Newsletter: Sega World Weekly issue 46 (then Dreamcast Weekly)
From Video Game Morgue File
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/_______> > > DREAMCAST WEEKLY MAGAZINE < < <________\
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////// ~ Issue #46 - www.DreamcastWeekly.com ~ \\\\\\
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\\\\\\ Sega X - http://www.segadreamcast.net //////
\\\\\\ Sega 2000 - http://www.sega2000.net //////
\\\\\\ Media Site - http://media.seganet.com //////
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o> Please SCROLL DOWN to Editors Comments for the start <o
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======| ABOUT DREAMCAST WEEKLY |==========================
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> Any DC questions can be sent to Steve@sega2000.net and
questions about this magazine by just clicking reply.
> For the best import games, visit the shop we're proudly
sponsored by... WWW.EXTREME-IMPORTS.COM
> For the latest game news, reviews and previews visit the
Premier Video Games Site http://www.totalvideogames.com
With over 300 archived News Articles and the greatest game
reviews. Up-dated throughout the day with everything!
----------------- www.totalvideogames.com ----------------
> Our domain name for DC Weekly 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.com ------------------
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======| EDITORS COMMENTS |================================
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1 MONTH TO GO! Sega has already smashed the pre-order
records, the next set of TV adverts (with game footage)
start today, and the internet details have been announced
with AT&T sending Sega's stocks sky high. Could it get
any sweeter?
Well in this issue Cornell tells us how he's waiting for
next month, we have a feature on Saturn Emulation, and
plenty of news! 3 months of free Internet Access for
Australia, Sega Europe's lineup was announced, the Sega
Of America and AT&T news of course, and rumors about
Sega Rally 2 and Namco. But alas, it isn't all good...
Metropolis SR's release date is up in the air. Anyway,
you can read about those, and try our Sega Trivia all
right in this issue.
Oh and next week... we start our world wide search for
the ULTIMATE SEGA PROFESSOR... how much do you know
about Sega? Find out next issue.
~ Graham "Tails" Parker (Editor)
.oO Page 1 - Cover Story Oo.
.oO Page 2 - The News Oo.
.oO Page 3 - Rumors Oo.
.oO Page 4 - Importing Oo.
.oO Page 5 - Feature Oo.
.oO Page 6 - Around The Web Oo.
.oO Page 7 - Sega Trivia Oo.
.oO Page 8 - OUR SUPPORT SITES Oo.
.oO Page 9 - Credits Oo.
HOT QUOTE This Issue: "With today's news we really have
positioned Sega Dreamcast as the premier gaming platform
for the next millennium."
-- Sega Of Europe, in the news section
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======| COVER STORY |=====================================
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>>>> The Launch Is Nigh
>>>> Written By Cornell
1 month to go...
I have a vacant spot in my home entertainment center. A hole
that cruelly stares back at me. It mocks me. Can't you hear
it? It laughs menaically every time I turn on my N64 or
crank up my Playstation. It jokes, "Is this what you call
revolutionary gaming"? I try to ignore it so I can focus on
Mario Golf or Siphon Filter. The laughter returns followed
by flashes of images of blue spikes, gleaming swords, and
funky jukes. I scan the room, frightfully looking for the
source of this torture. My attention is drawn towards a
bundle of wadded blue, yellow, and white receipts. I grab
for the heavily stapled assortment of parchments and hold
them close. I whisper silently towards the void, "Soon you
will have your fill."
I am not the only one having occurrences like this I hope. I
can't be the only one cuddling up with their pre-order slips.
It's perfectly normal to act a little off when you have an
extreme level of anticipation that has been building from
March, when I laid down the cash. My parents were worried
when I started to spell Dreamcast in my alphabet soup. (I
tossed the bowl when I realized that I didn't get an 'S'.
The nerve of them soup guys.)
Everyday I mark another tick on my calendar drawing me closer
to gratification, I mean launch date.
Today, I just happened to see an import Soul Caliber running
on a Dreamcast. I felt a nervous knot in my stomach and a
desire to hurl. It was like junior high all over again. I
went to the monitor and touched the screen with quivering
hand. I asked the importer for some time alone with the game.
He asked me for some money. Realizing our impasse I politely
exited with the assistance, and strong grips, of security.
I did happen to see enough of the game in motion to know that
when I finally receive my Dreamcast Soul Caliber, and 4+ other
triple-A titles I will be satiated. There has never been a
system launch that has kept me up at night. Neither Sony,
Nintendo, 3DO, or Turbo Duo could do it. Sega's previous
system launches could not do it. I am one of the very few
people who were smart/dumb enough to buy at launch the
Genesis, Sega CD, 32x, and Saturn. I had sleepless nights
after those launches for various reasons, but not before.
Dreamcast fans, be forewarned with all the major
accomplishments Sega has made there is one thing that they
cannot fight. On 9/9/99 the lines will be hellish. Be
prepared to be in line to pick up your system for awhile. I
have already scheduled the line wait in my planner for that
day. I also have planned a high carbohydrate diet since I
don't plan on eating much once I get my system for at least a
week. Oh, and per my mom's request make sure you have clean
underwear in case you get in an accident driving home to play.
If any one else is having similar scenarios as D-Day
approaches tell me about them. I would love to share them
with the other unfortunate souls who would rather wait
for the US version then import it. Hit me at:
The man called Corn - Cornell@Sega2000.net
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======| NEWS |============================================
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>>>> Australia Gets 3 Months Free Net Access
While news has been depressing for Australians lately,
heres something to look forward to...
Along with the browsing disc that comes with the Dreamcast,
you get three months free internet access, valued at $300.
How it would cost $300 for just 3 months is beyond me, but
anyway, there you have it. - Written by Tails
>>>> Sega Announce Partnership With AT&T
As expected Sega of America this week announced a partnership
with Sega Enterprises and communications giant AT&T to
provide internet service for the Dreamcast console. Through
the use of AT&T's existing WorldNet service Dreamcast user
will have access to online play, email, chat, gaming
related content, and more on the Dreamcast Network. The
AT&T Dreamcast Network service includes an Hourly Price
Plan at $9.95 a month for 10 hours of access a month; a
Standard Price Plan at $19.95 a month for 150 hours of
access a month; or an Unlimited Price Plan at $21.95 a
month for unlimited access. Sega and AT&T also alluded to
possible future co-marketing and e-commerce partnerships
between the two companies -- the details of which will be
announced in the future.
Now that we have the specifics of the AT&T plan covered,
lets get down to some of the juicy details from the
teleconference. The most pressing question on many people's
minds was whether they would be able to use their existing
ISP's to connect onto the Dreamcast Network. If you're
reading this, you're most likely connected using a dial-up
connection through a local ISP. The US DC owners like
yourself will indeed be able to play on the DC network
by going online using your current internet service
provider. In other words, Sega's network will be fully
available to all PPP compliant ISP services.
If you happen to be a current subscriber to the AT&T WorldNet
service, you will be automatically upgraded to this DC
specific plan. And as a part of the promotion AT&T will
make the Dreamcast console (at $199) and a free keyboard
available to all existing and future WorldNet customers.
The keyboard, which is a standard issue that plugs into
the DC controller port, will also be available at the
Sega.com Online Store. SOA did not reveal any plans to
release the keyboard to other retail outlets, but those
details and specific pricing will be announced sometime in
the future.
As you know, although the DC Network goes live on 9.9.99,
actual online play will not be available until sometime
next year. Which means you won't see games like Sega
Rally 2, Bulder's Gate, and Frontier on the Dreamcast
until sometime in early 2000. In fact, there won't be
any modem to modem direct link play available this year
either. Sega's reasoning behind this is to create a
large online community before making those game available
to DC users. But certainly a lot of gamers, and even
some publishers/developers, are dissapointed and
concerned about the unavailability of online play this
year. In fact, from talking with several developers,
some games which could have had online play this year,
will now launch without those features.
Overall however, the partnership with AT&T is an excellent
deal for both companies. AT&T is able to market their
WorldNet service to the young Dreamcast consumers, and
Sega in turn will be able to open their DC Network to the
currently 2 million existing WorldNet subscribers.
>>>> Metropolis Street Racer Delay
In the news item below, you might notice in Sega Europe's
release list, Metropolis Street Racer is missing. I asked
Sega Europe about this, and unfortantly it wasn't just a
mistake. SOE replied, "No release date currently available
for M-SR". - Written by Tails
>>>> Sega Europe Announce Lineup
London. Wednesday 3rd August 1999: Sega of Europe have
confirmed the stunning line up of games to be available for
Dreamcast at the launch of the new 128-bit super-console.
September 23rd, Dreamcast launch day will see 10 titles
available as promised. This is the strongest software
launch line up of any console ever. The next month will
see a further 15 titles released both by Sega and the
large community of 3rd party developers supporting the
platform.
Sega will be releasing a first party developed title every
week until Christmas. The first party titles set for
release on September 23rd are Sega Rally 2, Virtua Fighter
3tb and the phenomenal Sonic Adventure. Over the next month
Sega will be releasing Toy Commander, Red Dog, Dynamite
Cop, House Of The Dead II and Sega Bass Fishing.
Third party developed titles available on launch day will be
Blue Stinger, Millennium Soldiers - Expendable, Incoming,
Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation 2, Powerstone, Speed
Devils and Trick Style. These will be followed during October
by the release of Ready 2 Rumble, Aerowings, Cue Ball, Hydro
Thunder, Marvel vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat Gold, NFL Blitz
2000, Pen Pen, Tokyo Highway Challenge and UEFA Striker.
This brings the total of Dreamcast titles available by
October 22nd to 25.
JF Cecillon, Chief Executive of Sega Europe, commented:
"This is an outstanding line up of high quality games
for both hardened gamers and the general consumer. It
demonstrates the belief and faith that the development
community has in the Dreamcast console. I would like to
thank all the internal & external developers and
publishers who have worked so hard over the past few
years to make this impressive line up a reality. With
today's news we really have positioned Sega Dreamcast as
the premier gaming platform for the next millennium."
>>>> Shenmue Loses A GD-ROM
According to Game Weekly Magazine of Hong Kong, apparently
Sega had once envisioned the first Chapter of Shen Mue,
Yokosada, to stretch across four GD-Roms. Due to a price
cap of 6800yen, which the company did not want to exceed,
AM2 was forced to scale back the size of the first
installment to three GDs. - Written by Mike Bess
>>>> Sonic @ Sega.com
SOA added a new mini-website to Sega.com today, dedicated
to Sonic Adventure. It lists all the features and
characters, has screen shots, and more soon. Check it out
yourself at the address below. Click the Sonic Adventure
logo above the screen shots. - Written by Tails
http://www.sega.com/games/games_sonic.html
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======[ RED HOT RUMORS ]==================================
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Welcome to the rumors section of Dreamcast Weekly, each
week we'll keep you upto-date with the latest RUMORS going
around. Written by Tails.
>>>> 2 Versions Of Sega Rally 2?
Sega Rally 2 being a European launch title without network
support has raised some interesting questions... will Sega
re-release Sega Rally 2 next year with network support?
What will happen with the US version? Theirs plenty of
rumors flying around, but no more news from Sega yet.
>>>> Namco Rumors Continue
Namco said they were planning at least 2 more Dreamcast
games... which has brought up rumors of just about
everything. The most popular at the moment are Tekken Tag
Tournament, and a racing game on Sega's Naomi board! Of
course if it is on the Naomi board, the game can't be
ported to any other system for at least 6 months... sweet!
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======| IMPORT-ANT MATTERS |==============================
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w w w . e x t r e m e - I m p o r t s . c o m
_______ooo000ooo www.extreme-imports.com ooo000ooo______
|| ||
|| We'll keep you upto date with the latest news on the ||
|| importing scene - Tails. ||
|| ||
|| >>>> SOUL CALIBUR MOVIE ONLINE NOW! ||
|| ||
|| You can now download a very high quality 1 min video ||
|| of Namco's Soul Calibur from www.extreme-imports.com ||
|| Forget screen shots, see Soul Calibur on video! ||
|| ||
|| ||
|| >>>> AUS$399 FOR A DREAMCAST - AROUND US$199 ||
|| ||
|| Now you can import a Dreamcast for the same price as ||
|| it will retail for... or if you live in Australia or ||
|| New Zealand, cheaper than it will retail for! All ||
|| the details are at www.extreme-imports.com ||
|| ||
|| >>>> IMPORTING A US DREAMCAST ||
|| ||
|| Extreme Imports will be stocking the US Dreamcast ||
|| early September this year. The system will come with ||
|| one controller, demo disk and 56k hardware modem. ||
|| We'll be selling the system for $499AUD - this ||
|| includes a step down converter (240~220V - 100~110V) ||
|| for European and Australian customers. Games will be ||
|| no more than $99AUD with a high possibility of ||
|| $89AUD or less. Pre-orders will commence as of ||
|| today. Due to limited numbers, a $50AUD deposit will ||
|| be required to secure a system. ||
|| ||
|| To pre-order, please visit our website. ||
|| ||
||_____ooo000ooo www.extreme-imports.com ooo000ooo____||
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======| FEATURE |=========================================
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>>>> Saturn Emulation
>>>> Written by Tunek
Saturn emulation
As many of you probably already know, emulating old games
and their hardware has become the most fun you can have
with your computer. There are several good emulators for
all the big game systems, including Sega's Megadrive/Genesis,
Master System and GameGear. There's even emus for Sega's
very obscure japaneese computers and early arcade games.
But Sega's 32x, Mega/Sega-CD and Saturn haven't yet been
well emulated. And while in my opinion there isn't really
much reason for emulating Sega's add-ons, the Saturn should
be emulated. It was after all the hardcore gamers machine
of the 90's. And it appers that some people with technical
knowledge also think that way.
There are currently to my knowledge four Saturn emulators
in the works. All of these are for Dos/Windows, and none
of them play any game yet. But some are coming close.....
To operate these emulators, you will need a Sega Saturn bios.
To get that, you have to choices:
1: Get an Action Replay and a PC-link and dump the bios using
that or 2: Download the bios at some emulation site. This is
illegal, so we can't provide a link.
Now, on with the emulators!
A-Saturn: http://www.emuunlim.com/A-Saturn/
Coded by Japanese native Azuco. This is the first Saturn
emulator that shows any graphics. You should stop by the
message board on that site for some great linguistic
comedy. I don't mean that in a bad way Azuco, I really
like the way you write :)
Lucifer: http://www.emuunlim.com/Lucifer/
Lucifer's main coder is TyRaNiD (people in the emu scene
like to mix in capitals and other strange things in their
stage names, like Neil_, _Demo_ and csKnight. I have no
idea why!! Maybe they just want the name to be harder to
type..........?) and the other people working on it are
Pharaoh and VGL. Currently it doesn't do much, but the
next version is promised to feature graphics and CD
support.
PC-saturn: http://members.xoom.com/nexxus_soft/
This is coded by Matt Wolff. According to my sources it
hasn't come very far yet, but it has a nice GUI, and
progress is being made. Future releases will include
dynamic recompilation, which will result in greater speed.
Project Hyperion: http://members.xoom.com/scarrow/
This project seems like the least completed of them all.
If you go to the website you'll see that it wasn't updated
for nearly a year, until suddenly an update dealing with
some technical issue appeared. But the developer seems
intent on sharing his work with the other emu developers,
so he/she is making a great contribution to the 'scene'.
Well, now you know at least something of the state of
Saturn emulation. If you would like to know more, please
stop by TITAN, this writer's site covering Saturn
emulation. There you can ask questions and get all the
emulators and other info. http://user.tninet.se/~puc549i
Tunek - tuna@ebox.tninet.se
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======| AROUND THE WEB |==================================
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Please don't ask to be added to this section (I'm sure you
can imagine how many hundreds of requests I'd get every
week!). Sites will be selected.
>>>> Move Over Playstation
>>>> http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dungeon/8408/
Around this week's net surf, I discovered a rather cool
graphic. Not wanting to encourage system wars or anything,
but take a look... would make a nice wallpaper eh? Thanks
go to Brian for creating it.
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======| SEGA TRIVIA |=====================================
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>>>> Weekly Sega Trivia
>>>> Written by Glen & Andy
1: If you finish fighting vipers in very hard mode. What
is your reward?
2: Where is Tokio's stage in Fighting Vipers?
3: Where would you find zero space?
4: What is the name of Sega's pre school learning machine?
5: What is the first event in Athlete King's decathlon?
>>>> ANSWERS are at the very bottom of this e-mail
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======| BEST OF THE WEB |=================================
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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 X - www.segadreamcast.net
Plenty of news added every day, and the best coverage of
the US Launch details you'll find anywhere.
>>>> Sega 2000 - www.sega2000.net
Sega 2000 is back, and with plenty of news. You have to join
in the interactive 10 Most Wanted section too.
>>>> Media Site - http://media.seganet.com
A brand new design, and what a design!! You have to see this!
They have the biggest collection of video game mp3's, video's
(including some Saturn video's you've probably never seen
before) and more. Also don't forget to vote for your favorite
staff member.
>>>> Gaming Central Starpath - www.startpath.com/gamingcentral
Our newest support site and provides hundreds of links for
anything a gamer might be interested in.
>>>> SegaDC - www.segadc.co.nz
Updated daily with lots of news, a forum and more, this is
a must see site for any Sega fan.
>>>> The Sonic Zone - www.suneet.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. You can now send online postcards too!!
>>>> DC Australia - www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/6831/
Dreamcast Australia has all the latest coverage of the
Dreamcast delay in Australia (yes, it's official) with a
full press release from Ozisoft surrounding the
circumstance. DCA has also put up the latest OziSoft's
interview which covers almost everything related to the
Dreamcast launch in Australia, as well as general
topics. Don't forget the monthly poll, daily news and much
much more.
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 :)
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======[ CREDITS ]=========================================
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O Writer: Graham Parker "Tails" - Webmaster@sega2000.net
O Co-editor: Steve - Steve@sega2000.net
O DC Questions: Please send to - Steve@sega2000.net
>>>> www.DreamcastWeekly.com - Official Website!
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Copyright, 1998-9 Graham Parker - Webmaster@sega2000.net
Written and edited by Graham Parker. No parts may be
copied without prior permission. I would have to send
out my group of highly trained thugs otherwise, who will
have a tea party with you until you crack and your mind
turns into jello... MMmmmmm.... Sweet Sweet Jello....
hehe.
This Weeks Trivia Answers...
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1: Candy in her underwear!!
2: Armstone airport
3: Panzer dragoon
4: Pico
5: 100m dash
