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| As
Good as it Gets? |
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House of the Dead 2 and Get Bass are arcade perfect. This term has been
bandied about many times in the past but these two recent Dreamcast titles make the
transition from coin-op to console seamlessly. Even the hardware included with the deluxe
versions of both games are of excellent quality and mimic their arcade counterparts well.
We had a chance to play the sit down arcade versions of HOD2 and Get Bass over the weekend
and were reminded that while these arcade versions were good fun, we could be saving the
.75 per play by going Dreamcast. We wouldn't be missing anything in the console versions.
These two coin-ops cost a few thousand dollars to install but the DC costs about $300 and
each game around $100. The convergence of arcade and console games has never closer than
this. The high resolution graphics of the DC make the console versions identical to the
their coin-op brethren. So, is this as good as it gets? Arcade games have not advanced in
leaps and bounds while console games have evolved in the past couple of years. Home
versions have played catch-up and look to overtake the arcades if the current trend
continues. Indeed, we have already seen nigh simultaneous releases of the arcade and
console versions of Power Stone. We look for this trend to continue as publishers profit
on two fronts at the same time, although cannibalizing some of their sales is inevitable.
When consoles such as the Dreamcast reach a cricial mass of users in the million unit
range, it may very well be more profitable for publiahers to focus on the home versions of
their latest and boldest games and release the coin-op versions to fuel the perception
that you can play at home what others are playing at the arcades. In this manner, they
would showcase the games in a public arena and fuel demand on the home front. Things are
good for home console owners now but it looks to get even better. Dreamcast aside, if you
can believe the specs on Playstation 2, we'll be in gaming nirvana next year around this
time. |
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| Yen
Equilibrium |
08:21AM |
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The dollar stood at Y120.3 earlier this morning but it just hit Y121.5 a few moments ago.
The uptrend is firmly in place and we'll look to short when Y122 or thereabouts is hit.
This level is unsustainable, despite the official jawboning that has moved markets in the
past. The effects of rhetoric never last for too long although strong
words do linger in the minds of men for a few days longer. |
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| Dreamcast
Trigger Delicate |
| NCS
is issuing an advisory for Dreamcast owners to click the right triggers of their DC
joypads carefully. Be gentle and refrain from using too much brute strength. It appears
that the right trigger snaps when frantic force is applied and we have heard from more
than a couple of customers about this problem. |
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| Transparent
Casings |
| In
stock and available for shipping at $29 each. The colors are great and fit perfectly with
the latest SCPH models. If you have ordered a smoky grey casing, please let us know if you
wish to choose clear black as your alternative because the color descriptions lost a bit
in the translation from Chinese to English. All pre-orders will ship this afternoon. New
orders may be placed on our on-line
store under Playstation/Casings. |
| Clear
Red |
| Clear
Purple |
| Clear
Blue |
| Clear
Green |
| Clear
Black |
| Crystal
Clear (nice) |
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