________________________________________________________________ / \ /______________> > > DREAMCAST WEEKLY MAGAZINE < < <_______________\ //// \\\\ //// ~ Issue #92 - Jul 23rd 2000 ~ \\\\ \\\\ //// \\\\ Sponsored by http://www.PrimaGames.com //// \\\\ //// \\\\ Best read with the Courier New font. //// \\\\ //// \\\\ Past issues at www.DreamcastWeekly.com //// \\\\____________________________________________________//// \________________________________________________________/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( DREAMCAST WEEKLY INFO ))) | Page 1 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > For daily game news, over 200 Prima Fast Track Guides(tm) online, codes, downloads, and contests every day, be sure to visit Primagames. Prima is the number one source for video and computer game strategy in the world! ---------------------- http://www.PrimaGames.com ----------------------- ---------------------- http://www.PrimaGames.com ----------------------- > For the latest game news, reviews and previews visit the premier video games site TotalVideoGames.com With over 300 archived news articles & the greatest game reviews. Updated throughout the day with everything! ------------------- http://www.totalvideogames.com --------------------- > You can unsubscribe from http://www.dreamcastweekly.com > Our domain name is provided thanks to Total Video Games, the UK's premier video games magazine updated daily, and The Junction, the best place for Teens to chat. -------------------- http://www.the-junction.com ----------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( EDITORS COMMENTS ))) | Page 1 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What a cuddly looking dog, his black button nose, big brown furry coat, cute little tail, and fully loaded machine gun. Say what?? Yes these are furry animals with a mission, and for the full explanation you can read our Fur Fighters review in this weeks cover story. Then in the weeks news Sega takes a stand against piracy, and there's both good & bad news for Virtual On fans. Further interesting pages include cheats for the Chao VMU Adventure and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, rumors on Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, and Lunar sequels, a World Series Baseball 2K1 guide, important information for fans of the Perfect Zero website, and a new site hosting 18 VMU mini-games! Phew! In response to last weeks feature, Mr. Moore, President at Sega Of America said "with the great titles slated for this the balance of this year, plus the advent of on-line gaming with titles like NFL 2K1 and Quake III, we are far from heading towards our demise. As you might imagine, we also have a few other tricks up our sleeve before the pretenders to the throne launch their device in October..." Excellent!! American gamers honestly don't know how lucky they are. Then finally... for an upcoming feature, if anyone has any classic Sega collectibles they are looking to sell, or just brag to the world about, please sent me an e-mail on Madcow@ihug.co.nz and we can talk :) Until next week then remember, The Game Is Never Over! - Graham "Tails" Parker (Editor) .oO Page 2 - Cover Story Oo. .oO Page 3 - The Weeks News Oo. .oO Page 4 - Red Hot Rumors Oo. .oO Page 5 - Prima Games Corner Oo. .oO Page 6 - Top Tips & Cheats Oo. .oO Page 7 - Into The Web Oo. .oO Page 8 - Our Support Sites Oo. .oO Page 9 - Credits Oo. HOT QUOTE from this issue: "Sega supports a creative community of talented artists. Pirates are parasites that hurt this community and will not be tolerated by Sega" -- Sega Fights Against Piracy - News, Page 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( COVER STORY ))) | Page 2 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>> Fur Fighters - 1 to 4 players - Out now from Acclaim Many years ago, the Fur Fighters were deployed to stop the evil General Viggo from carrying out his plans for global domination. Good conquered evil (of course!) and Viggo found himself breaking rocks in the hot sun. With their greatest foe behind bars, the Fur Fighters retired to a peaceful seaside village to relax and raise their children. But General Viggo did more than whittle soap guns in the Big Guns! He was scheming to take over the world again but, this time, he employed the mighty resources of Viggo Industries. In order to prevent the Fur Fighters from stopping him again, General Viggo and his army of stupid bears have kidnapped our heroes' families! What General Viggon didn't count on what the Fur Fighters' fury, furtiveness and skill with firearms! These six shaggy, stouthearted soldiers - Roofus, Juliette, Bungalow, Rico, Chang and Tweek - must combine their individual skills and their semi-functional telepoints, in their quest to find their families and defeat General Viggo once and for all! It's clear just from the introduction that Fur Fighters is no mindless shoot-em-up. This title is a mixture of puzzle, platform and shooting, which after ten minutes to grasp the strange control scheme will have you hooked. Think Mario 64 with guns and you'll begin to imagine the world these furry soldiers are fighting in. The game features six different worlds (called hubs), and Bizarre Creations have clearly spent just as much imagination and time designing each one as the last. They range from New Quack City, an animal metropolis, to a forest full of undead bears, and even a space station! Each hub of unbelievable size contains a few levels, all with a number of babies to rescue in, and a boss to fight at the end. Remembering exactly what your missions are can be hard at first, in particular since you can't review your orders again, but this is another of the games initial problems that soon floats away like it was never there. Without playing the game for your self it's almost impossible to truly appreciate the imagination and level of design that's gone into Fur Fighters, but believe me, this game screams quality. The bright color schemes and smooth look to the levels are only the beginning, but the sense of humor is the icing on an already sweet cake. Inside a games store in the first level are advertisements for Metropolis Sheep Racer, Quack III, and Shen Moo for example. This type of smart wit is pasted all over the game, adding a real atmosphere of fun to Fur Fighters. Even the manual has some comic hints and tips at the back! If you haven't realized yet, that extra step of effort has been added all the way through the game, giving a very complete feel to it. The humor even extends to the music however, which is fairly rare in videogames, and will have you wearing a silly grin every so often. From the elevator music to a Chinese restaurant, Bizarre have the perfect melody's to suit each part of the level. Another high point of the game is the character system. Six very different animals can be used throughout the game, and you'll be forced to give each one a fair go. If a baby is trapped up on a high ledge perhaps you'll need Bungalow the Kangaroo, who can jump higher than any of the other Fur Fighters. Or maybe you need to swim, in which case Rico the Penguin must be found. Changing characters is done by locating a telepoint, each which holds a certain animal inside while their health recharges. These telepoints also act as a save game spot, which given the huge size of each level can come in very handy. Further characters include Sergeant Sternhauser, a helpful ghost who appears when ever the programmers thought you might need a little advice. The sergeant comes in useful sometimes, in particular for novice gamers, but for many it's hard not getting annoyed at him for solving the puzzles ahead of you. If only he could be swapped for some of those cryptic crystals in Ecco The Dolphin, or at the very least have the option to turn him off. Never the less it's just a small fault in the grand scheme of things. With many of the games puzzles still requiring some thought to complete, you still do receive a feeling of pride once you save one of the many kidnapped babies, even if saving them won't tax your brain as much as locating them. Sub-quests like collecting all the golden tokens in the game will keep you thinking however, and then theres the large arsenal of weapons hidden throughout each level to be found. Everything from the pistol to a rocket launcher and plasma blaster will be at your disposal sometime or another during the game, but that's only listing a few out of the huge range. Finally there's one major fault in the game, the lack of options in the 4-player game. It really hampers the lastability of the death match game, but I can't help feeling bad talking about faults like this when the rest of the game is so very good. Just treat the 4-player battle as a little bonus for now, but hopefully Bizarre will address the problem if there is to be a sequel. Complaining about it is like saying the juiciest, nicest piece of fruit in the basket is ruined because of a little spot on the skin (before you ask - I just happened to be eating fruit while writing this). Fur Fighters isn't perfect, but it's more than you could hope for in a top quality videogame. So be you puzzle, platform, or shooting fan, you'll find countless hours of entertainment and laughs in Fur Fighters. Hopefully the games problems will be solved if there's a sequel, but as for now they aren't a concern, just go buy the game and have fun already! - Written by Graham "Tails" Parker Gameplay: 95% Graphics: 93% Sound: 92% Lastability: 90% OVERALL: 94% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( THE WEEKS NEWS ))) | Page 3 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>> Sega Fights Against Piracy Just as it looks like the Dreamcast piracy might be getting out of control, Sega Of America put their foot down and squish the parasites of illegal videogaming. To date they have shut down more than 60 illegal websites, and 125 auction sites selling pirated Dreamcast software. "Sega supports a creative community of talented artists. Pirates are parasites that hurt this community and will not be tolerated by Sega," said Peter Moore, president and chief operating officer, Sega. "This is just the first step in an even bigger action the company will undertake to stop this problem. We will continue to take aggressive steps to protect our business, consumers and the creative talent we have at Sega." You can help stop piracy by e-mailing stoppiracy@sega.com with any store locations or websites selling illegal boot discs or software. >>>> Virtual On - Good & Bad News First the good news, more Twin-Sticks are on their way! Yes Sega Of Japan has put more of the special Virtual On twin-joystick controllers into production. Currently import stores have long waiting lists for this peripheral (since they sell for around US$200 on Ebay) so if you haven't got your name down already, do so as soon as possible. Now for the bad news, Virtual On 5.66 is to be the final in the series. In an interview with Core Magazine, AM3 Producer, Juro Watari had this to say: "Question: Any chance of another sequel? Watari-san: We sort of viewed Oratorio Tangram as our landmark project for the end of the century. We decided 5.66 would be the final version. I think we're going to proceed with something completely new. Question: Interesting, any final words for our readers? Watari-san: We have released what will likely be the last Virtual On game. Please, enjoy it! In future projects we'll do our best to meet your expectations, so please continue supporting us." So we've reached the end of the mech fighting series, but the promise of something completely new is just as exciting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( RED HOT RUMORS ))) | Page 4 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each week here we'll keep you up to-date with the latest rumors going around, but please remember these are only rumors. >>>> Crazy Taxi & Virtua Tennis Sequels Sega makes great arcade games, and Sega taking five of the top ten arcade games in Japan only proves the point further. Now these two Dreamcast smash hits, Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis, started their lives out as Naomi based arcade games, and it appears sequels are on their way. Crazy Taxi 2 is rumored to have different vehicles to drive, none of which have been revealed yet, and Virtua Tennis 2 more characters. Despite the lack of details, I'm already getting excited about these two new titles! >>>> More Lunar III Rumors Just a few weeks ago we printed rumors that Lunar III might be put into development after GameArts finish Grandia 2. Now it seems quite possible the hit RPG series will continue, as this appeared on DC.IGN last week. "What's that? Lunar III? Further Dreamcast development? Mr. Miyaji commented that Dreamcast is his favorite system, although he recognizes that both PS2 and DC have their own strengths. He could’t comment on future DC projects, stating that he’s working on the US version of Grandia 2 now. As for our return to the world of Lunar, Mr. Miyaji says that he likes the Lunar series and he’d definitely like to see the series continue, but he could confirm nothing." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( PRIMA GAMES CORNER ))) | Page 5 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>> Retrospeculative: Healthy Skepticism Have you ever been driving down the road, or listlessly watching TV, when you're suddenly bombarded with a commercial so loud and obnoxious that you're sure one of your fillings has popped loose? Mr. News Guy looks at advertising in the gaming industry with his latest feature... http://www.primagames.com/news/news.php?ID=1893 >>>> Your Own PrimaGames.com Browser! Powered by NeoPlanet you can now download the ultimate Internet Browser for gamers. The PrimaGames.com browser will keep you upto-date on all the latest gaming news, along with providing a very cool and different style of graphics to the plain IE or Netscape. But anyway, enough talk, why not check it out for yourself right here... http://www.primagames.com/headline/browser.php >>>> Check out these hot new Dreamcast titles that recently received Prima Official Strategy Guides(tm): Resident Evil: Code Veronica http://www.primagames.com/guides/posg.php?ID=4572 Super Magnetic Neo http://www.primagames.com/guides/posg.php?ID=4965 Space Channel 5 http://www.primagames.com/guides/posg.php?ID=4909 Rainbow Six http://www.primagames.com/guides/posg.php?ID=4942 >>>> World Series Baseball 2K1 Fast Track Guide: The game is almost out now, how about a little last minute practice before your Virtual Baseball season kicks off... When you first see the pitcher kicking up a cloud of dust as he digs into the mound, you get the feeling that World Series Baseball 2K1 is more than just another game of roundball. After the first pitch is thrown, you will experience the sights and sounds of major league baseball at a level of detail never before seen in a console baseball game. And, the closer you look, the better it gets. Just wait until the camera zooms in on your left fielder as he chases down a line drive off of the Green Monster at Fenway. World Series Baseball 2K1, however, is more than just a feast for the eyes, it is stimulation for your baseball mind. In the dugout, you pull all the strings as you manage your favorite major league team to the divisional championship, league championship, and hopefully, the World Series. Along the way, you'll set lineups and pitching rotations, your defensive alignment on the field, and control your pitchers and hitters in one tense matchup after another. The Prima Fast Track Guide for World Series Baseball 2K1 contains some brief tips and hints to help you play a better game. Pitching, hitting, and team management are all covered here. http://www.primagames.com/guides/pftg.php?ID=275 Remember, Primagames.com has more than 250 Prima Fast Track Guides online for you to check out right now. For the best, fastest, and most up-to-date game strategy you'll find, Prima's the ticket. Click the link below for the Fast Track Guide index: http://www.primagames.com/guides/pftg.php ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( CHEATS ))) | Page 6 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>> Sonic Adventure: -- Chao VMU Level Skip Just after you've selected your next path at the junction, and while the Chao is nodding, press Mode on your VMU three times. You should return to your adventure with the Chao almost at the end of the next field. - Submitted by Sleepy -- Chao VMU Infinite Life If your Chao dies during a fight, instead of restating the level you can use this to regain your health and start right before the fight. After being killed when the computer's Chao is laughing, press Mode on your VMU three times. - Submitted by Sleepy >>>> Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike -- Select Screen Mode: Once you turn on your Dreamcast, until the Capcom logo appears, hold down one of the following button combinations for different screen modes: Normal screen: Start + X button. Low-resolution/anti-aliasing: Start + Y button. De-interlaced: Start + L trigger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( INTO THE WEB ))) | Page 7 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>> VMU Games Center With 18 VMU games to download, this site will save anyone looking for a little mini-gaming lots of time. But they also have plenty of data files, including Virtual On, Space Channel 5 and countless other titles. So grab your VMU and visit http://www.newmanfamily.freeserve.co.uk/dc Please note however this is a not a payed advert, the site is mentioned simply because it offers so much. Please don't e-mail us with sites to be written about here, we simply get too many requests to handle at the moment. >>>> Lik-Sang Update: -- Bleemcast Preorder You can pre-order Bleemcast now from Lik-Sang at $24.90. Although no release date is given at this stage. Also worth noting is Sega Of Europe has confirmed the Bleemcast will be released in the UK, which is great news for gamers like me in the PAL zone who want to play Playstation games at an amazingly high resolution. http://www.Lik-Sang.com Lik-Sang don't pay Dreamcast Weekly in exchange for writing about them each week, after the great feedback we've had for our readers about them, we just believe they are the best importer on the web. >>>> NextGenVideos: -- New Movies Jet Set Radio, Power Stone 2, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater movies are all online now. A great place to visit for hi-quality Dreamcast movies... http://www.NextGenVideos.com Why are they featured in Dreamcast Weekly? Because the movies are quite possibly of the highest quality on the net, that's why. If you haven't checked them out yet, now's a good time to start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( OUR SUPPORT SITES ))) | Page 8 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dreamcast Weekly goes out to around 40,000 gamers every week. How did we get so many people signed up? With the help of these websites, that's how. Thanks to them Dreamcast Weekly has become the huge e-magazine it is today. >>>> Sega X - http://www.segadreamcast.net A website with plenty of news, and always the latest game reviews, but also a IRC Java chat room where you can chat about all the latest Sega topics. THE must see Sega site each and every day. >>>> Sega 2000 - http://www.sega2000.net Sega 2000 is back online! Come see our new design and meet many of the new faces on the staff. >>>> The Next Level - http://www.the-nextlevel.com The Next Level is a multi-platform gaming magazine focused on current and upcoming next-generation systems. We provide up-to-date news, in-depth reviews, reader reviews, intriguing editorials, and more. >>>> Perfect Zero - http://204.30.23.21/ The Perfect Zero server is in trouble! Because their host server has died, the staff have put an emergency version online at the above address. Help support their comeback by visiting Perfect Zero today. >>>> The Sonic Zone - http://www.suneet.com/soniczone/ Updated daily with a HUGE amount of Sonic content that is sure to blow you away! From Fan Fiction to Chatting, and even Fan Created Games, this is your one stop Sonic site. >>>> Gaming Central Starpath - http://www.startpath.com/gamingcentral This site contains hundreds of links for anything a gamer might be interested in, no matter what format, including some game specific links. >>>> Future Games - http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/6831/ What used to just cover Dreamcast now covers Playstation 2, Dolphin, and X-Box platforms too. A great site to visit for keeping an eye on the competition, but also for the latest in Australian Dreamcast news. >>>> Dreamcast Weekly - http://www.DreamcastWeekly.com The official website for the Dreamcast Weekly is right here. It includes our history, back issues, and more. Then in the future... who knows, we might start up an HTML version, and hopefully be a print magazine one day (Hint to any publisher that may be reading this :) ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ((( CREDITS ))) | Page 9 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O Editor: Graham Parker "Tails" - Madcow@ihug.co.nz O Q&A: David Altschul - Webmaster@vg2.net Thanks goes out to all our support sites above, along with our sponsor, PrimaGames.com, all for helping make Dreamcast Weekly as big as we are today! >>>> http://www.DreamcastWeekly.com - Our Official Website! >>>> http://www.PrimaGames.com - Our Sponsor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright 1998-2000 Graham Parker - Madcow@ihug.co.nz Written and edited by Graham Parker. No parts may be copied without prior permission or correct credit where due. There should probably be a pile of other legal lines here, but please just play nice and don't steal. Thanks for reading DC Weekly!