Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page 54

E2 THE HARTFORD COURANT Sunday, February 13, 2000 a The Best Don't Always Sell ON THE AIR HE anFA RE CYBERSPORTS PAUL ROSANO 7 p.m.: Islanders at Rangers, MSG; Radio: 660 8 p.m.: Red Wings at Avalanche, ESPN PAGE now.corrr 1999 Top Selling PC Sports Games Title Publisher Units soW Total sales 1. MS Golf 99 Microsoft 154,741 $3.1 million 2. Madden 2000 EA Sports 148,536 $5.6 million 3. Triple Play 2000 EA Sports 144,900 $3.6 million 4. Links IS 1999 Access 114,784 $5.1 million 5.

MS NFL Fever Microsoft 114,596 $2.2 million 6. Links LS 2000 Microsoft 104,225 $4.6 million 7. Tiger Woods 99 EA Sports 103,036 $2.8 million 8. NHL 2000 EA Sports 97,219 $3.7 million 9. T.

Woods PGA Tour EA Sports 85,373 $2.5 million 10. MS Baseball 2000 Microsoft 82,763 $1.6 million Want to talk Central Connecticut basketball? Visit the Blue Devils' message board at www.ctnow.com. THE WEEK AHEAD ries unless another publisher picks it up. And we can conclude it's not always what game is in the box, but what name is on it that counts when it comes to sales. SUN MON TUE WED THU SAT UCONN atSetxHal Miami MEN 7 30p(Ti UCONN at St John's Syracuse WOMEN 730pm HARTFORD at Delaware atNor'eastem at Boston U.

MEN 7:30 pm 7 pm 1 pm central at R. Morris at St Francis MEN 7:30 pm (Pa.) 7 pm at Utah a Golden St at Seattle canes pm 1030 pm 10 pm at Toronto Minnesota Indiana KMCKS 7 pm 7:30 pm 3:30 pm Lowe! St John's WOLF PACK 7:05 pm 7:35 pm at Rodcford at Ft Wayne FUR I I 805 pm 805 pm Sportsbook Time and again, it's easy to see that popularity and critical praise are often not in sync. Still, no matter how many times it happens, sales figures never cease to surprise. Several months back, we had PC Data, a marketing research firm in Reston, Va run sales numbers for PC sports software and were surprised that a title released in late 1998, with little praise or ink, was the top seller. Well, with figures in for the year, that same game, "Microsoft Golf 1999," was the No.

1 seller for 1999 by a healthy 6,000 units over EA Sports' "Madden 2000." Since it is a mid-price level game "MS Golf actually earned about $2 million less than Madden the top game in gross sales at slightly more than $5.5 million. "MS Golf' isn't published anymore, since MS acquired the "Links" line from Access Software. At least we can say "Madden" is a game liked by reviewers and the public alike, as were many of the top 10. But what's with "MS Golf'? Perhaps the brand issue is more significant than one would think. Look at the "Links" series.

The top-selling golf simulation for years, the game's last version under Access, a small company based in Utah, finished fifth, topping 114,000 units. The Microsoft version of "Links," which wasn't released until late fall and with virtually nothing new in it, sold nearly that many in about three months Taken together, the series albeit with two different publishers dwarfs every other product in units sold. Further, one of MS's new sports titles, "NFL Fever 2000," finished fifth despite its lack of a statistics compiler. Think of that, a sports game in which you can't track stats! It still sold well Sure, it had good to very good game play, but even at $20, the statistics compiler is a significant hole in the product. The power of the MS brand seems evident and backs up the basic premise that buyers stick with proven names.

When you add in "MS Baseball," which was 10th, Microsoft had four of the top 10 games in sales. That was second only to EA Sports five. It appears MS is here to stay in the sports genre. STARTING LINES liams advanced to the Paris Open final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Julie Halard-Decugis. Williams will play Nathalie Tauziat, who rallied to beat Anna Kourni-kova, 7-6 (75), 2-6, 6-4.

Mikael Till-strom defeated seventh-seeded Wayne Ferreira 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-3 to advance to the Sybase Open final in San Jose, Calif. Tillstrom, plays the winner of a late match between No. 2 seed Mark Philippoussis and No. 5 Jim Courier. Weber Wins 25th PBA Title Pete Weber earned his 25th career PBA Tour title, defeating Brian Himmler 209-198 in the final of the Empire State Open in Latham, N.Y.

Weber is one title short of tying his father, Dick Weber. Merlene Ot-tey and Linf ord Christie, among several top track and field athletes who have tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, will be suspended by the world governing body of track and field until it can hold hearings on their cases. There is speculation nutritional supplements are producing positive nandrolone findings. Compiled by Jerry McGuire from wire reports mm 4 p.m.: Merrimack at UMass-Lowell, FS 4 p.m.: AHL: Rochester at Providence, NESN 6:30 p.m.: All-Star Game, SOS; Radio: 1410 Noon: Georgetown at Pittsburgh, SXDO Noon: Women: Rhode Island at Duquesne, MSG, FS 1 p.m.: N.C-Charlotte at South Florida, NESN 1 p.m.: UCLA at Syracuse, Qt Radio: 1410, 800 1 p.m.: Women: Kansas at Nebraska, ESPN2 2 p.m.: Fordham at St Joseph's, MSG 3 p.m.: Boise State at New Mexico State, ESPN2 3:30 p.m.: Maryland at Temple, OQD 4 p.m.: Marist at Siena, MSG 6 p.m.: Marquette at Louisville, ESPN2 he 31? 1 9 a.m.: Malaysian Open, Golf 3 p.m.: Buick Invitational, 4 p.m.: 1410 4:30 p.m.: L.A. Women's Championship, Golf 5:30 p.m.: Ace Group Classic, ESPN (same-day tape) 11 a.m.: Bud Shootout qualifying, ESPN; Radio: Noon: Bud Shootout, 1:30 p.m.: Daytona 200, ESPN 3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Dash, ESPN 11 a.m.: Italian League match, IB 1 p.m.: America vs.

Guadalajara, UNI 3 p.m.: Costa Rica vs. Canada, UNI 4 p.m.: Leon vs. Toros Neza, 03 (tape) 1 a.m.: Pachuca vs. Santos, QQ Noon: Empire State Open, ESPN mm 7 p.m.: Paea Wolfgramm vs. Calvin Lampkin, FS (tape) Feb.

23rd Hartford VitolfPack AB tickets artful 10 for fen 12 arte? under on Kids Nrghtf Comes Ml Crushmon Poster Night brought to you ant-TVI For individual tickets, caH mswrig at 860-525500 or stqj by the Hartford Owe Center Box Office. Ticket prices $14.00 A $18.50. New York Rangers 1 Cincinnati Mikity Duck PM ihe Perfett a Tyson Staying Overseas Mike Tyson's next fight will definitely be outside the United States, advisor Shelly Finkel said Saturday. The former heavyweight champion, who beat Julius Francis in five rounds last month in Manchester, England, is expected to fight April 1 or 8 with the opponent and site to be determined. Milan, Italy, or Madrid or Barcelona in Spain are being considered, and Lou Savarese appears to be the probable opponent.

Sosa Briefly Hospitalized Sammy Sosa was treated and released from a Las Vegas hospital after the Chicago Cubs slugger became ill with flu-like symptoms. Sosa, 31, was in Las Vegas to participate in a home-run contest that included Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez. Cubs pitchers and catchers report to spring training today in Mesa, the full squad is due Friday. Outfielder Alex Ochoa and Cincinnati avoided a salary arbitration hearing when the sides agreed on a one-year contract. Ochoa hit .300 in 119 games for Milwaukee last year.

Williams In Paris Final Defending champion Serena Wil- SOCCER Successful Start For U.S. Men By JERRY TRECKER Courant Staff Writer MIAMI It was not particularly pretty, but the United States got what it needed from the first match of the Concacaf Gold Cup Saturday night three points from a 3-0 victory over a weak Haiti side. The triumph means that the Americans will advance to the quarterfinals next Saturday with a draw against Peru Wednesday night or a Haiti loss Monday against Peru. "We had the right approach to this game," forward Claudio Reyna said. "The three points are in the bag which is what we came for." Haiti was in trouble from the start, far slower through midfield than the United States and guilty of moving the ball predictably.

When Jovan Kirovski put the U.S. ahead in the 18th minute it was a fair reflection of the play and silenced the large pro-Haiti contingent But this was far from a vintage performance from the Americans. The U.S.did not string passes together effectively and allowed Haiti to stay in the game too long. Reyna was not a dominant early figure for coach Bruce Arena's team, but it was Reyna who set up Wynalda's successful penalty kick in the 55th minute when he was fouled by Jean Roland Dartjguenave. "I thought that overall we did what we had to do against a team that was difficult to break down," said Arena "At times we weren't as sharp in front of the goal, but against a better team we probably won't face as many defenders." Cobi Jones finished the scoring in the 89th minute.

This Valentine's day show someone they're PACK' The consensus game of the year, and No. 1 in The Courant's sports reviewers poll, "High Heat Baseball 2000" from 3DO, was way down in 22nd place with fewer than 50,000 sold and slightly more than $1 million in gross sales. Is it any wonder 3DO is emulating its competitors by signing a celebrity, Sammy Sosa, for its 2001 product? Other items to ponder "Triple Play 2000," an EA Sports game shunned by reviewers, was the No. 3 seller, while EA's "NBA Live darling of the critics, was 13th. Sierra's ambitious and critically successful "PGA 99" was down at No.

21 and MS's new basketball title, "NBA Inside Drive 2000," came in at No. 24. PC Data generated this list, at our specific request, with only team and individual competitive sports included. In other words, we didn't include the highly popular hunting-fishing recreational sports titles or pro wrestling. Also, PC Data tracks auto racing games separately.

Suffice to say Sierra's NASCAR series, one of the few simulations on the list, was dominant with three of the top five sellers. "Need For Speed 3" -yes, "NFS 3," not "NFS: High Stakes" which was released in '99, sold a remarkable 276,000 units at a not-so-budget-priced $25. Finally, "Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge," praised by many as the best golf simulation available this past year, finished 16th on the top golf games list! It barely sold more than 20,000 units and didn't come close to cracking the overall sports top 25. Did someone say "marketing and advertising We can wave goodbye to this classic se rV 4 1 supermarkets The most a basket is worth is 3 points. Unless you use our ball.

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