Hello all, This past week has included a post-announcement reaction and some follow up information in the US and European DC launches. Other big news last week is that Iomega and Sega have reached a deal to develop a Zip drive based peripheral for the Dreamcast. The disks would have 100MB capacity, while Sega would sell disks for it. Any PC compatibility is not known at this time. Expected release is sometime in the 3rd quarter this year.

As retailers begin to advertise for preorders, game release lists have begun to appear. Electronics Boutique has many titles on their list, including a few small surprises. The first is a Sept 9th release of SF Alpha 3 and later on 12/02 the release of Biohazard Code Veronica. I have updated the schedule on dEX to match theirs to some extent...but I cannot confirm the validity of the dates for the surprise titles.

The release date of Geist Force, is again questionable. While currently slated as a US launch title, GameFan Online reported that Stolar was not happy with the games progress and had fired some members of the development team. However, Sega did state that they are moving other staff members to the project in an attempt to have it ready on time.

Through all the news of future titles, Sega Rally 2 is strangely absent from any releases. The absence of Rally 2 leads to some possible speculation that others are making. This is in regards to Rally 2 being a possible pack in, coupled with the modem. However, the problem arises as to whether or not the US Dreamcast will ship with a modem included. Months ago Stolar was quoted as citing the US hardware would include a modem, but all current releases never mention this. Current PRs only skirt the online issues without any specifics. The modem question is a big debate. The higher price of the European Dreamcast versus the US hardware may indeed equate to the US version being modemless. Just as the Japanese version included the modem, while the hardware for the rest of Asia did not include a modem. Most likely, Sega's full strategy will entail at the E3 next month.

Other launch news is that Sega of Canada has announced that the Dreamcast would have a suggested retail price of 299CAD or roughly 200USD. With all these prices thrown around, some importers may begin dropping prices again. One is British seller, Computer Exchange (www.cex.co.uk). They are now selling import Dreamcast consoles for £199, inline with the expected price of the native version. I do not know if this price is for the Asian or Japanese hardware.

Sega of Japan announced last Friday that they will begin a direct sales service called Dreamcast Direct. It allows Dreamcast owners to purchase games and accessories online via the DC modem. Advance orders for upcoming games will be accepted up to 30 days before expected release. People can expect their orders to arrive 3-4 days after ordering if the title is available. If tax on the purchased items exceeds ¥5000 (~42USD), then shipping is free. Otherwise, shipping will cost ¥420 (~3.50USD). Payment is by usual means: Credit Card, Web Money, money orders, etc.

Redline Racer from Imagineer is coming out this Wednesday. The game is based on the original PC racer. Play modes include one player tournament, practice laps, two player vs, and point based tournaments. I don't have other details on the DC version, but the PC version had 8 tracks and several to choose from. Its not a bad title, the developers sought to create a balance between ultra-realistic simulation and arcade gameplay, and they have done a good job with that goal in mind.

The SatCast. A little while ago, there was much news on most any gaming site regarding the development of an official Saturn emulator for the Dreamcast. Now, there are reports that it is a lie. MagicBox reports that Sega officials stating that they have no plans to work on or release a Saturn emulator. My apologies for any confusion and false hopes I've created.

Speaking of the Saturn, a company called Majesco has purchase the rights to the system and may be re-releasing the console and some games at low prices. Previously the company did this with the Genesis 3, and some games. There is little information on this, and even rumors that the company canned the project. I will keep you posted on this.

The web site has had fewer updates over the past few weeks than I'd like. I'm sorry for this, but school is taking a great deal of my free time away from dEX. I still have many plans for the site, and have been putting down ideas here and there...waiting for the right time to complete the. I'm still working on the currency convertor, and have decided on an implementation. It will probably not be 100% interactive due to server access limitations, but I will of course provide other resources for complete conversion utilities for those who want it.

That's all the news for this week, thanks again for supporting dEX.

-Greg