This page details pre-release information and/or media for Faceball 2000 (Game Boy).
Development Timeline
1987
Late 1980s to early 1990s
- James Yee, Xanth's owner, convinces Bullet-Proof Software head Henk Rogers to fund the development of a Game Boy version of MIDI Maze.[2]
- About six months are spent getting "the core-engine up and running", with "at least that much time" spent on making the levels.[3]
- The team eventually comes up with a modification of the Link Cable to allow daisy-chaining together more than two systems. The intent was to include it with the game to allow for the Atari ST version's maximum player count of 16.[3]
1991
- January 10-13 The Winter CES show of 1991 happens.[4]
- A few seconds of the game's exhibit there makes it into Season 8 Episode 24 of Computer Chronicles, showing four players duking it out with their Smiloids. The visible NES units suggest that the game was shown through Game Boy development hardware that output games through the NES, possibly the original Wide-Boy.
- There was also reportedly demonstration of "a custom cable that [BPS] was hoping to pack in each [copy of the game]"[5]. Reports vary on the specifics of this a bit, with "up to ten players to compete simultaneously with little or no effect on the processing speed"[5] claimed, or the less limiting "at least ten Game Boys"[6].
- Unfortunately for Xanth, Nintendo ultimately rejects the idea of the custom Link Cable. The team then ends up officially supporting just four players via the Four Player Adapter instead.[3] The code for the custom cable still remained through to the final build, though.
- April - The game gets some early magazine coverage following Winter CES.
- June 1-4 - The Summer CES show of 1991 happens[7], and the game is exhibited there.[8]
- November - This month's issue of Nintendo Power includes a Special Feature for the game close to its release.
- December - Faceball 2000 is released for the Game Boy in North America.[9]
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Two screenshots made it into April 1991's issue (21) of Electronic Gaming Monthly.
| Electronic Gaming Monthly #21
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The title wordmark is stylized differently, with the Press Start text being where the Xanth credit is in the final. There's also a block of introductory text missing from the final, with an introduction on the game's "Virtual Reality" world remaining only in the manual.[10]
Welcome to the
CYBERSCAPE game of
FACEBALL! In the
early days of
VIRTUAL REALITY
data pathways were
[...]
| Electronic Gaming Monthly #21
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The border tiles used to create a rounded rectangle, but the design was made blockier for the final game. The label for the "HITS" bar got changed to the less violent-sounding "TAGS".
Game Players
Volume 3 Number 4 included a similar screenshot to Nintendo Power that same April, having the dark sky background.
| Game Players Vol. 3 #4
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Nintendo Power
Issue 23
The April 1991 issue of Nintendo Power included a preview for the game. It notably mentions the unreleased cable and its 16-player maximum.[11]
| Nintendo Power #23
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The screenshot included shows a dark sky color instead of the final's clear color.
Issue 30
November 1991's issue included a Special Feature on the game. The screenshots included in this feature bear slight differences to the final build, mainly with the cursor icon and menu texts.
| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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The team selection menu seems to have once shown the team indicator for every possible player, rather than just the ones that are connected like in the final. This screenshot also notably demonstrates the internal player maximum of 16.
| Nintendo Power #30
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| Nintendo Power #30
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The name's of the Smiloid's in the Smiloid's menu used to misuse apostrophe's.
Video Games & Computer Entertainment
November 1991's issue of Video Games & Computer Entertainment (34) included four screenshots of the game in their review. They all use the earlier border tiles, and lack icon characters in the HUD.
| Video Games & Computer Entertainment #34
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| Video Games & Computer Entertainment #34
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| Video Games & Computer Entertainment #34
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| Video Games & Computer Entertainment #34
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References
