When I read about the “intervention” by PM to help MCA solve its current crisis, I feel sorry for this once great party and that gentleman, Malaysia’s first Finance Minister, the admirable late Tun Tan Siew Sin. This party whose leadership, consisting of professionals and astute businessmen appears not able to solve their own internal problems. I say “appears” here because I do not, for one minute, believe that it cannot solve its own problems. It looks like the now infamous ”Gang of Three” or desperately labelled by a forum in Malaysiakini today 22 Nov 2009 as ” the gruesome threesome” led by Liow Tiong Lai, are the one making it appear unsolvable.

Ong Tee Kiat

I do not really fancy Ong Tee Kiat but at least he tries to re captain the ship in this treacherous water which could have been partly contributed by him as well!

I must say I like Chua Soi Lek despite his unfortunate “scandal”. At least he owned up to the indiscretion revealed through the invasion of his privacy. He was man enough! And he was a very good Health Minister! Liow is not anywhere near Soi Lek. Yet, being a Health Minister then, the latter should not have engaged in such activities: I am being ambivalent here, Boy! Soi Lek you really let us down in this morality game!

So I just want to focus on Soi Lek as a politician and not as a lover- boy. Almost everyone who is watching the Malaysian political scene knows that this chaos started with the snooping of Soi Lek’s privacy then after months of silence, with his sacking followed by the EGM which was supposed to end it all then this “Liow factor” aftermath, like an itch which refuses to go away.

I do not know much about Ong Tee Kiat apart from the fact that he has proven to be “surgical” in his approach: excising then repairing. He was known as a firebrand MCA youth leader once so I read. His concept of a team appears to be everybody should be of one voice. I hope he is aware of the fact that you do need dissension every now and then so that you can make well-considered decisions. Decisions without debate and dissension are not resilient. But I can understand why he has to remove those politically aligned to Liow from the presidential council. With them there, the contentious likelihood of their derailing issues is real. Debating and dissenting are signs of political maturity but unfortunately this is yet to be a feature in this part of the world.

Liow Tiong Lai

Now who is Liow? When Soi Lek resigned we all heard that Ng Yen Yen was to be the Health Minister, oh, wouldn’t she be a fine Health Minister! Just look at what she is doing to Malaysian tourism as the Minister in charge? Yen Yen truly shines. One day in Paris and the next in Chengdu, hard working and impressive indeed. Suddenly we got this unknown Liow. I still give the benefit of doubt to him but seeing how he performs, parroting the pencil pushers with no mind of his own, upsetting a certain State’s politicians due to his arrogant handling of a hospital building problem through a cut and paste job, he is not cut up for the job, indeed Soi Lek is sorely missed all the more, with his warts and all.

Well, there you are the three protagonists in the MCA (some bloggers have dubbed as the Malaysian Chaos Association) embroil. Among the three who love MCA? Tee Kiat and Soi Lek have come up with what they call a Greater Unity Plan (GUP), the details of which are not really of interest to some us mere observers, but it is about solving a problem brought about by the well-meaning but indecisive EGM. The delegates, as it turned out, love both their warring leaders, or shall we say each have enough supporters among the delegates to just “nudge” each other?

Some may say the two have forged this unity plan because the alternative, “Liow” being the MCA President by default is not palatable at all. Tee Kiat acted because he might have felt betrayed by Liow and Soi Lek, well, his successor in health ministry has not really been magnanimous, has he? Trying to unearth certain things done during Soi Lek’s tenure is not exactly friendly, is it?

Chua Soi Lek

In any party, it is very important that you do not betray your leader because immediately the questions of your integrity and credibility would surface because you are doing it from the inside.

To digress a little, I recall the stage-play, when the great Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was stabbed by his trusted aid, Brutus, the last word he said was “Et tu Brutus” before he died. In the MCA saga, Ong Tee Kiat (virtual Caesar) did not “die” so Brutus (Liow Tiong Lai) would have to pay the price for his disloyalty.

Who Love MCA? When you love someone you do not prolong their pain, you do not get other people to intervene in your internal problem publicly. You do not go around distorting facts and spreading your false and misplaced convictions. And you certainly do not betray your leader and cause chaos.

Los anunciantes han centrado sus esfuerzos en la medición del Post-Click, en lo que sucede después del click, pero la realidad es que la medición con sesgos lleva a conclusiones erróneas 

En Search (Google), el grueso de las conversiones vienen por las búsquedas de la marca, y el resto de acciones online alimentan Search 

Existe un porcentaje de las conversiones que se producen en usuarios impactados previamente por otro de los esfuerzos tácticos online llevados a cabo por la marca (Campañas de Gráfica en Online Media, acciones de e-mailing . . .).  Impactos previos al click y a búsquedas  

Existe un comportamiento previo al Post-Click, el Pre-Click.  Es necesario medir la Post-Impression ya que las acciones de Branding generan impactos de comunicación que influyen sobre el volumen de búsquedas de una marca en Google y otros buscadores, y sobre las conversiones que se producen gracias a la adquisición de tráfico desde dicho buscador

En el siguiente enlace encontraréis el PDF  “No podemos controlar aquello que no medimos”, donde presento de forma detallada las principales Fuentes de Información en Internet, y como explotarlas en beneficio de las ventas a través de este canal

masalah utama MCA adalah presidennya suka buang orang. pecat memecat. sebelum ini walaupun MCA sememangnya ada masalah semenjak pemilihat parti terakhir yang memperlihatkan Ong Tee Keat menang presiden dan Chua Soi Lek menang timbalan, namun tidak dilihat oleh orang luar. sehinggalah secara tiba-tiba majlis presiden memecat Chua.

Kemudian CC (jawatankuasa pusat) MCA mengurangkan hukuman kepada Chua dengan menggantung jek. ini menyebabkan kem chua marah dan mendesak diadakan EGM.

EGM pertama ini memperlihatkan tiada siapa yang menang kerana kedua-dua pemimpin tersebut kalah apabila, resolusi mengekalkan Chua sebagai timbalan presiden ditolak. Ong juga tidak menang apabila resolusi tidak percayakan kepimpinan beliau turut menang. nah. ini sungguh aneh.

secara tiba-tiba muncul kuasa ketiga dalam MCA. naib presiden, Liow Tiong Lai di lantik menjadi TImbalan Presiden. waktu nih nampak Liow masih lagi sekutu rapat presiden. namun desakan supaya presiden meletakkan jawatan rupa-rupanya berasal dari kem Liow. wah. aneh dan menarik.

kuasa ketiga yang kononnya tidak di dalangi sesiapa secara tiba-tiba mula terbuka hijabnya. Liowlah orangnya. Ahli CC, Ti Lian Ker telah menulis tentang perkara nih dalam blog dia, tapi Liow marah dan menafikannya. sekarang nih dah nampak jelas.

Ong Tee Keat mula menunjukkan kuasa apabila memecat 4 orang (rasanya) daripada ahli CC yang menyokong Liow. opsss lupa nak citer, ada 16 orang daripada ahli CC yang meminta di adakan EGM kedua.

kalut-kalut ini semakin pening apabila Ong Tee Keat memecat pulak beberapa orang ahli majlis presiden yang menyokong Liow. nah antara yang tersingkir, Wee Ka Siong dan Chew Mei Fun, wah ketua pemuda dan ketua wanita tidak ada dalam CC? hahhaha kalut.

bayangkan kalau lebih ramai tidak menyokong beliau dalam parti? adakah Ong Tee Keat akan terpaksa memecat semua ahli MCA? kita tunggguuuu….

SETIU – Dewan Muslimat PAS Terengganu menggesa agar kepimpinan tertinggi parti menilai dan memperkemas serta menghalusi resolusi yang dicapai dalam Seminar Khas pada 7 November 2009, lalu, supaya masalah yang timbul tidak berulang.
 
Ketuanya, Safinah Jusoh (Gambar kiri) berkata para perwakilan dan peserta terbabit tidak meminta pimpinan tertinggi parti menerima ‘bulat-bulat’ resolusi tetapi perlu diperkemaskan sebelum dilaksanakan.

“Kita (Muslimat) minta pimpinan tertinggi PAS memperkemas dan memperhalusi resolusi yang dihasilkan dalam Seminar Khas itu.

“Kita (PAS) sudah bincang dan semua wakil-wakil kawasan dan negeri hadir dalam seminar yang menggantikan Muktamar Khas Tergempar (EGM),” tegasnya

Puan Safinah yakin sebarang perselisihan pendapat yang berlaku di kalangan pemimpin parti boleh diselesaikan dengan perlaksanaan resolusi yang dikemaskini itu.

Namun demikian, Ketua Penerangan PAS Setiu, Dr. Azman Ibrahim (Gambar kanan) berpendapat, walaupun Resolusi seminar tersebut dilaksanakan sepenuhnya, masalah dalaman PAS mungkin berulang dan tidak akan selesai.

Menurutnya, masalah yang timbul dalam mana-mana organisasi, termasuk PAS adalah, apabila ada ahli-ahlinya yang tidak patuh kepada keputusan dan dasar parti.

Oleh itu, katanya sekiranya tiada apa-apa tindakan yang diambil keatas mereka yang melanggar keputusan dan dasar parti, maka, kemelut yang ada akan berterusan.

”Parti kena ambil tindakan kepada mereka, ahli-ahli yang melanggar disiplin, yang tidak mematuhi keputusan dan dasar (parti),

”sekiranya jawatankuasa disiplin mendapati mereka (bersalah), maka tindakan yang sewajarnya perlu diambil samada gantung atau lucut keahlian atau mana-mana yang sesuai dengan kesalahan yang dilakukan,”tegasnya.

Beliau berharap perlantikan Jawatankuasa Disiplin Parti baru-baru ini akan melaksanakan tugas dan benar-benar tegas.

Oleh Mohd Rashidi Hassan | rashidi@harakah.net.my   

Seminar Memperkasakan Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) yang diadakan pada 7 November lepas telah berlalu hampir dua minggu.

Tetapi ramai yang masih tertanya-tanya apakah PAS mampu untuk melakukan perubahan sebagaimana yang diharapkan, selepas dibedah dengan sebegitu rupa oleh Profesor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari dan Dr Abu Hassan Hasbullah.

Sebenarnya bukan senang untuk menghadapi kritikan secara terbuka. Bukan PAS tidak boleh menerima kritikan, tetapi untuk Presiden PAS, Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang mengundang orang luar membedah parti yang dipimpinnya, merupakan satu langkah politik yang besar dan belum pernah dilakukan mana-mana parti politik dalam negara.

Tindakan ini diibaratkan seumpama, Ustaz Hadi ‘mengundang orang luar ke dalam rumah untuk memarahi dan menampar mukanya di hadapan anak-anaknya.’

Sepanjang sehari suntuk seminar diadakan wajah Presiden PAS itu penuh dengan ketenangan. Ternyata beliau berlapang dada dan menerima segala kritikan yang dilemparkan dengan penuh keterbukaan.

Keterbukaan Presiden PAS ini seharusnya dijadikan suatu titik tolak yang amat positif oleh semua golongan dalam PAS, sama ada seseorang itu ulama, profesional, AJK PAS Pusat, pimpinan peringkat negeri, kawasan dan cawangan.

Harus disedari bahawa, hakikatnya penganjuran seminar tersebut merupakan suatu perubahan dan keterbukaan PAS yang hebat dikritik sejak akhir-akhir ini, sehingga ada yang mengandaikan, pada waktu ini sokongan terhadap PAS semakin menurun berbanding Pilihan Raya Umum 8 Mac 2008.

Harus difahami kebanyakan yang mengkritik PAS bukannya musuh PAS. Mereka amat menyayangi PAS. Mereka memberikan pandangan yang praktikal. Pandangan dikemukakan kerana pada mereka, hanya PAS sahaja yang mampu menggantikan Umno dipersada politik negara. Tiada parti lain.

PAS kini diakui sebagai sebuah parti yang besar. PAS mempunyai mempunyai asas disiplin kepimpinan dan ahli yang amat dinamik. Susunan kepimpinan PAS dilihat cukup matang dan mempunyai kredibiliti tersendiri.

PAS tidak lagi dilihat sebagai parti pembangkang sahaja. Sebaliknya PAS sudah diterima sebagai sebuah parti yang mampu mengurus dan mentadbir sesebuah kerajaan dengan baik. Jauh lebih baik daripada Umno.

Oleh kerana meyakini masa depan PAS, maka mereka-mereka yang mengkritik ini sebenarnya, meletakkan harapan yang besar kepada PAS. Mereka mahu melihat PAS, sebagai parti yang memartabatkan dan perlaksanaan Islam dalam negara.

Mereka mahu melihat PAS menjadi juara memperjuangan serta melindungi hak kepentingan orang Melayu dan memelihara kepentingan semua kaum dan agama dalam negara.

Mereka mahu meletakkan kepercayaan kepada PAS, sebagai sebuah parti yang bersih dari gejala rasuah jika diberi amanah menguasai kerajaan.

Segala pengharapan ini mahu disandarkan kepada PAS dan PAS bukannya hanya Ustaz Hadi seorang. PAS adalah milik semua ahli dan pemimpin PAS.

Jika Presiden PAS dipalit dengan persepsi yang menyebabkan PAS lemah, maka menjadi tanggungjawab semua kita untuk membantu memulihkan imej PAS dengan membantu Ustaz Hadi. Untuk itu imej Presiden PAS harus ‘dipolish’ kembali.

Kita tidak akan dapat membantu Ustaz Hadi, jika kita di kalangan pemimpin atau ahli bawahan terus bercakaran sesama sendiri.

Jika Ustaz Hadi dilihat cenderung melihat satu aliran pandangan, maka ia menjadi tanggungjawab kita untuk mengemukakan pandangan alternatif kepada beliau, untuk membuat pertimbangan dan ijtihad yang lebih adil dalam mengemudi bahtera PAS.

Hakikatnya, untuk memulihkan PAS, bukan tanggungjawab dibahu Presiden PAS seorang, ianya adalah tanggungjawab kita semua secara kolektif.

Mujur kita ‘dikejutkan dari tidur sekarang’, kerana dengan kejutan ini, kita mempunyai cukup masa untuk membuat persediaan sewajarnya, menjelang PRU ke-13 nanti.

This week’s issue of EGM, #64 for November of 1994, is a doozy – 398 pages (including the cover), just short of 400 pages. We’ve also got one heck of a cover story, the 32X version of Doom. Now, due to the length of this issue, I may end up skipping a few games if they’re games that just don’t interest me. In particular, I’m going to skip the sports section entirely, and for the system specific coverage I’m going to skip games that were reviewed earlier in the issue (and possibly games that don’t interest me).

Editorial: Since this is, basically, the second-to-last issue of 1994, it’s time once again to speculate at where the video game industry is going, particularly considering that the game industry going to enter the 32 bit era soon.

Letters: We get a letter asking if we’ll get the Street Fighter II anime (yes, we will, thanks to Manga Video – which is still fortunately in business, though I don’t know if they have the rights). We also get a call to start a letter writing campaign to get Bandai to bring some of the DBZ games to the United states (particularly since DBZ is gaining popularity in the US now). We also have complaints about the “64-bit” era bringing the 16-bit era to an end too soon. We also get a giant letter applauding the Crew for speaking the truth about the (thus far) eternal string of SF2 games and telling Capcom to, in the writer’s words, “eat excrement and expire.” We also a letter bemoaning the lack of support for the Atari Jaguar.

Review Crew: The crew still is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo, SNES): This game impresses the hell out of Ed, who gives the game a 10. The rest of the crew gives the game 9s, and they find it spectacular, due to both excellent graphics and (in their opinion) control. Overall: The game gets 37/40 recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum award and is Game of the Month.
• The Lion King (Virgin, SNES): Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 8s, and Al gives it a 7, finding that the game ties in well with the plot of the movie, along with looking good and controlling well. However, Ed and Al had complaints about cheap hits in the game (with Ed specifically mentioning that some areas of the game require you to get hit to progress). Overall: 31/40.
• Shaq-Fu (EA, SNES): This is a fighting game/brawler featuring a certain successful basketball player. In general, the scores are middle of the road, with Ed giving the game a 6, Danyon and Al giving the game 5s, and Sushi giving the game a 4. However, the actual opinions on the game are a little more mixed. Ed, Al, and Sushi are wondering why this was made as a fighting game in the first place, while Danyon is a little more forgiving of the bizarre premise, though he still finds it very mediochre. Overall: 20/40.
• Pac-Man (Namco, SNES): It’s an adventure game featuring Pac-Man, instead of another maze game. That said, the crew finds it a solid transition, though some of the members of the crew feel it may be difficult for people to adjust to the new setup. Ed gives it an 8, Al, Sushi, and Danyon give the game 7s. Overall: 29/40.
• Boogerman (Interplay, Genesis): A gross-out platformer attempting to capitalize on the success of Earthworm Jim. The game gets 8s from Ed and Danyon as they find it a good solid platformer. Al and Sushi on the other hand gave the game 5s, finding it generic with the sole exception of the gross-out humor, which they weren’t too fond of. Overall: 26/40.
• Virtual Bart (Acclaim, Genesis): Another year, another Simpsons licenced game, and while Ed likes it and gives the game an 8, everyone else finds it very generic and mediochre (and with bad control), with Danyon giving it a 5, and Al and Sushi giving the game 4s. Overall: 21/40.
• Animaniacs (Konami, Genesis): An action/puzzle/platformer featuring the Warner Brothers and the Warner Sister. Danyon gives the game an 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s, finding it a solid licenced puzzle-action-platformer, much like Rabbit Rampage. Overall: 29/40.
• Mickey Mania (Sony Imagesoft, Sega CD): An new Mickey Mouse Action Platformer. The crew is very impressed with this one, with Ed giving it an 9 and Danyon and Sushi giving it 8s, as they find it superior to the cartridge version, and finding it an excellent reflection of the history of Mickey Mouse. Al gives it a 7, finding it only superior to the cartridge version only in terms of sound. Overall: 32/40, and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• King of Fighters ‘94 (SNK, Neo-Geo): Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, and Al and Sushi give the game 8s, with the main complaints being that you can’t fight outside of team mode, and some of the teams are unbalanced (I agree – though Team USA is considerably more unbalanced than the Ikari Warriors Team). Overall: 34/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Burning Soldier (Panesonic, 3DO): Another FMV Action game, which kind of gets a mixed reaction. Ed isn’t too fond of FMV action games, but he likes this one enough to give it a 7 and to reccomend it as a “buy”. Al also gives it a 7. Danyon and Al give it 6s, finding it not too intense, but still fun. Overall: 26/40.
• Alien Vs. Predator (Atari, Jaguar): The Jaguar gets the first Alien Vs. Predator licenced shooter. Unfortunately the only member of the crew who likes it is Danyon, who gives it a 7. The rest of the crew gives it mediochre scores, due to cheap hits, a lack of a jump button, and rather odd complaints like the Alien leaving bodies lying around. Ed gives it a 6, and Al and Sushi give the game 5s. Overall: 23/40.
• Burn Cycle (Phillips, CD-I): A cyberpunk RPG. Ed and Danyon love it and give it 9s, with Danyon considering it a system-seller. Sushi gives it an 8, lauding the game’s story. Al isn’t so impressed, giving it a 6, finding the pacing too slow. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Sonic Triple Trouble (Sega, Game Gear): A collection of (sort of), the highlights of the Sonic series. Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 7s, and Al gives it a 6, with the only complaints being that the game is essentially same-old-same-old. Overall: 27/40.

Gaming Gossip: Among the Q-Mann’s rumors this issue are a possible release for Mortal Kombat III for the Playstation when it comes out. There are rumors that Dracula X will come out for the Playstation, 32X, and SNES (not so much – though the Playstation does get Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Oh, and Nintendo has bought Hasbro’s VR tech and is planning on using it as a new console this upcoming year. I presume that this will become the Virtual Boy, and will be the failure that destroys the once-prosperous career of Gunpei Yokoi.

Press Start: We’re starting off with a look at the Sonic & Knuckles add-on cart. EA also has a bat peripheral for home console systems, and apparently the saga of Data East vs. Capcom isn’t quite over yet. Capcom’s also working on an a Mega Man animated series which I watched as a kid and loved. I really should give it another watch to see how it holds up in hind-sight.

Arcade Action: Banpresto has a new Gundam fighting game with Gundam EX Revue. Sega has the tank simulator Desert Tank. Capcom has Super Saturday Night Slam Masters which is more of a traditional fighting game (unfortunately). Virtua Fighter 2 is also appearing in arcades.

International Outlook: Bandai has a G Gundam fighting game (no surprise). There’s also a Mobile Suit Gundam puzzle action game. Enix has Dragon Quest VI, which is finally due to get a US release for the Nintendo DS. Technos has a pair of fighting games set to come out for the Neo-Geo, one adapated from the Double Dragon series, and one off a new IP titled Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. Banpresto has the mega-crossover shump The Great Battle IV. Myst is set to make its console debut on the Sega Saturn. There’s a Lupin III puzzle action game for the SNES, as well as a 3rd version of Super Tetris. We also get our first look at Ridge Racer and Battle Arena Toshinden.

One of the first US ads for "Snatcher"

We also get a little ad for the US release for Snatcher for the Sega CD. I’m still hoping that we’ll get a much belated release of Policenauts, and maybe even a re-release of Snatcher for those who don’t currently have a Sega CD.

Next Wave: We get a look at the Sega CD version of Samurai Shodown, and Rayman for the Jaguar.

Features: First up is a look at some of the new levels we’ll get in Sonic & Knuckles, as well as a look at Knuckles in Sonic 2 with the add on module. There’s also a preview of the anthropormorphic fighting game Brutal for the Genesis, Sega CD, and SNES. We also get part 2 of their multi-part feature they started in EGM^2 about the making of Mickey Mania. We also get looks at some of the titles from The European Consumer Technology Show, JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association) and AMOA (Arcade Machine Operators of America) shows. We also get a big look at the 32X, including our look at the 32X version of Doom, along with Star Wars Arcade (which most of the readers of this know by a later version – Star Wars Trilogy Arcade). There’s also Virtua Racing, Cosmic Carnage, and the mecha action game Metalhead.

SNES Coverage: The first of the new titles we get a good look at this issue is Clayfighter 2: Judgement Clay. That title is groanworthy enough that I’d pass on the game even before seeing review scores. Anyway, there’s a Yogi Bear licenced platformer, which doesn’t have any continues or passwords (ugh), and a Looney Toons themed Mario-Paint style software package. There’s also the SNES version of Interplay’s Starfleet Academy, which also includes missions that weren’t in the PC version, such as missions based on various Star Trek films (like Star Trek II) and episodes (like Balance of Terror). Ocean has an Addams Family Values RPG, which gives me unpleasent reminders of Fester’s Quest. US Gold has an Incredible Hulk brawler that doesn’t look so hot. Viacom’s also got an Nick Guts licenced game, which looks interesting, particularly considering that I loved that show when I was a kid too. We also get a look at Clay Fighter Tournament Edition and Final Fight Guy which are remakes of their particular games which recieve rental only releases, with the former getting a tournament mode and the latter having Cody removed and replaced with Guy.

Genesis/Sega CD Coverage: We get more of a look at Ecco The Dolphin: The Tides of Time. There’s also Zero the Kamakaze Squirrel which looks rather bad. Fox Interactive has a game base of its Pagemaster animated movie. Time Warner has an very interesting Sci-Fi platformer in Generations Lost. Sega also has the FMV action game Masked Rider, which features a certain Tokusatsu hero (hint, “Kamen” is Japanese for mask… figured it out yet – fine, it’s Kamen Rider). Sega also has the shump Android Assault. There’s also a look at Lethal Enforcers II, and an in-depth preview of Stalker. There’s also a preview of the Sega CD version of Starblade by Namco.

Neo-Geo Coverage: Nothing here outside of stuff covered in the reviews.

3DO Coverage: We get a preview of Mad Dog McCree II. Other than that, not much of note.

CD-I Coverage: Nothing of note for the CD-I.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the portable version of Contra: The Alien Wars.

Game Gear Coverage: We get a look at the portable port (ahem) of The Lion King, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Lifestyles: We have a series of artbooks for the Star Wars trilogy, including some of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. Unfortnately, these artbooks are out of print. We also have rumors of an second Jurassic Park movie coming out, as well as the impending start of the Age of Apocalypse Arc, which I remember reading some of when I was a kid, but I didn’t read all of the series. Meanwhile, in the DC Universe, Knightsfall and Knightsquest have come to an end, and Knightsend is starting, with Bruce Wayne finally returning as the Bat – where he’d stay (with a small hiatus) until Final Crisis. Also, Disney is starting off their darkest animated series, Gargoyles – which was one of their best animated series until they brought it to an end.

That wraps my EGM Recap. Tommorow I’ll continue my Nintendo Power Recaps. However, I’m stopping my GamePro Recaps as I’m starting a new job.

Considerado o Rei de Ibiza e autor de hits como “Touch Me”,
“Your Body” e “Rithym is a Dancer”, Tom Novy desembarca na The Week
(Rua Sacadura Cabral, 154, Saúde) para uma apresentação inédita no Rio.
A balada “Ecko Unltd” acontece no dia 27 de novembro a partir das 22h.
Os ingressos custam de R$ 20 a R$ 70. Além de Novy, as atrações
na “Pista House” são Raphael Assad, Léo Janeiro e Luca Di Napoli.
Na “Pista Hip Hop” se apresentam Flávia Xexéo, Lulinha e Saci.

LEIA MAIS NOS SITES
:: SORTIMENTOS.COM >> http://www.sortimentos.net/?p=3890
:: GEBBEG >> http://gebbeg.com.br/?p=7118

.

This week we continue with our EGM recaps with issue 63 for October of 1994. Our cover story for this issue is Donkey Kong Country for the SNES, one of Rare’s latest games.

Editorial: Well, last issue, Steve Harris teased an announcement this issue about Capcom’s responce to their lower review for Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Well, this issue we learn Capcom’s response – they blacklisted (at least where Advertisements are concerned) EGM to “make a statement” in the words of Capcom’s director of marketing. Steve Harris says that the only statment coming from Capcom here is that they don’t have faith in their products, and I can’t help but agree. Further, I’d expand on that by saying that any game publisher or developer who engages in the journalistic equivalent of the Tarkin Doctrine only succeeds in making them look like the bad guy to the gaming press. If they blacklist a blogger or web site, then they’re picking on the little guy. If they’re blacklisting an established bastion of games journalism, then they’re making a Nixon-esque enemies list. Further, this is only aggrivated when they’re doing the blacklisting for a review that isn’t particularly bad. The Street Fighter II series had been pushing perfect scores in EGM for most of its run. This is the first game that didn’t, and thus they get upset over it.

Letters: We get letters about how game developers choose what new concepts to turn into games, about the fate of the 32X once the Saturn comes out, and about old Tengen games for the NES with the Seal of Approval. That last one I don’t need to explain, if you’ve been following the EGM recaps, and have learned the sad tale of the Tengen/Nintendo feud. Also, EGM now has an E-Mail address, through Compuserve. Obviously, this E-mail address is now out of date, so I’m not going to share it here.

Review Crew: Once again, as a reminder, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

1. Final Fantasy III (Square, SNES): Final Fantasy III/VI has gotten released – and I really need to get around to beating that game. The game gets 9s across the board, with the crew having nothing bad to say about the game. Overall: 36/40 and the game is Game Of The Month and recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum Award.
2. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, SNES): This version of the latest installment in the MK series gets a 9 from Ed and 8s from everyone else. The consensus from everyone is that it’s an arcade perfect port, though the controls are looser than the arcade version. The main disagreement is, I suppose, between Ed and everyone else over how much of a problem this is. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
3. Demon’s Crest (Capcom, SNES):. This is a semi-port/sequel of Gargoyle’s Quest (the spinoff of Ghouls & Ghosts). Al gives it a 9, everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that this game is fantastic – and they’re surprised Capcom isn’t promoting it. Now, I don’t know how much of this is, Capcom isn’t sending them promotional materials, or that Capcom isn’t advertising it at all. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
4. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Genesis): The Genesis version of MKII doesn’t do as well – the game gets an 8 from Ed, and 7s from the rest of the crew. They find it similar to the arcade version, but inferior to the SNES in most respects. Overall: 29/40.
5. Contra Hard Corps (Konami, Genesis): It’s the Genesis turn to get a Contra game. Ed gives the game a 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s. The main complaints are that the game is a run-and-gun bullet hell shooter, which means there are a lot of cheap deaths. Overall: 29/40.
6. Earthworm Jim (Playmates, Genesis): It seems appropriate that I’m recapping this issue after seeing video games live, which feature Tommy Tallarico, the composer of the music for this game. The game gets an 8 from Sushi and 9s from everyone else, with no complaints leveled against the game at all. Overall: 35/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
7. Switch (Data East, Sega CD): The odd Japanese puzzle game has gotten a US release. Ed gives the game a 7, finding it very funny and enjoying the variety of jokes in the game. Danyon found the game to be not so much of a game, though they did find it rather amusing and gave it an 6. Al and Sushi give the game 5s, found that the game got pretty boring after playing it for a while. Overall: 23/40.
8. Agressors of Dark Kombat (ADK, Neo-Geo): When I first looked at the title, the first thing that kame in my head is Mortal Kombat ripoff. The game gets 7s across the board, due to the game’s sense of humor and devestating combo moves. Overall: 28/40.
9. Star Control 2 (Crystal Dynamics, 3DO): The PC strategy game gets a port to home consoles. Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, finding it a solid strategy game and superior to the PC version, as does Sushi, who gives it an 8. Al isn’t much of a strategy game fan, but he still found it enjoyable enough to give it a 7. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
10. Wolfenstein 3D (Atari, Jaguar): The first FPS is on the Jaguar, with blood, attack dogs, and Nazis intact. Sushi gives it an 8, and everyone else gives it 7s, with the main complaitns being about the scrolling being a little too fast. Overall: 29/40.
11. Little Devil (Phillips, CD-I): Ed gives the game an 8, and everyone else gives the game 6s. While the animation is good, there are soem significant complaints about the control. Overall: 24/40.
12. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Game Boy): Ed finds that this port plays better than the port of Mortal Kombat I, and gives the game an 8. Everyone else isn’t so impressed, and they still think that the game doesn’t work well on a 2-button controller, with Danyon giving the game a 6, and Al & Sushi giving the game 5s. Overall: 24/40.
13. Bubble Bobble (Taito, Game Gear): Bub and Bob are back! Al gives the game a 7 and everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that the game is still solid even on a system like the Genesis. Overall: 31/40.

Gaming Gossip: According to Q-Mann, several publishers are working on a 6-button controller for the 3DO so wew can get some fighting game ports for that system, which would be pretty impressive. Acclaim’s working on a Batman Forever licenced game, and Sega’s working on a Congo licenced game – both of which turn out to be rubbish.

Press Start: Aura Systems is working on a vest for use in virtual reality games, called the Interactor. We also get previews of other upcoming controllers.

Arcade Action: Kaneko has The Great 1,000 Mile Rally, which looks iffy to me, mainly because of the camera angle. Taito has the fighting game Global Champion, SNK has Samurai Shodown II, which I haven’t played, but I’ve been meaning to play – once I get Samurai Shodown Anthology or something. Operation Wolf is getting a 3rd installment, and an arcade version of Mad Dog McCree II is on it’s way out.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Goemon 3 for the SNES, a Sailor Moon S fighting game, Battle Robot Legend from Banpresto for the SNES, which sounds like a Super Robot Wars game to me. We also get a feature preview of Shining Force CD which unfortunately didnt’ get a US release, and as yet CD games haven’t shown up on the Virtual Console, whether they were released in the US or not.

Next Wave: Of note for the upcoming titles the US is getting are 3DO ports of Samurai Shodown and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Special Features: We have a behind the scenes look of the 3DO FMV game Corpse Killer. We also get a look at Donkey Kong Country particularly screen shots of several levels and the game’s power ups. There’s also a look at some of the upcoming titles for the Jaguar, including Rayman and Wolfensten 3D.

Team EGM: To be honest, sports games haven’t aged very well, so I’m going to scale back my recaps of this section to games that interest me. This means that annual sports franchises won’t be getting listed. The 3DO is getting a port of Road Rash and Need for Speed (and it doesn’t look half bad).

SNES Coverage: We have more screen shots of Demon’s Crest, along with Final Fantasy III (with particular focus on the new Active Time Battle or ATB system). We also get an interview with Square’s then publicity director, Yusuke Hirata, and a few screen shots of Chrono Trigger. There’s also a preview of Virtual Bart, Animaniacs from Konami, Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures JVC which has some problems with cheap hits. Activision has the platformer Radical Rex, and Capcom has a Bonkers licenced platformer. There’s also a preview of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure. EA also has the semi-fighting game Shaq Fu (ugh). FCI has a the combination action-platformer/shooter Metal Morph, and a port of Ultima: The Black Gate. Spectrum Holobyte has the puzzle game Wildsnake, and JVC has a sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors titled Ghoul Patrol.

Genesis & Sega CD Coverage: We have a look at Lethal Enforcers II, which takes the series to the old west. The Genesis is also getting another first person shooter in Battle Frenzy – the FPS boom is on. We also have a look at the isometric shump Viewpoint, Accolade has the fighting game Ballz which is a fighting game with characters made out of a collection of Balls (and which I suspect lead to Vectorman). The Sega CD also has Star Wars Chess.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have our first look at King Of Fighters ‘94, with profiles of all the teams. Though, unfortunately, at this time the game has some slowdown problems. It’s also really hard. We also get screen shots of Agressors of Dark Kombat.

3DO Coverage: We get a look at the semi-RPG Guardian War, and the D&D licenced game Slayer, and the space sim, Burning Soldier.

CD-I Coverage: We get a look at the cyberpunk game Burn Cycle, and the fighting game Mutant Rage Body Slam.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the Game Boy version of Samurai Shodown, which compensates for the system’s graphical limitations with Super Deformed characters.

Game Gear Coverage: We get some more screen shots of Bubble Bobble, and a Star Trek: The Next Generation simulator game.

Lifestyles: We’re getting a bunch of new audio books on the US market – or rather, audio dramatizations of novels and comics. Of particular note is the BBC’s adapatation of Knightfall. I hadn’t heard about the Dark Empire and Neuromancer ones though. We also get a look at new (and now defunct) comic publisher Tekno-Comics, and at the upcoming (and horrible) live-action Street Fighter movie. (By the way, it’s a crime that the live action Street Fighter movie got a Blu-Ray release, and not any of the anime films).

La evolución de esRadio, según Google Trends

Ya lo adelantamos cuando apenas comenzó a emitir sus primeros programas. Internet estaba indicando que esRadio arrancaba con buen pie. A la información que publicábamos esta mañana, en la que la propia cadena está sorprendida por la buena acogida que ha tenido en apenas dos meses, aportamos ahora una actualización de lo que dice Google Trends. Y este indicador, a priori tendríamos que tomarlo como neutral, apunta lo siguiente:

• En volumen de búsquedas, esRadio es la emisora más buscada por los usuarios en Internet.
• En tráfico estimado, esRadio ya es la segunda web más visitada, tan sólo por detrás de cadenaser.com, que ha experimentado una notable caída en los últimos meses.

Si obviamos la presencia de esRadio en este mapa de emisoras, la gráfica calca el EGM. Cadena SER, líder destacado; COPE y Onda Cero en semi-empate; y Punto Radio, a una enorme distancia de sus competidores.

Si contamos con esRadio, la conclusión es muy sencilla: las huestes de Federico están caminando con paso firme y sólido hacia el objetivo de ocupar un espacio de referencia en el espacio radiofónico nacional. La habilidad en el uso de las nuevas tecnologías y la estrategia multiplataforma pueden convertir el proyecto de esRadio en un caso digno de estudio. Internet, iTunes, la TDT ya nos están indicando tendencias… En poco tiempo sabremos si nuestras predicciones son aventuradas o si el análisis que hemos hecho de los datos, se corresponde con la realidad.

W3C

Reorientación en el sector

La publicidad está encaminada a los medios digitales

El debate que tanto esperábamos desde el año pasado acaba de llegar. La crisis, según las noticias que hemos recibido, podría tocar fondo en el ejercicio 2010, lo cual, según los medios, supondría una recuperación para el año 2011, aunque son previsiones. De momento, las noticias del desempleo, las deudas de la población (hipotecas, finalización de las prestaciones por desempleo, embargos) y el miedo a la inversión en nuevos negocios está complicando el panorama. En ese sentido, Internet no escapa a la coyuntura económica. Pero, al margen de otros sectores, la publicidad se ha fijado en una plataforma menos costosa, rentable y selectiva, ya que la red de redes ha permitido otras reglas del juego para un sector que se ha reconvertido en los dos últimos años. Os dejamos un comunicado que es muy interesante, porque se hablan de las tendencias del futuro de un sector marcado por la reorganización de sus formatos, mensaje y equipo de trabajo. En el punto de mira están los teléfonos móviles, y no hablamos de acabar sólo en los mensajes SMS.

A pesar de los malos augurios para la inversión publicitaria en medio, Internet vuelve a ser otra vez una tabla de salvación en este sector. Los anunciantes creen que “la pendiente de caída” de la inversión publicitaria ha “comenzado a atenuarse” en los últimos meses, tras el segundo trimestre, que fue “el peor de toda la historia de la publicidad española”, aunque advierten de que, a pesar de esta mejoría, en todo 2009 se invertirá alrededor de un 17 por ciento menos que en 2008.

Así, según la última ola del panel Zenthinela, que recoge las opiniones de treinta y tres anunciantes (un 12,5% de la inversión total del mercado), el sector ve “ligeros síntomas de mejoría” en el mercado, aunque advierte de que para cumplir con el pronóstico de un 17 por ciento de caída en la inversión el último trimestre del año “debería ser bastante mejor que los anteriores”.

Por medios de comunicación, sólo los medios digitales podrían crecer este año. Concretamente, los encuestados opinan que el sector del Marketing Móvil crecerá un 9,4 por ciento e Internet un 8,2 por ciento, con mejores resultados para buscadores y enlaces patrocinados que para publicidad gráfica y vídeo. Mientras, la inversión publicitaria en cine caería un 33,3 por ciento; en diarios de pago, un 25,8 por ciento; en diarios gratuitos, un 24,7 por ciento; y en las revistas, un 20,5 por ciento.

Asimismo, los suplementos perderán en 2000 un 22,1 por ciento de ingresos por publicidad; la radio, hasta ahora uno de los medios que mejor aguantaba la crisis, un 17,4 por ciento; la televisión generalista, un 16,4 por ciento; los medios para inmigrantes, un 10,3 por ciento y la publicidad exterior se reducirá un 17,6 por ciento este año.

Los anunciantes tampoco se muestran muy optimistas respecto al año que viene, cuando prevén una nueva caída del 6,5 por ciento, y apuntan que, en contra de lo ocurrido en crisis anteriores, la reacción del mercado publicitario podría ser posterior a la reactivación de la economía. Por su parte, directivos de medios de comunicación encuestados para Zenith Vigía, calculan que la inversión publicitaria caerá en 2010 alrededor del 2,9 por ciento.

Los canales temáticos también subirán

En el año 2010 podrían crecer además de los medios digitales, los canales de televisión temática en abierto, que se van a ver favorecidos por la ampliación de cobertura real de la TDT. Mientras, las mayores caídas prevista vuelven a corresponder al cine, un 18,1 por ciento y a los medios impresos.

Así, los diarios de pago podrían caer un 14,4 por ciento en 2010; los diarios gratuitos, un 14,9 por ciento; las revistas, un 13,8 por ciento, y los suplementos, un 14,7 por ciento. Además, la publicidad exterior caería, según estas previsiones, un 9,2 por ciento; la radio, un 5,5 por ciento; la televisión generalista, un 5,1 por ciento; y los medios para inmigrantes, un nuevo 7 por ciento.

El último trimestre de 2010 se perfila como la fecha más probable para la salida de la crisis. Las opiniones se distribuyen a lo largo de una curva que tiene su media en ese trimestre y se extiende, con una forma casi simétrica por el tercer trimestre de 2010, y el primer semestre de 2011.

Los presupuestos que se han retirado de la publicidad a raíz de la crisis se han dedicado a ofertas basadas en el precio y a promociones en el punto de venta en mayor medida que a cualquier otra opción. En cambio también se ha retirado presupuesto de los capítulos de ferias y exposiciones, patrocinios y catálogos u publicaciones

Fuente: Internet.

Fuente (2): Agencia de Noticias Europa Press.

Imagen: Teléfonos móviles. 

Imagen (2): http://www.w3c.es/Presentaciones/2007/1220-COIIPA-MA/img/mobilechristmas2004.jpg (JPG).

Fecha: 05 de noviembre de 2009.

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

Consultoría de Nuevas Tecnologías e Internet

http://www.jorgehierro.es

http://www.jorgehierro.com

http://www.jorgehierro.wordpress.com

http://www.jorgehierro.blogspot.com

Taklimat Isu Semasa diganti dengan Seminar Khas PAS Pusat 

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) yang mengadakan Mesyuarat Khas semalam (28 Oktober 2009) memutuskan untuk mengantikan Program Taklimat Isu-isu Penerangan yang dianjurkan oleh Lajnah Penerangan PAS Pusat sebelum ini kepada Seminar Khas bagi menerangkan isu-isu dan strategi semasa parti.

Tempat program dipersetujui untuk dikekalkan iaitu di Dewan Almarhum Dato’ Fadzil Noor, Markas Tarbiyyah Taman Melewar, bermula jam 8 pagi pada 7 November 2009. Berikut adalah senarai peserta yang dijemput bagi menghadiri program ini.

• Ahli Majlis Syura Ulama PAS
• Ahli Jawatankuasa PAS Pusat
• Ahli Jawatankuasa Dewan Ulama’ PAS Pusat
• Ahli Jawatankuasa Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat
• Ahli Jawatankuasa Dewan Muslimat PAS Pusat
• Ahli Jawatankuasa Lajnah Penerangan Dan Dakwah PAS Pusat
• Dewan Harian Badan Perhubungan PAS Negeri/ WP
• Setiausaha Lajnah Penerangan Badan Perhubungan PAS Negeri/WP
• Dewan Harian Dewan Ulama’/Pemuda/Muslimat PAS Negeri / WP
• Setiausaha Penerangan Dewan Ulama’/Pemuda/Muslimat PAS Negeri / WP
• Ahli Parlimen PAS
• Ahli Dewan Negara PAS
• Adun-Adun PAS
• Yang Dipertua PAS Kawasan
• Setiausaha PAS Kawasan
• Ketua Penerangan PAS Kawasan.
• Setiausaha Penerangan PAS Kawasan

Sehubungan dengan itu, PAS menyeru kepada semua pimpinan dan ahli agar tidak lagi mengulas atau menimbulkan spekulasi dan persepsi berhubung isu Kerajaan Perpaduan yang diangggap tidak berbangkit lagi. Sebarang isu yang timbul hendaklah dirujuk kepada pimpinan dan ahli dinasihatkan agar tidak lagi melayan atau menyebarkan sebarang maklumat yang tidak sahih kepada khalayak hingga menimbulkan persepsi yang negatif terhadap parti.

Firman Allah SWT:

“Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, apabila datang seorang fasiq kepada kamu membawa berita, periksalah ia terlebih dahulu. Agar nanti jangan kamu menghukum sesuatu kaum dalam keadaan jahil (terhadap apa yang benar), lantas kamu kemudiannya menyesal atas apa yang telah kamu lakukan” – (Surah Al-Hujurat 49 : 6)

Maka, sebarang aduan berhubung salah laku pimpinan dan ahli hendaklah dirujuk kepada Lembaga Disiplin Parti dan tidak perlu lagi disebarkan melalui ceramah, penulisan atau ulasan dalam akhbar, blog atau media lainnya hingga memberikan kesan buruk terhadap persepsi ahli dan rakyat keseluruhannya terhadap PAS.

PAS yakin bahawa setiap isu yang timbul dapat diselesaikan dengan baik melalui jalan musyawarah dan kita mempunyai tanzim yang terbaik dalam menghadapinya melalui panduan Al-Quran dan Sunnah.

Ustaz Idris Ahmad
Ketua Penerangan PAS Pusat

Concierto de NYC (2006).

El debate de la música en Internet

Cambio de rumbo y hábitos

Las actuaciones son el negocio para un grupo de música que ya cuenta con una experiencia discográfica y éxito, el cual ha sido cosechado por la venta de sus cd´s. En estos momentos, se han reducido en general debido a la llegada de Internet, la aparición de otros soportes y el intercambio de archivos por medio de las plataformas P2P, aunque también gracias a la opción de comprar sólo aquellos temas que realmente deseas guardar. Es una modalidad más selectiva. Por otro lado, la distribución en grandes almacenes ha caído unos cuantos enteros. La necesidad de los usuarios ha cambiado, ya que el nacimiento de las redes sociales, radios en la red, las propias páginas Web de los grupos y los foros de debate han creado un modelo basado en la inmediatez, donde escuchas el single de forma directa sin la necesidad de que éste sea descargado. Por ejemplo, la llegada de Chinese Democracy, el último álbum de Guns and Roses, propició la posibilidad, sin ser descargado, de escuchar de forma integra todos los temas en noviembre de 2008. Ha pasado un año, pero muchos han aprendido, como es el caso de Radiohead, ha utilizar Internet en su beneficio, que se traduce en la búsqueda de nuevas herramientas para orientar su propio marketing. La legislación, dependiendo del país, no es igual. Otro aspecto a tener en cuenta son los juicios iniciados debido a la descarga de archivos. El último de la serie ha sido el iniciado contra los creadores de The Pirate Bay, que ya tiene su propio merchandaising a la venta en su Web.

¿Quién no se ha descargado algo en la red sin el permiso de un artista, entidad o institución pública? Difícil saberlo. También es difícil comprobarlo. Pero hemos pasado de un Internet sólo para las descargas a una red donde prima el trabajo, la selección de contenidos, las lecturas de información o publicaciones de interés, o bien, divertimento en red con otros internautas cuando compartes en tiempo real un videojuego.

También las empresas han cambiado sus hábitos. Y la industria discográfica, que ha ido de víctima, ha puesto en los tribunales a todo aquél que ha buscado poner al servicio de la comunidad los temas y canciones de los artistas que sacaban al mercado nuevo material.

Y es lógico, que nadie lo duda. Ahora bien, en su momento, todo el mundo habló de pérdidas, tanto para las empresas como para el propio conjunto u artista. Sin embargo, se abrió otra forma de recuperar el dinero. Las actuaciones y conciertos, cada vez más caros debido a múltiples factores, han abierto la posibilidad de ver a tu banda favorita cada vez de forma más actual.

Por otro lado, las plataformas creadas en las redes sociales han sido un Boom. El ejemplo más evidente de relativo éxito fue cuando Guns and Roses, en noviembre de 2008, decidió sacar su esperado “Chinese Democracy”, el cual utilizó MySpace para llegar a todos los rincones del planeta vía Internet.

Nadie se descargó las canciones, pero éstas fueron escuchadas con antelación a la salida del álbum, por lo que tenías una idea previa de lo que te ibas a encontrar en la tienda de discos.

Pero las preguntas son necesarias: ¿A quién le ha beneficiado el nuevo modelo? ¿Es más rentable? ¿Se obtendrá un mayor beneficio reduciendo las ventas de discos en las tiendas especializadas a favor de vender las canciones en MP3 por medio de Internet? ¿Y en cuánto a la promoción? Está claro que las guerras sólo se pueden ganar cuerpo a cuerpo por mucha tecnología que una empresa maneje. A día de hoy, estamos ante un cambio en el uso y disfrute de la música, como en otros aspectos de la vida.

Antes, la compra de un disco, contaba con un ritual. Ibas a la tienda, comprabas el álbum, te sentabas en casa, seguías las letras de los temas y te bebías tu bebida preferida. Ahora, delante de un ordenador, es diferente. Quizás las generaciones más jóvenes acostumbradas a esta modificación se lo están pasando en grande. Ya veremos.

Fuente: Internet.

Imagen: Guns and Roses (Axl Rose and Sebastian Bach).

Imagen (2): http://www.sebastianbach.com/archives/axlbaz06.jpg (JPG). 

Fecha: 04 de noviembre de 2009.

-Para más información:

-FICOD 2009:

http://www.ficod2009.es/ficod/

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/ficod-2009-salta-a-escena/

-Guns and Roses:

http://web.gunsnroses.com/index.jsp

http://www.chinesedemocracy.com/

-The Pirate Bay:

http://thepiratebay.org/

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

Consultoría de Nuevas Tecnologías e Internet

http://www.jorgehierro.es

http://www.jorgehierro.com

http://www.jorgehierro.wordpress.com

http://www.jorgehierro.blogspot.com

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

La inversión de las empresas en el posicionamiento

 

Más allá de la página web

Internet ha cambiado las formas de promoción de las empresas, por lo que ya estamos hablando de otro tipo de Campañas de Publicidad. No es nuevo, pero dado que viene la Feria FICOD, que se celebrará los días 17, 18 y 19 de noviembre de 2009, analizaremos detenidamente las herramientas para las empresas. Por otro lado, ya no es cuestión de tener una página, sino de posicionarla no sólo en los buscadores, sino por medio de pequeñas promociones y actualizaciones y mantenimiento empleando las redes sociales, así como las herramientas de la Web 2.0, pero con el objetivo de dotar de textos y otros alicientes a un servicio o producto que lo precisa dado como está el panorama actual. Pero, el recurso de ir a los medios tradicionales, se agotará con el tiempo. No es sólo por el coste, el dinero de inversión, sino por la utilidad y visibilidad de esos anuncios, a pesar de las cifras de la OJD o el EGM. Por lo tanto, el bloque de invertir en redes sociales, buscar nuevas fórmulas de negocio en FICOD y ver cómo se posicionan los ponentes en este sentido va a resultar de mucho interés.

El sí de la radio a Internet no afecta a las personas que van en coche todas las mañanas a su trabajo, a las personas que cubren las rutas de transporte o a aquellas que van a hacer la compra al hipermercado. No obstante, en el futuro, los coches tendrán acceso a la red y podrán disponer de un monitor para estar conectados por medio de las distintas tecnologías y hacer uso de los avances para controlar determinados utensilios de sus casas, la temperatura del agua, o bien, el posicionamiento en grados del aire acondicionado, y no sólo hablamos de estos cambios y modificaciones desde el teléfono móvil (domótica).

Es decir, que el control va a estar relacionado con la conectividad del todo en uno, pero de forma muy breve (monitor – telefonía). Ahora bien, si esto será así, y no en estos momentos debido a la crisis en la que estamos, las inversiones de las empresas en materia de dar a conocer nuevos servicios y productos se consolida gracias a la explotación de otros canales de distribución en la red y utilizando a la televisión, la cual no puede seguir con el modelo actual de financiación.

Se habla de las redes como una forma de buscar apoyos y visitas a la empresa, pero en el fondo el valor añadido radica en la opción de hacer negocio tras negocio y conocer a los directivos que van a ser receptivos a la hora de escuchar lo que les tienes que decir.

El tema va por etapas, pero bien llevado es un posicionamiento que cala muy bien. Tiempo, esfuerzo, constancia, dar ingredientes a la herramienta y búsqueda de personas interesadas en abrir negocio son opciones a un golpe de clic que han revolucionado el sector de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC).

Es por ello, por lo que en la Feria Internacional de los Contenidos Digitales (FICOD) se debatirán estas cuestiones. Las tendencias, ya que en España no nos caracterizamos por ser lo suficientemente creadores, las marcan los países como Alemania, Estados Unidos, Canadá e Israel, que visto los Casos de Éxito presentados en el Circo Price en el evento desarrollado por la Red Innova, se ha sumado a una batalla donde la innovación, ciencia e investigación se consolidan como los nuevos baluartes de una economía que precisa de nuevos proyectos e ideas a futuro.

Fuente: Internet.

Imagen: Jorge Hierro Álvarez. 

Fecha: 03 de noviembre de 2009.

-Para más información:

-FICOD 2009:

http://www.ficod2009.es/ficod/

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/ficod-2009-salta-a-escena/

-Evento Red Innova:

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/un-debate-abierto-sobre-los-emprendedores-modelos-de-negocio-e-innovacion/

http://jorgehierro.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/se-llevara-a-cabo-los-dias-16-y-17-de-junio-de-2009/

Jorge Hierro Álvarez

Consultoría de Nuevas Tecnologías e Internet

http://www.jorgehierro.es

http://www.jorgehierro.com

http://www.jorgehierro.wordpress.com

http://www.jorgehierro.blogspot.com

The EGM recaps continue with issue #62, for September of 1994. Our cover story is, of all things, Primal Rage. I mean the game looked good, but it wasn’t that good.

Editorial: The internet… it’s spreading. Okay, that isn’t specifically the topic of the column this issue, which is from Steve Harris, returning to the editorial pages one more time. The topic this time is the response on internet message boards to the the editorial column from last issue, about the constant reiterations to Street Fighter being too excessive. To be specific, the internet fans defended Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and felt that the Game Boy game that recieved honors as the Game Of The Month last issue was unworthy. It goes to show that you can’t please everyone on the internet. That said, we don’t have the specific content of the posts, and since this is 1994, when internet use wasn’t as wide spread (and generally required dial-up), it’s likely that the posters used proper grammar, and didn’t resort to some of the more childish comments that you see on the internet these days (in part because you wouldn’t have had as many immature kids online in the US). Oh, and apparently Capcom did something in response to the reviews as well, which they’ll get into next month. Capcom USA didn’t blacklist them for failing to be appropriately deferential at the altar of Street Fighter, did they?

Letters: Our Letter Of The Months asks if Nintendo’s running out of creativity with their accessories, as opposed to the stuff Sega’s breaking out. It’s not that they’re running out of creativity, it’s that Nintendo’s playing more conservatively with the expensive accessories that they’re putting out for the system. They no longer can enforce the same draconian rules over what can come out for their system that they could in the 8-bit era. This is, in part, because they got sued over it, because the rules were monopolistic. They meant the Seal of Quality meant something, but the cost of that was, all things considered, too high. Anyway, because of those rules they imposed on publishers, particularly related to licencing and publishing fees, Nintendo could afford to take risks in peripherals. This is why we got ROB, and why we got the Zapper. The Zapper succeeded, and why the only thing that stemmed the tide of light gun games in the US, until the Wii came out, was Columbine and other tragic school shootings. That said, ROB and the Power Pad failed. Both couldn’t get the degree of 3rd party support needed for success. Ultimately, with the exception of the Zapper, most of the peripherals that succeeded were put out by 3rd parties. So, Nintendo let the 3rd parties do the peripheral innovation here – though ultimately this lead to a series of 3rd party variations on the standard NES controller. Sega, on the other hand, has put out multiple first party accessories, like the Activator. While the Activator, like the Power Glove, can in theory work with any game. Like the Power Glove it’s also very expensive, and like the Power Glove it doesn’t work very well. To take an aside, whatever Microsoft does with Natal, it needs to work better than the Activator.

Moving on to the other letters, we have a call for more RPGs for the Genesis, and thanks to the demise of the Turbo Duo (and TTI in general), Working Designs has moved from porting JRPGs for that system to the Genesis and Sega CD. That said, Nintendo’s still got the lead. However, this will be the last console generation where it will maintain that lead. There are also complaints about various console ports. We also get questions about the specificatiosn for other video game systems. There’s also a letter expressing disappointment about the lack of good ending in video games – with EGM editorial suggesting that maybe the era of the ending is coming to an end. This ultimately isn’t the case, it’s just a situation that some genres lead to better endings than others. We also get questions about when we’ll get the Saturn, and if we’ll still have 32X support when the Saturn comes out.

Review Crew: Once again, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Blackthorne (Interplay, SNES): This is Blizzard’s action platformer. The game gets 8s across the board, with particular praise given to the puzzle gameplay and being able to blow away prisoners after they give you information. Ohhhkay. Overall: 32/40 and the game receives the Editor’s Choice Gold Award and Game Of The Month.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Bandai, SNES): This is a semi-brawler based on the show. You have beat-em up stages where you play as the rangers, and then the boss fights against bad guys in Kaiju form in the Megazord are in a more Street Fighter style perspective. The Crew isn’t too impressed, with Ed and Sushi giving the game 7s, with Ed finding it too easy and feeling rushed. Danyon and Al give the game 6s, with Al in particular lamenting the lack of multi-player (which I find surprising as well – the Rangers fight as a team after all). Overall: 26/40.
• Death & Return of Superman (Sunsoft, SNES): The Death & Return of Superman arc from DC is over, and has been that way for a bit. Well, Sunsoft has their cash in game, in the form of a generic brawler. Ed gives it a 6 and everyone else gives it 5s, finding it again – ultimately generic (and, having played it, I also found it rather hard too). Overall: 21/40.
• Zero Tolerance (Accolade, Genesis): The genre they use to describe this is an RPG, but it looks like a First Person Shooter, and they compare it to Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. So, I checked Wikipedia, and indeed it is a FPS – one which allows you to link two Genesis units together for multi-player, which the Console ports of Doom couldn’t do. Take that! Anyway, Ed and Sushi love it, with Ed giving it a 9, and Sushi giving it an 8 for it’s appropriately bloody gameplay (in the traditions of Doom and Wolfenstein), along with the weapon selection. Danyon and Al give the game a 7 and 6 (respectively) for similar reasons, though Al doesn’t like the multi-player as much. Overall: 30/40.
• Super Street Fighter II (Capcom, Genesis): Well, the major releases are starting to get multi-platform now, and will probably stay that way for quite some time to come. Sushi gives it an 8, considering it a good Street Fighter game, though recommending waiting a bit until Turbo comes out. Al gives it a 7, finding still good, with the exception of the sound quality. Ed and Danyon give it 6s, due to Street Fighter burnout. Overall: 27/40.
• Taz in Escape from Mars (Sega, Genesis): Another Warner Brothers game. Sushi gives the game an 8 because the game captures the character of Taz and the other Looney Toons which appear. Danyon and Ed also like it and give it 7s, though they’re not too fond of the game’s audio. Al gives it an 6 though, finding it a generic platfomer. Overall: 28/40.
• Battlecorps (Core, Sega CD): Minor misprint here, as they list this game as being for the 3DO except for the Sega CD. Fortunately, they mention the system it was released for in the notes, so it’s not as big a deal. Anyway, this is a first-person mech action game. Ed loves the game and gives it an 8 for good (though pixelated) graphics, and audio. Everyone else isn’t as fond, and disagree with just about every point Ed said about the game – except the pixelated graphics, with Danyon and Sushi giving the game 6s, and Al giving the game a 5. Overall: 25/40.
• Way of the Warrior (Universal Interactive, 3DO): This fighting game is universally panned for horrible, crippling controls – though it looks good. The game gets a 5 from Ed, 3s from Al and Sushi, and a 4 from Danyon. Overall: 15/40.
• Dynamite Heady (Sega, Game Gear): Treasure’s platformer gets ported to handhelds, and depending on which member of the crew you ask, it’s a good port. Ed and Sushi give the game a 9 and an 8, respectively. Danyon gives it a 7, as while it looks and plays great, the Game Gear isn’t known for its sound quality. Al gives it a 6, feeling that the game lost a lot in the translation. Overall: 30/40.
• Yogi Bear (Gametek, Game Boy): I guess it’s reasonable to expect Hanna Barbera to try to cash in on the success Warner Bros. has done with the games licensed off of their animated characters. That said, this game doesn’t do as well – unless you ask Ed. He gives it an 8 and he loves it. As with Battlecorps, the rest of the crew is left wondering what game Ed was playing, with Al giving the game a 3, Danyon giving it a 5, for monotonous gameplay and a lack of originality, and Sushi giving the game a 6, for having flair, but not good gameplay. Overall: 22/40.

Gaming Gossip: I’m going to somewhat skip the list format this week. Sega’s doing really well in the Japanese arcades, particularly with Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, and Virtua Fighter. I’m a little surprised about Daytona USA myself, because I wouldn’t think NASCAR games of any stripe would do well outside the US. Speaking of Sega, while the 32X and the Saturn both have Hitachi chips, the differences in the hardware are enough that the 32X carts won’t work on the Saturn. Now, Sega’s promised that they would be cross compatible, so Q-Mann speculates that Sega’s going to either have to push back the Saturn to figure out a solution, or put out another add-on module for the Saturn. Ultimately, they do neither and just kick the 32X to the curb.

Press Start: 3DO is getting a 64-bit version. Also, SNK is working on a Neo-Geo CD unit, and 3DO is getting a version of Star Control with polygonal graphics (this actually never comes out).

The world's first look at the King of Fighters series.

Arcade Action: We have a look at Sega’s arcade flight sim, Wing War. We also get an ad for King of Fighters ‘94. Oh, and Capcom has Darkstalkers, and SNK as the shump Aero Fighters.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Breath of Fire 2 from Capcom. Nihon Falcom has a new Dragon Slayer game, There’s also the fire-fighting Ikari Warriors style shump The Firemen. There’s also Osu! Karate Club, based on a Shonen Jump manga which wasn’t brought to the US.

Next Wave: Hudson has a new ninja action game in Hagane. Ocean has Jurassic Park II, which pre-dates The Lost World novel and film – but the plot of the game is similar to that of the second movie. I’m not going to claim that Crichton borrowed from the game, particularly since there isn’t anyway for me to ask him now that he’s dead. Tengen finally has a game for the SNES in Super RBI Baseball. Contra: The Alien Wars is coming out for the Game Boy as well. There are also Game Gear and Game Boy Power Ranger games. We’ve also got a new X-Men game for the Game Gear with The Gamemaster’s Legacy, based on the Legacy Virus arc. Colossus is not appearing in the game, so I don’t know if he’ll still get killed off. Anyway, Saturday Night Slam Masters is getting a Genesis port.

Feature Preview – Super Return of the Jedi: We get notes on several of the games levels, including the levels on the Death Star 2.

Feature Preview – Primal Rage: We have a preview of this pretty lame (in my opinion) fighting game, featuring stop-motion characters. We get descriptions of most of the characters and their fighting styles.

Team EGM: More coverage of sports games, but not much stands out. The stuff that caught my attention was ESPN Sunday Night NFL and ESPN National Hockey Night from Sony Imagesoft, and the bike racing game Cannondale Cup from ASC. Atlus also has GP-1RS, a motorcycle racing game. All of those are for the Super NES.

SNES Coverage: Capcom has another Disney platformer in The Great Circus Mystery, featuring Mickey & Minnie. There’s also a Beavis & Butthead game. There’s also Pac-Man 2, which misses the point about what makes Pac-Man good. Accolade has also put out Bubsy II (rather quickly in my opinion). Jaleco is putting out R-Type III and Electrobrain has a shooter that uses the Super FX chip in Vortex. Accolade has the platformer Fire Team Rogue, and Kemco has the brawler Stone Protectors, based on an animated series I’d never heard of. More importantly, Civilization is getting ported to the SNES as well. Taito has the first person action game Operation Thunderbolt.

Genesis Coverage: We have a preview of the Sonic & Knuckles add-on cartridge. There’s also Sparkster, the sequel to Rocket Knight. We’ve also got Earthworm Jim from Shiny. Sony’s got a licensed Disney game of their own with Mickey Mania, which bases itself on several old Mickey Mouse cartoons, including Steamboat Willy. Time Warner has a combination helicopter shump and Ikari Warriors style top-down shump with Red Zone. Atlus has home port of the arcade fighting game Power Instinct. American Sammy is also (finally) porting their isometric shump Viewpoint as well (it had previously been released for the Neo-Geo).

Sega CD Coverage: SSI’s first person AD&D RPG, Eye of the Beholder, has been ported to home systems. I have to admit that I never really was able to get past level 3 of the dungeon, because I couldn’t find the exit down. It sounds like the game also supports a mouse, though I don’t have any recollection of a mouse peripheral being brought out for the Genesis. The SNES, yes, but not the Genesis.

3DO Coverage: Star Control II has also gotten a port to the 3DO – though I wonder how well it will control with a D-Pad instead of a mouse and keyboard (or just a keyboard). Even more significantly, the first survival horror game, Alone in the Dark has come to the consoles for the first time. Good Old Games should totally get this, and if they did, I’d totally try to beat it by next Halloween so I could have a review ready. Anyway, the EGM staff isn’t too impressed with the lag in the controls during combat in the game. There are also screen shots of Gex and the Demolition Man licenced game (which is a on-rails shooter, but without light-gun or mouse support.

CD-I Coverage: We get a look at the puzzle game Dimo’s Quest, and a Jeopardy game, with actual video footage of Alec Trebeck.

GameBoy Coverage: We’ve got another Hanna Barbera licensed game in Yogi Bear’s Gold Rush. There’s also Blues Brothers Jukebox Adventures which has precisely nothing to do with the movie aside from the two main characters.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a look at Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, which features not only Sonic and Tails but also Knuckles (hense the “Triple Trouble” subtitle). Oh, and there’s also a Beavis & Butthead game. It’s also got a flight sim in F-15 Strike Eagle II.

Lifestyles: Spectrum Holobyte is working on a new Star Trek: The Next Generation game, the Phone Card has been introduced. We also get a last minute update code with the instructions to play as Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

That wraps up this issue of EGM. Tomorrow I’ll have an issue of Nintendo Power. Before this raps up, I’ve got just one more thing for you. At present, I’m unemployed. I’ve been collecting unemployment while looking for work and working on this blog (and hoping I get sales from Amazon.com referrals). That said, if I do get a full time job, I won’t have time to continue working on this at the same rate I have before. That said I will keep blogging, but the pace will not be the same. However, I will try to continue my movie reviews, my EGM recaps, my Nintendo Power recaps, and (hopefully), my Quality Control columns. GamePro may be kicked to the curb, but to be honest, I wasn’t too fond of the GamePro recaps anyway.

Oleh: Suhaimi Al-Maniri

Tidak semena-semena Mursyidul Am PAS, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat yang juga Pesuruhjaya PAS Kelantan merangkap Menteri Besar Kelantan melemparkan bom jangka dengan meminta PAS Pusat mengadakan Muktamar Khas untuk  menggantikan pemimpin yang tidak disukainya dengan mengikut kaedah yang dilakukan oleh MCA baru-baru ini.

Mursyidul Am PAS yang juga Menteri Besar Kelantan Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, mencadangkan dalam blognya www.bloktokguru.com supaya mesyuarat agung luar biasa (EGM) diadakan bagi menukar ‘dua tiga kerat‘ pemimpin parti itu yang bermasalah.
 
Tiga pemimpin yang dinamakan dalam blognya itu ialah Timbalan Presiden Nasharuddin Mat Isa, Setiausaha Agung Datuk Mustafa Ali dan Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor Datuk Dr Hassan Ali.

Seorang lagi Menteri Besar PAS, Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak yang juga Pesuruhjaya PAS Kedah berpendirian bahawa EGM tidak perlu buat masa ini, dan yang perlu diadakan hanyalah mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Pusat. Beliau juga dilaporkan berkata, proses penggantian boleh diputuskan dalam mesyuarat jawatankuasa pusat sahaja seperti yang termaktub dalam perlembagaan parti. 

Malah tidak pernah berlaku dalam sejarah parti PAS sebelum ini, Muktamar Khas diadakan untuk memecat pemimpin parti. Kemelut dalaman yang sedang dihadapi PAS perlu diselesaikan secara musyawarah dan bukannya menerusi penggunaan media massa dan media baru, kata Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Manakala Ketua Dewan Ulamak, Datuk Harun Taib yang juga Pesuruhjaya PAS Terengganu pula berkata parti hanya akan mengadakan EGM untuk meminda perlembagaan parti dan bukan untuk ‘mengubat parti‘ yang dikatakan sedang berdepan masalah.

Sementara itu, Naib Presiden PAS, Salahuddin Ayub, berkata soal mengadakan EGM tidak lagi berbangkit, sebaliknya dalam pertemuan dengan Nik Aziz di Kota Bharu kelmarin, Menteri Besar Kelantan itu mahu beliau mengemukakan satu isu dalam mesyuarat khas yang akan diadakan dalam masa terdekat.

Tindakan Mursyidul Am PAS kebelakangan  ini jelas memeningkan ramai pemerhati politik dan juga ahli PAS sendiri bila beliau menganggap Muktamar Khas (EGM) dengan Mesyuarat Khas PAS Pusat itu sama sahaja, ia dapat dijadikan platform untuk menyampaikan hasratnya kepada kepimpinan parti.

Ketua Penerangan PAS, Idris Ahmad dalam kenyataan lima perenggan dalam blognya, pula berkata mesyuarat Majlis Syura dan Jawatankuasa PAS Pusat yang bakal diadakan dalam tempoh terdekat akan menilai sama ada wujud keperluan bagi mengadakan EGM atau sebaliknya.

“PAS amat menggalakkan perbincangan dan menghargai setiap pandangan atau kritikan. tetapi pada waktu ini setiap pimpinan diminta membincangkan perkara ini secara dalaman dan tidak menggunakan media termasuk blog dan Facebook yang boleh mendatangkan banyak persepsi negatif serta membuka ruang untuk media luar memutarbelitkan isu ini.

Sementara itu, Ketua Dewan Pemuda PAS, Nasruddin Hassan, berkata masalah dalaman parti perlu diselesaikan di peringkat dalaman, bukannya membincangkannya secara terbuka seperti mengadakan EGM. 

Katanya, perbincangan secara terbuka atau EGM bertentangan dengan prinsip parti, apatah lagi kemelut yang melanda parti bukanlah isu besar yang perlu dihebohkan sehingga boleh menimbulkan kerisauan ahli Pas.

Setiausaha Agung PAS, Datuk Mustafa Ali berkata Mesyuarat Khas Jawatankuasa PAS Pusat Rabu 28hb. Oktober, 2009 akan membincangkan cadangan yang diminta oleh Menteri Besar Kelantan yang juga Mursyidul Am PAS, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat agar diadakan satu mesyuarat agung luar biasa. Nik Aziz akan hadir sebagai Pesuruhjaya Kelantan dan jemputan khas bagi membolehkan beliau memberi penjelasan kepada ahli mesyuarat berhubung cadangan beliau dalam blognya agar diadakan satu muktamar agung khas.

19 tahun Nik Aziz memerintah Kelantan

Sepanjang pentadbiran Kerajaan PAS Kelantan selama 19 tahun di bawah kepimpinan Dato’ Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat berbagai kejayaan telah dicapai. Kejayaan paling besar adalah tidak ada satu pun kes yang melibatkan wakil rakyat, Exco dan Menteri Besar yang disiasat kerana rasuah. Perkara itu dinyatakan oleh Exco Kelantan, Dato’ Mohd Amar Abdullah dalam jawapan Drs Zainudin Awang Hamat (Adun Limbungan) dalam sesi soal jawab dalam sidang Dun Kelantan baru-baru ini.

Kejayaan Nik Aziz bertahan selama 5 penggal (sejak tahun 1990 hingga sekarang) menerajui kerajaan merupakan satu rekod luar biasa bukan sahaja kepada PAS tetapi beliau sendiri berbanding dengan kerajaan PAS sebelum ini (1959-1978) selama 18 tahun sebelum ditumbangkan oleh UMNO/BN secara tidak demokratik.

Rekod dan kepimpinan kerajaan PAS Kelantan wajar menjadi ikutan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di negeri lain dengan sentiasa mengambil berat dan mengutamakan rakyat. Ini merupakan contoh kepimpinan yang berteraskan lunas-lunas Islam yang mengutamakan amanah dan tanggungjawab kepada rakyat

Artikel ini diterbitkan untuk Akhbar Siasah

Cadangan EGM Nik Aziz ditolak

Mesyuarat Khas Jawatankuasa Pusat PAS yang berlangsung selama kira-kira empat jam malam tadi memutuskan untuk tidak mengadakan Mesyuarat Luar Biasa (EGM) seperti yang dicadangkan oleh Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.
Sebaliknya satu program seminar politik disertai oleh perwakilan parti itu dari seluruh negara bagi membincangkan isu-isu memperkasakan parti akan diadakan di Markas PAS Taman Melewar pada 7 November ini.

“Keputusan ini dicapai sebulat suara setelah mengambil kira pandangan Mursyidul Am, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat yang mahu mengadakan sesuatu untuk mengumpulkan akar umbi,” Presiden parti, Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang dalam sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat khas di ibupejabat parti itu di Jalan Raja Laut Kuala Lumpur.

Hadi berkata mesyuarat berkenaan turut membincangkan mengenai hala tuju parti itu selepas Pilihanraya Kecil Bagan Pinang. Hadi mengumumkan mesyuarat khas itu juga mencapai kata sepakat bahawa PAS akan menjalankan peranan lebih aktif untuk mengukuhkan Pakatan Rakyat. Katanya, mesyuarat juga memutuskan supaya isu kerajaan perpaduan ditutup dan tidak dibincangkan lagi. 

 Nik Aziz turut hadir dalam mesyuarat berkenaan, tetapi pulang lebih awal, pada kira-kira 11 malam. Mesyuarat yang bermula jam 9 malam itu berakhir seitar jam 1 pagi. – 29/10/09.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) – A spate of quarterly profits from some big American banks will dominate financial markets, especially shares, this week around the world.

The results will be released as the flow of US third quarter earnings picks up.

General Electric, IBM and Intel will be other majors to report and influence investor confidence, especially in the US.

A ‘quiet’ week in Australia after the fireworks of last week with the rate rise, the good jobless figures, the rise in markets (especially gold) and the general belief that Australia has really escaped the crunch.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan speaks tonight to the Australian Business Economists and will no doubt face myriad questions about the stimulus, whether it should be withdrawn or should be maintained.

But the major interest will be in a speech in Perth on Thursday morning from RBA Governor, Glenn Stevens.

It will be his first appearance in public since the rate rise decision last Tuesday.

The speech will be before the release of the board meeting’s minutes six days later, so his comments will have much greater importance for markets.

October’s consumer sentiment is due Wednesday from Westpac and The Melbourne Institute and will be of particular interest as to whether there has been a negative response to the interest rate rise. 

The Morgan polling group’s weekly consumer confidence survey has shown a steady rise and Friday showed the highest level since early 2005.

The NAB’s monthly report on business confidence and conditions is due out tomorrow.

It has also shown a sharp rise in confidence levels among businesses in recent months.

There only statistics is Lending Finance for August from the Australian Bureau of Statistics midweek.

The Bank of Queensland is due to report its 2009 full year result later in the week, the first of the September 30 balancing banks to do so.

Rio Tinto produces its third quarter production review midweek, as does Iluka.

More annual meetings this week as well including Ansell, CSL, Transfield Services, JB Hi-Fi, The Reject Shop, Elders (EGM), Downer EDI and the News Corp meeting in New York Friday night, our time.

America’s September retail sales and industrial production will be released this week and will help us understand just where the economy is and whether it is finally emerging from recession.

There has been some doubt on the US economy given the disappointing September car sales and payroll data last week, but some retailing figures from individual groups Friday showed a bigger than forecast rise.

October’s Reuters/Michigan survey of consumer confidence will be an important barometer.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve’s (FOMC) policy meeting on September 23 are out midweek as well and will be examined to see if there’s any more elaboration on the comment in the post meeting statement that ”economic activity has picked up” and implied that the US recession had ended.

Consumer Price Inflation figures are out this week for the US as well.

It is expected to show Inflation rose only 0.2% in September and remains very subdued. Business inventories will also be released.

20% of the 30 stocks in the Dow will report third-quarter results this week as the reporting season picks up steam.

US stock markets will be open Monday, though government offices will close for the Columbus Day holiday.

Two tech giants are among the companies posting third-quarter results: IBM (Thursday) and Intel (same day).

US analysts expect higher figures from IBM, lower earnings from Intel, but the latter’s comments on the chip market will have a big impact on confidence, especially in the tech sector, which remains stronger than the wider market.

Major banks JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest US bank by market capitalization, and investment bank Goldman Sachs are expected to post profits.

Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., the second and 4th largest US banks respectively, are expected to post losses.

The comparisons will be with tough third quarters a year ago: better comparisons may be with the first and second quarters of this year to see if growth levels are being maintained.

Consumer bad debts in housing mortgages and credit cards plus corporate loans will be the areas to watch for any damage emerging at rates faster than previously talked about.

JPMorgan reports Wednesday, Goldman, Bank of America reports Friday and Citigroup a day earlier.

Health-care products giant Johnson & Johnson is expected to report moderately lower earnings Tuesday.

Healthcare has been a big employer during the crunch, but results have been mixed. Export sales will be hurt as well by the continuing downturn, although the weaker dollar may provide some relief.

General Electric Co. reports Friday, two weeks after confirming talks are under way to merge its NBC Universal media unit with Comcast Corp.

But investors will be closely scrutinizing GE’s comments on its industrial businesses for indications the economy is on the mend. GE is expected to report earnings down more than 50% from 2008.

The US Senate Finance Committee will vote Tuesday on a $US829 billion health-care bill, after months of efforts to gain consensus on the massive overhaul. A positive vote will see it go to the full Senate.

A high-profile trial involving two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers is scheduled to begin Tuesday in New York.

The funds collapsed in the summer of 2007, costing investors roughly $US 1.4 billion, and Bear Stearns was rescued and sold to JP Morgan in March of last year. The trial will see a lot of talk about the early weeks of the crunch.

In Europe earnings reports from Royal Philips Electronics and Nokia.

The UK consumer price index for September tomorrow night and Germany’s ZEW Center for European Economic Research will publish its index of investor and analyst expectations on the same day.

Source: DIARY: A Week Of Earnings From the US

Persoalan dari Farish A.Noor yang juga menjadi persoalan ramai di luar sama. Yang mana PAS sebenar ?

PAs yang di pimpin oleh ‘moderate progressives’ seperti Husam Musa, Khalid Samad, Hatta Ramli, Dzulkefly Ahmad? Atau PAS di bawah ‘conservatives’ seperti Mustafa Ali, Hassan Ali, Nashruddin Mat Isa dan seumpamanya ?

Justeru , Nik Aziz menyeru untuk di adakan EGM , untuk memperjelaskan haluan.

Persoalan lain , adakah PAS Terengganu = PAS Pusat ?

By Farish A. Noor*

It has been observed by some that during the recent Eidul Fitri open house held by PAS, the number of non-Malays and non-Muslims who attended the gathering could be counted ‘on one hand’. That this deplorable turn-out has been lamented by some supporters of PAS is understandable, considering the fact that PAS has made many attempts to reach out to the non-Malay and non-Muslim voters of the country as part of its campaign to re-design itself as an Islamic party that is open to all (PAS Untuk Semua–PAS for All).

Yet as it is with the case of the cosmetic shake-ups we have seen recently in UMNO, the same can be said of PAS and its commitment to multiculturalism in Malaysia. Malaysians of all walks of life and ethno-religious backgrounds are now asking the same question: Which is the real PAS? The PAS that is represented by the moderate progressives made up of the likes of Husam Musa, Khalid Samad, Hatta Ramli, Dzulkefly Ahmad? Or the PAS that is led by conservatives like Mustafa Ali, Hassan Ali, Nashruddin Mat Isa and the like?

Judging by the PAS general assembly elections earlier this year, it would seem that the moderates in PAS have been effectively marginalised within their own party. Coming after five years of ineffective rule under the ineffectual leadership of former Prime Minister Badawi, Malaysia has reached a point where inter-religious and inter-communal dialogue, respect and accomodation is needed more than ever. Half a decade of Badawi’s leadership has dished us a sordid serving of ethno-nationalist discourse accompanied by the waving of kerises in public, an overheated public domain wracked with communal distrust, an agitated public where minority concerns are being articulated as never before and an overall lack of faith in the political leadership in the country.

In the midst of all this, we need to remember that the election results of March 8,2008 were a resounding rejection of the misguided politics of the Badawi era, and a call for change and consistency. PAS hopped on the same Pakatan Rakyat bandwagon with the promise of reform and democratisation, and it was on that basis that it received the support of the non-Muslims of the country. For the umpteenth time, we repeat this claim: The vote swing in 2008 was NOT an endorsement of an Islamic state to be slipped in through the back door.

Yet over the past one and a half years, what have we seen? Hasan Ali’s unilateralism in Selangor has cost PAS the goodwill and trust it took the party years to cultivate, and his deafening silence over issues such as the death of Beng Hock and SELCAT lent the impression that the leaders of the Islamic party are more concerned about the sale of beer, courting couples and the bottom of Ms Beyonce Knowles than the political future of the country. Furthermore some – though not all – of PAS’s leaders have also remained mum over recent controversies such as the ‘cow head’ protest in Selangor; and the treatment of minority groups such as the Ahmadis in Selangor as well. So in the midst of all this, it is hardly surprising if the Malaysian public is now asking: ‘will the real PAS please stand up?’

PAS should remember that in the current climate of Malaysian politics where the UMNO-led Federal government is attempting a serious overhaul of its political praxis and discourse, it too needs to change and reform with the times we live in. Gone are the days where empty Islamic rhetoric and promises of paradise will win PAS votes. Moreover, PAS today has to live and work in a Malaysian society where the Malaysian electorate are more connected, clued-up and informed than ever before thanks to better communications and information technology.

One is reminded of the rumblings and grumblings in PAS in the early 2000s, when some of the more hot-headed members of the party were seen complaining about the non-Muslims and non-Malays of the country following the elections of 1999. In his book UMNO Tidak Relevan (2000), the PAS writer Hussein Yaakub then wrote:

“Keadaan ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa orang Cina tidak mempunyai pendirian tetap dalam politik dan mereka boleh ditarik ke sana ke mari oleh pemimpin-pemimpin dalam masyarakat Cina yang ada kepentingan peribadi di negara ini. Benarlah apa yang dikatakan oleh ahli perniagaan Cina bahawa masyarakat Tionghua lebih mementingkan keamanan dan perniagaan daripada segala-galanya. Ini bererti, orang-orang Cina memikirkan soal wang, cari makan dan kekayaan sahaja tampa memikirkan soal moral, maruah dan keadilan.” (pg. 120)

In the same book, Hussein Yaakub also registered the derogatory comments made by other PAS leaders immediately before and after the 1999 election. One leader, Haji Malik Yusof (PAS state assemblyman for Tahan, Pahang), stated: ‘Saya melihat orang Cina tidaklah begitu terikat dengan kepartian sangat. Mereka hanya hendak aman dan boleh berniaga.’ (pg. 121) Few of these PAS leaders appeared to have considered the negative effects of their own comments, and the consequences on Malay–Chinese and Muslim–non-Muslim relations in the country.

PAS today has to realise that it cannot have its cake and eat it. PAS may want to entertain its aspirations to be a national party, but to be a national party means living with the realities of multiculturalism in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. No, a substantial section of the Malaysian public does not want to see public executions, floggings and amputations in public: We are more concerned about good governance and transparency and the rule of law instead. If and when PAS forgets this, and starts going on its holier-than-thou moral bandwagon, it will invariably lose the support of many of us. And before PAS starts sulking in the corner, PAS’s leaders need to remember: It was not the Malaysian electorate that abandoned PAS, but PAS that abandoned us

Okay, our EGM recaps continue with issue number 61 for August of 1994. Our cover story is Super Return of the Jedi, and this issue weighs in at 181 pages in length. Well, then, let’s get started.

Editorial: Our Editorial this issue is from Ed Semrad, and covers the latest incarnation of Street Fighter II. The general consensus is that in the EGM offices the thrill is gone out of the relationship with Street Fighter II. Nobody’s playing it in the EGM offices anymore. To be fair, there aren’t particularly any new characters in the game, the stages are pretty much the same, and the moves are pretty much the same. All in all, they don’t think it’s worth the $70-80 it would cost (in 1994 dollars) to get this game new, and for future reviews, they will be taking into account re-releases of the same content with a fresh coat of paint – like with the Street Fighter II re-releases.

Letters: Once again, in the letters column, we have the question being asked that is on the hearts and minds of gamers across the country – “Which console is better?” Of course, if they give a straight answer to that question, they’ll then get the response of “You’re biased towards that console!” so they don’t give a straight answer. We also get questions about promoting your Fanzine (contact other Fanzines or use their Fanzine central column in EGM^2). Speaking of which – we then get complaints about their review scores. We also get questions about the blood in Mortal Kombat II for the SNES (yes, there will be blood – because Sega’s rating system has won, and Nintendo is going along with it for fear of government intervention). We also get complaints about Nintendo censoring their games, and some jingoistic “Made in the USA” crap about Jaguar games.

Review Crew: Ed, Danyon, Al, and Sushi are still on the crew. Mike Wiegand is still doing sidebar reviews but I’m not getting into those because we don’t have the same amount of information behind the reviews.

• Donkey Kong (Nintendo, Game Boy): This is just a port of the original Donkey Kong arcade game. Ed gives it a 9, finding it a solid port, though it really shines on the Super Game Boy, and the rest of the crew gives it 8s for similar reasons. Overall: 33/40 and it gets the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Super Street Fighter II (Capcom, SNES): Sushi gives the game an 8, finding it the best fighting game out to date, but he’s really looking for something new. Danyon and Al give the game 7s, also finding it fun, but really wanting a more significant change – you know, like Street Fighter III. Ed’s Street Fightered-out (as you saw from the editorial) and gives it a 6. Overall: 28/40.
• Super Godzilla (Toho, SNES): Ed and Sushi give this game 7s, as they’re fans of the movies, though they find the games slow and lumbering (like certain rubber monsters). Danyon and Al give the game 5s for its pacing (but, from the sounds of things they’re not fans of the movies either). Overall: 24/40.
• Battletech (Extreme, Genesis): Rather than taking a 1st-person action take like with the Mechwarrior games, this one has more of a 3rd-person action take like the Desert/Jungle/Urban Strike games. Ed gives the game a 9, finding it a good adaptation of the miniatures game to consoles (though he doesn’t like that you don’t get to choose your Mech), while Danyon and Sushi give it 7s, and find it fun (though not for everyone). Al, on the other hand, gave it a 6, finding it dull, boring, and tedious. Overall: 29/40.
• Brutal (GameTek, Sega CD): Ed gives this furry fighting game an 8, as he enjoyed the game’s story and graphics, but not so much the gameplay. Danyon, Al, and Sushi aren’t as forgiving, with Danyon and Sushi giving it 6s, and Al gives it a 5, as they don’t find that the story carries the game that well. Overall: 25/40.
• Top Hunter (SNK, Neo-Geo): This game, from the one one screen shot, looks a lot like Metal Slug to me. Ed and Sushi give the game 8s, as they really like the graphics, sound and control in the game. Al and Danyon give it 6s though, as they don’t feel that the amount of time and skill it takes to beat the game makes it worth a purchase. Overall: 28/40.
• Shock Wave (Electronic Arts, 3DO): This is a sci-fi shooter. Ed and Danyon give it an 9 and 8, resepectively, finding it a solid shooter, while Al and Sushi give it 7s due to the very sensative controls. Overall: 31/40.
• Microcosm (Psygnosis, 3DO): This game gets panned heavily, getting 4s across the board for a boring plot and boring graphics. Overall: 16/40.
• Dragon’s Lair (Phillips, CD-I): The general consensus that this is the best prot of Dragon’s Lair on the market at this time. The game gets 8s from Ed and Danyon, and 7s from Al & Sushi. Overall: 30/40.
• Sonic Spinball (Sega, Game Gear): The crew does not find this to be a good port in the slightest. Danyon gives it a 5, everyone else gives it 4s. Overall: 17/40.

Gaming Gossip:

1. CES is transitioning to a more big-content focused setup. Hit! Sort of. Anymore, the game coverage at CES is minimal, having been supplanted by E3, with more gadgets taking over.
2. StarFox 2 is coming out next year! Miss No, it doesn’t. The game is canceled in favor of Starfox 64.

The verdict – Not a lot of rumors this time, with instead a lot more announcement parroting, or observations (such as Atari’s game demos being very, very buggy) – 1 out of 2.

Press Start: We have more info on the Sega Saturn, including it’s upcoming games, and a 6-button arcade stick for the system, and games based on the anime series Blue Seed and Magic Knight Rayearth. We also get more tech demos of the Playstation, and some of the upcoming games for the Sega 32X, including Star Wars Arcade. We also have a look at the Neo-Geo CD-Rom unit.

Arcade Action Atari’s got Primal Rage, Sega’s Virtua Cop, and Data East has Joe & Mac Returns.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Spacenauts (which is later re-titled Policenauts), which is Hideo Kojima’s latest game – which unfortunately doesn’t get a US release. There’s also Ristar (which does), Super Parodious, The Firemen (which does to The Towering Inferno what SOS did for The Posideon Adventure). There’s also a Yu Yu Hakusho fighting game. There’s also an in-depth preview of Feda: The Emblem of Justice, which I believe is a Fire Emblem game. Unfortunately, the preview is missing a chunk because the other side of the page had a mailer for something, which a previous owner of this magazine cut out. Bugger.

Feature – Super Return of the Jedi: We get screen shots of many of the stages in the game.

Feature – Donkey Kong Country: We also get some screen shots of Rare’s first game to be published by Nintendo, instead of Tradewest.

Team EGM: Apparently this is a sports game focused insert – and apparently there was one last issue but I didn’t have it in my copy. We get discussion of various upcoming games, but nothing more in-depth than a paragraph about most of them. We do get some more in-depth stuff on Stunt Race FX from Nintendo, Tecmo Super Baseball, Troy Aikman Football from Williams for the SNES, as well as a port of Rock & Roll Racing for the Genesis. Sega has the collegate spinoff of Joe Montana Football titled College Sports National Championship (I take it they couldn’t get the rights to use the BCS trademark). The Jaguar also has Redline Racing and Brutal Sports Football. The Game Gear has World Series Baseball.

SNES Coverage: Moving away from the sports games, we have a preview of Blizzard’s new action game Blackthorne, a Sci-Fi fantasy game with a very 90s badass hero, which they found easy to get lost in. There’s also another Ren & Stimpy Show game which is apparently new enough that they didn’t want to pass judgement. We also have the first version of Starfleet Academy for consoles – and while they liked being able to command a starship, the game’s got a way to go – when you’re controlling Romulan and Klingon ships, you can’t cloak – and the AI needs work. We’ve also got more screen shots of Super Godzilla. We have a look at Enix’s new RPG Brain Lord.

Genesis Coverage: We have a look at Dynamite Heady from Treasure, which they like. There’s Escape from Mars, featuring the Tazmanian Devil, which apparently has some difficulty problems with the level 2 boss. There’s also Boogerman from Interplay, taking it’s influence from the mid-90s gross-out cartoon characters, instead of the edgy mascot video game characters like Sonic.

Sega CD Coverage: We now have an behind-the-back shump in Soul Star from Core Design.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have more screen shots of Top Hunter – and it definitely looks like a precursor of Metal Slug but without the military theme, and with more attack variety, and less gore.

3DO Coverage: We have a preview of Microcosm from Psygnosis, which is basically a shooter based on Innerspace.

CD-I Coverage: The CD-I is finally getting a port of Dragon’s Lair.

Game Boy Coverage: We have a preview of Mega Man V, which they react to favorably.

Game Gear Coverage: Dynamite Heady is also getting a Game Gear version, and we’re getting a Shining Force gaiden game as well, titled Shining Force 2: The Sword of Haija (though the person writing the preview isn’t too fond of the game’s Super Deformed character designs).

Fall 1994 Preview + CES Coverage: We get a list of 100 titles that are set to come out in Fall of 1994. I’m not going to give the whole list, as we’ll get to them in time. We do, though, get our first look at Rare’s fighting game Killer Instinct, and Cruisin’ USA for the Project Reality/N64.

Lifestyles: The Toranto Raptors have a dinosaur for their logo! Apparently that’s a big deal in 1994. Simon & Schuster Interactive has the interactive CD-ROM Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual – I own the first edition of the print version, which is very well worn, as I read the crap out of it and Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise when I was a kid. We get a discussion about the lack of recent comic movies (wait until the 21st century – it’s worth it), as well as a look at Ahnuld’s (then) upcoming action film “True Lies”.

Alright, tomorrow I’ll have another Nintendo Power issue – the first issue of NP without Howard Phillips. How will the magazine fare without him? Will Nester be able to cope on his own. Find out tomorrow!

Maaf jika lama tidak membuat ‘update’ di dalam blog ini. Tujuannya hanya satu, dalam kemelut yang melanda parti PAS sekarang ini – blog ini tidak mahu membuat terjahan sikap yang tidak tepat dan tidak betul. Tinjauan kena jauh ke bawah. Pemerhatian mesti menyeluruh. Kena jumpa seramai mungkin ahli parti. Kena perhati sebarang isu yang berlaku dengan hati yang terbuka dan tenang. Blog ini tidak mahu berada memihak di dalam kemelut yang melanda Haji Hadi dan Nik Aziz. Mungkin dalam keadaan marah, Nik Aziz telah membangkitkan cadangan kemungkinan di adakan EGM untuk menyelesaikan kemelut di dalam PAS.

Apa perlunya EGM ini? Sedang kita baru sahaja menyelesaikan Muktamar tidak beberapa lama pun lagi. Pemimpin sudah dipilih. Dipilih dengan suara yang yang ramai. Dipilih secara demokratik. Haji Hadi sendiri pun dipilih secara ’sebulat suara’. Tidak ada tentangan yang bermakna. Dalam parti MCA, situasinya lain. Ada yang tak sedap hati antara Presiden dan Timbalan Presiden. Dalam PAS, Presiden dan Timbalan Presiden ’satu papan’ kata orang politik. Takkan ada kemelut. Yang peliknya, kemelut datang daripada mereka yang berada di luar ‘hierarki’ parti. Ini yang tidak sepatutnya berlaku.

Suara Nik Aziz sudah diketepikan secara mutlak di dalam muktamar. Ini pandangan dan kemahuan perwakilan. Mereka mahukan PAS yang lebih dinamik dan progresif. Bukan PAS yang terbuai dengan budaya politik PKR dan Anwar. Ini hakikatnya. Kalau betul Nik Aziz kuat, Husam kuat – takkanlah undi nya jadi begitu. Tidak akan lah perwakilan PAS menjadi sangat tidak cerdik dalam menentukan halatuju dan kehendak mereka.

Ramai yang penulis temui mengatakan mereka tidak melihat EGM sebagai jalan yang baik. Ramai yang merasakan ianya akan hanya membuatkan PAS lebih terpecah belah. Ramai juga yang menganggap bahawa ini semua kerja mereka yang tidak puas hati kerana kalah. Kalangan yang sakit hati. Kalangan yang hasad. Kalangan yang dengki. Dek kerana marah yang belum tenang, penampar pun melayang di rumah terbuka parti. Masya’Allah, pemimpin jenis apakah ini.

Tindakan Salahuddin bertemu Tuan Guru Nik Aziz dengan pantas dan mencari jalan penyelesaian adalah langkah yang terpuji. Sebagai seorang Naib Presiden, tindakan Salahuddin nampak ada ‘tanjak’ sebagai seorang Naib Presiden yang matang. Tidak seperti dua lagi Naib Presiden kita yang ‘takut-takut’ dalam mengemukakan pandangan. Takut mengecilkan hati mana-mana pihak. Mana tahu nak bertanding lagi selepas ini.

Langkah Salahuddin mencadangkan mesyuarat khas, dalam menggantikan idea cadangan EGM adalah suatu langkah musyawarah yang baik. Jangan kita terbuai dengan kegilaan EGM dan kemudiannya membuatkan parti lebih parah dan tidak molek.

Kita mungkin boleh cadangkan, kepada mereka yang terlalu TAAT dan AKUR dengan jalan politik Anwar untuk keluar dan berada di dalam PKR. Bukankah itu lebih molek, daripada terus nak menimbulkan kacau bilau di dalam parti Islam kesayangan kita ini. Apa yang berlaku ini tidak lebih kepada masalah ’setia yang berbelah bahagi’, antara kepentingan PAS dan parti lain yang jadi amirnya.

Kita kena ambil iktibar, dalam apa jua peperangan/ghazwah ‘pemimpin’ mestilah seorang, dan bukannya dua. Kalau masing-masing tahu peranan masing-masing, parti tidak keliru dan celaru. Kepada yang kalah tempohari, anda masih punya amanah dan tanggungjawab untuk mengukuh parti. Bukan meruntuh. Jangan cuba nak hancurkan PAS dengan mainan politik murahan seperti ini.

EGM managed artist Tyrone Noonan is playing one of his first shows in NYC this week during the madness that is CMJ.

We’d love to see you down there to support this remarkable Australian artist.  For those of you who don’t know Tyrone, he used to be the lead singer of multi platinum act george ( styled in lower case ! ) and his new album produced by St Paul Peterson ( The Corrs, Neneh Cherry) is not too far from release. 

We expect to be telling you about the first single early in 2010.

We’re now at EGM #60 for July of 1994, with our cover story being more stuff on Mortal Kombat II. I have to say that the art isn’t fantastic. It’s great – but not fantastic. The issue weighs in at 194 pages.

Editorial: This issue’s editorial is from Danyon Carpenter, eulogizing over the death of the last 8-bit console system, the NES, as well as contemplating the glut of systems on the market.

Letters: Speaking of gluts, we have a letter about the growing glut of bad games on the market as we come to the end of the 16-bit generation, and the dawn of the 32-bit generation. Though, as a general rule of thumb, while we get some good games in the transitional period on occasion, a lot of times major developers have their best teams working on the launch titles for the new upcoming hardware, so they can try and get something good out of the new system. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the developers and teams who aren’t putting out launch titles (and thus don’t have dev kits for the new systems) can’t be necessarily quite as ambitious, as whatever they put out won’t necessarily do as well on the market once the next gen starts building up steam. Oh, and then there are companies like LJN which put out shovelware on a regular basis anyway.

We also get a letter complaining about all the coverage of fighting games, and from the tone of the letter (the writer says that if they don’t publish it that they’re “the biggest bunch of wussies on the planet”) the writer probably is in middle school. Also, it’s reasonable to say that the writer is pretty lucky that this letter didn’t come around during the end of EGM’s first run, they didn’t pull any punches then. Anyway, we also get questions about PC ports of console games (reasonable, since they’re currently going the other way), and about the JVC X’Eye (aka the Wondermega). We also got a letter about revival of classic games for newer systems (like Tempest 2000 for the Jaguar). There’s also a letter about the pricing for cartridges, and how they can range from $60 to $80 for cartridges (because cartridges have funky micro-chips in them that can cause variations in the cost depending on the chips needed for certain titles).

Review Crew

• World Heroes 2 Jet (SNK/Alpha, Neo-Geo): Danyon gives the game a 9, and Ed, Al, and Sushi give it 8s, with the general consensus being that it’s the best World Heroes game yet. Frankly, I never really was able to get into the World Heroes series as much as I was able to get into Tekken or King of Fighters (or, to a certain degree, Street Fighter). It think it’s because, for a large part, most of my Fighting game playing is done single player, as I’ve never really had anyone around me who was into fighting games (except for at my last job where we had an X-Box in the break room). Overall: 33/40 and it gets the Editor’s Choice Gold Award. On a side note we get a 2-page ad for Breath of Fire done in the western comic style, and apparently the game got ported by Squaresoft though it was originally developed by Capcom. Interesting.
• Pocky & Rocky 2 (Natsume, SNES): 8s across the board for the return of our favorite Miko & Tanooki, plus a few other characters as well. Overall: 32/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Double Dragon V (Williams, SNES): A fighting game, based on the TV show, based on the series of brawlers. The game is considered across the board as being very generic (and they’re not too impressed with the TV show either). The game gets a 6 from Ed and 5s from Danyon, Al, and Sushi. Overall: 21/40.
• Fievel Goes West (Hudson Soft, SNES): Action platformer based on the Don Bluth animated movie. Ed and Danyon give it 7s, finding it a good and challenging platformer, one that is perfect for veterans… who won’t buy the game because it’s got the licence for a kiddy movie. The kids, on the other hand, will get turned off by the game’s difficulty. Al and Sushi aren’t as impressed, and are outright disappointed because of problems with the gameplay and awkward control, and they give the game 5s. Overall:22/40.
• King of the Monsters 2 (Takara, SNES): Port of the Neo-Geo kaiju fighting game. The game gets decent ratings, an 8 from Ed, and 7s from Danyon, Al, and Sushi, though they mention that the game is pretty button-mash heavy.
• The Jungle Book (Virgin, Genesis): Platformer based on the several year old Disney movie. Danyon gives the game an 8, considering it a good solid platformer much like Cool Spot. Ed and Sushi give the game 7s, particularly due to cheap hits, and levels that were easy to get lost in. Al generally likes it but only gives it a 6. Overall: 28/40.
• Streets of Rage 3 (Sega, Genesis): The 3rd (and final) installment of Sega’s hit brawler series). Ed gives it an 8, and Danyon, Al, and Sushi give the game 7s, as while they like the modified controls for a 6-button controller, as well as enhanced graphics, but they’re not so fond of the decreased sound quality, particularly for the music. Overall: 29/40.
• Micky’s Challenge (High Tech Exp., Genesis): Another Disney licenced game, and surprisingly not one from Virgin or Capcom. That said, this one is a puzzle game instead of an action game or a platformer. Danyon & Ed give it 7s, finding that the game plays well, even if the music and sound isn’t fantastic. Sushi gives the game a 6 and Al gives it a 5, finding the game enjoyable, though very easy and very short. They’re also not too fond of the music. Overall: 25/40.
• Rebel Assault (JVC, Sega CD): A port of the FMV-heavy Star Wars rail shooter. Ed gives the game a 7, as while the graphics aren’t quite as good as the PC version, while he does like the musical score. Danyon, Al, and Sushi have similar responses and give it a 6 and 5s, respectively. Overall: 23/40.
• Jurassic Park (Universal Interactive, 3DO): Adventure game based on the movie. Ed, Danyon and Sushi give the game 8s, and Al gives it a 7, all for the same reasons – good gameplay, good graphics, and good music. Overall: 31/40.
• Jungle Book (Virgin, NES): Okay, maybe the rumor’s of the NES’s demise are slightly exaggerated. Ed, Danyon, and Sushi are very impressed with the graphical quality of the game, especially considering that this game is on the NES, as well as the sound quality. The game gets a 8 from Ed, and 7s from Danyon and Sushi. Al gives the game a 5, thought he generally finds it a good NES game. Overall: 27/40.
• Micky’s Challenge (High Teck Exp., Game Boy): Port of the Genesis game, and I see they’re using the Super Game Boy to take their screen shots now. The game was given a 8 from from Ed, and 7s Danyon and Sushi, considering it a good portable puzzle game for a younger audience, with Sushi finding the game challenging on hard. Al, on the other hand, found the game too easy and gave it a 5. Overall: 27/40.
• Asterix The Gaul (Sega, Game Gear): Action platformer featuring the French comic character. Ed isn’t a fan of the comic, but he enjoyed the game enough to give it a 6, though the game has some control problems. The rest of the Crew isn’t as impressed, with the poor controls being complimented by the poor sound and generic gameplay to provide poor scores. Danyon and Sushi gives the game 5s, and Al gives the game a 4. Overall: 20/40.

Gaming Gossip:

1. Sega & MGM/UA are working togeather for future games based on their films. Technically, this gets Sega the Bond licence, however, Rare is the one who puts out Goldeneye (the film coming out in 1995), and for the Nintendo 64, not the Dreamcast, so I’m going to call Miss! for now, though some other games could come out in the interveining period.
2. Crystal Dynamics is trying to get the rights to Samurai Showdown. Considering that’s like EA trying to get the rights to Street Fighter from Capcom, I’m going to call Miss! here as well. Crystal Dynamics may want the rights, but as Shane “ManGod” Bettenhausen says it’s nice to want things.
3. Bandai’s dumped their portable SNES system for a portable CD gaming system… which never comes out. Miss!

So, 3 swings, and 3 misses. That’s a strike out.

The PS1's Japanese Launch Lineup (as of this issue)

Press Start: We have a look at the “final” design of the PS1 (in that it’s the version that comes out at launch). We also have the list of Japanese launch titles (not yet complete), including Castle of Cagilostro based on the Lupin III movie and Princess Maker III from Gainax, neither of which get a US release, and since the system is Region Locked, you’ll either have to mod the system or use some other method to play it. Unfortunately, currently modding your system is forbidden by the DMCA and you can go to prison for 12 years if you do that (because the ESA says modding your console helps terrorists), so good luck getting modchips so you can play your legally imported copy – which means buying either an import PS1, PS2, or PS3 with Backwards compatability. No, I’m not bitter at all. I am, however, a member of the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association), which supports legalizing console modding (you bought the bloody thing after all) for purposes of playing legally purchased import games. We also have more information on the Super Game Boy.

Arcade Action: SNK has Super Sidekicks 2, Taito has the light gun game Under Fire (which reminds me a lot of Lethal Enforcers).

International Outlook: First up is the SNES version of Samurai Shodown. There’s also the FMV action game Kamen Rider ZO. Gunstar Heroes is getting a Game Gear port. Bandai’s got a Sailor Moon brawler for the Genesis (though, funny, I don’t remember the Sailor Scouts ever throwing anything close to a punch. There’s also Live A Live from Square, which can best be described as viscious, evil, and nasty. There’s also an in-depth look at Wild Guns from Natsume.

Next Wave: We have Clay Fighter Tournament Edition (apparently it did well enough to get a tournament edition). Konami’s got Contra: Hard Corps, as well as Sparkster for the SNES and Biker Mice of Mars. Rocket Science Games has Loadstar and Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. The Genesis is getting Urban Strike, and Shining Force 2. Interplay also has Starfleet Acadamy for the SNES.

Feature – Mortal Kombat II: We get a look at the past versions of Mortal Kombat 1, as well as the prior arcade versions of MK2, what’s in the current arcade version, and what to expect in the SNES and Genesis versions to come.

Feature – Sega Saturn: We get a look at the Sega Saturn and some of its upcoming titles, particularly Virtua Fighter.

Feature – Contra: Hard Corps: We get an in-depth preview of Contra: Hard Corps – the series debut on the Genesis. We now have 4 playable Contra Warriors, each with their own special weapon.

Feature – Super Street Fighter II: We get a preview of the changes made for the SNES version of Street Fighter II’s latest revision, including Tournament Mode & Survival & Time Trial.

Feature – Behind The Scenes At Nintendo: Ed got a tour of Nintendo of America’s offices. We start off of a tour of the Game Counselor’s section – over the several years that have gone on since Nintendo started the tip line, they have a not unsubstansial knowledge base.

Feature – Koei’s Upcoming Titles: We have a look at Koei’s RPG set in the golden age of piracy, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons. There’s also Nobunaga’s Ambition: Lords of Darkness

SNES Coverage: We have more screen shots of Pocky & Rocky 2, Fievel Goes West, and King of the Monsters 2. We also get a look at the isometric flight sim Air Strike Patrol, which has some problems with the enemies having the player much overmatched. We also have a look at the shump Aero Fighters from MC O’River (a developer I’ve never heard of before) which is apparently pretty easy, and apparently has some really stupid smack talk.

Genesis Coverage: We have a peak at the action platformer Tinhead, which has some problems with trial & error gameplay. We also get a look at the Genesis version of King of the Monsters 2, which has some problems with game balance in single player (with the computer operating under different rules from the player).

Sega CD Coverage: We have more screen shots of Rebel Assault, along with the action RPG Revengers of Vengence, which doesn’t have great action control. Domark has Flying Nightmares, which they haven’t played enough yet to say much on (since it isn’t particularly finished yet).

Neo-Geo Coverage: We get to see more of World Heroes 2 Jet.

3DO Coverage: We get a preview of Shockwave, a sci-fi flight sim, which apparently has some problems with pacing in the missions. There’s also Megarace which is decent, though the announcer character is annoying. It’s also got the awful looking fighting game Way of the Warrior.

The first piece of Game Development software I've seen advertized in a gaming magazine.

CD-I Coverage: We have a look at the very gritty action game Burn Cycle, which is very much incomplete. Surprisingly, we also get an ad for game development software. There’s also the puzzle game Mega Maze.

Game Boy Coverage: We have screen-shots of Micky’s Ultimate Challenge.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a look at the portable version of Sonic Spinball.

Lifestyles: Kevin J. Anderson (ugh) continues the Jedi Acadamy Trilogy. Also, the live action Street Fighter movie is coming out (double ugh). Meanwhile, in comics, DC is having it’s second mega-event, timeline changing crossover Zero Hour. Oh, and we’re getting a live-action Flinstones movie (triple ugh) starring John Goodman as Fred Flinstone.

That wraps up this issue of EGM. Tommorow I’ve got another issue of Nintendo Power for you.

By Sim Kwang Yang

As you read this on Thursday, the MCA central committee is to meet to discuss how to mop up the mess left by the delegates in their EGM on October 10.  The MCA delegates had voted their party into an impasse, by voting out both Ong Tee Kiat and Chua Soi Lek as President and Deputy President respectively, thereby creating a vacuum at the apex of the party’s power structure.

They say that nature abhors a vacuum anywhere in our physical environment.  Likewise, a political party also abhors a vacuum in the highest places.

The most democratic thing for the MCA to do to wriggle out of their paralysing quagmire is to hold another EGM, to hold a fresh round of election for all the posts of the central committee, including that of President and Deputy President.  This is unlikely to happen.

Now that the two highest posts of the party are up for grabs, you can be sure that the four Vice Presidents in line for succession to the top posts will be agitating and engaged in all kinds of horse-trading to get themselves appointed.

At the end of the day, political leaders are bound to have unbridled ambition for power.  Power is like an aphrodisiac, to which the players all become addicted at the end.  MCA has assets valued at RM2 billion, and a national party structure with numerous members.  To control MCA at the very top is to enjoy unequal prestige within the party.

MCA is also a senior member party of the BN government.  The top guy in MCA will determine who shall become full federal cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.  The ambition of all senior politicians within the BN is to become a minister or a cabinet minister one day.  It is deemed the pinnacle of one’s political career.

Therefore, I don’t see how the MCA CC meeting is going to solve all the problems created by the inconclusive results of the recent EGM.  If they start to fragment further in another round of internal strife in a fight over party positions, they will merely further alienate themselves from their Chinese electorate.

Frankly, I have never seen MCA in a worse position before.  I think they are heading on a path towards self-destruction.

Meanwhile, the Internet is abuzz with all kinds of inside information, rumours, analysis, conspiracy theories about the MCA crisis.  I received a forwarded article with author unknown.  I have no way of double-checking the facts and view points.  You have to read it with your critical hat on.  At least, it is amusing, especially the bit about the dinner.

“Fact  - Post-EGM, MCA equals Malaysian Chaos Association

“Can one imagine children of a dying rich man fighting over his inheritance while he himself is on the deathbed? That’s what’s happening to MCA now. OTK has yet to officially quit but the horse-trading has begun in earnest. One day after the EGM, as OTK nursed his battle scars overseas, vegetarian Liow Tiong Lai called for a clandestine dinner in the JW Marriot Hotel in Jln Bukit Bintang, KL.

“Kong Cho Har gladly went, thinking that LTL was going to pay homage to him as the incoming president. But when LTL proposed himself as numero uno, KCH, the taiko whom everyone in Lumut is fearful of, turned into a beast. Harsh words were exchanged and the table thumped, much to the shock of those present, including Chew Mei Fun, Loke Yuen Yeow and Liew Yuen Keong. Poor Liew Yuen Keong, who became jobless after losing the Seri Kembangan State seat in 2008, had to foot the bill as both Ministers left in a huff.

“Ng Yen Yen, who spends more time overseas than Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, suddenly also found herself loving the Malaysian weather – she too was horse-trading. She has offered to be the first female MCA president, but no way in hell are LTL and KCH who has backed OTK all the way going to let that pro-CSL woman get her way. MCA is headed for troubling and chaotic time.

“Fact  - PKFZ – NFA (No Further Action)

“PKFZ is the main reason why the Third Force was willing to inflict more damage to MCA than to solve the OTK-CSL impasse and move the party forward. Let’s joint the dots…. Everyone knows Tiong King Sing hates OTK for what the latter has done to uncover the RM12 billion mess in PKFZ. If OTK is gone, one big hurdle is gone for TKS. Why else would a SPDP politiiian among the first to call for OTK’s resignation after the EGM?

“Now that OTK is gone, Wee Ka Siong is almost assured of becoming the Transport Minister. And everyone in MCA knows that WKS and TKS are business partners and together they have raked in millions. WKS also has a long-term use of a room in the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, courtesy of TKS. Why else did the MCA Youth chief keep his silence when his boss OTK was at the forefront fighting Tiong? Shouldn’t the Youth wing be on the frontline in an issue that resonates with Malaysians of all races?

“So, with WKS in the Ministry of Transport, PKFZ is kautim insofar as Tiong is concerned. WKS would toe the line, and to be doubly sure, his predecessor in the MCA Youth section, Liow Tiong Lai would keep an eye as (hopefully) MCA president. Liow after all, is the protege of Chan Kong Choy, and share the same sifu Lim Ah Lek, the only good man, if ever there was one, in MCA. Liow is Bentong MP and listens to Bentong Boy CKC like Catholics listen to the Pope.

“And CKC? Oh yeah, the man who quit it all in 2008 because of PKFZ can sleep tight now…”

End

Our EGM recaps continue this week with a recap of issue #59, for June of 1994. Our cover story is what will become the first 3D Fighting game, Virtua Fighter – currently in arcades, and later for the Saturn. This issue is clocking in a 229 pages.

Editorial: The European Computer Trade Show has come and gone, and EGM has left with the award for best US game magazine, a reward that is well deserved in my opinion. Of the game magazines I’ve recapped thus far, EGM has been the better of the three. Now, once I finish EGM, GamePro, or Nintendo Power, I’ll have to move on to something else, and that could change things up some, but anyway, let’s move on.

Letters: We get a letter asking about the US release of Final Fantasy V, and apparently, according to their sources in Square, it will be getting a release outside of the Final Fantasy name, with Final Fantasy VI getting the US release as Final Fantasy III. Though, ultimately, Final Fantasy V doesn’t get released in the US as anything other than Final Fantasy V, and gets its first legitimate release as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology for the Playstation. Also, unfortunately the Duo is basically now dead. They’re not selling new systems anymore, and only selling new games in mail-order. If you can’t increase your install base, you’ve stagnated your market share. You’re dead, Jim. We have requests for more RPGs for the Neo-Geo and more RAM for the Genesis (to which I say, to quote Shane Bettenhausen, “It’s nice to want things.”)

Review Crew: Once again, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Super Metroid (Nintendo, SNES): Samus Aran is back, and she’s got a larger world to explore, plus we’ve got an auto-map. Score! The game gets 9s across the board, though oddly the only complaints are that the auto-map makes the game too easy, and the world is apparently smaller (when it definitely is not, though there is less back-tracking). Overall: 36/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum Award.
• Saturday Night Slam Masters (Capcom, SNES): Capcom’s wrestling game. Ed gives the game an 8, saying he liked the game, though some of the moves are hard to pull off mid-match (for the record, I still have problems pulling off a Dragon Punch. Everyone else gives the game 7s, finding it a good arcade port, and a good multi-player game, but not a great sit-down-and-play single player game. Overall: 29/40.
• Fighter’s History (Data East, SNES): The fighting game that Capcom wanted to stop from coming out has been released. Ed gives it an 8, saying it plays well, through there are some problems with the backgrounds not quite feeling right with the characters. Danyon gives it a 7, and Al and Sushi give it 6s, but they all like the game and don’t particularly have anything negative to say about it. Overall: 27/40.
• Virtua Racing (Sega, Genesis): This isn’t the first polygonal racer to get a home release, but this is probably one of the most significant relases ever since Atari’s attempt at a similar racer back in the days of EGM #1 (particularly this has more tracks than Atari’s game, which had 2). They like the game, with Ed, Danyon, and Al giving the game 8s, and Sushi giving it a 7 as they all find it technically sound but not a perfect arcade port, though Ed didn’t enjoy it as much as the arcade version. Overall: 31/40.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (Sega, Genesis): General adventure game. Ed and Danyon give the game 7s as they’re fans of this genre, and fans of the show. Al’s a fan of the show but not this genre and gives it a 5. Sushi gives it a 6, finding it fun on the away team sections, but finding combat in general a bit too difficult for his taste. Overall: 25/40.
• Bubba N’ Stix (Core Design, Genesis): This is a puzzle platformer. The game gets 7s from Ed, Danyon, and Sushi, and Al gives it a 6, for about the same reaons – they find it a solid puzzle platforming game, though Al found the controls a little weak at first. Overall: 27/40.
• Mortal Kombat (Arena, Sega CD): Ed and Al give the game 7s, with them not finding the game much better than the cartridge versions of the game, except for better music quality, and with the game playing slightly faster than the cartridge versions. Danyon and Sushi aren’t as impressed, with Sushi giving the game a 5 and Danyon giving the game a 6 – finding that the game hasn’t necessarily aged very well. Overall: 25/40.
• Incredible Machine (Dynamix, 3DO): The PC physics-based puzzle game has gotten a console release. Danyon, Al, and Sushi give the game 7s, and Ed gives it an 8, with the main complaints being that the controller moves the curser too slowly, with a mouse generally being the preferred method of controlling the game. Overall: 29/40.
• The 7th Guest (Phillips, CD-I): The FMV-laden adventure game has gotten a console release. Ed gives it a 9, saying outright that this is the best version of The 7th Guest for any system. Danyon and Sushi give it 8s and Al gives it a 7, though they all basically agree with Ed on this one. Overall: 32/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Godzilla (TTI, Duo): Kaiju fighting game. Ed’s a big Godzilla fan and had fun playing this, and gives it an 8. Al kind of liked it, but felt that the system’s controller (a 2-button controller) put far too many limitations on gameplay, and gave it a 6. Danyon and Sushi gave the game 5s, with Sushi being a fan of the franchise but still not liking the feel of the game, and with Danyon not being a Godzilla fan. Overall: 24/40.
• Mega Man VI (Capcom, NES): Ed, Al, and Sushi give the game 7s, but they’re really quite done with 8-bit Mega Man games, particularly since Mega Man X is coming out, and they really feel that the series should either move to 16-bit, or let the Mega Man X series carry the torch from now on (which ultimately is what happens). Danyon, on the other hand, gives it a 6 and says that the series should just be put out of its misery now. I wonder what he thinks of Mega Man IX? Overall: 27/40.
• Lamborghini Challenge (Titus, Game Boy): Racing game. Danyon and Sushi give it 7s, and it sounds like Sushi has started to like the Game Boy. Whodathunkit? Ed and Al give it 6s, with Ed finding the blurring particularly bad. Overall: 26/40.
• Side Pocket (Data East, Game Gear): Pool game. Ed and Danyon give the game 7s, with Ed finding it brings the right something different to the Game Gear’s software library, though Danyon finds the sound repetative. While I haven’t been in a pool hall, I have been in a place with multiple pool tables going at once, and repetative sound is par for the course. Al observes that the friction for the pool table is too low and gives it a 6 (that’s a significant problem for a pool game – particularly if it has puzzles). Sushi finds it a good game for pool fanatics and gives it a 5. Overall:, 25/40.

Gaming Gossip: Alright, let’s see what Q-Mann’s got for us this issue.

1. Nintendo has plans in the works for a VR system for under 200. Hit! However, this system is the Virtual Boy, so it’s not like it’s going to be ultra successful, unfortunately. And, ultimately, it will spell the end of Gunpei Yokoi’s time at Nintendo.
2. NEC’s Tetsuo system is still in the works, and is not actually dead yet. Hit! It does indeed get a release as the PC-FX… and doesn’t survive very long.
3. Acclaim is planning to buy out Valiant Comics. Hit! With this buy-out, they’ll get the rights to, among other characters, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.
4. Apparently 3rd parties haven’t gotten 32X Dev kits yet. Miss! Well, sort of. Id and Digital Pictures have gotten Dev Kits, and Id was working on the 32X port of Doom.
5. Time Warner has bought out Atari (and thus Tengen). Hit!
6. Speaking of Tengen – Tengen & Nintendo have settled their differences! Miss! The Tengen brand is going away, and is being replaced with the Time Warner Interactive

So, we have 4 hits out of 6 at-bats. Not bad. Not great, but not horrible either.

Press Start: We get another look at the Sega Saturn, and we’ve now got some information on the 3rd party developers for the system, including Game Arts, Koei, Sunsoft, Treasure, and Data East. We also get some information on Nintendo’s VR system, which is apparently doen to counter 3DO’s REAL system. We also get some images from the Sony Playstation Tech Demo, including glimpses of something that looks like Wipeout, as well as some notes on their 3rd party developers, including EA (which means they get Madden), Ocean, Namco, Konami, Capcom, and Acclaim. Square is still up in the air though, as is Enix. While EA’s loyalty ultimately decides who wins this generation in the US, in Japan it’s Dragon Quest Uber Alles, so whoever gets Dragon Quest wins this console generation. Apparently there’s also a Sonic 4 in the works as well, though this may refer to Sonic & Kunckles. We also have screen shots for the SNES version Super Street Fighter II. We also get a look at a few new controllers.

Arcade Action: Sega’s got another racing game in Daytona USA, SNK has the side-scrolling action game Top Hunter, Midway has the light gun game Revolution X, and Namco has Nebulasray a lightgun game. Alright, now we’re getting into the games which were coming out when I was growing up… but I didn’t get to play because I didn’t own a PS1, or a Saturn, or a N64.

International Outlook: We have Shinging Force CD, which is an extremely up-rezed version of the Shining Force Gaiden games… which didn’t come out in the US then, and still hasn’t come out in any form now. C’mon Sega, get off your behinds! We also have Karate Club from Electro Brain. There’s also Mother 2, the only game in the series to get a US release as Earthbound. Sunsoft has Ninja Boy Sasuke. We have another notable title getting mention here as well – Tactics Ogre, from Quest (not to be confused with Ogre Battle). Konami UK is working on Sparkster for the SNES, featuring the protagonist of Rocket Knight Adventures. We also get a feature preview of Final Fantasy VI (which I really need to beat).

Next Wave: We have the US release of Hideo Kojima’s latest game, Snatcher (unfortunately we don’t get Policenauts, a port of Flashback for the Jaguar.

Feature – Virtua Fighter Preview: We’re getting out first 3D fighting game. We get a glimpse of Dural, who could probably make Rugal Bernstein cry like a little girl, as well as profiles of all the characters and their signature moves.

SNES Coverage: We get a preview of Stunt Race FX, a polygonal racing game which uses the Super FX chip, but apparently has some speed issues (which is significant in a racing game). There’s also the fighting game Double Dragon V, and the far superior fighting game Fatal Fury Special. There’s also Super Bomberman 2, the port of World Heroes 2. We have a preview of Illusion of Gaia from Enix, which looks promicing, and Shien’s Revenge for the SNES, which looks very interesting (but, then again, I’m a sucker for ninja games and anime). There’s also Spike McFang which… I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be. A kiddy action game featuring a vampire? I dunno. There’s also the golf game Kirby’s Tee Shot, which uses some polygonal graphics for the courses. There’s also a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers brawler. Yep, it’s the ’90s.

Not a bad Godzilla panting, if I don't say so myself.

Anyway, we also have the Mecha Action game Generation 2 from Kemco, and a port of Eye of the Beholder by Capcom. Interplay has a Lord of the Rings RPG based on Fellowship of the Ring and which (I’ve played this one) has some problems with pixel-bitching. There’s also a Beauty and the Beast game, and an Eek the Cat game, both of which sound very forgettible. Capcom has Soccer Shootout, a soccer game with mini-games for various drills. We also get a really nice ad for Super Godzilla, featuring a nice painting of Godzilla fighting Ghidorah. Were it not for all the ad copy in the picture, I wouldn’t mind hanging it on my wall. US Gold has World Cup ‘94

Genesis Coverage: We have more coverage of Virtua Racing, as well as the Demolition Man action game from Virgin. Apparently the game splits up the action scenes between side-scrolling and top down sequences. There’s also Outrunners, which I played the arcade version of at a local pizza parlor, and enjoyed, though the AI’s pretty weak. The Genesis is also getting a port of World Heroes which is pretty close to the arcade version. We also get some more coverage of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There’s also a preview of Shadowrun for the Genesis, which goes a bit more in depth on the decking system (which is the way you want to go if you really want to make money in game). There’s also the semi-action RPG Star Quest from Namco. There’s Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers from Tekmagic, who is a new developer for the licence, and is doing a game where you’re playing as Sylvester, which is… different. Normally in these type of games you play as the hunted character, be it Jerry, or the Road Runner, or Bugs Bunny. There’s also Mario Andretti Racing from EA. Dynamix has the action-adventure game Rise of the Dragon.

3DO Coverage: We have a review for the Jurassic Park rail shooter.

CDI Coverage: This system is getting an animated adventure game called Litil Divil. I can’t find anything about the plot.

NES Coverage: We have a preview of StarTropics 2, which adds time-travel to the mix.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a preview in Spider-Man & X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge.

Lifestyles: ACME Skateboards (their real name) is featuring skateboards with the licences for, say, Rob Liefield’s Youngblood. DC has also been licencing out their characters for ties. Blockbuster Video is starting a World Video Game Championship, ASG is also working on a sort of juke-box multi-cartridge unit for your video gaming. Unfortunately it doesn’t work very well. Meanwhile, the collector’s market bubble is starting to burst, due to all the excesses of holographic covers, and variant covers, and this, that, and the other thing. The speculators, who didn’t give a damn about comics anyway – who were just out to make a buck, have left the market, leaving retailers with loads of comics they can’t move. Ironically, it was the speculators, who pumped up 3rd party publishers like Valiant, Malibu, Mirage, and others, that started this glut in the first place. So, this lead to companies like Valiant going under. Unfortunately, from the sounds of things, the Ultraverse, which I’d previously derided, was actually pretty decent, and the bubble bursting basically scuttled that. Image survived because they branched out, and they still had some good stuff… and they had Rob Liefeld. Mirage survived because they had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which basically was a licence to print money. Anyway, we also get a preview of Disney’s new upcoming film, The Lion King, and some coverage of Tiger Electronics’ LCD games.

That wraps up this issue of EGM. Tomorrow we’ll have another review of an issue of Nintendo Power.