Famedand
often debunkedpsychic Uri
Geller has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court against Nintendo
for what he claims is unauthorized use of his name on Pokémon
cards
and related materials. Though hed complained publicly before
about the existence of a character named Kadabra
in the Pokémon games, who appears with a bent spoonone of
Gellers trademark tricksin the Game Boy games, hed only
threatened legal action.
Nintendo
turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character, Geller
said through his lawyers. Im filing this lawsuit against
Nintendo, not only to protect my name, but also to tell the world
before the start of the Holiday Season that I have nothing whatsoever
to do with these violent characters that have a negative impact on
children.
The
statement by Gellers lawyers also states that the Kadabra character
features a star on its forehead, as well as lightning bolts on its
chest, which are then compared to the lightning bolts on the uniforms
of the Nazi SS in World War II. Geller was born in Israel. The
statement also noted that Nintendo had been ordered to remove a
close representation of a Swastika (the symbol of Adolf Hitlers
Third Reich) from a Pokémon card.
Midway
Games Inc. has shipped Army Men:
Sarges Heroes for Dreamcast, porting over The
3DO Co.s plastic soldiers to Segas
console. The game offers 14 single-player missions, multiplayer for up
to four gamers, nine different characters and the addition of a Sniper
Mode.
Army
Men: Sarges Heroes
has an ESRB rating of T (Teen).
Eidos
Interactive and Ion
Storm have announced that Deus Ex has received PC Game of
the Year honors from BAFTA (British
Academy of Film and Television Arts), which offers annual kudos to
the best in film, interactive media and television. BAFTA awards
prizes in various categories, such as Children, Television and
Interactive Entertainment, the latter in which Deux Ex won.
Activision,
Inc. has taken Tony
Hawks Pro Skater 2, one of its most popular games and
ported it over to the PC. Available immediately, the game has all of
the features that its console predecessors has such as the detailed,
real-time 3-D skatepark editor.
Carrying
an ESRB rating of T (Teen), Tony
Hawks Pro Skater 2 has a suggested retail price of $39.99.
Gathering
of Developers has created its own strategy guide for its Blair
Witch triology of games. Entitled The Blair Witch Series: Official
Strategies, the 140-page book offers advice on each of the three games
in the set: Blair Witch Volume IRustin Parr, Blair Witch
Volume IIThe Legend of Coffin Rock and Blair Witch Volume
IIIElly Kedwards Tale.
The
book has a suggested retail price of $14.95.
According
to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Sega
Corp. is negotiating with companies that make portable game
machines, personal computers and mobile phones in order to create
games for the respective products. Segas chairman and president,
Isao Ohkawa, said this move is part of the firms efforts to
improve earnings.
Midway
has
revealed that in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 there are a
couple of very special extra characters, Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Gamers can put up their dukes using the couple, and listen as they
trade spicy insults back and forth.
Even
though Xbox is
dominating the headlines with so many developers committing to the
machine, Nintendos GameCube
is slowly increasing its product lineup.
At
the tenth annual Toy and Interactive Entertainment Conference, a few
companies spoke of GameCube development. Infogrames
currently has five GameCube projects. Take-Two
Interactive and THQ announced
that they are planning to create games for the GameCube, but no
specific numbers were given.
London-based
Eidos plc has announced that
Charles Cornwall, until today the companys CEO, has left the
company to spend more time on his technology and mining interests
in the USA and South Africa. The move boosts COO Michael McGarvey
to the role of CEO in Cornwalls place.
Cornwall
has been on the board of directors since May 1993, and was named CEO
in October 1995. According to the companys statement, he previously
was involved in the consolidation of and investment in a number of
gold mining companies in South Africa.
Additionally,
Eidos has appointed Jonathan Kemp, previously managing director of
Eidos UK, to the position of European Managing Director.
Get
your spray cans ready as Sega of America
has released Jet Grind Radio for the Sega Dreamcast. The goal
is to tag or spray paint your territory while avoiding the law
and rival gangs. In addition, players will be able to download JPEG
images from the Internet and use them in the game. Jet Grind Radio
contains music from the likes of Jurassic 5, Mix Master Mike, Rob
Zombie, Cold and P.M.M.
The
ESRB rating for Jet Grind Radio is T (Teen) and retails for
$49.95.
LucasArts
will release the Star Wars: X-Wing Trilogy package for the PC
this holiday season. The bundle will include X-Wing, TIE
Fighter, X-Wing Alliance and a sample of X-Wing vs. TIE
Fighter: Flight School.
The
Star Wars: X-Wing Trilogy is expected to be released in
November and retail for $29.95.
For
those wanting to keep up with the makings of the movie version of Eidos
popular Tomb Raider series, Paramount
Pictures has launched a website that provides background on the
film. Included are features, such as an interview with the movies
director, Simon West (Con Air); cast information, a weekly
image shot from the set; and more.
Tomb
Raider
stars Angelina Jolie in the role of Lara Croft, with her real-life
father, Jon Voight, playing her onscreen father, Lord Croft. The film
is tentatively scheduled for a June 2001 release in the U.S.
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