DC 52 Weeks

[Rev. Rob]

Dreamcast Game of the Week, Week 24: Toy Commander

 

Yet another example of a game that achieved much critical success, but little to no actual success (sales).

 

Toy Commander

Released: November 4, 1999

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: No Cliché

Genre: Simulation

DB Link

 

No Cliché was a Sega first party developer in Europe from 1997 when Sega of Europe purchased Adeline Software International. At the helm was Frédérick Raynal, designer of Alone In the Dark. The company operated until 2001 when SOE decided to stop all in house development. No Cliché was the first in house studio that Sega pulled the plug on as they exited the hardware biz. Raynal now consults for Ubi Soft.

 

Toy Commander is an example of a game that simply has too much originality. Casual gamers love familiarity. The feeling that gamers get when they pick up a game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and within the first ten minutes they know the game because they've played essentially the same game dozens of times before in the past 10 years.

 

Another one of Toy Commander's obvious flaws is imagination. The development team was clearly trying their damnedest to piss of casual gamers. First originality and now this? Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit! Just see what I mean.

 

Players take control of a little boy's toys. The boy has set up various scenarios in different rooms in his house. Each room contains multiple missions. After clearing a room other rooms become available. A room can never been truly cleared until the "room boss" has been defeated. However, the boss is not available unless you beat his completion time for at least three missions.

 

Early missions are little more than training exorcises to practice landing aircraft, using helicopters to put sugar into a bowl, or using a jeep to push eggs into a pot.

 

Later missions are combat and strategy centric. Using an airplane to prevent submarines from sinking a supply in a flooded house. Disabling an enemy base with a fighter plane so that a waiting truck can sneak in, steal a bomb, and blow up their own bridge to thwart the enemy convoy. Preventing a gigantic fire breathing monster from destroying a toy town. Several missions allow for multiple types of vehicles to be used, and they must be used in conjunction to clear the level.

 

Of course, these are toys and aren't really armed. The little boy in the game "imagines" that thumb tacks are land mine, that pen caps are missiles. As if a boy growing up with modern video games could ever imagine such things. What a total joke! Weapons, repair kits, and fuel can be found through each stage and often respawn. Other times they are rewards for destroying enemies or household objects. (There's even four player versus modes!)

 

What's worse is that No Cliché were creative when designing the levels and physics in the game. You literally cannot get a vehicle stuck behind an invisible wall. There's no place you go where there's not a way out from.

 

The physics don't even make sense. Gamers used to ultra-realism would probably be so shocked they would simply need to turn the game off. You see, jeeps and trucks can actually drive up walls. Not just speed boost up a wall, but actually drive on them as if it was the ground and even come to a stop without falling off! Fixed wing craft are no better. If if the engine is cut completely it won't stall or crash. I guess players just have to "imagine" that there's really supposed to be a little boy holding on to the toys this whole time.

 

If there is such a thing as a videogame archeologist, then that's the only person who I could, in good conscience, recommend playing Toy Commander. Everyone else has existing in a world of cookie cutter sandbox games for so long that playing Toy Commander would come about as naturally as hunting woolly mammoth.

 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HjVbEZgtjU

 

Box:

[StanJr]

I don't know, dude. That game looks exactly like the kind of game I would play the hell out of. Very very cool and you are right, gasp!, an original idea that is executed with imagination?! What is the world coming to! It's getting kind of scary in here, where's my GTA security blanket?

Edited March 7, 2010 by StanJr

[+Cafeman]

Sarcasm, indeed. The game is excellent.

[Rev. Rob]

Sarcasm, indeed. The game is excellent.

 

Ya, too bad hardly anyone got to play it.

[Austin]

Sarcasm, indeed. The game is excellent.

 

Ya, too bad hardly anyone got to play it.

 

Yeah, this one was marked down quickly, and even then it seemed to just sit on store shelves.. When DC games were being phased-out and discounted at stores, this was often the last title that was still left after everything else was taken.. oh well.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Austin

[Rev. Rob]

Dreamcast game of the week, week 25: Propeller Arena: Aviation Battle Championship

 

Take flight to the skies of big cities, volcanoes, castles and more in what would've been a pretty good eight player online game.

 

Propeller Arena: Aviation Battle Championship

Released: Not Released

Developer: AM2

Publisher: Sega

Rating: N/A

 

This was a game that I was really looking forward to after E3 2001. Dreamcast needed more games like this with fast paced online arcade style action. Disappointingly, the game was never released.

 

The story goes that the game was done, and as far as I can tell, it is complete. However, following the events of September 11th, 2001, Sega decided against publishing it because of one level called "Tower City" that would've allowed people to crash their planes into skyscrapers.

 

Propeller Arena is a game that takes place in the future but uses WWII era planes. You see, in the future it is a sport for a bunch of pilots to try and shoot each other down. Planes include the P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightning, the German made Messerschmitt Bf 109, and a British Spitfire. There are eight characters to choose from, each is associate to one of the aforementioned planes.

 

There are also eight levels that consist of having battles over what appears to be Cape Canaveral, a big city, an erupting volcano, high above the clouds, at the ruins of a castle, in a lightning storm, in the American Southwest, and near some icebergs.

 

The environments create obstacles, like building to fly around, structures to fly through, or dangerous balls of fire flying through the air. There are power-ups to be gotten in the game, and sometimes these are put in places that are somewhat tricky to get to. Typical power-ups are weapons, bombs and missiles, health, or items that mess with the opponent, such as reversing or freezing their controls. I find them to be mostly useless as the effect wears off pretty quickly.

 

The flight range is pretty limited. The levels are small and if you go up too high you'll stall. The basic controls are good. Advanced controls, on the other hand, are not what I would call intuitive. For example, you can simply pull up to loop, or to the side to barrel roll. No, you have to perform a specific button combination like in Street Fighter to pull off a move. It's okay, but I would've preferred more simple controls. I'm not a really a fan of them having to be special moves.

 

One thing that threw me off the first time I played it is that there are not targeting vectors for the enemy planes to show you where to aim to lead into your target. At least there are a wide number of views, including cockpit.

 

The soundtrack is very punk, a la Crazy Taxi, but with a lot less talent. There are nine licensed tracks from bands like Zero Down, Rise Against, and No Use for a Name. On top of that there are 11 original punk tracks by AM2. Fortunately, there is a way to turn off the BGM, change the track, or turn it down.

 

Speaking of sound, the fucking announcer is annoying as shit. "Danger," "Danger!" Pfftt... Danger my ass. I've never been shot down once when he said danger, and he says it all of the damn time. I like to imagine that Sega would've smoothed this out a little bit before publishing it, but I doubt it.

 

The graphics in the game are good, really good. The planes look nice and the environments are a lot better than I expected. As it should be, because it's not like there's a lot to render. The character models, on the other hand, look like total shit. There no excuse for how bad they are.

 

For the low, low price of absolutely free, everyone should play Propeller Arena. Sure it would've been a lot cooler playing with eight people online with voice chat, but the single player and split screen modes are fun for a while. While it's not the killer app that would've saved the Dreamcast that some of its fans claim it to be, it's a pretty cool arcade game.

 

Here's a trailer for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GJiR7zOK6g

 

And here's the cover art:

[Video]

...

 

Uh...well, it's shiney definitely, but it looks like a chaotic mess IMO.. Maybe it's a lot more fun IRL, but it just looks like to much is going on in the video.

 

"No Boring" (I love when that shit gets translated exact) If I could download the game....from somewhere besides virus ridden torrents or some shit, I might consider getting it a try, but honestly, by the time DC came along, games are to big to really download.

[Rev. Rob]

...

 

Uh...well, it's shiney definitely, but it looks like a chaotic mess IMO.. Maybe it's a lot more fun IRL, but it just looks like to much is going on in the video.

 

"No Boring" (I love when that shit gets translated exact) If I could download the game....from somewhere besides virus ridden torrents or some shit, I might consider getting it a try, but honestly, by the time DC came along, games are to big to really download.

 

It took me no time to get it on the D.L.

 

It isn't really chaotic. You just pick a target, kill it, repeat.

[Rev. Rob]

Dreamcast game of the week, week 26: Jet Grind Radio

 

Half way done. I figured it was time for a game that most people thought was a gem.

 

Jet Grind Radio

Released: October 31, 2000

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: Smilebit

Genre: Action

DB Link

 

Smilebit really established themselves in the hearts and minds of Dreamcast gamers with Jet Grind Radio. The game helped to reintroduce the old Sega style of creating new and unique games that fans came to expect from the Genesis and Saturn days, a concept that most large developers let fall to the wayside in favor of more "safe" games.

 

JGR, or JSR (Jet Set Radio) as it originally came to be known, flaunted "cel-shaded" graphics which was a concept largely new to most gamers. Beautiful pixels shaded with solid colors and non-photorealistic lighting made the game more beautiful than it possible could've been if Smilebit had been going for realism.

 

We were introduced to a near-future world where an oppressive government had prohibited the freedom of expression of the youth, who roam around the city of Tokyo-to in magnetic skate shoes.

 

The premise of the game was to skate around collecting spray cans and tagging various objects or tagging over rival gang's tags within a time limit. Successful missions led to recruiting new members or gaining new territory.

 

The ease with which the game could be controlled added a lot to the fun. Rail-grinding, jumping off of walls and performing tricks, though required skill, could be performed with ease and provided satisfaction. That earned skill is invaluable to avoiding SWAT and reaching hard to tag areas.

 

I recall that the tagging aspect of the game was somewhat controversial and sparked some protest. I am sure that in the end it led to greater awareness of the game and more sales as a result.

 

The up beat techno-esque soundtrack is still stuck in my mind today, though I haven't picked up the game in some years. That's about to change. I'm going to fire it up as soon as I make this post.

 

One of the coolest features was the ability to upload virtually any image to create custom tags. I've seen people develop really intricate and artistic tags, and others plaster the whole city with porn.

 

Anyways, I am off to play.

 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjGkHDTPHJg

 

Damn this game still looks fucking great. The only complaint I have is that it inspired too many other games to use cell shading pointlessly.

 

Box Front:

 

Box Back:

[Rev. Rob]

A man and his dragon on a far away world... but it's not Panzer Dragoon.

 

Dreamcast Game of the Week, Week 27: Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern

 

Released: August 31, 2001

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: Ubi Soft

Developer: Ubi Studios UK

Genre: Adventure

DB Link

 

I am the only person I know who likes this game. In fact, I am the only person I know who's ever even played it. I picked this up shorty after it was released. Sega was pulling the plug on Dreamcast and there was something of a game shortage.

 

What I got was a surprisingly good and immersive adventure. You're introduced to the world of Pern. A far away planet that's inhabited by humans and dragons. There's just one problem, a comet passes by the planet once every 200 years or so and carries with it the thread, which are an organism that can destroy all life. Brave dragonriders take to the skies to destroy them with dragon fire to keep their world safe. I had never read any of the Dragon Riders of Pern books before, so this was all new to me. The Pern universe is an excellent setting for a video game.

 

None of this happens in the game. It takes place in a time long after the last threat and most of the populous isn't aware of the danger because no one who lived through it is still alive. So, what do dragonriders do during peace time? They're basically peace keepers, like planet's police, and are resented by many of the citizens.

 

Players take control of D'Kor who is aided by his dragon, Zenth, and fire lizard. Fire lizards are like mini dragons. Your fire lizard follows you around wherever you go and hovers over items/areas that can be interacted with. D'Kor also has a dragon, but you'll never see them ride together in anything by a cut scene. Riders and their dragons are psychically linked, so Zenth is a constant companion and guide.

 

I happened to really like Shenmue, and that's the closest thing that Dragon Riders is like. A straight up adventure with a lot of emphasis talking to NPCs and exploring. The are lots of mini quests to do which earn knowledge and reputation. The game puts up blocks so that you can't progress until you have a high enough ranking.

 

The graphics are not Shenmue quality, however. Fortunately, the voice acting is much better. Ubi Studios UK did a more than competent job of casting voice actors and recording the lines. Even author Anne McCaffrey has a guest role.

 

Combat really took some getting used to. Action it is not. D'Kor draws his sword and stands in one spot. Attacking is achieved by pointing toward the direction of the enemy. There's also the ability to block.

 

The game was obviously rushed in an attempt to get it to the market before Dreamcast was completely dead. This is evident in a number of glitches that crop up. I recommend saving as often as possible. I had to twice restart my game because of bugs.

 

I enjoyed the game so much that after I completed it I went and bought the first book... which really wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Nonetheless, if any video game or movie were to come out of this property, I would be first in line to check it out.

 

 

Game intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua6tfNW1QAY

 

Box:

Edited March 21, 2010 by Rev. Rob

[+thegoldenband]

This is a very useful review, as even though I read a few of McCaffrey's books as a kid, Dragon Riders is the kind of game I'd never even think to pick up -- I'd just assume it was shovelware or otherwise half-assed (i.e. just another one of those games where you run around collecting things for pointless errands in order to get anywhere). If I see it for cheap, it sounds like it's worth a go, based on your recommendation.

 

By the way, on a related note, is there any way you could edit the first post in this thread to include a list (ideally with links) of all the games you've covered? That'd be a huge help in navigating all your reviews, and seeing what's available.

 

Despite the fact that the Dreamcast was the first console I picked up when I got back into gaming, I've almost exclusively used it as an emulation platform until recently -- but I'm trying to explore its library, little by little, and threads like these are really helpful as a kind of buyer's guide. Your review of Crazy Taxi, together with the Video Game Critic's review, prompted me to pick the game up a couple months ago, and I'm glad I did! Perhaps you'll write up Worms World Party at some point -- my girlfriend and I have put close to 20 hours into that game over the past month.

Edited March 21, 2010 by thegoldenband

[Catsmasher]

Thanks again for the reviews. They are very helpful. Last night I spent a couple hours playing ChuChuRocket and had a blast. I would not have given the game a second glance without your review.

CatSmasher

[Video]

Never heard of it, but I like the dragon riders series of books, I'd have to see about getting that one.

 

Could have sworn I replied to the Jet grind radio, that's a pretty cool game...

[Rev. Rob]

Thanks, I am glad to hear it!

 

And JGR is awesome.

[Rev. Rob]

Dreamcast game of the week, week 28: Sega Smash Pack Volume 1

 

Sega Smash Pack Volume 1

Released: February 7, 2001

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: SEGA

Genre: Compilation

DB Link

 

This was some shit that I was really looking forward to. This is something that could've and perhaps should've been available since the Dremacast launch. It was delayed over and over again, and it had some serious potential. Unfortunately it turned out to be about as appealing as a nuclear turd drenched in diarrhea sauce.*

 

How could it be bad? I mean it had twelve awesome classic Sega Games, right? Which twelve? These twelve**:

 

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
   
2. Altered Beast
   
3. Columns
   
4. Golden Axe
   
5. Phantasy Star II
   
6. Revenge of Shinobi
   
7. Sega Swirl
   
8. Shining Force
   
9. Streets of Rage 2
   
10. Vectorman
    
11. Virtua Cop 2
    
12. Wrestle War
    

 

That's right, fucking Wrestle War. Remember the long nights when all your friends would come over to play a rousing game of fucking Wrestle War? I sure as shit don't, because I've never even heard of this fucking game!

 

Sega Swirl is really kind of wasting space. It should be twelve games and then Sega Swirl, since it was already a free release and everyone pretty much had it. That makes this really just eleven games.

 

What's with Sega pulling out Altered Beast every single chance it gets? It was impressive in 1989 when all it was up against was the NES, but even compared to the Genesis' own 1991 library, it looks and plays like shit.

 

How about the rest of the games? Sure, there are some good titles there, like Sonic 1, Streets of Rage 2, Shining Force, and the rest. What where the fuck is Sonic 2, Sonic 3, or Sonic and Knuckles? Sure they've got Phantasy Star II, but where's III and IV, and more importantly the first one? Every hear of anyone ever wanting to pick up an RPG series not at the beginning? The same goes for Streets of Rage II, but not III, Revenge of Shinobi, but not Shinobi III, and so on.

 

Sure, Virtua Cop 2 was a great addition, but what about some other Saturn games? Virtua Fighter 2 anyone? I'm sure a million Dreamcast owners would've loved to have had that.

 

There was plenty of room on the disc. Dreamcast games came on these things called GD-Roms. The "GD" stood for "Gigabyte" disc. And I know that more games could've fit because I have every single Genesis ROM on just two regular old CD-Rs.***

 

To add insult to idiocy, the Genesis emulator that SEGA themselves wrote for the Dreamcast completely blows. The sound isn't right, and there are graphical glitches. Homebrew efforts which were already available at the time were actually better than what Sega's geniuses could come up with.

 

The game really should've featured more "complete" series, not just samples of games. And there's really no excuse for putting less than 25 games on a disc.

 

What I love is that this is called "Volume 1" because there were plans for a "Volume 2." However, Smash Pack did so bad that they never made one, and turned it into a pack-in game instead. What an awful idea. Someone buys a next-gen console and the free game is a comp disc of games from two generations ago. Brilliant marketing right there.

 

In short, pass this up. If you really need to play some Vectorman, then get it for Genesis.

 

Box:

 

*Inspired by AVGN

**Inspired by the works attributed to Siddhartha Gautama

***Buying the actual game and playing it on the system that it's made for is better than any emulation experience can be

[jhd]

This collection was later ported to the PC (poorly). I think the line-up of games is slightly different than on the Dreamcast version, but I recall that it does include Sega Swirl

 

As far as I am aware, this has been the only re-release of Shining Force. It is definitely missing from the PS 2 Genesis collection.

[+thegoldenband]

I went looking for Wrestle War on Youtube, and had to chuckle when I compared this video, which seems to be taken from a reasonably accurate emulator of some sort, to

. Jeez, listen to the hash that's been made of the music! And the slowed-down voice, which now sounds like Lenny from "Of Mice And Men". Maybe it's a PAL conversion issue, since I think Wrestle War wasn't released in the US? Funny thing is, at least one commenter on the Youtube video claims he used to play it all the time as a kid, so I guess it was beloved somewhere...

 

Agreed that the game selection on this is abysmally small. I sort of like the fact that they added a game like "Wrestle War", though -- I get a kick out of seeing obscure or off-beat games show up on compilations. It's kind of an impossible bind: if you include common games, people already have them, and so it's "been there done that"; if you include rarities, people complain that they've never heard of the game. The answer, of course, is to include dozens of games, rather than the 6-12 titles so typical of many of these compilations. What a waste of unused disc space!

Edited March 29, 2010 by thegoldenband

[Video]

I think Smashpack was on something else too....but one thing that really sucked was the emulator or hashport or whatever of the games. They sucked. I mean, the sound and action was constantly out of sync (like Sega's other "collections" on other systems)

 

I have played some emulators, so I knew it could have been done better....it's just that this one sucked. And yeah, like Rob said, you could have probably put most (or all) of the genesis library on a single disc, but then you'd gouge your eyes and ears out with a rusty fork as you listen to and saw the shit they called emulation.

 

I bought it new (yeah, new) as one of the first games I got for the DC, it wasn't a pack in with mine, and was sorely dissappointed.

 

Only thing I liked about it was,it had Sonic on it (where most collections have sonic 2, 3, knuck.es, etc, etc, but oddly no 1, which was my favorite of the genesis series, interestingly enough)

[Rev. Rob]

Dreamcast Game of the Week, Week 29: Phantasy Star Online

 

P.... S.... Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!

 

Phantasy Star Online

Released: January 30, 2001

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: SEGA

Developer: Sonic Team

Genre: Online RPG

DB Link

 

This was one worth waiting for, and we all did. Yuji Naka said he had something special cooked up, and I believed him. Of course, he was right.

 

Dreamcast wasn't the first game console to have online play. The concept of connecting internet to a game console has been around since the Atari 2600. Sega, however, was the leading pioneer. Beginning with the Sega Saturn NetLink, Sega got serious with Internet and online gaming. It wasn't really a smash success, but it laid the ground work for Dreamcast.

 

Sega's brilliance was to make the console Internet ready on day one. Thanks to coming packed with a 56K modem and web browser courtesy of Planetweb. It took quite a while for games to start being released that were online ready. First there was Chu Chu Rocket, or prototype of sorts, followed by games like NFL 2K1, which proved that this online console gaming thing was going to be big.

 

But Phantasy Star Online (PSO) was going to be something altogether different. This wasn't just going to be two players connecting for a match. It was a "MMORPG." It was supposed to be a persistent world, like EverQuest, but with action based combat, not point and click. It was to be hundreds of hours, and have the ability to communicate with people who speak other languages. Characters, we were told, would be so customizable that no two would look the same.

 

So, not everything was true. The game was extremely linear. The max party size was just four. The combat took place in small corridors or little plains connected via small corridors (a la Halo 2), the world really wasn't persistent. Sure, they came up with their own time system, but who cares? And the translator didn't work extremely well. It was based on having to pick from preselected phrases. Kind of clunky, but I recall that it won some technological achievement award.

 

The most important thing to remember about PSO is that it was fun. The soundtrack was amazing; standing in a lobby with lots of other players was impressive. Who doesn't remember the first time battling the dragon?

 

Hack, and slashing, and shooting your way to higher levels, and therefore better armor,weapons, and spells, was addictive. If someone did a game like this today with the scope of WOW, I'd totally be into it (because point and click RPGs are gay).

 

I personally put well over 100 hours into PSO with my friends. I remember we used to hang out somewhere and then decide to all go home to play more PSO.

 

GameShark kind of ruined it. Before long everyone had a Spread Needle and infinite money. Still, I enjoyed it. Sega came out with a few variants of PSO over the years. None of them really held up to the original. I doubt they'll ever get it right again, but I'll never forget this game or the great times I had with it.

 

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcLXOMNIsqE

 

Box Front:

 

Box Back:

[Austin]

(It's been a week or two since I last looked at this thread)

 

Regarding the Smash Pack, it was first a pack-in for the system, and Sega apparently had no plans to release it on its own. They had a variety of Dreamcast system bundles at the time, and one was the classic-oriented Smash Pack model that had this title included. A few months down the road, the Smash Pack magically appeared on store shelves as a standalone game, which actually pissed some people off (i.e., those that bought the bundle for collectors purposes and to have the game). The game itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The playability of the games were pretty close--if not identical --to their Genesis carts. However, the sound was butchered pretty badly. Not to the point where it was intolerable, but you could definitely tell it wasn't close to 100% accurate. The sound in some games fared better than others.

 

Regardless, without this game, we probably would not have had playable Sega Genesis emulation on the DC for quite some time. The best thing that came of this game was the leaking of the emulator used for it. With the right know-how back then, you could compile a disc with loads of roms to play on your DC. Back in 2001, this was downright-awesome, as the Dreamcast was the first home platform to be able to do something like this with very-playable results.

 

On a side note, regarding the PC Smash Pack releases, there were two. Each only had six or seven games included, but the sound emulation was much better than the Smash Pack for the Dreamcast. They were each released as budget-esque PC titles (I recall buying the first pack for about $15 or $20 the week it was released). Fortunately, they ran well-enough on old PC hardware (I played the first one on my Dad's old Pentium 166mhz machine).

Edited April 5, 2010 by Austin

[Rev. Rob]

I thought I had a home DC emulator before Smash Pack was out.

[Video]

They kinda lost me at "online" I heard the myth that there was an offline mode, but who the hell buys a Online game for an offline function? (besides a few like me)

 

Even back then I saw a game that required an off site server to be maintained as a big problem. That a few years down the road when they didn't make enough money or whatever, it would get killed, and then you just got a purdy coaster.

 

Of course, everybody thought I was just a couple of nuts, "oh, that'll never happen" blah blah blah...well guess what? It did, amusingly last almost as long as I predicted it would however (or more accurately, how long I suggested it should last) But in the end, if it's not independent of a server, I'll never support it.

 

Yeah, I know, I "missed out" but in the end....I'd much rather never do something, and wonder what couldhave been, then do something, and spend the rest of my life bummed that I'll never get to do it again.

[Rev. Rob]

They kinda lost me at "online" I heard the myth that there was an offline mode, but who the hell buys a Online game for an offline function? (besides a few like me)

 

Even back then I saw a game that required an off site server to be maintained as a big problem. That a few years down the road when they didn't make enough money or whatever, it would get killed, and then you just got a purdy coaster.

 

Of course, everybody thought I was just a couple of nuts, "oh, that'll never happen" blah blah blah...well guess what? It did, amusingly last almost as long as I predicted it would however (or more accurately, how long I suggested it should last) But in the end, if it's not independent of a server, I'll never support it.

 

Yeah, I know, I "missed out" but in the end....I'd much rather never do something, and wonder what couldhave been, then do something, and spend the rest of my life bummed that I'll never get to do it again.

 

Dude, you totally missed out on one of the absolute coolest moments in console history.

[Rev. Rob]

While on the topic of emulation...

 

Dreamcast Game of the Week, Week 30: Bleemcast!

 

Bleemcast!

Platform: Dreamcast

Publisher: bleem!

Developer: bleem!

Genre: Utility

 

Once upon a time when Dreamcast was bursting with success and its future couldn't have been brighter, a little software company by the name of bleem! announced a product that would allow both them and Sega to really stick it to Sony.

 

Sega had beef for obvious reasons. But, you see, back then people would actually pay money for an emulator. No, it's true. bleem! made software for PC called bleem! that allowed for PlayStation games to be run on Windows machines. Sony was not all to happy about this and launched a number of lawsuits against the small company.

 

Back in the day when Bleemcast! was announced, it did a lot of things. It gave Sega yet another reason to gloat, because now Madden, and Metal Gear Solid, and all of those PlayStation exclusives could now be played on Dreamcast with some minor graphical upgrades. It allowed bleem! to grab some nice headlines, sell some product, and rub Sony's nose in it. But most of all, it really pissed of Sony, a lot, who then launched more lawsuits.

 

So, Bleemcast! (what a great name) was in legal limbo for a long time. I remember playing a few games on this at E3 2000 (Gran Turismo and Crash, I think), and I, like almost everyone I knew, really wanted to buy this.

 

As time went by Sony kept suing and their PS2 hype machine was steamrolling Dreamcast's once wonderful future, and bleem! just couldn't get their emulator just right for 100% compatibility.

 

No worries, though, they decided that they were going to release Bleemcast! packs, so that you could get a pack that plays racing games, and one that does RPGs, and another for fighters, sports, and so on. Each pack could perfectly emulate dozens of games in a genre for perfect compatibility.

 

Then more months went by, Dreamcast was by this time losing to PS2 even though the damn thing didn't even exist yet (yay for hype), and Bleemcast! was mostly forgotten.

 

One day, finally, and after eons of waiting, a release date was announced for the damn thing. But alas, there would be no "packs." In stead beem! would release one disc each for only the most popular Playstation titles. After hearing that everyone lost interest, especially with the first game being Gran Turismo. Racing? Meh. And the horrible sales left the company undeterred. Bleemcast! versions were sold seperately for Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3 as well. Now, Metal Gear I can get, but Tekken 3, really? Soul Calibur was a freaking launch title!

 

With the cost of making software that nobody wanted after not living up to their promises, massive lawsuits from Sony (of which Sony won exactly zero), and Sega knifing all of their fans in the back, bleem! went out of business.

 

 

The End

 

[DickNixonArisen]

I have yet to find a nice clean DC in my price range (plus i'm unsure of which play imports easily and which don't - it's a serial number issue, right?) I'm mostly wanting one for fighters, shooters and RPG's. I have been buying used games when I find them cheap though in preparation.. i've got blue stinger, shenmue, toy commander, resi code veronica and... slave zero? Maybe one more? steel something?

 

I guess if I get the job i'm hoping to get i'll get some SF or Guilty Gear off of ebay.