| Personalize That Valentine’s Day Card by Michael Lafferty Ah, Valentine’s Day — that one time of the year when almost no one is
shy about expressing their feelings. We plot, we plan, we purchase and
get downright silly in letting those special people in our lives know we
are thinking about them, and we appreciate them. So, what has this to do with software? Are you going to go out and buy your girlfriend a first-person shooter?
That isn’t advisable. No sense giving her ideas for her response to your
next disagreement. And ladies are probably loath to purchase another race
sim that would give that car-driving fan in their lives another reason
to ignore them. It’s at this time of year that we look past the games, and look at productivity
software. And SierraHome has just the idea that might give this Valentine’s
Day that special personal touch — without the heartache of cramming in
art or craft classes in a few short days. Yep, we’re still talking software. It’s called the
Hallmark Card Studio
Deluxe 2.0, and it is not just for the adults. This is a program that will
cater to kids as well. How? Remember back in those good old days of elementary school: Valentines
Day would come and children would circulate the classroom, passing out
Valentines and smiles. This year those cards can be spruced up a little
(though the Good Lord knows that some of those Valentines received so many
years ago, no matter how badly constructed, were cherished), personalized
and completed rather quickly, with little muss and fuss. The Deluxe title is a new addition to the Sierra Hallmark Card Studio,
and is one of the three new titles (which also includes Hallmark Holiday
Card Studio and Hallmark Christian Card
Studio) SierraHome has released. Card Studio Deluxe features more than 200 Valentine’s Day cards, with
dozens of sub-categories, which means you can gear the card for mom, grandparents,
co-workers, secret pals, and the object of your affection. There are several
other holiday-oriented cards included in this package, such as St. Patrick’s
Day, Easter and Passover. Oh, and by buying the program — as an inducement
to send cards flying in all directions — purchasers will get $30 of free
online postage from Stamps.com. “The response to Hallmark Card Studio has been overwhelmingly positive
since we launched the first product in May,” said Dianna Amorde, senior
vice president of SierraHome. “With these new Hallmark Card Studio releases
from SierraHome and free postage from Stamps.com, consumers will have even
more options for personalizing and sending greeting cards at home for birthdays,
holidays, baptisms, or whatever the occasion may be.” New features to the 2.0 version include the ability to print classic
card size (the same size found in retail stores), and a feature for viewing
non-printable layers like backgrounds, watermarks, and borders, which show
users where to place art when working with newly available specialty papers
from Hallmark. There are more than 3,500 cards total in this program, and
15,000 art images. The program also includes SnapShot Express, a user-friendly
photo-editing program. The Hallmark Christian Card Studio features more than 500 inspiring
cards and sentiments, plus religious art images and more than 20 Hallmark
fonts. The package includes quotes from the King James Bible and celebrates
occasions such as baptism, christening, first Communion and confirmation. This product also has bookmarks,
pocket devotionals, invitations, announcements, newsletters, labels, certificates
and program/bulletins that can be used for church. Hallmark Holiday Card Studio also has more than 500 card templates,
5,000 images and a special guide to creating holiday newsletters. The product
is designed to assist people with sending out large mailings to friends
and family of traditional holiday cards and newsletters. If these products are anything like previous SierraHome incarnations,
you can count on this being an extremely user-friendly set of products.
As a testament to that, consider the minimum system requirements: Windows
95/98/NT, a Pentium 100, 4x CD-ROM, 16 megs of RAM and 65 megs of hard
drive space. In other software news … Infogrames has signed licensing rights to market games based on some
well-known names. Coming this fall, La Femme Nikita will make the transition
from big screen and small screen to the computer monitor. Infogrames promises the game will remain true to the TV series. For
those who don’t recognize the name, and haven’t seen the movies (French
and English) or watched the television series, this is the scenario: Nikita
is falsely accused of a hideous crime and sentenced to life in prison.
Taken from prison to a place called “Section One” the most covert
anti-terrorist group on the planet Nikita is trained as a spy and
assassin by Michael, a technical expert, who serves as her mentor and teacher. Players will be treated to fast-paced action, unique cooperative gameplay
and a thrilling plot-driven story. You will be able to play as either Nikita
or Michael as you track a sinister terrorist group across the globe in
six non-linear missions. In order to succeed, the player will not only
have to show their infiltration skills, but also exploit their character’s
abilities to react efficiently and intelligently in a variety of situations. The other ‘name’ to join the Infogrames’ lineup is Peanuts. This is
a product that will be developed for all gaming platforms, and is a five-year
deal. “We are very excited that United Media has entrusted Infogrames with
one of the most renowned properties of all time,” said Robert Miles Watson,
Senior Vice President of Worldwide Licensing for Infogrames, Inc. “This
deal brings us to the next level with our library of phenomenal licenses.
We are combining the beloved Peanuts characters and more than 50 years
of history to create a fun gaming experience for kids of any age through
several upcoming titles.” Hey Red Alert 2 fans … Westwood is keeping the wheels in motion when it comes to
Red Alert 2. The company has added four new map packs, each pack containing three
maps each, which can be found on the company’s Web site. Additionally,
the company will make a fifth map pack available Friday, February 9, and then
add more in two-week intervals.
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