DreamingOn (Updated 18/01) - BlueStinger

[tokyochojin]

Yeah, I always thought the VMU was pretty cool if a little underused peripheral. I remember finding it awesome when playing Biohazard that I could see my characters health meter without going into the sub menu. The arcade connectivity never really took off though, but you do still see the odd VMU cab around Tokyo. No one I ever met used them though.

[Lyris]

I just tried to play Sonic Adventure DC on my Plasma with the VGA box. It honestly looks pretty horrible. I always complain about 30fps on current gen consoles, but 30fps back then without any motion blur to conceal the frame rate is pretty heinous on a large screen display.

Ironically playing on an LCD TV helps since the low motion resolution blurs the frames together.

[Yakumo]

Really, i play on my Dreamcast through S-video (no RGB as standard in Japan) on one of the latest new style of LED screens and it looks perfect. No bleeding colours, no dodgy frame rate issues, no blur on text. It really does look nice. Same with the Saturn as long as the game isn't running in a super low resolution such as what Mega Drive would use.

[Lyris]

Ah, I'm not a fan of the Dreamcast S-Video output at all. Composite and S-Video seem to go through the video encoder chip whereas the RGB outputs (over SCART or "VGA") avoid that.

In any case, it wouldn't change the motion.

Had a ton of fun playing Crazy Taxi - the re-release on Xbox Live is not going to be the same without the music (think what you want of it).

[Yakumo]

Newer TVs can smooth out ****ty frame rated to a certain point. I always have the option switched on for retro 3D gaming.

[MikeRox]

I just tried to play Sonic Adventure DC on my Plasma with the VGA box. It honestly looks pretty horrible. I always complain about 30fps on current gen consoles, but 30fps back then without any motion blur to conceal the frame rate is pretty heinous on a large screen display.

Ironically playing on an LCD TV helps since the low motion resolution blurs the frames together.

man I love my LCD TV for Dreamcast VGA action. The response time really does help (it's hardly sluggish but it's there) and the bright vibrant colours DC games had just for have made the systems finest age very well. I'd say the 60fps stuff has aged far better than the 30fps content though. Even though at the time, the 30fps had better graphics.

[Legendary Wolf]

The opening to that video is the campest console promo I've ever heard. I thought it was Julian Clary for a second!

I always thought the choice of Malcom Mclaren as voice over was odd. For those that don't know he was the manager of the Sex Pistols, had a solo music career in the 80's and appeared on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2007. He was quite a pioneer on the music scene but as far as I know had no prior association with the gaming industry. He died earlier this year.

Yeah, I always thought the VMU was pretty cool if a little underused peripheral. I remember finding it awesome when playing Biohazard that I could see my characters health meter without going into the sub menu. The arcade connectivity never really took off though, but you do still see the odd VMU cab around Tokyo. No one I ever met used them though.

Yeah, it was never fully utilised but seeing the health status in Code Veronica was an excellent idea. Few games made proper use of the VMU, possibly because they were just concerned with making a game and then thought what can we do with it afterwards. I liked the idea of arcade connectivity but even then I knew arcades were disappearing (in the UK) and that element of the VMU would not be realised.

man I love my LCD TV for Dreamcast VGA action. The response time really does help (it's hardly sluggish but it's there) and the bright vibrant colours DC games had just for have made the systems finest age very well. I'd say the 60fps stuff has aged far better than the 30fps content though. Even though at the time, the 30fps had better graphics.

My tv uses D-ILA technology which is a form of liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) which gives it a very fast response time of 0.5ms. This is about as close to CRT as you can get and perfect for gaming as there is no visible image lag. There are at times I think that the DC through VGA holds up incredibly well against the current gen considering the age of the system. Graphics are very vibrant, clear, stable and sharp. It's only been in the last couple of years that games have really moved on graphically as the developers have been able to push the current gen well beyond that of the DC era.

[Legendary Wolf]

Really, i play on my Dreamcast through S-video (no RGB as standard in Japan) on one of the latest new style of LED screens and it looks perfect. No bleeding colours, no dodgy frame rate issues, no blur on text. It really does look nice. Same with the Saturn as long as the game isn't running in a super low resolution such as what Mega Drive would use.

The Saturn's RGB output is stunning, even superior to the Dreamcast in some respects. I used to run both through RGB scart before switching the DC to VGA, and the Saturn was so crisp and stable, whereas the DC was slightly softer. I had them through the same input and used to just switch them when needed. Darius Gaiden looked fantastic and VF2 looked sublime as it was running at full 640x480 res and at 60fps which in 1995 was really something special.

[Lyris]

Newer TVs can smooth out ****ty frame rated to a certain point. I always have the option switched on for retro 3D gaming.

That'll usually result in massive input lag instead because of the extra processing, though.

[tokyochojin]

Played a bit of Sega Rally 2 today, although I'm **** at it. Best 'Game over' screen ever though! It's a shame that these arcade feeling games with over the top voice overs and what-not don't seem to really exist anymore.

[Yakumo]

That'll usually result in massive input lag instead because of the extra processing, though.

In old TVs, yes but in TVs released in Japan this spring onwards, no.

@Legendary Wolf, tell me about it. When I lived in the UK I always used scart fromthe days of the Mega Drive (1988) all the way up to 1998 when I left for Japan. At the time I had a Toshiba surround Sound 28 inch screen. Fantastic picture quality and even had native NTSC support. I had a NTSC/PAL Toshiba video to go with it as well. Man, UK video recorders had so much better image quality than the ones here in Japan. Probably to do with the TV system though I'd guess.

I have an official JPN Scart cable for my Saturn but no scart input on the TV so s-Video it is. While not as good it's still mighty impressive.

[Welrain]

Millennium Soldier Expendable



Wow! The intro sequence is fun and, if I’m not mistaken, has someone taken the time to render the Millennium Soldiers genitals? LOL! Plunging straight in the game proper – the graphics are colourful and chunky and the lighting (for which the game was rightly lauded) is beautiful. However I made a fundamental mistake with the gameplay as given that ODM described it as simple I plunged head long in without even a flick of the manual. After a hour long play I was decrying the fact that you could only shoot in the direction you were moving and that the weapons were very under powered. Not enjoyable at all. It turns out that if you hold one of the triggers you can strafe (it even says so in the review!) and if you collect the same weapon multiple time it’s power increases..I had been gobbling up every power up with gay abandon..oops.

Anyway lesson learned and a reboot later it’s on with the show. First of all this does seem, at first, to be a pretty simple run and gun shooter but Rage mixes in a few other ingredients to spice things up.

- The levels themselves are seldom boring – they twist and turn, laser beams block paths and environmental hazards are everywhere.

- The enemies spawn all around you so you need to be on your toes and some are immune to specific weapons (note some of the enemies are clearly inspired by Aliens especially the face hugger type beings who erupt from hostages and have acid for blood!)

- You can only carry 3 types of weapon so have to put some thought into want weapons you are powering up. Having the right weapon for the right occasion can be essential.

- It’s fun. Right from the starting sequence the game displays a great sense of humour!

But there is also the less great:

- The time limit can be unfair and seems wholly unnecessary.

- You only have a limited amount of credits. I’ve only managed to make it to level 10 out of a quoted 20 on the normal difficulty level. Thankfully cheats are available to extend your play time.

- Bosses can be terribly hard if your stuck with your basic weapons.

- and yes the biggy – it’s repetitive. It does become a grind after a while, but then it’s not really a game you should stick on and play for hours on end.

Altogether I don’t think I could have picked a better game to start DreamingOn with as it plays to all the Dreamcasts strengths – chunky and colourful graphics, fast paced arcade action and it even sounds great…if only the controller had a second stick.

http://www.DreamingOn.net

[MikeRox]

Played a bit of Sega Rally 2 today, although I'm **** at it. Best 'Game over' screen ever though! It's a shame that these arcade feeling games with over the top voice overs and what-not don't seem to really exist anymore.

Been thinking about it a lot. The whole game making process has just completely changed over the past 10 years. Personally I think it's for the worst. You look at games like Crazy Taxi etc, they're an idea they've built a game around. Now they just seem to want to make a game (usually FPS) then bolt ideas onto it to make it stand out.

I prefer the older approach, I would have been quite happy buying stuff like Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi etc with the main game being a simple but addictive affair, and then fleshing that main game out, with bonus stuff like the World Tour Modes etc.

Infact, I'd love SEGA to wait til the PS3 is cheap to manufacture, and then make a similarly specced system and pump out loads of those types of games. Remakes of Daytona USA etc. With decent online modes for longevity and sell the games at £25 a pop. Between the shooters, beat em ups, Streets of Rage remakes and racing games etc with just the odd more substantial game here and there. You could soon have a stunning lineup that wouldn't cost too much to develop but would be very hard to put down pipe dreams I know, but it'd still be awesome!

Anyway fished out my RGB SCART cable for my Dreamcast (this looks surprisingly nice inspite of the interlace on my BRAVIA) so am gonna go grab the Millenium Soldier eXpendable disc now. I never really got into that but I remember it always receiving pretty positive reviews at the time.

[MikeRox]

I've gone on Tokyo Highway Challenge instaed I know it was meant to be an average game, but even 11 years on it still looks and plays great IMO thanks to the lovely neon lighting, chunky cars and 60fps. Fantastic music (must be Initial D inspired) and a strangely compelling experience, it's quite relaxing cruising round the little bit of highway you're given. The sequel, PS2 incarnations and 360 ver (Import Tuner Challenge) all padded the game out greatly, but lost the cheesy Japanese Rock/Eurobeat soundtrack and IMO overbloated the game so I don't think any of the later versions ever had the same appeal.

Anyway onto Millenium Soldier lol.

[Legendary Wolf]

@Legendary Wolf, tell me about it. When I lived in the UK I always used scart fromthe days of the Mega Drive (1988) all the way up to 1998 when I left for Japan. At the time I had a Toshiba surround Sound 28 inch screen. Fantastic picture quality and even had native NTSC support. I had a NTSC/PAL Toshiba video to go with it as well. Man, UK video recorders had so much better image quality than the ones here in Japan. Probably to do with the TV system though I'd guess.

I have an official JPN Scart cable for my Saturn but no scart input on the TV so s-Video it is. While not as good it's still mighty impressive.

S-video is very good, especially on CRT screens as there is little difference in visual quality compared to scart, especially 32" or smaller. It only starts to drop once you increase the screen size or use HD. I remember those Toshiba tvs, they were top quality at the time. PAL is a good system, almost 100 lines more than NTSC and with better colour reproduction. The only trade off is 50hz refresh rate which I don't know if you remember but you could notice the flicker, especially if you were not looking directly at the screen.

Been thinking about it a lot. The whole game making process has just completely changed over the past 10 years. Personally I think it's for the worst. You look at games like Crazy Taxi etc, they're an idea they've built a game around. Now they just seem to want to make a game (usually FPS) then bolt ideas onto it to make it stand out.

I prefer the older approach, I would have been quite happy buying stuff like Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi etc with the main game being a simple but addictive affair, and then fleshing that main game out, with bonus stuff like the World Tour Modes etc.

Infact, I'd love SEGA to wait til the PS3 is cheap to manufacture, and then make a similarly specced system and pump out loads of those types of games. Remakes of Daytona USA etc. With decent online modes for longevity and sell the games at ?25 a pop. Between the shooters, beat em ups, Streets of Rage remakes and racing games etc with just the odd more substantial game here and there. You could soon have a stunning lineup that wouldn't cost too much to develop but would be very hard to put down pipe dreams I know, but it'd still be awesome!

Anyway fished out my RGB SCART cable for my Dreamcast (this looks surprisingly nice inspite of the interlace on my BRAVIA) so am gonna go grab the Millenium Soldier eXpendable disc now. I never really got into that but I remember it always receiving pretty positive reviews at the time.

I kind of agree with you, very few games have that quick fix, pick and play, fun gaming experience that you had during the DC era and earlier. I'm not saying it's all bad as some of the games today have so much put into them and do give a greater gaming experience but I do miss those fun, arcadey titles. I think the problem with games today is that they require you to put a lot of time in to get the best out of them.

There is a way that will enable you to play games on a large screen CRT without scanlines and any of the defects caused by HD screens. Hitachi made a series of progressive scan CRT tvs around 2001-2002. They had a traditional glass screen 32" CRT and a 43" & 55" rear projection models that had the tech. What was great was that any input would be turned progressive due to the onboard processing which was very good. I had the 43" model and was great for gaming. It had three scart inputs, two of which were RGB, with front S-video and composite inputs and onboard Dolby Digital and DTS decoding. They were hard to get at the time and are extremly rare now, I sold mine over two years ago.

I've gone on Tokyo Highway Challenge instaed I know it was meant to be an average game, but even 11 years on it still looks and plays great IMO thanks to the lovely neon lighting, chunky cars and 60fps. Fantastic music (must be Initial D inspired) and a strangely compelling experience, it's quite relaxing cruising round the little bit of highway you're given. The sequel, PS2 incarnations and 360 ver (Import Tuner Challenge) all padded the game out greatly, but lost the cheesy Japanese Rock/Eurobeat soundtrack and IMO overbloated the game so I don't think any of the later versions ever had the same appeal.

Anyway onto Millenium Soldier lol.

I loved THC, I bought it on Boxing Day after getting my DC for xmas. After seeing the clips on the video of ODM I was sold, the cars were photo realistic for the time and running at 60fps it looked stunning. Loved the reflections and the light trails, just awesome. Handling was poor but I still enjoyed it, racing rivals with mad cars and madder nicknames. Some of the races were seriously intense. None more so that the final bosses, the last race in particular was truly epic, I don't know how long it lasted for but the satisfaction I got from finally beating him was immense. I never realised at the time that the car was an old Nissan Fairlady Z, I actually though it was a modified Mustang fastback with the ghost of Steve McQueen as the driver due to the description in the game. I loved the whole upgrade and tweaking element and had a series of really fast cars. I also spent a lot of time just driving around taking in the sights and landmarks like Tokyo Tower. Always preferred the bonnet/in car view for the sense of speed.