On Hiatus & More Model2 Games At Last

I'll try to make this quick as possible.  Anyway, I'm not posting much because right now I'm busy, tired, and lazy at the same time (awesome, huh?).  The racing timeline and Super Sprint are both on hiatus (of course, like I needed to tell you that) but I am working on some other things I have yet to share that might surprise you.  Might change a few things on the blog as well.

Anyway, in case you're just an idiot who hasn't read any of the Sega sites recently, Sega has surprised us with a five-pack of Model2 arcade classics--Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Striker, Sonic: the Fighters, Fighting Vipers, Virtual On.  Boy, the amount of "Virtua" and "Fighters" in that list is outstanding.  Love me some Sega-AM2 Magical Palm Tree Games.

But I am glad, I really am.  None of the games are on my "OMG MY LIFE IS COMPLETE" list and it seems strange we'd get three fighting games, but what the hell--they are all unique in their own ways.  Plus they will have online multiplayer which is GREAT.  The games are only limited to Japan but Sega would be stupid not to release them in the West.

I think it's great that Sega is really starting to ramp up on the classic ports.  Sega's glory days are relived in a new era for all the little kids to bear witness to.  But a part of me can't help but feel a bit irritated Sega isn't doing anything "new" with these games.  Oh, there' the widescreen support and the online multiplayer (some of them anyway) but when you look at it, we already had these games playable on the emulators.  The fans beat Sega to the home releases.  I would love to see Sega take these games to the next level and "one-up" us fans.  (EDIT: Sonic the Fighters port got Honey the Cat and Eggman as characters--I'm not knowledgeable on the game but that's what I'm looking for).  They have...sort of, but they made some mistakes.  Like this Jet Set Radio port--the game's great but the graphics aren't as stellar as the original Dreamcast version.  And then there's Crazy Taxi without the Offspring and the KFC.  And there's Sega Bass Fishing without the Dreamcast Fishing Controller--a regular joystick doesn't do the game justice at all.  Most of these things are peanuts but they add up.

But it's funny...El Semi, the Nebula Model2 emulator creator, went AWOL for some time and I think he had a role in assisting Sega with some of these recent ports, Daytona USA included.  I think anyway, it's just "cool" to assume that.  Now Bart, Supermodel3 emulator creator, put Supermodel on hiatus for a while and I'M NOT SUGGESTING ANYTHING BUT...what the hell I really am--but we could get some Model3 ports in the future.  Thanks, Bart!  I think seeing these Model2 games really improves the odds of seeing re-releases of Daytona 2, Sega Rally 2, and Scud Race.  What a glorious day that would be though knowing Sega, I wouldn't bet on it just yet.

Just so you know, it was in 2008 that Kotaku hosted an interview with Sega of America's Simon Jeffery.  And he was on record saying Sega "lost the source code" to some of our favorite games.  Which really sucks because if you know anything about game design, it's nigh impossible to expand on games without the source code.  And at the time, we panicked about the prospect of Sega losing the source code to Daytona USA.  I think the superb XBL/PSN ports put that to rest.

But I really wonder if they still have the source code to Daytona 2/Scud Race on source control or some USB drive somewhere.  I mean, those games weren't as successful as Daytona 1 so it's possible that bad things could happen to it..  Either someone deletes it on purpose (assumes the game will never be touched again) or on accident (with the source code to hundreds of Sega games on your computer, a few of them might get wiped out).  Or the computer could break or just die on you like that.  Not trying to downplay the massive devastation that Japan underwent a year & a half ago but God forbid some natural disaster were to occur at Sega HQ or somewhere and take out the source code like that.  It's a possibility.

Really though, I still assume the source code to these games exist SOMEWHERE.  And if I could open that s*** up and check it out, I would.  With the fervor of an AP History teacher getting early copies a day before the exam.  And if the code DOESN'T exist...well, I've said it before and I'll say it again--WE'LL REBUILD DAYTONA 2 AND SCUD RACE OURSELVES!!!  IT CAN BE DONE!!!

And then there's NASCAR--everyone's golden boy Dale Jr. suffered a concussion at Talladega, the second of the season, and by doctor's orders is forced to sit out two races, erasing any chances that he had at being the Chase victor.  The first concussion seemed to have an impact on his performance.  You never truly recover from these things anyway and too many and you have to retire.  Surely all the talk about wrecks and we tend to forget that these drivers can actually get hurt (hell, we have Dan Wheldon die on us a year ago) and it takes away these guys' abilities to do what they love to do and that is friggin race cars.

All I have to say is even if you are out of the picture and have no chance at getting a trophy, an accolade, or even a pat on the back, then go out there and perform for pride.  I don't mean the deadly sin but say, "You know what, I'm alive, I have opposable thumbs, I'm gonna do this to make myself and the Lord above happy," so go get 'em guys.  Win anyway, even if there's no reward if you do.

Hah, turns out this post wasn't quick at all.  Until then, check out some slippin and slidin from the Hornet.

SNK Made Racing Games Too

As you know, I'm working on this stupid "Racing Game Timeline" thing which means I have to dig up images and release dates of a hundred different racing games.  Doesn't sound too bad except because of my obsession with details, a hundred games quickly became a thousand.  In other words, I have to look up 1000 racing games, get a title/box art icon of each, and put them into a chart according to their year of release using Photoshop.  Sounds like fun!

Burning through the racing games, it's not bad at first.  Just hit the big names first.  We know about all the Sega racers like Daytona and OutRun.  Then there's Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, Forza, Burnout, Mario Kart, DiRT, etc.  Then it gets really tedious as hell as you're listing every Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune and Ridge Racer iteration (damn you Namco) as you're also digging through the back of your mind thinking of semi-relevant racing games Midtown Madness and Screamer.  Then you go to websites besides GameFAQs or Wikipedia for help, like The System 16 Arcade Museum.  Damn, all these Alpine Skiers and miscellaneous Sega clones from Namco, yeah I hate you too.  But I'm learning new things about the racing genre!  If you can believe it.  How about this:

I get to SNK arcade section of System 16 and the last thing I expected was to find a racing game.  When I think of SNK, I think Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, basically weird arcade games that don't even fit the norm of more mainstream devs like Sega, Namco, or Capcom.  But RACING GAMES???  No...there is one (technically two but they're so similar) and here it is:

It's Road's Edge (or Round Trip RV), a 1997 SNK arcade racer.  Pick one of several trucks and go rally racing on dirt and pavement.  Like Sega Rally, Road's Edge will move you to the next track after you've completed one lap.  The goal is to complete three tracks within the time limit and come in first.  Nothing spectacular.

The most interesting aspect of the game is the track design.  Rather than create one-way traditional race circuits (various shaped ovals and stuff), most of the track funnels drivers down the same road going both ways.  It's a sprint from point A to B and back to A and there's trucks racing in the opposite direction of where you're going and head-on collisions are possible.  No barriers or anything going down the road to keep drivers from colliding.  They don't happen as often as it seems but it's a unique twist I don't think I've seen in racing games until now.

EDIT: When you catch air, your guy says "Yahoo" and for some reason, it reminds me of Banjo-Kazooie.  Rofl.

I mentioned two games which both follow this same formula. The second is Xtreme Rally (or Off Beat Racer) released in 1998. It has different cars, tracks and HUD elements but other than that, there's not much of a difference.

It's obvious that back in the arcade heyday when racing games were actually SUCCESSFUL that a lot of these arcade distributors like Sega, Namco, Capcom, Atari, Midway, Taito just went to town making as many racing games as they could with the arcade hardware they designed.  Pick from a handful of cars, three or four tracks, automatic or 4-gear manual, and go race.  See Virtua Racing, Daytona 1 & 2, Indy 500, and Scud Race.  I wouldn't say Road's Edge/Xtreme Rally is perfect--the graphics are underwhelming for a 97'/'98 game and the sound & music could be improved.  Daytona USA, Scud Race, and Daytona USA 2 set the benchmark in terms of arcade graphics and sound in '94, '96', and '98 respectively.  With a great soundtrack too.  Props to AM2; that's why Sega racers frequently come up in arcade conversations and why I named this site "Sega Racing Fan" instead of "SNK Racing Fan."  Ha ha ha, the more you know.

Sumo Digital Q & A's, Not Bad...

Hey guys, I hate to play the role of "news reporter" (as opposed to news analysis/pundit) but here's the new Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed trailer.

Wow, there's an After Burner track. You can see it in the video--it's just like the first stage of the game (nice and blue). That, OutRun, Virtua Fighter, Shenmue--it's nice to see AM2 games get some appreciation again. This can only mean Daytona USA 1/2, Scud Race, and Sega Rally, yeahhhhh!!! There's also Samba de Amigo, Space Channel 5, and Skies of Arcadia tracks too.

Already mentioned it, but here's the Sumo Digital AMA thread and I got the chance to ask DarthSol a few questions (page 133).  The thread is huge--it's been around since May so I couldn't dig up everything (maybe later). I can't say the answers for me are that great but what can you say. If he's reading this then thanks for putting up with my dumb questions!


1. What exactly was the rationale/influence behind this game? Or who came up with these Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing games and why? I know there's Mario Kart but let's put that aside. Was there this huge desire from the fans (like me) wishing for Sega to make a new racing game again (I know this is Sumo but close enough)? Or was there a desire to see more games celebrate Sega's roots so you guys decided "What the hell, let's do both?" I suppose this is a good answer but any more details I forgot would be great.

We'd done two games, we went 'Let's do a third' and went from there. We decided more could be done with a racer with land, air and sea in a single track, which meant Transforming vehicles. Initial design was probably written on the back of a beer mat - and we've been figuring it out ever since!



2. Some of my friends who are more into the "hardcore racing" side of Sega like OutRun & Daytona are concerned about the game's framerate. Should we be worried about the FPS dropping below 30 in the final build?

We're aiming for a locked 30fps, unless you're on PC of course. I'd love it to be 60, but the water alone means that's unlikely.


2.5 EVEN MORE, I guess I should reiterate the previous question. The guys are concerned that the game will cater more towards the Sega fanbase rather than the racing fanbase, hence this isn't as "good" of a racing game as it could be. Could you reaffirm to me and the other guys that this is still a serious racer, just once more to get them to ease up on the game?

We're aiming to make a pretty awesome SEGA Arcade racer based on all manner of classic SEGA franchises. It's been done by the same team as ASR, and I have the Lead Designer of Blur and PGR3 and 4 working full time on the project. This time we're going for a slightly older look so not to distress the hardcore. Not sure what more I can do to convince anyone really!


3. How much effort has been put into balancing the character tiers? In the first game, my favorite character was Jacky Bryant but he was dead last in tiers. I always played as him online though but barely kept up with the Sonic/Shadow abusers :S

It's no secret that we've brought in volunteers to do a better job of the balancing. We're committed to getting it right. We want to avoid tiers and there are things in the game that make that even less likely to happen.


4. How about backwards drifting? Has that been nerfed or not? My preference is towards removing it (seeing as it was unintentional, I think) but what do I know.

Not in. Wasn't supposed to be in the original either and we very nearly killed it with an update.


5. Any new content pertaining to Daytona USA, OutRun (besides the bonus track), Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally, Virtua Racing, or Scud Race?

Read the first post in this thread. If it's not revealed, we can't and won't discuss these kind of things!


6. Has Yu Suzuki, Toshihiro Nagoshi, or the AM2 team sounded off on this game? Do you think they will seeing as they were also responsible for OutRun 2 and other Sega racers in the past?

We work closely with SOJ. Some of the people mentioned may have played it, I'm not at liberty to say :P


7. What will Danica's character look like in the game (realistic, cartoony) and what will she be driving? I don't ask this because I'm attracted to her, I just wonder how she will fit into the scope of the game.

Again, you'll need to wait and see. We should have footage out shortly for this though!


EDIT: More questions & answers!!!  Here's what I got:

1. I know there's drifting in cars, but what is the equivalent boats and planes? The ability to do stunts for boosts I suppose? Or can you "drift" in planes/boats too?

Each surface has its own way of handling ...like in the air a tumble left or right can get you right back on the ideal racing line... But yeah, they all have 'drifting' of a sort, but it's not identical in each form. 

2. What are your tasks & responsibilities pertaining to the game (anybody who answers)? Probably already been answered but since I'm into game development, I'm wondering how I can relate to your tasks at the moment? I'm a programmer BTW.

S0L is "Guardian of the Library of All Knowledge", and I think he is known by mortals as "Executive Producer" (correct me if I'm wrong buddy) He is also, the "Argumentor Persuivant" ...the upholder of the forums. If anyone has fought for the wishes of the forums, it is S0L!

I am commonly called "the Twit with Part of a Crayon Stuck up his Nose" and also known amongst the beasts of burden as Lead Artist/Creative Director. My powers are weak and age shrivelled, like an old current which fell from a cake many, many years ago, disappearing down the back of the sofa... A old and desiccated thing. 

SumoSpartan is known only as "Tim". A shy mysterious creature, he flits mainly from dark corner to dark corner, fixing design issues where he is needed. If Commisioner Gordon shines the "Tim" lantern onto the night sky, you'll probably end up with Batman turning up wondering what the hell that shape is. And then "Tim" will arrive with his powers of 'creating unsolvable puzzles' to bamboozle all! He survives mainly on a diet of gingerbread men.

3. How would you say the atmosphere at Sumo Digital is right now? I suppose everyone is excited but are they exhausted rushing to get the game done? Would you say everyone is serious or are they laughing & having fun? Dumb question but I'm just interested in you guys and hope all is well.

Everyone is working hard at the moment. Well it seems we always are... But on the whole enjoying it. Lots of late nights and weekends... No home life, stress, depression, waiting for that comet with our names on to end it all, but, yeah. On the whole, good clean fun.

No more multiple questions now guys.... It's hard work! Lol.

Take what you want out of this, but I guess it will reassure you all a bit.  Yeah, me posing in my Daytona 2 avatar & signature...the Daytona Universe is still omnipresent.  NOTE, if you want to post questions too, only ask three at a time (he's adamant about that now).  Also if I ask more questions, I'll let you know.

Beautiful Yu Suzuki Conference At TGS 2011

TGS as in "Toulouse Game Show," not "Tokyo Game Show."  This was in November 2011 so this is quite recent!  It's always great to hear from Yu Suzuki and this time it's nothing short of emotional.  Thanks to the Shenmue Master guys who were so loyal to ask Yu the tough questions and make videos like this.  There's two parts to the conference: one on Shenmue, the other on everything else.  Here's the super-quick recaps since the videos are quite long.

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Part 1 (Shenmue) recap:

Intro: Standing ovation for Suzuki-San!  EDIT: It's really worth saying I'm moved by his reaction to the applause.  Yu still seems genuinely surprised that he's admired as much as he is.  He seems so humble and quiet up there unlike others who go up there to gloat and suck up as much attention as possible.  I really gotta give him props.

Making an RPG: Sega was working on the Dreamcast and they needed a killer title.  No one wanted to make the RPG so Yu did it himself.

Shenmue on Saturn: It was a prototype for the Dreamcast version.  The rendering, development of characters, cities, and quests were just tests for the real thing.

XBL/PSN Ports: Are they possible some day?  Yu nods his head and doesn't say anything.

Martial Arts: Does Yu practice martial arts?  He want to China and learned a lot.  Went to the Shaolin Temple and got beat up.  He's not very strong but he just wanted to see it for himself.

QTE's: He likes that other games are using QTE's.  Not much to say.

Shenmue Gai (Town): It was developed for Japanese mobile phones.  It's possible to Westernize it.

Title: Why the title "Shenmue"?  It's the name of a tree.  "Mue" means "tree."  "Shenfa" means "flowers that grow on the tree."  Very old story about the Shenfa.

Shenmue III again: Yu says he wants to work on Shenmue III again, ha.  People want to donate money for him to finish Shenmue III.  Yu says thank you and everyone cheers.

Jokes: Yesterday, have you seen a black car?  Takes a while for him to get it.

Popularity: Shenmue was a catastrophic commercial failure (jeers from audience).  What do you think of the difference between the excellent quality of your games versus their low popularity?  Because of his enthusiastic audience, he denies there is no lack of popularity (cheers from audience).

French words: What do you think of French translation of Shenmue II?  Yu is confused and cannot answer.  Fans begin a sing-along for the Happy Birthday of Shenmue II's European release.  These people are nuts passionate!

Shenmue III yet again: Despite opposition to Shenmue III questions, people still asked 'em anyway.  Is it still possible to see Shenmue III someday?  "If I can have the opportunity, the chance, really, I would make it.  Like today, to be requested by so many people on 'Please bring us Shenmue III!', I think that I really must do it!"

Favorite game he made: Shenmue.  Naw, really?

Wow, I don't know how big of a crowd this was, but just these thousand or so fans really moved him.  Great show so far.

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Part 2 (everything else) recap:

Hang-On: Rode a lot of off-road bikes in the past.  Had an urge to make a bike game but thought an "off-road" game wouldn't sell well (say that to Trials HD) so he created an "on-road" game.

OutRun: He wanted to create a "driving game," not a "racing game."  Driving with the radio on, girl in the seat, checking out the view, it's just cool.

Look, it's a radio.

Cars: We love all cars, even small ones!  Drifting is a lot of fun.

Technology: Used Assembly.  That's it.  (I've used it too)

Ports: Watched over the arcade ports.  Had to work hard since console technology was inferior to his superb arcade technology.

Virtua Racing: First 3D Sega game.  Could only get 300 polygons at first.  But because Yu is such a racing game pro, that's no problem.  Wanted to model 3D living beings but that was too complicated hence a car game instead.  Player models in Virtua Racing were the basic models for Virtua Fighter.  Looking back, it looks more like robots or walking boxes!!!

Check it out guys, I stole this picture.

Arcades: Some of his best memories.  Going to 3D was most exciting.  Release new technology early but not too early.

Social Games: Interested in them, particularly smart phones which is the "future."

Development Tools: He had to create his own.  Yeah...

Virtua Fighter 6: Since Virtua Fighter 5, he's entrusted the series to AM2.

Japanese Creativity Crisis: Doesn't think there is one.  Many original games have come out of America & Europe so it's all good.

Psy-Phi: Designed in 2005 but canceled.  Was too ahead of its time.   Used a touch screen like Tom Cruise from Minority Report (his words).  Would be more suitable now.  When asked about it, he teased releasing the game for iPhone (for obvious reasons).  Learn more about the game here.

If this game came out for the Kinect, I'd kick my own ass.

Sega: Can't speak of what he's doing there--it's confidential.  He does give advice in arcade games' production.  Still maintains a good relationship with Sega and mentions if he had the Shenmue license, he could do something with it...!!!

Nintendo: Has worked with Nintendo before!  Doesn't mention anything else.

Future Plans: In Yu's words, "It is certain that I would make Shenmue III if I had the chance."  Also thinking of other projects include one in which "monsters and other animals fight together."  Raise your monsters and send them to fight.
Wait--what???  Is he talking about Monster Rancher???  That's it--we take over Tecmo and pool our efforts into a Monster Rancher fighting/RPG game.  We have Virtua Fighter/Dead or Alive expertise under our belt.  If Capcom and Namco want to play footsies then so can Sega and Tecmo.

Then hhows a picture of a cat kicking a dog and everyone laughs.  No one knows if he's joking or serious.  These things draw inspiration for new games.

What's your favorite game???: Easy games.  Effortless games that you can play with kids.  Like Animal Crossing from Nintendo.  Yes, he actually says "Animal Crossing."

troll-face.jpg

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Anyway, it's super-encouraging right now to see Yu Suzuki speaking to the fans.  He looks humbled by his standing ovation.  He's a good man looking out for his games.  He also has a contagious smile.  Wish we had more game devs like him nowadays.

Daytona USA Championship Edition: That Other Daytona Game...

Alright, so there's quite a few Sega racers out there I've barely scratched the surface of.  Well here's another one for you: Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition (1996, also known as Daytona: CCE) for the Sega Saturn and its PC cousin, Daytona USA Deluxe (1997).  Both games are nearly identical in terms of source material, though the PC version has one additional track, better graphics (of course), and LAN play.

So here it is.  It's one of those wonderful "Windows 95" CD-ROM games.  You know you're in for a treat here.  Since I never owned a Saturn, I'm much more familiar with the PC version.  It was around 2002 and "Daytona USA Fever" was here.  Since Daytona USA 2 never got a home port and I didn't own a Dreamcast at the time, I bought three overpriced copies of this game off of eBay (charged me S&H three times, bastards).  Fired this bad boy up on the computer and here goes.

Here's the breakdown.  This game has eight cars and five tracks (six if you're on PC version).  The draw distances are farther than that of the original Daytona port.  There's split-screen and LAN play (PC-only, unless you have the rare Saturn net version).  You can also choose from a couple of options, such as the time of day to race and suspension stiffness (not as spectacular as it sounds), but that's about it.

This game was brought to you buy the folks who ported Sega Rally Championship (AM3 aka Hitmaker, I think).  Now this presents a conundrum--it's like Sega Rally and Daytona USA had a bastard child.  Don't get me wrong, this game's good but it feels a tad bit off compared to Daytona USA 1 and 2.  I'll explain why.  But here goes.

And now, I present to you, the CAR LINEUP...

So here's the eight cars in the game as seen in the game's menus.  They all have their hokey one-word names like the "Phoenix" or the "Oriole."  The cars have various stats which affect top speed & handling but that's about it.  The Max wins the honor of being the "Easy Level Car" (slow but good handling) while the Phoenix wins the honor of being the "Hard Level Car" (fast but poor handling).

Nevertheless, I like where AM3 was going with this but the car designs are a bit bland for my taste.  If Sega were to remix this game someday, I say go all-out with the crazy with it.  If there's a white car with the word "Balance" on it, I say it needs to look a lot more spiffy.  Also really strange how they changed the Hornet number & design, as such...

Oops, mirrored textures.  What's wrong AM3, too lazy to make right-side versions of the car textures???

If you zoom in enough, you'll see there's a "TacoBay" sticker on that car.  

The #19 Hornet still getting some love from the fans.

MUSIC

Believe it or not, the game (the US version at least) doesn't have the Mitsuyoshi vocals.  Every original Daytona song is a remix or a Richard Jacques ditty.  So that's lame.  But you get an all-new Daytona song which is called "Sons of Angels."



That's Jun Senoue on Guitar...the Jun of Crush 40.  And that's Eric Martin on Vocals...same Eric Martin from Mr. Big.  Now I wouldn't know about Mr. Big because lousy-ass Harmonix never released any Mr. Big songs for Rock Band until last month (just one song) so thanks Harmonix, this is all your fault.  But anyway, it's a rockin' song like the Winger band on Daytona USA 2 but not as memorable (for me, anyway...this game didn't get as much playtime as Daytona 2).

EDIT: Also worth mentioning this is the only song in the series that mentions the phrase "Daytona USA."  Let's Go Away doesn't count since the lyrics go "Daytona Let's Go Away."  Doesn't count.

Playing the game on WINDOWS 98

Operating my pirated copy en Español.

It's ass.  I've played both Daytona original and Daytona CCE on the PC and it's just not as fun with a keyboard.  In Deluxe they smoothed out the controls so you can turn reasonably well with keys but the car handling feels so bland that way--there's no "oomph" whenever you turn which way.  Get yourself a joystick/steering wheel and wrestle with the damn menus/graphics settings.  Oh well, you wanna play on the Master Race PC, it's not gonna be easy...

Track Selection (with Gameplay Footage!!!)

Three of the tracks are Three-Seven Speedway, Dinosaur Canyon, and Seaside Street Galaxy.  Holy cow, the three tracks from the original Daytona, how convenient.  Two are Desert Canyon and National Park Speedway which also made an appearance in Daytona USA 2001.

I had a crazy conspiracy theory once--it's that the roller coaster in National Park Speedway were the same ones in the Gameworks Amusement Park--hence both courses were in close proximity of one another.  But from the pics, they aren't even the same coaster so forget it.

...but what about the sixth track???  It's otherwise known as Silver Ocean Causeway.  It doesn't appear in any other racing game.  Here it is (thanks buddy for the Daytona USA 2 music!):

Shoot through the neon-lit tunnel before weaving down-hill as you drive across bridges and green hills.  Then take a sharp U-turn as you drive up-hill through the city and to the finish line.  It's not a fantastic course but it's nice to see some new scenery for once.

Secret Cars

Believe it or not, you can unlock the ACTUAL ORIGINAL #41 HORNET is in this game.  However, it is called the "Daytona" car and it has max stats--208 mph top speed and able to corner on a dime without drifting.  Now that's seriously OP, nerf this car now.  BTW, another Eric Martin song (at 3:12), sweet.

There's also two versions of Uma the Horse in this game too.  It looks pretty much like the horse from the original Daytona...so yeah, here's the best clip I could find (notice the original Sky High version with Mitsuyoshi lyrics...much much better).

BEAUTIFUL AI CARS

All the AI/drone cars look oh so beautiful.  They're color-coded too by speed.  That is, the cars from 1st to 8th are black, cars from 9th to 16th are dark blue, cars from 17th to 24th are orange, etc.  EDIT: Cars segregated by color...ha, that's race-ist!.  Sticks out like sore thumb and I don't like it.

More Useless Gameplay Footage

This is Daytona USA: Netlink Edition which is a super-rare version of Daytona: CCE that has online play.    It's the rarest North American Sega Saturn game.  It can be sold for over $1000.  But so what because the Model 2/3 emulators can do so much more than this game for the price of zero dollars, amazing.  But anyway, check out the evening/night-time lighting in this video--you can see s*** in dark because stock cars don't have actual headlights, remember?

Conclusion

There's some more to be said about the game but since I haven't played this in years, I'll stop here.  I think 15+ years ago this game would've been outstanding but it just lacks the polish of other hallmark Sega racers.  Seeing as the game wasn't touched by the magic hand of Yu Suzuki and the AM2 team, I can see why.  Car handling and graphics don't come close to any arcade versions.  You can purchase the game and see for yourself.  I still have the CD somewhere, maybe I'll check it out (or not).

Review Score: Uh, pick a float value between 6 and 8, it's up to you.

Sega's Screws Are Coming Loose???

What's going on over there at Sega???

Oh Panzer Dragoon, Phantasy Star, Sonic 4, that Olympics game no one seems to care about, Jet Set Radio, Hatsune Miku, Shogun 2, and Binary Domain pimpage.

And SHENMUE 1 AND 2 HIGH-DEFINITION PORTS????

And according to the rumor (probably some bumbling idiot at Sega), the ports have been completed for more than a year now.  And Sega's just waiting to gauge the popularity of the series and the likelihood of Shenmue 3.

WHY DO YOU SIT ON THESE GAMES FOR SO LONG???  WHAT'S NEXT--THEY HAVE DAYTONA 2/SCUD RACE/OUTRUN 3 ALREADY MADE BUT THEY'RE TOO SCARED TO RELEASE IT???  SHOW SOME GUTS, SEGA!!!

I know, I know, game publishers don't just release all their games at one time but IIRC, there's been a drought of Dreamcast titles over the years (remember Mike Hayes' 18-24 DC ports prediction???).  It sure as hell wouldn't have hurt to release Shenmue 1, then 2 later, then ultimately 3!!!

Then again, if the fans had it their way, we would've gotten Shenmue 3 much earlier and this whole delay wouldn't be an issue.

Nice to have the good old Sega back.

------------

So.  Onto my next point.  And that is about RACING GAMES!  Please bear with me, I'm not going to turn this into a "Dear Sega, please hire me to make Daytona 3" post, but here's what I wanna know, Sega...:

When are you making any NEW racing games?

I know there's a few. There was Sega Rally Revo (2007), Sega Race TV (2008), OutRun Online Arcade (2009), Sonic Free Riders (2010), Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010), Sega Rally Online Arcade (2011), Initial D Stage 6 (2011), and obviously Daytona USA (2011).  So that's great right?



Let's go thru the list:

*Sega Rally Revo - good Sega racer with loads of content, but handling is not as good as original, EDIT: made by Western Sega developer so that's okay
*Sega Race TV - arcades only, unique idea but not that great of a game
*OutRun Online Arcade - port of an already existing game, no longer available
*Sonic Free Riders - mega crap tied to the Kinect
*Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing - good but ALSO MADE BY SUMO DIGITAL
*Sega Rally Online Arcade - port of an already existing game (sort of) with less content
*Initial D Stage 6 - arcades only, just a expansion pack obviously
*Daytona USA - best thing Sega's done recently but it's just the original Daytona with better graphics and (dead) online play (already available on the Model2 emulator)
*Any other racing games out there I never heard of...SEGA PLEASE ADVERTISE THEM MORE AND MAYBE I WOULD ACTUALLY MENTION THEM

In all honestly, I think Sega is skimming the surface of the racing genre.  And I'm not talking "Daytona 3" but other stuff.  I want Scud Race, Daytona 2, Initial D, even f'n Sega Race TV to come home.  Maybe even a new Sega GT, Virtua Racing, Crazy Taxi, F-Zero, F355 Challenge.  Or even a new IP altogether!!

"Eric, you're overdoing it, Sega can only do so much."  Come on man...you look at the 80's and 90's and Sega was the King of Speed.  Spittin out OutRun, Daytona USA, Scud Race, Virtua Racing, Crazy Taxi, Initial D, yada yada yada.  Sega NEVER backed down.  All in, balls out, but look at 'em now.  They're scared.  They assume the racing genre is dead.  They play it safe like....oh, here's a Dreamcast port, here's a semi-decent Sonic game, here's a new Yakuza, here's a Hatsune Miku game for the Japanese kiddies, HERE'S A MUTHA-F***IN URINAL GAME!!!  WHAT NOW, BITCH???

I occasionally talk Sega to people at school.  It's unanimous among everyone that Sega has simply lost their identity.  They impress no one anymore.  They need to go back to the drawing board, they say.  And IMO, going back to the drawing board doesn't mean "here's an HD Dreamcast port, not STFU and go play it."  Sega doesn't go the extra mile anymore. EDIT: Lest you forget, Marvel parted ways with Sega so we're not getting any more crummy movie-based games so perhaps Sega should exert more energy into actual GOOD games...

EDIT: "Eric, put a smiley face on everything."  If you want a happy blog, go read SEGAbits, SegaShiro, Sonic Stadium, official Sega blogs, etc. where everything's all good.  I'm shooting from the hip here baby.  Not everything Sega does is perfectly great and someone's gotta say it.

This rant is crap, I know, but sometimes, you gotta kick someone's ass to get them to step up to the plate. God forbid I actually run out of Sega racer related material to talk about!!!  If it weren't for the fans (and Sumo Digital) making arcade emulators, fan games, art, etc. then there would hardly be anything to talk about.    Otherwise I would become the clean-up hitter on the gaming media and crap racing games.  Sure, it's great the new Daytona port got people talking about the game again BUT WE WANT MORE THAN THAT!!!  UNLEASH THE AM2 STUDIO FOR ONCE!!!  BRING BACK YU SUZUKI...yada yada yada, you already know what I'm driving at.

The fans have to save Sega, no doubt about it.  Clamoring for more ports on Twitter/Facebook/message boards is nice and all BUT GET ACTIVE AND DO/MAKE STUFF WHENEVER YOU CAN!!!

AMERICA (and the west in general), taking back racing games from the Japanese cause Japan sucks at making games now.  Sadly, with what???  Burnout, Need for Speed, Forza (well that one's actually good so it gets a pass), Flatout, Trackmania, Motorstorm, Fast & Furious, Split/Second...I mean, GOOD LORD CAN JAPAN STEP UP FOR ONCE AND SAVE US FROM THIS GARBAGE????????  Whatever. Yeah, this is a jackass post, but SOMEONE'S GOTTA SAY IT and if I don't, then who will????

------------

EDIT: A brief addendum and I'll say this about what Sega should do.  This reminds me of a real-world experience.  My father manages a small chain of fishing/tobacco stores along the Gulf Coast.  Don't give me any crap about cigarettes cause if people want to smoke then let 'em.  The government taxes the crap out of tobacco anyway so you sure are sticking it to us.

So anyway, when asked how he can compete against major retailers like Wal-Mart, he said "It's a more personal experience...if you need help with your fishing reels or your technique, we're there to help."

So here's what I think.  Sega is VERY FAR from outmuscling big players like Activision, Electronic Arts, Sony, Capcom, and Nintendo.  If Sega takes the bland route by releasing a couple of super hero/military/puzzle games, they'll squeak by and nothing else...

What can Sega do?  Do what Sega does best.  Make those wacky blue-sky games you can't get anywhere else.  Not the same lock-step march that every other publisher does.  Sega barely cashes in on their nostalgia.  Will Sega get a clue?  No, cause they stink.  You don't necessarily need a Dreamcast 2 to do this.  Get some new talent, some bold new producers cause Sega is blowing it as far as I'm concerned.  Make some good in-house games for once.  That's all, later.

Hail To The Chief, Nagoshi-San!!!

This has been news for days but I wanted to wait it out and tried to plan out my words.

Announced that the new personnel of the SEGA SAMMY Group, a director of Sega Minoru Hiroshi Nagoshi CCO（Chief Creative Officer）

I look like a girl in this pic, haw haw

In other words, Toshihiro Nagoshi (yes, THAT drunk playboy) is the CCO of Sega, the head of the creative department, responsible for all creative aspects handled by the company  from concept through production.  He also sets the tone for creative philosophy and the standards for the quality of its workmanship, and thus is the key person responsible for the effectiveness of all stuff produced by the company.  In other words, he tells the dev teams what games to make and how they will look.  Thanks Answers.com.

Link

*48 hours later after getting wasted*

Ok, where was I.  So Nagoshi, who is responsible for setting up his own studio for making tons of Yakuza games is in charge of Sega games.  Great, huh?

I think there's a glimmer of hope in all of this.  First of all, Nagoshi may be weird but at the very least he's making Sega money.  Yakuza, love it or hate it, is keeping Sega on the respirator.  Second, I had no idea who was the previous CCO so a familiar face is better than one that is not.  Oh, and we're only one "come to Jesus" moment away from getting a new Daytona, Scud Race, whatever.  All someone needs to do is knock some sense into him and we win.

But is Nagoshi going to assign the right games to the right people?  As of right now, Yu Suzuki and Yuji Naka are AWOL.  If Nagoshi were to demand that any new racing game would be made, is he going to hand it to Amusement Vision and then call it a day???  GIVE IT TO AM2!!!  DON'T REPEAT WHAT YOU DID WITH THE SUB-PAR DREAMCAST VERSION!!!  If AM2 is not involved in a new racing game, then it will suck PERIOD.  Lone exception would be F-Zero since they did AV did a good job with the GC version.    But other than that, give AM2 props where its due.

But even all this talk about AM2 has me wondering...what's going on over there???  Remember, Yu Suzuki doesn't work there anymore.  Are they still intact?  It's been 8 years since they've made OutRun 2, 14 since Daytona 2, and 18 since Daytona 1.  That is a LONG TIME.  Organizations change over time.  Really, even if AM2 is still around, do you think they give a damn about Daytona, OutRun, or any new racing games?

Case in point, we need NEW LEADERS!!!  We need more people like Yu Suzuki, Yuji Naka, Makoto Osaki, and Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Sega Rally guy who I vaguely mentioned).  Instead, what do we get?  Wobbly white guys like Mike Hayes who think it's "boss" of them to publish a yearly superhero game like Captain America/Iron Man/Thor and the occasional Dreamcast port and then they're in business??  NO, THAT'S LAME!!!

Geez, Nagoshi, I give you a lot of crap on this blog but the reason why is because I CARE ABOUT SEGA.  Cause frankly, you're the only true solider on the frontlines left.  So whenever I get mad, it's for a good cause.  Us fans are TRYING TO HELP YOU, PLEASE LISTEN TO US!!!

DAYUM, the left pic looks like a Barbie doll!!  Scary stuff there.

I don't know what to say, man.  With every passing year, Sega and the AM2 crew get a year older.  And it gets harder and harder to convince old guys to go back to finish the work they started 15+ years ago.  Time is valuable and we can't spend it pissing away at EA on Madden sequels.  You get what I'm driving at here?

------------

And one more thing to point out.  Nagoshi did a brief interview with SegaBITS on Binary Domain.  And don't get me wrong--Binary Domain looks good but I don't know if it can hang with the big boys like Halo or Gears of War--we shall see.  But here's a clip from the interview:

Before SEGA teamed up with Nintendo for their Mario & Sonic Olympic games, your team at Amusement Vision helped develop the excellent F-Zero GX for GameCube. Have you been in talks to bring the F-Zero franchise back, or maybe doing another game in that style?

Nagoshi: I’d like that if I ever have the chance. Racing games are not so popular lately, so it would be fun if I could suggest some ideas from different angles. Whether I’ve consider it in details…now that’s a secret.

FLASHBACK to 2004 when Nagoshi gave this interview:

Speaking of which, any chance of a new Daytona anytime in the near future?

Nagoshi: We don’t have any public plans at the moment. But right now, driving games like Need for Speed and Burnout are big in the US, so we’ve had thoughts about a Daytona 3.

This makes me that as much as I (and maybe you) hate mainstream racers like Burnout or Need for Speed, we NEED these games to stick around for Sega to release more racing games.  Obviously, I have no say in whether or not other racing games are successful but that's a bitter pill to swallow.  Geez, if the best that game devs can do nowadays is miserable bombs games like Split/Second, Blur, and every NFS game imaginable, then we're screwed.  Save the game industry one racing game at a time.  Each one of us can't do much on our own, but if a lot of us work with the same mindset...then we can breach the castle walls and storm the Sega building!!!  This is a team effort, not just me on a stupid blog.

Nagoshi also said this in the 2012 interview:

Recently, SEGA re-released Daytona USA. Of all the games you’ve been involved with, which one would you most like to see re-released on current systems?

Nagoshi: Well, it’s surely an honorable thing to hear how people like my past titles, but to be honest it makes me feel a little melancholic at the same time. I’m sure those past titles are being re-released because they were good games, but I’m quite confident that I can make better games than what I could do in the past. So personally, there is no particular title that I’d want to see re-released. That’s just my personal thought, and I definitely appreciate all the fans that still love my past work!

Thanks Nagoshi, we still have faith in you.

EDIT: One more thing.  Sega, YOU NEED TO GET YU SUZUKI BACK ON BOARD.  Why?  Because he's old...and wise.  He's been around for decades.  Even if you throw out all the Shenmue 3 nonsense, we should trust his judgment, nuff said.  Who else at Sega should we trust??  Besides Sonic the Hedgehog, he BUILT SEGA.  So give him props, please.

Virtua Racing Educational Video (With Music)!!!

School's occupying a lot of my time so don't expect a whole lotta posts in the future but here's a quick one since I got the time.

Thanks to anonymous poster "-1" for finding this video.  Now create a Google account and subscribe already.  But the video's fun AND educational!  It's about Virtua Racing.  Though it's mostly blabbering up until 2:00 minutes:



It rehashes on a couple of things I didn't know before (or forgot), such as the fact the game was a prototype and not meant to be released and the giant Joypolis 32-cabinet setups.  It was the first 3D racing game (Hard Drivin' doesn't count since it's a "simulator"), first 16:9 arcade game, and first racing game to feature four camera views.

This game doesn't get enough credit because of OutRun & Daytona but come on man, give Virtua Racing props.  It even has funky music:



Who's the guy who goes "kkhhaann??"  Oh, it's Captain Kirk.

DAAYYYYTOOONNNAAAAAAA LET'S GO AWAY

Today, we are getting Daytona USA on Xbox Live!!!  800 MSP, go get it!!!  Also, make sure that you rate the game five stars (look for the "Rate" option in the game's XBLA menu).  OutRun Online Arcade got an average rating of about 3.5 so make sure you've rated if you haven't already!!!

Daytona USA features

Fresh Oil and a New Coat of Paint: Experience the classic retro graphics of the original arcade hit in an enhanced,16:9 widescreen format

Let’s Go Away: Relive your glory days of racing to the sounds of the original Daytona® USA soundtrack, also available in Karaoke Mode (admit it, you know you have been singing along anyway)

Pedal to the Metal: Drive like a pro with included support for the Logitech GT Driving Force steering wheel controller on PS3™, and all Xbox 360-supported steering wheel controllers

Reach the Winner’s Circle: Challenge AI opponents in Arcade Mode, race the clock in Survival and Time Trial Modes, and trade paint with up to eight players in online multiplayer to place on the worldwide leaderboard

Sorry that European PSN users won't get this until late November.  But while you're at it, check out these nifty Daytona wallpapers!!!

Click here for different resolution images

Again, click on here for different resolutions

It is looking SLICK!!!  Love the rich saturation of the colors!!!  Sega did a good job at making this game look colorful without making it all shiny & obnoxious...

You can get this cool Playstation background (with avatar) if you buy the game, I presume.

Don't think there's anything like this on Xbox Live.  Easy to implement Xbox wallpapers--put the picture on a flash drive, read the flash drive on your Xbox and set the image to wallpaper.  Easy.

All three pictures property of Sega of America....ooooh yes indeed they deserve some credit for making the game (well, perhaps Sega of Japan but close to the same thing).

------------

The official Japanese AM2 Port Team blog has posted two more entries since I first noticed it.  Talking about the game's achievements.  Nothing extraordinary but good to hear more from these folks.

Now, I didn't mention this before, but I'll say the obvious.  This is an AM2 Port Team at work here.  We're talking AM2.  That means that the chances that we get Daytona 2 and Scud Race are significantly higher than I assumed a month ago.  Maybe not in the next few months but maybe later.  Had this been the same team as OutRun/Sega Rally Online Arcade, I would still have my doubts.  But we got dedicated Japanese developers at work here.  I'm feeling confident about this.  Although Daytona USA 3/Sega Racing Megamix would be the real pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...the golden ticket...the Holy Grail...the Boardwalk stamp in McDonald's Monopoly...or whatever.

I tried looking up this Toru Murayama guy.  Didn't get much.  I found a Murayama-San, the External Director, FAST RETAILING CO., LTD.Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University...not the same guy.  And some episode director for some anime shows.  But wait!  I think I found the actual Murayama-San of Sega...here's his page with his picture:

Uh, we know next to nothing about him.  We do know that he was around in '99 to work on Shenmue.  We should learn more about this AM Port Team!  They may be Sega's saving grace for the future!

EDIT: While you're at it, try looking up the alternate name "Tohru Murayama."  You may get different results.  Can't do the searches now, I'm busy...

Daytona Port's Japanese Team At Work Here!!!

Now we know who is doing the Daytona USA port for XBL/PSN.  It is the "AM Port Team" who is also responsible for ports of After Burner Climax, Virtua Fighter 5, and both Virtual-Ons.  They started a blog and they posted their first entry today.   The studio is run by some guy name Toru Murayama.  I don't know who he is but he looks like a friend of Sega to me!!

But first, you want to see more sweet screenshots of the Daytona USA port in action?  You got it.

This page translate to English must, very funny it is!!!!

------------

Hello, very much.
My name Sega transplant team and Murayama AM.




"The team transplanted AM" I claim to be freely Toka, there is no formal organization.
The stray. Sonic Team! Studio Gotoku! Official is not cool Hey I do not like.
I always feel funny is drifting even when dissolved,
Doing this "team" Deariyasu soon I hope to even think that somehow survived and got ready to Karaniha blog. 有安.
Thank you!


At first it is
VF5, Oratan, ABC, ported the arcade title came the Virtual Force
Porting Team AM (stray), the latest title announced at last! Maki! Is.


DAYTONA USA edition XBLA / PSn
Proudly announced!


I do!


· · · It?
Oh, Did you mean Did you know anymore?


Oh Speaking
I Temashita rating agencies and information leak or Australia.
I rely on the title of the quiz was sponsored Barebare Sega of America.
Or rather, I was abroad I originally chat is officially announced.


Yeah, well, I do that is not irrelevant.
It is a matter of feeling.


DAYTONA USA edition XBLA / PSn
Congratulations to the official announcement in Japan!


Will be delivered on October 26, 2011 Both models!
※ Sorry time is undetermined.
Notification via Twitter as soon as we confirm delivery.


I did it!


So, what will the introduction of light.


· DAYTONA USA is a first!
Temasen to be superfluous. The original atmosphere, I feel like operations focused on reproducibility.
But this time remains 4:3 to HD is compatible with that first Karou.
3D model while retaining an HD display various imposed by hand.
I just stretch and blur from Chaimasu only.
I is not actually a fairly clean,
"Mamajan the time!" "Nostalgic" What I hope it feels Moraetara.


You can play online • Up to 8 people!
As a precaution I should say, and I Both models are implemented as well!
It is hot indeed. What is not quite so at eight shops,
I play eight more experience think small.
Because change comes the fun by choosing courses,
Invite your friends want us to play us.


• Other modes are!
Sing the karaoke mode and sing that song famous Dr. Kokichi large,
Challenge mode to learn the basics of operation with a clear
Survival mode, or compete, such as how much distance 走Reru within the stipulated time,
We got the variety will be available. Even after the time attack.
Tenth of a second player and compete in the world rankings in support ... is hot.


/ Trophy Results · The Comp anyone can!
Karaniha make the team out, this is absolutely 譲Remasen.
I write this blog this more at a later date.


Not that the first ends like this.


So over again!







Usaa!

------------

翻訳された日本語は私達のアメリカ人に面白いです。私は彼らが我々の翻訳英語考えるのだろうかと思う！日本、ハッハッハに私のブログを翻訳してください！

うわー、そのバニーはとても愛らしいです...!!!私はいつか私のブログの背景にそれを含めることができます！

But no, I'm still here in English.

Check out some more of these user comments from that page translated to English.  They are very interesting and you must read them!!  Underlined the good parts.

------------

Sorry topics intertwined in Daytona USA2.
But now a demand in the short-tempered 頂Kitaku also realized Daytona was realized by two full time transplant.

Option can be switched to Battle on the Edge & Power Edition.

HD images directly on graphic model3

16 people can play online

Sega sports channels with live footage was professional

Long instrument can be switched on the CD version was released earlier board sound

If you add sound and portability impossible transplant Scud Race Course

Mix, including additional courses such as Scud Race Course

Please consider the sections of the transplant.

------------

Hello Toru Murayama, greetings from Italy.
Please convert other arcades for us, Am Port Team is our last chance.
We hope for more ports but please in retail edition.

The House of the Dead 4, Border Break ...

Please consider with Sega also the possibility to create a collection of old arcade games that we have never seen on console. Every years we see Mega Drive collection etc, but we know it very well, we prefer collection about System 16, X / Y Board , Model 2 etc.

Please think about that,
We are here to support you
We'll love arcade games forever

Italia Sega Front

------------

Congratulations, Mr. Murayama Daytona revival! We now really looking forward to! 'd Like to be so by all means, I would like to be able to add content to do as a switch between the Saturn version of the song. I waited 16 years from the Saturn version was the dream of doing a song full of the arcade version of the Saturn in transplantation.(Roh △ T) and thank you also do not come just 3.6 million!
m (_ _) m

------------

Congratulations transplant Daytona USA!
Temashita long wait.
Handle the controller options, "the strength of force feedback," "the weight of the handle," "play type" I am fine can be set.
And super-heavy arcade like Daytona,
Yes you can meet the needs of you and your lighter to set it to play a long time.

Then, thank you for porting Daytona USA2!
Such high speed and flashy action Oratan impact is over there.


------------

It sounds good site
Let also ask 1995 SEGA RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP!

※ rice field error "SH-2" more, and if I can remove it

------------

Gates has been replenished!
Please come to the following Harley-Davidson.

------------

HORNET IS BACK!!!

Ported very happy!
"You can enjoy the four perspectives with VR button"
The tears have involuntarily ....

However, a port of Daytona USA is happy and said,
2 is a transplant and still do ....
BGM at least full-course caution and, alone, such as a car collision course ... and enemy

------------

Thank portable! !

School is a work of memory and time record competed endlessly with friends.

Buy Haste The Day 26! ! !

------------

I have not played in real time honest and DAYTONA USA
Ported to XBLA and thoughts will be heard "Wow" was about Innovation say.
We heard high expectations of the team responsible for porting this AM and it!
Oratan, ABC, and the Virtual Force (VF5 is good at fighting so sorry)
Buying a 遊Bimashita felt the love all of them.
SEGA of yesteryear feel the momentum (in a good way) because I feel that most teams feel the evil of the head.
I think the game industry has swept the adverse times, not just a new transplant
We hope to have fun Rashiku SEGA!
Please transplant team luck AM (tentative)! !

------------

Thank Daytona delivery!
Poured into a 100-yen coin Daytona Dearimasu much of my youth, that the Yarra played the Sega Saturn version of just how incomplete graft
Wktk 26

Then, Daytona 2, Scud Race is still a consumer machine output Temasen title definitely want to rent HD.

Daytona 2 If possible, optionally,
I want you to be able to switch or switching Kokichi Dennis ver-edge battle with Power Edition

------------

Why ... Why not comment.
And thoughts of what is now in its third.

The official announcement will not stop wktk Daytona USA (laughs).
While the delivery date or should I buy one problem (but wearing clothes) I waiting for.
Oratan, and force, I look forward to future work as a team that had inherited the spirit of the old Sega.

Personally, I am glad to respond later because Kuretara clutch play Poku and NASCAR ...

------------

It is interesting that a lot of gamers out there feel the same way about Daytona USA.  They want that Daytona 2 port with (I guess) Scud Race courses???  Wouldn't that be tops???  Sega Racing Megamix, Baby!!!

I also love the frequent use of the word "transplant."  We're not talking about organ transplants here, okay??

Again, here is the link to the article with the comments.  I see that model3 left a comment as well!  I will probably leave a comment too in the future.

Good night.  Rolf, I'm tired so most of my comments were disjointed anyway (Engrish-style)!!!

Thanks Sega For Daytona USA And Ghost Squad!!!

Don't have much time to post so let's just share what I know good so far...

WE NOW HAVE LEAKED FOOTAGE OF THE DAYTONA PORT...



Holy cow, I'm really impressed.  Slick FPS, better draw distance, vibrant colors, and the handling looks intact.  It's pretty much the same vintage Daytona but with a coat of polish.  I think Sega deserves three thumbs up (although you only have two) for this because they've really silenced a lot of critics (including myself) with this port.  ROUND OF APPLAUSE, BOYS AND LADIES!!!

Though I am curious about one thing.  Did they fix the glitches/exploits of the pit stop shortcut and the bounce-off-the-wall trick?  Something inside of me says to do away with any silly little things that are outside the intended bounds of gameplay.  This is not a knock on those who are super-good at the game since they will beat an average Joe like me on any given day (that is, until I start practicing).  But if Sega got rid of those exploits in gameplay, would that piss off more people than anticipated?  That Sega tampered the purest form of Daytona available?  Would that be a bad idea to remove bugs from the game?  I wonder what you think about it.  Watch the videos here (Beginner & Expert) to see what I'm talking about.

Did Sega fix the cracks in Daytona USA?  Maybe, but only a "Sega Racers Megamix" would do it for me.

------------

And not only that, but Sega is making people happy outside of racing games.  Like check out this guy from Thailand playing Ghost Squad, a Sega-AM2 shooter from 2004.  His performance is nothing short than perfection.  Yeah, this video has gone viral but if you haven't seen it now, then today's your lucky day.



Meanwhile, those kids standing next to him playing Time Crisis 4...they're just standing there all bored, rofl.

THANKS SEGA!!!

My Desk At Gaming School!!

Ok, I want to knock this out now since it's really cool.  Everyone at FIEA (the gaming school I go to), gets a desk with a laptop docking station.  I've already been here a month so I've got mine setup.  Mine is out of the way (which I don't mind...I hate being in high-traffic locations anyway) but it looks really cool.

Yes, I actually got my Sega racer pics up!  Awesome!!!

This is my big wall.  As you can see, there's Sega AM2, Daytona USA 1/2, OutRun 1/2, Scud Race, Sega Rally, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Racing, Yu Suzuki, and Toshihiro Nagoshi (calling him useless).

A lamp illuminates my glorious shrine, as you can see here.  Also, there's my super laptop...a Dell, lol.

My computer.  When you plug in the laptop, the screen is tranferred to this monitor/keyboard/mouse combo.  And there's Sonic and *GASP* Mario right there.  Get this--that Mario figure was on my birthday cake when I turned six (give or take two years).

This is also hokey, but I put up some pics of my Counter-Strike maps...I don't care, I like 'em.  And that Game Creation book...rofl.

Now everyone at FIEA got a nameplate complete with some personal info as you can see here.  This is what mine says.  NOTE that I'm not about to reveal my face to the Internet...yet.  My Internet career becomes a whole different ball game once everyone knows what you look like.

Ok, you wonder how much of an interest I may have stirred by my setup.  Well, not much.  Some people have assumed I like Sega & racing games, but none have actually referred to any game like Daytona & OutRun specifically.  No one noticed Yu Suzuki or Toshihiro Nagoshi either.  Also, no one has said anything about the Counter-Strike maps.

Just letting you know...