From: bel@whipassgaming.com   
      
   > It's a Sega Sorta Christmas. Because I say so. How Sega was your Christmas   
   > this year?   
      
   Having some fun with the 3DS Sonic titles...debated getting Lost Wold   
   now that it's hit PC. Though not specifically Sega, but rather related   
   to them, I did pick up that Pier Solar HD for the PC. I actually play it   
   in the "Genesis" mode most of the time, switching between the PCM and   
   Redbook soundtracks. Really enjoying it.   
      
   > It's a good time to be a gamer, as there's a lot of good product and many   
   > interesting experiences to be had. Sadly, our favorite gaming company is   
   > less and less of a presence in that world. As the Sega/Ssmmy conglomerate   
   > continues to find ways to make money without actually selling anything,   
   > over the last five years they've done something by accident that Konami   
   > did on purpose in the space of five months: Sega has made their games   
   > secondary, and alienated a lot of their most devoted fans. It's less Dylan   
   > going electric than it is Watterson no longer drawing Calvin and Hobbes.   
   > The things we love about Sega simply aren't present in the world any more.   
      
   You got that right...including the forums. Man, you want to talk about   
   hostility, go to any given Sega-based form and try saying something   
   positive about *any* aspect of the company and watch as they tear your   
   ass apart. I mean, you can say something like "Streets of Rage 2 is a   
   great game!" and you'll get comments like "Yeah, too bad it's on the   
   Genesis" *on a Sega-based forum*. Blows my mind.   
      
   > This is another year gone by that Phantasy Star Online 2 didn't show up in   
   > the west.   
      
   I still need to look in to this one. I'm just thrilled that PSO BB can   
   still be played online on the PC.   
      
   > Yakuza 5 was released with absolutely no fanfare or advertising   
   > to a market that's almost completely gone. The Aliens: Colonial Marines   
   > debacle continued over the last twelve months with more lawsuits,   
   > finger-pointing and almost no resolution.   
      
   What's weird about that whole Aliens thing is how they seem to ignore   
   the nearly *9 gigs* of patches that game has received on the PC version.   
   Honestly, it's not a bad game...in single player mode at least. I never   
   got a chance to play it pre-patch, but it looks and plays fine with said   
   patches.   
      
   > The Sonic Boom media franchise   
   > has made a little money but has otherwise had no impact on a children's   
   > media culture that's now inundated with licensed multimedia properties   
   > like Yokai Watch or anything from the Disney/Marvel/Lucas behemoth. At   
   > risk of sounding petulant, Sega is one tiny fading and discordant voice in   
   > an electronic world where they used to be a relevant and trend-setting   
   > leader.   
      
   What kills me is that Generations was the most talked about, and highest   
   rated of the Sonic games last year...and yet Sega seems happy to just   
   leave that as a one-off. To me, that's something they should have built   
   on. Not that Sonic: Lost World isn't awesome, but it's just so different   
   and not what people were wanting.   
      
   > With that said, there's more than enough new and retro game content out   
   > there to fill a hedgehog-shaped hat. This year my major purchase was a   
   > pile of Game Gear games I didn't have before, all bought for under $5 each   
   > at one of those big college-town chains that deals more in music and   
   > movies.   
      
   Those kinds of places are about the only way to get said games so cheap   
   nowadays. Seems like there are just TONS of gaming stores all over any   
   given city, and they ALL want to charge some outrageous price for even   
   the most common of titles.   
      
   > Pac Man, G-Loc, Land of Illusion, Mortal Kombat, and the Asterix   
   > game were among the big gets there. Most of those titles I hadn't owned   
   > before, largely because Game Gear games are so unusual (and sell so   
   > rarely) that when I do find them they're priced absurdly, in the $20-$50   
   > range for a cart with no box and no manual.   
      
   Yup...it's almost impossible to find a complete GG title. I've actually   
   been buying a few of them via the 3DS Virtual Console service. It's   
   interesting how much work Sega is putting in to those...with options to   
   turn off blur, use the GG processor or not and other thoughtful stuff.   
   The Genesis 3D titles are also very good in that respect, not to mention   
   how amazing even something like Altered Beast looks in 3D.   
      
   > There were a couple of other   
   > gems along the way, most of which were only tertially related to Sega's   
   > product. I picked up the Dreamcast-era CD soundtracks for Dead or Alive 2   
   > and Maken X, as well as a few third-party Genesis games I hadn't owned   
   > before.   
      
   Man, I haven't bought a Genesis game in I-don't-even-know-how-long.   
   About the only thing I've got on my list is The Punisher...just trying   
   to find a cart-only version for around $40(not even interested in these   
   $150+ complete copies).   
      
   > I suppose my biggest purchase during the holiday season was the   
   > Playstation 4, in preparation for next year's release of Shenmue 3. Yes, I   
   > backed the Kickstarter, only my second crowdfunding contribution ever   
   > because I don't trust anybody without a track record or a prior product to   
   > demonstrate that they know how to finish a job.  I went for the support   
   > level that includes a disk, because real media is important in a world   
   > where you can't count on the Internet to be up all the time. Speaking of   
   > which, I have pointedly not bought Yakuza 5 yet. Partly I'm holding out   
   > hope that an Asian-region version comes out on disk in the future with all   
   > the English localization included, but mostly it's because I don't have   
   > enough disk space left on the PS3. I don't want to have to do data backup   
   > and maintenance tasks before going through the four or five attempts it   
   > will take to download the game, when I can just pick up any other game I   
   > own out of the case and get it going straight from the media.   
      
   With the Blu-Ray media now the standard, even these terrabyte hard   
   drives aren't going to last long, even if you're just installing the   
   game rather than purchasing it digitally. I guess there's no transfer   
   cable or USB Flash Drive option to move data across an old and new PS3   
   HDD, like there is for the 360? I used to have horrible fucking 14GB HDD   
   for the 360(you know, the one they call a 20GB drive, yet even   
   completely empty is only 14GB), but managed to luck out and get an   
   official MS-brand 120GB. Using just a 32GB Flash Drive, I was about to   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)