The Official Online Newsletter of Pilipino Americans in Science and Engineering
at UC Davis
Table of Contents
What PASE Did During Summer
Vacation
Sophomore Shares Internship
Experience
Dreamcast-A Dream Come True?
Dreamcast-A Dream Come True?
By Chris Munoz
It’s thinking. This is one of the new catch phrases for the newest and superlative video game system available, Sega Dreamcast. Some people will recall that Sega hasn’t done very well in the video game industry in their past two attempts at having a successful system, namely the Genesis and Saturn. This time around it’s a whole different story. The Dreamcast, which was released on September 9, 1999, was launched with 16 games, some of which are mind boggling.
Some special features of the Dreamcast that make this a step above what was to be expected are the CD-ROM drive which uses CD’s that can hold up to 1 gigabyte of information. Another special feature is that you can play with or against people via the internet with its integrated 56k modem. In terms of design, the Dreamcast is very sleek and more compact than the Playstation.
On the controller there are two slots in which you can put a memory card in one and a rumble pak in another. The memory card, called the VMU (Visual Memory Unit), looks like a miniature Game Boy in which you can delete saved games without turning on the Dreamcast, and you can also play mini games on it. The Dreamcast has many other peripherals such as a light gun, an arcade joystick controller, a jump pack (similar to the rumble pack).
Of the many games that were released along with the Dreamcast, there were several games that caught my eye. One game in particular that caught my eye is Soul Calibur. The characters in this game are beautifully re-mastered from the arcade version and are now smoother in their appearance and motion. Also, who could forget the blue bomber, Sonic, in Sega’s newest creation, Sonic Adventure. This highly anticipated game puts Sonic in a 3-D world, instead of the 2-D scroller, full of enemies and secrets galore. Other games worth mentioning are Ready 2 Rumble, a boxing game, and NFL 2K. Other games that will be released in the future that should be given a look are Marvel vs. Capcom, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Fighter 3tb, Dead or Alive 2, and Resident Evil: Code Name Veronica.
With a strong library of breath-taking games, the Dreamcast has the potential of lasting for a year or two until the Playstation 2 comes out, but for now the Dreamcast is on top. Since its release, Sega has sold over half a million Dreamcasts in two weeks after launch making it the best selling system after release beating the Nintendo 64 and Playstation. With this fact, there is now doubt that the Dreamcast will rule the video gaming industry for now. If you are thinking of buying the Dreamcast and have the money to do so, I suggest that you go out and buy one right now. I did.
© Sega, Dreamcast are trademarks of Sega Corporation.
For more information about the Sega Dreamcast
Video game guru Chris Munoz plays Jenga at the PASE retreat.