Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 67

Jouronl http:www.southam.comedmontonjournal 1 EDITOR: Peter Collum, 429-5325; jA.pcollumthejournal.southam.ca mm, SBDSS ICuB rs lit I f1 "TS5I three angles including "over the magician's shoulder." TV star Harry Anderson hosts this magic trip as you explore magic's history and fascination. i-- to JW' I I It r. Pandora's Box (from Corel CD Home, 800, 394-3729, $35 for all WinrlnuG nnH Ma lirintrc nut i i i i i tiassiu vji ten myuioiugy in me virtual world. Spoken words are highlighted on the screen as you follow Pandora's curiosity and eventual overwhelming curiosity about the enchanted box. Click on gods and find out more about their place in mythol IIMi l.

On the last day of school my teenager declared the beginning of the long weekend all summer long! So while the first week of September can't be here soon enough, like millions of other parents, I look for summer fillers like camps, sports, home projects and vacations. And of course there are summer computer programs for kids and grownup kids of all ages. There are many new gaming and "edu-something" PC titles, all in CD-ROM format unless noted otherwise. If your PC doesn't have a CD-ROM you can pick a respectable ogy. The activities include connect the dots with colorful rewards and color story characters as they come alive on screen.

Sports Illustrated for Kids: Awesome Athletes! "5, (from Creative Multimedia, 503, 241-4351, $39, Windows) 4X player anywhere for the price of one good game. is for the young sports fan. Begin searching among hundreds of world-famous athletes. More than 30 minutes of one-on-one interviews, 1,000 photos and 45 minutes of action video will bring athletes into your household. Produce your own sports video show in the Control Room New names far the whole family Want to be St.

Peter? Afterlife X. (from LucasArts (415) L5) 507-4545, $55) must 4 fi DOS or Windows 95. be to heaven's gatekeeper and have lun with "awesome games like Dart Smarts, Alphabet Dunk and Mystery Athlete. Betty Crocker's Cooking With Kids (from Allegro New Media, (201) 808-1992, $40, for Windows) is really for kids. Ninety kid- jr tested recipes, step- by-step cooking instructions and interactive kitchen vocabulary builders make the kitchen the place to be.

Kids learn about safety in cooking, using appliances, kitchen computing and nutrition. what SimCity is to aspiring mayors. For teens and up, this delightful management sim game from the Lucas folks puts you in charge of building heaven from the pearly gates to training centres to roads. Soon after, departed souls from earth arrive to challenge your direction and good intentions. Lots of onboard tutorials with heaven sent Aria Goodhalo and hell-bent Jasper Wormsworth, amusing guides committed to building heaven and hell.

This good, clean fun title comes complete with its own dreamy sounds from heaven. For the younger set, LucasArts is also shipping Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion (for Windows 95, $50). Join Sid, Sally and Mortimer the snail in a worldwide search for miss If you feel adventurous try the "Cook-a-matic" section where any ingredient goes and the worst you get is a virtual mess! Disney Interactive has released a series of multimedia animated and activity titles after their most ...1 J3 Cooking with JTl 15 recent cartoon movies, including Aladdin, Pocahontas and Toy Story, featur-! ing animations from the original movies. Forget traditional car racetracks. Whiplash (from Interplay (714) 553-6678, $59) offers stunt racing as far as your imagination will take you.

Giant ing medallion pieces to save petrified animals. Answer puzzling riddles and face the evil Lodius. Great color and animation. Good news for Mac lovers with Lucas envy: the company has released The -vff1 LucasArts Macintosh Archives, Vol. I for Mac.

This package includes famous PC titles like Rebel Assault, Sam Max, Day of the Tentacle, Dark Forces Special Edition and a bonus CD-ROM with playable demos of the latest PC LucasArts titles like Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion. loops, multiple corkscrews and cross-traffic jumps in 3-D and lots of camera views. Big Red Racing (from Domark, (415) 513-8929, $50) is even zanier with impossible race scenarios over rushing rivers, city streets and outer space. Race single opponents with helicopters, lunar buggies and jeeps over modem on split-screen or with five networked co-workers when the boss is out. Rayman (from Ubi Soft, (415) 464-4440, 7 yrs and up) will delight a wide age group.

An animated cute character Microsoft 3D Movie Maker will keep all young Hollywood directors glued to their seats as they make their own movies with total creative control. Pre with invisible limbs bounces through pastel- colored vines, mushrooms and eggplants. Even 486 PCs can keep a respectable pace and the music alone is a joyous break for those who still can remember Nintendo's Mario kazoo sounds. These tips will save you money and help you find the right title when shopping for computer games. 1.

Find out what others say about the product Read reviews and visit Web sites of manufacturers. 2. Check chat or forum message sections of on-line sites for problems early game owners might report on new titles. 3. Try out playable demos of games.

You can download them or find them in CD-ROMs packaged in magazines or sibling CO-ROM games you all ready own. 11. Look for plain OEM CD-ROM titles in stores. They are the same product minus the fancy box and about $20 cheaper. They usually come bundled with multimedia kits but often quietly end up on a dark store shelf.

12. Visit computer trade shows where popular game titles are shown and often discounted. As a matter of fact computer lovers can take in the CD ROM fest in Edmonton at the May-field Inn Trade Centre June 23 -30. Call 471-8919. Kids 16 years and under are allowed free when accompanied by an adult 4.

Check manufacturer's return policy. Better games usually have one. 5. Don't be fooled by fancy packaging. 6.

If the price of an unkmown title is too low you will probably end up with a CD-ROM frisbee. 7. Check out the copyright date on the box. 8. Look for used titles sold in classified ads.

9. Make sure your computer can support the game especially with sound and processing power. 10. If you dont mind being behind the times wait a while and buy last year's titles. France's Ubi Soft also just released -5 Kiyeko and the Lost Night, which features narration by actor Ben Kings- ley.

This CD-ROM is brim full of 8,000 hand-drawn frames creating a movie-quality look with lots of original music and sound effects. A 10-person computer animation team started with paper-drawn characters in bringing this traditional Amazonian tale to life. Hundreds of click-on interactive animations and it's mulitlingual: choose from English, Spanish, German, French and Italian. packaged animated actors can be placed on sets and programed to perform various tasks such as walking to a nd from the camera. Lots of sound effects and camera angles too.

Despite the sophistication 3D moviemaker is easy to use with impressive results. Mare serious stuff Adventure games have taken on a new meaning in the computer world. Some come not in one but four CDs in a box. The graphics are more sophisticated and demanding on your computer, so check out the system requirements that are usually printed on the box. If that small type recommends your 486DX66 as a minimum, then don't be surprised if your new game goes at a snail's pace.

Pentiums, even the "low end" P60s and P75s will run games faster than any 486 chip. Some of these titles may contain some violence or mild expletives. Most have long-lasting play value due to their complexity and require the patience of older kids or adults. Please see GAMESH2 William Joyce's classic illustrations come to life in the George Shrinks (CD-Afti ROM for Windows from HarperCollins Canada Ltd. (416) 975-9334, $45.) Preschoolers will delight in the tale of a little boy whose dream of becoming real small comes true.

Pleasant animation and interactivity with full narration. A book is included to keep young hands off the CD. and Felicia Bond, creators of the book by the same title, brings life and interactivity to the story of a cute mouse and his friend. Your young ones become part of the action in finding ingredients for chocolate chip cookies and more. Yummy! Hey, wanna know how to levitate small objects? HarperCollins has also released Magic, an Insider's View (for Windows and Mac, $49).

This virtual hocus pocus shows time-honored tricks from Sim City 2000 (from Maxis, (510) 933-5630, for DOS, $50) is a souped- up sibling of previous Sim City versions with hundreds of new futuristic buildings, with UFO invasions and midtown Deal nuclear meltdowns and explore underground subways. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (for Mac and Windows) by Laura Numeroff Real world not big enough, Shaq goes online lid it JmniJ ita BY LARRY LEBOWITZ Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel xi Click Click re's a very big man inside a very small box. Shaquille O'Neal, the Orlando Maffir's 7-foot-l. 303-Dound star, will he shaq world 14 Andy Walker unravels the mysteries of EDO RAMH4 si Click 7C.ick PaulDeGroot shows how the Internet takes the ball becomes the red, white and blue Pepsi logo. "One of our strategies is to reach people not only where they live but where they hang out," said John Vail, director of media and new technology for Pepsi Cola.

"And one of those is on the web. We're looking forward to using what exists now plus going into the future, setting the standard for how Internet advertising should be." Levy said Shaq World could present a new advertising niche for smaller companies that can't afford to affiliate themselves with O'Neal in TV or national print campaigns. O'Neal used to be featured on the Microsoft Network, but his management company, headed by agent Leonard Armato, ended that relationship this spring and signed a four-year deal with SportsLine. Levy calls it "the first free-agency move in cyberspace." SportsLine, which will receive a small percentage of Shaq World-related sales in addition to ad rev enue, is in the process of nailing down deals to maintain web sites for other sports stars. Home pages are being prepped for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice and Keyshawn Johnson, the No.

1 pick in this year's NFL draft You can find the Big Man on-line at rittpVwwwhaq.corn available to cyberfans all over the world on the Internet's World Wide Web. O'Neal has signed a deal with SportsLine USA of Fort Lauderdale to manage Shaq World http:vvww.shaq.com, a site that was unveiled this week at a news conference at the Ail-Star Cafe in New York. Shaq World is being unveiled to capitalize on O'Neal's upcoming Olympics appearance with the U.S. basketball team in Atlanta and the premiere of his second movie, "Kazaam." The star's varied interests rapper, actor, celebrity huckster, basketball player lend themselves to the multimedia possibilities on the Internet, said Sportsline CEO Michael Levy. "The web is one of the few places where you can globally market somebody who is involved in everything TV, music, movies, sports," Levy said.

Fans can listen to samples from pain out of paying for long-distance acallingH2 siCL'ck the chat room to answer questions. Another feature uses a series of Shaq photos and morphing software: Childhood Shaq transforms into the modernniay behemoth in a matter of seconds. Shaq World also marks a foray into cyberadvertising for Pepsi, which, not so coincidentally, features O'Neal as a celebrity spokesman. On one of the pages, a silhouette of O'Neal appears to be slam dunking. Halfway through the rim, the O'Neal's two rap albums, view clips from Blue Chips or Kazaam and four of his national TV ad campaigns and buy an array of Shaq merchandise and memorabilia.

including O'Neal's personalized TWIsM The World Is Mine clothing line. On the basketball front, SportsLine ill maintain up-to-date stats, scouting reports, columns and other National Basketball Association news on the site, as well as pre- and postgame audio interviews. Occasionally, O'Neal may drop by if Jim Bray reveals how to improve your virtual bridge and snooker skillsH6 if.