Newsletter: Sega World Weekly issue 113 (then Dreamcast Weekly)
From Video Game Morgue File
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//// ~ Special Issue - Dec 23rd 2000 ~ \\\\
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\\\\ Past issues at www.DreamcastWeekly.com ////
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\\\\ Best read with the Courier New font. ////
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\\\\ ( SPECIAL XMAS ISSUE ) ////
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Note: This is a special issue of DC Weekly, and things are
a little different, but don't worry, don't panic, don't
jump out the window just yet, we'll be back to normal next
week.
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((( DREAMCAST WEEKLY INFO ))) | Page 1 |
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>>>> Playcycle All Games All The Time!
http://www.playcycle.com
FREE Membership and FREE Postings!
Visit Playcycle, the hottest new video game site on the
web! At Playcycle, you can post Seeks for the video games,
consoles and accessories that you are looking for and
Offers for the items you want to sell. Postings are always
FREE for Playcycle Members, and the best part…you are
billed only $1 if your Seek or Offer leads to a successful
transaction. There are no other required fees at Playcycle.
Visit Playcycle at... - http://www.playcycle.com
>>>> Blade.cc - Importing In Australia
Importing the latest Dreamcast games from Japan and being
able to play them months before your friends is a great
idea, but choosing where to buy them from is no easy task.
Blade.cc who sell the Toyko Gameshow Video CD's we gave
away a few weeks ago sell everything at a great price.
Play the games of the future today. -- http://www.blade.cc/
>>>> ~~ Dreamcast Weeklys #1 Recommended Product! ~~
These Nexus memory cards are the best I've ever seen. I've
been using the 4X card since I got the Dreamcast, and it
holds all my saved games while my Sega VMU is used for mini
games. Now I've bought a second one too, in a different
color. They really are a brilliant solution to the lack of
saving space, and each comes with a PC cord, allowing you
to transfer files onto your hard drive, and have almost
unlimited space!! The 2X card is $15.95, the 4X card is
$21.95, and the huge 16X card is $29.95. Buy these are I
assure you, you won't regret it! - http://www.levelsix.com/
> For daily game news, over 300 Prima Fast Track Guides
online, codes, downloads, and contests every day, be sure
to visit Primagames. Prima is the #1 source for game
strategy in the world! - http://www.PrimaGames.com
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((( EDITORS COMMENTS ))) | Page 1 |
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Ok this issue things are a little different, because we've
combined it with the extra magazine content for just this
one week. We're wishing you a very merry Christmas here at
DC Weekly, but also someone else wants to say a few words
to warp up the year. A special holiday message just for
you, from THE man at Sega Of America, Peter Moore
(President of SOA for those who don't know).
Then we've got the weekly Q&A, answered by our resident
Sega-know-it-all Ross. If you've got a question, e-mail it
in on zondaro@usa.net Plus this issue includes Sonic
Adventure 2 impressions, and a review of the Sonic Movie
on VHS and DVD.
Finally the Australia importer, Blade has picked up our
contest, and together we're giving you the chance to win
$400 WORTH OF DREAMCAST GOODIES! What a way to start 2001!
To enter, you simply have to collect four keywords over the
next four weeks. Write them down, and at the end send them
all to me and we'll pick one lucky winner who gets posted
$400 worth of any Dreamcast products they have in-stock.
This weeks keyword is at the top of their Dreamcast page,
at http://www.powerup.com.au/~gamers/dc.htm
So until next year, have a great Christmas, and thanks for
reading Dreamcast Weekly! Plus a special thanks goes out to
all our sponsors, yeah their adverts fill up our magazine
like you can see above, but please give their sites a
visit, they are honestly the reason we've been able to
continue with the magazine all year.
- Graham "Tails" Parker (Editor)
.oO Page 2 - Christmas Message Oo.
.oO Page 3 - Sonic Adventure 2 Oo.
.oO Page 4 - Contest - Worth $400 Oo.
.oO Page 5 - Question & Answer Oo.
.oO Page 6 - Prima Games Corner Oo.
.oO Page 7 - Sonic Movie Review Oo.
.oO Page 8 - Credits Oo.
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((( COVER STORY ))) | Page 2 |
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>>>> Christmas Message From Peter Moore
As you might have read on our 100th issue this year, Peter
Moore is the President at Sega Of America. Now that's gotta
be a busy job, but here's a message written personally for
our readers to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!
To the citizens of the Sega Nation:
Well, what a year we've had, a year that all of us here at
Sega of America are very proud of. We began by jumping into
a Crazy Taxi and ended by changing the face of gaming (once
again) with the incredible experience that is Shenmue. In
between we've converted a further two million non-believers
to the glory of Dreamcast, launched the world's first
console gaming network, had numerous animated conversations
with Seaman, lost our hearts to Ulala, outrun The Man in
Jet Grind Radio, and showed EA what sports games should
play like in NFL 2K1 and NBA2 K1. But we couldn't have done
any of this without the incredible support of all the Sega
fans out there who have stuck with us during the tough
times and now are reaping the joys that only incredibly fun
and innovative games can bring... and there's only one
company that can consistently create such ass-kicking,
Sony-stomping games.... SEGA!!!!!!
Happy Holidays to you all,
Peter Moore
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((( SONIC ADVENTURE 2 IMPRESSIONS ))) | Page 3 |
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>>>> Sonic Adventure 2 Impressions
-- Written by Liquid Rain
I have just finished playing the Sonic Adventure 2 demo for
an hour straight, and all I got to say is "wow". It is
purely amazing. But enough, right to the chase now!
Graphics - Despite what seems to be lower polygon counts
then Sonic Adventure 1, better textures, particle effects,
and the rock-solid 60fps add a lot of graphical sheen to
Sonic Adventure 2. It is simply wondrous to behold, and it
isn't until you stop and look around do you see the level
of detail and the sharpness of the textures. Sonic's new
look is a mixed bag, he appears to have a much lower
polygon count now, which is easily visible during closeups.
His animations are *very* different from SA1, they look a
bit odd from a 3D perspective, but if you ever catch Sonic
running sideways it looks like they took his animations
directly out of an old Genesis game!! I'm hoping Sonic Team
will fix it up a bit for the final, but so far the
animations give a nice nostalgic feeling. Unfortunately,
it seems the pop-up plague of Sonic Adventure 1 still
remains. Cars, rings, and any other small details like that
pop-up into view. Also, the trees are made of sprites,
although when your blasting by them you scarcely notice.
Since you never really get up close to them either, they
look absolutely fine. Overall, the new textures, the 60fps
framerate, and the colorful environments blow you away so
much it's almost impossible to pick apart any graphical
nasties.
Sounds - Download the movies to find out what I'm talking
about! The music is awesome! Old school Sonic in my
opinion: Genesis tunes with supped up samples! Same old
sound effects, which I don't mind of course. ;) The ring
sound still swaps between left and right ears for each
consecutive ring. (I loved that effect I used the Genesis'
headphone out specifically for that purpose) Sonic's
Japanese voice grows on you after a while, it's really well
done for the in game sounds.
Controls - If you thought SA1's were tight... heh... SA2's
are even tighter!!! The controls border on absolute twitch
control, but work extremely well in the tighter
environments and faster feeling of the demo. I dislike the
way you have to "charge up" to get a spindash: you hold the
B or X button for 1 second to do it. Just pressing the B
button once has Sonic perform a somersault, which is useful
for knocking down barriers.
Gameplay - Oh hoho yeah!! First, the grinding: When
grinding you can crouch to pick up speed, and shift your
weight on turns to prevent speed loss, and transferring
between rails is easy. So think JGR's grinding, a bit
deeper, and a heck of a lot faster. (when you "catch" a
rail, it's automatic like JGR) You actually get scores
based on your TRICKS and COMBOS you do when grinding. Going
on a long grind and finishing off with grabbing a bar and
flipping off results in an "Extreme" for 1500pts, for
example. "Awesome" = 1000pts, "Tight" = 800pts, "Cool" =
500pts, "Jammin" = 400pts, "Great" = 300pts, "Nice" =
200pts and those are all the ones I've seen. Sonic seems to
accelerate a bit slower then in any other game, however his
final speed is faster but again the 60fps adds an insane
feeling of speed. The mechanics of his homing jump are
quite different from SA1, and take a bit of practicing to
get used to. My highest ranking so far is a B, with about
17500 points. The Mack Truck sequence is definitely
notable, and awesome, but a bit "old hat". :) The rest of
the level is very fresh. There is one, last drawback to the
gameplay: and that is if I've ever seen linear gameplay,
this is it. It doesn't get any more linear then this, at
least in Emerald Coast the level itself was wide open -
here, you are always enclosed with walls or buildings! The
undeniably insane pace of the game makes you quickly forget
this fact, as you get so wrapped up with not touching the
ground and being as stylish as you are fast and attaining
that A ranking, nothing else really matters.
It's a crying shame this demo is not available to more
people! While it maybe a mix of old and new, one thing's
for sure: this is definitely one great game. Nobody had any
doubts about it in the first place, this demo just
confirmed it. With any luck this demo will pop up on an
ODCM disc. Until then, keep drooling and try not to think
about how long it is until Fall 2001. :)
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((( CONTEST ))) | Page 4 |
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>>>> Win $400 Worth of Dreamcast Goodies!
Imagine in four weeks getting an e-mail from us saying
you can pick $400 worth of Dreamcast products from Blade.cc
and they will be shipped direct to you. I bet you'd go
nuts! And someone has to win!
To enter, you simply have to collect four keywords over the
next four weeks. This weeks keyword is at the top of their
Dreamcast page, at http://www.powerup.com.au/~gamers/dc.htm
Easy. Oh and don't say, "I'll never win" and not enter...
I personally get to see how many entries we receive for
each contest, and let me tell you, it's WELL worth
entering!
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((( QUESTION & ANSWER ))) | Page 5 |
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Do you have a question for your Sega know-it-all? Simply
e-mail in your questions to Ross at zondaro@usa.net and
look for the answers soon in an issue of Dreamcast Weekly.
We are unable to personally reply to all emails.
<<<< Score? SOA:1 , MSR Anonymous Members:0
Welcome to the first meeting of the MSR Anonymous Club.
This week we are going to talk about resisting the
temptations to import. MSR Tip of the Week: Save Xmas
money for January 16th! Keep the faith members, and enjoy
your Christmas gifts. Especially if you live in the UK and
just got MSR.
Days left till MSR hits US: 22
Next week: After Christmas Sales and more MSR Mania
*DCW Q&A of the Week Award*
>>>> How I learned to love the Dreamcast DVD Add-On
Q) What the hell has happened to the anticipated Dreamcast
DVD Player? Will anyone actually grow the balls to
release and market this "Dreamcast Savior"? We can kid
ourselves all we want but when the cheesy little X-Box
comes out, we're screwed. Some measures have got to be
taken. Everyone knows that if Sega will release that
little nugget of joy, then maybe product sales will go
up before the next 2 consoles are released. We all know
that it was at E3, but no one has heard from it since.
Thanks for your time. - James Morgan III
A) Sega CD, Sega 32x, N64-DD...add-ons don't work. The
problem is support. Unless they could practically shove
one into every home that has a DC already, not to many
developers would support it. Then all you would have is
a DVD player that costs more then a regular one. There
is no point to a DC DVD. Its dead, move on and save some
money for all the cool Dreamcast games coming next year.
>>>> Tails has a Small Mouse
Q) I must say, your mag has some of the best reviews, news,
contests, and lots of other things around. I don't think
you get the credit you deserve. I can't tell you enough
how good of a job you are doing and how appreciated you
are by the Dreamcast community. I hope you continue the
good work and always keep the mag alive.
Now for the question. I recently purchased a Dreamcast
Mouse and have been having a problem. I was going to
use it to browse the net, but it doesn't work with the
browser. I was wondering if there's a newer version
that supports the mouse that I don't know about or if
it's simply a bad mouse. Any help would be appreciated.
- Andrew Petry
A) See, laying on the compliments really helps! Bit of an
apology to Andrew as it took me a while to get to his
e-mail. I am still working through a backlog that should
be done with this issue. Anyway, look for the new demo
disk out on Dec 26th for the newest web browser that is
suppose to have full mouse support.
>>>> Bleem: The number between 13 and 14
Q) Hi, I was wondering if it is possible to play with the
Dreamcast on a PC monitor. Also will Bleemcast! ever
come to Australia Thanks for your time! - Josh Gunn
A) Look for a VGA adaptor either online, or at a local
shop that sells Dreamcast equipment. It lets you do
exactly what you are asking. As for Bleemcast!, it
should come to Australia...when?...well EBworld
has pushed the release date to the 20th of January for
those of us in the USA, add about a month to that.
>>>> Save them Quarters
Q) I have been a loyal Sega Fan since I put my hands on a
Sega Master System! My question is, will the titles that
are mentioned in the arcade list for 2001 be transferred
to the Dreamcast and can the Dreamcast handle these
games? Thanks a bunch! - Mark Skoljarev
A) Since the Naomi arcade hardware is just a slightly
beefier Dreamcast, most of these games should come to
the home just fine. There might be a little pop-up like
in Crazy Taxi, but it depends how much time is spent on
bringing the game to the Dreamcast. I'm pretty sure
that most if not all of the games on the list will hit
the Dreamcast, Sega has always relied on its strong
arcade hits to help sell systems.
Keep the questions coming! - zondaro@usa.net
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((( PRIMA GAMES CORNER ))) | Page 6 |
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>>>> What's Cool For December 19th
- http://www.primagames.com/news/article/2642/
Want to see the Internet's most comprehensive source of
information about the U.S. comics and animation scene? Or
how about a bunch of TV Commercials online? There's some
in there you just can't miss. Check out what's cool with
Prima Games.
>>>> 20,000 Cheats
- http://www.primagames.com/strategy/codes/
Prima Games, the company responsible for those brilliant
strategy guides launch their cheats database... and they
feature more games than you can shake a stick, no a whole
danged tree at!
>>>> Shenmue Fast Track Guide - Free & Online!!
- http://www.primagames.com/strategy/guide/1409/
The Prima Fast Track Guide for Shenmue provides an
overview of the game and will get you started with some
game basics, fighting strategies, info on a couple of the
mini-games, and a brief sampling of the making of Shenmue.
>>>> 300 Fast Track Guides
- http://www.primagames.com/guides/pftg.php
Remember, Primagames.com has more than 300 Prima Fast Track
Guides online for you to check out right now. For the best,
fastest, and most up-to-date game strategy you'll find,
Prima's the ticket.
>>>> Hot games that Prima Official Strategy Guides cover:
Shenmue - http://www.primagames.com/strategy/book/4901/
Quake 3 PC - http://www.primagames.com/strategy/book/4296/
NFL 2K1 - http://www.primagames.com/strategy/book/5096/
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((( SONIC: THE MOVIE REVIEW ))) | Page 7 |
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>>>> Sonic: The Movie Review
-- Out Now on DVD and VHS
-- Written by Graham
Ever since I got Sonic Jam and saw the trailer for a Sonic
movie, I've wanted to see more. After all our spiky blue
hero doing battle with the very, very cool Robo Sonic is
hard to pass up. Finally, three years after the original
release in Japan, it's been translated to English, and we
finally have the chance to watch it.
Now for a big Sonic fan like myself, it's not going to
matter if the movie is poor, I'm still going to rent it out
at least once. But for people who's walls aren't plastered
with Sonic posters, and those of you that don't sleep with
a Tails soft toy every night, here's a full review...
The movie is 55 minutes in length, and aimed at the younger
generation of gamers. The slapstick humour like Knuckles
kicking Sonic and running after each other is most certainly
aimed at kids, but hey, there's still a little kid in
everyone right?
The plot goes that Metal Robotnik (yes Robotnik) has taken
over Robotropolis, and the cities power generator is going
to explode within the next 24 hours. "This is bad!", as
Tails would often point out. Someone must make their way
through the traps in Robotropolis and stop the generator
before it destroys the entire planet, and that someone
would be Sonic. (Taking his buddy Tails along too of
course!)
That however is only the beginning, there's a fare dose of
twists, abliet a little predictable at times, that build
up to a battle of Sonic Vs Hyper Metal Sonic. Without
revealing anymore, it's certainly exciting, and the
battle's very well animated! At some stages in the movie
the animation is less than impressive, but they really got
their act together for the big scenes.
A few interesting facts are revealed through out the movie
for those Sonic fans amongst us. For example neither Sonic
nor Tails can swim, and Knuckles favourite past time is
revealed.
Some more nice touches like badniks from the actual Sonic
games, springs and the Tornado plane are all welcome, and
a change from most other Sonic cartoons.
One of the main characters however, Sarah, remains a bit
of a mystery to me. At some times she's the damsel in
distress, and at others almost seems to be working with
Robotnik. How some of the characters react, almost too
calmly around Robotnik is also a little odd. As if they
had all grown tired of Robotnik's efforts to catch them.
Now since the film comes from Japan, the voices are all
dubbed. Tails sounds like he has a stuffed nose for lack
of a better description, but after a little while you
realize it suits Sonic's young pal. Sonic's voice is,
well... not as good as the SatAM cartoon, that's for sure,
but it still suits him.
More importantly, totally unlike Sonic Adventure, the
voices actually do match the characters mouths very well
indeed. Some lines seem like they are awkwardly changed to
fit the animation, but overall it's well done. Now why
couldn't Sega get these people to do the Sonic Adventure
voice overs?
Overall the movie is a good hour spent for kids or big
Sonic fans (even those who vowed never to watch another
Sonic cartoon after the SatAM cartoon was cut), but for
the average gamer, the Hedgehogs first movie is nothing
special.
OVERALL: 6/10
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((( CREDITS ))) | Page 8 |
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O Editor: Graham Parker "Tails" - Madcow@ihug.co.nz
O Question & Answer: Ross Fisher - Zondaro@usa.net
O Staff Writer: Michael Monahan - Mikelad1@aol.com
Thanks goes out to our sponsor, PrimaGames.com, all for
helping make Dreamcast Weekly as big as we are today!
>>>> http://www.DreamcastWeekly.com/ - Our Official Website!
>>>> http://www.PrimaGames.com/ - Our Sponsor
Finally thanks to all our support sites!!
>>>> Sega X - http://www.segadreamcast.net
>>>> Sega 2000 - http://www.sega2000.net
>>>> DC-United - http://dc-united.com
>>>> Absolute Sega - http://www.absolutesega.com
>>>> PSY Online - http://www.consolereviews.net
>>>> Perfect Zero - http://www.sega2000.net/PZ/
>>>> The Next Level - http://www.the-nextlevel.com
>>>> Future Gamez - http://www.futuregamez.net
>>>> The Sonic Zone - http://www.suneet.com/soniczone/
>>>> Gaming Central Starpath
- http://www.startpath.com/gamingcentral
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Copyright 1998-2000 Graham Parker - Madcow@ihug.co.nz
Written and edited by Graham Parker. No parts may be copied
without prior permission or correct credit where due. There
should probably be a pile of other legal lines here, but
please just play nice and don't steal. Thanks for reading
DC Weekly!
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Please note the advert below is added on by our mailing
list, it's in no way connected to Dreamcast Weekly...
