Dreamcast Magazine Nov 2000 Issue

[VideoGameCritic]

Just spent a few days at the beach and grabbed an old magazine to take with me.
It was Dreamcast Magazine, Nov 2000 issue. The dude from Shenmue is on the cover.

Reading this was like a time capsule! Such bittersweet sorrow. The writers were really gung ho about the future of the system, not knowing it would get the axe less than a year later. The reviews are great, so it's sad these guys were teetering on the edge of oblivion.

Here are some highlights:

In the opening editor's notes the VP of product development was quoted as describing Shenmue as a game "that's going to change the world". It certainly was an ambitious effort but I think it fell short of those lofty expectations.

Page 16 had a layout about an upcoming Space Harrier sequel called Planet Harrier. Looks like it had very sophisticated graphics and supported multiple players. I think one of the characters was a sexy nurse. I don't think this ever came to be, but I recall a prototype floating around, maybe under another name...

Page 17 talks about the Dreamcast price drop to $149. It retrospect that probably should have been setting off alarms.

Games were rated from 1-10, and these guy didn't hesitate to tear into games: Virtua Athlete 2K (2), Toy Story 2 (2), Gunbird (3), World Series Baseball 2K1 (4), Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000 (1)

On the other hand, there were big numbers for : UFC (9), Ecco (8), San Fran Rush 2049 (9), Street FIghter 3 (9), Sega GT (9)

Games mentioned that never happened:
Type X: Spiral Nightmare
Rising Star
IHRA Motorsports
Half-Life
Legend of Blade Master
Gorka Morka - cart blasting
Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse: I would have loved to see this one.
Picasso - an art thief adventure
Arcatera - point and click horror
Napple Tale - RPG
The Grid - third-person arena shooter

I really wished Sega would have tried to stick it out with this system...

[Matchstick]

They tried, Critic. But that PS2 hype machine just ate everyone’s lunch.

I bought a Dreamcast right at launch. My friends who played it were stunned when they saw Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing in action. None of them bought their own Dreamcast. When I’d ask why, the answer was always the same: “I’m saving up for a PS2!”

So it goes.

In the Spring of 2000, I was at FuncoLand buying a copy of the survival horror game Carrier. The clerk looked at me, shook his head, and said, “I don’t even know why you’re wasting your money on this Dreamcast s***. The PS2’s just gonna blow it out of the water when it comes out.”

Salesmanship at its finest, folks!

Back on topic, I loved the Dreamcast magazine. One of the last ‘tudey gaming mags I can remember. Some of the ads inside were pretty questionable, to say the least. There was a recurring one for, I think, EB Games, with a dude looking into the camera while his dolled-up girlfriend slinked across the sofa in the background. “Know you’re gonna score.” Yeah, the marketing department was definitely all-in on the 18-24 demographic.

The demo discs were usually good fun, and the reviews, as you said, could be harsh. Or too generous. I bought Sega GT after reading that “9” review and instantly wanted my money back. And WSB 2K1 is a “1” if I’ve ever seen one.

Sega games getting generous scores in a Sega-centric magazine? Ya don’t say...

[jon]

I'm starting to wonder if the reason the Dreamcast ended its run early is because of the exorbitant costs of making advanced 3d games. It reminds me of how the Neo Geo Pocket/Color made a profit. I think with a lot of the old 2d systems it didn't cost a zillion dollars to make a game, so they could profit with much fewer sales.

On another note, this story reminded me of reading a May or June 1995 Gamepro. They were giving glowing reviews to 3do and Jaguar games, and it seemed like these systems not only had a future, but were in their early days.

[ThePixelatedGenocide]

Planet Harriers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrV52sGe5UI

It was rare, but some people have found it in the wild.

Napple Tale recently got a translation patch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpWoFTPCDnc

Half-Life was finished, but suffers from frequent and long load times. The frame rate isn't the best. More important is how many people it inspired to preserve unreleased games. This was one of the first big finds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgX1q4ksgZw

EDIT: Just learned there was a patch released for the loading times. Unfortunately, the link provided is dead. It might still be worth a search?

IHRA was released on other platforms, where it was immediately forgotten. The core game mechanics seem to have been solid, but everything else was either infected with bugs, or shallow and underdeveloped. The Dreamcast was probably better off without it.

It would later gain a second life as a tech demo for the power of cell phone gaming. In a way, it was ahead of its time.

Anyways...

I really miss the Dreamcast. And discovering every game for it.

It was the last time a new home console launch would completely destroy everything that had appeared before. Even arcades couldn't compete with Soul Calibur. And Sega were teasing wild ideas, unlike anything we'd ever seen before.

I miss not knowing what happens next. I especially miss the feeling that even the major studios didn't know what happens next.

[Matchstick]

I really miss the Dreamcast. And discovering every game for it.

Indeed. So many games seemed to have a "stealth launch," where I wouldn't even know about a game hitting the shelves unless I happened to see it in the store, myself.

This happened with Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram, as I just happened to catch a glimpse of it behind the counter at the local FuncoLand one day. It has just released the day before. They only received one copy. I was happy to drop the $50 on it, as I was a huge fan of the arcade and Saturn release. It drew the attention of everyone working behind the counter once I was at the register, as several of the employees didn't even know they had received the game - and had never even heard of it, in the first place!

(No, this was *not* the same FuncoLand that had ridiculed me for buying Carrier. But, as a company, they just didn't seem to give a rip about the Dreamcast or its new releases. Their loss.)

The Dreamcast Magazine layout wasn't the easiest to follow, sometimes, and I felt like the Previews section never made it clear which games were scheduled for a release in the US and which were never leaving Japan. They had run a first-look at Virtual On some time before, highlighting the twin-stick controller that - you guessed it - was only for Japan. I took this to mean that the actual game would never leave Japan, either.

One of many cases in my life where I was glad to be wrong.

I bought the game before the review even appeared in the magazine. I'm not even sure the review was in the next issue - it may have still been two or three months away. Funny how far we've come, where it really wasn't that long ago that you could still buy a game "blind," without any access to reviews first.