November 29, 1998
Family is great. My Mother in law was able to get me a DC so my Dreamcast arrived today. I really like it! The only game I got was VF3tb and I guess I will have to get the DC joystick to get the best out of this game because the usual controller is a little too small for my hands. The other thing is that the controller triggers change the camera angle so when you are really excited it is easy to hit the triggers by accident and really loose your place in the middle of a fight. I dug up my Godzilla VMS unit which I got months ago to save my VF3 game and the VMS' batteries were dead! I don't really like the idea that I have to change batteries on my RAM card. I hope these things have SRAM for game saves.
In Akihabara news, I saw a bunch of European guys working as a team buying lots of stuff at every shop in Aki on DC Eve. I guess the DC release brought people from all over the world to my neck of the woods!
TriStar units are now back in stock. There will be a new TriStar 64 next year which will replace the current TriStar. The TriStar 64 will be a SNES/SFC/NES/FC "adapter" which plugs into you r N64. No word on on pricing at this time.
November 27, 1998
Today is Dreamcast day! The units themselves seem to be sold out everywhere in Tokyo, but there are rumors of availability in rural areas. Some stores were filling orders for customers with reservations in Akihabara last night.
November 20, 1998
It's now one week till Dreamcast comes out and I'm just not excited. Why not? Cuz I won't be able to get one. I try to tell myself that I have enough games which I don't have time to play anyway, but it doesn't help!
I've noticed lately that alot of the games I send out are things which never make it up to my pages. I get to know what people like when they order a few times and so if I get something which might be good for someone, I email them and let them know.
Saturn fans: Since Marvel has seen fit to ask Capcom to stop the grey market imports of Marvel Superheroes vs. Street Fighter, I have decided that I'll make that game available for special order. Prices are as follows:
Used w/o 4MBRAM $49
New w/o 4MBRAM $59
Used w/ 4MBRAM $65
New w/ 4MBRAM $75
Prices are in US$ and do not include shipping. Add $8 for airmail, $12 for EMS express mail.
November 14, 1998
There are at least two sides to every story. Businesses may move in certain directions based on self interest or based on efforts to satisfy perceived consumer demand.
For the last few years, we have been hearing promises from the game industry that games will be more realistic, more cinematic. We as consumers have enjoyed higher production standards and have come to take this for granted. Some games have even been advertised as though they were cinematic events. "Parasite Eve" ads here in Japan looked like movie posters. When you start playing "Metal Gear Solid", the production credits come up on the screen just like a movie. For many game designers, current and coming generations of hardware are a dream come true. Processors which can display motion almost like real life and storage space to hold beautifully rendered intro and cut sequences. Customers are getting more game for their dollar than ever before.
On the other hand, producing these cinematic style games costs money. Lots of money. Games now have production budgets which rival or exceed many made for TV movies. Programmers, designers and support staff have payrolls, large investments in computer systems are required and the games have to be advertised in print and on TV so customers know what to buy. Considering these investments, it is only natural and fair that the production companies and publishers want to recoup their investments with retail sales.
Second hand sales of games do not benefit the producers in any way. No royalties are paid on the sales of used games. The current efforts to ban the sales of used games in Japan are based on Japanese copyright laws which state that a movie, or something like a movie can not be resold without the permission of the original copyright holder. The more a game is like a movie, the more this becomes a valid argument.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The idea to make games more cinematic or the idea to protect royalties by classifying games as movies under copyright law. Are you the type who sees conspiracy behind every corner? Not me. I just want to play good games.
For an explanation of the legal issues
involved, please see "Who owns
your games?" by Superfami.com General Council Sidney Weeks.
Go sign the Snatcher
& Policenauts Petition now!
November 12, 1998
This last weekend I finally went to a shop I had noticed first about 4 years ago but never made the time to go and find. Anyone who has flown into Narita and taken the Keisei Skyliner into Ueno might have noticed a shop with a big sign in Katakana which just says "Famicom". Team Gaijin finally made the trek out towards Narita on the local and found that place. It was OK, but hardly the reward one would have hoped for for a full day trek out to the far end of nowhere. At least I found an unusual Famicom cart at a flea market along the way. I thought it was a prototype, but turns out it's just an old pirate cart. I'll get pics of it up later this week.
Superfami.com Futures Index. The
SFI price index is mixed this week. Neo Geo hardware is returning
to it's summer time level of ~$225 for unboxed ROM systems but Dracula
X is up by about $20. Darius Alpha holds steady in the $325 range
and the PC-FX is down $10. The only other item of note is the last
reported LT was back over $1000. Overall used games are thin.
Perhaps Japanese gamers are holding on to sell in a week or two to raise
funds for the upcoming Dreamcast release. Superfami.com predicts
a glut of Saturn and SFC games in the first two weeks of December.
November 5, 1998
Chrismas is almost here. The video game companies will be gearing up their marketing machines in full force in the coming weeks. I wouldn't want to be anyone's Grinch so I'm doing a Chrismas Special too! See the front page of the site for details.
I spent the last weekend in Seoul.
Only saw ONE video game for sale. It could be that "Japanese Culture
Import Ban" keeps game sales at the underground/pirate level, or maybe
I just wasn't looking in the right places.