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REVIEWS

Americans view the stock market as a means to secure a nice retirement fund. But there are many who also view it as a way to invest a little cash and make a lot of money in return. And of course these individuals use someone else’s money to do so. Its with this premise that a French game company, Monte Cristo Multimedia, introduces us to the fast paced world of the stock market with Wall Street Trader 99. WST99 claims to be ‘The Best Stock Exchange Simulation In The World!’ But is it?

As opposed to being a strict simulation, Monte Cristo has built an actual game around the stock market. You play as a businessman who has been given the opportunity of a lifetime. An extremely wealthy businessman, Lord Basil Fleming, has recently acquired The Learing Bank. This bank, on the verge of collapse, has received a new board of directors. You are one of them (if you pass the initial test, more on that later). You will than compete with the three other board members in using funds, provided by Lord Fleming, to invest wisely in the market. He who succeeds the best may very well stand to inherit Lord Fleming’s estate. An opportunity of a lifetime indeed.

First we must look into what is definitely the crowning achievement in WST99, its interface. This game has one of the best interfaces I have ever seen. It’s as if they brought in an artist to design it. It resembles some sort of device one might find in a game of Myst/Riven, its that good. It is easy to use; any information that you need is easily accessible. Everything is laid out in an intelligent manner. Kudos to Monte Cristo Multimedia. The interface is divided up into four key areas. In the large circle we have the stock market portion. Here you can view commodities that you have selected and watch their prices adjusting. A smaller circle to its right, your financial portfolio, displays the stocks you have purchased, total cash worth, cash on hand and time remaining to achieve your goal. Above the large circle we have your competitors and menu tabs to keep track of them. In the lower right hand portion we have headlines for economic news, the News Corner. Information is accessible simply by clicking on the appropriate tab. Actions are performed by clicking and dragging items (e.g. Click on a stock and drag to the buy icon in order to purchase it).

Another thing WST99 does well is slowly bringing the game player into the game. Some business sims have an overall campaign setting, others have scenarios and still others have both. WST99 has a combination of the two. That is you have the main campaign (that lasts two years), which is divided up into different ‘goals’, or scenarios. After accomplishing each goal, new options are added.

Your first goal is to end a three-week period with a positive portfolio. You have but two stocks to choose from, the Yen and Barrel, an oil company. You have no competition at this point. It is merely an opportunity to learn the interface. In the News Corner you can click on the headline that is a tutorial. Throughout the game, as new options are available, a tutorial headline for each will appear. By clicking on it you will hear a voice that guides you through the process of how to use that option. If it’s a new stock, your analyst provides a quick low down on that company, their product, history, etc.

After the test phase, the game really begins. You are given a brief description of your next goal by Lord Fleming through the use of FMV. Comical enough to keep you amused without getting too hooky. He gives you more cash with which to purchase stocks.

Now you are up against three competitors. Your goal is NOT to be in last place by a certain date. You are given more stocks to purchase and need to pay attention to the News Corner. Here you will learn of OPEC meetings, company mergers, the social climate of a given region, etc. Paying attention to the news and figuring out what to buy and when to sell is the heart of WST99. A nice feature is the way the news is represented. Sometimes it might be a television news report, other times a radio broadcast, maybe a headline from a newspaper or trade magazine and even updates from the web. You can send e-mail to your three competitors, who sometimes try to mislead you with false information (a nice touch I thought). You also have access to an online search engine that keeps track of all the headlines for a particular market.

There are a total of sixteen markets. They range from Oil, Currency to Video Game and Cigarette markets. Within each market are a host of companies whose stock you may purchase. Real companies are represented in WST99. Within the Video Game market you can purchase stock in Sony, Nintendo or even Electronic Arts. Watch the headlines as EA purchases Firaxis and make sure you purchase their stock for profit. Most of the headline news reflects real situations from the real world. But don’t be misled here, there are enough random elements to keep you guessing.

Eventually you will have access to some key personal. The first is your Analyst. For a price, he can investigate a company and give you the skinny on them. Your Insider, Alison, can use her connections to find out some tips for you by illegal means. But be warned: the SEC may come investigating. Than its up to your lawyer to keep you out of trouble. You can also use spies to find out what your enemies are up to. All’s fair in love and war.

There are various options that reflect a real world model for the stock market. Not being well educated in Wall Street myself, I understand that WST99, while perhaps boasting itself as the best simulation for the stock market in the world, is not totally realistic in all respects. In what way, I could not say. But perhaps it’s for the best, that it was streamlined for the masses. But here we have WST99’s shortcoming. It isn’t a dumbed down version of the stock market, just streamlined. What that means is while you may never hear any news, good or bad, about a particular stock you own, you may suddenly watch it plummet for no apparent reason. This is due to an effect put upon it from other companies and other markets. Understanding these side effects is important in order to know when to buy/sell. Unfortunately, WST99 does not really explain this well at all, through its online help or its flimsy instruction manual. It’s one of those games that really could use a nice thick strategy guidebook. Without one, someone like me is left in the dark. While I’m sure I could figure it out by constantly playing the game, I’m not guaranteed that I will. It appears that the title may be intended more for those in the know, and that’s a shame. Considering the beautiful interface, goal structure and tutorials, I would prefer to play the game than spend time trying to figure out how it works.

I would like to applaud Monte Cristo Multimedia. It is obvious they have created a wonderful title, albeit not for someone new to the pitfalls of Wall Street. In the next couple of years they have a slate of business sims that look wonderful. If they put the same dedication into these titles that was put into WST99 and make it a bit less cryptic, they just may have a host of hit titles on their hands. As the world becomes more business savvy, you can never have enough business strategy titles on the shelf.

Reviewed by A. Sage

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