Products Update

New ST Software and Hardware

Compiled by Tom Byron
START Assistant Editor

Nickelodeon Five

A universal music program from Mars Merchandising plays song files created on five of the most popular music software packages. It's called Nickelodeon Five and it works on any ST color system, with or without an attached synthesizer. To complement the program, Mars is also releasing a library of song disks with over 4,000 classical, popular, ragtime and show tunes.

Nickelodeon Five, named after early American jukeboxes, plays Music Studio, Music Construction Set and EZ Track song files. It also plays AMS song files from Atari 8-bit computers and SID files from the Commodore 64 when both are ported over to 3 1/2 inch floppies. Thousands of files are already available in this format. Nickelodeon Five (with 50 song files), $19.95. Mars Merchandising, 15W615 Diversey, Elmhurst, IL 60126, (312) 530-0988.

Megatouch

Regent Software's Megatouch firms up the keyboard on your 520ST or 1040ST to feel just like a Mega. "When the Mega began shipping last year, most ST users wanted its enhanced keyboard because it solved the 'mooshy' feeling of the ST's," reports Tom Mason, engineer of Megatouch. "That's why we developed Megatouch for the ST owner."

Megatouch takes less than 10 minutes to install. Megatouch, $11.95. Regent Software, P.O. Box 14628, Long Beach, CA 90803-1208, (213) 439-9664.

New Games for the ST: Virus, Technocop, Off Shore Warrior

Games, games and more games! Three entertainment software publishers, Epyx, Rainbird and Titus, have each come out with games guaranteed to keep you busy for the next few months.

A creeping, poisonous menace is polluting the Earth. The Seeder slowly, silently spreads the spores. Now it's up to you to pilot your hoverplane as you try to destroy this creeping terror in Virus, the newest game from Rainbird. Scanners, laser cannons and homing missiles arm you for all-out combat in your deadly pursuit of these killer genes. Virus, $29.95, Rainbird Software, P.O. Box 2227, Menlo Park CA 94026, (415) 322-0412.

	In Virus, a new game from Rainbird Software, it's up to you to pilot your hoverplane as you seek to destroy the killer genes.

When foul felons threaten the city, the Enforcers, an elite police force, go into action in U.S Gold's Technocop. Armed with a computer wristwatch, criminal radar locator, snare net gun, .88 magnum and the V-Max--the most technologically advanced auto ever built--the Enforcers' mission (and yours) is to thwart the international crime family known simply as D.O.A.: Death on Arrival. Technocop, $39.95. Epyx, Inc., 600 Galveston Drive, P.O. Box 8020, Redwood City, CA 94063, (415) 366-0606.

In Titus Software's Off Shore Warrior, the extraterrestial pacifists have taken control of economic, political and social life on Earth. War and violence are things of the past--even the major sports lack the action and aggression that every Earth inhabitant lusts for.

Amid the tedium, a sport evolves in which the participants pilot high-powered boats in a battle against their opponents and the natural elements. This is known as the Off Shore Warrior movement. Gigantic arenas are situated on some of the world's largest lakes, where the warriors fight to the death while trying to survive the dangers of rocks and waves. Will you be the new champion of the sport? It's time to find out! Off Shore Warrior $39.95. Titus Software, 20432 Corisco Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311, (818) 709-3693.

Animatic Animation System

Kinetic Microsytems announces the Animatic Animation System, a professional sprite design package for the ST. Features include a user-fnendly interface employing icons and pop-up menus; full undo capability; easy editing with drawing tools-no clumsy grid interface; sprites that animate continuously as you edit, so you can see your changes as you make them; and the ability to edit up to 100 films at once.

	The Animatic Ani- mation System from Kinetic Microsytems lets you create flicker-free sprites that animate at O to 60 frames per sec- ond. Films can be any size, from 8-by- 8 pixels to 48-by-48 pixels, and you can load and edit NEO- chrome and DEGAS images.

Animatic lets you create fiicker-free sprites that animate at 0 to 60 frames per second. Films can be any size from 8-by-8 pixels to 48-by-48 pixels, and NEOchrome and DEGAS pictures can be loaded into a separate "cut screen" and edited.

Animatic also includes the Sourcerer, which converts your animated shapes into source code that can be created for any programming language. Animatic Animation System, $49.95. Kinetic Microsystems, 5640 Vantage Point Road, Columbia, MD 21044, (301) 964-3180.

Macro Assembler

Metacomco has just released a new version of Macro Assembler ver 12.00. In addition to enhancements in the assembler itself, Metacomco has greatly improved the utilities provided with the software. One important addition to Macro Assembler is the fast, efficient Tempus editor, a new GEM-based text editor that lets you edit four documents at once. The Tempus editor was licensed from Creative Computer Design of Germany.

Macro Assembler ver. 12.00 also includes a new librarian, a linker that's at least five times faster than previous versions, a new RAM disk and enhancements to the resource construction editor and debugger. Macro Assembler ver 12.00, $104. Metacomco, 26 Portland Square, Bristol BS2 8RZ, England.

SuperScore and Phantom SMPTE

Sonus Software's SuperScore 1.3 is a fully interactive scoring and sequencing program featuring QMagic, an intelligent quantize feature that eliminates the most common time-consuming tasks of editing a score after converting it from a sequence. Other features include the ability to quantize a select group of notes, highlighted playback and instant score edit update. SuperScore 1.3, $299. Sonus Software, 21430 Strathern Street, Suite H, Canoga Park, CA 91304, (818) 702-0992.

Dr T's Phantom SMPTE Synchronizer combines a Multi-Program Environment and hardware so you can read and write all industry-standard SMPTE time code formats, song painter-encoded FSK and standard pulse sync. Phantom SMPTE, $250. Dr. T's Music Software, 220 Boylston Street, Suite 306, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167, (617) 244-6954.

Do you have a new ST product? If so, we'd like to hear about it. Please send your press releases and product photos to Product Update, START, 544 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107