mmichael0
10-01-2002, 01:09 PM
I got a e-mail from Lik-Sang.
Nice dream ? Sega is backing the X-Box ;)
< . > Dream of Sega on Xbox
-- Written by Graham Parker
What with all the news on classic Sega titles making
come backs this week, we thought it was well past time
for a Top 5 list of our own Dream Sega games. These
titles are already proven formula's for action, mixed
with the modern day technology of the Xbox console.
-- Play As Robotnik:
Remember the old Debug mode on Sonic's 2D adventures?
Because of the Genesis's limited memory, it could only
offer a small taste of what it would be like to play
Robotnik with Sonic, but that taste has been forever
burned into my mind. If you thought it was cool to
play as the bad guy with Shadow, wait until you try
being Robotnik!
Imagine if a 2D Sonic game was released on the Xbox
with the ability to build levels, save them onto the
hard drive, and using a file transfer system similar
to Kazaa, have them online for other gamers to play
through.
Sonic Online, would truly take platform games into the
next generation and along with the level building and
sharing systems, multiplayer modes could go online
too.
-- Samba De Amigo X:
Ok so the title needs a little work, but with the
Xbox's hard drive and music ripping power, Samba De
Amigo seems like a natural choice to exploit the
console's unique abilities.
Thanks to the storage space of a DVD, Sonic Team could
not only include extra songs on the Xbox version, but
also make use of Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.
Then you'd also have the ability to include your own
songs, which could either be programmed with a musical
response system such as Vib Ribbon, or give you the
chance to make your own levels ala Dance Dance
Revolution.
Finally, not too unlike the above Sonic idea, using
the Xbox's broadband adapter, you could stream your
music and Maraca shaking patterns with friends around
the world. If the Xbox can send voice along with game
data over the net, there's no reason it couldn't do
some compressed music either.
-- The House of the Dead 360:
Using 5.1 Surround Sound, shooting games like The
House of the Dead could step into the 3rd dimension.
No longer would zombies be restricted to coming at you
from the front, but also from the sides and behind.
Using the d-pad on the Xbox's upcoming light gun, you
could turn your character around 180 degree's if you
heard moaning from behind.
With a little suspense borrowed from the likes of the
Alien movies, and the heart stopping surprises of
Resident Evil, a game like this could really expand
the genre and take away some of the feeling of being
"on rails".
In order to maximize the suspense, background music
would be handled in a Tomb Raider-ish style, only
coming in at certain times similar to a movie score.
Finally as if limiting it to players with Surround
Sound wasn't enough, how about the option to use four
TV's and Xbox's, all linked up, with you and your
light gun in the middle. Now that's dreaming!
-- Virtua, No Wait... Actual Fighter
We've all seen the photos of actors covered in goofy
looking ping pong balls, and Yu Suzuki used this
motion capture system to create the animation for each
fighters moves. That's nothing new, and one fighting
game from a different company has even used a webcam
system to let players act out the moves they wish
their in game character to perform themselves. But the
next Virtua Fighter could take both these ideas, an
Xbox, and merge them together.
With a limited number of brightly colored balls, the
player would attach them to their dark clothes, and
plug in a special webcam which rests on top of the
TV.
Using the webcam and an in-game engine to detect
exactly what your doing with all your limbs, this
system would not only be so much more accurate than
just a webcam, but allow for the game to take note of
many more moves. Having a ball on your hand and elbow
and such could wear you out, but what an experience.
Finally, as with many of the dream games listed here,
an online two player battle wouldn't go a miss either.
The only problem would be when your hand goes through
your opponent, lol!
-- Panzer Dragoon Saga, Online:
This last title is without a doubt a dream game for
many a Saturn gamer. Combining the best parts of
Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Phantasy Star
Online, Sega would have one RPG few could try and top.
Storylines are normally a little on the light side (to
put it nicely) with online role playing games, but
with the history, atmosphere and design of the Panzer
Dragoon world behind it, Sega could break the mold
with this title.
Out of all these five dream titles, the chances of
this one happening has to be the greatest. In fact the
developers of Panzer Dragoon Orta are interested in
doing another RPG title in the series, depending on
sales of this new shooter title.
____________________________________________________
/ \
| -- Sega News Network -- |
\____________________________________________________/
< . > Buy the Sequel, Get the Original Free.
Much to the delight of gamers, that seems to be a
motto of Sega's Xbox titles these days. Starting with
the addition of the cities from the first two games in
Crazy Taxi 3, then with the bonus of the Shenmue Movie
DVD with Shenmue 2, Sega is certainly not letting
their past go to waste.
Now however, House of the Dead 3 and Panzer Dragoon
Orta join the above list. Both titles will include
unlockable emulated versions of previous games.
Powered by the PC versions of House of the Dead 2 and
Panzer Dragoon, this is a bonus that's almost unheard
of in the industry.
We applaud Sega for starting this tradition, and hopes
it can continue for many games to come. In other
classical come backs, 15 Sega titles are making a come
back next year, with news on them further down.
< . > Classic Virtual On Control - Twin Sticks
Virtual On has always been associated with two things.
Giant cool robots, and the twin joystick controllers
you use to pilot them. Now with a "dumbed down" VO
title on it's way to the PlayStation 2, there have
been worries the Dualshock would be your only method
of control.
This week however, Sega announced they will release a
Twin Stick controller for Virtual On Marz, and it will
go on sale, along with the game, sometime during the
Japanese Spring of 2003.
< . > To Be This Good Takes...
Along with "D3 Publisher", Sega of Japan have started
a new company with the sole aim of bringing past Sega
classics into the spotlight again. "3D-AGES" is owned
51% by Sega, and 49% by D3 Publisher.
All the retro titles will be released on the PS2, each
for a budget price. 15 games are due out in 2003, and
we should get our first taste of the greatest hits
action come next spring.
Finally, American and European gamers won't be left
out, as English versions of the "3D-AGES" series will
be created for release in both those territories.
< . > Shinobi Game Unmasked
Readers of our Press Start Magazine will have enjoyed
a double page advert for Sega's upcoming resurrection
of the Shinobi series, but now, Sega Overworks have
announced more details on the new title. Shinobi will
feature about 20 hours of game play to begin with, but
including all the extra features waiting to be found,
that can be expanded to a beautiful 50 hours.
The game is due out in just over a months time in
America, and in just over two months time in Japan.
< . > Sega Hits The Charts
Keeping track of all game sales across Japan, the
Dengeki Top 50 charts for September 16th to the 22nd
are in, and don't look too bad for Sega.
Down five places to 7th, Phantasy Star Online Episode
1 & 2 for the GameCube sold 16,615 copies for a total
of 80,477.
In 18th place, dropping from 6th, Sega GT 2002 sold
4,995 copies on the Xbox, with 19,862 all together.
Finally from 20th to 38th place, Let's Make a J.
League Pro Soccer Club Advance was sold to 2,664
people for a total of 19,264 copies.
Nice dream ? Sega is backing the X-Box ;)
< . > Dream of Sega on Xbox
-- Written by Graham Parker
What with all the news on classic Sega titles making
come backs this week, we thought it was well past time
for a Top 5 list of our own Dream Sega games. These
titles are already proven formula's for action, mixed
with the modern day technology of the Xbox console.
-- Play As Robotnik:
Remember the old Debug mode on Sonic's 2D adventures?
Because of the Genesis's limited memory, it could only
offer a small taste of what it would be like to play
Robotnik with Sonic, but that taste has been forever
burned into my mind. If you thought it was cool to
play as the bad guy with Shadow, wait until you try
being Robotnik!
Imagine if a 2D Sonic game was released on the Xbox
with the ability to build levels, save them onto the
hard drive, and using a file transfer system similar
to Kazaa, have them online for other gamers to play
through.
Sonic Online, would truly take platform games into the
next generation and along with the level building and
sharing systems, multiplayer modes could go online
too.
-- Samba De Amigo X:
Ok so the title needs a little work, but with the
Xbox's hard drive and music ripping power, Samba De
Amigo seems like a natural choice to exploit the
console's unique abilities.
Thanks to the storage space of a DVD, Sonic Team could
not only include extra songs on the Xbox version, but
also make use of Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.
Then you'd also have the ability to include your own
songs, which could either be programmed with a musical
response system such as Vib Ribbon, or give you the
chance to make your own levels ala Dance Dance
Revolution.
Finally, not too unlike the above Sonic idea, using
the Xbox's broadband adapter, you could stream your
music and Maraca shaking patterns with friends around
the world. If the Xbox can send voice along with game
data over the net, there's no reason it couldn't do
some compressed music either.
-- The House of the Dead 360:
Using 5.1 Surround Sound, shooting games like The
House of the Dead could step into the 3rd dimension.
No longer would zombies be restricted to coming at you
from the front, but also from the sides and behind.
Using the d-pad on the Xbox's upcoming light gun, you
could turn your character around 180 degree's if you
heard moaning from behind.
With a little suspense borrowed from the likes of the
Alien movies, and the heart stopping surprises of
Resident Evil, a game like this could really expand
the genre and take away some of the feeling of being
"on rails".
In order to maximize the suspense, background music
would be handled in a Tomb Raider-ish style, only
coming in at certain times similar to a movie score.
Finally as if limiting it to players with Surround
Sound wasn't enough, how about the option to use four
TV's and Xbox's, all linked up, with you and your
light gun in the middle. Now that's dreaming!
-- Virtua, No Wait... Actual Fighter
We've all seen the photos of actors covered in goofy
looking ping pong balls, and Yu Suzuki used this
motion capture system to create the animation for each
fighters moves. That's nothing new, and one fighting
game from a different company has even used a webcam
system to let players act out the moves they wish
their in game character to perform themselves. But the
next Virtua Fighter could take both these ideas, an
Xbox, and merge them together.
With a limited number of brightly colored balls, the
player would attach them to their dark clothes, and
plug in a special webcam which rests on top of the
TV.
Using the webcam and an in-game engine to detect
exactly what your doing with all your limbs, this
system would not only be so much more accurate than
just a webcam, but allow for the game to take note of
many more moves. Having a ball on your hand and elbow
and such could wear you out, but what an experience.
Finally, as with many of the dream games listed here,
an online two player battle wouldn't go a miss either.
The only problem would be when your hand goes through
your opponent, lol!
-- Panzer Dragoon Saga, Online:
This last title is without a doubt a dream game for
many a Saturn gamer. Combining the best parts of
Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Phantasy Star
Online, Sega would have one RPG few could try and top.
Storylines are normally a little on the light side (to
put it nicely) with online role playing games, but
with the history, atmosphere and design of the Panzer
Dragoon world behind it, Sega could break the mold
with this title.
Out of all these five dream titles, the chances of
this one happening has to be the greatest. In fact the
developers of Panzer Dragoon Orta are interested in
doing another RPG title in the series, depending on
sales of this new shooter title.
____________________________________________________
/ \
| -- Sega News Network -- |
\____________________________________________________/
< . > Buy the Sequel, Get the Original Free.
Much to the delight of gamers, that seems to be a
motto of Sega's Xbox titles these days. Starting with
the addition of the cities from the first two games in
Crazy Taxi 3, then with the bonus of the Shenmue Movie
DVD with Shenmue 2, Sega is certainly not letting
their past go to waste.
Now however, House of the Dead 3 and Panzer Dragoon
Orta join the above list. Both titles will include
unlockable emulated versions of previous games.
Powered by the PC versions of House of the Dead 2 and
Panzer Dragoon, this is a bonus that's almost unheard
of in the industry.
We applaud Sega for starting this tradition, and hopes
it can continue for many games to come. In other
classical come backs, 15 Sega titles are making a come
back next year, with news on them further down.
< . > Classic Virtual On Control - Twin Sticks
Virtual On has always been associated with two things.
Giant cool robots, and the twin joystick controllers
you use to pilot them. Now with a "dumbed down" VO
title on it's way to the PlayStation 2, there have
been worries the Dualshock would be your only method
of control.
This week however, Sega announced they will release a
Twin Stick controller for Virtual On Marz, and it will
go on sale, along with the game, sometime during the
Japanese Spring of 2003.
< . > To Be This Good Takes...
Along with "D3 Publisher", Sega of Japan have started
a new company with the sole aim of bringing past Sega
classics into the spotlight again. "3D-AGES" is owned
51% by Sega, and 49% by D3 Publisher.
All the retro titles will be released on the PS2, each
for a budget price. 15 games are due out in 2003, and
we should get our first taste of the greatest hits
action come next spring.
Finally, American and European gamers won't be left
out, as English versions of the "3D-AGES" series will
be created for release in both those territories.
< . > Shinobi Game Unmasked
Readers of our Press Start Magazine will have enjoyed
a double page advert for Sega's upcoming resurrection
of the Shinobi series, but now, Sega Overworks have
announced more details on the new title. Shinobi will
feature about 20 hours of game play to begin with, but
including all the extra features waiting to be found,
that can be expanded to a beautiful 50 hours.
The game is due out in just over a months time in
America, and in just over two months time in Japan.
< . > Sega Hits The Charts
Keeping track of all game sales across Japan, the
Dengeki Top 50 charts for September 16th to the 22nd
are in, and don't look too bad for Sega.
Down five places to 7th, Phantasy Star Online Episode
1 & 2 for the GameCube sold 16,615 copies for a total
of 80,477.
In 18th place, dropping from 6th, Sega GT 2002 sold
4,995 copies on the Xbox, with 19,862 all together.
Finally from 20th to 38th place, Let's Make a J.
League Pro Soccer Club Advance was sold to 2,664
people for a total of 19,264 copies.