Since my DC library is quite small, I’m going to be keeping my eyes open for a few titles:

• Marvel vs. Capcom 2
• Soul Calibur
• Rayman 2
• Skies of Arcadia
• Grandia 2
• Wacky Races
• Mr. Driller
• Chu Chu Rocket!
• Mars Matrix
• Shenmue
• Jet Grind Radio

Underappreciated in it's day. Appreciate it now!

Shoot, they already sold out?? Hopefully they will get more!

Nine years ago today, on September 9th, 1999 SEGA introduced its last console to North American market: the Dreamcast. Despite being discontinued a short two years later, the Dreamcast captured the hearts and minds of many gamers and still is considered one of the more exiting and unique platforms out there. It was one of the first platforms to prominently feature online play and cel-shaded graphics. Plus, you could hook it up to a VGA monitor for amazing clarity.

If you are unfamiliar with the Dreamcast, take some time to reminisce with Mr. Raroo as he shares why the little white box that could holds a special place of honor in his life, read up about it at Wikipedia, oogle over the variety of hardware variations at the Dreamcast Gallery, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Racketboy has an article up by the end of the day about his favorite system.

I think a round of The Typing of the Dead is in order for me today!

Silicon Era has an excellent interview with Yuan-Hsi Chiang, one half of the team of brothers who started Yuan Works. First talking about Yuan Works’ general design philosophy and background, Yuan-Hsi Chiang then goes into the history of “Wind and Water Puzzle Battles”, which was originally a GP2X title, and why they chose the Dreamcast for a home console port.

We hold firmly that video games are a form of art, with incredible achievements to prove it every year. Yet unfortunately several skills almost exclusive to this media (like pixel art and chiptune music) are deteriorating greatly nowadays, especially in the west. We try to make personal, quality games while preserving traditional game crafting techniques.

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We simply make games we would like to play. If other people like them as well, even better! We like games with attention to detail, where everything is polished to give a nice experience. Well designed games, that look and sound beautiful, where you can unlock and find many extras; that give you a sentiment of fulfillment when you finish or just play them… To put it in a corny way, we like something that lets you know it was made with love and sacrifice, and that’s what we try to achieve.

Both Yuan-Hsi Chiang and his brother, Yuan-Hao Chiang, are fans of classic gaming, sprite artwork and chiptunes. Unlockable content in the Dreamcast version of “Wind and Water Puzzle Battles” include what could be described as a developer’s blog – a tale about the entire creative process behind the game, from generating the idea through to actual development and finalization.

“Wind and Water Puzzle Battles” isn’t just a puzzle game, best saved for head-to-head battles. There’s an extensive single-player adventure mode, complete with a “Super Mario World”-style overhead map. Through this adventure mode, the player takes on the role of a new hire helping Yuan Works develop the game you are currently playing.

What actually happens at the end of the story is absolutely up to the player, and how much dedication they put will result in different rewards. Only Puzzle Masters will see the true conclusion to the story!

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The Story Mode is also a fun way to learn the complex mechanics of the game, and by the time an average player finishes it, they become very good, which makes them want to play against someone else right away! Lastly the game was thought with superplays or speedruns also in mind, so there are many paths to finish the game, giving it more replay value to experts.

I’m really excited about this game and plan to order as soon as it’s available. The disc will offer both Japanese and English text. Be sure to check out the rest of the interview and the home page for “Wind and Water” and Yuan Works!

While cruising through a GD-ROM image file looking for things of interest, xiaopang333 found something quite unexpected: a message directly towards rippers and hackers of Dreamcast games from the developer:

To whomever releases this pack..

Let me give you a few bits of info:

- I emulate a U.S. Genesis, including territory lock-out.
- “.sga” files are standard Genesis/Megadrive “.bin”files renamed.
- The emulator is looking for some parameters to be passed via Ginsu.
If you don’t know what that is, you’ll figure it out:

MDE_US.BIN ALTBEAST.SGA MODE2 SKIP0 SOUND0

MODE0 = standard, fastest video mode settings
MODE1 = slower, supports some extra features
MODE2 = slowest, includes window layers (used by some games)
MODE4 = same as MODE0 with background skewing

SKIP0 = no sprite skipping until maximum reached
SKIP1 = moderate sprite skipping, used to prevent major slowdown
SKIP2 = maximum sprites skipped

SOUND0 = standard sound emulation
SOUND1 = sound tempo increased

And don’t forget to pay your respects to Uncle Sonic.
Sony just doesn’t get it.

- Gary

Read on to find out who Gary is and possible reasons why he made the message!