PlanetDreamcast | Community | Mailbag | 4/21/01

Community - Mailbag 4/21/01 - Import Delays, Dreamcast Clans, and Black and White - by RaptoR Remember me? I'm the guy who's always messing up news posts and POTD images on the main page. When reading the crap below, remember that this is my first mailbag ever, and so if it sucks then hold off sending that mailbomb just yet. Welcome to the PDC Mailbag. Every week we toss in a bunch of letters from our readers and do our best to dazzle you with wit and wisdom. Roughly, that translates to copying/pasting your emails and writing the first thing that comes to mind. But hey, you take what you can get. If you have something you want to contribute to the Mailbag, send it to this address! From: Shane Gleeson Subject: Bangai-O in Europe? Please tell me Bangai-O is being released in Europe. It has been a long time since I bought a 2D shooter and this looks like one to get. Cheers for the review but hopefully I can buy it without having to import. Shane Like most games, Bangai-O will appear in Europe, it just takes a little time for the developers to change the game from NTSC to PAL format. Rest assured, you will get Bangai-O sooner or later. Importing is relatively cheap these days, and most major cities have some sort of games importer. From: Kevin Mohanan Subject: Beat-em-ups I've read several of your reviews on "beat em up" games and you seem to think that they are all bad. Can you recommend a good one of these games for Dreamcast? Thanks. Nope, we don't think all Dreamcast beat-em-ups suck, we just point out the good points as well as the bad ones. If you're looking for the best fighter on Dreamcast, then you'll want Soul Calibur. Other top DC fighters include Power Stone, Dead or Alive 2 and Fighting Vipers 2. If you're looking for the best a genre has to offer, then check out our Best Dreamcast Games section. From: Don Schilling Subject: Manuals Is there a site you know of where game manuals can be found for download? There's a local store with good prices on used games, but a lot are w/o manuals. Usually, you should check the game manufacturer's website for info on a game. As far as I know, there are no websites which allow you to simply download manuals. Why not ask someone at the store if they have a copy of the game's manual when you buy the game? From: Brian Subject: UT for DC I want to put together a game between two clans that play on DC, how can I specify which map to meet at. Rather than just saying "everyone meet at the Lava Giant @ 8," and have the possibility of others joining in. I would relay like to find out how to designate an address, then set some kind of password or something. Any help would be so appreciated. Thank you. Also, I've noticed a "Seganet" map that is locked in my map selection area, how do I unlock that little nugget.Please send your response to the below address, thanx again. Brian [Question forwarded from hal at PlanetUnreal, thanks, d00d] While the Dreamcast does rock, it's not the best machine for clanning. Nevertheless, if you're still determined to play organised games of UT on your Dreamcast, then this is what I recommend you do. In the server browser, select a server name, rather than a map name, then mail everyone who will be playing in the match with the details (name, IP, etc.) of the server. It's far from perfect, but it's a way of making sure everyone turns up in the right server at the right time. From: Andy Corsaro Subject: DC Browser CD Is there any way to get ahold of the DC browser with mouse support (version 2.6)? I know that ODCM released it with their holiday issue, but they're no longer releasing demo disks with their magazines (which, by the way, really stinks). Thanks for your time, Andy Corsaro You should be able to get hold of a copy free of charge by contacting PlanetWeb, the guys who make the Dreamcast browser software. Mail [email protected] for more information. From: Jason Parker Subject: NEWSFLASH It's called Daytona USA, there is no "2001" you f*ckin morons. Jesus Christ, you couldn't get a name of a game right?? Your site reeks with amateurity... We love you too, Jason. :) From: evan sharenow Subject: Black and White?? Any idea if Black and White is still coming to the Dreamcast? Hope so... Yes, Black & White is definately headed for Dreamcast. It's still now quite out yet, but it's certainally on the way, and we'll keep you posted on any future developments.. For more B&W info, check out our sister site, PlanetBlackandWhite. From: Ask Ask Subject: Error, Skies Of Arcadia Indeed there was an error in skies of arcadia...I CANT FIND ENOUGH GOLD TO PAY OFF A DEBT THAT I OWE TO THIS FREAK ON MY HEADQUARTERS hehe That's nice... Next! From: Jerry Collins Subject: Dreamcast Connection Hello, I'm a BroadBand using Canadian and I was wondering since the BBA will cost over $100 here and is not guaranteed to work with PSO is it worth it to get a Phoneline ISP to play online DC games? I'd use a free ISP and rent an online game to see for myself, but most of the ones I have tried say Newfoundland dosen't exist and neither does my Area Code. Also, since Sega is pretty much abandonning DC hardware and stuff will the Networks for PSO and other games still stay? It would really piss me off to spend the money to play online and find out I can't. Well thats all I have to say, keep up the kick ass job on the site! Jerry Collins, An annoyed Canadian Broadband user There is absloutely no need to buy a BBA simply to play PSO. PSO runs like a dream on 56k, with very little lag or slowdown. You're right, getting a free dial-up ISP is probably cheaper in the long-run than paying over $100 for something which might not even work with PSO. Sega is not abandoning the Dreamcast at all. I'd imagine the PSO servers will stay up for at least another year, PSO is a top title which will keep on selling, and Sonic Team know that. From: Edward Myers Subject: questions... On your site, you claim that "if your Dreamcast has a blue swirl, then you can look forward to these titles". Then under that you have a game list. Are there Dreamcasts out there that have a blue swirl besides the ones with the original red swirl? If so, do the blue swirl units play games that the red swirl units don't? Also, I thought the game "Half-Life" was supposed to be released on the Dreamcast awhile back. I don't see it in your reviews section. Did it ever get released at all? Has any game console going to release the game "Unreal"? Dreamcasts that have blue siwrls are European, the list was of Dreamcast games which would be released in Europe within the next few months. Blue-swirled Dreamcasts can play only PAL European games, while red US ones are limited to NTSC titles. Half-Life isn't reviewed yet because it isn't out. It's due out on April 30th, and we should have a review for you to read within a week or so of the game's release. The original Unreal didn't ever appear on a console, but its multiplayer sequel, Unreal Tournament, is currently available on the PS2 (but we'll forget about that) and Dreamcast. Go read our review of it here. From: georgette slaughter Subject: pics@planetdrreamcast seen me more infor.on game spy While Babelfish didn't make any sense of that statement/question/comment, what I think you're asking for is more information on GameSpy. If you're looking for info on their top-notch server browser porgrams, then go here. If you're not, then check out the GameSpy Portal Page, you'll probably find links to what you want there. From: PhatOne66 Subject: (no subject) hey, i was hoping to get a dreamcast for my birthday. But my dad won't get me it because he thinks they won't make anymore games. If you know, could you please tell me if they are going to still make games. Thanx a lot. -- PhatOne66 Even though Dreamcast production has stopped, there is still a massive backlog of unsold units that will be sold over the next year. DC games will continue to be sold far into 2002 and 2003. If you're looking to buy a DC, now's the time, the little white box has several quality titles already available, and many more to come. From: Nelson Nieves Subject: UT Review About your Unreal Tournament review, I think it was very good and detailed. However, one of the thing you may have forgotten to mention in the "Bad" section is that UT for Dreamcast is missing the "Assault" game mode (my personal favorite) from the PC version. I guess they didn't have room for it, but it would've rocked if it was implemented, 'cause there's no other way I like to relax than to storm the beach in "Overlord". Nelson Nieves Yes, in hindsight, we probably should have mentioned the lack of Assault mode in our review of UT, although Assault was one of the less popular modes of the PC version. There was no real incentive to go back and play the map once you had completed it, and multiplayer Assault was generally laggy and poor. Secret Level couldn't have implemented it simply because the Dreamcast doesn't have sufficient memory to store and play the large Assault maps. A shame? Yes. A great loss? Not particularly. From: DarkLance Subject:   Any chance of seeing a US hundred swords? Thanks. It's not likely. If you want to play Hundred Swords in the US, you'll need to get hold of an import copy. From: PLATANOX Subject: A QUESTION........................ HEY DO U KNOW WHEN SHENMUE 2 IS COMING OUT?........LET ME KNOW ASAP...I REALLY WANNA PLAY THAT IM TIRED OF BEATIN PART ONE......... THANX & BYE First, fix your cAPS lOCK key. Done that? Right. Shenmue 2 is due to appear in Japan around November 2001, so if you can read Japanese, you might want to get hold of an imported copy. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until Early 2002 like the rest of us.   That's it for this Mailbag. Have a burning question? First extinguish the damn thing (get it!?), and then send it to this handy address.