org/details/cashbox57unse_20/page/26/mode/1up?view=theater https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7EKnhIG6zY&list=PLqIy1v23IZFyTQUIdgVecQ0so94iiF48z

Aris goes MPEG https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater https://archive.org/details/ElectronicGamesLC2/Electronic%20Games%20LC2%20Issue%2017%20%28February%201994%29/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater

Microprose's international offices go un-renamed https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1994-02/page/n17/mode/2up

Thalion loses key talent Amiga Format, Feb. 1994, pg. 10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalion_Software

Apple announces entry into settop box market BUSINESS IN BRIEF Apple plans interactive device for TV sets, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, February 11, 1994, Friday, BUSINESS; Section D; Page 3 Japan's Pioneer, U.S. Oracle Corp. Announce Multimedia Tie-up, Associated Press Worldstream, February 16, 1994, Wednesday 04:35 Eastern Time

HP licenses CD32 https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-070/page/n13/mode/1up

Atari ST User reviews The Whole Internet https://archive.org/details/wholeinternetuse00krol/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Atari_ST_User_Issue_097_1994-02_Europress_GB/page/n89/mode/2up

Recommended Links:

The History of How We Play: https://thehistoryofhowweplay.wordpress.com/ Gaming Alexandria: https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/ They Create Worlds: https://tcwpodcast.podbean.com/ Digital Antiquarian: https://www.filfre.net/ The Arcade Blogger: https://arcadeblogger.com/ Retro Asylum: http://retroasylum.com/category/all-posts/ Retro Game Squad: http://retrogamesquad.libsyn.com/ Playthrough Podcast: https://playthroughpod.com/ Retromags.com: https://www.retromags.com/ Games That Weren't - https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/

Sound Effects by Ethan Johnson of History of How We Play.

Copyright Karl Kuras