=============================================================================  NEWS FROM THE STATES ============================================================================= NEWS FROM NORTH AMERICA It's official! AmigaDOS 2.04 is out! Consisting of a Kickstart ROM (version 37.175), five disks of WorkBench and Extras and a VERY large user's manual, the package was released first to A2000 and A3000 owners; later it will be available to A500 lovers. Only those with A1000's (such as this writer) will be left out of the benefits of the new operating sys- tem. More good news: The new Super Denise is now available, and costs approximately $45 - $55 (US). Now you too can take advantage of the new screen resolutions and extended powers of WorkBench 2.04. See your Amiga dealer for more details. Even more good news: Commodore's sales finally broke the $1 billion mark, for the first time in nearly ten years. As readers might suspect, 85% of these sales were in Europe, though the German market is said to have reached the saturation point. Truly, the Amiga torch HAS been passed to Europe; it is up to European Amiga 'freaks' to keep the fire alive. This, especially when Commodore has begun to lay off many of its key hardware and software engineers in the States. (Mini-editorial: This is puzzling... Commodore is finally making money, has released the new operating system and newer versions of most custom chips, and is making headway into American markets by way of the Video Toaster. Yet, instead of plowing these profits back into research and development (the R&D budget for the Mac is roughly 20 times that for the Amiga), Commodore terminates critical employees (reports say, for instance, that four of the five man UNIX team have been terminated). It is as though the company feels that it has 'arrived' and need not apply itself for a while. Yet, in spite of the technological advances in the A3000 ser- ies, both the gap between the Amiga's technical quality and that of other machines, and the price/performance gap (vis-a-vis other personal compu- ters) are narrower than ever. This is NOT the time to rest on one's cor- porate laurels.) Finally, Amiga developers, together with several Amiga periodicals have presented their awards, for both game and productivity software. A brief listing of these follows: PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE: "AMIGA WORLD"S EXPERTS' CHOICE >>>Accounting - Personal (1) Phasar 4.06, by Marksman Technology/Terrific Corporation >>>Accounting - Professional (1) Service Industry Accounting, by Brown-Wagh Publishing (2) The Accountant, by KFS Software (3) B.E.S.T., by Software Technology >>>CAD (1) X-CAD Professional & X-CAD 3D, by Applied Vector Technology/American Software With X-Shell, by GrafX Compu- ting (2) DynaCADD, by Ditek International (3) IntroCAD Plus, by Progressive Peripherals and Software >>>Databases - Personal (1) Superbase Personal 2, by Software Publishing (Just discontinued, but still available) (2) Pen Pal, by SoftWood (3) Organize!, by Micro-Systems Software >>Databases - Professional (1) Superbase Professional 5, by Software Publishing (2) MicroFiche Filer Plus, by Software Visions >>>Desktop Publishing - Personal (1) PageSetter II, by Gold Disk (2) Pelican Press, by Pelican Software (3) Comic Setter, by Gold Disk >>>Desktop Publishing - Professional (1) PageStream, by Soft-Logik (2) Professional Page, by Gold Disk (3) Saxon Publisher, by Saxon Industries >>>Spreadsheets (1) Advantage, by Gold Disk (2) MaxiPlan, by The Disc Company >>>Telecommunications (1) JRComm, shareware (2) Baud Bandit, by Progressive Peripherals & Software (3) A-Talk, by Oxxi >>>Word Processing - Graphics (1) ProWrite, by New Horizons (2) Pen Pal, by SoftWood (3) Excellence!, by Micro-Systems Software >>>Word Processing - Text Only (1) Word Perfect 4.1.12, by Word Perfect Corp. (2) TransWrite, by Gold Disk (3) QuickWrite, by New Horizons >>>Miscellaneous AmigaVision, by Commodore ARexx, by William Hawes Baby!, by Micro-Sytems Software CanDo, by INNOVAtronics Checkbook Accountant, Public Domain Deluxe Paint IV, by Electronic Arts Director 2, by Right Answers Group Directory Opus, by INNOVAtronics DiskMaster II, by Progressive Peripherals & Software Electric Thesaurus, by SoftWood Gizmoz, by Digital Creations Math-A-Mation, by Progressive Peripherals & Software NAG Plus, by Gramma Software SID, Public Domain Who! What! When! Where!, by Blue Ribbon SoundWorks WorkBench Management System, by TTR Development 1991 DEVELOPERS' CHOICE AWARDS - NORTH AMERICAN WINNERS Best Education: Distant Suns, by Virtual Reality Laboratories Best Entertainment: Lemmings, by Psygnosis Best Hardware: Video Toaster, by NewTek Best Productivity - Consumer: AmigaVision, by Commodore Best Productivity - Professional: AmigaDOS C Development System, by SAS Institute Best User Interface: WorkBench 2.0, by Commodore Amiga Hall of Fame: Fish Disks, by Fred Fish CDTV Awards: Art Department Professional, by ASDG; and The Director 2, by Right Answers Group 1991 DEVELOPER'S CHOICE AWARDS - EUROPEAN WINNERS Best Education: Planetarium, by Virtual Reality Laboratories Best Entertainment: Lemmings, by Psygnosis Best Hardware: Amiga 3000T, by Commodore Best Productivity - Consumer: A-Max-II, by ReadySoft Best Productivity - Professional: AmigaTeX, by Radical Eye Software Best User Interface: WorkBench 2.0, by Commodore Amiga Hall of Fame: Matt Dillon CDTV Awards: Disc Building, by NEXT Technologies; and AMOS the Crea- tor, by Mandarin Software 1991 BEST COMMERCIAL GAMES -- AMIGA WORLD (1) Lemmings, by Psygnosis (2) Wings, by Cinemaware (3) Indianapolis 500, by Electronic Arts (4) Powermonger, by Electronic Arts (5) Prince of Persia, by Broderbund (6) The Killing Game Show, by Psygnosis (7) Awesome, by Psygnosis (8) Ishido: The Way of the Stones, by Accolade (9) Dungeon Master 2: Chaos Strikes Back, by FTL (10) Eye of the Beholder, by SSI/Electronic Arts (11) The Immortal, by Electronic Arts (12) Armour-Geddon, by Psygnosis (13) Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, by Accolade (14) Shadow of the Beast 2, by Psygnosis (15) F-19 Stealth Fighter, by MicroProse (16) The Secret of Monkey Island, by Lucasfilm Games (17) Bandit Kings of Ancient China, by Koei (18) Obitus, by Psygnosis (19) Carthage, by Psygnosis (20) Star Control, by Accolade 1991 BEST COMMERCIAL GAMES - .INFO MAGAZINE (1) Lemmings, by Psygnosis (2) Power Monger, by Electronic Arts (3) Wonderland, by Virgin (4) Obitus, by Psygnosis (5) Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, by Accolade (6) Speedball 2, by Konami (7) B.A.T., by UBISoft (8) Thunderstrike, by LIVE Studios (9) Vaxine, by US Gold (10) Atomino, by Psygnosis Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Carthage, by Psygnosis Centurion, by Electronic Arts Hoverforce, by Accolade Monty Python, by Virgin UK Norabunga's Ambition, by Koei PGA Tour Golf, by Electronic Arts Pick 'N Pile, by UBISoft Stormlord, by Spotlight Team Yankee, by ReadySoft Wings, by Cinemaware 1991 BEST PUBLIC DOMAIN/SHAREWARE GAMES -- AMIGA WORLD (PETER OLAFSON) (1) Rings of Zon, by George Broussard (2) LLamatron, by Lllamasoft (3) Dungeon, tr. by Loren J. Rittle (4) Omega 1.5, port by Klavs T. Pedersen (5) Nebula, by Steven J. Smith and Paul N. Gould (6) Megaball/Megaball 2.0, by Ed and Al Mackey (7) Wizzy's Quest, by Guido and Soren Appenzeller (8) Tied: Amegarace, by Leopold Soft, AND Just Your Basic Missile Command, by Max Bithead (9) Headgames!, by Neil Sorenson (10) Eternal Rome, by Sven Hartrumpf =============================================================================  NEWS FROM THE STATES =============================================================================