Sony Looks To Online

In the midst of all the noise from big companies about multiplayer games, Sony Interactive Studios America (SISA) has been quietly developing a couple of online titles.

Leading the roster is Tanarus, a first person 3-D tank shooter currently in open beta and slated for completion this fall. Players select one of five tanks and are then grouped into teams of five players each; play arenas support four teams at a time. Gameplay is capture-the-flag, with a strong emphasis cooperative on team play. But the real surprise here is Tanarus's graphic quality. The game is being designed to support 3Dfx without sacrificing frame rate or game play. Of course, this feature comes at a hefty cost; the minimum requirement to play is a Pentium 120.

Also in development is a 3-D RPG called EverQuest, which will be rich enough to go head-to-head with Ultima Online. The game features 12 races, 14 classes, and over 40 unique abilities. Like Tanarus, the game will take advantage of 3-D acceleration, with about 10 different camera views, both in first and third person. Both players and NPC will be polygonal.