The Grammys
$8.95		(DOS) (Jewel Case) (GRAMMYSPJ)

Mindscape

Reference/Music

So you want to go to the Grammys?

The Grammys, developed by Uni-Disc with the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, is a collection of performances and interviews highlighting three-and-a-half decades of recording excellence by 35 top jazz, rock, pop, country, and hip-hop artists. Behind-the-scenes filmed footage (40 minutes in all) that has been previously unavailable to the general public supplements a library of biographies, discographies, and interviews. The publisher assets that a "significant portion" of the proceeds will be donated to the MusiCares Foundation, which meets the health and welfare needs of musicians and others in the recording industry.

Requirements:

486SX-25 or better processor (486DX-33 recommended minimum), double-speed CD-ROM drive (300 KB/sec sustained throughput), Super VGA video card and monitor, capable of displaying 640x480x256, 4MB of Free Memory, 16-bit Windows-supported sound card, and Microsoft-compatible mouse.

Reviews:

Computer Shopper, August 1995

"So you want to go to the Grammys? Unless you're rich and famous, or have a chart-buster, forget it - all the money in your savings account and 401K combined won't grease you past the velvet ropes and red carpet into the star- studded affair. Mindscape's The Grammys CD-ROM won't get you into the real thing, either. But this $59.95-list disc tries to be an all-access laminate to the virtual Grammys - and it almost succeeds.

"The heart of the program is a pick-a-direction interface set in a 3-D auditorium, where you move the cursor to the right or left, and click on labeled doorways. On the right side, you'll find a room called Behind the Scenes, which offers video clips of the show's creation with the workpeople who made the stage, and the designers and engineers who wired the performance together. The next door is the Screening Room, which lets you create your own Grammy show from the video and audio clips contained on the disc, followed by the Trivia Room, where you can quiz yourself on Grammy trivia. To the left of the auditorium, you'll find the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) room, a storehouse of information on the Grammys' parent organization; the Library, which houses a database of 36 years' worth of Grammy nominees and winners; and Back Stage, where you can view on-camera interviews with eight stars.

"Directly in front of the auditorium is a virtual program book. As you turn the pages with your mouse, you get stills of selected artists and the More Info button. Clicking on a still brings up a 264x160 pixel clip on a center screen; clicking on More Info calls up panels to the right and left of the clip that provide some limited background and an abbreviated discography.

"Where The Grammys fails is in the lack of breadth and depth of its performance clips. The average clip, for example, is anemic at just under two minutes, and despite the exhortations of the manual to have a 16-bit Windows sound card, the audio is 8-bit 22MHz, and monaural. As a result, don't expect to find any hi-fi performances here.

"However, if you're not looking for a cutting-edge compendium of music videos, but are genuinely interested in the Grammy Awards, this is an absolutely fascinating disc. Spun onto the spiral data track of this CD are 40 abbreviated Grammy performances, ranging from Tony Bennett in 1963 to Sting in 1994 - as well as everything you could ever possibly want to know about NARAS."

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