WPTV and WSM to become ABC affiliation in the 80s

[DucNguyen0131]

April 27, 1989

Sony Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, whose contributions include soundchip adapters for the Famicom, as well as the Famicom Cassette System, Famicom Compact Disk System and the Game Boy TV Adapter, is promising to do more toolkits.

Sony is dedicated to producing Nintendo Family Computer toolkits.

Sony is working in collaboration with Nintendo for the soundchip of the upcoming Super Famicom console, which is due out next year.

One of the new toolkits is an expanded voice speech dedicated for the Nintendo Famicom as Sony provided more storage and expansion kits for the Famicom.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 2, 1989

Fox is launching a new Friday night lineup with Hockey Night in Canada, which was destined to be Fox's flagship series, with Saturday going to the new reality shows Cops, The Reporters and Beyond Tomorrow.

The Game Boy and the Game Boy TV Adapter became the world's fastest growing game products of 1989, with the monochrome Game Boy, and the Sony-engineered, full color adaptation of the Game Boy TV Adapter for the Famicom.

The reason why they play the Game Boy TV Adapter a lot is because of the color screen Sony accepted for the Famicom, but Gunpei Yokoi refused, wanting a long battery life.

Ken Kutaragi, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment said that the Game Boy TV Adapter was in full color, as understandable by the four launch titles, which could be shown in monochrome on the handheld and in full color on the TV adapter.

Here's the original monochrome versions of the launch titles (as shown on the mono Game Boy):

Here's the full color versions (as shown on the Game Boy TV Adapter):

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 4, 1989

The Game Boy is planning for an American launch this fall by Nintendo of America, alongside the counterpart, the SIE-developed Game Boy TV Adapter on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Its launch price cost $89.99.

The Game Boy TV Adapter, which is about to be shown, soon at the Summer CES 1989 in Chicago, would have a launch price of $99.99.

Both combined would have a $189.98 launch price.

To coincide with the Game Boy launch, Nintendo also planned a new version of the Nintendo Entertainment System with the Game Boy TV Adapter attached, as well as two NES controllers, and a Tetris game pak. Some games on the TV Adapter also have a Zapper included with the enhancements.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 8, 1989

Sega-based developer Odyssey Video is joining the Mega Drive to supply its plans for a VHS-based console. The Mega Drive Cassette Adapter, and the Mega Drive Disk Drive would be schedule for release this year.

It is noted that Howard Lincoln, and Howard Phillips, of Nintendo of America said that the Game Boy TV Adapter for the NES would have 56 colors.

Games on the Game Boy would be played in monochrome on the Game Boy, in full color on the NES Game Boy TV Adapter.

By the end of May 1989, Nintendo would present its newest sports title on the Game Boy, Tennis, which was a tennis simulator, to be out in Japan.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 10, 1989

Nintendo is giving a proof-of-concept for executives, dubbed the Super Famicom, it would be as pure as the Mega Drive and the new NEC PC Engine, both of these were due out for release in 1989 in the Americas.

The Game Boy TV Adapter was Nintendo's newest in the Summer 1989 CES (instead of OTL's Nintendo NES version of Tetris).

Sony reached out to develop more toolkits and audio editors designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

All stations required 75% of its clearance for Electronic Gaming Monthly: The Show, with the EGM being already out in several months ago.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 12, 1989

Sony Interactive Entertainment, a primary Famicom developer is receiving all of the toolkits he received for the Famicom, plus Sony is developing a new vector graphics adapter developed for the Famicom.

Sony also wanted to ask Nintendo to develop a vector graphics adapter for the Game Boy, demonstrating 3D graphics.

Camerica became a Nintendo licensee, butterflying its unlicensed status away, in order for Camerica to produce their own creative material.

Howard Phillips and Sony were pleased of Camerica's work by Nintendo, so Camerica must use the Nintendo Seal of Approval.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 15, 1989

Record label/distributor Warner-Elektra-Atlantic is heading for a new Nintendo licensee under the branding WEA New Media, which was designed to publish video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System as well as its three adapters.

WEA New Media would have its first Nintendo-licensed title The Black Onyx, scheduled for release in the late of 1989.

Other titles planned by WEA included Ballblazer, a title licensed from Lucasfilm Games, which was originally released for the computers, and Toobin', a title licensed from Tengen, originally released for the arcades.

Seismic Software, a Sega licensee emerged as a new Nintendo licensee, had a licensing agreement with Sega Enterprises to license four Sega titles Shinobi, After Burner, Fantasy Zone and Alien Syndrome, which would grant the company the official Nintendo Seal of Quality.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 18, 1989

The Game Boy and the four launch titles, and the Game Boy TV Adapter became more successful, with the blocky monochrome Game Boy screen and the full color TV Screen adapter for the Nintendo Famicom.

The Famicom could have high hopes in order to produce more titles by 1989 after the success.

Instead of OTL's Nintendo NES version of Tetris, the Game Boy TV Adapter would be a centerplace for the Summer CES 1989.

Thanks to the full color power on the TV screen, hoping that Nintendo would receive more licensees such as Seismic Software, and WEA New Media, in addition to existing licensees that include Tengen and Color Dreams.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 22, 1989

EGM: The Show has just signed up KTZZ in Seattle as its market clearance for the station, opting the show for a higher and bigger viewership in order to be watchable for a new generation of its own gamers.

The show Electronic Gaming Monthly: The Show would be a weekly, and it would be sanctioned by the EGM magazine.

The show is produced by the same producing team who did the Fun House series.

Electronic Gaming Monthly: The Show expected a wide 75% advantage of its own clearances from audiences.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 25, 1989

It is reported that the sales of the first four Game Boy games, on the original monochrome Game Boy, and the Famicom Game Boy TV Adapter would work great in the Japanese marketplace, so we hope that they would have five games in America.

The American launch titles on the Game Boy were Alleyway, Baseball, Super Mario Land, Tennis and Tetris.

The Mega Drive came close to release in North America as the Genesis in the fall of 1989, as well as the TurboGrafx-16 (the westernized PC Engine).

Both the Mega Drive and the Game Boy have a strong reputation for having the Tetris title, with the handheld rights going to Nintendo. Tengen had the console rights of Tetris, instead of OTL's Nintendo.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 29, 1989

The adaptation of Nintendo's famous tennis game Tennis on the Game Boy is finally out! Game Boy's version of Tennis means 1 players vs two players, with the Game Boy link cable was used for multiplayer mode (or the second Famicom controller for the one with the TV adapter).

Here's the original monochrome version (as shown on original Game Boy):

Here's the full color version (as shown on the Game Boy TV Adapter):

The Game Boy TV Adapter version of Tennis allows two Famicom controllers for play with the multiplayer mode. The title was also already out for the Famicom and the Famicom Disk System, with superior gameplay.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

May 31, 1989

Sega and NEC America is introducing their new 16-bit glory with the planned arrival of the two new consoles the Sega Genesis and the TurboGrafx-16 at the Summer CES 1989, as well as the unveiling of the Game Boy, and the Game Boy TV Adapter for the NES.

The Game Boy TV Adapter, engineered by Sony Interactive Entertainment is a full-color implementation of the monochrome Game Boy for the NES.

Whereas the Game Boy had only four colors, the Game Boy TV Adapter for the NES had a full-color experience of playing their Game Boy games.

Broderbund showed promise to the upcoming new NES title The King of Chicago, which was acquired and licensed from Cinemaware Corporation.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 2-5, 1989

On the Nintendo booth, we unveiled the new Game Boy, which was already out in Japan, and new accessories for the NES, including the Game Boy TV Adapter, which plays Game Boy in full color for your home, developed and engineered by Sony, and the new Nintendo Compact Disk System, as well as the new games Dragon Warrior, Cobra Triangle, Barker Bill's Trick Shooting, Short Order, To the Earth and the NES Play Action Football, as well as the four-player NES Satellite, and the new Cassette System title Cyberhead. Regarding of licensees, Absolute would get A Boy and His Blob and Shredder, and Acclaim had the accessories Acclaim Remote and Double Player, and new games Airwolf and Knight Rider, while there are four new games, one planned for 1990, Cybernoid, Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and heading for 1990, Bigfoot. One other Acclaim title was Headaway High, a new FMV title for the Nintendo Cassette System and the Nintendo Compact Disk System. Activision would have the new titles Archon, Ghostbusters II, Hot Rocks, Stealth ATF, The Three Stooges and Tombs and Treasures. Bandai would get the new Power Pad titles Athletic World and Street Cop, while we have the Zapper title Shooting Range, as well as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Monster Party, and Xybots, a title licensed from Atari Games, as well as Wild Boys, and the new licensed properties Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Gilligan's Island. Broderbund had the U-Force, the hands-off controller, as well as Guardian Legend, King of Chicago and The Battle of Olympus. Capcom had the new titles Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, DuckTales, Mega Man II, Strider and Code Name: Viper. Sony Interactive Entertainment America would get Super Dodge Ball, Super Rescue, Super Sushi Pinball, Championship Soccer, and the new FMV title Haunted Ghost. Culture Brain would have Baseball Simulator 1000, Flying Dragon I, Kung Fu Heroes and The Magic of Scheherezade. Data East's upcoming titles were Bad Dudes and RoboCop. FCI would have Hydlide, World Championship Wrestling and Phantom Fighter.

GameTek showed Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition and Wheel of Fortune: Silver Anniversary Edition, as well as the Fisher-Price line, which are Perfect Fit and I Can Remember, as well as the titles later in 1990 are My Grand Piano, Fun Flyer, School Bus Driver, Firehouse Rescue and Little People Bowling Alley. HAL America showed Adventures of Lolo, Air Fortress and Rollerball. Hi-Tech Expressions showed Sesame Street titles, as well as The Chessmaster, Win, Lose or Draw, Remote Control, Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival, Fun House and The Hunt for Red October. Hudson Soft had the Adventures of Dino-Riki, Starship Hector, Joycard Sansui SSS, a new accessory, and new titles were Xexyz and Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom. Jaleco USA had Hoops and Goal!, while the company is heading up Bases Loaded II: The Second Season, and Bashi Bazook: Morphoid Master. Kemco-Seika would have Spy vs. Spy II, Desert Commander and Shadowgate, while heading newly announced CES titles Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular, Rocket Ranger and Rescue: The Embassy Mission. Koei would have its first title Nobunga's Ambition, as well as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Genghis Khan. Konami would have Top Gun II: The Second Mission, as well as Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf. LJN would get a new version of A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as new titles Who Framed Roger Rabbit, NFL Football, Back to the Future and Marvel's X-Men. Matchbox would obtain a new Nintendo licensee with Tune-Up Rallye, Monster Truck Rodeo, Urban Convoy and Web World. Mattel would have Power Glove and the Bad Street Brawler, as well as the FMV title Hero Brotherhood. Milton Bradley would got new games Jordan vs. Bird: One on One, Cabal, Captain Skyhawk, Time Lord and the Cinemaware title Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon. Mindscape would have the arcade title Roadblasters, 720, Infiltrator, The Last Starfighter and Road Runner. Nexoft would have CastleQuest, and wireless remote NES controllers. Romstar would got its first release Twin Eagle.

Seismic Software, with the licensing agreement with Sega, became the new Nintendo licensee with After Burner, Fantasy Zone, Shinobi and Alien Syndrome, to both Master System fans who enjoyed the SMS versions. SNK would have Baseball Stars, Guerrilla War and P.O.W., while Seta's first release would be Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Sofel would get its first new title Casino Kid, Square Soft would get its new Nintendo licensee King's Knight, and Sunsoft would have Fester's Quest, as well as the new Disk System titles Terminator and Batman. At Tengen, it showed Tetris, as well as Final Lap, Super Sprint, Vindicators and Police Academy. Tengen also licensed other titles to Mindscape, as well as Bandai, both of them got Nintendo licensees. Taito got its new NES game with Sky Shark, Target Renegade and Demon Sword. Taxan showed its existing titles while showing new title 8-Eyes. Tecmo would have Tecmo World Wrestling as the next game, while Toho got Godzilla. Tradewest took the attention of the NES Satellite with Magic Johnson's Fast Break and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road. Ultra Games would have Silent Service and the NES Satellite game Kings of the Beach. Vic Tokai would have Golgo 13, Kid Kool, Clash at Demonhead, Terra Cresta and All-Pro Basketball and WEA New Media would have home versions of The Black Onyx, Ballblazer and Toobin'. Color Dreams debuted Street Football, as well as Raid 2020, Baby Boomer, Crystal Mines and Metal Fighter (its unlicensed status and shovelware has been butterflied away in order to fit as a simple Nintendo license).

At Sega, it unveiled the new Sega Genesis, a 16-bit game with newer games Altered Beast, Super Thunder Blade, Space Harrier II, Ghouls'n Ghosts, Super Hang-On, with other games planned were Last Battle, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and Forgotten World. Sports games were Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and Golf, as well as the new Telegenesis game, which was called by phone. Third-party developers identified were Namco Ltd., Tengen, Sun Electronics Sorp., Sigma Enterprises Inc., Techno Soft Company Ltd., Micronet Company Ltd., Treco Ltd., Dempa Publicaton, Inc., HBS Company, Ltd. and Spectrum HoloByte, and the first title was Falcon, will be playable with the TeleGenesis Modem. The Genesis Power Base Converter allows you to play 8-bit Master System titles. Sega also had new action games Cloud Master, Captain Silver, and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, while Sega featured Dead Angle, Dynamite Dux, Scramble Spirit and Golden Axe, while Sega had a RPG in Ultima, and a Western game Wanted with the Light Phaser, sports titles included Basketball Nightmare, World Games, Tennis Ace, and Super Golf and new FMV game Ultimate Challenge.

For the handheld, Nintendo and Atari displayed the handhelds, and the Game Boy featured a monochrome display (the color screen can be found in the NES Game Boy TV Adapter), with four new titles were Alleyway, Baseball, Tennis and Super Mario Land, and the Game Boy was packaged with Tetris. Konami showed Gridiron Gladiators, Ultra had Motocross Maniacs, and new licensees produced were Ghostbusters II by Activision, Super Pinball and Shanghai by Hal America, and R.B.I. Baseball GB, Badlands and Gauntlet by Tengen. Other companies with available Nintendo licensees were Absolute Entertainment, Acclaim Entertainment, American Technos, Bandai, Capcom, FCI, GameTek, Hi-Tech Exprressions, Hot-B USA, Jaleco, Koei, LJN Toys, Mindscape, Rare Coin-It, Sega, SNK, Software Creations, Taito, Tecmo and Vic Tokai. Atari had the Lynx in cooperation with Epyx with Monster Demolition, Impossible Mission, Blue Lightning, Time Quests & Treasure Chests and The Gates of Zendocon.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 8, 1989

Tengen, the long-standing Nintendo licensee since 1986 was dedicated to commitments to develop R.B.I. Baseball 2 (which is based on Pro Yakyuu: Family Stadium '87 by Namco) for the NES, which was to be published this fall.

Tengen said they would recently announce three Nintendo Game Boy titles R.B.I. Baseball GB, Badlands and Gauntlet, three of the Atari Games-licensed titles, and it was among the licensees who supported Tetris for the Game Boy. It currently has the console rights to the Tetris games.

Bandai is planning on to do a line of Xybots action figures, made under license from Atari Games, based and revolved around the characters Rock Hardy and Ace Gunn, and a planned NES adaptation made to tie-in on the Bandai figures.

New presentation is hoped for the Nintendo Game Boy and the NES Game Boy TV Adapter, which plays Game Boy games in full-color.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 12, 1989

A new generation of games began when the Game Boy and the Game Boy TV Adapter on the Famicom hit so many sales that Game Boy cartridges are required to be sold and decided to be the fastest-growing project.

The new handheld iteration of Tetris would be out in the next two days or so.

A new generation of gamers would welcome the announcement of TurboGrafx-16 and the Sega Genesis at the Summer CES 1989.

EGM: The Show takes the new generation up to an level of game show viewers who successfully had to watch the show.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 14, 1989

The Game Boy adaptation of Tetris is finally out to stores, and helped them to save the Game Boy themselves. Tetris is a title that was licensed from Academysoft-Elorg, Andromeda Software Ltd., Mirrorsoft Ltd., Sphere Inc., Tengen Inc. and Bullet-Proof Software Inc.

Here's the original monochrome version (as shown on the original Game Boy):

Here's the full color version (as shown on the Game Boy TV Adapter):

Tetris was derived from a original concept by Alexey Pazhitnov and from a original design and program by Vadim Gerasimov. It will soon to be a success that the Game Boy would earn major players worldwide.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 16, 1989

Tengen, Inc. is saving their reputation by getting Tetris the most awarded and best-selling Nintendo Disk System game of the year, beating Super Mario Bros. 2, which quietly starting to became Tengen's first best-selling title since R.B.I. Baseball.

Nintendo liked Tetris' gameplay for having simple and fun addiction and having the multiplayer mode the best (the official OTL Nintendo version of the game on the NES has been butterflied away, so Game Boy TV Player was made instead).

Our EGM score: The Mark of Excellence

Tetris became the fastest-growing NES title, and go on to sell 3,000,000 copies (in contrast to OTL, where sales are quickly pulled after a lawsuit), and promised that they liked the mechanics, even by Nintendo themselves.

Nintendo Power, who covered Tetris gave them a chart of 20,503 on the June 1989 issue, the best of all Tengen games on the Nintendo Disk System.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 19, 1989

European-based Argonaut Software is signing on to develop vector games for the Famicom Vector System, which went on to be scheduled for release in Japan in 1989, and had high hopes for a Western release in 1990.

Argonaut is also planning on to develop a 3D processing chip for the Nintendo Entertainment System with the high hopes of releasing it early next year.

At the same time, LJN Toys came close to signing a licensing agreement with the National Hockey League to develop a NES game based around the NHL hockey stadium. The title NHL Hockey would be out in the early of 1990.

Tengen had high hopes for a sequel to the critically-acclaimed Tetris, which had expected that they will be out early next year in order to program the game in an AmigaBASIC. The NES version by Tengen went on to be a best seller as of now (like OTL's Nintendo version, and unlike OTL's Tengen version)

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 22, 1989

The new Fox shows like Open House, Totally Hidden Video, Hockey Night in Canada and Alien Nation are promising even though some stations like WLVI-TV in Boston had ever carried the show, and decided that Fox would make it into a bigger hit.

The Game Boy saw promotion in North America where it was promoted as "portable power", and we have the advanced Game Boy TV Adapter.

The Game Boy TV Adapter was a full-color implementation of the Game Boy for the Nintendo Entertainment System as an adapter to play Game Boy games. (By the way, TTL's Super Famicom is backwards compatible with the original Famicom, meaning that the Game Boy TV Adapter enhancements would be used on Super Game Boy, and on the Game Boy Color).

-

"Right around the deep, Game Boy was in pure monochrome, but the Nintendo Cassette System and even the Nintendo Disk System was a catch-on among game console collectors, and Sony had adapted the Game Boy into a widespread full-color television system for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and June 1989 was the month to catch it on for Nintendo, as we already previewed it for the Summer CES 1989. The Game Boy was in monochrome, whereas the Game Boy TV Adapter was in full color. The next Game Boy was out three years ago, and we already had full color support"
-from an interview with Howard Lincoln on the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Game Boy.

 

[DucNguyen0131]

June 26-30, 1989

And now, here's a recap of a NES game from the July 1989 issue of Computer Entertainer:

When Dolphins Attack (Rating 5): Another spectacular full-motion video title from Sony Interactive Entertainment, it was in the vein of the movie Jaws, it was required to use the Zapper to shoot all the dolphins in order to get a contested high score, and even getting a continue feature in order to save our progress via battery backup. Available for the Nintendo Cassette System. Recommended.

And a recap of a SMS game from Computer Entertainer:

Street Night (Rating: 3/3/1/2). A full-motion video title from Sega that brings us the excitement and the power of all full-motion video, with a gang of streets beating all throughout the night, and we can beat us with the Power Controller. Available for the Master System Cassette Adapter. Recommended.

Sachen would became the first Taiwanese developer to offer a Nintendo licensee, developing games for the NES with our "Seal of Quality" for Western and Japanese gamers, thus butterflying all unlicensed cartridges away.

The Game Boy is far off from a month away for Western audiences, so we have some fun and excitement to bring the first four games in both black and white on the handheld, and in full color on our TV adapter for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Sony was pleased of the full color screen found on the Nintendo Game Boy TV Adapter, for the NES, with a $129.99 launch price, so developers are required to use the full color adapter for programming.