dreamcastrip

How much of a difference in quality is there between Dreamcast's 480p for nearly all of its games and PS2's 1080i for a small handful of its games? If PS2 did 1080p then I'm well aware of what the difference would be but as it doesn't I'd be interested to know? As 720p whoops 1080i for moving images then would the difference between 480p (referred to as EDTV, I believe) and 1080i be really something to shout about? Even if the difference is significant I'd still rather own a console that shows nearly all its best games in 480p as opposed to one which shows only a handful of games at a higher quality. On a related point, wouldn't seeing PS2 games in 1080i merely serve to highlight the console's lack of anti-aliasing even further by emphasising those jaggies? Also, given the drab colour palettes seen in so many PS2 games as a result of its piss poor amount of video RAM I wouldn't have thought seeing such blandness in HD would be all that special anyway. Oh, and that's if one truly classes interlaced mode as being "proper" HD anyway, unless you only plan on viewing static images. I guess a game of Myst would truly rock in PS2's "HD" mode!

Realism in a Gran Turismo game? So playing bumper cars equates to realism? I loved the first GT game on PS1 and also enjoy playing GT5:Prologue on PS3 but I've never bought into the hype of the series genuinely offering realism. Pretty graphics and absurdly anal ways of tinkering with car setups may fool some into swallowing that "The Real Driving Simulator" tag but the games ultimately are quite arcade-like to play. The irony of Ferrari F355 originating as an arcade machine is striking but as a pure racing experience absolutely nothing touches it. Anyone who can succeed playing it truly possesses some serious racing skills. Unlike the faux-simulation racing of the Gran Turismo series, hitting a wall or crashing into other cars will actually seriously ruin ones chances in a race as it would in real racing. To seriously claim that a Gran Turismo game is more realistic than Ferrrari F355 beggars belief imo. Please view this video review to get a clearer picture - To refer to the game as "... just another typical/shallow arcade type racer" makes me wonder whether you've actually ever played the game. For you to effectively bracket it alongside the likes of Ridge Racer, Daytona etc is so far wide of the mark its untrue. Your opinion of the DC controller's analogue stick is fair enough as you see it. Whilst I wouldn't necessarily claim the controller to be the best out there I personally rate the analogue stick very highly - although my thumb does sometimes slip off it in an energetic bout of gaming. If "... the bottom line is, there are a bazillion PS2 games" then by that logic the world would still be playing VCS or perhaps everyone should just quit all other systems now and get Wii and/or DS. I'll take true innovation and quality over PS2's mountain of Madden/FIFA/Tekken tedium every time, thanks. DC, for the kind of games I generally enjoy, beats PS2 hands down. PS2 of course has a healthy number of top games, of which I've since purchased approximately ten so far to play via my PS3, but its library is overstocked with bland and generic titles the likes of which turned me cold. EDIT: Referring back to bleemcast!, and stressing again it had its limitations, here's a DC/PS2 comparison vid for MGS -

Rez on DC - looks better to some due to DC having anti-aliasing therefore meaning it had no ugly "jaggies" unlike the PS2 version. Rez on PS2 - looks better to some due to it being smoother as it ran at a higher frame rate tan the DC version. As for the "washed out" textures of many PS2 games in comparison to DC, well the explanation's quite simple: DC has double the video RAM of PS2. GTA4? Technically a fine game, granted. "The Real Driving Simulator"? Yeah, right, if you like bumper cars! F355 is as hardcore as its gets even if it does only feature one model of car. As for PS1 compatibility, well it may have had its faults but bleemcast! pissed all over what PS2 did. DC may have a certain reputation as not being the most reliable of consoles but my launch model is still going strong so no complains here. Oh, and the original PS2 was beset by a host of issues: jamming disc tray, scratched discs, A/V synching issues with DVD playback etc... As has been said several times already in the thread, some are judging what DC had in its brief lifespan against what it took developers many years to achieve on PS2 with its supposedly all-conquering Emotion Engine. Still waiting for those nukes to be launched by the way! PS2 definitely had a use though - http://www.ukresistance.co.uk/ukr/dcstand.htm

Ain't that the truth!

The only systems I was excited about getting to own when they were originally on sale, i.e. not those retro systems bought since, would be the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Atari Lynx and Sega Dreamcast. I only really saw the likes of GameCube, Xbox, Wii and PS3 as a means to play the current games of the era and although I like them they don't seem to elicit the same joy.

So cruel but oh so funny!

I was just getting into Resistance 2 and MotorStorm Pacific Rift then I bought Guitar Hero III at a knock-down price and have since become so hooked I've now also bought Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Aerosmith and Rock Band as well as a Union Jack faceplate for the Les Paul guitar controller!

I'm not a fan of the series by any means but after having read/seen so much about this game I couldn't resist pre-ordering it a week or so ago when I saw it on sale at a great price. Please let it be as good as the reviewers are already stating...

I received the Collectors Edition plus the official Hand Cannon light gun cradle a couple of days ago (UK) and have been enjoying the game immensely. It has an "18 certificate" here in the UK which isn't surprising given the bad language, e.g. the third word uttered in the opening sequence if "motherf***ker"! The option to turn off the cross-hair is a small but nice addition which works well enough given its the Wii Remote being used as a light gun. Maybe its not as razor sharp as using the GunCon on PS1's Time Crisis/Point Blank but its fine by me. Overall, I'd say its by far one of Wii's best titles and definitely worth owning.

I'd sure like to get a Genesis pad adapted for use on my Jaguar to verify whether the fault lies with the d-pad on Jaguar's controller simply not being suited to the game or if its related to poor coding with Sensi's conversion job to Jaguar.

Put simply, if you're fairly new to Wii then to download and install the necessary Opera browser/Internet Channel its going to cost you 500 Wii Points for the "privilege". Here's Wikipedia to explain all.

...erm, but that was the point! Having small sized players on screen allowed for a far greater visible pitch area making the game far more playable in that a greater number of the other players are visible on screen at any one time allowing for the planning of greater passing moves/opportunities. The seminal Kick Off series (ST/Amiga, not the crappy console conversions) also adopted a similar approach which benefitted the gameplay significantly. Even now when playing the latest current-gen PES/FIFA games many owners choose to zoom out the camera view to achieve the same effect which by the same token reduces the graphical detail visible to the eye but the sacrifice is totally worth it for the gameplay advantages it brings. I'm not for one one moment denying Sensi's graphics are extremely basic but the look of the players and their animations do have a certain charm of their own. To put the game into perspective in the pantheon of the greatest footy games of all time think of how gamers are either PES or FIFA devotees nowadays and how entrenched they often are in support of their favoured series. Well, it was exactly the same in the early 1990s whereby many were either committed fans of Sensible Soccer or Kick Off but rarely both. I guess if you ever get the chance to play Sensi on ST/Amiga/PC then please give it a go as once you get a hang of it and its nuances you'll likely look past those primitive graphics to discover one of the most playable games ever made, especially in two-player.

I voted "no" because as good it was on Wii compared to the PS3/360 versions due to it being developed separately, released a little later and crucially being designed from the ground up with Wii's controller in mind it does have a few minor flaws. These should no doubt be ironed out for this year's update. The again, the minor issues are certainly not deal-breakers and it maybe worth picking up if its at a really low price. I'd say the best solution in terms of having the best current-gen footy games is to buy FIFA '09 on PS3/360 (forget PES 2009 on PS3/360 as Konami still shockingly need to get their act together this generation) and then the next PES update for Wii once released.

Sensible Soccer is commonly acknowledged as being one of the finest footy games ever made and to this day has legions of admirers, especially in Europe and even more so in the UK. However, this is largely in respect of the PC, ST and Amiga versions. I'm a huge fan of the original "Sensi" games, peaking with Sensible World Of Soccer (PC), and own versions of it for Jaguar, Mega-CD and GameBoy and used to own versions for PC and ST. What pretty much unfortunately ruins the game on Jaguar is the lack of control via the controller's d-pad. I'm not in any way seeking to rag on Jaguar's controller, I'm merely stating that this particular game just doesn't function/play as it should. Whether its because of programming issues with the game or any other factor, I do not know. Its obviously not related to any lack of processing power as the Mega Drive, PC, Amiga and ST versions all play better, i.e. the on-screen players are properly controllable. I've never played Fever Pitch Soccer but from pretty much everything I've read and from the videos I've seen it looks a very mediocre effort. Then again to be fair playing both FIFA '95 and ISS Deluxe in 2009 is a rather painful experience too imo.

My team Aston Villa are still placed above the Gooners in the EPL. Wooot! Interesting that its Arsenal though, i.e. the happy coincidence of them having previously been sponsored by Sega for the shirt logo back when Dreamcast was still going.

I placed a couple of bids for this auction but bailed well before it reached that final price. Congratz to you though!

Here's an old article by Jeff Minter himself reviewing and comparing Tempest X3 for PlayStation to Jaguar's Tempest 2000 - Link EDIT: Here's what Wikipedia has to say, "Tempest 2000 was ported to PC's running DOS, Macintosh, Sega Saturn and PlayStation game consoles, the latter version with several changes to the design under the name of Tempest X3. Interplay released a Microsoft Windows version later. The DOS version contains optional AdLib and Roland MT-32 versions of the music. The Windows version is rendered in higher resolution, and has some unique glitches, like registering bonus level scores incorrectly.[citation needed] The Sega Saturn version, programmed by High Voltage Software, uses a limited amount of sound channels, causing thin sound.[citation needed] The third type of bonus level has been completely removed. Tempest X3, the PlayStation version, has updated graphics and sound. However, the following gameplay differences from the original version were identified by Jeff Minter himself in a Usenet post:[citation needed] * The "AI Droid" only follows the player, instead of acting autonomously. A new, "Super AI Droid" powerup rectifies this somewhat, but it takes a very long time within a level to acquire it. * Pulsars now move slowly around the top of the Web if they reach it (rather than electrifying the whole top edge the moment they arrive). * The Particle Laser is no more effective than the normal laser against Spikes (in the original, it destroys them very quickly). * Some of the harder, "sticking point" webs have been removed from the game entirely. * Entering the name "YIFF!" on the highscore table will activate a secret mode, allowing the user to choose to play the original Tempest 2000 game; however, any high scores made in this mode are not saved, the music (wave-captured from the original modules) is muffled and the effectiveness of the Particle Laser against Spikes is not restored even in this original mode. The Playstation version of Tempest X3 includes support for Namco's rotary neGcon analog controller.[citation needed] Jeff Minter himself returned to the genre with Tempest 3000 and again with Space Giraffe.[citation needed]"

I bought one on Japanese import along with Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme shortly after it was released and have been extremely impressed with it so far. I have the silver one as the white one to match my DS Lite was sold out at the time. It sticks out a little from the system as its also designed to work on the original model DS but its no inconvenience. All I wish for now, in my dreams maybe, is for Tempest 2000 or a variant on it to be released on DS which is compatible with the Taito Spinner controller as that game would be utterly sublime imo.

Excused, sir! Dreamcast rules!

Given Midway's current financial woes perhaps the rights to the Gorf IP maybe available soon enough - Link

Word!

Same opinion as you!

Huh? Their marketing of Genesis / Mega Drive was initially quite good in the West and then fantastic once Sonic The Hedgehog arrived on the scene! To steal away that amount of US market share from Nintendo with its all powerful NES was an incredible achievement.

Wow, that photo mode sounds great! I also wasn't even aware of the soundtrack functionality. I'm gonna have to start making sure to read game manuals more often... As for the online mode, the level of the competition can be pretty fierce but given that I haven't really played a Wipeout game intensely since Wip3out on PS1 and I generally seemed to finish in the middle-order of the Venom-class races I entered its not too scary! Yep, this game is simply stunning.

Wow, someone who agrees with me! I played the MotorStorm: Pacific Rift demo and whilst its all good and fine I just didn't see enough or have read enough since to make it a must-have title given that I already own MotorStorm. I was also highly impressed with the Pure demo and bought that instead. Among several reasons, what impressed me was the handling of the ATVs compared to the handling of the various vehicles in MotorStorm. Unfortunately I've yet to actually play Pure for three reasons: 1. Only so much time is ever free to play games 2. I cannot not be playing the stunning Wipeout HD which imo is the best PS3-exclusive so far 3. Any time left over has been spent monkeying about on Wii's remake/update of Samba de Amigo.