GRAB HOLD of your joysticks and prepare yourself for the showdown of the century, for the battle is about to begin! Computer games manufacturers are gearing up for the fight to the death to produce the ultimate home computer games system of the future. The stakes are high and there is everything to gain and lose in this multi-billion pound gamble.

Over the next few months, the major players in the computer and video games market will be spending millions of pounds in trying to persuade the techno-hungry public to purchase one of the new dream machines. The next generation of super-consoles, coming onstream in the run up to Christmas, promise turbo-charged, futuristic capabilities with awesome visuals, combining greater depth, 3D animation and crystal-clear resolution. They also offer CD-quality stereo sound and a range of games to satisfy the most ardent cyber-junkie. Games giants like Sega, Nintendo and Atari will each be trying to convince the punters that their particular format offers the most exciting specifications at the most competitive price.

“You won’t recognise the industry this time next year,” says Brian Moore, General Manager of Nintendo Ireland. “A whole new generation of technology is being developed at the moment and we’re starting to see the first signs of that already. The new systems have much better graphics and more realistic images with ‘real time’ or instant movement of characters.”

It’s all down to processing power and memory which is measured in “bits” (that’s binary digits to you and me!). The higher-bit machines have greater processing capabilities and consequently better playability. The current games consoles like the Super Nintendo and the Sega Megadrive are 16-bit units, but the newer machines combine 32 or 64-bit technology with the latest graphics and animation enhancements.

Nintendo, who have the largest share of the Irish games market, will shortly bring out their own new 64-bit machine which will be called Ultra-64. “The technology has been developed by an American company called Silicon Graphics Inc.,” says Moore. “They do all the NASA programmes and they’ve licensed their technology to us exclusively for use in games machines. It’s like nothing like you’ve ever seen before. It’s basically real-time animation with a 3D.”

Meanwhile, the other major players in the games industry — companies like Sega, Atari and Amiga – are all bringing out similarly-endowed systems to compete in the new games arena. In November, Sega will launch a 32-bit upgrade to their successful Megadrive machine and they are also busy developing a 64-bit console called Saturn, to be released early next year. Atari’s American-made, 64-bit Jaguar machine is already carving a reputation for itself as one of the most impressive consoles around and they are currently expanding the range of games designed to harness the Jaguar’s undoubted power.

BEAT-EM-UPS

Sega and Nintendo are no longer going to have the mass-market games field to themselves, however. New entrants to the market this year include: electronics giant, Sony with their powerful new Playstation console; Philips who have already launched their multi-media, CD-i player with a massive advertising campaign; and Panasonic who have sold over 200,000 units of their 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer which is similar to the Philips CD-i player in that it plays video games, audio CD’s plus Photo and Video CD’s. We're talking about big business here.

The computer games industry in Ireland is said to be worth up to £50 million a year and according to Brian Moore, over 16% of Irish households now have a games set-up of one kind or another. “The video games industry is actually bigger than the music industry,” he says. “The value of CD’s and tapes sold is less than the amount of computer and video games which are purchased. We release between five and eight new games every month and the average price of a Super NES game is £39 or £40 — which is a lot more than the cost of a CD.”

There are basically three main types of computer and video games formats. Dedicated machines like the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo are designed purely for playing video games and nothing else. This also applies to the popular portables like Game Gear and Game Boy. The multi-media machines like the Philips CD-i and Panasonic’s 3DO can be used to perform a variety of educational and other entertainment functions as well as to play games.

The last and potentially one of the biggest untapped markets for computer games is in the PC market. Both IBM compatible and Apple Mac computers which are in common use in business and at home can also be used to play games. Some commentators say that with the right attachments like sound cards and joysticks, this format offers the best quality in terms of graphics and playability. The development of CD-Rom technology has further widened the scope and possibilities for games played on a PC format.

The wide choice of formats presents something of a dilemma for the first-time buyer who wants to enter into the games arena. The arguments for buying a dedicated console like the Megadrive or Super Nintendo are largely centred on a what-you-see-is-what-you-get philosophy. “We’re focused on what we’re offering to the consumer,” says Brian Moore of Nintendo. “It’s pure entertainment and nothing else, so we concentrate our energies totally in that area.”

Alison Duffy of Philips (Irl) stresses the wider potential of a CD-interactive set-up. “The major thing about CD-i is the fact that it is multi-media,” she says. “It’ll play all your audio discs, your photos, your movies as well as interactive games. There’s something for the whole family and to a certain extent it’s future-proof. Young kids may grow out of games but they probably won’t grow out of music or movies.”

Of course all this impressive hardware is utterly useless without the software or games, which is the main reason for having the technology in the first place. There is a mind-boggling selection of games available, with dozens of new titles being released each month. Most of the bigger ones are available on all formats but some would be restricted to the particular hardware for which it was designed.

Games can be divided into a number of different categories. Without question the most popular games with the younger age-group are the fighting games or `beat-em-ups’ as they have become known. Usually consisting of a heroes-and-villains scenario, the big sellers at the moment are Mortal Combat II and Super Street Fighter II. The main object with these games is to punch, kick, shoot, bomb or otherwise dismantle your opponent in whatever way possible.

Then there are the more complex strategy and puzzle games where there is a specific goal to be reached by overcoming obstacles and hurdles before climbing to the next level. Commonly called platform games, these normally have some element of `beat-em-up’ but the emphasis is on mental dexterity. Finally there are the more serious or adult games which are sometimes replicas of normal everyday sports. These include golf, soccer and tennis games, as well as flight simulators or the best selling town-planning game, Sim City.

TECHNOLOGY TRAP

Peter Burke is co-presenter of RTE television’s Megazone, a half-hour weekly computer games programme in which contestants between nine and sixteen are tested in games knowledge and game playing skills. He also decides which games are to be played on the programme and he confirms that the fighting games are by far the most popular with the young contestants. “The more violent they are, the more popular they seem to be,” he says. “We try and use as many different titles as we can to make it interesting to the viewer. Sports games are also popular — one of the biggest selling games at the moment is FIFA Soccer. Tennis and golf games are popular and World Cup Rugby ‘95 is coming out soon and that’ll probably take off next year.”

Peter Burke’s own personal favourite is PGA Golf European Tour. “They are based on real golf courses and are as realistic as they possibly can be,” he says. “I also like some of the Disney platform games like Jungle Book and Aladdin. They’re not particularly difficult to play, but they’re very smooth, with great animation.”

Strangely enough, video and computer games, like heavy metal music seems to attract a much higher proportion of young males than females: “We have a fairly difficult time getting enough females onto the show,” says Burke. “It seems to be a big macho thing with the lads.”

Though the games machine companies develop their own software, computer and video games are largely designed by independent software companies who then licence them out to the various hardware companies.

“The way the market is organised,” says Nintendo’s Brian Moore, “is, we make the hardware. Our system is intended only for Nintendo-dedicated software, which we also produce — all of the Mario games for example are Nintendo. However, to broaden the choice of games to the consumer, we licence out some of the software to independent companies who invent the games, write the program and submit it to Nintendo. We would then decide if it was suitable in terms of gameplay and acceptability and whether there is explicit violence or extreme sexual content.“The big game this year,” he continues, “is one called Donkey Kong Country which is coming out in December. It’ll retail at £64 and the reason it’s so expensive is the fact that it was written initially for the Ultra 64 machine. A company in Manchester called Rare have developed a new concept called advanced computer modelling, which enables a 64-bit game to be transferred down to a 16-bit format. It was initially an experiment but it worked — to everyone’s surprise – so it’ll be available to a much wider market.”

He also outlines some of the difficulties involved in matching new technology and games simultaneously.

“It’s easy to bring out games with better and more up-to-date technology but if they are played on older machines, the benefits won’t be realised. It also takes the games designers a number of years to learn to write software on new technology. So you can get caught in a technology trap with high specification hardware and not enough games to play on them.

“We have to be careful with the timing of our hardware releases,” he concludes. “We’re not selling hardware as such — we’re selling entertainment. There is an expression used in the computer games business, `the name of the game, is the game’, and that, ultimately, is the bottom line.”

GAMES UNLIMITED

One of the most visible signs of the health of the computer and video games industry is the preponderance of specialised shops selling games and hardware.

Game Ltd who have twenty-nine outlets in the UK, now have two stores in Dublin and are planning to expand to other major towns and cities around the country. As well as stocking hundreds of the latest games titles, they sell all the consoles from Nintendo and Sega as well as the Philips CD-i and Panasonic 3D0 machine.

According to Paul Lloyd-Roche, operations director with Game Ltd, the market is in a period of transition. “What you tend to find with the computer market are peaks and plateaus,” he says. “The big boom a few years ago was on the back of the 16-bit consoles. That technology is now old hat and there are a lot of people waiting for the new technology. The new 32 and 64-bit machines coming out next year should give the industry a massive boost.”He points out that the trend over the last twelve months has seen prices on software tumbling rapidly. “We’ve Megadrive games from £9.99 and Super Nintendo games from £14.99 and there’s a wealth of product available for £19.99. and £24.99. That is not expensive given the technology involved. The very latest games like FIFA Soccer ‘95 will be coming out on the Megadrive and they are still commanding a higher price.”

He stresses however that in real terms the prices are still very competitive compared to prices in the mid-eighties. “PC games are a growing area too,” he adds, “if you think about the amount of PC’s out there which are not being used for home entertainment at all. The fact is that there are now serious games like Golf Games, Flight Simulators and even Stock Exchange simulators which would appeal to a lot of PC owners. The technology that is appearing on the CD-Rom/PC Games is better than anything available on a games console.”

••••••••••

• Game Ltd have stores in Grafton St and at the Square in Tallaght and will be shortly be opening new outlet in Belfast.

• RTE’s computer games show, Megazone, presented by Suzanne Duffy and Peter Burke are offering a complete Home Entertainment system to the person who becomes All Ireland Megazone Champion. The prize includes a Philips 20 watt Nicam Stereo television, video recorder, Dolby Pro-logic 100 Watt Home Cinema Amplifier with 5 speakers, DCC player and Tuner.

Frontier Films, who produce the show, will be shooting the next series of Megazone in mid-October.

• Colm O’Hare