Newsletter: Sega World Weekly issue 26 (then Dreamcast Weekly)
From Video Game Morgue File
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/ ___> > > DREAMCAST WEEKLY MAGAZINE < < <____ \
/ / \ \
/ / ~Issue #26 - www.DreamcastWeekly.com~ \ \
\ \ / /
\ \ Sega 2000 - http://www.sega2000.com / /
\ \ Sega X - http://www.segadreamcast.net / /
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======| ABOUT THE MAGAZINE |==============================
Dreamcast Weekly is proudly sponsored by Consolexpress,
New Zealand's only import dedicated store. But not just
aimed for New Zealanders of course, they supply to all
around the world.
The domain name www.DreamcastWeekly.com is provided thanks
to Total Video Games, the UK's premier video games magazine
up-dated daily, and The Junction, the best place for Teens
to chat.
www.the-junction.net & www.totalvideogames.com
======| EDITORS COMMENTS |================================
This week the message boards are over flowing with people's
impressions about Sega Rally 2. I don't get a copy until
late this week myself, but I can't wait! I was looking at
all the shots on Sega X and... well there aren't too many
games I have got that excited about!! From reading the
hundreds of posts though, it appears the graphics themselves
aren't perfect, but the gameplay (which they say makes you
forget any graphical problems) is spot on. From what I can
tell it's one awesome game that every DC owner should buy,
but still given more development time could of been even
better yet.
Ok now before this turns into a mini editorial, lets get on
with this weeks issue. Next week we'll also have my own
Rally 2 impressions, a cool Sega Wordfind and the Saturn
Timeline feature just to mention a few features. Until then,
Happy Gaming!
~ Elijah "Tails" (Editor)
---~> Page 1 - Cover Story <~---
---~> Page 2 - Importing <~---
---~> Page 3 - The News <~---
---~> Page 4 - Editoral <~---
---~> Page 5 - Resident Evil <~---
---~> Page 6 - Best Of The Web <~---
---~> Page 7 - On Your Mind <~---
---~> Page 8 - Credits & More <~---
---~> Page 9 - Finally... <~---
======| COVER STORY |=====================================
---~> EVOLUTION REVIEW
---~> By QuadGrinder
As the first real Dreamcast RPG, QuadGrinder lets us know
how things went...
I have always been up for a good RPG now and then, but lately
it has been more "then" than now. That is until now,
Evolution has saved the day, as Dreamcast owners can now enjoy
old school RPG gaming with turn of the century graphics.
This game is fast paced, and revolves around large amounts of
dungeon fighting in good old turn based gameplay.. One of the
things that immediately sets this RPG apart from any other is
its ability to let you "rotate" all gameplay maps in any
direction. No longer are you hidden from walls or objects
that are in your way while walking around. This game rates
very high on the "Fun Factor", and only if you don't save your
game frequently will you be frustrated with it.
Graphical Presentation: *****
Five stars, you read right. In general RPG games are fun
despite the quality of graphics, but with the hi-res
backgrounds, and characters in Evolution, it is just icing on
the cake. Never before have I seen explosions like the ones
in this game, they are transparent, and have no pixelization
or blockiness to them. Smoke really looks like smoke, and
fire really looks like fire, the green poison fog put on you
by enemies really looks awesome, like you could walk right
into the stuff and choke on it. The characters actually have
expressions on their faces, and even the enemies are not
limited to "3 frame" animations. Only flaw that this game has
as far as graphical presentation goes is there is some slight
slow-down during a couple of spells that are cast, which
involve the floor being ripped up, and enemies flying
everywhere, while many special effects are being used at the
same time.
Gameplay: ****
Four stars. Although this title is extremely fun, it really
does not offer anything new in the world of RPG gaming. Even
though the menus are all in Japanese, simple trial and error
will have you a Evolution professional within a half an hour.
Albeit there are times where it would be helpful if you knew
what the other characters were saying, you get an overall
feeling what the story is about, and never once did it bother
me. As in most RPG games there is your standard Item shop,
Magic upgrade shop, your bar, your home, and other peoples
houses to visit.
Sound: ****
Four Stars. Mixed feelings arise along the lines of music in
Evolution. While sometimes the BGM can be repetitive, and
cheesy, a lot of the musical scores in the dungeon are very
well done. As far as the Effect sounds go, they are top
notch, each enemy has their own "effect sounds". The
explosions sound great, guns, flames, power ups, etc. all
sound realistic.
VMS Support: ***
Three stars. I first have to say, congrats to the ESP/STING
team for even including VMS screen support, as we missed it on
games like Tetris 4D and VF3tb. Each Evolution game save only
takes up 8 blocks on your VMS, so storage space is not a
problem. The only thing that is rather annoying is, if you
have 2 VMS's in order to save Evolution to the 2nd vms, you
must have it in the one player controller, very annoying since
the weight of 2 VMS's in your controller is a little to much
for my taste. On the VMS screen during gameplay, your
Characters name, and HP are displayed, and updated in
real-time, although this is redundant while in the dungeons
where your hp is always displayed, it is a nice feature to
have while walking around town.
OVERALL: ****
A very solid four stars. Importers will not be sorry they
bought this game, as it is destined to be a genuine Dreamcast
classic to set the way for other RPG games for the DC. I will
have fun beating this game over and over again!
======| IMPORTANT MATTERS |===============================
Consolexpress is taking orders by email or fax at:
***********************************
* http://www.consolexpress.co.nz/ *
***********************************
New stock coming in: DC units, Evolution, Sega Rally 2,
Controller, S-Video, VGA Box and the Steering Wheel.
Sega Rally 2 and the Steering Wheel are priced at
NZ$96.67(around US$51). We are also taking preorders
for Playstation Final Fantasy 8
======| NEWS |============================================
---~> HANG ON, OUT RUN AND MORE ON DC!
Earlier this week, you may have heard reports on Shen Mue
featuring a variety of mini games, one of which will be an
adaption of Hang On, the classic motor racing game. News from
several reliable sources in Japan today state that other
past "AM2 oldies" will be recreated in the game, some of
which will include Outrun, Afterburner and Space Harrier.
Not many details are known on how this will work just yet,
but it's believed that you can access these games by going
into a special "Arcade Center" mode. Definitely sounding
more and more amazing as each week passes, we can't wait
to get our hands on this potential masterpiece. We'll
have more news on Shen Mue as it breaks.
---~> POOR CONTROLLER DESIGN
As a concerned gamer and a writer for Sega 2000 I have to
let all the Dreamcast owners out there know that there is
a problem with the standard Dreamcast controllers when
playing Sega Rally 2.
The problem occurs when you use the standard A type
setting in Sega Rally 2. When you use the left and right
triggers as your gas and brake this is where the problem
starts. If you should push even a little hard you will
break two(2) of the plastic peg's that hold the trigger
in place, this seems only like it happens on the right side
trigger. I know of three different people that this has
happened to, I am one of the three.
I can tell you that I baby everything on my Dreamcast so
I was SHOCKED to find that my controller had broken from
just about eight hours of play. This may become a major
problem and I am sure that you will be hearing about this
situation from other gamers.
I took my controller apart to see what had broken and I
have to say that what's holding the trigger in place is
REALLY cheap and can break with standard play. The reason
that you are just hearing about this is because this is
the first game that has you putting allot of force on
the triggers.
I just want to stress to everyone that I am not hard on
my controllers or anything Dreamcast for that matter and
even my controller broke so take what I have said however
you want but by all means be careful when playing Sega
Rally 2.
One more thing, If anyone has the same problem just
send me your e-mail address and I will tell you how to
fix the two(2) peg's that broke off so you don't have to
go out and buy another Dreamcast controller.
Concerned Gamer,
Craig Ravitch - bio-gear@webtv.net
======| EDITORIAL |========================================
---~> Project X (Nuon)
---~> By Steve
You know, when VM Labs first brought out Project X(now NUON),
they called it a Mario killer. Enshrouded in mystery, and the
promise of DVD, the system seemed pretty cool. Until VM Labs
started talking about what really made the system tick, and
what they would do with it. Now, it doesn't even have a hope.
Read on and find out why.
First and mainly, the way they market it. They will sell it as a
"DVD player that can play games." You can't do that. If Sony
said had released their system as a "Diskman that can play games,"
it would have done horribly. You can't be everything to everybody.
If people buy a DVD player, they want to watch movies. If people
buy a game system, they want to play games. Not educational
titles, not watch DVDs, not play audio CDs in their Playstation.
Also, VM LAbs is going like 3DO and licencing the technology out
to company's like Panasonic and Toshiba. Bad, bad idea. Their has
to be a standard. This launch method doesn't provide one.
Secondly, what makes it tick. It doesn't have any dedicated
graphics hardware. It gets by on an ultra-fast graphics
processor that does all the polygon pushing in software. That
means it will pixelate, slow down, and do everything Dreamcast
won't. The RAM (said to be around 12 Megs) is way too low. To only
have 12 megs in '99 is insane. Third, you can't just come right
into a billion dollar industry unless you have some major cash
to throw around. Sony did, Sega was basicly always there, and
Nintendo saved the industry, so that's the major ones. VM Labs
spun off 3DO, which did really well(cough), and therefore, doesn't
have an incredible amount of money. Think it's finished? There's more.
Software. The thing that killed our beloved Sega CD and 32x.
Software. If you have it, it doesn't matter how bad the graphics
are(Playstation), how neausatingly cute(Nintendo), or how cool your
advertising(Sega). That's the main reason N64 did so poorly in
Japan. It didn't have half the games of Playstation. If VM Labs
has the same amount of software as 3DO or CD-i, it doesn't
have a prayer.
Not everything about the system is bad. It can give the 3 major
players a scapegoat, you could use it as an expensive doorstop,
or it could just be a DVD player(least likely). With company's as
brutal as Sega, as big as Sony, and as, well, childish as Nintendo,
you can't just break in unless you have something completely
ground breaking. This ain't it. When this is launched, pretend
not to even see it, just like everyone else in the game industry.
======| RESIDENT EVIL STORY |=============================
While it's nothing new, it seems very little people actually
know about this. It's like those old "pick-a-path" books
where you read part of a story then decide what to do. Well
this is a Resident Evil one. Be sure to check it out
sometime at...
http://home.ptd.net/~glisman/re.htm
Maybe it will inspire some of you to write your own
"interactive stories" ...?
======| BEST OF THE WEB |=================================
There are sooooo many Sega sites across the web, wouldn't
it be great if one place listed the most interesting bits??
Presenting the "Best Of The Web" section...
---~> Sega 2000 - www.Sega2000.com
Our new design is coming along well, and should be up at
the end of this week. Sorry about the delay, however I'm
making sure the design is as good as it can be.
---~> Sega X - www.SegaDreamcast.net
Our coverage of Sega Rally 2 continues this week with
more reviews and movies. Interested in Sega Rally 2?
Sega X is the place to be.
---~> Dreamcast Life - www.DreamcastLife.com
Mothra VMS FAQ and translations are coming soon, and our
special Sonic Adventure site is now online.
---~> Dreamcast Australia - www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/6831/
This last week Dreamcast Australia has undergone a major
overhaul. The site has been re-designed with the user in
mind and several new sections have been added. A small
interview with a representative from Sega Ozisoft was posted
with questions about the Dreamcast's release in Australia being
answered. As well as this reviews of VF3:TB, Pen Pen Triathalon
and Sonic Adventure by myself have been added. Of course the
news section has been updated and there is now well over 50
game previews on Dreamcast Australia.
---~> The Sonic Zone - http://szone.simplenet.com/soniczone/
Updated daily with a HUGE amount of Sonic content that is
sure to blow you away! From Fan Fiction to Chatting to
Cheats and even Fan Created Games this is your one stop
Sonic site.
---~> Sega Runway - underworld.fortunecity.com/ninja/60/
Daily updates, plenty of awesome downloads and a weekly
poll make this a Sega site defiantly worth visiting.
The official website for the Dreamcast Weekly is now open at
www.dreamcastweekly.com :) We've got the history of the
magazine, daily news and plenty more. Specially if your a
webmaster, there is lots of great information about how
you can be involved as well! Then in the future... who knows,
hopefully we'll be a print magazine one day :)
======[ ON YOUR MIND! ]===================================
---~> GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?
If you would like to express opinions, get some questions
answered, or just feel that you need some light and wisdom,
why don't you drop us some lines of text? Please e-mail
Tunek, our letters guy on tuna@ebox.tninet.se.
---~> Dreamcast Passport
I am writing this letter to you from my DC and was
wondering if there is going to be a better DREAM PASS SOFTWARE
available (maybe one made by Microsoft) because can not play
any type of sound or movie and also has no java support, and
also allot pages don't show up correctly specially yours the
words on the far right go down in a straight line of single
characters which makes very hard to read - Devon Miller
REPLY: Microsoft will have a better Internet package, and
who knows, maybe Netscape or Opera will also make something
for the Dreamcast. That would be really cool, and very good
for the competion. - Tunek
---~> Will My TV Give Colour?
Hi,
I just read the colour problem news and I was wondering if
you could tell me what i need to run an import Dreamcast
on my TV. My television is a 33 inch toshiba slightly less
than two years old.
Any information would be greatly appreciated Thanxs in advance,
Zohran Fazil
REPLY: Well, everything sounds right, except for the make,
which is by Toshiba. As reputable as they may be, I think it's
really only the big name companies that have the NTSC coder in
them from the last 2-3 years. These companies are Sony,
Panasonic and possibly Mitsubishi. It sounds to me that your
television doesn't have an NTSC signal, so you will be left in
black and white. To get colour, follow the guidelines as I set
in that particular story, or alternatively, order a special NTSC
to PAL converter for your TV, which you should be able to get
from most import or electronic shops. They cost around £45 in
English Sterling. - Matt
======[ CREDITS ]=========================================
Editor: Elijah "Tails" - madcow@ihug.co.nz
Assistant Editor: Mike - melbess@adelphia.net
Letters: Tunek - tuna@ebox.tninet.se
---~> www.DreamcastWeekly.com - Official Website!
----------------------------------------------------------
Copyright, 1998-9 Elijah "Tails" - WEBMASTER@SEGA2000.COM
Written and edited by Elijah Parker. (Who's real name,
is interestingly Graham Parker, and who has a pile of
74 game magazines) The Dreamcast Weekly website is
hosted thanks to www.totalvideogames.com and the
magazine is owned by... me :) No parts may be copied
without prior permission. I would have to send
out my group of highly trained thugs who will have
a tea party with you until you crack and your mind
turns into jello... MMmmmmm.... Sweet Sweet Jello....
hehe, anyway... If you have any friends that might be
interested in this magazine, it would be excellent
if you could let them know about it. Thanks!
Oh and finally...
-----------------
Hmmm... what to write here this week. Ah how about
the parachute (yes parachute) I'm selling. Never
opened, but is slightly stained. heh. Try putting
that in your local free classafields and see if
they get the joke or print it :)
