From: bel@whipassgaming.com   
      
   > Every December for a few years running now, I've started a 'Sega Sorta   
   > Christmas' thread to keep the love alive (and to keep the signal-to-noise   
   > ratio at a decent level.)   
      
   Yeah, seems like a Sega X-mas is getting harder and harder to find. My   
   favorite Sega X-mas had to be the year I got the Genesis...man, I was so   
   fucking unbelievably happy.   
      
   > What did you do, give, or receive this year that   
   > was in support of or in the spirit of our favorite game company?   
      
   I've picked up a few Genesis and SCD titles over the past few months,   
   but nothing too terribly notable.   
      
   > While I'm visiting family out in the midwest, I head out to a local game   
   > store chain called Gamers. Yes, it's an unimaginative name, but they have   
   > the best retro selection anywhere west of Akihabara. I never leave any one   
   > of their six stores without picking up a pile of old 8-bit or 16-bit   
   > games. And I try my damnedest to fill in the holes in my Saturn, Sega CD   
   > and Dreamcast collections when I'm there.   
      
   I always love hitting a place I've never hit before, there's just so   
   much to be had!   
      
   > Sadly, this year the pickings were quite slim. Only came home with two   
   > Dreamcast games, Zombie Revenge and Fur Fighters. The first game was   
   > roundly disappointing; how could you mess up a Die Hard spinoff set in the   
   > House of the Dead universe? It's painfully slow and it's hard to see   
   > what's happening on screen.   
      
   Give it some time, it's actually pretty fun. Weird stuff like pulling a   
   pipe out of a boss, then beating him with it is just awesome. The last   
   level actually happens *in* the House, from House of the Dead.   
      
   > The second game I wouldn't have been   
   > interested in under normal circumstances, but I understand that many of   
   > the head-to-head features of Fur Fighters were revived in The Club, the   
   > excellent third-person shooter Sega released for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Fur   
   > Fighters is a decent game on its own, but I like The Club much more.   
      
   I didn't like the constant hurrying of The Club...if they could have   
   just toned the pace down a bit, I think I could have gotten in to it. As   
   for Fur Fighters, I haven't played much(just the demo), but I did like   
   what I played of it.   
      
   > Anyway. I think at this point I own something on the order of 70 percent   
   > of the American Dreamcast library? I'm missing quite a few of the kid   
   > games and the Playstation ports, so I'm thinking the further I go the   
   > easier this should get.   
      
   Could be. I know Ben had some issues towards the end of his full DC   
   collecting. He sold it all off though, a while back...   
      
   > The only other Gamers purchase of note was Alisia Dragoon, a loose cart I   
   > bought to replace my broken one. You guys were right, it's not really that   
   > special of a game. Still, it can't hurt to have more bikini armor   
   > cartridge labels. :) Also, a three-dollar Genesis cartridge is better than   
   > a fifty-dollar MIB package with manual and original price sticker.   
      
   I really like it, I have never understood people saying it was mediocre.   
   Granted, the whole lightning thing takes a little getting used to, but   
   once you get it powered up, watch out. I've played through this one a   
   few times.   
      
   > After coming home, I noticed that the bad economy has a lot of gamers   
   > selling the older items in their collections. I managed to snag a   
   > second-hand copy of Iron Storm for the Saturn from one of these trade-in   
   > situations. I didn't realize before that this was a version of   
   > Daisenryaku, and very likely the first one localized for the west.   
      
   Yeah, isn't that wild? I think a version of Daisenryaku also showed up   
   on the original Xbox.   
      
   > I love   
   > turn-based strategy and I like this particular game fine, but reading the   
   > Working Designs translation notes years after the fact is just another   
   > reminder of how arrogant and self-righteous that company was. If they were   
   > just a little more humble and forgiving, they might still be part of a big   
   > localization machine that they helped to build.   
      
   Towards the end of WD, I heard a lot of disturbing info regarding Vik's   
   behaviour...it's sad that they went under, especially when you think   
   about all of the games that they could have gone back and translated,   
   then released. I mean, can you imagine the sales, even if they did this   
   today, of going back, translating Saturn Grandia and releasing it?   
   Granted, Game Arts would get their cut...but still.   
      
   > Reading back over my post, I realize that I sound a bit more negative   
   > about things than I really meant to. I'm still really enthusiastic about   
   > gaming in general and Sega in particular, but Sega's performance this   
   > holiday season isn't focused on the west in particular. I'm thinking about   
   > Phantasy Star Zero and other new RPG properties on the way, but we   
   > probably won't see those until March or April at the earliest.   
      
   ...can't wait to see those eight-polygon models running at 6fps on the   
   DS! Ought to be....something. ;)   
      
   Bel   
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   Whip Ass Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/   
      
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