PlanetDreamcast | Community | Mailbag | 3/24/00

Community - Mailbag 03/24/00 - DoA2, Sega vs. Sony, and Dreamcast's Future - by BenT Today is pretty cool. Fridays are always nice at GameSpy, because we know we're allowed to sleep in late the next day before coming in to work. But today is extra special, because we're interviewing an applicant for our ClassicGaming position. The thing is, Frags is currently in a meeting, so I'm left all alone to corrupt this guy and plot against Frags. Soon, the console department will be MINE! All mine.... >:D ... Anyway, the Mailbag is back. We got some good letters this week, although nothing in the league of last week's now-infamous PhREEK9mm. :) That guy rocked. Let's dive in! From: Tyler Brunette Subject: vmu saves Well i guess this isn't feed back but, anyways, I thought you guys would like to hear that i found a site called booyaka.There u can upload saved games via the 4x memory card that connects through your pc and download them to your normal vmu by going on the dreamcast and using the dreamcast internet. But you're not resticted to downloading your saved games.There are tons of saved games that other users have posted. Also you can download user created vmu animations and vmu games to your vmu. There si also a program that you can download that lets you make your own animations/games for your vmu. The site url is www.booyaka.com. And the site is updated every time some submits a save automaticly. P.S. I dont work for them, it's just that i thought you guys would like to know about cause this is the only site that has this many saved games and you can use your normal vmu to access them. And by the way Evolution deserves higher than a 6 Yeah, Booyaka rocks. They've been around since the start, although they don't seem to update too much anymore. From: Slickdog33 Subject: PLEASE POST THIS MESSAGE...IMPORTANT SEGA BIAS Hi there, I just want to know why everyone has to bash Sega and what they have done. The Past is over, FORGET about it guys, leave Sega alone. They have come back to gaming living rooms like mine. Dreamcast is here and it will stay in our homes as a current video games system. Sega is the company that started the videogame industry, and they deserve more credit than anyone else. The HECK with sony and what they have done. Take a look at PS2 its NOTHING.. I just want to say to everyone i love sega personally and i will always stay behind them. Sega Dreamcast is the best system out now and the fight between systems will be a very interesting battle. For all of you that dont like Sega just because they are Sega GET OVER IT. All of you are missing out on the best thing that has happened to videogame industry in a while. I just can not stand it when people bash Sega just because of the company name. Give them some credit for coming back in the spotlight and dominating now. This is coming from a video game kid that has had ALL the systems and am reflecting on what all of you think....I had to get that off my chest...Thank you, Sega Rocks.... P.S. Your reviews are a little tight, loosen them up please...Keep up the good work.... Matt We get a lot of letters like yours. You start out ok with the pro-Sega stuff, but then just devolve into bashing the other major systems. How does bashing Sony make you better than the Sega-bashing, Sony fanboys you seem to detest? Any type of system bashing for its own sake is just lame. P.S. Sorry, but we like our reviews like we like our Play-Doh - hot and tight. From: Ptrk123 Subject: DC zip drive With the upcoming zip drive, will the DC be able to support a word processing application? Thanks for your thoughts. Theoretically, there's no reason why it couldn't. But practically, there's a snowball's chance in hell of there being enough interest in such an app for it to be made. Add in the fact that you'd need to manufacture a printer too and it becomes even less likely. Sorry. From: Anthony Scinta Subject: mod squad Two things: I once read that a vmu-type device was in the works that allows you to play import games on the Dreamcast. Have you heard anything about this, or did I get fed a pile of fertilizer (in its defense, I read about the claim in a major magazine). Is there a mod-chip that you can install without any serious risk of damaging your system? My friend has a Japanese Dreamcast and a truckload of cool games, but I'm a little worried about opening up my dreamcast. Thanks That handy magical VMU adapter thingy was talked about for a while, but to the best of our knowledge never actually turned into a real product. Too bad, as that would have made playing imports a snap. As for installing a mod chip, it requires a steady hand and a basic knowledge of soldering. If you're unsure as to if you can handle it, you probably can't. Luckily, places like National Console Support will gladly sell you the chip and install it for you, for a reasonable charge. That's the route I'll be going, whenever I finally decide to pick up Bangaoih and those other cool Japanese DC games that I want. From: CGMarine3 Subject: Quake3 & Half-life Will you be able to play DC versions of Q3 and Half-life online against people playing the pc version? It's possible, but at this point I'd say it's unlikely. We'll just have to wait and see, though. From: Jacobcj Subject: dreamcast games Does Sega plan to release a version of Daytona 2? How about the arcade Star Wars Trilogy? Eternal Champions for the dreamcast? I bought a dreamcast hoping these games would be released as home versions. Please let us Sega arcade nuts know! Daytona 2 has been a persistent rumor, although nothing solid has materialized yet. There's no word at all on Star Wars Trilogy or Eternal Champions, although I'd say the chances of a new Eternal Champions is rather low. The series never really caught on, mostly because the games kind of sucked. You can still get a bit of a Dreamcast Star Wars fix from LucasArts' upcoming Star Wars Racer, which will be a port of the popular PC version. Unfortunately, last we heard the game was only running at 30 frames per second - pretty lame, when you consider how relatively simple the original version is. Still, it'll probably have less fog than the N64 game. :) From: largand Subject: Dead or Alive 2 Do you guys know of anyway to select a different stage when you a in practice mode, or tag mode, i am tired of that same stage for practicing. Also are there any hidden characters to get in the game. From: S Shields Subject: Dead OR Alive 2 secerts?!? Hi, alot of peeps been wondering where are the secrets and costumes in Dead or Alive 2? It's been mentioned in almost every review that their are secrets, but noone has found one yet! ( not talking about the worthless cheats like clear pause screen and hidden wallpaper in bonus directory ) I trust this site the most out of all the gaming sites on the net, you guys gotta know something about this. I know a few people who have contacted Tecmo's hint line about it, and Tecmo said that they would release the secrets today (Monday,March 20th). Did you hear about this? They didn't say how there going to reveal them though, on their crappy website or if their disclosing this information to gaming sites like yourself. Even Prima's official guide to DOA2 lied about publishing the secrets! Right on the cover it says they enclose all the hidden characters! But they don't mention one thing about it! Please help! Us gamers need to know the scoop! - Nihon Republic We've heard that weird Tecmo of America/Japan rumor as well, and the date is now past. We're as much in the dark as everyone else, so we'll just have to hold tight. In the meantime, there are thousands of gamers out there trying every little thing to unlock extras, so you can rest assured that if there's something to find, it'll be found eventually. And although this isn't quite official, you may want to check out this IGN page, which we reported on today. It allows you to download a hacked save file that enables a whole bunch of weird stuff. Interesting, but you gotta have one of those Nexus VMU's with the PC interface cable. From: Zach VanCamp Subject: Decisions?!?!?!? With so many different game systems out it is hard to choose which one to buy. The main reason why I am thinking about purchasing a dreamcast is the price. I dont feel like paying 300+ dollars for something like a playstation 2 when I can get this great system for 200. Right now at this point im truely thinking about buying a dreamcast. With great titles out such as nfl2k, nba2k and the upcoming resident evil: code veronica etc. the dreamcast offers a great lineup of games with superb graphics and excellent gameplay. The one problem I am worried about is that with the ps2, x-box, and dolphin coming out in the future how long will the dreamcast continue to make games. I remember when I purchased my sega saturn and they canceled making games for it so soon. It was a good system and had some really cool games but im worried about the dreamcast having the same problem as the saturn did. I was wondering if u guys have any suggestions as to what I should do???? Oh yeah im still pissed about what EA is doing to sega when sega made EA what it is today. DAMN YOU EA ! You have just lost another customer. ps. GREAT SITE! I have read almost all of the game reviews and visit your site on a daily basis. Thanx for the excellent info and previews on upcoming titles! Zach This is indeed the big question lately. Should you or shouldn't you? I think it comes down to one main factor: how much do you like the games? If you like 'em a lot, then Dreamcast would probably be a good choice, since many of its titles will never be available on other systems. If you're more of a general gamer, then it's entirely possible that the PS2 or X-Box libraries will hold more appeal for you. You would have to wait though, and there's no guarantees as to their quality. I look at it this way - if you love Sega, then you'll want to buy a Dreamcast. I've had a lot of fun with mine, so even if they stopped making games tomorrow, it would still be money well spent. After all, we'll always have Soul Calibur, Sonic, Crazy Taxi, and the perfect SNK / Capcom ports. Moving on, we got a bunch of letters about that PhREEK9mm fellow.. he seemed to strike a chord, as his letter represented just about everything that's wrong with gaming (and AOL ;) today... From: Kris Subject: Kudos on PhREEK9mm's post! Man I've not laghed so hard as when PhREEK9mm said we should all buy "Nintendo's" Oh yeah....they.........uuuuuuuuhhhhhh.....ROCK! Especially the virtual boy which was on sale for about 2 days, one day for the first wave o' losers (like PhREEK) to buy it, and 1 more for him to fess up to his friends that nintendo sucks ass and don't buy it! Alright guys let's all go pre-order our "Dolphin's" for $3,000. It's gonna be the best system ever, and guess what PhREEK? According to everything I've read you'll be in for a treat, that P.O.S. is being shipped obsolete so you won't have to wait a couple of years, months, or days. :-{] As for your response I was roll'n on the floor. You guys are awesome keep up the good work. P.S. SEGA ROCKS! From: Robert Miller Subject: Sega as permanent underdog In reference to the letter by PhREEK9mm, firstly let me say that I loved the line "DO NOT BURN MONEY ON THIS JAPANESE CRAP!!!!... buy nintendo" Where does this idiot think Nintendo systems are made? Antarctica? Incidentally, doesn't the N64 look like it's becoming "obsolite"? Despite his questionable intelligence level (and hideous spelling), he may have a grain of a point. Every system sega has made has **in the American market** been overwhelmed by another company fairly quickly. The Master System and Game Gear both lost to Nintendo systems, even though they both had superior hardware. The 32X and Saturn were both wipd out in the face of Sony's onslaught. (Well, alright, Sega itself was partially responsible for its own undoing in those two cases.) The Genesis did the best, yet the most you can say is that it fended off the SNES longer than anyone would have expected. And now comes the PS2 to "push the Dreamcast off the swingset." I own a DC and love Crazy Taxi and Chu-Chu Rocket (TSUBABABABABABA!), but I do believe the PS2 will muscle it aside pretty soon after it launches. Is this the fate of Sega? To permanently be playing second fiddle, or having its fiddle smashed? Oon a separate note, is Fragmaster going to be doing any of the mailbags here? I want to know whether this one is going to allow any off topic wierdness of the "My penis looks like a little Elvis" variety that you find on Planet Halflife, or is it going to adopt the more cultured air of the Classic Gaming mailbag? Sega does have a history of releasing early and getting trampled later, but I don't really have a problem with that. The reason? The games that do come out rock, pure and simple. As for Frags, he's so busy running the console/classic department here at GameSpy that he barely has time to go on romantic dates with Lowtax, let along do weekly Mailbags. Hence, you're stuck with me. As for its content, the Mailbag will only be as good (or sick) as the letters you guys send me. We haven't gotten too many freaky e-mails, YET. I fear that may change now that I just mentioned it, though... From: Greg Deutschlander Subject: Dreamcast's future I for the first time since Sega released its Genesis feel that Sega has a good chance of staying in and maybe even leading the next console war. Alot of this can be compared to the Genesis VS. Super Nintendo Launch when Sega beat Nintendo 90% of the years that the consoles were on the market. Here is a top ten list of why I believe this. Priced competitive from the start. Great launch with great game titles. Excellent leadtime (Genesis to SNES launch, now Dreamcast to PSX2 launch). Modem out of the box. 2nd Generation titles by PSX2 launch (Genesis Sonic, SNES Super Mario World). First one to the market (People are mostly tired of their Playstation just like they were tired of their NES when the Genesis launched). Not a big enough graphic difference between the Dreamcast and PSX2 (like the Genesis and the SNES). Excellent sports games (No need for Electronic Arts). Easy to develop for plus less piracy then the playstation had, in turn this makes for more software sales rather then rentals. It is Sega the arcade kings. Thanks, Greg Deutschlander You're no David Letterman, but those were good points. It's probably not accurate to state that the Genesis beat the SNES for 90% of their lifetimes, though. Better take off the rose-tinted shades. ;) From: Michael Atkinson Subject: Sega Sony International Tennis I signed up for some lame-assed message board when I got my DC -- the first and only time I went online with it -- and have been inundated with feeble messages for months. Now here is my retort on the perception of war: Things appear to be heating up in the console wars and we as the mighty consumer have the best seat in the house. Fan based websites, messageboards and discussion groups are the best way for these behemoths to get the idea that WE make or break a console. We decide who holds market share. We decide if there is going to be another crummy sequel to an altogether uninspired game. We decide if it's time for some cross genre manipulation. Take the power into your own hands as we have the will to change the world. Everyone out there who is brand specific has that moment looming in their future where they see the end of lifecycle (EOL) for a revered product. PSX lovers are shaking, especially in light of the recent negative press associated with some faulty hardware at launch. The Dreamcasters rejoice obviously hoping it spells doom for mighty Sony. However this just won't be the case, Sony has proved crafty in the past and I don't think their IQ and business savy has dropped even one IOTA. Just wait, Sega is holding off some stellar releases and inundating us with mediocre product (until Code Veronica anyway) however with that said they are holding their big guns for around the North American launch of the PS2. This is totally obvious and reported on every fan site in existence. The Sega online gaming network was delayed and we are left in the lurch. Don't start ranting about mismanagement etc, this is business, this is healthy, this is why we have the best seat in the house. Here is how I see it: PS2 launch Dreamcast mega titles SHENMUE !!!!! SEAMAN!!!!! ETC... Sega online broadband strategy kicks into gear -- Quake 3 Arena PS2 lowers price for Xmas Sega Mouse and Keyboard combo Etc. ... This is a giant multinational tennis match. Right now we are only into the commercials advertising the match. Get your tickets and grab a good seat this is going to be interesting. Let me tell you this, I will get both machines (as I have PSX DC, Genesis, Gameboy, 3 PC's and a Palm Pilot). We watch Japan for some indication of what is to come, however be mindfull of New Years, we were all watching New Zealand on the internet waiting for the apocalypse (hoarding our bottled water and toilet paper) and .... NOTHING HAPPENED. Business as usual. As it was always intended. This hullabaloo is intended to generate hype both positive and negative this is branding this is name association. We make enough noise it makes it to mainstream press and then our parents and loved ones finally read/hear about it and then make their decisions at Xmas. There is no such thing as bad advertising especially when it is free. Let the games begin and damn the torpedoes, we want them to compete, we need them to compete they must continue or we will never get to the perceived "Next Generation" of gaming. We need this fight so that broadband is pushed into the living room, we need this so consoles and game prices drop we need the systems to become outdate and reach their EOL. If we allow an entertainment company to stagnate then we will be spoon fed the same drive for a decade. This cannot happen. Competition is good. War is good. Evil is good. Starting to lose it sorry for the rant. Cheers Knuckles Wow. You really like your sports analogys. Some good points, though. Competition does indeed increase the speed of technological advancement. A perfect case in point is the AMD/Intel CPU war. Last year Intel was sitting pretty, relatively fat and complacent with their P2/Celeron lines dominating the medium and high-range PC markets. Then along comes AMD's secret weapon, the Athlon. It seems that it took Intel by surprise, and the resulting rapid-fire release of CPU's has been astonishing. You can actually go and buy a 1 ghz chip now - amazing. If it weren't for AMD scaring the pants off Intel, we'd probably still be hovering around the 733 mhz mark. As you're saying, the same holds true for consoles. Sega's inclusion of a modem with the US Dreamcast pretty much forced Sony to have some sort of connectivity plan just to stay competitive. That is certainly a good thing. Of course, the ugly side of this competition is that eventually one of the systems will be beaten, and software support will wither. From: Tom Paulka Subject: I have a question. Hi! I have a question. I heard a rumour that there was going to be a Sonic & Knuckles rpg for the dreamcast. Is this true? Well, thanks! Tom Never heard of it, and it doesn't sound very likely. You can look forward to Sonic Adventure 2, though, which may be shown as soon as E3. If it's anything near the first, Sonic fans should rejoice. Game over, man, game over. Yep, that's another edition of the 'bag. Remember, if there's something really bugging you, drop a message in the Mailbag, and never mind the man behind the curtain. That is Frags. He is dum. Anyway.. see ya next week!