Tiger Electronics' game.com FAQ
v1.2 - Mar 10th 1998
v1.1 - Jan 2nd 1998
v1.0 - Dec 29th 1997
Copyright 1998, 1997 Steven L Cox
All right reserved. This document may be copied, in whole or in part, by
any means provided the copyright and contributors sections remain intact and
no fee is charged for the information. Contributors retain the copyright to
their individual contributions in as far as these contributions do not break
any pre-existing copyright. The data herein is provided for informational
purposes only. No warranty is made with regards to the accuracy of this
information.
The game.com FAQ is very much a work in progress. Information is being
added as written or submitted, so don't fret if a given topic hasn't been
covered by the FAQ yet. For any suggestions, additions, or corrections,
please send an email to "slight@bev.net", the FAQ Maintainer.
Table Of Contents:
What is a "game.com"?
How about a consumer-side review?
What titles are available for the Com?
What titles are in the works?
Is there a game.com newsgroup?
There are two internet carts?
The game.com is the newest handheld gaming system on the market, released in September
1997 by Tiger Electronics. For ease of explanation, presented here is Tiger's own
descriptive of the game.com:
game.com ACTIVE! With the touch of a button, you'll enter - and hear! - the next
generation of portable gaming. With its innovative touch screen/stylus interface, built-in
speech capability, built-in organizer functions and optional internet/email capability,
game.com propels cartridge-based, portable gaming years ahead.
The system is cartridge-based, which means a large variety of games designed specifically
for it can be purchased and played. Since games are specifically designed to take advantage
of game.com's unique features, only cartridges labeled "game.com" will work with the
system.
In addition to playing games, game.com has several built-in functions: a phone
book, calendar and calculator. Each has been developed for ease-of-use to keep life
organized on the go. Also built-in are an automatic high-score save feature, which retains
the highest score earned in up to 10 different games, and a special touch screen version of
the classic card game Solitaire.
With a special cable (available separately) and an external modem, game.com also
becomes a communications device. Once connected to a telephone, it can access text-based
Internet and email services.
game.com: actively redefining portable video gaming!
FEATURES:
Exceptional graphics and animation
Innovative touch screen / stylus interface
Incredible speech, music and sound
Larger screen, better resolution than other 8-bit systems
Built-in organizer functions (Phone Book, Calculator and Calendar)
Optional text-based Internet / Email access
Extensive library of hot games (available separately)
Specially designed touch screen version of Solitaire
Automatic high-score save feature
Two cartridge ports
Jacks for headphones, and AC adapter
[ToC]
For an inherently less-biased viewpoint, here is a review of the game.com system as
written by Ken Gagne:
Platform : game.com
Publisher: Tiger Electronics
For the past several years, the Nintendo Gameboy has not only dominated
the handheld games market, it has practically been that market. New
competition now arrives from Tiger in the form of the game.com system.
The game.com measures approximately 7x4x1 inches, with a square screen of
about 2-1/4 inches. The game screen itself is black-and-white and, being
a liquid crystal display (LCD), is not backlit, meaning it does not
provide its own source of illumination; like the Gameboy, it cannot be
played in the dark. The hardware configuration is more akin to the Sega
Game Gear, with a control pad mounted to the left of the screen, and
several buttons on the right, including four main action, and the on/off
button.
The action screen borrows a feature from today's personal digital
assistants (PDA) by being touch-sensitive. Gamers can select menu options
and make choices by touching the appropriate areas of the screen. Some
games, such as Wheel of Fortune, use this aspect exclusively, eschewing
the control pad. A stylus (pen) is included for this purpose and is
recommended, though any object will work.
The game.com has several pieces of software built-in. A four-function
calculator dispenses quick answers, while a calendar shows dates for
January, 1901, through December, 2099. Unfortunately, it does not allow
for memos, precluding its use as a schedule book. There is a operable
address book, though, and the on-screen keyboard is simple to use with the
system's touch-screen capability. As for the solitaire game, it is
playable, but completely lacking any gameplay options. High scores from
this and any other game are automatically saved directly to the game.com's
memory.
Game cartridges are inserted into ports located on the console's right.
Up to two carts may be docked simultaneously, for easy switching. Several
games are already available, and more are on the way. An impressive
lineup includes translations of other system's hits, such as Madden
Football, Mortal Kombat Trilogy, and Sonic Jam. A link cable (sold
seperately) allows two-player simultaneous play in games such as Fighters
Megamix and NBA Hangtime.Although several puzzle-type games are available,
there is no hint of a Tetris game, that which helped introduce the Gameboy
so successfully.
The game.com has no problem with synthesized speech, using it with many
games, either in introductions or as integral parts of the gameplay
itself. Other music and sound effects are often minimal. The graphics
are small, but adjusting the contrast will usually solve any problems.
Moving graphics, such as those found in action games, are not as blurry as
most Gameboy titles, but still seem a bit sluggish.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the game.com is its capacity to be
used as an Internet tool. Using a separate cartridge, the game.com can be
linked to any external modem and used to call any online service. This
possibly makes the game.com the cheapest method available for sending and
receiving electronic mail. Although it could, in theory, be used to call
any service, Tiger has only tested it to assure it works perfectly with
the Delphi commercial service, which also provides text-based web
browsing.
The game.com sells for $69.95 and comes with Lights Out, a simple yet
addictive puzzle game. Other games cost between $19.95 and $29.95. It is
nigh-impossible to judge a new console on the hardware itself, as it is
the software that makes the machine. Tiger stands a tough time of
matching the Gameboy's success, but with its interesting innovations, the
game.com is certainly full of possibilities.
---------
This review is copyright (c) 1997 by Ken Gagne. All rights reserved. Not
to be distributed in a modified form.
Other reviews, FAQs, etc. by Ken Gagne can be found at:
http://www.ziplink.net/~kgagne/vidgames/vidgames.html
Original Publication: Sentinel & Enterprise, 01-Dec-97
Genie: Ken.Gagne (Ken.Gagne@genie.com)
CIS: 75162,3001 (75162.3001@compuserve.com)
Delphi: Ken_Gagne (Ken_Gagne@delphi.com)
Internet: kgagne@ziplink.net
[ToC]
Due to the relative young lifespan of the Com, only a handful of titles are currently
available. The very first available title was Lights Out, a bundled cart with the
game.com system. Released at the same time, or within a very short period, were Williams
Arcade Classics, Batman & Robin, Indy 500, Henry, Quiz Wiz, Wheel of Fortune, JP2: The Lost
World, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Three additional cartridges began to appear on
store shelves as of December - Duke Nukem 3D, the Internet Cart, and Web Link. Wheel of
Fortune 2 ranks as the first title of the "1st Quarter '98" grouping to appear on store
shelves.
[ToC]
The next round of released titles are scheduled to appear "1st Quarter 1998" as per the
Tiger Electronics game.com website. These titles include
Jeopardy, Sonic Jam, Name That Tune, and Fighter's MegaMix. Several
additional titles once appeared on their website, as well as the title catalog which came
with the game.com system. These titles are Madden Football 98, NBA Hangtime, and Tiger
Casino. One additional title, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, also was once listed upon the website
(but not the included catalog). The reason for the removal of these titles from the
to-be-released listing is currently unknown.
The game.com online guru ToysRLife has posted word
of forthcoming '98 releases for the Com on agvtg-c. There are at least 20 titles scheduled
for a '98 distribution, with some of these titles made up of the previously know titles
such as Tiger Casino, and others as currently-secret titles. ToysRLife has offered the
names of 4 of these coming titles, which are Resident Evil 2, X-Files, Godzilla, and
Small Soldiers (at least three of these four are movie tie-ins). One of the 20 titles is
said to feature the "wyvern" of Com legend. Leaks (accidental or intentional) let the
following titles out, which have now been confirmed by Tiger's official game.com website:
Hollyfield Boxing, GigaPets Deluxe, Mutoids, Castlevania, and the now-1999 versions of
Madden Football and NBA Live (no 98 versions were released). Rugrats and A Bug's Life
are possible titles in the works as well.
There has been much conjecture as to what titles will follow these, and several probable
guesses have been ventured. First of all, expect to see Tiger taking advantage of most (if
not all) of their licensed properties. Such properties include Star Wars, Anastasia, Men
in Black, Family Feud, and the animated Disney movies such as Little Mermaid and Hercules.
Second, we should be seeing more titles designed to take specific advantage of the Com's hardware
specifications, such as the advantages of a touchscreen interface. It has been all but
confirmed by an online Tiger representative that a RPG title using the touchscreen in in the
works, for example. Third, with Tiger now a subset of Hasbro toys, don't be surprised to
see Hasbro's licensed properties appearing on the Com as well. This includes a sizable
number of possibilities, such as Monopoly, Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Risk, Scrabble,
Battleship, Frogger, Star Wars, Sorry, Mastermind, and Boggle.
[ToC]
Yes, there is. A control message was sent out on October 12th, 1997 to create the
"alt.games.video.tiger.game-com" newsgroup. In its first two months of existence, the
newsgroup ("agvtg-c" for short") inspired over 200 posts concerning the game.com system,
titles, and other related subjects. The average number of posts per day has continued to
grow, undoubtably due to the growing base of game.com owners as time passes. Propogation
of agvtg-c has been surprisingly thorough, altho its placement in the alt.* heirarchy has
made some ISPs slow to pick it up. Com enthusiasts who do not have access to the newsgroup
are encouraged to phone or email their ISP and request agvtg-c be added to their newsgroup
pool. Otherwise, access to the group can be obtained thru such web-based newsgroup readers
as DejaNews.
[ToC]
Essentially, yes. There are two cartridges currently available for the game.com that
provide internet-related functionality, altho they differ in specific application.
The first cartridge, and the one more familiar to most, goes by several names. Most Com
enthusiasts call it "the Internet Cart" or "game.com Internet", altho it does appear that
the actual name is simply "Internet". This name can make Internet-based discussion of the
cartridge rather difficult, so many choose to elaborate on the name to some degree. The
Internet Cart, along with an external modem, allows the game.com to act as a "mini-web
browser" - send email, surf the 'net, etc. The interface is a textual one, so you'll need
access to a text-based ISP before being able to use the Internet Cart (AOL accounts do not
work, altho most local ISPs will).
The second cartridge is called Web Link. With little to no pre-release word or
advertising on this cartridge, it is the source of most of the confusion about the Com's
internet capability. Web Link allows the user to connect the game.com to a personal
computer and transfer certain files between the two. If the PC has internet connection,
files from the 'net can be transfered to the Com as well. In a sense, this cart could have
been dubbed "PC Link", altho most of the files being exchanged will be to and from Tiger's
own website. At the moment, Web Link's only function is to upload high scores to the
official game.com website, and download cheat codes for games.
[ToC]
These people, either knowingly or unknowingly, helped contribute information
to this FAQ:
Steven L Cox (FAQ Maintainer)
ToysRLife (Online Com Guru)
Ken Gagne (game.com Review)
Gabriel Velasco (agvtg-c Services)
