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        <h1><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><a href="../../index.html">loonygames</a><br>
          <font size="1">a <a href="http://www.bluesnews.com">blue's news</a> 
          publication</font></i></b></font></h1>
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<p>URL: <a href="../2.1/ph/index.html">http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.1/ph/</a><br>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>Vol. 
                2, Issue 1<br>
                November 11, 1999<br>
                </b>
              <b> 
                </b>
              
                <b><i>Pad 

                  Happy:</i></b></p>
                <b><i> 
                  Sega's Sonic Boom</i></b></p>
                by 
                  Nick Ferguson</p>
              
              

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              <i>The 
                Dreamcast is finally here. So stop crying about PlayStation 2 
                and buy one, says <b>Nick F</b>..</i><br>
               Hey, 
                so you've had a Dreamcast for 6 weeks already and you've probably 
                got more games for it than I do (I'm surviving on <b>Soul Calibur</b> 
                right now). You're pissed that <b>Shenmue</b> has been delayed 
                again, and you're champing at the bit to get your greasy, pizza-stained 
                hands on a Dreamcast Zip drive and a copy of <b>Biohazard: Code 
                Veronica</b>, right? Right? What the hell do you mean, "I didn't 
                buy a Dreamcast?" Come over here and let me kick your ass for 
                you. Alternately, sit down and let me explain to you, <i>slowly</i>, 
                the multitude of reasons you need to hightail it down to the store 
                and pick up Sega's spanking almost-new goody box ASAP. Brace yourself...<br>
                </p>
              <br>
                <i><b> 
                Reason #1: Sega is back</b></i> 
              <br>
                
              You 
                could practically hear the silence on the Sony newsgroups immediately 
                following the Dreamcast's launch, or at least the sound of a number 
                of PlayStation fanboys (typically guys called "Highwind" or &quot;Squall_69&quot;) 
                munching their words. Almost amazingly, Sega is back. Even I have 
                to admit to being pleasantly surprised after my first Dreamcast 
                experience (see my 
                old Console Wars article) I wasn't convinced the console had 
                the power to survive even the whispers surrounding PlayStation 
                2. Since last Christmas, however, we've seen the Dreamcast go 
                from strength to strength, culminating (so far) in the almighty 
                <b>Soul Calibur</b> unquestionably one of the greatest beat-em 
                ups ever to grace a console. I wager <b>Shenmue</b> will drop 
                a few jaws even further when it eventually gets released, although 
                the jury's still out on those "revolutionary" Quicktime Event 
                gameplay mechanisms. It all seems a bit <b>Dragon's Lair</b> for 
                me (hey, I loved <b>Dragon's Lair</b> too, but these days let's 
                keep it on the Gameboy Color where it belongs)... The point, hotshot, 
                is that those memories of laughing at Saturn owners can finally 
                be put to rest: it is most definitely cool to be a Sega cadet 
                again.<br>
                
              <br>
                <b> 
                <i>Reason #2: Sony is the new Microsoft</i></b> 
              
              <br>
                
              Forget 
                Bill Gates (he's just a front), Ken Kutagari is the real anti-Christ. 
                PlayStation isn't just a games console anymore; it's a global 
                brand. Think Coca-Cola meets Microsoft (minus the Supreme Court 
                verdict) and you're not far off. This is the reason Sony just 
                <i>had</i> to call their next-gen machine PlayStation 2 (yawn) 
                anything else would be throwing away billions in free branding. 
                Sony currently enjoys the kind of market domination not seen since 
                the glory days of Nintendo. The name &quot;Nintendo&quot; used 
                to be synonymous with &quot;videogame&quot; (now it's synonymous 
                with  &quot;got Elvis-fat and lost the plot&quot;). The 
                increasingly-cheapo PlayStation is still selling in ridiculous 
                quantities, too: are people buying these things for their <i>pets</i> 
                now or something? Unless you want your grandchildren starting 
                their school day singing the theme from Final Fantasy XVIII, you'd 
                better put a stop to Sony's gaming Empire. Choose life, choose 
                a Dreamcast.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <i><b><br>
                 Reason 
                #3: PlayStation 2 is vaporware </b></i>
              <br>
                
              Didn't 
                you know? All those demos are really running on SGI workstations, 
                and that  &quot;controversial&quot; design (hey, I like 
                it) is lifted straight from the Sony Design Centre's 1983 manifesto. 
                But seriously, the PlayStation 2 isn't scheduled to reach US and 
                European shores till September next year - at the absolute earliest. 
                The Japanese machine may well make it out for March, but by the 
                time the real Dreamcast-killer software comes out you could have 
                had 18 months of genuine 128-bit gaming goodness for a comparatively 
                measly $200. That'll be the price of a single PS2 game (honest)!<br><b><i>Reason 
                #4: Online gaming</i></b> 
              <br>
                
              OK, 
                so this site is probably not the best place to plug a console 
                on the strength of its online capabilities. Sue me. The fact remains, 
                regardless of what us loonygames-reading types think, and the 
                mass market doesn't play online games - yet. The mass market does 
                seem to be buying a shitload of Dreamcasts, though, and every 
                one of those puppies ships with a modem - Sega's Trojan horse. 
                I have a hunch that when the first batch of multiplayer games 
                hit the US and Europe, Sega are going to have to upgrade their 
                Dreamcast networks pretty quickly. <b>Sega Rally 2</b> is fine 
                and dandy to start with, but could you really resist once <b>Half-Life 
                DC </b>and <b>Phantasy Star Online</b> make it out? Thought not...<br>
                
              <br>
                <i><b> 
                Reason #5: Arcade conversions</b></i> 
              <br>
                
              Fact: 
                Sega and Namco make the best arcade games in the world. If you 
                want to play enhanced versions of some of the finest games of 
                the last few years, you'll need to buy a Dreamcast. <b>Virtua 
                Fighter 3</b>, <b>Sega Rally 2</b> and <b>House of the Dead 2</b> 
                are fine representations of their arcade counterparts, although 
                the best is yet to come with mad free-roaming racer <b>Crazy Taxi</b> 
                and the sim-tastic <b>F355 Challenge</b> waiting in the wings. 
                As for the likelihood of further titles from Namco, the sheer 
                effort they put into their way-better-than-the-arcade conversion 
                of <b>Soul Calibur</b> gives a strong indication of their faith 
                in the console's future. The Dreamcast may munch up a few months' 
                worth of quarters, but in the long run you're guaranteed not to 
                regret it. Broom-broom!<br>
                
              <br>
                <i><b> 
                Reason #6: Dinky VMS stuf</b></i>f 
              
              <br>
                
              OK, 
                so the jury's out on whether the Visual Memory System is a useful 
                tool or a fun gimmick, but the idea is certainly a good one. Essentially 
                a glorified memory card (akin to Sony's PocketStation), the VMS 
                is the tool you use to connect your Dreamcast games to their arcade 
                counterparts. In Japan, a VMS (and a copy of the <b>Shenmue</b> 
                Passport demo) enables you to save your F355 arcade performance 
                data for playback at home in a crazy wireframe replay mode (think 
                <b>Metal Gear</b>'s VR mode with cars). We can only hope that 
                with the continued success of Dreamcast, Sega sees fit to increase 
                the potential for interaction between home users and arcade-goers. 
                Think about it - you could spend time at home earning a really 
                cool secret vehicle in the Dreamcast version of some racing game, 
                and then pose by using it in front of the crowds at the local 
                arcade.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <i><b>Reason 
                #7: Sega's staff are weirdos</b></i><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Sounds 
                like a dumb reason? Well, maybe you should stick to the PlayStation 
                if you like your games with increasingly big numbers at the end 
                of the title. Personally, and as much as I can't wait to play 
                <b>Resident Evil 3</b> or <b>Final Fantasy 8</b> (hey, I'm getting 
                to it), I'm feeling a little let down by Sony in the originality 
                department. OK, they gave us <b>Parappa the Rapper</b> and "survival 
                horror" (for which I'm eternally grateful) but it's time for something 
                else. Sega may yet fall flat with <b>Shenmue</b>, but it's a brave 
                experiment. Likewise, the direction they took with <b>Sonic Adventure</b> 
                was a brave move when everyone seemed to be expecting <b>Mario 
                64</b> in hi-res. Look at the wacked, drug-induced stuff they've 
                been churning out of late! <b>Get Bass</b>, <b>Powerstone</b> 
                and <b>Seaman</b>: are these the products of healthy minds? I 
                think we should be told...<br>
                
              
                <p>
                <p><br>
                  <i>- 
                  </i><b><i>Shenmue</i></b><i> delayed again? <b>Nick Ferguson</b> 
                  is out for blood (and not that wussy green stuff, either).</i></p>
              
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