7/21/01 - Online Play, Guilty Gear X, and a Broken Link
- 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, let's get on with the fun! And as always, if you want to be a part of it all, send letters to this address. Now on with the show!
From: Console Addict
Subject: I like the two systems / a PS2 fan known as Toby
OH man I can't believe that you own almost every system but not the Turbo Grafx! That has to be the sweetest system out (plus the turbo express rocks!) Devil's crush pinball is worth buying off of ebay right now :) But seriously, I think it's great to support many systems. I have basically everything including the Unitron Tournament 2000... ok so maybe their not ALL good but the stupid company rivalary's that were begun in the early 90's will soon disappear as hardware manufactures start designing for all the systems. Why not? Software is where the moneys at. Oh and Toby, I think your harsh feeling for the DC come from playing Pen Pen for too long :P
Scaliose
aka Dustin Batchelor
Yeah, I've got nothing against NEC or the Turbo line of consoles. I have just never owned one. I really want a Turbo Express, but just haven't picked one up yet. But, if you talked to me before, you know that I'm all about videogames. I think that limiting the games you can play by harboring some sort of hatred for one company is just not the best way to go about being a gamer. I want as many great games as possible, and that's why I don't limit myself by "staying true" to one console maker. I'm kind of a videogame whore I guess :P
From: stephie and shane
Subject:
Slide/ways
To slide just tap and hold the anolog stick a littel to the side you want to go. P.S It is very slow!
Hmm... No subject, and some cryptic text. I hope these aren't the directions to disarm the bomb that these two have placed underneath my apartment or something... I need to call my mom.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Mailbag: Dreamcast From: Andrew Cheung
I just like to say that the Dreamcast is a total failure just like what
Chris_Lee said. I have gone to Circuit City the other day and the price
dropped all the way to $99! Plus they haven't made any ads on tv to appeal
people with thier products. I know Dreamcast has some great games and a modem
but it cant compare the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube. The graphics are
fairly good on most games but thats not enough. I also remember that the
Playstation took it about 5-6 years to drop its price to $99. I remember
Segas first failure was overpowered by the PS and N64. I don't agree that
most people are the saying the PS2 is too expensive blah blah blah...but it
has loads of nice games and the graphics are tight!! I agree from one person
saying the DVD capabilities are not needed and that capability is very poor.
I also dont agree about SquareSoft going to other companies and leaving Sony.
SquareSoft's upcoming Final Fantasy X is going to be a blast with voice
acting in the FMVs and fighting. And for all those PS2 haters lets see who
dominates of the 2 Consoles. DC or PS2. Laterz Lamers
AOL?
From: Derrick Mueller
Subject: PSO questions
Hi. I'm looking to finally buy Phantasy Star Online. I was going to wait
until version 2 came out, but some nagging problems have convinced me to
buy PSO first.
I have a crappy connection. beyond bad, at least for a college student
(never should have moved out of the dorms grumble grumble). I connect at
28.8k, and I don't have a local SegaNet access number. but I've been
hearing how PSO is relatively lag free even with 28.8k connections. So how
bad is PSO's online play with a 28.8k connection from a non SegaNet ISP? I
can take a little lag (I'm a MUD veteran after all), but only a little.
will I run into the BSOD often as a result of my slow connection?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
-Derrick Mueller
So you currently use SegaNET and want to know if another ISP will work with PSO... Well, before I got the Broadband Adapter, I was playing PSO using Earhtlink with the Dreamcast 56K. And while not quite as nice as playing with the BBA, the game performs VERY well using the 56K. So, I don't think you should have any problems using a different ISP. Even at 28.8K.
From: Anita Belleau
Subject: Online Play? NOT!
Ok let me start with a little comment on your site, it's awesome. Lots of details and even the colors are in the mood of our little praised console. Keep up the good work.
The object of this mail is that I've noticed that Online gaming and PC-compatible are almost overwhelming us nowaday. I'm not only talking about the X-box, PS2 or NGC, but also the Dreamcast. What is it with all the producers nowaday? Do they have so few ideas that they need to incorporate online play in games to make it look funnier and more advanced? Or are they just so weak-minded pathetic beings that they can only think about online gaming and PC-compatible stuff? I'd rather play my old Intellivision sports games than waste my time on NFL 2K1 or NBA 2K1. Ok now I see the answer coming. "What about realism?" Realism!? I don't need that. Games are made for running away from reality, to forget your problems for a short period of time and have fun. Realism isn't fun, it's boring. Online play is boring as well, if I want to play with friends, I call them over at my house, get 4 controllers for any of my consoles and play with them. I don't need online play on my consoles, if I want to play online I just play Unreal or Quake 2 on my PC (It's crappy like hell so I can't get better games). Phantasy Star Online is a nice idea, but the Online features is only there to hide its lack of story and actual background. They could've made an offline-only version of it, with a better story and background, more linear characters and all that is needed for a good roleplaying game. I am not pointing out big companies in the way of "big companies sucks". I am pointing also the small ones that try to do games and put some online play just to get some pseudo-gamers to them. I would rather buy an offline only game than an online one with no gameplay, just like I would buy a game with Pre-atari 2600 graphics rather than a crappy game with the best graphics ever seen. Companies need to grow up and realize that a good game isn't about graphics and online play, it's also about gameplay. That's my two cents (maybe worth three due to the lenght of this mail ;P).
Matthieu Savard
Hmm. Well, I agree with you on some of your points. I think that some developers do think that stepping onto the "online-play-bandwagon" will just equate to more sales, without having to come up with new gameplay mechanics. But for some genres, like sports games and RPGs for example, it just seems like the next natural progression. And I guess that's where our opinions differ. I think the ability to play a sports game with another person from across the globe is great, especially for people that don't have anybody to play with at home. And with RPGs, online play allows many people to get together for a larger game experience. And while I do agree that PSO could have been a bit more devloped in terms of gameplay mechanics, the fact that it is a lot of fun overweighs that criticism. Simply put, playing PSO offline is not that fun, but playing onlline is a ton of fun! Which just proves what can be done when online play is implemented correctly.
From: Danny H Sierra
Subject: Guilty Gear X and more!!!
What ever happen to Guilty Gear X for the Dreamcast. I heard that Last
Blade 2 was coming out for in the US pretty sure but not GGX. Should I
buy the import version of it or wait. Plus, what ever happen to Godzilla
for the Dreamcast, never came to America and still was promoted
throughout the states when Dreamcast was about to come out.
I've got some bad news for you buddy... Guilty Gear X will not make it to the Dreamcast in the US. If you happen to own a PS2, then you can wait until the Fall to pick up a domestic copy, or you could just pick up the Dreamcast import. Last Blade 2, on the other hand, is still supposedly headed over here to the Dreamcast from Agetec. It should be released this Summer if all goes well. Godzilla never made it, and never will...
From: Nathan McNair
Subject: voice acting editorial (Zero Wing)
I thought I would go ahead and correct a common
misconception out there. There is no voice acting in
Zero Wing. If you play the game, there is just music
and the written words. The band, Laziest Men on Mars,
added (or someone did) the bad voice acting. In fact,
the very first all your base recording (before the
music video) was a different voice recording of the
words, and the caption reffered to the fact that they
had allways wanted to hear someone say the lines.
Just thought I would correct this, the bad voice
acting that you know of is the result of someone
wanting it to sound bad.
BTW, I agree with your article, but you cant forget
Jet Grind Radio, the voice acting in that, while over
the top, works well for the game. As does MDK2's..
=====
No matter where you go, there you are.
-Buckaroo Bonzai
Many people sent in this correction. And as the editor of that article, it was simply in carelessness that it was missed. I knew that Zero Wing didn't actually have voice acting, but I forgot to remove that line. Oh well... Thanks to everybody who noticed the error and sent in the correction though. And I agree with your assessment of the voice acting in JGR. I think it works very well. The funny thing is I can never remember the good things, only the bad. So HotD2 sticks out in my mind, while JGR does not.
From: Mark Ross
Subject: Graphic Adventures
Dear Reviewer Person
I'm sorry, I don't know your name, but I have a question for you. In your review of "Stupid Invaders" you talked a bit about Graphic Adventure games. I was hoping that you would be able to recomend some good graphic adventure games to me. I already have the King's Quest series, and the Space Quest series as well. I have others, but I would really like it if you would recomend some of your favourite games to me. Thank you very much.
Sincerely
Mark Ross
Though I didn't review Stupid Invaders, (my main dogg Celeryface did) I will respond to your letter with some of my favorite graphics adventures. I think both Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max: Hit the Road are classics. Indiana Jones: Fate of Atlantis is great as well. And Full Throttle.
And as for my name, just call me D-to-tha-T, baby!
From: Lacerna
Subject: Umm, I found a broken link.
Hi,
Umm, I think you forgot to link to your tech romancer review in your reviews section.
Okay,Thanks
I found it too!!! And it's fixed now!!! Thanks!!!
From: Francisco Sauceda
Subject: dreamcast browser and modem
I have been looking for the answer to this problem everywhere, but
haven't been able to find it. Of course I thought, why not ask the good
people at planet dreamcast? I hope you guys can help me. I have been
going online with my dreamcast for some time now, but yesterday when I
tried to connect it said my 'user ID or passsword is incorrect'. Now, I
checked the settings and my password had changed from 7 characters to 2.
I put in the correct password again and as soon as I click on okay the
password changed back to 2 characters. I have no idea why this is
happening and would like to know if you can help me. I don't know if it
has something to do with the internal memory (is there any way to erase
it) or the browser (I currently use 2.0). I thought it was the browser,
but when I put in the original one, the same problem appeared. Do you
know what I can do. At least tell me if there is a way to clear the
internal memory, because I think that might help me. Thanks for your
help. Oh, do you have any news on Cyprien's Chronicles for Dreamcast? I
really hope it doesn't get canned too.
Thanks again,
Your loyal reader,
Francisco Sauceda
Hmm... This is a tough one. And while I can't come up with a good answer to your problem, I can tell you that many people have found out that you can flash the Dreamcast's internal memory with Dreamcast Browser 2.6. This isn't a feature, it just happens sometimes while using it. And for that reason, it's not a good idea to use it if you play PSO, because it'll erase your internal serial number making the game think you are playing on a different Dreamcast. Anyway, give that a try...It might help.
On a side note, I wish I could gather all of our "loyal readers" and hone them all into a powerful cyborg army. With this army I would hunt down all of the "playa-hatas" and stomp them with extreme prejudice.... Then I could have the army bow... Err, bad idea.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Your site
This has had to have been one of the most pitiful lame excuses for a dreamcast code site that i have ever had the misfourtune of tripping across. You have an EXTREAMLY low amount of gaming codes, and frankly your site blows goats. I've seen better, ALOT BETTER!!! It wouldn't be so bad if you had more games but since you don't you site sucks moldy dingleberrys. Just thought you'd like to knooooow. Try to improve.
I don't mean to offend you but it's the truth, and i'm sure most think the same. And if you're sitting there thinking, "" well just don't come to the site jacka$$,"" you have noooo worrys. I WON"T!!!
Quick, quick army of cyborgs!!! It's a playa-hata! Stomp him! Stomp him, dammit!
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!
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