Newsletter: Sega World Weekly issue 129
From Video Game Morgue File
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S E G A W O R L D W E E K L Y
M A G A Z I N E
~~ Issue No. 129 Apr 22nd 2001 ~~
Proudly sponsored by http://www.levelsix.com/
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-- Please Support Our Sponsors Intro --
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<<.>> High Quality Maracas at a Low Price
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Wonder why you are not having much fun with Samba De Amigo
with just a hand-held controller? The answer can be found
with a set of maracas! These maracas also have a longer
cord (2.6 meter) compared to the Sega brand maracas.
- http://www.levelsix.com/
> Sega World Weekly is best read in the Courier New font.
For past issues see http://www.SegaWorldWeekly.com/
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-- Editors Comments Page 1 --
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Ok before you go running and screaming away from this old
text design, let me assure you it's just temporary. Our
HTML design is the future, and we just need to move mailing
list servers to get it working right. At the moment we're
unable to do that, but for $$$ reasons, but fear not, it
will happen (wow, I bet that's a relief! haha </sarcasm>).
We'll also have a return of the weekly comic very soon.
Anyway this issue brings an early review of 18 Wheeler, Pro
American Trucker. Michael Monahan has been hauling over 30
tons of load all week to bring you this cover story. A true
American hero :) Then there's big news all around, with
Sega announcing support for the Nintendo Gamecube, more
games (including Jet Set Radio!) for cell phones, and the
final release of Bleemcast!
Don't forget to check out the Q&A and Letters page, and if
you have anything to say, simply e-mail it on in to Ross at
zondaro@usa.net This week we'll also ask the question...
[ What console are you most excited about to date, and
most importantly, why? ] - Email zondaro@usa.net
Finally look out for news of our E3 coverage shortly, and
we're taking a different approach then all the news sites
will around the net. So until next week then, Happy Gaming
everyone! And I'm off to play a little James Pond 2 now :)
- Graham "Tails" Parker (Editor)
- http://www.SegaWorldWeekly.com/
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|| C O N T E N T S ||
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|| 2 - Cover Story ||
|| 3 - Weekly News ||
|| 4 - Red Hot Rumors ||
|| 5 - Phantasy Star Online ||
|| 6 - Level Six Low-down ||
|| 7 - Question & Answer ||
|| 8 - Letters of the Week ||
|| 9 - Our Support Sites ||
|| 10 - Credits ||
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HOT QUOTE this issue: "they plan to develop 65 Dreamcast
games and 53 titles for other platforms before March 2002"
-- Sega's Gamecube Support - Weekly News on Page 3
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-- Cover Story Page 2 --
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<<.>> 18 Wheeler: Pro American Trucker Review
-- Japanese version
-- Written by Michael Monahan
Imagine being a truck driver on the open highways of North
America. Hauling over 30 tons of load and hauling different
cargo ranging from car trailers, to hauling lumber. Now,
with Eighteen Wheeler this is a reality. In this game your
goal is to haul different cargo, in different trucks across
the USA. Each different truck you select has different
handling styles which make it easier and harder to use from
other trucks. With great graphics, great sound, and the
good old American dream, "yeh right," Eighteen Wheeler is
sure to make a big hit when it hits the USA.
The way that this game is set up is pretty simple. There
are three main modes. Arcade mode, parking mode, and score
attack. If you like there is also a versus mode that will
allow you to play with your friends.
Arcade mode is where the real fun is. Your objective in
this mode is to make it across the USA with earning the
most points and money, while not damaging your cargo. After
you cross each city you get a choice of different cargo to
haul. When given the choice of choosing between two
different types of cargo, you will notice that one of them
will offer you more money than the other, but it will also
be harder to haul. That means that it will make it harder
to complete the race in the given amount of time. Of course
you could always chose the easier cargo, while getting paid
less. At the end the money you earn from your cargo doesn't
go towards anything, so if you do take the easier way out
it won't matter.
In arcade mode after completing each city you come up to a
parking challenge. In each challenge you are placed in a
variety of different places that get harder and harder to
travel. In the parking challenge your goal is to make it to
the finish line without running out of time, and without
bumping into anything which will decrease the value of your
cargo. If you succeed and make it to the finish with a good
score, you will get upgrades for your truck, like a horn or
a new engine.
Parking mode is exactly like the parking stages after each
level in arcade mode, yet they are much bigger, and there
are much more parking stages. They don't really do much for
the main part of the game, but they help kill time while
you're bored.
The last mode is score attack. In this mode your objective
is to try to beat all of the areas with the fastest time,
and highest score. These stages are actually very fun, and
are also another thing that will help you kill some more
time.
Sadly, the main arcade mode is actually pretty short.
Actually very short. It only lasts about 4-5 stages that
are each only 3 minutes long the most. So at the end you
only spend about 15 minutes on the main part of the game. I
guess we now know why it's called arcade mode, because of
the length of it, and that that's about as long as you
would play it in the arcade. Thankfully, as I mentioned the
other modes are pretty fun, and they will last you some
time before you beat them.
The graphics in this game are very good. You could compare
them to the graphics in crazy taxi, but a little more
polished up. Everything in the game looks very real, and
fit into the setting. Even the cargo looks real. What's
even more amazing, is that if you bang up whatever you are
hauling you will actually see dents in it, and sometimes
whatever you are carrying may actually fall out. Say you
were hauling a car transporter: If you were to damage it so
much a few of the cars may actually fall out. That adds to
the realism to the game, and makes you feel as if it were
real life. In one of the parking challenges you are placed
in an area that makes you feel like you are actually right
there. I almost felt like I could smell the fresh pine air.
Even though this game is short, it sure does help to have
good graphics which this game has.
As soon as you pop this game in it sounds like an old
western. This game has great music. After playing the game,
and feeling relaxed you are interrupted by the sound of
someone on your cb radio that sounds like they are yelling
so loud they are trying to kill you! You could always just
lower your volume, but they do get annoying. This guy will
do everything it is possible to get your attention and try
to slow you down. Even though that may ruin the quality of
the game it doesn't effect it that much. But, overall the
sound quality, and music is very good.
Overall, the game is very good, but very short. When this
game comes to the US you should rent it first, and if you
do like it buy it. That probably wouldn't happen because
you will most likely beat the game in less than an hour and
get somewhat bored of it. One of the weird things about
this game, is that I have reviewed the Japanese version,
and it is in full english, even the voices are in english.
That's kind of weird. Now, there was supposed to be
internet play with this game, but they decided to take that
out. Now without that this game isn't going to last long.
So I would advice you not to pluck down over $20 the most
for this one shot game.
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-- Weekly News Page 3 --
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<<.>> Bleem Finally Ready!
After a long, long, long wait, the Playstation emulator for
the Dreamcast is finished. Bleem, which was originally
going to be compatible with 100 Playstation games has gone
through some huge changes however.
The first major change is a good one, the price, Bleem will
be selling from May 1st for just $5.95. However that brings
us to the bad news, each disc only works for one game. The
first due for release is Gran Turismo 2, and while it does
do wonders to the game, it will only work with that one
game.
The next titles due out are to be Tekken 3, and Metal Gear
Solid. No longer will the classics be seen in poor 320x240
resolution, instead they will actually look better than
on the Playstation 2.
<<.>> Sega on Board for Nintendo Gamecube
This week Sega announced full support for Nintendo's
upcoming console, the Gamecube. Both Sonic Team and
Amusement vision have been confirmed to be working on new
games for the machine, and while no titles have been
announced it's strongly rumored we'll see Phantasy Star
Online coming to the big N.
Amusement Vision was previously AM4, responsible for
Virtua Striker, and most recently Daytona USA 2001 and
Planet Harriers. Just for those who want a reminder, below
are the renamed Sega AM teams. Naturally AM2 and Sonic
Team both kept their original names.
AM1 - WOW (House Of The Dead)
AM3 - Hit Maker (Crazy Taxi)
AM4 - Amusement Vision (Virtua Striker)
AM5 - Sega Roso (Star Wars Racing)
AM6 - Smile Pit (Jet Set Radio)
AM7 - Over Works (Eternal Arcadia)
AM9 - United Game Artists (Space Channel 5)
Finally Sega also announced they plan to develop 65
Dreamcast games and 53 titles for other platforms before
March 2002. So when Sega say they are laying down the
support for a console, they really mean it. We could quite
possibly see over 20 Gamecube titles come from Sega in the
next year.
For more info on the Nintendo Gamecube, Ross, our Q&A guy
runs a great weekly e-mail magazine on the upcoming console
from http://www.gamecubeweekly.com/
<<.>> Sega on the Go!
Imagine playing Jet Set Radio on the bus, in your office,
at school, or even in the bathroom. No we're not talking
about the Gameboy Advance, but cell phones.
Mini versions of NiGHTS, Chu Chu Rocket and Samba De Amigo
have already been announced for Java-Phones in Japan, but
now Sega are ready to expand. Further games have just been
announced, including Typing of the Dead, Columns, Space
Channel 5, and Jet Set Radio. But also Sega is ready to
license their development tools to other companies,
starting with Konami and their Dance Dance Revolution
series, and then the Powerful Pro Baseball games.
<<.>> Top 10 Online Rentals Revealed
RedOctane.com the online game rental service announced
their top 10 rentals this week, including a surprising
Dreamcast title at number four.
1. Zone of Enders (PS2)
2. Dance Dance Revolution (PSX)
3. Onimusha: Warlords (PS2)
4. Record of Lodoss War (DC)
5. Winback (PS2)
6. Oni (PS2)
7. High Heat Baseball 2002 (PS2)
8. Kessen (PS2)
9. Sky Odyssey (PS2)
10. Star Wars: Starfighter (PS2)
Red Octane can be found online at http://www.redoctane.com
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-- Red Hot Rumors Page 4 --
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<<.>> Peter Moore at Nintendo's E3 Booth
After announcing their commitment to the Gamecube earlier
this week, the rumors now have it that Peter Moore,
president at Sega of America will be present at Nintendo's
pre-E3 party this year. If true, expect some huge
announcements to be made then, including exactly what games
are coming soon. What have Sonic Team been busy working on
with the Gamecube? Hopefully we'll find out next month.
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-- Phantasy Star Online Clan Page 5 --
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<<.>> Sega World Weekly the Phantasy Star Online Clan
-- Weekly Update #9
The first SWW PSO Clan Meet and Greet is looking to happen
somewhere between April 28-29th. We are trying to find a
good time for everyone to meet. We'll give out the time in
both standard and 'PSO' beats.
I'm also wondering if anyone found a special Easter egg in
PSO this last weekend? Some cool stuff was being given
away to gamers.
I'd also like to mention PSO Radio again, the show is
really cool. Click on over to http://www.mp3.com/psoRadio
and listen to one of Godfree's shows!
The ship? Ariel. The block? 5. Show your support! All games
with a DCW or SWW in the name will be havens for members
looking for fun and experience. Except for Razormor who
stole my cool gun.
- DCW_ZOndaro
- zondaro@usa.net
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-- Level Six Lowdown Page 6 --
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<<.>> High Quality Maracas at a Low Price
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Wonder why you are not having much fun with Samba De Amigo
with just a hand-held controller? The answer can be found
with a set of maracas! These maracas have a longer cord
(2.6 meter) compared to the Sega brand maracas.
<<.>> Dreamcast Hais Joysticks - Packed With Features!!
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Some games just were not meant to be played with a handheld
controller. This joystick includes a VMU slot, built-in
rumbling, turbo and slow-mo buttons, a solid heavy base,
and five different colors to choose from. In stock now, so
order your big new Hais Joystick today at LevelSix.com
<<.>> No more switching cords with your VGA Box!
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Forget the hassles of switching cables every time you want
to play your Dreamcast games at the extra high VGA
resolution! Now you can have your PC and Dreamcast
connected both at the same time - and the box switches
between these two automatically.
<<.>> PC Keyboard or Mouse on your Dreamcast?
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Forget aiming with a controller in Quake 3 Arena, now you
can use your PC mouse! The Total Control 5 lets you use a
normal scroll wheel mouse, an optical mouse, or a keyboard.
Full details on the website here, http://www.levelsix.com/
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-- Question and Answer Page 7 --
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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 Sega World Weekly.
We are unable to personally reply to all emails.
Next week: Canadian Bras or www.gamecubeweekly.com?
<<.>> Free ISPs!
Q) Hey since a bunch of people are looking around for free
ISPs, here is a site that gives you instructions on how
to make some work. http://www.dreamcastfun.com
I'm currently using Juno for my DC, and its great. A
warning however, Bluelight doesn't work too well with
Phantasy Star Online. - Brian Searles
A) Thanks for the information.
<<.>> Reaction to "Looking for a girl to fill a 36D bra!"
Q) What's all this about a 36D bra? - Colm Kelly
I love breasts, hahaha! - Andrew Kehlenbeck
A) Some people might know that every week at the bottom
of the Q&A section I run a little quote next to the
email address for questions. Last week I ran this one,
"Looking for a girl to fill a 36D bra!". Who knew that
people actually read that quote every week? If you were
wondering, the story goes like this:
"Amy decided not to stay this term at the University,
so she packed up and had a going away party. When all
was said and done, she had a bra left over. Somehow
it made its way to me. Hence, I'm looking for a girl
to fill a 36D bra."
<<.>> The latest word on the Pirates of Mexico
Q) I'm living at Mexico City but, here I can't find real
games. I can only find games that are pirated. Could you
tell me a place where I can buy games online that send
to Mexico? - Humberto Vargas Galvan
A) I'm not sure. Ebgames.com and gamestop.com ship to a lot
of places. If you honestly can't find any real copies of
games, then just buy the pirate copies. Though someone
somewhere in Mexico City must sell real copies.
<<.>> The Canadian Girl who Loves the Q&A Section
Q) Will the X-box be able to read and play DC GD's?
- Angelina from Canada
A) Its a hot rumor, but so is the possibility of the DVD
Gamecube doing the same thing. It seems that everyone
wants to cash in on Dreamcast gamers who will need to
buy a new system. If I had to pick, I'd say the odds are
better that the Xbox would support it. Some say that the
reason the Xbox controller looks so similar to the DC's
is because they've been planning on supporting DC games.
<<.>> Two Questions for the Price of One
Q) I remember a long time ago Yu Suzuki said that Jackie
and Sarah from Virtua Fighter would turn up from Chicago,
I was hoping that Ryo would get to learn some VF moves.
Also, my friend said that DC Unreal Tournament doesn't
have Assult, my favourite part on the PC and the PS2
does! Why? - Larsson
A) The rumor about VF characters in Shenmue dates back to
when the game was known as Project Berkley. Before we
knew anything about the game, it was rumored to be a
VF-RPG.
Assult takes more RAM to do, simple as that. If you have
the PC version of UT, why would you want to play it on
the Dreamcast anyway?
Less then a Dozen Blind Dates Served! - zondaro@usa.net
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-- Letters of the Week Page 8 --
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Do you have an opinion who wish to share with all the
readers of Sega World Weekly? Simply e-mail in your
thoughts to zondaro@usa.net and look for them in an issue
of Sega World Weekly. Letters will be edited for length.
Hot Topic: HTML Sega World Weekly
Cold Topic: Sega Stopping DC Production
<<.>> Kiss up to the Editors
This is just an email to let you guys know that your doing
a great job. I have been getting your issues since number
one, and it is great to see how far its come. This HTML
format put a smile on my face. Tails you are a trooper,
Madcow will never die. Again, great job, and thanks for
the smile.
- Nathan Riss
[Thanks for reading! - Tails]
<<.>> "ZOndaro is NEVER Wrong" ... now repeat
I read your editorial about the FOX Interactive game
cancellations for the Dreamcast, in SWW Issue #126. Though
informative, YOUR OPINION about the cancellation of Alien
Resurrection was a load of CRAP! After seeing AR on video
tape, and having played Alien games since the Atari 2600
and ColeVision consoles, there has never been a BAD Alien
videogame. In fact, in Alien3's case, the movie was sucked
unlike Alien Resurrection, which was great, but the AMIGA
version by Acclaim was superb in all areas! So you see,
despite what you may think, I am positive the loss of Alien
Resurrection far overshadows the loss of Planet Of The Apes
or Buffy, both of which will probably be screwed up by FOX
anyway! Furthermore, Planet Of The Apes, by its very nature
is not an ideal storyline to adapt to video game play! I
have owned both computer and video game systems since the
Fairchild system, to the Sega Dreamcast. I have beta tested
games for various software companies, and have critically
analysed them for their R&D divisions! So, you see I am far
from NEW to this subject matter! I have even written movie
screenplays too!
- Bob Malmet (warp9@metconnect.com)
[I just want to thank Bob, for making my week. I love how
people get so riled up about something they read. Without
actually appearing to read it. I never mentioned Alien in
my answer. I simply said that 99.3% of games based on a
licensed property end up sucking. Note the lack off 100
in that quote. That said, Alien Resurrection will...
suck. Thank you, thank you. - ZOndaro]
Who knew it could be so cool? - zondaro@usa.net
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-- Support Sites Page 9 --
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Sega World Weekly goes out to 40,000 gamers every week, but
how did we get so many people signed up? With the help of
these websites, that's how...
<<.>> DC-United - http://dc-united.com
The Premiere Dreamcast Community, DC-United.com gives you
the ability to view members online, build your own
homepage, send messages, read in-depth reviews, and much
more. DCU Network Members are also eligible for various
monthly prizes.
<<.>> The Next Level - http://www.the-nextlevel.com
The Next Level is a multi-platform gaming magazine focused
on current and upcoming next-generation systems. We provide
up-to-date news, in-depth reviews, reader reviews,
intriguing editorials, and more.
<<.>> PSY Online - http://www.consolereviews.net
PSY Online is a multiformat reviews website specialising in
the Sega Dreamcast console. With 24/7 updated news, forums
and chat, its a great place to hang out for Sega fans.
<<.>> System Zero - http://system-zero.com
As game music goes well beyond the beeps and bleeps of the
past and into the soundtrack quality tracks we hear today,
Perfect Zero becomes one of THE most important sites for
game fans. Hosting hundreds of MP3s from different games,
turn up those speakers and click that link.
<<.>> Future Gamez - http://www.futuregamez.net
What ever console your looking for, Future Gamez have them
all. From Dreamcast to GameCube, and X-Box to Playstation
2. So get your news, reviews, previews, and more at Future
Gamez, and stay on top of all systems.
<<.>> The Sonic Zone - http://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, and
even Fan Created Games, this is your one stop Sonic site.
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-- Credits Page 10 --
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O Editor: Graham "Tails" Parker - Madcow@ihug.co.nz
O Question & Answer: Ross Fisher - Zondaro@usa.net
O Staff Writer: Michael Monahan - Mikelad1@aol.com
O Staff Writer: Paulo Santos - Paulo@sega2000.net
<<.>> http://www.LevelSix.com - Our Sponsor
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<<.>> PC Keyboard or Mouse on your Dreamcast?
- http://www.levelsix.com/
Forget aiming with a controller in Quake 3 Arena, now you
can use your PC mouse! The Total Control 5 lets you use a
normal scroll wheel mouse, an optical mouse, or a keyboard.
Full details on the website here, http://www.levelsix.com/
- http://www.levelsix.com/
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Copyright 1998-2001 Graham Parker - Madcow@ihug.co.nz
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, lol! Thanks for reading Sega World Weekly!
Now doesn't this look so much better than that crummy old
HTML design? heh... erm... sorry!! HTML will be back!
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