Two arcades in the Chicago area, Diversions Game Room and Brunswick Gala Lanes West, are currently testing Midway's new arcade game, The Grid. The game's development is spearheaded by Ed Boon, co creator of Midway's Mortal Kombat, and has been kept top secret by Boon since he announced the start of a new non-MK arcade project, thwarting any inquiries about the new game. Now that the game is in public testing, its details are becoming clear. The Grid is a multi-cabinet arcade game system, with a maximum possibility of six linked cabinets. They are linked to each other and are slightly modified versions of Midway's standard 25-inch uprights with their own dedicated control panel and screen for each player.

　　The Grid can be described as a third-person shooter; however, the view is quite similar to a first-person perspective, except that the camera is further behind the character, instead of in the character's head. The controls consist of a flight-style joystick for shooting, jumping, and lateral movement, while a trackball controls turning and has a button that performs a player''s unique special move like teleportation, invisibility, run, and other attacks like a flying kick. In between these two controllers is a telephone-style keypad for entering a pin number up to ten-digits and codes that slightly modify your character, like big-head mode.

　　The atmosphere of The Grid is a mix of several elements. The general atmosphere of the game has a game show/sports arena feel. This may sound familiar to those who remember a past Midway arcade game called, SmashTV. Moreover, the game was influenced primarily by the movie The Matrix, which possibly inspired the game's title. The premise is similar to games like Quake and Unreal. Whoever collects the most 'frags,' wins. The violence factor is at the level of what one can expect from the minds behind Mortal Kombat. Players' extremities can be blown off or they can explode into bloody bits; however, the violence is only 'virtual.' Players are not actually killed within this game. A representation of their body is what is maimed and destroyed. Once players are killed during the course the game, they are transformed into a grid pattern and phase back into the 'grid.' The battles take place within a computer-generated reality. What the players and the audience see is merely a virtual display, similar to the 'holodecks' in Star Trek. The game takes place within a television studio with an audience, cameras, monitors, cheerleaders, and the essential quirky game show announcer. Once the battle is ready to begin, gray walls around rise out of the floor and surround your player. The walls then turn into a grid pattern. When the match starts, the grid pattern fades, revealing the game arena.

　　The Grid is still in critical testing stages. Additional features are being considered as development is still progressing. Midway is expecting to have The Grid in arcades nationwide in August 2000. To learn more about The Grid, including specific details on characters, levels, and weapons, visit TRMK's First Hands-on Preview of The Grid. The images are courtesy of noob.com.