What can we expect from Sega for Dreamcast and beyond? - by Mr. Domino
E3 is the event in the video game industry, but then you already knew that. It's where all electronics manufacturers, game developers included, go to show off their latest wares, hard and soft. This year's E3 is a bit different, because for the first time Sega will be actively showcasing games it's making for those other systems. Considering Sega's official stance on Dreamcast development, it can be said that if a game isn't announced later this week, chances are you won't be playing it on your Dreamcast.
While those prospects may sound grim, Sega is still promising dozens upon dozens of titles to be released throughout the remainder of 2001 and into the next year. While Crazy Taxi 2, Sonic Adventure 2, and others are just around the corner, many more will be hitting the store shelves later this year. Sega is sure to have a few surprises ready for the show while can only serve to make playing even better.
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We can already guess what games will be present at E3. Expect to see Tennis2K2, NFL2K2, and other somewhat soon to be released games to be at the show and playable. At least they better be playable. Not sure what kind of threat will work to get me playing Tennis2K2 by this Saturday, but sure enough, once I find out, I'll be dishing out the threats. Others, such as the recently announced Panzer Dragoon and Jet Grind Radio Future should be available at the show, though how much is going to be shown depends on how far along those heavily anticipated games are. Hopefully Sega has some Xbox software pre-installed for us to test out, cause that's where a good chuck of Sega's development teams are headed. Shenmue 2, which is more or less finished at the point, will likely be the Dreamcast's flagship title once again, although the US release is still quite a ways off. Sonic Adventure 2 should also be available to give the game some more attention, especially since Sonic will soon find himself on virtually every other system in existence and could use the media exposure.
Of course, hopefully we'll be able to expose those Dreamcast games which have been hiding for the past few months. We're hoping to see some more information on Ooga Booga, Headhunter, and other titles which have garnered a fair bit of press though still don't have enough information to make them accessible. The king of the "little known" games has to be Toejam & Earl 3, which simply has to make an appearance at E3 after all these years of waiting for a sequel, pestering the developers, crying at night like some giant wussy watery eyeball...
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This is also a great chance to see what else is in store for Dreamcast besides Sega games. With Dreamcast titles being dropped left and right, E3 should help separate the sure things from the delayed until axed games. While Capcom has been a long time Dreamcast supporter, the company will hopefully continue to release games for the system, even if in limited quantities. While Midway has basically ceased Dreamcast development, Ubisoft still has yet to make a statement and may have some more games waiting in the shadows. Even the seemingly anti-Dreamcast Konami was supposed to ship a DC version of its popular Dance Dance Revolution games, though nothing has been announced since then. Smaller developers will likely continue to thrive on the Dreamcast given the low cost of development, and you can be sure we'll have coverage on every game and developer of interest to Dreamcast owners.
E3 2001 should definitely be interesting. You can be sure to get thorough, complete coverage of all Dreamcast and Sega games at PDC.
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