Almost every professional entertainment sector has a system of representatives and agents. This is certainly the case for authors, musicians and actors, but game developers often make do without any similar form of representation. Now a US company, GameAgents Corporation (www.gameagents.com), is keen to fill this gap. What GameAgents plans to do, primarily, is to offer consulting services to small to mid-size game developers, helping them to set up professional corporate and product structures. With buy-outs and mergers involving groups such as Sierra, Virgin Interactive and Microprose, plus publishers such as Interplay, Microsoft, Activison and Electronic Arts, third-party software developers can find life tough. GameAgents also aims to help publishers by acting as a filter; searching out the good products among those on offer and presenting only those to potential publishers.
Those who are tired of collecting stamps, records or anything else might think of turning to video games. A boxed original Asteroids or Space Invaders (in good condition, of course) could be worth a lot of money in the future. It might not even be necessary to go back that far. A copy of Wolf 3D, the ancestor of Doom and Quake, could be highly sought-after in a few years. Because games are a relatively new medium, with rapid cycles of change and development, even games made today could well be worth collecting. As yet there are no real authorities on the subject of games collecting, so knowing just how much a game is worth is almost impossible. This immaturity of the market can be an advantage, however, allowing early collectors to start a collection of "old" games at very reasonable prices. If and when games collecting takes off, this will change. In the case of records, rare titles from the Beatles through to the punk era change hands for substantial sums. As in all collectibles, an unusual feature, such as a special promotion pack, and having an example in good condition will add to its value. A vigorous search of the attic might be in order.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time may be one of the best games ever, but in Britain its television adverts have generated 72 complaints to the Independent Television Commission (ITC). Nintendo advertised the game with the slogan: "Will thou get the girl or play like one?" Four of the complaints were from schoolgirls who said they could play just as well as boys. The ITC recognised the sexist overtones of the phrase and that some viewers were upset, but concluded: "Such tongue-in-cheek treatments were unlikely to have the widespread negative affect that those who complained feared," and it is not removing the advert from the air.
Thief: The Dark Project, PC CD-Rom, £34.99
Unreal and Half-life are two of the best games around but are sometimes unjustly seen as Quake clones. To the casual observer, Thief looks more like Quake than either of them, but that is where all similarities end.
Running around madly with all guns blazing is not the best way through the levels here. In Thief, Rather than taking out enemies with powerful weapons, the player is encouraged to sneak up on them and hit them before they hear or see anything. Avoiding being seen means remaining in the dark as much as possible, so a light meter indicates current visibility. The sound of footsteps can also give away a player, so running is not always a great idea, and moving stealthily is much easier on carpet than on iron grilles which clank under foot. Every aspect of Thief requires thought to avoid rash decisions. For times when enemies are encountered face to face a sword, a bow and a bludgeon are available. Other "tools" for the player include ingenious arrows for extinguishing lights and "moss arrows" which spawn patches of moss, giving a quiet surface for walking across. Thief is not perfect, but it is a superb new slant on the genre of 3D shooters. Although it is thoroughly enjoyable, those looking for lightning fast action may feel robbed. [Req:Pentium 200/32MB/Win9x]