Move over, boys. The girls appear to have finally taken control of their PCs. In a stunning debut, Mattel's Barbie Fashion Designer sashays to the No. 1 spot on the CD-ROM charts. While the charts remain rife with bloody shoot-'em-ups like Duke Nukem 3D and Warcraft II, Fashion Designer, an interactive couture creator, scores as one of a handful of well-crafted titles that target girls by using such successful and familiar images as Barbie, whose dolls-and-accessories dynasty earns $1.4 billion annually. Fashion Designer lets would-be Donna Karans create outfits for their 12-inch friends on their PCs and then print the designs onto special fabric paper. There's no sewing necessary, and young designers can preview their creation on screen as a virtual Barbie takes to the catwalk. Sorry, Ken not included.
TOP 20 CD-ROMS LAST MONTH
1 BARBIE FASHION DESIGNER Mattel, PC -- 2 MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR Microsoft, PC -- 3 COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT Virgin, PC -- 4 MICROSOFT WINDOWS 95 UPGRADE Microsoft, PC 1 5 MYST Broderbund, PC and Mac 16 6 TOY STORY ANIMATED STORYBOOK Disney, PC and Mac -- 7 WARCRAFT II: TIDES OF DARKNESS Blizzard, PC and Mac 5 8 MADDEN FOOTBALL '97 Electronic Arts, PC 10 9 QUICKEN DELUXE Intuit, PC and Mac 2 10 QUICKEN Intuit, PC 8 11 DUKE NUKEM 3d FormGen, PC 7 12 PRINT SHOP DELUXE III Broderbund, PC -- 13 TOY STORY ACTIVITY CENTER Disney, PC and Mac -- 14 QUAKE ID Software, PC -- 15 CIVILIZATION II MicroProse, PC -- 16 MASTER OF ORION II MicroProse, PC -- 17 MICROSOFT GREETINGS WORKSHOP Microsoft, PC 13 18 MICROSOFT ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA DELUXE Microsoft, PC and Mac 14 19 MICROSOFT PUBLISHER Microsoft, PC 6 20 TOY STORY POWER PLAY Disney, PC and Mac --
TOP 5 PC GAMES
1 MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR Microsoft 11 2 COMMAND & CONQUER RED ALERT Virgin -- 3 MYST Broderbund 7 4 MADDEN FOOTBALL '97 Electronic Arts 5 5 DUKE NUKEM 3d FormGen 3
TOP 5 MACINTOSH GAMES 1 WARCRAFT II: TIDES OF DARKNESS Blizzard 1 2 MAC CUBE Aztech New Media 7 3 MAC ATTACK PACK Aztech New Media 3 4 MYST Broderbund 5 5 LINKS PRO Access 6
SOURCE: PC DATA
