SCANNER
WEBSITE Freeloader http:/r’www.freeloadercom
freelOader com
All the games you could wish for- and they're free Harry Holmwood, chief executive of Pure Entertainment, seems to be stating the obvious when he explains the thinking behind PE’s new venture Freeloadercom. ’We had a long hard look at the net and decided that what people wanted were free games,’ he says. Launching at the end of May, Freeloader.com will offer premium software titles to the public for no charge. All that is required is a modem and the willingness to answer a few marketing questions as your game downloads. Seem too good to be true?
'When you hand over £30 to a shop for a game, at most only £2 reaches the developer,’ he says. 'A little research showed us that advertising on a website could pay this cost and allow users to download quality titles for nothing.’ And it would appear that developers agree. With 50 titles already licensed and plans afoot for a further 30 to become available over the next six months, Freeloader.com has much to offer. And there are many who are eager to take advantage. 'A month before our official launch and our beta test site has more subscribers than Lastminute.com,’ he claims. If all goes to plan Freeloader.com will be huge.
’We’ve taken our time, ensuring that everything works and works well,’ he says. 'Currently, we have 2000 servers up and running and will have 4000 more by the end of the year. This will ensure that downloads will be quick.’ How quick? ’The games are downloaded level by level so, at the moment, a game like GTA takes around twenty minutes for the game engine but less than five minutes for each subsequent level.
Once ADSL comes in you’re talking about under a tenth . of that time.’
And the games themselves? ’Apart from Pure Entertainment’s own software like Rat Attack, Take 2 have licensed us a good portion of their catalogue. GTA, Hidden And Dangerous and Wild Metal Country will all be available. It also gives an opportunity to those developers who find publishing games a loss-maker. Very soon we will have first-time games only available on Freeloader.’
Whether Freeloader.com will revolutionise the industry is uncertain. What is certain is that everyone loves a freebie. (lain Davidson)
’9‘. v
Blokshok
Soldier Of Fortune (Actlvlsion) £34.99 7. r; a
Blood, guts and gore have the strange abrlrty to rrrrtate outspoken moralrsts wvhrle attractrng the casual gamer, It rs no surprrse then that Sold/er Of Fortune has caused gurte a rrpple rn the press as It flew off the shelves by the thousands. It rs, by far and away, the gorrest first- person shooter on the market today, an achrevernent that has overshadowed what rs otherWIse a solrd, rt unrrnagrnatrve, trtle As the trtle suggests, or 'ather‘ explarns In full, you are a gun for hrre. lvlrssron alter rnrssron takes you around the ‘~.'.ror|d, plac rng you rn fatal cornpetrtron agarnst the most evrl
slrck and smooth, beautrfully recreatrng the trans-global envrronrnents, whrle the cunnrng Artrfrcral Intellrgence ensures that achrevrng your goals rs no walk rn the park But It rs the huge selectron of anrmated deaths that make Sold/er Of Fortune stand out from the crowd. There are countless bloody ways to put your enemy down, each forc rng an embarrassed look away from the screen to make sure no one saw you laugh evrlly. Sold/er Of Fortune rs a relrable shooter wrth a controversral sellrng pornt. (lam Davrdsom
STAR RATINGS
r. at 1» e v. Unmrssable
* + i‘ t Very good organrsatrons k ,r, , Worth a Shot hurnanrty has to ‘A' * Below average (mm HM, Visuals (m, *- You've been warned
Totally wired
The world of the Web. Ha Ha Bonk
http://www.hahabonkcom
Remember the sound of someone Iaughrng therr head off7 What a W tr orrgrnal web comedy that’s funny. Crazy words, I know, but thrs rs bra: .ar". fsrzo': anrmatrons that are very well produced A must-see My head fell off at east '\.e trmes
Virtual Festivals http://wwwvlrtual-festivals.com Thrs rs a srte for festrval goers, run by festrval goers Every poss;ble detarl o" every possrble festrval rs here Read brographres of the bands appearrng, or buy merchandrse onlrne. There’s even gomg to be a faCIlrty to buy tents onlrne soon. Desrgned equally for the seasoned goer, or the complete novrce.
The Fez Page
http://memberstripod.comx' ~fezpage/index.htm|
Ever consrdered donnrng a srr‘ro-cnu Jacket and a t’e/ and hrttrng tr‘e tc).'." 1‘ lvle nerther But these boys have, (1".(1 fr s rs a vrsual catalogue of ther expro is
Also detarls of therr next Fe/ " grrt comrng soon to a large Scott'srr crf;
wwwblokshokcom A new Scottrsh arts srte that, although rn rts early “ stages of lrfe, rs shaprng up to be sornethrng pretty r J specral From the well-stylrsh front page (really, the rnterfac'e rs brrlirant) the srte provrdes a stage for a wealth of talent from rnusrc to poetry Certarnly one to keep an eye on.
Too Hot
http://wwwtoohot.com
YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN HANDLE HER HEAT? OTHERS HAVE TRIED, ONLY TO BE BURNED
All thrs rs a srte to aclvertrse extra hot rnrnts But rt acts llkt‘ a showc asc- 'o' multrrnedra web prc—tsentatrons Ultrmately worthless, rt's great fun. to g .s’. waste some trrne browsrng through the sec trons from orrgrnal musrc to fl?!" t'a 'e's Srmple but compellrng
PC Cat Detector http://www.bitboostcomIpawsense/index.html ’lhrs rs a legrtrrnate prec e of software that purports to protect your PC a:;a "s: cats standrng on your keyboard and cleletrng trles 'lhrs masterprece of prograrnmrng can drstrngursh between human and 'cat-Irke typrng, a't: c:. x the cat out of your system, and sound a badly played harmonrca to scare the moggre senseless If thrs were a spoof, rt would be great But rt's real, and rt's
prrc eless
Movie Mistakes http:/r’www.movie-mistakescom Attentron frlm geeks' We all know. ot the mrstakes and rrr'egularrtres that appear rn lrlms (the legendary stor'rntrooper‘ smackrng hrs head off the door rr~ Sim etc) Thrs srte rs dedrcated to hndrng as many as possr'ple, and Mann notched up no fewer than 03‘ entrres lgually compellrng and pecra'flc
rSteve Blarr“
r' 2.: THE usr 125