The Screening

[stev0@zuni.chaco.com (stev0)]

Here's the poop on Sony's Screeners, as they
call their Rock Screen Saver thingies, for those
one or two people out there without Web access.

[Comments by me are in Uli-Style brackets with my
initials - SB]

For those WITH web access, just look at
http://www.sony.com/Music/Screeners/

and skip the rest of this posting.

Overview:


WHAT ARE SCREENERS?


    MusicScreeners represent an exciting breakthrough in computer
interactive entertainment! Each
    MusicScreener contains a 30-40 second music video clip which can be used
in 6 screensaver functions and 2
    challenging games. 

    What's amazing is that you'll get all this functionality on ONE 3.5"
DISKETTE (no CD-ROM Drive required!).
    MusicScreeners will run on most PC computer systems. 

    Over 20 MusicScreeners are available in music and computer stores
everywhere. Each one has a suggested
    list price of $12.98. For more fun, you can install multiple
MusicScreeners on your computer to create a
    virtual video jukebox! 

    Please visit back here regularly for more breaking news about
MusicScreeners. Right now, you have the
    chance to download a real-live music screener for free! 

    If you'd like regularly updated information about MusicScreeners and our
new releases, please join our
    MusicScreeners mailing list. 
[This links to a form you can fill out - I haven't heard back, but
when I do, I'll post the address for you to yell and scream and
stamp your little feet for a Kate Screener - SB]


SCREENSAVER VARIATIONS


    Your Music Screener will be pre-loaded into the carousel, which serves
as the control center for Music
    Screeners. If you own more than one Music Screener, they can all be
loaded together. You can have up to five
    Music Screeners active at once. With more than one Music Screener, your
computer becomes a virtual video
    jukebox since you can program each Music Screener individually. The
carousel will automatically rotate
    through each Music Screener. 

    Each MusicScreener disc contains one video clip. This video, however,
may be configured with six different
    screensaver effects: 

    Screen Art: Video squares run across the screen and stop randomly -
within 30 seconds your screen is a
    collage of video images. Note: "Screen Art" is the default effect for
each carousel spot. 

    Video Wall: Mini-screens play simultaneously to turn your PC monitor
into a riveting wall of video. 

    Bounce: A video frame displaying the moving image bounces across your
screen. 

    Video Trail: A moving video image bounds across your screen leaving a
dreamy trail of images in its wake. 
[It sounds worth it just for this module alone - SB]

Jigsaw: Cubes with portions of moving video drop into your screen. Once the
image is complete, Jigsaw starts
    again. 

    Slide Show: Frames from the video randomly flash on your screen to
create a still-frame slide show. 


SCREENER GAMES


    In addition to the screensaver function, Screeners contains two games: 

    Game #1- Video Match: the objective of this game is to match the same
video segments in the top half of the
    screen with images in the bottom half. Once you identify the same image,
click on one after the other and they
    will disappear. Once all images disappear you will go to the next skill
level. At higher levels, the images are
    all mixed together. The levels of the game start at level 1 and go up to
level 20. 

    Game #2- Video Slide: The objective of this game is to construct a
complete video from individual "video
    pieces" which will travel down the screen. Use your left and right arrow
keys to move the falling "video
    piece" into the position where it belongs. If you believe you have it
lined up correctly, you can use the down
    arrow key to speed the "video piece" down the screen. If you are
correct, the piece will stay in the grid. If you
    are incorrect, the piece disappears. The pieces come down faster as you
go to each level of difficulty. 

    The levels of the game start at level 1 and go up to level 20. 

    To increase your playing options, each game has 5 different game types: 


      1.Video/Video- a small video segment plays in the game area while the
video clip plays in display area 
      2.Video/No hint- a small video segment plays in the game area with
nothing in display area 
      3.Frame/Video- a video frame is shown in the game area while the video
clip plays in game area 
      4.Frame/Frame- a video frame is shown in the game area while the same
video frame appears in display
        area 
      5.Frame/No Hint- a video frame is shown in the game area with nothing
in display area 

[And here's the depressing part - SB]


    The following Music Screeners are available now. Each one has a
suggested list price of $12.98. 

    ALICE IN CHAINS         I Stay Away                     CSS 61113
    JON B.                  Someone To Love                 BSS 61111
    BABYFACE                When Can I See You Again        ESS 61100
    MICHAEL BOLTON          Said I Loved You                CSS 61101
    MARIAH CAREY            Dreamlover                      CSS 61121
    SHAWN COLVIN            Round Of Blues                  CSS 61102
    HARRY CONNICK, JR.      Whisper Your Name               CSS 61116
    JOE DIFFIE              Third Rock From The Sun         ESS 61114
    CELINE DION             Power Of Love                   BSS 61108
    GLORIA ESTEFAN          Turn The Beat Around            ESS 61109
    INDIGO GIRLS            Touch Me Fall                   ESS 61115
    MICHAEL JACKSON         Bad                             ESS 61110
                            Childhood                       ESS 61117
                            Thriller                        ESS 61118
    CYNDI LAUPER            Girls Just Want To Have Fun     ESS 61104
    PATRA                   Worker Man                      ESS 61105
    SHABBA RANKS            Shine Eye Girl                  ESS 61106
    JAMES TAYLOR            Copperline                      CSS 61122
    THE THE                 I Saw The Light                 BSS 61119
    TOAD THE WET SPROCKET   Fall Down                       CSS 61112
    STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN      House Is Rocking                ESS 61107
    AND DOUBLE TROUBLE
     

- Stev0 the Wired

"Budget for Sony's marketing of Kate Bush +
Special effects budget of a season of "Dr. Who" +
The annual marketing budget of Atari +
Amount Pete Wilson proposes to spend on Health, 
Education, and Welfare =
About twenty bucks."
 - Stev0's Law of Economics, 1995 edition