Accolade's Crystal Ball

Tuesday Accolade announced its plans to release 12 new titles for 1998, buoyed by the apparent marketing success of its previous two Test Drive titles, Test Drive 4 and Test Drive: Off-road, in 1997. The two Test Drive titles, according to Accolade, sold 850,000 and 500,000 units respectively.

In anticipation of the big lineup Accolade has announced the titles it plans to show at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo in May: Test Drive 5, Test Drive: Off-road 2, StarCon, Redline, Hardball 6, and Big Air Snowboarding.

According to Accolade, both Hardball 6 and Jack Nicklaus Online Tour will ship in April.

Because both of the Test Drive titles also hit the Top 20 in sales on the Sony PlayStation during 1997, Accolade will also be concentrating on making joint releases for both the PC and PlayStation for all of its upcoming titles.

"Accolade's sales of Test Drive 4 and Test Drive: Off-road have literally skyrocketed since their launch, making the Test Drive series the number one selling driving franchise on the market today," said Jim Barnett, president and CEO of Accolade. "We look forward to seeing the same success with all of our franchises in 1998."