PlanetDreamcast | Community | Mailbag | 7/7/01

Community - Mailbag 7/7/01 - Europe, Shenmue II, and More With a PS2 Lover - by digitaltaco Welcome to the PDC Mailbag. You know the drill: You send us letters, we copy them and paste them into a template, and we respond using our clever wit and extensive knowledge. Well, maybe not "clever wit." Non-existent wit is more like it... Anyway, this is my first mailbag, so go easy on me! And as always, if you want to be a part of the fun, send letters to this address. Now on with the show! From: Thomas Subject: I like the two systems I just have to say I love your website. But I also have to say I don't like it when people write in saying "the dreamcast sucks" or "the playstation 2 sucks" and other stuff. I like all systems that are out right now. The only system I have beef with is the xbox because I am more of a mac guy. That is it. I have nothing against it because it is a good system with very beautiful graphics but I don't like Microsoft. I have a playstation, n64, dreamcast, playstation 2, and a very fast Macintosh G4 and I love them all. That is all I have to say. ~Tom Well, I have something against the Xbox; just wait until you get your hands on that gargantuan controller and take a look at the size of the machine itself and you may have something against it too. But honestly, you're right in your remarks. I may run this here Dreamcast site, but I own a ton of consoles from pretty much every hardware maker out there. (sorry NEC) Included in that bunch is a PS2. And I'll end up owning a Gamecube and probably even an Xbox someday. So my final thought would be this: Can't we all just get along? By the look of the letter below, I'd guess not... From: Chris_Lee Subject: a PS2 fan known as toby U say that the ps2 sucks and ud rather buy a dreamcast then ur wrong. I admit there are some good games like shenmue but look at the future for dreamcast, nothing as for ps2. Red Faction, Smackdown Just Bring it, GT3, ISS pro evo, ssx:tricky, Silent hill, broadband super fast modem. The dreamcast is dead, developers like EA new it was a failure when it first came out. U always knew it never had very many good titles and in 2yrs. Dreamcast will be a forgotten toy in the trash can Rather than respond myself, I'll let our readers take over... Randy Hert says: hello all at planetdreamcast. for awhile now, i have been reading the mailbag, awaiting that one moment when i would feel compelled to write in. ladies and gentlemen, that day is today. i was reading last weeks mailbag (im a little behind) and would like to reply to that fool that calls him/herself a ps2 lover. now, they may be partially correct about the "deadcast". ok, i agree that its true that the dc is no longer being produced. dead though, never. let me say something about the "paystation 2", which is a 100% accurate name for that machine. first u pay 300 big ones, and many camped out to get this paystation. then, u want another controller, boom, 35 dollars. a multitap, boom, 35 dollars. a game, 50 dollars apiece, or more, depending where u get it. a remote to work the dvd player? 30 dollars. plus, a memory card, 35 dollars. this doesnt include the future modem upgrade cost, extra junk, etc that sony will throw on its loyal customers. after your calculator batteries go dead from adding up the cost, u find that this "paystation" is alot more than its worth. a dc u ask? 100 dollars plus about 40 for an awesome game. there is no comparison in price for the almost exact same technology. hm... what is the smarter buy? now, before u come back to this site smartin off and actin like a dumbass, check your info. u get a hell of a lot more for less with the dreamcast. ok, ive said what i needed to. thanks to all who read this. p.s. thanks for makin an awesome dreamcast site. i come here everyday to get the latest dirt on the dc. ...and Shaun Watson replies: I know this letter is a little late, but I just wanted to make a comment to the guy who said the Dreamcast sucks and wanted to comment on the PS2. The PS2 will not be the dominate system on the market. It will be either the XBOX or the GameCube. Here's why: To me Sony made the same mistakes with the PS2 that Sega made with the Saturn. They rushed the product out to the market and made the thing to difficult to program for. One of the reasons why PSOne outsold the Saturn was because it was easy to develope for. The PS2 has DVD capabilities. Who cares. I am buying a game machine, not a DVD player. I think the DVD should be an add-on option, sold separatly on game machines, to keep the price lower. Instead of DVD capabilites, Sony could have added hardware to make the PSOne games look better (ala Bleem!). If the Dreamcast had DVD built in, it would not think it would be sold at $99 dollars. Which brings me to my next point. Price. When a system comes out, you have the hardcore gamers buying the system and then the price comes down and the general public buy the systems. The systems usually start selling when the system hits between $99 - $149 dollars. I do not see how Sony can get the price below $200 because of the DVD capabilites built in. I think they would lose to much money. They would have to sell a unit without the DVD to acheive this. Plus the price of add-ons is ridiculous. Price for Playstation 2 - $300. Price for Broadband Adapter - $30. Price for Remote Control for DVD - $30. Price for 40GB Hard Drive $100-$200. Look on Sony's executives face when they bend you over and go to town-Priceless. Your talking about a $500 investment, which is pretty steep. Also Sony had the luxury of having a lot of exclusive games for the PSOne. The games that finally came out for the other systems came after the system was considered dead (Saturn) or could not compete with the CD capabilities of the PSOne (N64). Companies like SqareSoft, EA and Capcom will now bring their games to other systems and will not be exclusive to the Sony. Finally, no system has been able to follow the success of the previous system. Atari, Nintendo, and Sega all could not accomplish this and the PS2 will follow suit, especially since the newer systems will be easier to program for and developers are already complaining about how hard the PS2 is to program for. With all these reasons, the PS2 will not be as successful as Sony Fanboys believe. But in the end it is not the system specs that matter, but how fun the games are and Dreamcast games are a lot more fun that PS2 games right now. Look out Sony...your days are numbered. ...and finally, PlanetDreamcast's RaptoR: Ah, it gud 2 here from an old freind. There r soem goood gaems? Hav u looked at teh numbar of descent deadcast gammes releeased in teh passt siix months + compared it to taht of teh PS2? I htink not! ill admit there r some gud PS2 gaems, but tehryre arrived 2 late. teh deadcase alraedy has lots of gud gaems for u 2 plAY. Supaaer fast modem? And teh PS2 uses AOL as teh ISP!! HAR HAR! i doubt thatll B released htis yeer. oh + EA is teh st00pid suXor liek YUO!!!1 YUO AER TEH WAEKEST LIKN... GUDBIE!!!!!1! From: Teemu Polvi Subject: What about us? There are lots of talking about DC and games coming to US.. but what about Europe? There are some question marks on games/hardware when considering europe, and I would be very happy if you would have some answers: 1. Is NFL2k1 ever coming to europe? 2. "If you're in Europe, however, you will be forced to miss out on UT's online mode, as the European version of the game lacks online support. " -Does that mean I can't play UT online in europe, or is the lack in servers? 3. What different "area codes" are there in DC games? And to comment the ever lasting console war: Stop yelling about your box in living room: console don't mean *poop* without games.. I have crazy taxi, soul calibur and Q3A and couldn't be happier with them.. and ever talked about the fact that DC looks sweet comparing to PS2 "computer" (they even call games to "software") which is 2 black boxes hitted together with some fancy carvings =) But I don't care much.. I know one person who has ps2, and he still would like to buy DC because its rpg games.. and I have DC and I would want to buy ps2 for... oh wait no I wouldn't. And about that adsl thing to ps2 or whatever it is.. dc allready has it! and do you think sony is going to get wires to every house? don't think so! Atleast dc has modem to carry over atleast small online sessions. (adding modem to ps2 wouldn't risen the price a bit.. same with lack of 4 gamepad ports, and remote -but this way they can get some money back they lost when selling adapters under price). One of the best things to tell about these ps2 maniacs is that they pay 0,7$ to send mobile message to this TV chat we have in finland.. just to say "PS2 Rulez".. ofcourse its same with "CS rules" but there's another GameSpy site for that one =) There is one good thing about ps2: USB ports.. I'd really want dc to have them.. but cant have anything you know... Got little carried off the subject.. so I better stop it here =| Whew... Let's get down to business. I don't think NFL 2K1 will ever make it's way to Europe. And because that game didn't make it, I doubt any of the sequels will either. It's unfortunate, but that happens with tons of games that come out in Japan too... As for Unreal Tournament... The European release lacks online play completely. So if you want to play the game online, you'll have to import the American version of the game. And yes, there are different region codes for DC games just as there are for DVDs. I don't know how many there are in Europe, that's something you could probably find out by contacting Sega in your own region. And as I stated above, I think the whole console war thing is getting pretty old too. And you're right. It is the games that really matter. That's what I've always said. I mean, I still play my Super NES and Genesis games all the time. But the power under the hood of those systems is far inferior to what we have in modern consoles. But the games are still a ton of fun to play. And there's the rub. From: Jim Subject: New Dreamcast User Well, I've been checking out your site for about a week and a half now, and it's one of the better DC sites I've come across. I figured I'd writre in, because in the next few days here, I'll be picking up a DC & 26 games from ebay. Sure, it's a risk, but I'm all for that. I've read damn near every review of every game out there, and I have to say I really am impressed with the DC and Sega. I've been a "Nintendo Loyalist" for as long as I've owned video game systems, and have never owned anything made by Sega or Sony. I'm making the move to nab a DreamCast and these games because I know it's coming to the end of its life cycle, but I've always wanted one, and never had a chance to until now. There's no real question here, just a letter from someone that's jumping with both feet, into the world of DreamCast, and hoping it really is all worth it. ~ Jim I hope you think so too... And if not, please send all of your games to me. Hehe. I'm sure you'll have a blast with it... Especially if you picked up a copy of Soul Calibur. I know I'm not the only one out there who's soul still burns. From: Dash Subject: Bleem Review I saw your Bleem review for Gran Turismo 2 on the Dreamcast, I was wondering if it will work with Dreamcast brand racing wheels? Well, I haven't attempted to use any racing wheels with it personally, but I can offer this information. After cutting the the number of supported games per bleempack down to one from one hundred, Bleem stated that the packs would be more like ports than emulated versions of games. By this, they meant that the emulation would be so fine tuned, that you wouldn't notice that the game is made for the system. Now I know the packaging says that the emulator definitely supports racing wheels. I don't know if they are all supported, but I would guess that they should be. So give it a try. And hell, if it doesn't work with your wheel, it was only six bucks anyway. From: deadline Subject: UT does have good graphics... I would like to respond to a reader named Alex who wrote in saying that your review of UT was wrong because you liked the graphics. You know what I find funny? It's people who write in saying that they expect the DC to match up graphically to a suped-up PC. What do you expect? You pay $100 for a DC. You pay thousands for a nice PC. I also have played both versions. While the DC version is not as good, it is still very good for a console FPS. It certainly doesn't look like Hexen or Doom. If you think so, you got more problems than just being ignorant. But, who really cares? If you like the game, play it. If not, don't play it. Graphics don't mean everything. Later. What? You mean my DC's graphics aren't as good as my $2000+ PC with a GeForce 3 and all the latest whozits and whatzits! That's insane! Go away! Umm, I'm kidding... Don't go away. Please. I need you, loyal reader-type! And you're right...I have no need to comment. From: Jeff Lowe Subject: Online I'm a cable user is there a brodband connection I can get that will replace the dial up modem on my dreamcast so I can play on-line? Yes, you can purchase a broadband adapter to play certain games online with your existing broadband adapter. Though, it may be harder to find than you think and you may not want to go through the hassle anyway. Read this editorial, written by yours truly, and find out why. From: CJ Subject: General Info and Opinions Hey guys! Love the website! (Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm kissing up. You guys get too little of that these days, it seems.) On Sonic Adventure 2: I own it. And I don't even own a DC! How's that for fanatical devotion to a series? Seriously though, when I do get a DC, I'm going to set aside everything else for a good week and play the game through as far as possible. On the person who mentioned a Sega Smash Pack 2: There actually is one out already. The bad news is that it's for the PC, not the DC. It's got Sonic 2, Comix Zone, Kid Chameleon, Vectorman 2, Shining Force, and a few other games on it. It's in the bargain software section, at least in the places I've seen it. On the "death" of the DC: Rumors of its death have been greatly overexaggerated. I mean, come on, this is the system that put Sega back in the game (pardon the pun). I'm positive that if the Dreamcast hadn't been released, there would have been no Crazy Taxi, no Sonic Adventure, no Phantasy Star Online, no Samba de Amigo, and none of those other great games out there. I had a friend who told me to wait for a Gamecube when I told him I was going to get a DC. I laughed at him. Why would I wait till November to buy a $200-300 system when I can get a really good system now for under a hundred? Just some random thoughts and ramblings. Hope this makes up for a lot of the illegible and illogical garbage you seem to get every week. --ChaosJedi I shall now ramble you a random response: The DC is only dead to those who can't appreciate a great console with a large library of classic games. I know my DC will live on for a good long while, just as my Genesis and Saturn have. Whoa, you own a game and don't even own the system? That's mad crazy, B! What do you do with it, throw it at your enemies? Grab a DC soon and you will have loads of fun with that game and many others, I presume. A few readers sent in the information about Sega Smash Pack 2. So to you and all the others who gave us the heads up, "Thanks... We're idiots." Damn! My credibility... We always love praise here... and chocolates. Send us more chocolates. From: Naima Nave Subject: Shenmue To whom this may concern; My husband and I recently purchased this game. We enjoyed it very much, but were a bit disappointed by the ending. I do hope that there will be a sequel. If there is, when will it be released? We are awaiting with much anticipation. There has to be a sequel. Ryo must avenge his father, and the guy is already on his way to China. Please tell me that we did not learn those few final, but great moves at the end . . . for nothing! That would be sad, very not good. I hope to hear of the sequel soon, and we will be very happy. Sincerely, Naima Nave Don't worry your pretty little head too much... Of course there will be a sequel... More than one, even! If they had ended the story with a weak ending like that, everybody would have been upset. Though it wasn't a great ending, it was a good stopping point. Or hell, a great end to a chapter. And that's because one chapter is exactly what the first Shenmue is. Though it was only called Shenmue in the US, It was called Shenmue: Chapter 1 - Yokosuka in Japan. So, it's only the first chapter in a story that spans 16 total chapters, according to Yu Suzuki. The sequel, Shenmue II, will actually cover chapters 2-6 of the 16 chapter story. When can you expect the next game? It should be released this Fall. Where we'll go from there, only Suzuki-san knows. From: B Clayton Subject: help I am sorry to bother you but i have just bought myself a dreamcast consol and i am very exited about the fact that the machine is Windows CE compatable. The thing is that i cannot seem to find were to find a copy of windows CE that would work with the system. I was very happy to find that the consol has very easy access to the net and keeps all my settings even after a reset. I would like to use the console with the ICQ CE program to chat to my friends on the net is this possible? how woud i install the progam. I do have a CD wrighter and also experience with the PC operating system. I am taking it for granted that you have experience with this problem, if not please let me thank you for your time in reading this email. -barry clayton Well Barry, first you don't have to worry about bothering us. That's why the feedback link is up there, buddy! As for your question, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Though the machine is Windows CE compatible, you won't find a typical Windows operating system available for the console. The Windows CE compatibility gave developers familiar with the Windows programming environment an easy way to program for the console. But you won't see applications like ICQ running on the Dreamcast. That is, unless some clever programmer gets busy working on it. So far, we've seen MP3 players, VCD players, emulators, and other such small applications created for the console. Hell, somebody even ported Linux to the console. So while the Dreamcast may be compatible with Windows CE, it's not in the way you were hoping. That's it for this Mailbag. Remember, you can send all your questions and hate-mail to this address. Oh and if you are sending hate-mail, address it to BenT. He loves that sort of thing :D Until next time!