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          <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">- <a href="../index.html">Contents</a><br>
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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 38</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
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  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../columns.1"><font size="-1">Pad 
          Happy</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          The Consoles Strike Back</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+1" color="#0022A8"></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          </font></b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <a href="mailto:nickf@saqnet.co.uk">Nick 
          Ferguson</a></font></font></p>
        <p align="right">&nbsp; </p>
        <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The issue of 
          the Dreamcast modem is also crucial. In the UK it was announced that 
          the machine will be bundled with a fast modem, much to everyone’s surprise. 
          Even more surprising was the news that communications giant British 
          Telecom would help Sega set up their &quot;free&quot; (i.e. local call 
          charges only, which is as close to free as you get in the UK) Dreamcast 
          ISP. As a dyed-in-the-wool NTSC console advocate, I now face a dilemma: 
          do I plump for the superior NTSC machine which will – more than likely 
          – not work as an internet machine in the UK? Or do I go for the native 
          UK model, with its slightly slower game speeds but full internet support? 
          The thought of playing <b>Sega Rally 2</b> over the ‘net with 3 other 

          people lights up the geek in me, but the reality is I’ll probably hardly 
          ever play online. Decisions, decisions. Still, if nothing else the modem 
          decision (along with the planned massive marketing blitz) shows that 
          Sega appreciates it has to play hardball to win the public back (a realization 
          that explains Sega’s popularity among retailers, if not developers).</font></p>
        <p align="left"></p>
        <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">But like it 
          or not, the Dreamcast was not the hottest piece of technology at the 
          show. PlayStation 2 was there, running the familiar technology demos 
          (and the fabled build of <b>Gran Turismo</b>). The buzz from a number 
          of sites was that after all the hype, PlayStation 2 wasn’t quite as 
          amazing as they had anticipated. This opinion was confirmed by pretty 
          much everyone who e-mailed me personally about the show, too. Whether 
          this is just a result of post-hype deflation (I think I just made that 
          term up) or a genuine reaction to the hardware remains to be seen. Comparisons 
          were drawn to Sega’s similar <b>Shen Mue</b> tech demos (colored light-sourcing 
          around a face, etc) which were also on show and, allegedy, not entirely 
          outclassed. Far be it from me to start a bitch-fight with Sony advocates 
          – I freely admit you can’t tell anything about the games that will appear 
          on a machine from a few demos! That said, I would like to point out 
          (to those expecting every PS2 game to feature characters as detailed 
          as Reiko Nagase - the <b>Ridge Racer 4</b> girl - in the early demo) 
          that the famous T-Rex demo on the original PlayStation has only just 
          made it into a game engine in the form of <b>Dino Crisis</b>.</font></p>
        <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">When it comes 
          to PlayStation 2 games, the graphics are only half the story anyway. 
          The really interesting stuff is associated with the intricacies of the 
          Emotion Engine chipset, and Sony’s ‘middleware’ concept of encouraging 
          the licensing of physics engines and such to game developers so that 
          they can focus on developing the gameplay. It’s no secret that a lot 
          of people are already developing for PlayStation 2, and Sony’s forward-thinking 
          approach will more than likely secure both the future of the console 
          industry for another decade and cement their position as the market 
          leader within it. So, the question that remains is… whither Nintendo?</font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="-1">(<a href="index3.php">Continued 
          on next page</a>)</font></i></font></p>
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      <p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"> </font></i><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
        Pad Happy logo illustrated and is &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. Pad Happy is 
        &copy; 1999 Nick Ferguson. All other content is &copy; 1999 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
        productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so 
        don't try it, or you'll get some real force feedback.</font></i></p>
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