MARCH 1999 NEWS

Before we get into a tonne of news for today I just though I'd remind everyone to take a second or two to vote in to poll on the main page. It is very close at the moment with Namco, Squaresoft, Capcom, and Electronic Arts almost neck and neck for the most important developer for the success of the Dreamcast.

Sega of Japan President Mr. Irimajiri has stated that the next version of the Dreamcast will use DVD. The statement was made during a speech at a Hiyoshi university campus. It is unclear wheather he meant DVD will be used in the current technology of the Dreamcast 2 in several years time. Iri-san continued by admitting that the PSX2 is about 2.5 times more powerful then Dreamcast, but would have to sell for 50,000 - 60,000 yen. (The Dreamcast is under 30,000 yen)

Capcom are rumoured to be working on at least four seperate Naomi games. No announcements have been made from Capcom about the rumours.

Sega and NEC are looking at bringing Dreamcast's into the classroom as a cheap way to get onto the internet.

According to rumours out of Japan Sega are planning on updating the Shinobi series for release on Dreamcast. The games is only in early planning and programming won't begin for several months.

Just how well to Namco think Soul Calibur will do. Well they are hoping to sell 2 million copies of the game. This just shows how much confidence Namco have in Sega's new system and bodes well for even more conversion in future.

SNK are working on a Naomi arcade game titled Buriki One. A Dreamcast conversion is almost certain.

Gaming Age have announced the supposed release list from Sega for the Dreamcast in America. Listed amongst the launch titles (apart from the already announced) are Time Crisis 2 (Namco), Mortal Kombat 5 (Midway), Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (Sega), Oddworld: Munches Odysee (GT), Age of Empires (Psygnosis/Microsoft) and South Park (Acclaim). The main problem with this is that with only 5 months until launch none of these titles have been seen anywhere, not even in Japan. I believe these are only speculated release games.

Capcom have set the release date of Resident Evil:CV for Dreamcast. Christmas Eve is the day we'll have to line up ouside the stores (in Japan anyway).

Now that Shen Mue will be split up in chapters we were all expecting a lower price. That price has now been set at 2,800 yen ($AU 35).

Gamefan have reported that 14° East's Star Trek : New Worlds will be coming to the Dreamcast, possibly in time for the US launch. The games is a real-time strategy game to be pulished by Interplay.

Gamefan are also reporting that Toys R' Us have set the price for the Dreamcast in the US at $US 199.99 ($AU 320). Preorders will be taken soon with a $US 20 deposit.

Unconfirmed rumours from Magic Box are that Sega are working on a brand new Naomi 3D fighting game called Waffupu, unlike other fighting games, this game does not have rounds, instead it uses a point system, whoever get 5 points is the winner, and you get points by performing different moves, throws or special attacks. Only time will tell if this rumour turns out to be true of not.

Panasonic Wondertainment have announced that they are exiting the videogame market. Their Dreamcast title Web Mystery will be finished and will be published by Mervious. Apart from one Wonderswan project, all other games have been cancelled.

Anybody remember the brilliant Thunder Force series of a few years ago? Well the developers, Techno Soft, have become a 3rd party of Dreamcast, and they are working on 3 Dreamcast titles. However they are not planning to make a sequel in the Thunder Force series (yet).

Konami Japan apparently have 5 Dreamcast titles which they will be releaseing in the next 12 months. No word yet on exact titles.

Sega of Europe have confirmed the launch date for the Dreamcast is now set for September 9th. Up until this time it wasonly a rumour. The Australian launch should be on or about that date as well (September 23rd was also mentioned in the latest Ozisoft Interview).

NEC-HE the developers of Sengoku TURB and Seventh Cross, are developing a new game called Espionage Agents. All that is known at this stage is that is a spy/action games.

The biggest news of the last couple of days is that Infogrames are going to convert V-Rally 2 to the Dreamcast. Expect much better visuals and Dreamcast only enhancements over the Playstation version.

Attendance figures are in for the Tokyo Game Show. In total 163,448 people attended the spring Tokyo Game Show, beating the previous attendence record of 156,455 set last year).

Takuyo Corp. is working on a Dreamcast RPG by the name of Aleuguelate.

Sales figures for the period March 8-14 are out in Japan and the news isn't good for Dreamcast owners. Monaco Grand Prix 2 has slipped to number 23 with only 14,017 copies sold while Psychic Force 2012 has sold only 9,677 (30th place) units which brings it's total up to 54,486.

Well the Tokyo Game Show has been held in Japan and sadly for Dreamcast fans very little surprises were on hand. Most of the games had been seen before and only a couple of new ones were announced. Onto the details then.

Namco were showing off Soul Calibur which was very much the highlight for Dreamcast fans. Although the game is only 30% complete many people were very impressed by the quality of the game. (The photo's from March 19th news are from the 30% version at the TGS). Namco are aiming for a Summer (Winter in Australia) release this year.

One of the biggest disappointments was in Capcom's booth. Many people have reported that Resident Evil : Code Veronica still looks far from complete with problems with the camera angels and animation. Hopefully this will be fixed in the coming months.

Street Fighter Zero 3 was also shown at Capcom's booth and was and arcade perfect port, unlike the disappointing Sega Saturn version.

Yu Suzuki has announced that Shen Mue will now be released in parts, sort of like chapters in a book. It's believed there may be up to 16 chapters in total. Shen Mue Chapter 1: Yokosuka is expected to be released on August 5th, while Shen Mue Chapter 2: Mainland China should be out by the end of the year. These "chapters" will sell at a much cheaper price then a full game.

According to Magic Box Gaming, Sega have announced Battle Ship Nadesico 3 for Dreamcast, the 3rd installment of the popular space ship adventure game on Saturn. It is based on the popular anime of the same name.

Warp's much delayed D2 is now confirmed to span over 3 GD-ROM's. Still no release date however.

Sega held a conference in Japan a couple of days ago to launch WebTV. The GD-ROM will be availbale for free on 23rd April. The conference included appearances by Kenji Eno Warp and Bill Gates, whom appeared via TV link. The WebTV ISP service costs 2,000 Yen ($AU25) for 15 hours.

Atari Games and Sega have announced that they have entered a patent cross-license agreement. Atari Games has granted Sega Enterprises a worldwide non-exclusive license to use its force feedback steering technology in exchange Sega will allow Atari to use its "viewpoint changeover" technology. This technology allows a video game player to choose from a multiple number of pre-set points of view, such as in the Daytona and Sega Rally arcade games.

Rumours from Japan are that Sakura Wars 3 will be released on Dreamcast in the spring of 2000. A release outside Japan would be unlikely.

Capcom may be working on an updated version of Resident Evil 2 for release in Japan, possibly in mid year.

Konami Japan have put a release date on the Dreamcast version of Castlevania of June. This follows the anouncement a couple of days ago that the Castlevania will be a launch title in America.

Weekly Famitsu have reviewed the latest batch of games from Japan. House Of The Dead 2 and Marvel Vs Capcom both received 33/40 (82.5%). Blue Stinger recieved 28/40 (70%) and Super Speed Racing recieved only 27/40 (67.5%).

Hasbro Interactive have announced they are working on a new Dreamcast Formula 1 Racing game.

Microsoft have finally released the Windows CE Development Toolkit for Dreamcast to licensed Sega DC third parties, the toolkit includes the DC version of DirectX libraries for 3D graphics, sound and input, communications support, and Visual C++ for DC. At the moment only Sega Rally 2 uses WINCE with White Illumination the next title to make use of the MS OS.

In a recent press release a Japanese spokesperson has confirmed that 1 million Dreamcast's have been sent to stores. This alsmost assures that the target of 1 million units sold will be reached by the end of the month, especially with titles such as Marvel Vs Capcom, Super Speed Racing, House Of The Dead 2, and Blue Stinger.

Below are some screenshots that Namco have posted on their web site for Sould Calibur on the Dreamcast. I have also added a preview of Soul Calibur.


Sega have confirmed that they are working on a newly designed VMS and controller for the Dreamcast, although no release date has been set.

Bernie Stolar, President of Sega of America, has given his speech at the Game Developers Conference in the US. Although no release dates or prices were announced several key points were made in the speech.

• There will be 10 to 12 titles available at launch. Definite first party titles include Sonic Adventure, VF3 TB, Super Speed Racing, (NFL) Football, Basketball, House of the Dead 2 and Geist Force. Third party titles include Mortal Kombat 4 (5?), Ready to Rumble, Castlevania, Power Stone, and Soul Calibur.
• The US Dreamcast will be launched with a 56k modem, not the 33.6k previously reported and available in Japan.
• Sega hopes to implement online play into most of their Dreamcast titles, allowing for exclusive options and upgrades, and make playing DC games over the internet feasible and affordable.
• Sega are going to launch the biggest pre-sale launch in history. They are hoping to have per-sold 250,000 to 300,000 units by the systems release in the US.

  Dreamcast Fan are the first magazine to put the latest batch of games through their paces. Marvel vs. Capcom recieved a very healthy 24/30 (80%). The highly anticipated Blue Stinger has been a major disappointment with only 20/30 (66.7%) while Super Speed Racing managed a respectable 22/30 (73.3%).

  Wrestling games are huge in Japan and anticipation is growing for the June release of Giant Gram. It is possible in this game to transfer data via the VMS from the home to arcade versions of the game, allowing you to take you own fighters to the arcade.
  

  Dreamcast's will soon be available for hire in Japan. Sega are actually promoting the renting through selected stores. The rental package will cost 500 yen ($AU 6.50) for 3 days and includes the console, two controllers, Sega Rally 2 and Sonic Adventure.

  Jaleco are working on a Dreamcast Mahjong game. This is their second announced title after the action-horror game Carrier.

  Fox Interactive have denied recent rumours on the internet that Croc 2 will be a launch title in Europe and America. They didn't rule out the possability of it appearing later on however.

Namco have announced thir first Dreamcast title will be the weapons based fighting game, Soul Calibur. Improvements will be made to the graphics and animation in the game and will include modes of play not in the arcade version. Soul Calibur should be released mid year and is currently around 30% complete.

What is next for Namco? According to Magic Box a Ridge Racer game will be headed to Dreamcast. No word on which version however.

At the Tokyo Game Show, which begins very soon, Sega will be giving away free demo CD's of Professional Baseball Team Creation.

Well here's something not many people expected. Apparently the VMS can catch a virus which will delete all the data in the VMS.

IGN have announced that Sega will soon unveil a new game called Floigan Brothers. The game is a platform game similar to Banjo Kazooie and is being developed by Visual Concepts.

Atari's recent arcade action RPG game Gauntlet Legends is rumored to be ported over to Dreamcast. The Dreamcast version is expected to use some sort of network mode.

Street Fighter Zero 3 has a release date of August in Japan.

Another rumour from Magic Box is that Enix are planning to release a remake version of Dragon Quest VI for Dreamcast.

Contrary to earlier reports Dead Or Alive 2 uses only one Naomi arcade board, not two as mentioned a few weeks ago.

There has been a great response to the interview with Sega-Ozisoft. Many people have asked if there will be another one in future. My response, of course there will. This is an Australian Dreamcast site and I'll be interviewing many more people/companies in future.

Sorry about the lack of updates this week still suffering colds, it was my dad's birthday and my computer died for a couple of days. Expect lots of updates this week to make up for it.

At last the interview with Sega Ozisoft is up on the web site and there is a majot detail in regards to the release date of the system. To read the interview click here.

Sega Of America will be holding the Sega Summit on the 14th and 15th April. The event will introduce the Dreamcast to retailers across America including Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Babbages, Target, Electronic Boutique, Best Buy among others. Sega will show the retailers their planned Dreamcast displays, outline the maketing plans and show off the system with many different games.

Sega have announced which titles they will be showing at the upcoming Tokyo Games Show which begins on March 19th in Japan. The titles to be shown are Shen Mue, House of the Dead 2, Blue Stinger, Get Bass, Lets Make Pro Baseball Team, Lets Make J-League Soccer Team, Gather!, Giant Gram, and Super Speed Racing. It's possible there will be a few other surprise titles at the show, but that is pure speculation.

As the release for Capcom's Marvel Vs Capcom draws near more information is known about a 4 player mode called "Cross Fever". This allows 2 players per side to choose characters and as the players does a cross attack the second player on the side takes control of their character. Sounds like serious fun.

Weekly Famitsu has rated this weeks games. Monaco GP 2 recieved a score of 31/40 (77.5%) while Warp's Real Sound 2 recieved 25/40 (62.5%).

The creators of Metal Gear Solid are working on a Dreamcast game. Instead of a MGS game however the Konami team is wokin on a new medievil RPG titles Reiselieet which translated from German means "song of travel" in German.

CRI have unfortunately delayed Buggy Heat from the 1st April until August 1999.

House Of The Dead 2 will include another mode of play where you have to shoot as many zombies as possible in a set amount of time.

For those that are interested I have written an editorial explaining how Sega cans compete against the might of the Playstation 2. This editorial can be found in the Odd Bitz page.

Pirated Dreamcast games will be on Hong Kong shelves soon. Hong Kong, being a free economy, have very few legal resources to stop the sale of the games. The games will sell for around $AU10 with a mod chip costing around $AU40. This comes as bad news for Sega who thought the 1GB CD's and other security measures would be enough to stop pirates.

Hudson's Elemental Gimmick Gear has beeen give a release date of May 27th in Japan.

Sega will be doing a port of Dynamite Deka 2 to the Dreamcast where the game will be enhanced for the home console. The game will be released on the 27th May.

Unfortunately the Sega-Ozisoft Interview has had to be postponed by a week. Ozisoft have a large conference this week but promise me the questions will be answered next week. On a bright note this has allowed me to include more late questions from the readers and more information might be released by SO after this conference.

Well the spec's for the PSX2 are out and understandably they are quite a bit higher then the Dreamcast. What else would you expect from a machine set to appear 12-18 months after the Dreamcast. A full report on the Dreamcast Vs the PSX2 will be on this site during the weekend.

Once again I'm sorry I haven't updated lately but the flu that I had a touch of a few weeks ago has hit back with a vengence. Fortunately all the major news of late has been about the Playstation 2 which was announced on Wednesday. Look out for a special editorial from me about how the Dreamcast can still come out on top.

Some more Dreamcast games have been reviewed. Dreamcast Magazine gave Aero Dancing a very respectable 25/30 and Psychic Force 2012 fared a little worse recieving 22/30. Weekly Famitsu also reviewed some upcoming games. Aero Dancing recieved 30/40 while Psychic Force 2012 only managed 28/40. Weekly Famitsu also rated Puyo Puyo which recieved a commendable 29/40 while Mahjong Rally 2 recieved 28/40.

According to the latest issue of Dengeki DC magazine, House Of The Dead 2, is rumored to have a hidden mode. This game mode allows players to play through all of the original levels from HOTD1, with the enhanced graphics and monsters from the sequel. Basically we will be getting 2 games for the price of one. Thanks Sega. But even better news is that the game will now be released a week earlier on the 18th March.

Blue Stinger is rumoured to be puched back until April. There is still no confirmation of this however.

Psygnosis will be porting a number of Microsoft PC game titles to Dreamcast, including Age of Empires and Diablo II.

How much money are Sega investing into Shen Mue. Well latest reports are that the game has cost Sega about 2 BILLION yen (that's around $A25 million). No wonder Sega want the game to be perfect before releasing it.

Sega have confirmed the Dreamcast Hard Drive will be 1GB in size and will be on sale in 1999. Not only that but basic programming tools will be included which will allow people to make their own games (if they can program).

Music CD's are becoming pretty big at the moment. Taito will release a Psychic Force 2012 music CD on March 10th. The CD will offer 16 arranged tracks from the arcade and Dreamcast title. A Blue Stinger music CD will hit Japan March 20th. As well as this the Shen Mue CD will be out in April.

Apparently a major announcement in relation to the Dreamcast will be made within the next few days. Sega are rumoured to be preparing an official statement to be released on March 10th in Japan. Although nothing has been hinted at yet, it is my guess that another major developer will be announced, possible Square or Enix, or a conversion of Daytona 2 will be announced. Only time will tell.

Several public showings will be made of two key Dreamcast games. Capcom and Sega will be showing off Power Stone while Taito will be showing off Psychic Force 2012.

Dreamcast Magazine in Japan has rated this weeks two releases. Surprisingly Konami's Pop N' Music got 27/30 (90%) while Power Stone got only 24/30 (80%).

Tomy will uveil a new Dreamcast game titled Fighting Spirit Severe at the Tokyo Game Show. No other details have been released at this stage.