TIGER/HASBRO MERGER

Early in February, a story surfaced on one of the many online gaming magazines that spoke of the Hasbro toy company purchasing Tiger Electronics, while strongly suggesting that the "dismal sales" of the game.com were to blaim for the takeover. Here is a copy of the article in question:

Next Generation On-Line
February 10, 1998

Grabbing A Tiger By the Tail

Hasbro has agreed to buy Tiger Electronic for $335 million, in a deal that was most likely precipitated by dismal sales of the Game.com.

Hasbro has agreed to buy Tiger Electronic for $335 million, in a deal that was precipitated by dismal sales of the Game.com.

Tiger Electronic's failed bid to capture into the handheld market with the Game.com is considered by industry insiders to be the motivating force behind the company's sale to Hasbro Toys. Hasbro paid $335 million dollars for the electronic toymaker and received rights to all the Tiger brands which include Giga Pets, Laser Tag, and the Game.com.

Much of Tiger's future was bet on its black and white handheld, which never gained popular support due to its disastrous marketing campaign, and the continued strength of Nintendo's Gameboy.

Upon my discovery of this article, I started working on my own research of the story. Next Generation magazine had never struck me as particularly non-partisan in its reporting, so I had less-than-perfect faith in their report. So.... I gave them a call and asked what their source was on this story. The gentleman I spoke with was friendly and helpful, and he pointed me to the official Press Release from Tiger & Hasbro, reprinted below:

Business Wire
( BW)(HASBRO)(HAS) Hasbro Acquires Tiger Electronics

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 1998--Hasbro Inc. (ASE:HAS) and Tiger Electronics Inc. announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Hasbro to acquire the operating assets of Tiger and its affiliates. Tiger, based in Vernon Hills, Ill., is a leader in the development and distribution of electronic entertainment, including hand-held games, toys and learning aids.

Privately held Tiger was founded in 1979 by its current President and CEO, Randy Rissman and Senior Executive Vice President, Roger Shiffman. Some of Tiger's top sellers include TV and Family games, Brain and Action games such as Brain Warp, Puzzle games like Lites Out, as well as Giga Pets, Game.Com, and Laser Tag.

The purchase price is approximately $335 million, subject to certain closing adjustments, plus the value at closing of inventory, tooling, equipment and certain prepaid assets. The companies reported that the Hart Scott Rodino Anti-Trust Improvement Act waiting period has expired, and the transaction should be completed early in the second quarter.

"Tiger brings Hasbro a rich portfolio of brands and expertise in an area that has great growth potential for us, particularly as electronic entertainment technologies converge," said Alan G. Hassenfeld, chairman and chief executive officer of Hasbro Inc. "The combination of Hasbro's and Tiger's product development know-how, together with our global brands and international marketing strength, make for an exciting match. We are also particularly pleased that Randy and Roger will continue to operate the company."

"The sale of Tiger to Hasbro allows us to accelerate the growth of our products on a global basis, while expanding the opportunities for our dedicated employees," said Randy Rissman, Tiger's Chief Executive Officer. "We are proud to become part of the Hasbro family of companies and look forward to helping them become the market leader in electronic toys and electronic games."

Hasbro is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys, games, interactive software, puzzles and infant care products. Both internationally and in the U.S., its Playskool, Kenner, Tonka, OddzOn, SuperSoaker, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Hasbro Interactive products, provides children and families with the highest quality and most recognizable toys and games in the world.

As you might notice, there is a considerable difference in emphasis and implication between the two sources. IMO, I consider the NextGen report to be little more than guesswork and hackwork. When you want info, you go to the source and see what can be gathered. Speaking of sources, the game.com online guru ToysRLife had these words to say, snipped from various agvtg-c postings:

14 Feb 1998

Hello all. Sorry it took so long to reply. I was in New York for the Annual Toy Fair for the last two weeks. Yes it is true, Hasbro has purchased Tiger. Tiger will remain its own entity. And NO the com will not suffer. Chances are it will prosper due to Hasbro's marketing efforts. As to new com games not coming out for 3-6 months, this is false. In fact Fighters MegaMix is about to head out the door. Also during Toy Fair more than 20 new titles were introduced. However I can not really say what they are here I am sorry to say. These will all be shipping in 98.

Overall, this looks to be a positive gain for the Com. Hasbro is a larger corporate entity than Tiger, with more resources to draw upon for support of the Com. With Tiger remaining a seperate functional group, a subset of Hasbro instead of being broken up and assimilated, the outlook of the Com continuing down its original path appears to be a good one.

FOUR CONFIRMED TITLES

New word on what 4 of those upcoming 20 titles will feature. Our lovable Com guru ToysRLife has provided the titles and some background info of 4 upcoming games:

6 Mar 1998

Hi all... Just thought I would drop a tid-bit of info for all you game.com owners. Since you are looking for new games, I thought I would release a few more secret titles that will be released this year. They are:

Resident Evil 2
X-Files
Godzilla (based on movie)
Small Soldiers (based on movie)

I have seen screen shots from RE2, and they are very awesome. Just thought I would give you some info to show you game.com is far from dead, and now on a roll.

X-Files will be a combination RPG / shooter / Adventure type game. As far as I know. This game will also have some basis on the X-Files movie that is also being released this summer.

As to Resident Evil 2, it will pretty much mask the actual game. As close as a B/W system can.

As an aside, the next Com title to hit store shelves was also revealed by the guru:

Fighters Megamix will be released sometime this month.

COLOR GAMEBOY ANNOUNCED

The game.com vs gameboy competition is looking to take on a whole new tint. Nintendo of America has announced the forthcoming Color Gameboy, with excerpts of the press release listed below:

Mar 10 1998

The new Color Game Boy units will be similar in size to the existing small Game Boy Pocket units, but will contain new, proprietary technology that displays sharp and vivid color graphics on a new type of color reflective screen for play indoors or out of doors. The new technology will allow the simultaneous display of 56 bright colors out of a palette of 32,000.

Color Game Boy also will run the more than 1000 games designed for it internationally since the system's inception in 1989. Those games will show colors in a range of hues from a 10-palette selection, determined by the player.

"For years, our players have asked us for a Game Boy that could play their favorite games in color. But the technology, and the high demand on battery life, made it impossible," says Howard Lincoln, chairman, Nintendo of America. "As the first to surmount the technical obstacles, we're able to introduce a whole new generation of color games to the millions of people who love Game Boy."

From other sources we learn of the expected battery lifespan and cost of the new system:

The color Gameboy is said to run for 12 hours [20 hours without the backlighting] off a setof AA batteries and should make a great accessory to the upcoming 64DD drive.

The hand-held will begin selling in Japan before year's end for 9,000 yen ($70 US). Software will sell for 3,000-4,500 yen ($20-35 US), slightly more expensive than current Gameboy titles.

And our guru's response to my inquiry:

>Is there an official response to the announcement of
>a Color Gameboy?

No response on color anything.