DIGITAL L.A. : CYBER AGE WRITER ISSUES RELEASE 2.1.

Byline: David Bloom 

Just in time for Christmas, Esther Dyson has updated her book about life in the digital age, and what it means even for those of us who aren't technologically bent.

The update is appropriately called Release 2.1, following the same version-numbering conventions used for software updates.

Release 2.0 was itself a play on Dyson's influential technology newsletter, Release 1.0. In the new paperback version, Dyson not only updates the fate of companies she mentioned last year, but includes vigorous debate about her book that took place on her Web site.

Though some criticized her for cheerleading about the 'Net's possibilities, Dyson devotes much of the book to concerns such as copyright protection, privacy, security and community building. But she does remain optimistic.

``The 'Net is not going to push us into some antiseptic, digital landscape,'' Dyson writes.

``It is a medium for us to extend our intellectual and emotional selves, but it will not change anyone's basic character,'' she continues. ``On the contrary, the 'Net will celebrate human nature and diversity ... if we do it right. Precisely because there will be so much information, so much multimedia, so many options, people will learn to value human connection more, and they will look for it on the 'Net as they do in other places.''

It's a Yoot: The ad is rather, ahem, eye-catching. In the two-page color picture of an office building, there's a man mooning the camera.

``Our deepest apologies to PC users, but YootTower is coming out on Mac first,'' the ad copy reads. Um, yes. Well, regardless of the ad's sentiments, YootTower does mark several notable firsts.

The game, a successor to the building simulation SimTower, is coming out on the Macintosh first, which almost never happens with games.

These days, if a game isn't a hybrid title that runs on both IBM-compatibles and Macs, it comes out first on the PC side because of the size of that market.

Apple's hugely successful iMac may eventually create a more substantial Mac gaming market. But Sega PC's decision to publish Mac first was still unusual, and made for unusual reasons.

``The developer is a die-hard Mac fan, and he wanted to make sure it made it to the Mac platform first,'' said Sega PC spokeswoman Jennifer Walker. It's also the first Mac title for 3-year-old Sega PC.

``Sega is just excited to get into the Mac market,'' which it estimates at more than $200 million in sales annually, Walker said.

The game was created by Yoot Saito, whose earlier SimTower was part of Maxis' successful line of simulations that began with the classic SimCity.

In Yoot, a player builds and runs a hotel, resort or office building, balancing income with tenants' demands and operational costs. The game is challenging but absorbing, even for my young children, who were fascinated by the ability to create a self-contained world.

And the game is more than a simple matter of build it and they will come. VIPs have to be cared for in particular, because their good opinions can allow the building to grow to a five-star facility. Fires and terrorist attacks, annoying buskers and lovable dogs also change things up.

The game isn't perfect, however.

Its graphics are attractive, but relatively static (this is, after all, a building), yet the game remains a resource hog, requiring at least 24 megabytes of memory to function. And the game shows its Japanese roots (for instance with the tone-deaf translations in help screens) perhaps a bit too much for some in the U.S. market.

Holiday 1.2: And speaking of new releases, here's release 1.2 of the Holiday Gear and Gift Guide, with more stuff of interest that came in too late or otherwise didn't make our original set of suggestions:

A Bug's Life Print Studio and A Bug's Life Action Game have been released in conjunction with Disney's terrific new animated movie. Print Studio allows children of all ages to create and print out everything from photo frames to posters featuring images from the film and anything you can import from other sources. Sheets of sticker paper are included. In the fun Action Game, Flik collects grains, flies on dandelion puffs, recruits warrior bugs, fights grasshoppers and avoids birds. Somewhat similar to the PlayStation version, this one looks great and is fun, too.

Age of Empires, Microsoft's great strategy game set in the ancient world, is still worth buying, but so too is an expansion set, Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome. It adds units such as camel cavalry, war elephants and ancient warships, plenty of new scenarios and four new civilizations (Rome, Carthage, Palmyra and Macedonia).

Microsoft Pinball Arcade is something of a history lesson in pinball games, with virtual versions of seven landmark games from the 1930s on. With all the recent video game nostalgia, this really should take you back.

Plane Crazy is a fast PC airplane-race game whose basics can be picked up relatively quickly, though its speed makes it difficult to master.

Cybermercs is a dark cyberpunky role-playing game involving a team of nanotech-enhanced warriors to clean out nasty aliens. Includes a ``spawn'' mode so more than one person can play a network game with only one copy.

Bust A Groove is a challenging PlayStation music and dance game, succeeding the huge if unlikely hit Parappa the Rapper. Cut the rug in time with hip hop, techno and disco, and try not to embarrass yourself.

NFL Quarterback Club '99 updates Acclaim's best-selling Nintendo 64 football game. Good graphics and sound; team-specific playbooks like the 49ers' West Coast offense; all 32 Super Bowls; even teams like the expansion Cleveland Browns that don't exist yet.

Buck Bumble lets you play a cybernetic bee protecting your hive on the Nintendo 64. Get a bug's eye view of life.

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Photo: no caption (Book cover - RELEASE 2.1)