The SEGA Generation

[Electric Monk]

Great update!

Actually It's a little weaker than the OTL Dreamcast [not by a whole lot though]. To be honest cuz I'm bad with math and don't wanna underestimate or overestimate things, I am either not mentioning the number or being vague about. But it is a lot more affordable at launch than it's predecessor I can tell you that

You asked for numbers? The OTL Dreamcast retailed for $199 in USA (like most consoles outside Nintendo, losing money on hardware). The *M2 is launching a year earlier, with a DVD drive. The good news? The various chips can use the same 250nm fabs as OTL (after all Dreamcast was ‘98 Japan), meaning it should be similar in price.

So… $299 would be my guess, certainly losing some money probably $50-100. DVD drive was pricey because of the new lasers, on the other hand as DVD ramps up Panasonic should be able to cut price quite aggressively. Much like how the PS2 dropped fast IOTL.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Great update!



You asked for numbers? The OTL Dreamcast retailed for $199 in USA (like most consoles outside Nintendo, losing money on hardware). The *M2 is launching a year earlier, with a DVD drive. The good news? The various chips can use the same 250nm fabs as OTL (after all Dreamcast was ‘98 Japan), meaning it should be similar in price.

So… $299 would be my guess, certainly losing some money probably $50-100. DVD drive was pricey because of the new lasers, on the other hand as DVD ramps up Panasonic should be able to cut price quite aggressively. Much like how the PS2 dropped fast IOTL.

Thanks for the math help! Haha.
Again, definitely gonna need second opinions when it comes to the math of things.

Might go back and add the numbers now!

 

[Nivek]

Thanks for the math help! Haha.
Again, definitely gonna need second opinions when it comes to the math of things.

Might go back and add the numbers now!

Yeah those are good numbers.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

(In addition to this, I'm also going back and adding missed details to some of the older posts)


"1998 was quite possibly one of the biggest years of the industry, and especially so for Sega. The Sonic the Hedgehog film was a resounding success, increasing both Genesis and Saturn sales across all regions and even increasing interest in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles - and by extension compilations featuring the games as that was the game which inspired the movie's plot. In addition, the film proved that video game based movies could be more than simple cash grabs and propelled the Hedgehog deeper into the mainstream and cementing his status as a household name. Much like when Sonic X-Treme came out in '96, there was something of an inertia as well, making other Sega games outside of Sonic be popular as well after the movie came out. For Sega as a corporation, it increased their interest in animated adaptations of their other game franchises, with Sony being very happy to help in the production." - Sega Retro, 2016



FIREBORNE II (M2 & SATURN)

Fireborne II is the sequel to the original Fireborne...okay yeah that's not a shocker, and is the series' first entry into 3D. Though again you probably already knew that. I'm mainly going to be talking about the 3DO M2 version, but the game was also released on the Saturn too.
In Fireborne II you take command of Rai, the main character of the series who is returning from the first game. In terms of design he's kind of your standard shonen-style anime boy, but it works considering this game is from a Japanese company - Fujiwara. Anyway, the game is somewhat similar to it's contemporary Ocarina of Time, based around exploring open worlds in order to accomplish whatever objective you need to do in order to progress in the story. However in Fireborne II it is more of a sci-fi post-apocolyptic setting whereas Legend of Zelda, well, middle ages fantasy.

The gameplay of the game overall is very good. You have various abilities with your fire powers ranging from using them like projectiles, using them to perfom combo attacks or as melee weapons, using them to rocket up heights or even using them in conjunction with specific items is very creative and never feels stale. The controls feel fluent and responsive. While the camera has it's problems here and there, it was common for 3D games back in the day, so it's acceptable for the late 90's but definitely outdated by today's standards. The graphics are very well done for the time too, though admittedly the environments are a bit drab. There is variety, but there's really only deserts, ruins, ruined cities, and sometimes a forest or plain, or maybe a smaller ruined town or military base. Granted, most of these enviornments are what you'd picture in a post-apocalyptic setting like what this game has.

The story of Fireborne II picks up right where the original left off - the world is still officially under the rule of an evil empire, though now under the heir of the original emperor who you killed at the end of the first game. Naturally, the heir is your typical arrogant cocky jerk type of villian, and because of this is hella more ineffective than his father was - however that fact is the precise reason why groups across the world are beginning to rise up in rebellion thanks to your previous work.

And of course, the main point of the story is that you are trying to gather all of the support you can to finally defeat the empire once and for all, while also learning more about Rai's past and how he was "born of the fire". To put a long story short, and spoiler alert, Rai actually turns out to be a dragon-human hybrid, and this is tell-able in his features such as his eyes and fanged canines. Though unfortunately you can't transform into a dragon, you can just use fire powers, martial arts and have intimidating looking eyes. In addition, your hybrid race actually makes you the center of a cult worshiping dragons that itself is one of the game's major sub-plots, as are the various loyalty quests, sub quests and small mission chains you do in order to progress towards the next major mission.
It should be noted here that the M2 version has more content than the Saturn version. There are a lot of M2-exclusive missions and even characters, no doubt due to the hardware of the respective systems. The Saturn version is as a result though more streamlined and quicker to get through, so if you want a faster time in the game go to that one, but if you prefer more meat to your game then the M2 is the way to go.

Now, one of the biggest pieces of contention about the game is - spoiler alert - it's ending. You learn that the dragons, guardians and protectors of magic and one of them being your father, were basically genocide by the emperor when he took over - though your grandparents eluded capture, and your father had tried to. Anyway, after learning all of this and more that I don't want to spoil the entire game over, you head out to deal with the new emperor - the heir from the previous game, though the battle goes wrong when he ends up mutating like the villain from Akira for the final battle - which needless to say is actually quite difficult. After he is dealt with, the empire is officially defeated and you form a U.N. like organization to protect the new nations emerging.

Now the ending is interesting primarily because of, well, it differs between the Saturn and the M2. The whole "mutation" thing is only in the M2 version, you fight the heir normally in the Saturn version and the rest of the ending plays out just like I said it does. I'm not sure why they made this difference, but hardware may have something to do with it - or time constraints. Because of this though, the Saturn version does have the sub-plot foreshadowing the mutation - which involves the cult - completely removed as well.

Overall Fireborne II is a solid game and a pretty good sequel to the original Fireborne game,though I am surprised in some cases that this game was rated E-10. It's not the perfect game of the era but is definitely a solid piece of gaming history, certainly in the "great" category.

- Kayden Cunningham, 2013, Blog review



THE BANDICOOTS (SATURN)

The Bandicoots is a perfect example of Naughty Dog's experimentation on the Sega (Sony) Saturn during the mid and late 1990's. Since Sega already had, well, Sonic, it was a bit difficult for them to really make a mascot style series for themselves. Their first game for the system was originally going to be just that, a platformer series with an anthro character and everything, but Sega didn't like the idea of a Saturn exclusive character not from them trying to "replace" Sonic, and so the idea was canned very quickly - ultimately turned into a racing game. However, Twisted Metal was already out and so Naughty Dog's more g-rated game similar to it ultimately failed to gain a lot of traction - though it was a moderate success.

After that, Naughty Dog helped Sega Europe & Traveller's Tales with Sonic R, offering one of their characters as an unlockable in the game. The game itself being basically a total conversion mod for Sonic Saturn because of Sega's determination to have something out by 1997's end to capitalize on Sonic's sudden popularity surge. Naughty Dog's involvement stopped there, though.

It was not until 1998 that Naughty Dog would put their hat into the ring again, with the Bandicoots! Inspired loosely by the idea they originally had for '96, you now play as a family of anthro Bandicoots on their E-rated adventures, rather than just one. Because of this, the gameplay is basically a beat-em-up with a mostly isometric but sometimes 2D camera angle for certain level segments, but the game is always rendered with full 3D graphics. You swap characters out on the fly, and each of them have their own attributes.

Bash can do a spin attack and has the fastest ground speed. Crunch can use his brute strength to absolutely pumble enemies. Tawna has the highest jump and can use an assortment of ranged projectile weapons. Coco has a variety of martial arts techniques and can use hacking to get through certain mechanical hazards. Overall, each character is useful and memorable in their own right and the entire idea of this gameplay is very unique and creative especially for the time - something very refreshing and as such a welcome addition to the Saturn's large library.

In addition to the solid and unique gameplay, the environments of the game look absolutely perfect alongside our playable characters, all of them are colourful and feel a part of the same world even though each is individually themed. Similar to a game like Mega man, each level is actually a different mission campaign against a different villain - meaning the story is basically ou and your family being heroes going on missions to defeat said villains, it's really that simple. There are a total of five basic campaigns to deal with, and though there is variety in each them the overall level themes are Medieval, Arabian, Ancient Egyptian, Tropical Jungle Island and futuristic techn lab.You also have within these levels segments where you handle a vehicle on rails, scuba dive underwater, and have to win a basic kart race. At the end of each level, you fight the designated villain for each level and thankfully you can fight them in any order. While there are collectables to get in each level, they only serve to get you 100% completion and a very minuscule reward at the end of the game.

All in all the game is a very unique late 90's specimen, with very solid gameplay and an acceptable variety of levels and enemies along with an overall creative concept that you don't see very often from this kind of game. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

- Colton Lang, 2016, YouTube review

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

(In addition to this, I'm also going back and adding missed details to some of the older posts)


"1998 was quite possibly one of the biggest years of the industry, and especially so for Sega. The Sonic the Hedgehog film was a resounding success, increasing both Genesis and Saturn sales across all regions and even increasing interest in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles - and by extension compilations featuring the games as that was the game which inspired the movie's plot. In addition, the film proved that video game based movies could be more than simple cash grabs and propelled the Hedgehog deeper into the mainstream and cementing his status as a household name. Much like when Sonic X-Treme came out in '96, there was something of an inertia as well, making other Sega games outside of Sonic be popular as well after the movie came out. For Sega as a corporation, it increased their interest in animated adaptations of their other game franchises, with Sony being very happy to help in the production." - Sega Retro, 2016



FIREBORNE II (M2 & SATURN)

Fireborne II is the sequel to the original Fireborne...okay yeah that's not a shocker, and is the series' first entry into 3D. Though again you probably already knew that. I'm mainly going to be talking about the 3DO M2 version, but the game was also released on the Saturn too.
In Fireborne II you take command of Rai, the main character of the series who is returning from the first game. In terms of design he's kind of your standard shonen-style anime boy, but it works considering this game is from a Japanese company - Fujiwara. Anyway, the game is somewhat similar to it's contemporary Ocarina of Time, based around exploring open worlds in order to accomplish whatever objective you need to do in order to progress in the story. However in Fireborne II it is more of a sci-fi post-apocolyptic setting whereas Legend of Zelda, well, middle ages fantasy.

The gameplay of the game overall is very good. You have various abilities with your fire powers ranging from using them like projectiles, using them to perfom combo attacks or as melee weapons, using them to rocket up heights or even using them in conjunction with specific items is very creative and never feels stale. The controls feel fluent and responsive. While the camera has it's problems here and there, it was common for 3D games back in the day, so it's acceptable for the late 90's but definitely outdated by today's standards. The graphics are very well done for the time too, though admittedly the environments are a bit drab. There is variety, but there's really only deserts, ruins, ruined cities, and sometimes a forest or plain, or maybe a smaller ruined town or military base. Granted, most of these enviornments are what you'd picture in a post-apocalyptic setting like what this game has.

The story of Fireborne II picks up right where the original left off - the world is still officially under the rule of an evil empire, though now under the heir of the original emperor who you killed at the end of the first game. Naturally, the heir is your typical arrogant cocky jerk type of villian, and because of this is hella more ineffective than his father was - however that fact is the precise reason why groups across the world are beginning to rise up in rebellion thanks to your previous work.

And of course, the main point of the story is that you are trying to gather all of the support you can to finally defeat the empire once and for all, while also learning more about Rai's past and how he was "born of the fire". To put a long story short, and spoiler alert, Rai actually turns out to be a dragon-human hybrid, and this is tell-able in his features such as his eyes and fanged canines. Though unfortunately you can't transform into a dragon, you can just use fire powers, martial arts and have intimidating looking eyes. In addition, your hybrid race actually makes you the center of a cult worshiping dragons that itself is one of the game's major sub-plots, as are the various loyalty quests, sub quests and small mission chains you do in order to progress towards the next major mission.
It should be noted here that the M2 version has more content than the Saturn version. There are a lot of M2-exclusive missions and even characters, no doubt due to the hardware of the respective systems. The Saturn version is as a result though more streamlined and quicker to get through, so if you want a faster time in the game go to that one, but if you prefer more meat to your game then the M2 is the way to go.

Now, one of the biggest pieces of contention about the game is - spoiler alert - it's ending. You learn that the dragons, guardians and protectors of magic and one of them being your father, were basically genocide by the emperor when he took over - though your grandparents eluded capture, and your father had tried to. Anyway, after learning all of this and more that I don't want to spoil the entire game over, you head out to deal with the new emperor - the heir from the previous game, though the battle goes wrong when he ends up mutating like the villain from Akira for the final battle - which needless to say is actually quite difficult. After he is dealt with, the empire is officially defeated and you form a U.N. like organization to protect the new nations emerging.

Now the ending is interesting primarily because of, well, it differs between the Saturn and the M2. The whole "mutation" thing is only in the M2 version, you fight the heir normally in the Saturn version and the rest of the ending plays out just like I said it does. I'm not sure why they made this difference, but hardware may have something to do with it - or time constraints. Because of this though, the Saturn version does have the sub-plot foreshadowing the mutation - which involves the cult - completely removed as well.

Overall Fireborne II is a solid game and a pretty good sequel to the original Fireborne game,though I am surprised in some cases that this game was rated E-10. It's not the perfect game of the era but is definitely a solid piece of gaming history, certainly in the "great" category.

- Kayden Cunningham, 2013, Blog review



THE BANDICOOTS (SATURN)

The Bandicoots is a perfect example of Naughty Dog's experimentation on the Sega (Sony) Saturn during the mid and late 1990's. Since Sega already had, well, Sonic, it was a bit difficult for them to really make a mascot style series for themselves. Their first game for the system was originally going to be just that, a platformer series with an anthro character and everything, but Sega didn't like the idea of a Saturn exclusive character not from them trying to "replace" Sonic, and so the idea was canned very quickly - ultimately turned into a racing game. However, Twisted Metal was already out and so Naughty Dog's more g-rated game similar to it ultimately failed to gain a lot of traction - though it was a moderate success.

After that, Naughty Dog helped Sega Europe & Traveller's Tales with Sonic R, offering one of their characters as an unlockable in the game. The game itself being basically a total conversion mod for Sonic Saturn because of Sega's determination to have something out by 1997's end to capitalize on Sonic's sudden popularity surge. Naughty Dog's involvement stopped there, though.

It was not until 1998 that Naughty Dog would put their hat into the ring again, with the Bandicoots! Inspired loosely by the idea they originally had for '96, you now play as a family of anthro Bandicoots on their E-rated adventures, rather than just one. Because of this, the gameplay is basically a beat-em-up with a mostly isometric but sometimes 2D camera angle for certain level segments, but the game is always rendered with full 3D graphics. You swap characters out on the fly, and each of them have their own attributes.

Bash can do a spin attack and has the fastest ground speed. Crunch can use his brute strength to absolutely pumble enemies. Tawna has the highest jump and can use an assortment of ranged projectile weapons. Coco has a variety of martial arts techniques and can use hacking to get through certain mechanical hazards. Overall, each character is useful and memorable in their own right and the entire idea of this gameplay is very unique and creative especially for the time - something very refreshing and as such a welcome addition to the Saturn's large library.

In addition to the solid and unique gameplay, the environments of the game look absolutely perfect alongside our playable characters, all of them are colourful and feel a part of the same world even though each is individually themed. Similar to a game like Mega man, each level is actually a different mission campaign against a different villain - meaning the story is basically ou and your family being heroes going on missions to defeat said villains, it's really that simple. There are a total of five basic campaigns to deal with, and though there is variety in each them the overall level themes are Medieval, Arabian, Ancient Egyptian, Tropical Jungle Island and futuristic techn lab.You also have within these levels segments where you handle a vehicle on rails, scuba dive underwater, and have to win a basic kart race. At the end of each level, you fight the designated villain for each level and thankfully you can fight them in any order. While there are collectables to get in each level, they only serve to get you 100% completion and a very minuscule reward at the end of the game.

All in all the game is a very unique late 90's specimen, with very solid gameplay and an acceptable variety of levels and enemies along with an overall creative concept that you don't see very often from this kind of game. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

- Colton Lang, 2016, YouTube review

The Bandicoots would be my first game in that alternate universe if anything... not sure about Fireborne Series.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

3DO INTERACTIVE MULTIPLAYER DISCONTINUED
January, 1999

With the holiday season now closing, the maker of the latest hot gaming console - Panasonic, has announced that it is officially discontinuing their original console - The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer after roughly 7 years on the market. Laura de la Cuz, President & CEO of The 3DO Company - Panasonic's dedicated gaming division, had this to say on the subject:

"The decision was made after this past holiday season, and it's nothing personal. The original 3DO console is really just outdated. The M2 is the future, the Interactive Multiplayer is the past."

As the 3DO Company was originally founded as an independent company but sold to Panasonic in 1997 by Trip Hawkins, we also tried to get Trip's comment on things - as he is still the chairman of the 'company'. However, we were unable to get in touch with him or get any comment from him on this.

In truth, this is not the first discontinuation 3DO's original system has faced. In 1997, almost immediately after the purchase by Panasonic, Hawkins' replacement and current President/CEO, de la Cruz, announced the discontinuation of GoldStar & Sanyo models of the 3DO. This left the only available models of the original 3DO system being the Panasonic FZ-1 R.E.A.L. and the Panasonic FZ-10 R.E.A.L.

The original 3DO may have had the most botched up launch in recent history, but with games like Need for Speed, Gex and Tekken it certainly left it's mark on the industry by the time it finally went.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



SEGA CEO STEPS DOWN
January, 1999

Video game giant Sega Enterprises has announced recently that long time President & CEO of it's Japanese & International affairs, Hayao Nakayama, has departed from the company to retire and perhaps pursue other ventures.
Nakayama, who has been the CEO & President of the corporation since 1984, and is announced to be succeeded by Hideki Sato.

Sega Enterprises ltd. is currently the market leader in the home video game console market, in competition with Nintendo and Panasonic. Sega currently holds the largest market of share of the three, followed by Nintendo and then by Panasonic. Nakayama has been the head of Sega for going on 15 years, and during that time he has over seen the release of their first home consoles the SG-1000's before the rise of Sega Master System and Sega Genesis which both helped Sega eventually gain the market dominance it has since enjoyed with the Saturn in partnership with Sony.

- Los Angeles Times

"Nakayama's departure to be honest wasn't something that surprised me - by the end the man looked incredibly tired if not irritated with whatever it was he was dealing with over in Tokyo. It was kind of a matter of when, not if." - Tom Kalinske, 2011 interview

"Nakayama-san in general had been worn down by the arguments that our Japanese board was going through at the time. A lot of the board remained on the fence about the partnership with Sony and thought we were becoming too much a puppet, others remained very envious of America and Europe, and now even Sony's success compared to us before. For myself personally, I wanted to continue siding with Sony so long as things kept looking good, which of course they were." - Hideki Sato, 2009 interview.

"Nakayama's departure highlighted something that was all too clear, that Sega of Japan's management was highly ineffective. He had left largely because he was tired of dealing with the board members in Tokyo. However, once he was gone, Sega became even more subservient to Sony than it was even before. A lot of people ask why Sega allowed itself to become such, it was largely due to the ineffective management if I am to name the root cause." - Anonymous Sega Insider, 2016 interview.

"Sonic Underground was.........weird."

"The order they actually aired the episodes in was just...off. When I download them to archives or folders I always order them differently cuz it's just like....better my way."

"It was the order they actually made them in though."

"WE ARE SONIC, SONIC UNDERGROUND!"

"SOMEDAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"Why did they even make this show? Just to have one? Weren't they already making the anime?"

"Actually the anime went into production after Sonic Underground was pitched. The anime was made to coincide with the redesign they were giving to Sonic. Underground was apparently made because they were afraid the 3DO M2 would get to much attention so they wanted some sort of marketing for the Saturn. It's what I heard, anyway. That or they just wanted a western show alongside an eastern show."

"Ah."

"Yeah, SU was in production from 1997 to 1999, the Sonic anime was from 1998 & 1999. I think, anyway. Sega's very secretive with the production of the Sonic anime for some reason. I just know that the success of the movie and the upcoming console generation was what made them want to make an anime."

"TBH I would not be shocked if SU actually had the opposite effect that it was intended."

"Did Kalinske seriously approve of SU? Or was he just not involved?"

"I have no idea - but I doubt that Sega's execs are actually involved in the creative process for these things, I think all they do is approve or disapprove of stuff. Don't quote me on that though."

"^ This. Plus, Sonic Underground I think was mostly produced in France. I think it would've been Sega Europe's call for this one."

"Great. First the Europop in Sonic R and then this. What is with Sega Europe and cheesy music?"

"WORK IT OUT!"

"CAN YOU FEEL THE SUNSHINE?!

"EXPLODING BABEH!"

"To be honest, I didn't think Underground was that terrible. I mean,yeah it was definitely eccentric, but it's kind of a middleground between AoStH and SatAM. Plus it was the first series to feature Knuckles."

- YouTube comments, 2013

SUPER SMASH BROS.
January, 1999

They've raced go-karts. They've partied hearty. Now, Nintendo's famous cast of characters is taking it's competitive spirt someplace it's never been before: the ring.
SUPER SMASH BROS.

- Nintendo Power advert for Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. The game featured Mario, Donkey Kong, Fox McCloud, Kirby, Samus, Yoshi, Link, Pikachu, Ness, Captain Falcon, Luigi and Jigglypuff in a fighting game using a knock-off-the-stage mechanic rather than standard health. The game was a commercial and critical success. The game garnered and maintains a powerful following well into modern day.

"Console Wars Episode V: Nintendo Strikes Back"

"You mean Nintendo SMASHES Back ;D" - Forum comments, 1999

SEGA SMASH PACK VOLUME 1
February, 1999

Get ready to SMASH! It's time for Sega Smash Pack Volume 1! Enjoy all the best Sega classics of Arcade & Mega Drive past in this collection of Sega history! Altered Beast, Columns, Golden Axe, Out Run, Phantasy Star II, Sonic Spinball, The Revenge of Shinboi and Vectorman - all on one disc! All these games for the price of one - and all for the Sega PC! That is, Microsoft Windows of course.

- SegaZone Magazine



GAME GEAR TO BE DISCONTINUED: KILLED BY POKEMON?
February, 1999

Sega Enterprises has recently announced that they are giving up on the Game Gear after lackluster sales this past holiday season.

"The Game Gear is not our future" said Hideki Sato, President & CEO of Sega Enterprises ltd., "It had it's time on the market, and now it is finished. "

The Game Gear, introduced in Japan during 1990 and everywhere else in 1991, was Sega's answer to the Game Boy from Nintendo. While the Game Gear was discontinued in Japan during 1997. This past holiday season, the Game Gear was met with powerful competition as the Game Boy was boosted by the increasing popularity of Pokemon. Sega was very unimpressed with American and European sales this past season and so the decision to cancel the Game Gear comes to no real surprise. On the subject of whether or not there will be another Sega handheld system, Mr. Sato had this to say:

"There are no current plans in place for Sega to re-enter the handheld market, though we may partner with other handheld producers."

Interestingly, Pokemon was largely attributed to the Japanese discontinuation of the Game Gear as well, though former President and CEO Hayao Nakayama was also in the process of discontinuing the Mega Drive and Mega CD in Japan at the time too.

Of the discontinuation, the great Tom Kalinske of Sega's American division spoke these words:

"The Game Gear was one of the tipping points that got me into Sega in the first place, and while even I am a bit sad to see it go, I saw this coming from the moment the holiday season was coming around. Don't worry though, they mave won this battle, but this 'war' isn't over yet."

The head of Sega's European division, Robert Deirth also confirmed for his corner of the market that yes, even Sega's enternal kingdom is ending support of the Game Gear by Spring this year, saying:

"The Game Gear, despite it's superior power, just isn't relevant in the market anymore. What people want from Sega is the Saturn and the Mega Drive - and that's what I'm going to focus on delivering."

While home consoles are a different story, the Game Gear was always second fiddle to the Game Boy wherever it tried to sell itself - Sega was just unable to get enough people interested in it. It is sad to see Sega leave an enter part of the market, but perhaps it is for the best that they focus on the Saturn, the Genesis & CD and even SegaWorld at the moment rather than fight such a losing battle with the Game Boy in the midst of this Pokemon craze going on right now.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"There are two reasons why I wish Pokemon never existed: the most cringest manchild of all, and the death of the Game Gear."

"The Game Gear was dying anyway."

"They really couldn't bail it out like SegaWorld?"

"That's different. Sony's deep pockets could help SW because would show up anyway even if it wasn't much. With the Game Gear, it kind of needed people, you know, buying it. Holiday 1998 was all about the M2, Pokemon, Beanie Babies, Ocarina of Time, soccer moms killing each other for their spoiled brats' sonic plushies and trying to get some late tickets for the Sonic film. Nobody cared about Game Gear."

"Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were being fought over too. After Sonic '98, that game was major black friday battle fuel. But yeah, not Game Gear. When it wasn't over Pokemon, of course." - YouTube comments, 2010's

GEX 3: DEEP COVER GECKO
March, 1999

It's time to enter the media dimension for the third time coming with gaming's favorite lizard and 3DO's golden boy, Gex! What's that slick gecko up to now? Well it turns out that Agent Xtra has been reported missing - no doubt kidnapped by Rez. Needless to say, the TV loving reptile has to go and save his girl.

This time, you will be able to operate even more vehicles than you were before from a tank, a camel and even a snowboard or two! You can even unlock costumes that give you even more tricks up your sleeves!
Secret levels and bug collecting also return for the first time since the first game, but this time you can swim and spit out some fir or ice (under certain circumstances, of course). You can get joined by three new characters to play as for the first time in the franchise!
Only available on Panasonic 3DO M2.

- 3DO Magazine.



SAKURA WARS 2: THOU SHALT NOT DIE
April, 1999

It's time to get back in action - the sequel to the Saturn hit Sakura Wars has finally arrived. Sega has really outdone themselves this time - two years after the events of the previous title, Ichiro Ogami returns from overseas training to rejoin the Flower Division of the Imperial Assault Force, since after all someone's gotta defend Tokyo from those supernatural threats facing it! Needless to say they get caught up pretty deep in a battle between forces of both the supernatural and the political nature.
Coming to western shores only for the Sega-Sony Saturn.

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine. Sakura Wars 2 was considered one of 1999's best games.

"Final Fantasy, Sakura Wars, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, people were really getting into Anime by the time '99 rolled around. It was impossible to escape it! It was like a virus, but one that people enjoyed having." - YouTube comment, 2012

SONIC SPORTS
May, 1999

Leap into Summer fun with this athletically awesome game! Sonic Sports! That's right, it's time to get fit and healthy with everyone's favourite hedgehog! Play Soccer, Football, Basketball, Tennis and even Baseball with all of your favourite Sonic characters! And if none of that is your jam, there's awesome smaller games such as Chess, Solitaire and Mahjong! You may even spot some other Sega stars around the stadium too! Overall it's time to kick that butt of yours in gear and get active with Sonic Sports!

Only available on Sega-Sony Saturn

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine

"Sega, Nintendo and 3DO were locked in a total war against each other. That Star Fox ad where Sega & 3DO torture a Mario plushie for N64 secrets, Michael Jackson and so many other celebrities including sports stars (Michael Jordan, I think?) being practically spokespeople for the Saturn, 3DO's E3 98 performance with Lanis and Chapelle, it was practically endless."

"I like the M2 kind of made the sequel ad to the original 3DO, by actually having the Saturn and the N64 being flushed down a toilet - with Plunger scene included."

"What."

"Yeah some idiot actually tries to flush an N64 and a Saturn down the toilet, needing a plunger to do the job. "

"There's another ad where they literally had the M2 descend from the heavens with an angelic choir too."

"To be fair, the Saturn's ad with the dinner plate and their own 'insult the competition' ads weren't much less cringe."

- IGN Forums, 2014

E3 1999 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

The 1999 show was the end of the innocent years. Many horrific school shootings had taken place in the months before the showing, and many of them called negative press towards 'violent' video games in the process, for better or for worse. E3 returned to Los Angeles with a splash. David Bowie performed at an E3 party. Goldberg and other top WCW wrestlers grappled in a small ring in the Electronic Arts booth. Michael Buffer charmed people at the Midway booth with his distinctively throaty call -- "LETS GET READY TO RUMMMMBLE!" as he revved up the crowds for Midway's Ready 2 Rumble boxing game.

The biggest news at the show was 3DO's M2. The console had been garnering a lot of attention and praise since it's launch in 1998 and had just been out in Australia & Ocenia since February. 3DO, a company that was trying to fight a nearly impossible fight, really tried hard to keep as much attention as they could. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was a game that gained a lot of attention at the show since it was scheduled for release some time after Summer. A lot of arcade games from Konami, Namco and Capcom were going to recieve M2 ports as well within the year or during the next such as Power Stone, the Resident Evil series (which was Multi-Platform), Street Fighter, SNK vs Capcom, Battle Tryst, Evil Night, the Namco Museum and even an upcoming 3D Pac-man game (which would become Pac-man World). In addition WARP was planning to release one more D game, D3, for the M2.

And of course, Soulcalibur was on the menu as well for the M2 - and it looked quite astonishing. It's predecessor, Soul Edge, had seen a Japanese exclusive release for the console's Japanese launch.

3DO's first party titles outside of Crystal Dynamics' games were a bit hit and miss, though Army Men & Battletanx had a bit of a following, and they announced what was to be Crusaders of Might and Magic too.

By May, 1999, SEGA had already unveiled plans for its "next generation system" in Japan. One step behind 3DO, SEGA had an interactive kiosk with an emulator demonstrating hardware for a system that SEGA executives hoped to introduce into the U.S. market toward the end of the year 2000.

The biggest announcement of the show came from Nintendo. On Wednesday, the day before the show officially opened, Nintendo held a press conference in which Howard Lincoln announced that the company had formed partnerships with IBM and Samsung pursuant to manufacturing its new game console which was later called "Dolphin" and eventually dubbed GameCube.

Nintendo made no attempt to demonstrate their hardware during the announcement and no specifications were announced except that Nintendo did announce that Dolphin would have an IBM copper-based 0.18 micron chip. There was talk about a 128-bit processor and DVD technology as well. Nintendo continued talking about Perfect Dark (the sequel to the smash hit Goldeneye 007) and showed Donkey Kong 64. The games looked good; but if you happened to enter the Nintendo booth after passing through 3DO-country, Perfect Dark and Donkey Kong 64 looked dismal.

SEGA & Sony were just beginning to build up the famous hype for their next big console project, but the still popular Saturn was still getting pretty good software for itself. Sega Technical Institute was revealed to be working on a new upcoming Saturn game, and another 3D Sonic platformer - this time by Sonic Team rather than STI - was announced as well.

They also announced that new models of the Saturn were being released as well - the main one on display was the white "Sony Saturn-PS9001" Saturn Model, based on Ken Kutaragi's original design plans for gaming's most famous piece of vaporware. The Sony Saturn-PS model was actually noteworthy for including a RAM extension built into it, making playing VF3 and a lot of bigger games like it more convenient. It came in two colorations - the standard white and the classic black.

Final Fantasy VIII and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater were also prominent at this E3 in addition to Sony's Ape Escape. All would of course be Saturn releases. SEGA made it clear that they were planning to keep their dominant market share going into the next generation,
The best games were Mecha Team (Naughty Dog's next game), Byzantium (from STI), Final Fantasy VIII, Dino Crisis, and Ape Escape. They also presented Chu Chu Rocket, a game that was to be able to use the Net Link add-on for online multiplayer. Again, great games with excellent graphics for their time that paled beside M2.

John Romero, the former co-founder of id Software, used E3 to tell the world about his upcoming game -- Daikatana. id, however, had a game of its own -- Quake III. People wondered if Romero could make technologically-sound games without Carmack. They wondered if Carmack could produce interesting games without Romero. Both men did dozens of interviews throughout the show.

- IGN, 2012

"There were a lot of different coloured Saturns out there, and it went for all models available too. The originals came in white for the east and black for the west, but there were many limited editions like Red, Gold, Blue, Purple, Green and Pink. A lot of these of course being based on some of the games."

"The Saturn-PS9001 model is basically the closest thing we will ever get to seeing the PlayStation on the market."

"Not really. The design's still drastically different to what they wanted to do with Nintendo."

"Black & White were the standard Saturns, Green, Red and Blue were the secondary colours (I especially liked the fancy way they drew Sonic onto the blue one. The Purple NiGHTS and Pink Sakura colours though are fought over more than the other colours, but none are as rare as the Golden 'Super Sonic' Saturn. I wouldn't be surprised if many soccer moms perished in pitched battle over that coveted thing."

"They didn't even change the hardware though....they were just colours." - IGN Forums, 2015

BYZANTIUM
July, 1999

Sega Technical Institute, the same people behind one of the best games of all time - Sonic X-Treme, has delivered again in the form of Byzantium. It is the middle ages, and the Eastern Roman Empire is still around but about to face the greatest challenge of it's life, the arrival of the Seljuk Turks. The empire is strong, but political intrigue and betrayal are the name of the game. You are the disgraced warrior Hippolytus, who was banished by the current Emperor. After discovering lineage to emperors of the past, you have taken it upon yourself to save the empire in peril and reclaim your birthright. Will you turn the empire's fate around, or will the empire that the likes of Augustus and Constantine forged still be doomed to failure? It's fate rests in your hands.

Only available for Sega-Sony Saturn.

- Sega-Sony Saturn magazine



HALO: WHERE IT ALL STARTED

Halo was first announced to the public during July of 1999, at the Macworld Conference & Expo - and it was Steve Jobs himself who announced that Halo would be released for classic Mac OS & Windows at the same time. Even before this, journalists had previewed it during E3 of that same year two months earlier - and they liked what they saw.

Halo was shown as "basically Myth in a sci-fi universe", and was shown as a real-time strategy game with a strong focus on realstic physics simulations and three-dimensional terrain.
From the very beginning Halo had a lot of attention from the PC crowd. Some were even prophetically calling it the next big thing, something to change PC gaming forever. Those who really wanted to make it big in the PC business or even the gaming market in general were all interested in what Bungie was cooking up.

- IGN, 2012



SONIC RPG 2
July, 1999

All new Sonic the Hedgehog!

Learn Sonic's world even more than ever before. Play as a male for female protagonist and explore through the world of Sonic again, this time showing it is not so dissimilar to our own. No longer is Sonic fictional, he is now more real than ever.
Doctor Eggman has constructed the largest Death Egg yet, and is threatening the balance of the entire solar system because of it. In order to restore the order of the cosmos, your hero of choice must join the forces of Sonic and his friends as well as the nations of the world against Eggman's evil empire - for the sake of the galaxy.

You will need to test your knowledge in this role playing adventure, with only the best of 32-bit 2D Saturn graphics.

- Dengeki Saturn Magazine. Sonic RPG 2, like it's predecessor, was only released in Japan despite being a decent commercial success.



LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER
August, 1999

Get ready for a gothic tale bound to make gaming history.

From the land of Crystal Dynamics, comes the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. What is this latest M2 exclusive you ask? In Soul Reaver, you are Raziel, a disfigured and ghostly vampire - casted to death by Kain. Kain himself all of Nosgoth's guardians, and refusing to sacrifice himself after becoming the only one left he himself doomed the land to decay and ruin. Revived by the Elder God as a soul reaver, Raziel's mission is to kill Kain and restore both Nosgoth and the Wheel of Fate to their former glory.

Hack and slash at your opponents using awesome abilities from the ol' claws and teeth to telekentic bolts & other supernatural powers. Manage travel through both the material and spectral realms - in the latter you can even phase through objects. Use baptism in holy flame to transform into a Fire Reaver, setting your enemies falme and add fire to your telekenetic bolts. Find magical glyphs to expend magical energy to attack groups of enemies simultaneously.
Don't forget to use the souls your slain foes leave behind to replenish your health, because this game is going to kick your ass!

Mastery of these skills at once is the key to success in this game, because you have a very important quest to be getting around to doing - undead or not.

- 3DO Magazine



SOULCALIBUR
August, 1999

Prepare for the next best fighting game from Namco - Soulcalibur. A battle of epic proportions. With eight-way movement paving the way for useful lateral movement in order deepen your strategy and make you feel as free as a fighting game could ever allow.

The mystical sword of the legends, the "Soul Edge" ended up in the hands of the dreaded Cervantes de Leon of Spain. For the next two decades, he stayed dormant on the remnants of a Spanish port town, taking the souls of those who reached him. Through the joined efforts of divine warrior Sophitia Alexandra and ninja Taki, he was stopped. That's when Siegfried Schtauffen arrived on the scene and battled Cervantes, who had been zombified through Soul Edge's will. After emerging victorious, Siegfried's attention turned unto the sword. The moment he touched the cursed blade, Soul Edge soon began using Siegfried as its host. The world quickly plunged into a vortex of slaughters as he and his followers claim souls to strengthen the blade in its weakened state.

Unknown to them, a group of warriors met on their journey to stop Soul Edge, and with them, three sacred weapons join once again - so beginning Soulcalibur.

Only available on Panasonic 3DO M2

- 3DO Magazine. Soulcalibur won E3 Game Critics Award for "Best Fighting Game" in 1999.



SONIC ADVENTURE
September, 1999

It's time for the biggest Adventure of your life.

It's time, for Sonic Adventure.

Play the largest Sonic experience of your life. Reach blazing fast speed harkening back to the days when blast processing was only 16-bits, run away from Orcas, traverse expansive lands in search of mysterious objects, battle larger & more powerful enemies than ever, and most of all.....explore the world of Sonic in a way you never did before.

Play as Sonic and speed through high-end Saturn visuals and blast process your way to your objectives. Play as Knuckles and learn your terrain on the hunt for the emerald of emeralds. Play as Tails and fly through the air, racing your way to freedom & independence. Learn the mystery behind the beast known as Chaos and what Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik has in store for the world with releasing this beast. Even more, for the first time ever play as a badnik of the Eggman Empire and even play as Amy in her own adventure!

It's time to get cooler than ever before.

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine. Sonic Adventure introduced Sonic's new appearance to the world at large and was the final Sonic title released for the Saturn.

"Sonic Adventure. The end of the classic era, and dawn of the Milennium era. What a transition."

"Milennium era? What?"

"Yes, the period starting with Sonic Adventure is called Milennium Sonic by the fan base."

"The Saturn release was really REALLY pushing the Saturn to it's limits. They had to cut a lot of stuff from the game, such as entire storylines, but they left bits in like Amy having a cutscene with Gamma in the middle of Sonic's story. The game was basically designed for the updated model they released after E3, it needs that model or a RAM cart to actually function. It was also designed to be a Sonic Team original compared to STI's work on Sonic X-Treme, and also took inspiration from the Japan only Sonic RPG games. Naka really wanted a 'cinematic' Sonic game. But the Saturn alone couldn't handle his entire vision."

"The tone of the Saturn release is also pretty different too, the Saturn release has a lot of textures more reminiscent of the Sonic games before it."

"I didn't even know SA had a Saturn release."

"Well, they did announce a certain big thing literally the same month it came out."

- YouTube comments, 2011

"A small nitpick of mine, or at least a little annoying thing about SA1's original release, is that the game was one of many Saturn games that took up multiple discs. Disc 1 contained Sonic, Tails & Knuckles' levels and storylines while Disc 2 contained Amy, Big & Gamma's levels & storylines with the last story involving Super Sonic taking up Disc 3 and requiring you to fully complete both prior discs before playing. The game itself, compared to it's later re-release, was very bare bones. Aside from the truly Saturn era draw distance & graphics, all there is to do is to mess with the options, replay levels & bosses, and run around the adventure fields (also replaying levels). There is no unlockable for beating the game 100%, and while Disc 3 does let you play as Super Sonic in Sonic's levels, you can only access Sonic's levels and can only play as Super Sonic when you have Disc 3 in the system so you do run out of things to do. It's one of the Saturn's better games to be sure but playing Sonic X-Treme was much more convenient back in the day. Also Windy Valley had no busines being that enormous when they had to split the game into 3 discs due to hardware limitations." - Anonymous Reviewer, 2009.

SEGA NEPTUNE UNVEILED AT TOKYO TOY SHOW
September, 1999

MAJOR gaming news from Japan. At the Tokyo Toy Show this month, Sega & Sony finally revealed the truth about their next big system - the Sega-Sony Neptune. That's right, it's not just an add-on, it's the full blown next generation system. And from what was shown, it's packing some serious hardware and software to match. Now, you might want to get a napkin because your mouth's gonna be drooling for this thing.
The core of the Saturn is it's CPU and GPU.

The CPU, codenamed "Triton" was personally designed & paid for by Sony itself, based on Sega's own arcade hardware that only Sony has access to outside of Sega themselves. It has been clocked at an impressive 300 MHz.

The GPU is a custom Sega Custom 3D chipset codenamed "Nereid" based on the Sega Hikaru arcade board hardware, making it clock in at 155 MHz.The Neptune has so far proven itself to be an absolute beast at virtually every graphical capability, from anti-aliasing, texturing and image quality and even to geometry, physics, particles and lighting! It blows the 3DO M2 right out of the water!

In terms of RAM, the Neptune is capable of 32 MB of RDRAM (system RAM) and 4 MB of eDRAM (video RAM), and 40 GB can be stored it's hard drive add-on.

And then there's the VMU, the Virtual Memory Unit. These are memory cards that fit right into the controller itself and even functions as a miniature handheld device for some pretty unique mini-games as well as screens depending on the game you're playing as! Each VMU comes with the capability of 128 KB storage - and each controller can fit two!

Top designers of the Neptune's hardware include the legendary Yu Suzuki and the father of the Saturn, Ken Kutaragi - and hardware wasn't all that was on display. Sega showed off a lot of software at the show too. Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, Bass Fishing, Seaman, Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo and so, so much more. These games all looked better than anything currently on the market.

But it also has more in store for the market too. What does it have? Well, DVD Technology for one thing, and a built-in modem for truly advanced online play is another. Last but not least.....it's compatible with all Saturn software. That's right, the Neptune is more than just a game system, it's a whole new home experience.

Japan is already going bonkers over it, and it's all going to reach the market next year.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"The Neptune was a wonderful project to work on. I actually affectionately named it 'PlayStation II' during it's early development, as Project Neptune had originally been pitched but scrapped as quickly as it was thought of, with Project Pluto being concieved as a model for the Saturn, but we quickly decided to incorporate it's qualities into the new Neptune project. The name Neptune was revived to be a fitting successor to the Saturn. Working with Suzuki-san was just as much an honour as it had been during the Saturn's development." - Ken Kutaragi, translated. 2010 interview with IGN.

"Sega wanted the Neptune project to be as powerful as possible, they wanted us and Sony to make them something that would surpass 3DO's M2 machine and be out on the market before Nintendo released their project. I based a lot of the hardware loosely on the contemporary arcade boards, though due to cost concerns they were tweaked. The Hikaru runs at 200 MHz smoothly, while the Neptune had to be slowed down for performance and keeping the cost at a practical number. The GPU of the Neptune was optomized to be able to present arcade titles of the time as crisply and as smoothly as possible." - Yu Suzuki, translated. 2010 interview with IGN.

"Tokyo Toy Show, September 1999. The beginning of 3DO's end."

"Pretty much the beginning of everyone's end."

- IGN Forums, 2009

MECHA TEAM
October, 1999

New from Naughty Dog, one of the greatest game's you'll ever play.

Introducing, Mecha Team.

What is Mecha Team? Only the best Naughty Dog experience for the Saturn yet!

Select your favourite mecha unit to take out on your mission to put a stop to the wicked activities of the Nefarious League of Intellectual Villians (NLIV). Combine platforming and shooting in this combination of 2.5D and 3D Graphics!

Fire out one of four unique weapons based on your character of choice as you move through all axises on your way to save the world from the dark hands of tyranny. Use strong melee moves if your enemies ever get too close. Hover in the air to avoid bottomless drops into the abyss. Collect gemstones, defeat the world's NLIV member and find hidden treasure in order to fund upgrades for all of the available characters.

Change the pace with a 2.5D perspective and enjoy the thrill of the Genesis days, only in 3D Graphics! That's right, not just rendered sprites trying to decieve you, full fledged graphics that only the Saturn can bring to you!

Get ready to turn Evil off.

Only available on Sega-Sony Saturn.

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine



PAC-MAN WORLD
October, 1999

First, it was Mario & Sonic

Then it was some bobcat.

Then it was Gex.

And now, it's Pac-man's turn! That's right, even Pac-man has now finally made the great leap into 3D, with Pac-man World! The iconic arcade star jumps into 3D with a platforming adventure. His friends and family have been kidnapped by what can only be presumed to be the Ghosts that always seem to think they have a one-up on our yellow spherical hero. As such it's up to Pac-man to set out to the Ghost's Island home and save his friends and get his birthday back in order!

Bounce on your enemies to subdue them, rev up and roll with pac-power, and keep an eye out for power pellets for the most troublesome of the ghosts - along with other power ups!

Swim in water, or sink in it with a kickin' new metal power-up.

Either way, the Pac, is back.

Only available for Panasonic 3DO M2

- 3DO Magazine



NAMCO MUSEUM
October, 1999

Get ready for a blast from Namco past with the Namco Museum! Play some of the industry's most historic arcade releases, all from the comfort of your home! No quarters required! In perfect arcade recreation, we give to you Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Galaxian, Pole Position and even good ol' Dig Dug!

So come on, why don't you pay the Namco Museum a visit some time?

Available for the Panasonic 3DO M2!

- 3DO Magazine. Namco Museuem would also receive a Nintendo 64 release during June of 2000.



SONIC UNDERGROUND: FOR PC & CD!
October, 1999

THEY'RE SONIC UNDERGROUND!

That's right, a game based on the hit television series Sonic Undergound is coming to your PC and your Sega Mega CD add-on! Play as Sonic, Sonia and Manic on their quest to find their mother Queen Aleena and put an end to Robotnik's tyranny over Mobius! Look for clues to Aleena's whereabouts, outwit Sleet and Dingo, destroy Robotnik's SWATbots, meet up with friends new and old, and play kickin' songs to get out of tight jams!

What more could you ask for?

Only available for Microsoft Windows & Sega Mega CD

- SegaZone Magazine. The game was the last sonic title released on the CD add-on.

"This game lied to us!"

"Why is Sonic Underground the one Sonic show that got a dedicated game based on it but SatAM only got cameos in Spinball and AoStH had it's game not even feature Sonic at all."

"This game isn't even that good either like....what the hell.....it's literally a point and click game where you just click around for clues of Aleena or whatever plot device you need to look for, then watch some FMV clips while maybe doing some QTE, while you mash buttons whenever the song sequences come up. It's....pretty much "wut" is my personal ranking for it."

"You don't even really play as Sonic, Sonia, or Manic either."

"It doesn't even continue the show either. It doesn't even finish the story. They don't even find Aleena in the end!"

"Funny enough this came out the same month that the show's abrupt finale aired."

"That's smart. Release a game about a show while that show is ending. Makes sense."

"Technically it came out after the show ended in some regions."

"This game wasn't actually developed by Sega or Sony, it was developed by some outside team. It wasn't Traveller's Tales, but it was definitely someone else."

"There....there is a Sonic Underground game? Seriously? What?"

"I think 99.9% of the Sonic fanbase doesn't even know this game is a thing."

- YouTube comments, 2013

CHU CHU ROCKET
November, 1999

It's going to be the best Saturn experience of your life - and one that the entire family can enjoy!

In this action puzzle home adventure, you control not a character but rather guide adorable ChuChu mice to the safety of a rocket, in order to lead them way from the KapuKapus - that's the cat trying to do them harm. Each will run straight unless they hit an arrow or hit the wall of the board, meaning you will need to really test your knowledge and place arrows down at the right time & place to forward your goals.

Play basic singe player mode, puzzle editing mode, cooperative challenge mode and even competitive multiplayer mode.

Not only that ,but you can use the NetLink set-up disc included with the game in order to compete with others online in the Saturn's first ever true online multiplayer experience!

Why would anyone pass up this revolutionary new advancement in gaming history? Surely not you!

- Sega-Sony Saturn Magazine



NEW SONIC SERIES!
November, 1999

All new Sonic the Hedgehog series! Animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Sega's Sonic Team, comes SegaSonic Freedom Rangers! Wakayama Shōgo is the only child of the Wakayama family, his parents employed by the Gaurdian Units of Nations - an organization who's duty is to protect the world from forces such as the Eggman Empire. The Wakayama clan eventually come to harbor renowned hero and sworn enemy of the Eggman, Sonic the Hedgehog as well as his friends following a crash landing by the Wakayama family home courtesy of Eggman's latest machine weapons! Be prepared for weekly fights against the forces of evil and the honour of family!

- Japanese magazine advertisement for SegaSonic Freedom Rangers, printed across multiple publications. Translated.

 

[EternalMadness1997]

THE BANDAI WONDERSWAN
March, 1999

New, from Bandai: The WonderSwan!

Developed in partnership with Gunpei Yokoi's own new company Koto, the WonderSwan is the most recent in handheld technology! Enjoy games as simple yet clever just like on Nintendo's Gameboy, if not even more so!

- Japanese Magazine advertisement, roughly translated. The Bandai WonderSwan was ultimately only released in Japan.



MECHA TEAM (SATURN)

There's not really much to Naughty Dog's Mecha Team that's really of note, and it's a shame too because they really had a good thing going on with The Bandicoots. This feels like it should have been released first. In a way, Mecha Team is like Naughty Dog trying to be Megaman, but while it's still a fun game it's just not as fun as say other games from around the late 90's era.

To put it basically, you are up against a league of villians and have to select a robot of your personal choice to go into a level and do battle with them. The difference between this and The Bandicoots is that you only play as one of the four robots rather than as the entire team. Like with Bandicoots though, each villian is assigned to a specific level and you can do them in any order you want.

The four mechs you have control over are named with two letters and a series of numbers that as I suppose an Easter Egg are all basically the names of Atari consoles.

BC2600 has a pistol based weapon and is the 'beginner' character in the game, is basic in everything.

BC2800 has lock-on missle weapons and can do a bounce attack.

BC5200 is the largest and bulkiest of the robots. He has two bazooka cannons as his arms and has the strongest melee attacks as well as the most HP.

BC7800 has a rapid fire machine gun style weapon and the ability to fly.

With that, the gameplay. The gameplay is in many ways your standard 3D Platformer, not too different from something like Super Mario 64 or Croc. The main gimmick of the game is the mech combat and weapon use, though - it's basically a 3D platforming shooter with occassional 2D segments in the level. While it's a good game by all accounts, it just feels like a 3D Megaman game more than it does it's own thing. Naughty Dog should've just made a sequel to The Bandicoots.

Really, this game is to be fair a bit better if you don't compare it to Naughty Dog's previous or later titles and look at it as it's own thing - but even then the comparison to Megaman can't really fully be ignored. That said, the gameplay is straight forward, while there are collectables they aren't really all that hard to find, but you don't really use them for anything other than weapon upgrades to cause more damage to your enemies or to bosses. Oh yeah, enemies in this game have health bars, but your weapons do drain health rather quickly so it's really that much of a problem.

Overall, this game is solid. Not the most original title out there - but that really is it's largest flaw. The game's presentation is classic Naughty Dog and there are very few real problems with the technical or performance aspects. I would say give it a try if you haven't already and i you are really interested in owning everything Naughty Dog.

- Harvey Chapman, 2015, YouTube review



BYZANTIUM (SATURN)

Byzantium. Byzantium was one of the late Saturn titles that really caught my eye when it came out. It sort of brought back memories of the Prince of Persia games, only this time set in Persia's greatest rival. It was something really unique for it's time, and from the same people behind the highest selling Saturn game hailed as the only true rival to Super Mario 64 if not the other way around.

Does it hold up to such standards? Well, to be fair it's a VERY different game from Sonic's first 3D outing, so it's best to not even bother comparing the two.

For starters, the game is a 3D adventure game set in the middle ages, right around the time Normandy was taking over England and more importantly to the game, when the Turks were laying siege to the Byzantine Empire. Luckily for history nerds, they do refer to Byzantium as the Roman Empire with Byzantium only being the name of the game. You play as Hippolytus, starting out as just a peasant boy living in Anatolia during the early 1000's, only to learn in your teen years that you are the illegitimate son of a former emperor and thus have a claim to the throne. Of course, you are banished by the current monarchy and sent to the Kievan Rus'.

Fast forward several decades and you are grown up - and the Seljuk Turks are just beginning to reap their own wrath down on the empire. You decide this is the perfect time to launch your attack on the throne - but the adventure to do so is not going to be easy.
The entire game is basically a borderline RPG adventure across eastern europe, battling fictionalized historical figures and even shockingly enough mythological beasts in order to not only take what is rightfuly yours but also rewrite history and save the empire from the 'curse' that caused it's destruction as well as of course defeat Alp Arslan who is the final and oddly enough the hardest fight in the game. Yes, he's even harder than the Hydra.

As you might have suspected, the name of the game is to gain experience in preparation for the final battle with the Turks and Alp Arslan through getting the best armor, best weapons and even the best magic as well as progressing through both story quests and sub quests. Often there are are one or two sub quests related to the area you're currently in, at least until the final few areas at which point it's all only story quests. There are always however optional people to have a chat with.

Now yeah, all that said this game is not the most realistic take on how to keep the Byzantine empire alive in an alternate history, considering that the entire plot is revealing that there is an ancient curse placed on the empire that you need to slay the ancient greek mythological figures from the Hydra to even Zeus and Heracles themselves to actually lift, then take your rightful throne and then slay Alp Arslan in the final showdown AND there is also magic you can equip yourself with but keep in mind this is not a real time strategy game from Paradox but a 3D Action Adventure game from Sega Technical Institute. That said though, the game does offer a small amount of actual history - albeit a little fictionalized - of the Byzantine Empire as well as the Orthodox Christian faith, mostly found through talking to people around the areas.

Speaking of which, the areas in this game are pretty varied and all make sense in the context of the story. You start in the forests and plains of Kievan Rus', before travelling through places such as the Caucasian Mountains, Armenia, the Central Asian Steppe, the Anatolian Plateaus and of course the mountains and hills of Greece - or Hellas - itself. Not to mention the glorious imperial city of Constantinople in it's prime. The final battle of course takes place in Manzikert, sadly you don't actually get to visit Persia, but you have Prince of Persia for that so I'm not too upset.

I will admit on that note it is still quite hilarious that Alp Arslan is a more difficult boss fight than both Zeus and Hercales. No, I'm serious. It's like you're fighting Superman or the devil incarnate. And no, it's not really a spoiler that he's the final boss since they build him up as such through the entire campaign.

On that subject, I've heard rumors that Turkey actually banned this game because of it's antagonistic depiction of the Seljuk Turks - their ancestors - and of Alp Arslan as basically a malevolent demigod force of destruction that takes an eternity to defeat even with top skills, but I don't know how true or how false that actually is.

Overall this game is fantastic for the time it was made and a definite adventure game to have on your Saturn if you're into that sort of thing and especially if you're interested in the Byzantine Empire.

- Colton Lang, 2016, YouTube review

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

Any updates? sorry for bump

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Any updates? sorry for bump

Sorry for the long wait, I'm working on the 2k post!

I also made a graph in ms paint for the 5th generation, not sure if to post it or not haha.

 

[SomeFollowTheStars]

Sorry for the long wait, I'm working on the 2k post!

I also made a graph in ms paint for the 5th generation, not sure if to post it or not haha.

ooohh. What's the Graph of?

 

[EternalMadness1997]

(Here it is! It's basically a recap up of the 5th generation consoles, including two technical fourth generation consoles that were either released around the same time frame or were still selling into it, or just for comparison. I basically listed them by order of console sales)

 

[EternalMadness1997]

(Hopefully the weeks of hiatus can be forgiven in light of how packed Y2K is.)

Y2K
January, 2000

If you're reading this, it's Y2K, and you're alive.
Good for you.
Now keep calm and carry on.

- Magazine ad, published in multiple publications.



THE SIMS
February, 2000
THE SIMS
The People Sumulator from the Creator of SimCity

- Cover of The Sims' box. Released for the PC developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, The Sims was considered 2000's game of the year according to it's cover. Originally concieved as a house builder but developed into more of a life simulation game that became a very successful PC game.

"When the Sims came out, it was a special, revolutionary title from the very beginning. It was a technical and creative achievement and just what the year 2000 needed to be bigger than the 1990's for gaming. Nobody before had seen anything quite like it, and it was only the beginning. It appealed to everyone - pretty much anyone of any age and gender could get into The Sims - it was truly worthy of all the praise it got." - Reviewer, 2010 forum post.

"The Year 2000 was the year of many wonderful beginnings but also of tragic endings. It was the year that Segata Sanshiro sacfriced his life for the good of Sega, flying into space to save Sega & Sony from it's competitors' missle attack."

"RIP Segata. He died for our sins."

"Amen." - YouTube comments, 2010's

THE SEGA-SONY NEPTUNE: LAUNCHED...IN JAPAN
March, 2000

Neptune, has arrived.

The successor to the great Saturn has finally launched into orbit of the gaming industry and is ready to take the world by storm.

Launched in Japan on March 4 of this year, THOUSANDS of Japanese civilizans have literally lined up to get their piece of Neptune! Men, Women, Teens, Parents with Kids, every type of person imaginable! Those pictures you've seen in the news are indeed real, all those people are clammering for a Neptune - and for good reason, it's the NEW most powerful system on the market!

The design of the Neptune is a gorgeous white rectangular box of beauty that can be placed either flat like an normal system or even perfectly on it's side. It has the gorgeous Neptune logo on the top of it and is complete with both an open tray button and a power on/off button as well. It's a little big or "fat", but still the perfect weight for the home entertainment system that it is. On the front of the system you will find four controller ports, and don't worry about your memory card, we'll get to that in a bit. Unlike the Saturn though, there is no reset button - though perhaps in hindsight we don't really need a reset button anymore.

Then there's the standard controllers. The controllers are based off what Sony calls the 'Dual Shock' design, and naturally match the colouration of the console itself. On the upper left of the front is the analog stick, which is said to be very response and fluid, it's small, grey and has a lot of small dots across the top that may assist with grip. On the lower left of the front is the d-pad, with it's right side neighbour being a second analog stick - though inbetween them is the triangular start button. Above the second stick are the main buttons - from left to right we got a yellow square, green triangle, blue circle and red X. As to why this change from ABC's of old, it's probably just trying something new (that and Sony's third party controllers for the Saturn did have that same shapes trend).

Then we get to the screen in the middle of the controller and the accompanying bay in the back complete with dust cover. This 'bay' is for the Virtual Memory Card - or VMC. Yes, the 8MB standard memory card for the Neptune goes into the back area of the controller - which can actually store two VMC units at once per controller. The screen in the middle of the controller displays a logo, picture or animation depending on your actions during the game and what game you are playing. On the sides of the screen are also two more buttons - select and analog. The VMCs also can be connected to another device - the VMU, Virtual Memory Unit. The VMU takes VMCs on it's own back and can be used to play small mini games depending on what games are saved on your VMCs.

Then, we get to the hardware. The fabulous, fabulous hardware. While the controller and the VMU set up has changed since it's initial Tokyo Toy Show unveiling, the technical specifications of the Neptune are still pretty much the same as it was back then. Clocking in at 300 MHz, the CPU was designed by Sony's own development teams and only goes by it's codename "Triton". Compared to it's contemporaries the Nintendo 64 and the 3DO M2 alongside it's many Sega predecessors, the Neptune has by far the most powerful CPU on the market. The GPU is just as much a technical upgrade, the Sega Custom GPU codenamed "Nereid" is capable of being clocked in at 155 MHz and boasts graphics more impressive in every way than any other currently selling system, as it's based largely off of Sega's NAOMI and Hikaru arcade boards to make arcade emulation as perfect as possible. Sonic has never looked better in 3D than on the Neptune.

The abilities of the Neptune though are what's really gonna get you locked in a psych ward over excitement for it. First thing's first, the Neptune is the second home console ever to have DVD playback capabilities, after it's competitor the 3DO M2. Secondly, the Neptune is compatible with Saturn software & music CD's, and Sega even reports that the games run slightly better now on a more powerful system! This is the only home console currently on the market to offer any form of backwards compatibility with it's predecessors. Finally, the third abilitiy of the Neptune is the ability connect online, via a motem actually built-in to the system! That's right, Sega is planning on unifying their online service within the year as one glorious SegaNet online service and are already planning on hosting an online competitive championship with games to support such a thing coming at a healthy rate! To sum all of this up in a single phrase, the Neptune is the next best thing to PC gaming.

The games though, the games are what definitely steal the show and Sega is pulling out all the stops. It's hard to list all of the launch titles currently available but they have some games already being called the best ever made.

Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition is a major upgrade to last year's Sonic Adventure in more than just graphics. With the much higher polygon count, the characters now look much more rounded rather than stiff as they did before, and feature actual mouth animations. Though the best change is the fact the entire game is now on ONE DISC! That's right, ONE. Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Gamma and Big's experiences all told with much clearer voicework, more animation, better graphics and within the contents of a singular disc. There's also a grand new game mode - the Chao Garden, a full on A-life game where you raise your own little adorable Chao to your heart's content - and can even race them against other Chao! Go fishing with big, finally experience some arcade shooting with Gamma and smash badniks with a hammer with Amy! Sonic, Chaos, Tails and Knuckles are also still in the game and trust us when we say that the Adventure is still as thrilling as it was back in '99 - if not even more so with all of the added story lines, stages, bosses and even sub-stages for you to try out in this all new recreated edition!

Also - Windy Valley had a major touch up, it may be smaller but it's downsizing actually helps the game run a lot smoother, faster and it melds very well with the pseudo realistic environment that the game is trying it's best to immerse you in!

Shenmue is quite possibly one of the greatest games ever made, and it definitely is one of the most expensive games ever made too - especially for a launch title. This is a game so immersive that you might even lose your sense of reality! In 1986 Yokosuka, Japan, teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki returns to his family dojo to witness his father Iwao and a Chinese man, Lan Di locked in a bitter confrontation. Ryo tries to intervene, but is easily incapacitated. Iwao ultimately loses his life to Lan Di while in his sons arms, and all Ryo knows is that Lan Di wanted a stone artifact known as the dragon mirror. Ryo sets out on an investigation to find and learn about the man who killed his father as well as the secret behind what he is after. In this revenge epic, you traverse a truly immersive open world, interact with people and objects in ways not seen before and piece together the story at your own pace. You will fight enemies in true Virtua Fighter fashion - even multiple enemies at once. The world is persistent almost like real life, Shops will open and close, buses run on timetables and everyone has their own routine all based on the in-game clock. It's quite possibly the most realistic world we've seen yet.

NiGHTS into Dreams 2000 is the long awaited successor to Saturn hit NiGHTs into Dreams! Though, that's kind of obvious. With Neptune's by far superior graphics and lighting systems, Nightopia has never looked so good! Loading times and game speed are faster than ever, and polygons are so much smoothed out! It's not just a graphical enhancement though, this remake was made with true love by SEGA & Sony themselves and features all the content from December '96's Christmas NiGHTS special release as well as image galleries, a movie viewer and even tons of new seasonal outfits for everyone - and also supports online networking too!

Sega Bass Fishing is, well, a bass fishing game! You may remember it from '98 as one of the arcade king's many cabinets, and guess what - it's a perfect port. That's right, this is a near perfect port of the arcade title. Not a single fish or bait type is left out, not a single level, not a single bit of music, and arguably the graphics are even better than they initially looked like - complete with changing weather conditions, 14 different lures, realistic gameplay, 8 truly gorgeous fishing spots, and 3 epic game modes! Get ready to reel in and bring home the big ones! If you have even the smallest interest in fishing, this is an excellent title to have at home for those days where there just aren't any biters.

Crazy Taxi is yet another near perfect arcade port, this time from last year's cabinets! Interestingly, this is Japan's first dose of Crazy Taxi since only North America got the original arcade cabinet. It's the game that rewards you for pyschotic driving, the name of the game is to pick up your customer and take 'em to the goal - as fast as possible! Earn money through performing stunts, as you follow the arrow leading you to where the passenger wantrs to get, but once again make sure you're driving crazy fast cuz if you get there after the time's out the customer's gonna jump out without even paying you!

Samba de Amigo is a far more cultural rendition to the Parappa the Rapper musical set up - specifically of hispanic culture! This is designed for the special maracca controller, but the standard controllers can still be used. As you enjoy lively cultural music, you have to make sure you hit the right beats on time or else not only will Samba become sad and lonely but any crowd he tries to attract will dissappear too! With the Marracas, the gameplay is even more creative though, as you have to keep track of specific heights as well in a very intuitive and very creative option!

Space Channel 5 is another completely new franchise from the geniuses at Sega! In this music video game, you are funky space reporter Ulala as she grooves to funky beats to rescue hostages and stop the enemy. There are dance-offs and shoot-outs, and to beat them you will have to really pay attention to the commands given to you alongside the funky rhythm. Successful moves increase ratings while making mistakes will lower ratings and cause youto lose hearts, possibly causing you to lose hostages - all in all you're gonna need to really put your eyes and brain to work!

House of the Dead 2 is yet another near perfect recreation of the November '98 arcade classic! Shoot zombies down on rails now complete with auto-reload and branching paths to increase the variety of each playthrough! Travel through the zombified manor in Venice Italy in search of your comrade Agent "G", if it's not too late. Witness horrors that only Neptune is able to provide you.

Blue Stinger is from a new name in town, Climax Games and is another perfectly fine survival horror game for the legendary system that is the Sega Neptune. As we know, 65 million years ago, a meteorite crashed into the earth and caused the end of the dinosaurs. Now, in the year 2000, an island emerges from where the meteorite crash landed - named "Dinosaur Island". A biotech corporation has taken up shop on the island. 18 years later, Elliot Ballade - a member of ESER forces, is vacationing on the island when something lands on the island and seals it in a dome of energy. When a mysterious, ethereal being called Nephilim shows up to chase Ballade, he takes it upon himself to solve the enigma of Dinosaur Island. Be careful and use vending machine food & drink only when it's safe as you explore the fully 3D enviornments of the game. Make sure you purchase weapons and ammo from swords to napalm launchers to keep yourself alive, and keep your fists ready just in case! You never know what is behind the corner.

Sega Rally 2 is your go-to racing game for the Neptune - and it's even more thrilling than the first version! Pick your car and drive along with the track at speed reminiscent of blast processing! Reach checkpoints at super sonic speeds, be rewarded with more time to better reach the goal! With new vehicles, new enviorment settings, new circuits for each enivornment type and even an updated version of some original circuits this racer is a definite must-have for any aspiring Neptune owner!

Toy Commander is from developer No Cliché, and is an interesting little game about a kid who neglects his childhood favourite toys the minute he gets some army themed toys. The toys, angry about this, rebel and try to destroy the new toys. You will have to take control of toys and complete missions around the house, which shows off the cababilities of the Neptune by far, and each objective is uniquely themed after the respective rooms of the house!

Virtua Fighter 3tb is a powerful update to the hit Saturn game, Virtua Fighter 3! What does tb stand for? Why, it stands for Team Battle! That's right, you can now select a team of characters to fight with and as, taking turns with each other to fight against an opposing team of powerful enemies! Couple that with the Neptune's superior graphical and geometric capabilities as well as expanded ram, and no longer do you need special carts to play the game - it's simple convienience.

And all that's just a small taste of what the Neptune is offering it's many crowds in Japan and what it's gonna be offering the west in the coming months of the year! If I were you, i'd get to pre-ordering ASAP.

Oh, and by the way. $299.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly

"So the Neptune's out in Japan now.....I'm psyched."

"You and probably every other person who calls themselves a gamer."

"'cept for those people still playing M2 or N64, anyway."

"How many people of that kind are there?"

"A good few but most people have seen the light and gone to Sega. Just look at all the people lining up in the streets of Japan just to get a Neptune."

"I don't know what I think about the controller though. it looks almost like some kind of portable system on it's own."

"Actually I kinda like the screen idea. It's not needed but it seems like fun - plus it is pretty small anyway. Way too small to be a portable system."

"Don't forget the DVD playing and the online connectivity. I can't wait to see what gaming online's gonna be like. I hope they make a lot more games available for that than just one."

"I'm sure they will. Sega's going hard with the Neptune already."

"Do you think Nintendo's Dolphin's gonna be able to compete?"

"I dunno. Depends."

"I kinda doubt it. The Neptune has the launch line-up of heaven....or hell if you're the competition. Best Nintendo can hope for is to beat 3DO."

"Are people even buying the M2 anymore?"

"I feel like it's probably gonna stop pretty soon. I own an M2 myself but admittedly I don't have many games for it. Mostly just Gex, Tekken and MGS plus some EA sports stuff."

"That's probably most people's M2 library in a nutshell."

"Eh. Some people own Pac-man and Soulcalibur too, oh and Klonoa too."

"What's Klonoa?"

"Namco's answer to Sonic? I guess?"

"Doesn't 3DO already have Gex? Why are they changing?"

"Namco made Klonoa, not 3DO."

"Oh."

"On the subject of games, what's the opinion on the Neptune's games? If anyone has any."

"I'm ready for the Sonic Adventure update, it sounds and looks like it's an entirely different game. Shenmue sounds pretty sweet too."

"I like Space Channel 5 personally."

"To be honest, I kinda want Samba de Amigo already."

"Shenmue's my personal favourite based on what we know so far. I'm gonna wait until it's released here to really judge though."

"My only opinion: Sega's king."

- Forum conversation, 2000

"While it gets memes for the fact it was literally released a year after the original, SA:ME is actually a massive improvement over the original. Yes by modern standards the mid height, "pudy", fingerless Sonic is a fair bit outdated but he still has his supporters. It was the first game to fully introduce to us the modern redesign of Sonic, whereas the original only had colored eyes and everything else was the same character model we'd seen in other Saturn games. SA:ME also featured the Chao Garden, a feature planned but scrapped from the original (because it was already pushing the disc limits of the Saturn) and in fact it's possible SA:ME exists solely because they wanted to get the Chao Garden out. You also get to play as Metal Sonic if you 100% the game, have the mission mode to complete, and can unlock the old Game Gear games to play. Honestly one of the best Neptune games I've played if I'm being honest." - Anonymous Reviewer, 2008.

"The one downfall of Millennium Edition was the way the Super Sonic story was handled. In the original release, when you put in Disc 3 it does a memory card/harddrive check to make sure you completed all of the stories across both discs. If you don't pass it, you get kicked to the start up screen of the Saturn (the ol' starship). If you pass it, you do the Last Story immediately. Once you finish it, you pretty much just get a basic menu to either run around the adventure field as Sonic or to play individual levels outright, except now you can play as Super Sonic after getting 50 rings. However, you can't replay the story after completion. In Milennium Edition, you can't play as Super Sonic in the normal levels because the Super Sonic mode is still tied to the Super Sonic storyline, which now just exists on an endless loop of replaying the story - and normal Sonic wasn't made able to turn into Super Sonic so there is no legitimate way in the ME version to play as Super Sonic in normal levels. Definitely a developer oversight if I've ever seen one. Other than that, it is the definitive way to play the game." - Anonymous Reviewer, 2008

NOKIA STEPPING INTO THE GAMING RING
March, 2000

After months of rumors and speculation and various teasing with the media, of all companies it is mobile phone king Nokia who has officially announced that they will be joining the competition for home video game consoles, and as Chairman & CEO Jorma Ollila puts it - "we mean business".

Since 1998, Nokia has been at the head of the mobile phone market and it has made them billions of dollars, and it comes to no surprise that this announcement is joined by a similar announcement of plans to also release a portable gaming system as well though one can imagine the industry's surprise that Nokia would be joining the market when most analysts were predicting a future consolidation to only Sega and Nintendo, or a different company to join in if anything! Nokia's announcement marks the first time a European company has made a serious home console since Philips with their CD-i system - and even then it is debatable whether or not said system should even be considered a gaming platform.

"The idea for this actually comes from Microsoft" said Ilkka Raiskinen, head of Nokia's entertainment & media, "We were beginning to work with them for some of our other projects while at the same time they were considering entering the gaming market. However, they ultimately decided against joining the market - they did not detail the reasons to us, and offered to sell the idea and what they had to us. [Ollila] decided to take them up on their offer and from there decided to continue the plans for a gaming console."

So far there isn't really anything more that we can say about this upcoming "Project Ursa", as it has been codenamed by Nokia itself. Nokia has not yet revealed any technical specs, but does plan on it being a competitor against the likes of Sega & Sony's Neptune (released in Japan just a few weeks ago), 3DO's M2 and Nintendo's own "Project Dolphin" that's also currently in development.

"I would not have wanted to go forward with this if I did not have confidence in it's abilities to succeed" spoke Jorma Ollila, "Home consoles is an entirely new market for [Nokia], but there is a place for us in the market if our cards are played right."

One thing that we do know about it is that it will be compatible with Nokia's upcoming portable gaming project and will take advantage of the growing market for online gaming, according to Nokia own admission.

Analysts are currently not really having high hopes for Project Ursa, as previous "fourth competitor" consoles have had a rather negative history. For example, NEC's not even in the market anymore, the SNK Neo Geo never truly achieved mainstream sales, and Atari is but a fading memory to modern gamers if even that. Even the 3DO is struggling an uphill battle against Sega and Nintendo - who have dominated the market since the 1980's. Though Nokia is something of a national pride for Finland and certainly rules mobile phones right now,However, how well or horribly Project Ursa does has yet to be seen.

- Next Generation magazine.

"NOKIA JUST ANNOUNCED THEY'RE JOINING THE CONSOLE MARKET!"

".....what?"

"Do you think they can pull it off? Competing with Sega, Nintendo AND 3DO?"

"I can see them competing with 3DO. It's Nintendo and especially SEGA I have a hard time seeing them do well against."

"We'll have to see how serious they are about being a gaming company. I wonder if they're gonna make 'Project Ursa' look like a giant phone or something."

"Oh god, what if the controller brings back the keypad from the Jaguar?"

"The controllers might be a giant phone wired to a game console."

"As if the Neptune's screen wasn't already an implication of the way game controllers are heading."

"I think you guys are being a tad too negative. I think Nokia really does have a chance. I mean, remember 3DO?"

"GET OUT OF BED, JOHN!"

"Yeah, 3DO aren't doing the best right now. The M2's doing better than the last console they had, but I swear all that anyone thinks the M2 is, is a DVD player that's super cheap. I do commend Laura for her effort though."
"Admittedly she is pretty good at making me want to buy one, but I still want to buy a Neptune more."

"I heard M2 sales are declining now that every single Gaming magazine, tv spot or news report is releated to the Neptune. Seriously, my god are they hyping that thing. I expect MAJOR holiday season fights over it."

"I'm just wondering what spooked Microsoft into not going forward with their own console plan."

"Probably Sega & Sony. Sega had a press release recently about their plan to centralize SegaNet and expand it's compatibility and functionality with the Neptune."

- Forum discussion, 2000.

"I personally did not want to cancel the original project. I really thought we could have made something great. But the others [at Microsoft] didn't agree. They thought that trying to compete with SegaNet would have been too difficult, that we wouldn't be able to offer a true competitive enough alternative. Or that we wouldn't be able to have a killer app. In the end,I decided to give the idea to Nokia, in the hopes they would still help turn the industry towards PC's, SEGA was devouring far too many PC developers for my taste. I'd let them handle it, but of course I decided to not be as hands-on with it - so they put it - as Sony was with Sega. What Nokia wanted to do in way of design and things like that was up to them, we just gave them the idea and agreed to help them out with the internet." - Bill Gates, 2012 interview

"Nokia entering the gaming market, at first I was honestly a bit rather shocked that they of all people were going to be my upcoming competition. I had my utter confidence in the Neptune though, I knew there was not a chance in hell that they could beat us. Not even Nintendo could at this point. So for once we were pretty much business as usual, you could say we finally knew what Nintendo was feeling like back in the 1980's when this all started." - Tom Kalinske, 2012 interview

E3 2000 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

The hottest ticket at E3 2000 was a five-minute video clip that Konami showed every hour on the hour on an gigantic screen outside its booth. That video showed scenes from Metal Gear Solid 2. People started to pack around the screen 10 minutes ahead of time. By the time the video started, hundreds of people would have crammed in to watch it.

The things that make MGS2's visuals so impressive were the little details. The footage included close ups of characters, amazing rain effects, and a gunfight in a ship's galley in which bullets hit food and bottles. Glass and melons sprayed convincingly.

Game Boy played well against the big boys in 2000. It had been more than a decade since Nintendo launched its original Game Boy and Nintendo announced selling its 100 millionth Game Boy the month of the show (Very convenient, but ate the stuff up). Instead of showing new game hardware, Nintendo showed games. Rare, for the N64, resurrected Conker. In the past, Conker had been a fluffy squirrel destined for kids games. There'd even been a family friendly Conker game on Game Boy. That changed. Conker's Bad Fur Day was a game about a big-eyed, fluffy-tailed little squirrel who drank beer, urinated on selected enemies, and brought a certain South Park appeal to Nintendo's generally Disney-esque line-up. As squirrels go, Conker was more Chippendales than Chip and Dale, but Nintendo was not planning on selling the game to children.

One company that continually made a big splash at E3 was Gathering of Developers. This was a company that liked to be known by the appellations "GOD Games," and everything about them said "I'm a rebel." From GOD Games came such ultra-violent games Max Payne and Rune. Gathering of Developers did not actually display its wares on the show floor, it set up its "Promised Land" ring of trailers, in a parking lot across the street from the L.A. Convention Center.

Understand, the Columbine High School shootings happened six months before this show and the boys who committed the crime were known DOOM enthusiasts. A new and far more caustic hearing on video game was underway in Washington D.C., and there were protests outside the show.

Back on the floor, 3DO put on a show of its own as it fought for survival. Sega & Sony had already launched Neptune in Japan; and it had a treasure trove of A+ games, it was clear that SEGA had all the momentum. To counter this, 3DO tried their hardest to focus on what everyone wanted. MGS2 and Tekken Tag Tournment were both M2 exclusives people were paying attention to, and a fourth Gex game was also shown off as being in development, as was the third installment in the D series, D3. Namco also presented Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, though that would also see an N64 release later on too.

While 3DO was really trying to push hard, SEGA & Sony yet again stole the show. They showed Sonic Adventure's Millenium Edition remake right alongside the sequel Sonic Adventure 2.

They also made a big deal about the motem, announcing several games that would use the motem including a football game that ran beautifully over the modem as well as announcements of Neptune championship competitions featuring some of it's games (namely Sonic Adventure: Millenium Edition). SEGA also had go-go dancers in cages to announce the coming of Space Channel 5, and they also had Samba de Amigo - a music ryhtym game to be played with inventine maracca controllers.

Then there was Seaman, a strange product in which people raised and interacted with a smart-mouthed fish. The game came with a microphone.

As for Shenmue, it was one of the titles that people were very impressed with. It had the biggest budget of any game SEGA ever put out, and already Japan considered it one of the best games ever made - and it looked quite impressive during the show too. It had a lot of critics and press glued to it. During the show, SEGA unveiled SEGANet, a new ISP. That summer, people could sign on to a two-year contract with SEGANet and receive a free Neptune.

3DO had a hot booth, some of the best games that people practically drooled over (or at least MGS2) but SEGA had the hotter booth with the most generous offer, especially the soon-to-be-released Neptune that absolutely stole the show.

The big story of this year's E3 was going to be either SEGA stepping up to the plate by releasing Neptune on time and with a lot games at a good price or SEGA condemning itself by missing any of the above. SEGA, still being represented by Tom Kalinske, opted to do everything right with its U.S. release. Neptune would be released on October 26 for $299 with 51+ games scheduled by Christmas. Good news for SEGA, bad news for 3DO.

E3 2000 definitely made 3DO realize they needed more than what they had. While many of the M2 games demoed at the show were fairly disappointing, there were some true standouts. Tekken Tag Tournament looked good. As mentioned before, there was this little thing called Metal Gear Solid 2.

Then, there was the elephant in the room - Nokia. Just months prior to the show did they reveal intention to enter the market with their mysterious "Project Ursa". While there were skeptics, there were just as many people wondering possibilities that the new contender could give to the table.

Project Ursa itself had initially begun life as a Microsoft project, but after deciding not to go ahead with the project Microsoft gave what they had developed to Nokia (who they had a minor partnership with for Nokia's phone lines), and Nokia proceeded with tweaking the project into their own. While Nokia was a completely new name to the gaming scene, for a first ever E3 appearance they did pretty well - though they did not really have much to show outside of proposed hardware capabilities - and they seemed pretty good.

One of the main things they showed off was something that they had been working on with DICE - a war themed game that seemed pretty impressive in all honesty.

In the way of other third party developers, Fujiwara was beginning to see that they needed another big name other than Fireborne and after growing in size over the years began to increase their creative juices. They revealed plans to have their own mascot character to stand alongside Sonic, Mario, Gex, Pac-man, Mega-man and Spyro. Their character was actually a human, but one in a much more family friendly setting than that of Fireborne, and of course he was to star in a platformer.

Fujiwara also revealed Fireborne III: Origins, which was to be the third installment and prequel for the Fireborne series. Other titles they showed off were a return to 2D graphics in the forms of more traditional RPGs and graphic novel style games, marketed primarily for Japan but with localizations planned.

Speaking of Mega-man, Capcom was continuing to have major attention with the Resident Evil franchise and were displaying Marvel vs Capcom 2 alongside Mega Man Legends 2.

In addition, there was Project X, now released as the Nuon. Effectively it was a game console of sorts that was built into DVD players, the technology made by VM Labs but given to DVD Player manufacturers. A novel idea, but everyone forgot it even existed especially given how few games there were and how different it was from the other competitors - if you even considered it a competitor at all.

Overall, the 6th E3 was in many ways the beginning of the industry's greatest changes. Times were changing, and the faces of the industry were going to have to either adapt or be left behind as relics of the past.

- IGN, 2012

"The 3DO M2 was a fantastic console, a very big improvement from it's predecessor. But it did have a problem, and it's that it's game library still just didn't add up to it's competition. SEGA especially steamrolled it but Nintendo as always was not much different. Sure the M2 had Gex, Metal Gear Solid, Klonoa, Tekken, D2 and Legacy of Kain - but there was no hope for it against the Neptune. Not only did it's nemesis have both a more powerful CPU AND GPU, but it's line-up at launch was both enormous and borderline heavenly. There was no way even Nintendo could've competed with such a launch. Worse still for the M2, most of the games people really wanted would not be ready until after it's mortal enemy's launch. 3DO really tried to fight the fight, but it was out of their control at this point." - IGN Forums, 2014

"Sega and Sony were and are E3's biggest hogs. Especially in the early shows, I swear they always had the most Godzilla sized booth compared to everyone else. It was like they were a giant planet and everyone else was orbiting around them."

"To be fair, they were two major companies working together. Nothing will ever top their combined booth sizes from E3 '95 though. Good lord." - IGN Forums, 2013

FIREBORNE III: ORIGINS
June, 2000

It's time to see how the world of Fireborne started in the new hot game of the series, Fireborne III: Origins.

See how the empire started, see amazing 3D enviornments, play through a storyline as tragic as it is adventurous, go back to your roots only in 3, learn the tale of the dragons and how a planet of many became a planet of one.

From Fujiwara

Only for 3DO M2

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, in Japan Fireborne III was also released for Sega Neptune.



YIN-YANG
June, 2000

Fujiwara brings you what is going to be your latest adventure and the newest of their great franchises: Yin-Yang.

There are many people in the world, but despite that the cosmos divide them into roughly two alignments. Those who are Yin, and those who are Yang. Now this is not simply good and evil, as people who are Yang have some Yin in them, and even the other way around. However, there is one person in the world who follows both alignments.

Meet Dochira, the one who can switch between both Yin and Yang. Switch between the two opposing alignments carefully on your quest to discover your alignment - a quest of your own choosing. Use your respective Yin and Yang forms to deal with certain enemies or obstacles, but choose your own adventure - choose who you follow carefully.

Only you can choose what path you follow. Are you Yin? Are you Yang? Are you something else?

Available now for 3DO M2, coming to Sega Neptune this holiday season.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly.

"Yin-Yang ultimately became one of Fujiwara's best selling titles,with the Fireborne games doing alright but admittedly getting a bit boring after the 3D outing."

"Didn't Dochira become basically their mascot?"

"Pretty much."

- YouTube comments, 2010's

JET SET RADIO
June, 2000

From SEGA comes what is perhaps the best experience yet, and only for Neptune system!

Enjoy the sight of cel-shaded graphics, giving true look of animation to the game experience!

Play the life of a rebel on the run from the law for the crime of self expression through grafitti wall art!

Skate your away out of challenges and obstacles, use trick battles to unlock new playable characters!

Time yourself so that you don't fail, make sure to get every graffiti spot before it runs out or else you shall lose!

Available only on Sega Neptune!

- Dengeki Neptune Magazine, roughly translated. Jet Set Radio would be a launch title for Neptune's American and European launches.



THE NINTENDO SATELLAVIEW - A RETROSPECTIVE

For the Super Famicom, a creation that was truly a Nintendo creation was the Satellaview - Satellite for the Super Nintendo! Yeah, in a way that's basically what it was. Released only in Japan around April of 1995, it was a satellite modem that attached to the bottom of the Super Famicom, and was designed to recieve signals and broadcasts from the TV station WOWOW's susidiary St.GIGA.

While it's not the only obscure Nintendo creation that was released only in Japan, it is one of the more noteworthy ones as it actually supports some decent and practically unknown games for itself - including Zelda titles.

Users would be able to have both male and female avatars for this game called BS-X: The Story of the Town Whose Name was Stolen. While it took the form of a game, it's actual purpose was basically an interactive menu system. With your avatar, you'd move throughout a virtual town, with houses and shops serving as download locations where you could directly download games, game data or even digital magazines into temporary memory locations - though they only stayed until you downloaded something else.

Apart from downloads, players could also travel to in-game locations such as the Wall Newspaper Co. to read brief text-only postcard-like messages from St.GIGA and Nintendo that announced contest winners, revealed future games and future programming schedule details, and served to raise awareness for celebrity events relating to SoundLink Magazine performers' off-Satellaview activities. You were also equipped with an inventory, and the in-game currency that could be spent on items fromtelephone cards, vehicle tickets, fish bait to even shoes that would enable the player to dash rather than walk everywhere. While the BS-X application cartridge had none of the challenges typically associated with games, it featured a plot of sorts and thus can be considered a video game in a narratalogical sense - since actual broadcasts from WOWOW would be sent into the game and be played live. This is a feature mostly unavailable in modern emulations though, for obvious reasons. This broadcasting even occurred during the games.
Now, the Zelda games.

There were actually 3 Zelda titles released for the Satellaview in it's day, all of them featuring the SoundLink narration broadcasts and all of them presumed to be part of the Zelda timeline as well as having their own stories unique to them! Apparently, as you played the games the broadcasts actually would play out the plot for you - though of course it was all only in Japanese. You also played as your avatar, rather than Link, making this one of the few Zelda games where - while not actually playing as Zelda - you don't actually play as Link. This offers credit to the idea that it takes place during Link's Awakening, or perhaps during a later Zelda game - if not earlier. While footage of them does exist and the games can now be emulated rather than lost forever, the broadcasts are not present in the actual emulation. In addition, while I said they are presumed to be part of the main Zelda timeline, as I also said it is heavily debated on where it is placed in the timeline or if it's even canon to it at all. After all it's not like they have ever been re-released, and it's doubtful they ever will be for that matter.

Despite all of that, though, the Satellaview still had it's time come. By June 2000, the end had come. Sales and Subscriptions were dropping, and in all fairness this is not all that shocking considering how royally Nintendo had been dethroned in Japan's home console ring by Sega and the fact the Neptune was released in March of that same year. Though creative and classic Nintendo ingenuity, it was basically on a console that was outdated - still fun and wonderful to revisit, but past it's prime. With the Nintendo 64 still marching on and Project Dolphin still in development, it's easy to see it just made sense to discontinue the Satellaview.

In addition, by system standards it was never truly all that popular.

Sadly, since it was only released in Japan and no American equivelant was ever made, or even European but that probably would have been a mess, people basically either forgot about, were unaware, or completely dismissed it's existence.

- YouTube, 2017



3DO PURCHASES BUNGIE
July, 2000

It seems like a surprise development has occurred in the industry! Panasonic's 3DO division has purchased PC & Mac developer Bungie - crafters of Marathon and currently in production of Halo, and thus have taken command of all properties made or in development by the studio!
This purchase is not completely without reason, 3DO just four or so years ago established a studio in Redmond dedicated to PC game development, thus showing they indeed have had an interest in the platform for a time. It is only natural that the company trying it's hardest to fight both Sega (and Sony) and Nintendo would something that's garnering the attention that Halo is.

According to what we know though, this purchase coincides with a major change in the way Halo is being developed - but no further details have been released just yet.

- Next Generation Magazine



NOKIA PURCHASES DICE + MORE INFORMATION ON URSA
July, 2000

Fresh off of Bungie's purchase by 3DO, comes another surprising buy-out! This time, new up and coming gaming company and mobile phone giant Nokia has purchased game developer DICE - who are currently working on a game known as Battlefield. Presumably, the game will be a launch title or in general an exclusive for the Project Ursa console once it is finalized.

This is also not the only expansion Nokia has made, earlier in the year - right after announcing their entrance into the market, they officially established Nokia Studios in Finland to focus on first party video game development - and they are still looking for more expansion as far as we can tell.

Indeed it's been let out that they are working with Microsoft not only with software for their mobile phones but also with internet connectivity for Project Ursa. Unfortunately, no further details other than that have been released.
While the community as a whole is still skeptical about Nokia's ability to succeed, especially given how much 3DO is beginning to feel the heat, who knows what the future may hold.

- Next Generation Magazine



COSMO PROTECTORS
July, 2000

From Fujiwara comes the latest and one of the greatest experiences you're going to have for a long time not only today, but far into the future.

With 2D graphics that make the days of old look primitive, you take control of one of many galactic protectors - sworn to protect the universe from all whom threaten the balance of power. Just in time too, because a major threat is already revealing itself.
You weild great power with tremendous potential, but your enemies are evenly matched. You will need skill and wit at hardcore levels if you want to get anywhere in this game.

Get ready for a battle to protect the cosmos themselves.

Only available on 3DO M2

- Electronic Gaming Monthly. Cosmo Protectors was released in Japan on the Neptune.



SEAMAN
August, 2000

It is the most immersive journey you will have played as of late.

A mysterious species has been found originating from Egypt, discovered to be connected to ancient legends as well as mythology, believed to possibly hold supernatural capabilities.
You are entrusted to look after this 'Seaman', and learn from it as much as it learns from you.

Only on Neptune

- Dengeki Neptune magazine, roughly translated.



THE DOLPHIN: NAMED GAMECUBE
August, 2000

Of the two upcoming consoles for this next gaming generation, the first of the two to recieve it's finalized name is none other than the Nintendo GameCube, which is the final product name of the 'Project Dolphin' system Nintendo is preparing for release some time next year. This was revealed in a press conference held in Japan this month.

According to the press release, the GameCube is planned to feature DVD playback capabilities thanks to a partnership Nintendo has made with Samsung - but will not be backwards compatible with previous Nintendo hardware as far as we know so far.

However, this is in large part due to Nintendo keeping to their word on adopting discs as a format rather than remaining with cartridges - something which proved to cost them a lot of third party support with the Nintendo 64, which still currently remains on the market though has struggled to battle against Sega & Sony's Saturn outside of North America and now has to contend with the two's Neptune.

Nintendo is perhaps one of the most profilic and well known video game company in the world, having made many of he most cherished titles of gaming history - both in home consoles and arcades. Though not actually the first to enter the market, through creativity and ingenuity they have kept their name well known on an international scale. While they once dominated the Japanese and North American markets - being a total phenomenon during the 1980's, they never were able to heavily break into the European market until relatively recently, and even then they remain second to Sega in the region. In addition, they have lost a large ammount of American market share in the home console market to Sega and have virtually become dethroned by them entirely in Japan. However, despite these recent hardships Nintendo remains one of the richer companies in the gaming industry thanks in large part due to continuing to dominate the handheld market due to the tremendous success that their Gameboy has been.

With the GameCube's name having been finalized, only Nokia's 'Project Ursa' remains still using it's development codename at the moment - as far as the public is aware.

- Los Angeles Times



THE TIGER GAME.COM - A RETROSPECTIVE

Released in 1997, the Tiger Game.com was a handheld console to compete with the Gameboy in the later years of it's lifespan, and lasted until 2000. Made by Tiger Electronics, it's probably one of the least liked systems in the entire industry. It's games are all monochrome at a time when even the Gameboy Color was on it's way, and was competing in Japan against the WonderSwan and overall against both the Neo Geo Pocket and the GameBoy. While it had a modem and could connect online to check your email and whatnot, it still needed to be hooked up in order to actually use it for that - making it seem redundant. It also offered a few built in games that are common PC fair in all honesty, and had a lot of other PDA functions. It's most notable function though was it being one of - if not the - first systems to have a touchscreen. Other than that though there's not really much to write home about.

Games for the Game.com were notoriously of poor quality, and often were remakes of far beyond superior games. Controls were often clunky and slow,and these 'ports' were needless to say always heavily watered down. There's even Sonic Jam on this thing, presumably released as they were discontinuing the Game Gear. It sucks. Badly.

Really, there is no reason to get this thing. The only thing worse than it was it's brother, the R-Zone. Oh and maybe the Jaguar CD. But for once that might actually be debatable.

- YouTube, September 2017



THE NEPTUNE IS IN ORBIT
October, 2000

The day has arrived.

The Sega Neptune, perhaps the most anticipated console of all time, has been released for public consumption. And trust us when we see that everyone is hooked on it already. All of the things you heard about it from Japan is true - it's the best system on the market up to this point.
The hardware is the most powerful set of chips yet devised, with a powerful CPU clocked at 300 MHz codenamed "Triton", and a GPU from Sega themselves clocked in at 155 MHz and sports the most advanced if not gorgeous graphical capabilities on the market - blowing M2 straight out of the water. It's RAM and memory storage capabilities are through the roof as well, no more need for massive cartridges nor sliding over to the console, you can take out the memory card straight from the controller itself. You can even plug it into a bundled mini handheld to play special mini games from it!

With a built-in modem, you can connect to the internet like never before and enjoy online multiplayer and communicating via SegaNet, which SEGA announces they will soon centralize into an international service - which may result in a temporary outage of the site.

Then, the games. This is going to be brief descriptions, but it's because this launch line-up is so massively long that we can't possibly do all the games justice. You would think that a large launch might mean sub-par games, but not here. The top games to get are quite possibly some of the best games ever made.

Things aren't looking good for 3DO or Nintendo with a line-up like this:

Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition (SEGA)
Shenmue (SEGA)
Sega Bass Fishing (SEGA)
Seaman (SEGA)
Space Channel 5 (SEGA)
Jet Set Radio (SEGA)
Sega Film Studio (SEGA)
Samba de Amigo (SEGA)
House of the Dead 2 (SEGA)
NiGHTS into Dreams 2000 (SEGA)
Crazy Taxi (SEGA)
Virtua Fighter 3tb (SEGA)
NFL 2K (SEGA)
NBA 2K (SEGA)
Sega Rally 2 (SEGA)
FantaVision (SCEI)
Toy Commander (No Cliché)
Blue Stinger (Climax Graphics)
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway)
Smuggler's Run (Rockstar)
Street Fighter EX3 (Capcom)
SSX (EA)
X-Squad (EA)
Madden NFL 2001 (EA)
NHL 2001 (EA)
Kessen (EA)
Midnight Club (Rockstar)
Q-Ball Billards Master (Take-Two Interactive)
Yin-Yang (Fujiwara)
Orphen (Activision)
Gun Griffon Blaze (Working Designs)
Evergrace (Agetec)
Eternal Ring (Agetec)
Armored Core 2 (Agetec)
Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (Tecmo)
Dynasty Warriors 2 (Koei)
Unreal Tournament (Infogrames)
Wild Wild Racing (Interplay)
TimeSplitters (Eidos)

See the next few pages for more detailed descriptions on the games.

Can we just take a moment to soak in the fact that we have a grand total of 39 games coming out at launch? With more probably going to be available at launch for Europe! This is quite possibly the biggest launch line-up we've ever seen - in both size and quality!
Aside from the obligatory sports games, most of the hot sellers right now are Sonic Advemture: ME and Shenmue, with the latter being considered rightfuly one of the best games ever made. It might even become a best seller at this rate! Seaman is also eccentric, and might get a following. Really, all of Sega's first party titles here from Samba to Space Channel and even Jet Set & their fishing/sports games are all doing well in critics and sales right now.

They appear to be in a bit of conflict with EA though, over their new sports games. Most of EA's titles for the Neptune are also being released for the M2 either within this month or the coming ones.

The Next Generation is here, whether you like it or not. You've just got to deal with it.

- Next Generation magazine



3DO M2 - OCTOBER LINE-UP & MORE
October, 2000

While the Neptune has reached it's orbit and is all the rage across the entire world with it's European launch still on the way and both Nintendo & Nokia keeping their business pretty top secret, 3DO has released a line-up of upcoming games for their system for this month and holiday season! Some of these will however be shared with the Neptune.

Coming within the month or the holiday season:

Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (Namco)
Tekken Tag Tournament (Namco)
Ridge Racer V (Namco)
Silent Scope (Konami)
The Grinch (Konami)
ESPN International Track and Field (Konami)
ESPN X-Games Snowboarding (Konami)
D3 (WARP)
SSX (EA)
NHL 2001 (EA)
Madden NFL 2001 (EA)
TimeSplitters (Eidos)

And a fair bit more, too. See next pages for details.

Overall, this is a pretty solid list of upcoming releases in all fairness - though with M2 sales beginning to see a sharp decline it remains to be seen whether or not these titles will be best sellers on the market.

In addition to these titles, we have new information about games scheduled for an M2 release next year. These titles include Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, and the upcoming Gex 4. All of these games are as far as we know M2 exclusives. There is also Halo, which 3DO is also claiming will be ready for a 2001 release. Further details about these games and more on Pages 16, 17 and 18.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



THE NEPTUNE REACHES EUROPE
November, 2000

The Gaming King of Europe has struck again. The Sega Neptune at last has reached European shores, and it's reached us with quite near 50 or so launch titles ready for being sold out this holiday season!
Everything you've heard from Japan and America is true.

Best Graphics? Check.

Best CPU? Check.

DVD playback? Check.

Built-in modem? Check.

SegaNet? Check.

Memory cards into your controller? Check.

Some of the best games ever made? Check.

With such a large launch line-up, the Neptune is sure to dominate the world of gaming on a worldwide scale, much like it's predecessor the Saturn. In addition, the Neptune is backwards compatible with all Saturn software, so if you happened to be one of the rarities who missed out on the Saturn craze you can easily pick yourself up some game copies and a Neptune to make up for it!

The list of games and info on them can be found on pages 20 through 24.

- Eurogamer magazine



SEGA SHUFFLE
November, 2000

What do you get when HudsonSoft, SEGA and Sonic Team work together on a game? Sega Shuffle, that's what!

An all new 4 player party game from Sega, only for the Neptune game system! Play not only as Sonic, but also as various others from the Sega line-up, including Sonic and his friends, Ulala, Beat, Samba and even Elliot & Claris- andd many more faces both old and new from the vast line-up of Sega stars!

What are they gathering here in a crossover of epic dream proportions for? Well, play the game and find out! It's one of the glorious titles available at launch here in Europe for the Neptune, and will be released elsewhere in the coming weeks!

- Eurogamer magazine

"The holiday season of 2000 was a complete and total disaster for us. After what was looking to be 3 years of smooth sailing, Sega & Sony basically took over the entire market. Nobody wanted an M2 anymore. I tried to step up my game, especially with advertising, but it was to no avail. Trip was already trying to get Panasonic to develop an 'M3' console, while I was increasingly becoming a bit less optimistic than him about the logistics and financial ability to actually pull off a third 3DO system." - Laura de la Cruz, 2012 interview

"Looking back now, how idealistic the 3DO venture was from the very beginning. It really could have worked the way I really wanted it to had I not had to jack up the price so much and not made the fee so small. Panasonic fixed those issues with the M2, but when SEGA unveiled their next system after the Saturn, everything just went downhill from there. We went from the highest sales we'd ever had to a steep and unyielding decline. I was certain though that we'd sold enough units to make an M3, so to speak, but Panasonic and even de la Cruz seemed more skeptical than me." - Trip Hawkins, 2012 interview.7

"What hurt 3DO the most was that it had to compete one-on-one against SEGA & Sony while Nintendo - and newcomer Nokia - were still getting their consoles ready for the upcoming year. The thing was, there was really no contest. SEGA & Sony clobbered 3DO thoroughly, with a vastly superior software library, vastly superior hardware and last but not least much less of an reliance on third party developers. Konami and Namco basically carried the 3DO and the M2, even if around the M2's time 3DO did begin to acquire more first party developers." - IGN, 2012

D3

From WARP, and only for the 3DO M2, comes the company's swan song to the gaming world and thus the final game in the D series.

For the final game in the series, we return to Laura yet again - this time she has to traverse the Canadian wilderness after an airplane trip went horribly wrong thanks to a terrorist group taking control of the plane. Waking up in a small cabin with a poet named Kimberly Fox, it is learned that not only have 10 days passed, but there are 8 days unaccounted for. Laura then sets out into the wilderness in order to investigate the possibility of contacting the outside world and seeking out other survivors only to discover that more strange, hideous creatures are lurking in the area, much to her (and probably your) horror.

Explore the vast tundra of Canada and make sure you look around all your surroundings carefully to the latter. Be prepared for random battles against terrifying foes and make sure to defeat them, for the experience is definitely needed.
Take pictures, hunt for food, and equip yourself for horror one last time.

Only available on 3DO M2.

- 3DO Magazine . Following this game's release, WARP left the gaming industry as it became Superwarp.



THE 1ST ANNUAL NEPTUNE CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR
November, 2000

SEGA, the video game veteran and giant who is practically king of the industry has announced that it will be hosting this upcoming February 2001 the 1st annual Sega Neptune championships, a gaming competition featuring their latest hit title Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition.
The championship, to be held in Las Vegas, will be to determine who is the best Sonic Adventure player, the one to recieve such an honour will be given $15,000 and get a photo op with the legendary Yuji Naka himself. However, everyone will still be partying heartily with arcade games aplenty and even 311 rocking the night away! Did we mention a lot of other surprise celebs are gonna be there too?

Specifically, Jimmy Kimmel and Eric Christian Olsen will be there as well as key members of SCEI & Sonic Team and no doubt some serious gaming masters.
If you think you're one of the best, you should get yourself a ticket ASAP.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



FUJIWARA FIGHT CLUB
December, 2000

It's time to join the club.

The Fujiwara fight club.

In the world of 3D games ranging from adventures of the Sonic kind, quests of the Zelda kind and so many sports that we can hardly count them, comes a truly class act of the 2D variety from the minds at Fujiwara (previously known for Fireborne I, II & III as well as Yin-Yang).
Play from a selection of over 20 characters, and fight your way through the club with the arcade perfect graphics visible not only in the characters but in every inch of the enviornment.

Learn the special moves, unlock all the characters and even alternative attire for them. Discover all of the secrets. Fight to the very last breath.

Only on Sega Neptune.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



PHANTASY STAR ONLINE
December, 2000

The homeworld as been destroyed, but hope has not. The Pioneer Project has begun in order to search for a new planet to settle. Enter the planet Ragol, which appeared to be perfect to sustain advanced civilization lifestyles. However, Pioneer I was lost not long after Pioneer 2 arrived with the majority of refugees.

Enter the Hunters, sent to Ragol's surface to investigate the dissapearance of Pioneer 1 and the large explosion that accompanied it.

You will play as one of these Hunters.

Out of three major classes - Hunter, Ranger or Force - you will have to pick one. Will you be able to master the Hunter's close-ranged weaponry, or will you be better with the Ranger's more long distance firearm approach? Or perhaps you are adept at the Forces and their abilit to use techniques remiscent of what other RPG's call magic.

Either way, you must pick your class, customize your identity, and proceed.

Will be fully compatible with SegaNet for a truly immersive online multiplayer experience, something that only SEGA can offer you.

- SegaZone Magazine. Released in Japan during December of 2000, PSO would be released elsewhere in January & February of 2001. It would be a major critical and commercial success and expanded interest in online gaming.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

(Hopefully the weeks of hiatus can be forgiven in light of how packed Y2K is.)

Y2K
January, 2000

If you're reading this, it's Y2K, and you're alive.
Good for you.
Now keep calm and carry on.

- Magazine ad, published in multiple publications.



THE SIMS
February, 2000
THE SIMS
The People Sumulator from the Creator of SimCity

- Cover of The Sims' box. Released for the PC developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, The Sims was considered 2000's game of the year according to it's cover. Originally concieved as a house builder but developed into more of a life simulation game that became a very successful PC game.









THE SEGA-SONY NEPTUNE: LAUNCHED...IN JAPAN
March, 2000

Neptune, has arrived.

The successor to the great Saturn has finally launched into orbit of the gaming industry and is ready to take the world by storm.

Launched in Japan on March 4 of this year, THOUSANDS of Japanese civilizans have literally lined up to get their piece of Neptune! Men, Women, Teens, Parents with Kids, every type of person imaginable! Those pictures you've seen in the news are indeed real, all those people are clammering for a Neptune - and for good reason, it's the NEW most powerful system on the market!

The design of the Neptune is a gorgeous white rectangular box of beauty that can be placed either flat like an normal system or even perfectly on it's side. It has the gorgeous Neptune logo on the top of it and is complete with both an open tray button and a power on/off button as well. It's a little big or "fat", but still the perfect weight for the home entertainment system that it is. On the front of the system you will find four controller ports, and don't worry about your memory card, we'll get to that in a bit. Unlike the Saturn though, there is no reset button - though perhaps in hindsight we don't really need a reset button anymore.

Then there's the standard controllers. The controllers are based off what Sony calls the 'Dual Shock' design, and naturally match the colouration of the console itself. On the upper left of the front is the analog stick, which is said to be very response and fluid, it's small, grey and has a lot of small dots across the top that may assist with grip. On the lower left of the front is the d-pad, with it's right side neighbour being a second analog stick - though inbetween them is the triangular start button. Above the second stick are the main buttons - from left to right we got a yellow square, green triangle, blue circle and red X. As to why this change from ABC's of old, it's probably just trying something new (that and Sony's third party controllers for the Saturn did have that same shapes trend).

Then we get to the screen in the middle of the controller and the accompanying bay in the back complete with dust cover. This 'bay' is for the Virtual Memory Card - or VMC. Yes, the 8MB standard memory card for the Neptune goes into the back area of the controller - which can actually store two VMC units at once per controller. The screen in the middle of the controller displays a logo, picture or animation depending on your actions during the game and what game you are playing. On the sides of the screen are also two more buttons - select and analog. The VMCs also can be connected to another device - the VMU, Virtual Memory Unit. The VMU takes VMCs on it's own back and can be used to play small mini games depending on what games are saved on your VMCs.

Then, we get to the hardware. The fabulous, fabulous hardware. While the controller and the VMU set up has changed since it's initial Tokyo Toy Show unveiling, the technical specifications of the Neptune are still pretty much the same as it was back then. Clocking in at 300 MHz, the CPU was designed by Sony's own development teams and only goes by it's codename "Triton". Compared to it's contemporaries the Nintendo 64 and the 3DO M2 alongside it's many Sega predecessors, the Neptune has by far the most powerful CPU on the market. The GPU is just as much a technical upgrade, the Sega Custom GPU codenamed "Nereid" is capable of being clocked in at 155 MHz and boasts graphics more impressive in every way than any other currently selling system, as it's based largely off of Sega's NAOMI and Hikaru arcade boards to make arcade emulation as perfect as possible. Sonic has never looked better in 3D than on the Neptune.

The abilities of the Neptune though are what's really gonna get you locked in a psych ward over excitement for it. First thing's first, the Neptune is the second home console ever to have DVD playback capabilities, after it's competitor the 3DO M2. Secondly, the Neptune is compatible with Saturn software & music CD's, and Sega even reports that the games run slightly better now on a more powerful system! This is the only home console currently on the market to offer any form of backwards compatibility with it's predecessors. Finally, the third abilitiy of the Neptune is the ability connect online, via a motem actually built-in to the system! That's right, Sega is planning on unifying their online service within the year as one glorious SegaNet online service and are already planning on hosting an online competitive championship with games to support such a thing coming at a healthy rate! To sum all of this up in a single phrase, the Neptune is the next best thing to PC gaming.

The games though, the games are what definitely steal the show and Sega is pulling out all the stops. It's hard to list all of the launch titles currently available but they have some games already being called the best ever made.

Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition is a major upgrade to last year's Sonic Adventure in more than just graphics. Amy Rose, E-102 "Gamma" and Big the Cat have all been added as playable characters with their own fully voiced & animated story arcs and all look better than ever with the Neptune's new graphical hardware. There's also a grand new game mode - the Chao Garden, a full on A-life game where you raise your own little adorable Chao to your heart's content - and can even race them against other Chao! Go fishing with big, finally experience some arcade shooting with Gamma and smash badniks with a hammer with Amy! Sonic, Chaos, Tails and Knuckles are also still in the game and trust us when we say that the Adventure is still as thrilling as it was back in '99 - if not even more so with all of the added story lines, stages, bosses and even sub-stages for you to try out in this all new recreated edition!

Shenmue is quite possibly one of the greatest games ever made, and it definitely is one of the most expensive games ever made too - especially for a launch title. This is a game so immersive that you might even lose your sense of reality! In 1986 Yokosuka, Japan, teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki returns to his family dojo to witness his father Iwao and a Chinese man, Lan Di locked in a bitter confrontation. Ryo tries to intervene, but is easily incapacitated. Iwao ultimately loses his life to Lan Di while in his sons arms, and all Ryo knows is that Lan Di wanted a stone artifact known as the dragon mirror. Ryo sets out on an investigation to find and learn about the man who killed his father as well as the secret behind what he is after. In this revenge epic, you traverse a truly immersive open world, interact with people and objects in ways not seen before and piece together the story at your own pace. You will fight enemies in true Virtua Fighter fashion - even multiple enemies at once. The world is persistent almost like real life, Shops will open and close, buses run on timetables and everyone has their own routine all based on the in-game clock. It's quite possibly the most realistic world we've seen yet.

NiGHTS into Dreams 2000 is the long awaited successor to Saturn hit NiGHTs into Dreams! Though, that's kind of obvious. With Neptune's by far superior graphics and lighting systems, Nightopia has never looked so good! Loading times and game speed are faster than ever, and polygons are so much smoothed out! It's not just a graphical enhancement though, this remake was made with true love by SEGA & Sony themselves and features all the content from December '96's Christmas NiGHTS special release as well as image galleries, a movie viewer and even tons of new seasonal outfits for everyone - and also supports online networking too!

Sega Bass Fishing is, well, a bass fishing game! You may remember it from '98 as one of the arcade king's many cabinets, and guess what - it's a perfect port. That's right, this is a near perfect port of the arcade title. Not a single fish or bait type is left out, not a single level, not a single bit of music, and arguably the graphics are even better than they initially looked like - complete with changing weather conditions, 14 different lures, realistic gameplay, 8 truly gorgeous fishing spots, and 3 epic game modes! Get ready to reel in and bring home the big ones! If you have even the smallest interest in fishing, this is an excellent title to have at home for those days where there just aren't any biters.

Crazy Taxi is yet another near perfect arcade port, this time from last year's cabinets! Interestingly, this is Japan's first dose of Crazy Taxi since only North America got the original arcade cabinet. It's the game that rewards you for pyschotic driving, the name of the game is to pick up your customer and take 'em to the goal - as fast as possible! Earn money through performing stunts, as you follow the arrow leading you to where the passenger wantrs to get, but once again make sure you're driving crazy fast cuz if you get there after the time's out the customer's gonna jump out without even paying you!

Samba de Amigo is a far more cultural rendition to the Parappa the Rapper musical set up - specifically of hispanic culture! This is designed for the special maracca controller, but the standard controllers can still be used. As you enjoy lively cultural music, you have to make sure you hit the right beats on time or else not only will Samba become sad and lonely but any crowd he tries to attract will dissappear too! With the Marracas, the gameplay is even more creative though, as you have to keep track of specific heights as well in a very intuitive and very creative option!

Space Channel 5 is another completely new franchise from the geniuses at Sega! In this music video game, you are funky space reporter Ulala as she grooves to funky beats to rescue hostages and stop the enemy. There are dance-offs and shoot-outs, and to beat them you will have to really pay attention to the commands given to you alongside the funky rhythm. Successful moves increase ratings while making mistakes will lower ratings and cause youto lose hearts, possibly causing you to lose hostages - all in all you're gonna need to really put your eyes and brain to work!

House of the Dead 2 is yet another near perfect recreation of the November '98 arcade classic! Shoot zombies down on rails now complete with auto-reload and branching paths to increase the variety of each playthrough! Travel through the zombified manor in Venice Italy in search of your comrade Agent "G", if it's not too late. Witness horrors that only Neptune is able to provide you.

Blue Stinger is from a new name in town, Climax Games and is another perfectly fine survival horror game for the legendary system that is the Sega Neptune. As we know, 65 million years ago, a meteorite crashed into the earth and caused the end of the dinosaurs. Now, in the year 2000, an island emerges from where the meteorite crash landed - named "Dinosaur Island". A biotech corporation has taken up shop on the island. 18 years later, Elliot Ballade - a member of ESER forces, is vacationing on the island when something lands on the island and seals it in a dome of energy. When a mysterious, ethereal being called Nephilim shows up to chase Ballade, he takes it upon himself to solve the enigma of Dinosaur Island. Be careful and use vending machine food & drink only when it's safe as you explore the fully 3D enviornments of the game. Make sure you purchase weapons and ammo from swords to napalm launchers to keep yourself alive, and keep your fists ready just in case! You never know what is behind the corner.

Sega Rally 2 is your go-to racing game for the Neptune - and it's even more thrilling than the first version! Pick your car and drive along with the track at speed reminiscent of blast processing! Reach checkpoints at super sonic speeds, be rewarded with more time to better reach the goal! With new vehicles, new enviorment settings, new circuits for each enivornment type and even an updated version of some original circuits this racer is a definite must-have for any aspiring Neptune owner!

Toy Commander is from developer No Cliché, and is an interesting little game about a kid who neglects his childhood favourite toys the minute he gets some army themed toys. The toys, angry about this, rebel and try to destroy the new toys. You will have to take control of toys and complete missions around the house, which shows off the cababilities of the Neptune by far, and each objective is uniquely themed after the respective rooms of the house!

Virtua Fighter 3tb is a powerful update to the hit Saturn game, Virtua Fighter 3! What does tb stand for? Why, it stands for Team Battle! That's right, you can now select a team of characters to fight with and as, taking turns with each other to fight against an opposing team of powerful enemies! Couple that with the Neptune's superior graphical and geometric capabilities as well as expanded ram, and no longer do you need special carts to play the game - it's simple convienience.

And all that's just a small taste of what the Neptune is offering it's many crowds in Japan and what it's gonna be offering the west in the coming months of the year! If I were you, i'd get to pre-ordering ASAP.

Oh, and by the way. $299.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly







NOKIA STEPPING INTO THE GAMING RING
March, 2000

After months of rumors and speculation and various teasing with the media, of all companies it is mobile phone king Nokia who has officially announced that they will be joining the competition for home video game consoles, and as Chairman & CEO Jorma Ollila puts it - "we mean business".

Since 1998, Nokia has been at the head of the mobile phone market and it has made them billions of dollars, and it comes to no surprise that this announcement is joined by a similar announcement of plans to also release a portable gaming system as well though one can imagine the industry's surprise that Nokia would be joining the market when most analysts were predicting a future consolidation to only Sega and Nintendo, or a different company to join in if anything! Nokia's announcement marks the first time a European company has made a serious home console since Philips with their CD-i system - and even then it is debatable whether or not said system should even be considered a gaming platform.

"The idea for this actually comes from Microsoft" said Ilkka Raiskinen, head of Nokia's entertainment & media, "We were beginning to work with them for some of our other projects while at the same time they were considering entering the gaming market. However, they ultimately decided against joining the market - they did not detail the reasons to us, and offered to sell the idea and what they had to us. [Ollila] decided to take them up on their offer and from there decided to continue the plans for a gaming console."

So far there isn't really anything more that we can say about this upcoming "Project Ursa", as it has been codenamed by Nokia itself. Nokia has not yet revealed any technical specs, but does plan on it being a competitor against the likes of Sega & Sony's Neptune (released in Japan just a few weeks ago), 3DO's M2 and Nintendo's own "Project Dolphin" that's also currently in development.

"I would not have wanted to go forward with this if I did not have confidence in it's abilities to succeed" spoke Jorma Ollila, "Home consoles is an entirely new market for [Nokia], but there is a place for us in the market if our cards are played right."
One thing that we do know about it is that it will be compatible with Nokia's upcoming portable gaming project and will take advantage of the growing market for online gaming, according to Nokia own admission.

Analysts are currently not really having high hopes for Project Ursa, as previous "fourth competitor consoles have had a rather negative history. For example, NEC's not even in the market anymore, the SNK Neo Geo never truly achieved mainstream sales, and Atari is but a fading memory to modern gamers if even that. Even the 3DO is struggling an uphill battle against Sega and Nintendo - who have dominated the market since the 1980's. Though Nokia is something of a national pride for Finland and certainly rules mobile phones right now,However, how well or horribly Project Ursa does has yet to be seen.

- Next Generation magazine.
















E3 2000 - ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO WIKI GUIDE

The hottest ticket at E3 2000 was a five-minute video clip that Konami showed every hour on the hour on an gigantic screen outside its booth. That video showed scenes from Metal Gear Solid 2. People started to pack around the screen 10 minutes ahead of time. By the time the video started, hundreds of people would have crammed in to watch it.

The things that make MGS2's visuals so impressive were the little details. The footage included close ups of characters, amazing rain effects, and a gunfight in a ship's galley in which bullets hit food and bottles. Glass and melons sprayed convincingly.

Game Boy played well against the big boys in 2000. It had been more than a decade since Nintendo launched its original Game Boy and Nintendo announced selling its 100 millionth Game Boy the month of the show (Very convenient, but ate the stuff up). Instead of showing new game hardware, Nintendo showed games. Rare, for the N64, resurrected Conker. In the past, Conker had been a fluffy squirrel destined for kids games. There'd even been a family friendly Conker game on Game Boy. That changed. Conker's Bad Fur Day was a game about a big-eyed, fluffy-tailed little squirrel who drank beer, urinated on selected enemies, and brought a certain South Park appeal to Nintendo's generally Disney-esque line-up. As squirrels go, Conker was more Chippendales than Chip and Dale, but Nintendo was not planning on selling the game to children.

One company that continually made a big splash at E3 was Gathering of Developers. This was a company that liked to be known by the appellations "GOD Games," and everything about them said "I'm a rebel." From GOD Games came such ultra-violent games Max Payne and Rune. Gathering of Developers did not actually display its wares on the show floor, it set up its "Promised Land" ring of trailers, in a parking lot across the street from the L.A. Convention Center.

Understand, the Columbine High School shootings happened six months before this show and the boys who committed the crime were known DOOM enthusiasts. A new and far more caustic hearing on video game was underway in Washington D.C., and there were protests outside the show.

Back on the floor, 3DO put on a show of its own as it fought for survival. Sega & Sony had already launched Neptune in Japan; and it had a treasure trove of A+ games, it was clear that SEGA had all the momentum. To counter this, 3DO tried their hardest to focus on what everyone wanted. MGS2 and Tekken Tag Tournment were both M2 exclusives people were paying attention to, and a fourth Gex game was also shown off as being in development, as was the third installment in the D series, D3. Namco also presented Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, though that would also see an N64 release later on too.

While 3DO was really trying to push hard, SEGA & Sony yet again stole the show. They showed Sonic Adventure's Millenium Edition remake right alongside the sequel Sonic Adventure 2.

They also made a big deal about the motem, announcing several games that would use the motem including a football game that ran beautifully over the modem as well as announcements of Neptune championship competitions featuring some of it's games (namely Sonic Adventure: Millenium Edition). SEGA also had go-go dancers in cages to announce the coming of Space Channel 5, and they also had Samba de Amigo - a music ryhtym game to be played with inventine maracca controllers.

Then there was Seaman, a strange product in which people raised and interacted with a smart-mouthed fish. The game came with a microphone.

As for Shenmue, it was one of the titles that people were very impressed with. It had the biggest budget of any game SEGA ever put out, and already Japan considered it one of the best games ever made - and it looked quite impressive during the show too. It had a lot of critics and press glued to it. During the show, SEGA unveiled SEGANet, a new ISP. That summer, people could sign on to a two-year contract with SEGANet and receive a free Dreamcast.

3DO had a hot booth, some of the best games that people practically drooled over (or at least MGS2) but SEGA had the hotter booth with the most generous offer, especially the soon-to-be-released Neptune that absolutely stole the show.

The big story of this year's E3 was going to be either SEGA stepping up to the plate by releasing Neptune on time and with a lot games at a good price or SEGA condemning itself by missing any of the above. SEGA, still being represented by Tom Kalinske, opted to do everything right with its U.S. release. Neptune would be released on October 26 for $299 with 51+ games scheduled by Christmas. Good news for SEGA, bad news for 3DO.

E3 2000 definitely made 3DO realize they needed more than what they had. While many of the M2 games demoed at the show were fairly disappointing, there were some true standouts. Tekken Tag Tournament looked good. As mentioned before, there was this little thing called Metal Gear Solid 2.

Then, there was the elephant in the room - Nokia. Just months prior to the show did they reveal intention to enter the market with their mysterious "Project Ursa". While there were skeptics, there were just as many people wondering possibilities that the new contender could give to the table.

Project Ursa itself had initially begun life as a Microsoft project, but after deciding not to go ahead with the project Microsoft gave what they had developed to Nokia (who they had a minor partnership with for Nokia's phone lines), and Nokia proceeded with tweaking the project into their own. While Nokia was a completely new name to the gaming scene, for a first ever E3 appearance they did pretty well - though they did not really have much to show outside of proposed hardware capabilities - and they seemed pretty good.

One of the main things they showed off was something that they had been working on with DICE - a war themed game that seemed pretty impressive in all honesty.

In the way of other third party developers, Fujiwara was beginning to see that they needed another big name other than Fireborne and after growing in size over the years began to increase their creative juices. They revealed plans to have their own mascot character to stand alongside Sonic, Mario, Gex, Pac-man, Mega-man and Spyro. Their character was actually a human, but one in a much more family friendly setting than that of Fireborne, and of course he was to star in a platformer.

Fujiwara also revealed Fireborne III: Origins, which was to be the third installment and prequel for the Fireborne series. Other titles they showed off were a return to 2D graphics in the forms of more traditional RPGs and graphic novel style games, marketed primarily for Japan but with localizations planned.

Speaking of Mega-man, Capcom was continuing to have major attention with the Resident Evil franchise and were displaying Marvel vs Capcom 2 alongside Mega Man Legends 2.

In addition, there was Project X, now released as the Nuon. Effectively it was a game console of sorts that was built into DVD players, the technology made by VM Labs but given to DVD Player manufacturers. A novel idea, but everyone forgot it even existed especially given how few games there were and how different it was from the other competitors - if you even considered it a competitor at all.

Overall, the 6th E3 was in many ways the beginning of the industry's greatest changes. Times were changing, and the faces of the industry were going to have to either adapt or be left behind as relics of the past.

- IGN, 2012










FIREBORNE III: ORIGINS
June, 2000

It's time to see how the world of Fireborne started in the new hot game of the series, Fireborne III: Origins.

See how the empire started, see amazing 3D enviornments, play through a storyline as tragic as it is adventurous, go back to your roots only in 3, learn the tale of the dragons and how a planet of many became a planet of one.

From Fujiwara

Only for 3DO M2

- Electronic Gaming Monthly, in Japan Fireborne III was also released for Sega Neptune.



YIN-YANG
June, 2000

Fujiwara brings you what is going to be your latest adventure and the newest of their great franchises: Yin-Yang.

There are many people in the world, but despite that the cosmos divide them into roughly two alignments. Those who are Yin, and those who are Yang. Now this is not simply good and evil, as people who are Yang have some Yin in them, and even the other way around. However, there is one person in the world who follows both alignments.

Meet Dochira, the one who can switch between both Yin and Yang. Switch between the two opposing alignments carefully on your quest to discover your alignment - a quest of your own choosing. Use your respective Yin and Yang forms to deal with certain enemies or obstacles, but choose your own adventure - choose who you follow carefully.

Only you can choose what path you follow. Are you Yin? Are you Yang? Are you something else?

Available now for 3DO M2, coming to Sega Neptune this holiday season.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly.







JET SET RADIO
June, 2000

From SEGA comes what is perhaps the best experience yet, and only for Neptune system!

Enjoy the sight of cel-shaded graphics, giving true look of animation to the game experience!

Play the life of a rebel on the run from the law for the crime of self expression through grafitti wall art!

Skate your away out of challenges and obstacles, use trick battles to unlock new playable characters!

Time yourself so that you don't fail, make sure to get every graffiti spot before it runs out or else you shall lose!

Available only on Sega Neptune!

- Dengeki Neptune Magazine, roughly translated. Jet Set Radio would be a launch title for Neptune's American and European launches.



THE NINTENDO SATELLAVIEW - A RETROSPECTIVE

For the Super Famicom, a creation that was truly a Nintendo creation was the Satellaview - Satellite for the Super Nintendo! Yeah, in a way that's basically what it was. Released only in Japan around April of 1995, it was a satellite modem that attached to the bottom of the Super Famicom, and was designed to recieve signals and broadcasts from the TV station WOWOW's susidiary St.GIGA.

While it's not the only obscure Nintendo creation that was released only in Japan, it is one of the more noteworthy ones as it actually supports some decent and practically unknown games for itself - including Zelda titles.

Users would be able to have both male and female avatars for this game called BS-X: The Story of the Town Whose Name was Stolen. While it took the form of a game, it's actual purpose was basically an interactive menu system. With your avatar, you'd move throughout a virtual town, with houses and shops serving as download locations where you could directly download games, game data or even digital magazines into temporary memory locations - though they only stayed until you downloaded something else.

Apart from downloads, players could also travel to in-game locations such as the Wall Newspaper Co. to read brief text-only postcard-like messages from St.GIGA and Nintendo that announced contest winners, revealed future games and future programming schedule details, and served to raise awareness for celebrity events relating to SoundLink Magazine performers' off-Satellaview activities. You were also equipped with an inventory, and the in-game currency that could be spent on items fromtelephone cards, vehicle tickets, fish bait to even shoes that would enable the player to dash rather than walk everywhere. While the BS-X application cartridge had none of the challenges typically associated with games, it featured a plot of sorts and thus can be considered a video game in a narratalogical sense - since actual broadcasts from WOWOW would be sent into the game and be played live. This is a feature mostly unavailable in modern emulations though, for obvious reasons. This broadcasting even occurred during the games.
Now, the Zelda games.

There were actually 3 Zelda titles released for the Satellaview in it's day, all of them featuring the SoundLink narration broadcasts and all of them presumed to be part of the Zelda timeline as well as having their own stories unique to them! Apparently, as you played the games the broadcasts actually would play out the plot for you - though of course it was all only in Japanese. You also played as your avatar, rather than Link, making this one of the few Zelda games where - while not actually playing as Zelda - you don't actually play as Link. This offers credit to the idea that it takes place during Link's Awakening, or perhaps during a later Zelda game - if not earlier. While footage of them does exist and the games can now be emulated rather than lost forever, the broadcasts are not present in the actual emulation. In addition, while I said they are presumed to be part of the main Zelda timeline, as I also said it is heavily debated on where it is placed in the timeline or if it's even canon to it at all. After all it's not like they have ever been re-released, and it's doubtful they ever will be for that matter.

Despite all of that, though, the Satellaview still had it's time come. By June 2000, the end had come. Sales and Subscriptions were dropping, and in all fairness this is not all that shocking considering how royally Nintendo had been dethroned in Japan's home console ring by Sega and the fact the Neptune was released in March of that same year. Though creative and classic Nintendo ingenuity, it was basically on a console that was outdated - still fun and wonderful to revisit, but past it's prime. With the Nintendo 64 still marching on and Project Dolphin still in development, it's easy to see it just made sense to discontinue the Satellaview.

In addition, by system standards it was never truly all that popular.

Sadly, since it was only released in Japan and no American equivelant was ever made, or even European but that probably would have been a mess, people basically either forgot about, were unaware, or completely dismissed it's existence.

- YouTube, 2017



3DO PURCHASES BUNGIE
July, 2000

It seems like a surprise development has occurred in the industry! Panasonic's 3DO division has purchased PC & Mac developer Bungie - crafters of Marathon and currently in production of Halo, and thus have taken command of all properties made or in development by the studio!
This purchase is not completely without reason, 3DO just four or so years ago established a studio in Redmond dedicated to PC game development, thus showing they indeed have had an interest in the platform for a time. It is only natural that the company trying it's hardest to fight both Sega (and Sony) and Nintendo would something that's garnering the attention that Halo is.

According to what we know though, this purchase coincides with a major change in the way Halo is being developed - but no further details have been released just yet.

- Next Generation Magazine



NOKIA PURCHASES DICE + MORE INFORMATION ON URSA
July, 2000

Fresh off of Bungie's purchase by 3DO, comes another surprising buy-out! This time, new up and coming gaming company and mobile phone giant Nokia has purchased game developer DICE - who are currently working on a game known as Battlefield. Presumably, the game will be a launch title or in general an exclusive for the Project Ursa console once it is finalized.

This is also not the only expansion Nokia has made, earlier in the year - right after announcing their entrance into the market, they officially established Nokia Studios in Finland to focus on first party video game development - and they are still looking for more expansion as far as we can tell.

Indeed it's been let out that they are working with Microsoft not only with software for their mobile phones but also with internet connectivity for Project Ursa. Unfortunately, no further details other than that have been released.
While the community as a whole is still skeptical about Nokia's ability to succeed, especially given how much 3DO is beginning to feel the heat, who knows what the future may hold.

- Next Generation Magazine



COSMO PROTECTORS
July, 2000

From Fujiwara comes the latest and one of the greatest experiences you're going to have for a long time not only today, but far into the future.

With 2D graphics that make the days of old look primitive, you take control of one of many galactic protectors - sworn to protect the universe from all whom threaten the balance of power. Just in time too, because a major threat is already revealing itself.
You weild great power with tremendous potential, but your enemies are evenly matched. You will need skill and wit at hardcore levels if you want to get anywhere in this game.

Get ready for a battle to protect the cosmos themselves.

Only available on 3DO M2

- Electronic Gaming Monthly. Cosmo Protectors was released in Japan on the Neptune.



SEAMAN
August, 2000

It is the most immersive journey you will have played as of late.

A mysterious species has been found originating from Egypt, discovered to be connected to ancient legends as well as mythology, believed to possibly hold supernatural capabilities.
You are entrusted to look after this 'Seaman', and learn from it as much as it learns from you.

Only on Neptune

- Dengeki Neptune magazine, roughly translated.



THE DOLPHIN: NAMED GAMECUBE
August, 2000

Of the two upcoming consoles for this next gaming generation, the first of the two to recieve it's finalized name is none other than the Nintendo GameCube, which is the final product name of the 'Project Dolphin' system Nintendo is preparing for release some time next year. This was revealed in a press conference held in Japan this month.

According to the press release, the GameCube is planned to feature DVD playback capabilities thanks to a partnership Nintendo has made with Samsung - but will not be backwards compatible with previous Nintendo hardware as far as we know so far.

However, this is in large part due to Nintendo keeping to their word on adopting discs as a format rather than remaining with cartridges - something which proved to cost them a lot of third party support with the Nintendo 64, which still currently remains on the market though has struggled to battle against Sega & Sony's Saturn outside of North America and now has to contend with the two's Neptune.

Nintendo is perhaps one of the most profilic and well known video game company in the world, having made many of he most cherished titles of gaming history - both in home consoles and arcades. Though not actually the first to enter the market, through creativity and ingenuity they have kept their name well known on an international scale. While they once dominated the Japanese and North American markets - being a total phenomenon during the 1980's, they never were able to heavily break into the European market until relatively recently, and even then they remain second to Sega in the region. In addition, they have lost a large ammount of American market share in the home console market to Sega and have virtually become dethroned by them entirely in Japan. However, despite these recent hardships Nintendo remains one of the richer companies in the gaming industry thanks in large part due to continuing to dominate the handheld market due to the tremendous success that their Gameboy has been.

With the GameCube's name having been finalized, only Nokia's 'Project Ursa' remains still using it's development codename at the moment - as far as the public is aware.

- Los Angeles Times



THE TIGER GAME.COM - A RETROSPECTIVE

Released in 1997, the Tiger Game.com was a handheld console to compete with the Gameboy in the later years of it's lifespan, and lasted until 2000. Made by Tiger Electronics, it's probably one of the least liked systems in the entire industry. It's games are all monochrome at a time when even the Gameboy Color was on it's way, and was competing in Japan against the WonderSwan and overall against both the Neo Geo Pocket and the GameBoy. While it had a modem and could connect online to check your email and whatnot, it still needed to be hooked up in order to actually use it for that - making it seem redundant. It also offered a few built in games that are common PC fair in all honesty, and had a lot of other PDA functions. It's most notable function though was it being one of - if not the - first systems to have a touchscreen. Other than that though there's not really much to write home about.

Games for the Game.com were notoriously of poor quality, and often were remakes of far beyond superior games. Controls were often clunky and slow,and these 'ports' were needless to say always heavily watered down. There's even Sonic Jam on this thing, presumably released as they were discontinuing the Game Gear. It sucks. Badly.

Really, there is no reason to get this thing. The only thing worse than it was it's brother, the R-Zone. Oh and maybe the Jaguar CD. But for once that might actually be debatable.

- YouTube, September 2017



THE NEPTUNE IS IN ORBIT
October, 2000

The day has arrived.

The Sega Neptune, perhaps the most anticipated console of all time, has been released for public consumption. And trust us when we see that everyone is hooked on it already. All of the things you heard about it from Japan is true - it's the best system on the market up to this point.
The hardware is the most powerful set of chips yet devised, with a powerful CPU clocked at 300 MHz codenamed "Triton", and a GPU from Sega themselves clocked in at 155 MHz and sports the most advanced if not gorgeous graphical capabilities on the market - blowing M2 straight out of the water. It's RAM and memory storage capabilities are through the roof as well, no more need for massive cartridges nor sliding over to the console, you can take out the memory card straight from the controller itself. You can even plug it into a bundled mini handheld to play special mini games from it!

With a built-in modem, you can connect to the internet like never before and enjoy online multiplayer and communicating via SegaNet, which SEGA announces they will soon centralize into an international service - which may result in a temporary outage of the site.

Then, the games. This is going to be brief descriptions, but it's because this launch line-up is so massively long that we can't possibly do all the games justice. You would think that a large launch might mean sub-par games, but not here. The top games to get are quite possibly some of the best games ever made.

Things aren't looking good for 3DO or Nintendo with a line-up like this:

Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition (SEGA)
Shenmue (SEGA)
Sega Bass Fishing (SEGA)
Seaman (SEGA)
Space Channel 5 (SEGA)
Jet Set Radio (SEGA)
Sega Film Studio (SEGA)
Samba de Amigo (SEGA)
House of the Dead 2 (SEGA)
NiGHTS into Dreams 2000 (SEGA)
Crazy Taxi (SEGA)
Virtua Fighter 3tb (SEGA)
NFL 2K (SEGA)
NBA 2K (SEGA)
Sega Rally 2 (SEGA)
FantaVision (SCEI)
Toy Commander (No Cliché)
Blue Stinger (Climax Graphics)
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway)
Smuggler's Run (Rockstar)
Street Fighter EX3 (Capcom)
SSX (EA)
X-Squad (EA)
Madden NFL 2001 (EA)
NHL 2001 (EA)
Kessen (EA)
Midnight Club (Rockstar)
Q-Ball Billards Master (Take-Two Interactive)
Yin-Yang (Fujiwara)
Orphen (Activision)
Gun Griffon Blaze (Working Designs)
Evergrace (Agetec)
Eternal Ring (Agetec)
Armored Core 2 (Agetec)
Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (Tecmo)
Dynasty Warriors 2 (Koei)
Unreal Tournament (Infogrames)
Wild Wild Racing (Interplay)
TimeSplitters (Eidos)

See the next few pages for more detailed descriptions on the games.

Can we just take a moment to soak in the fact that we have a grand total of 39 games coming out at launch? With more probably going to be available at launch for Europe! This is quite possibly the biggest launch line-up we've ever seen - in both size and quality!
Aside from the obligatory sports games, most of the hot sellers right now are Sonic Advemture: ME and Shenmue, with the latter being considered rightfuly one of the best games ever made. It might even become a best seller at this rate! Seaman is also eccentric, and might get a following. Really, all of Sega's first party titles here from Samba to Space Channel and even Jet Set & their fishing/sports games are all doing well in critics and sales right now.

They appear to be in a bit of conflict with EA though, over their new sports games. Most of EA's titles for the Neptune are also being released for the M2 either within this month or the coming ones.

The Next Generation is here, whether you like it or not. You've just got to deal with it.

- Next Generation magazine



3DO M2 - OCTOBER LINE-UP & MORE
October, 2000

While the Neptune has reached it's orbit and is all the rage across the entire world with it's European launch still on the way and both Nintendo & Nokia keeping their business pretty top secret, 3DO has released a line-up of upcoming games for their system for this month and holiday season! Some of these will however be shared with the Neptune.

Coming within the month or the holiday season:

Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (Namco)
Tekken Tag Tournament (Namco)
Ridge Racer V (Namco)
Silent Scope (Konami)
The Grinch (Konami)
ESPN International Track and Field (Konami)
ESPN X-Games Snowboarding (Konami)
D3 (WARP)
SSX (EA)
NHL 2001 (EA)
Madden NFL 2001 (EA)
TimeSplitters (Eidos)

And a fair bit more, too. See next pages for details.

Overall, this is a pretty solid list of upcoming releases in all fairness - though with M2 sales beginning to see a sharp decline it remains to be seen whether or not these titles will be best sellers on the market.
In addition tothese titles, we have new information about games scheduled for an M2 release next year. These titles include Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, Metal Gear Solid 2, and the upcoming Gex 4. All of these games are as far as we know M2 exclusives. There is also Halo, which 3DO is also claiming will be ready for a 2001 release. Further details about these games and more on Pages 16, 17 and 18.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



THE NEPTUNE REACHES EUROPE
November, 2000

The Gaming King of Europe has struck again. The Sega Neptune at last has reached European shores, and it's reached us with quite near 50 or so launch titles ready for being sold out this holiday season!
Everything you've heard from Japan and America is true.

Best Graphics? Check.

Best CPU? Check.

DVD playback? Check.

Built-in modem? Check.

SegaNet? Check.

Memory cards into your controller? Check.

Some of the best games ever made? Check.

With such a large launch line-up, the Neptune is sure to dominate the world of gaming on a worldwide scale, much like it's predecessor the Saturn. In addition, the Neptune is backwards compatible with all Saturn software, so if you happened to be one of the rarities who missed out on the Saturn craze you can easily pick yourself up some game copies and a Neptune to make up for it!

The list of games and info on them can be found on pages 20 through 24.

- Eurogamer magazine



SEGA SHUFFLE
November, 2000

What do you get when HudsonSoft, SEGA and Sonic Team work together on a game? Sega Shuffle, that's what!

An all new 4 player party game from Sega, only for the Neptune game system! Play not only as Sonic, but also as various others from the Sega line-up, including Sonic and his friends, Ulala, Beat, Samba and even Elliot & Claris- andd many more faces both old and new from the vast line-up of Sega stars!

What are they gathering here in a crossover of epic dream proportions for? Well, play the game and find out! It's one of the glorious titles available at launch here in Europe for the Neptune, and will be released elsewhere in the coming weeks!

- Eurogamer magazine















D3

From WARP, and only for the 3DO M2, comes the company's swan song to the gaming world and thus the final game in the D series.

For the final game in the series, we return to Laura yet again - this time she has to traverse the Canadian wilderness after an airplane trip went horribly wrong thanks to a terrorist group taking control of the plane. Waking up in a small cabin with a poet named Kimberly Fox, it is learned that not only have 10 days passed, but there are 8 days unaccounted for. Laura then sets out into the wilderness in order to investigate the possibility of contacting the outside world and seeking out other survivors only to discover that more strange, hideous creatures are lurking in the area, much to her (and probably your) horror.

Explore the vast tundra of Canada and make sure you look around all your surroundings carefully to the latter. Be prepared for random battles against terrifying foes and make sure to defeat them, for the experience is definitely needed.
Take pictures, hunt for food, and equip yourself for horror one last time.

Only available on 3DO M2.

- 3DO Magazine . Following this game's release, WARP left the gaming industry as it became Superwarp.



THE 1ST ANNUAL NEPTUNE CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR
November, 2000

SEGA, the video game veteran and giant who is practically king of the industry has announced that it will be hosting this upcoming February 2001 the 1st annual Sega Neptune championships, a gaming competition featuring their latest hit title Sonic Adventure: Milennium Edition.
The championship, to be held in Las Vegas, will be to determine who is the best Sonic Adventure player, the one to recieve such an honour will be given $15,000 and get a photo op with the legendary Yuji Naka himself. However, everyone will still be partying heartily with arcade games aplenty and even 311 rocking the night away! Did we mention a lot of other surprise celebs are gonna be there too?

Specifically, Jimmy Kimmel and Eric Christian Olsen will be there as well as key members of SCEI & Sonic Team and no doubt some serious gaming masters.
If you think you're one of the best, you should get yourself a ticket ASAP.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



FUJIWARA FIGHT CLUB
December, 2000

It's time to join the club.

The Fujiwara fight club.

In the world of 3D games ranging from adventures of the Sonic kind, quests of the Zelda kind and so many sports that we can hardly count them, comes a truly class act of the 2D variety from the minds at Fujiwara (previously known for Fireborne I, II & III as well as Yin-Yang).
Play from a selection of over 20 characters, and fight your way through the club with the arcade perfect graphics visible not only in the characters but in every inch of the enviornment.

Learn the special moves, unlock all the characters and even alternative attire for them. Discover all of the secrets. Fight to the very last breath.

Only on Sega Neptune.

- Electronic Gaming Monthly



PHANTASY STAR ONLINE
December, 2000

The homeworld as been destroyed, but hope has not. The Pioneer Project has begun in order to search for a new planet to settle. Enter the planet Ragol, which appeared to be perfect to sustain advanced civilization lifestyles. However, Pioneer I was lost not long after Pioneer 2 arrived with the majority of refugees.

Enter the Hunters, sent to Ragol's surface to investigate the dissapearance of Pioneer 1 and the large explosion that accompanied it.

You will play as one of these Hunters.

Out of three major classes - Hunter, Ranger or Force - you will have to pick one. Will you be able to master the Hunter's close-ranged weaponry, or will you be better with the Ranger's more long distance firearm approach? Or perhaps you are adept at the Forces and their abilit to use techniques remiscent of what other RPG's call magic.

Either way, you must pick your class, customize your identity, and proceed.

Will be fully compatible with SegaNet for a truly immersive online multiplayer experience, something that only SEGA can offer you.

- SegaZone Magazine. Released in Japan during December of 2000, PSO would be released elsewhere in January & February of 2001. It would be a major critical and commercial success and expanded interest in online gaming.

Whoa. This is Amazing!

 

[EternalMadness1997]

Whoa. This is Amazing!

Thanks! Though for real, you should stop quoting the entire post in your responses.....it's probably not the most convienient thing for fellow readers.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

alright sorry... I think Sony-SEGA Is so looking good with their lineup.

 

[jolou]

I'm Team Nokia now ! For once an European Company is there

 

[EternalMadness1997]

I'm Team Nokia now ! For once an European Company is there

Funny enough, that's one of the reasons they were selected over other candidates to be the "fourth" competitor. That and they just made the most sense of the bunch too.

 

[The Gamer Sunflower]

alright. what's Microsoft doing now?

 

[EternalMadness1997]

alright. what's Microsoft doing now?

To be honest I'm unsure at the moment.

 

[jolou]

Funny enough, that's one of the reasons they were selected over other candidates to be the "fourth" competitor. That and they just made the most sense of the bunch too.

Who were the other competitor ? Microsoft...?