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Sega Rally 2 straight to the PC!!!Sega has confirmed plans to convert Sega Rally 2 to the PC bypassing completely the almost defunct Saturn console platform. It is not clear how it will relate to its Arcade model 3 based big brother but Sega have confirmed any graphical detriment will be made up for in gameplay enhancements. The following is taken from a recent Sega press release.Get your motor runnin' and head out on realistic off-road courses at screeching speeds with "Sega Rally Championship 2`," a fierce PC racing thrill ride from Sega" Entertainment, Inc. (SEI). "Sega Rally Championship 2" features a "revved-up" 3D game engine with new weather effects, multi-player capabilities for up to eight people and an all-new PC-specific game mode. "Sega Rally Championship 2" is available for a test drive today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The game will ship in Fall of this year.No release date has been confirmed, keep tuning in for more info.
Dreamcast Over here!!!!Sega's new console, which has been receiving nothing but positive press recently, has been slated for a European release date of September '99. As is customary the company will test the sales of the hardware on home ground with the Japanese release coming a full 10 months earlier launching in the last quarter of this year. Software details have been trickling down slowly and the software shown has been encouragingly different in content.
Unreal running on Power VR fuelled Dreamcast!Next-generation online (www.next-generation.com) has reported that Industry insiders have indicated Sega's new machine has been seen running the Unreal engine natively. This would seem ro indicate that Epics superlative 3D shooter will indeed be making an appearance sometime after the machines official launch in Japan around November.The PC's answer to Gran Turismo??Milestone, the bods responsible for the successful Screamer series of racing games has announced details of their new forthcoming racer Screamer Sportscar. Milestone are particularly adept at judging current trend, and boarding the subsequent bandwagon that follows (Screamer was an answer to the playstations Ridge Racer, Screamer Rally an answer to the Saturns Sega Rally) . This time Gran Turismo seems to have been their 'inspiration'. Offering the chance to drive numerous supercars around racetracks (as opposed to rally tracks). Screamer sportscar promises to take a more simulator approach to the genre, offering numerous pit options and the chance to but or sell cars.
Go faster gear!!!Some important software updates have recently become available which should be of interest to any PC owning gamers out there. First up is the long awaited relese of Microsoft's Multimedia API DirectX 6. Currently available for download in end user and SDK flavours from the DirectX site.Finally 3DFX interactive have released version 3.0 of their Voodoo Graphics accelerator board. It is available to download from the 3DFX Download area and is approx. 840k in size.
3DFX announce Banshee!!3DFX have released details of their much rumoured 2D/3D card combo (news ripped from 3DFX.com) which is to be called Banshee. The press release reads like this :Voodoo Banshee is the first of 3Dfx's family of integrated 2D/3D accelerators to storm into the consumer PC arena to score a one-punch knockout. The ultimate bridge between 3D entertainment and PC graphics is now available with unprecedented Voodoo2 3D technology. The Voodoo architecture, which has built a religious following among game developers, is now married with ultra-fast 2D, designed to accelerate graphic intensive Windows applications. Targeted for the demanding OEM, Voodoo Banshee complements 3Dfx's successful Voodoo2, the performance leader for 3D gaming. Best of class 2D and 3D performance from a single chip is now possible because Voodoo Banshee has it all!Even if you take these specs with a pinch of vapourware salt they do sound impressive, stay tuned for more news.
Unreality Check!!Unreal finally hits the UK and we've got it fully playtested for your convienience (its a tough job I know). Click here to read the full lowdown. Or click here to buy online right now.
SEGA's new console no longer just a dream!!SEGA has just released details of their Next generation console. The machine is to be named Dreamcast (??!!) and is designed as an all purpose gaming solution. Hardware is based around 128-bit Hitachi RISC processor running at 200MHZ , apparantly easily outpreforming Intels Pentium II range of processors. It has 16MB of on board RAM and an in-built 33.6 modem. The japanese gaming giant has also cut a deal with NEC and Videologic (makers of the Power VR 3D graphics accelerator cards) to provide them with proprietary custom 3D hardware. Windows CE will provide the OS with Mirosofts DirectX API expected to be an integral part of the machines running.
Compared to SEGA's last attempt at jumpstarting console rivals (anyone actually buy a Saturn) SEGA seemed to have judged the direction of gaming into the next century, most notably with its online gaming capabilities. Lets hope games developed for the machine translate quickly to th PC platform.
Carmageddon 2 surfaces
Carmageddon made a big splash when it first appeared last year, deliberately courting
controversy with its morally dubious (but damn fun) content. To be perfectly honest the chance to be
able to plough through 6 cows, 3 surfers and a pensioner with a zimmer frame in
souped up hot rods should have been implemented in a game long ago. The only problem was the visual quality of the game, using polygons with bitmaps representing the unfortunate pedestrians. Carmageddon 2: Carpocalypse Now is on its way however and as you can see from this screenshot it uses an
entirely polygon engine. For more info pop on over to Carmageddon.com for all the latest.
Tombraider III, Prey and other E3 goodiesThe E3 show has thrown up a few unexpected suprises games wise over its three day run. Tombraider III from core design was shown briefly to a selected (mostly journos) audience. General impressions were apparently good but the engine does'nt look to be greatly different from the second installment but it is still early days yet.Prey was also shown publicly (which makes a change) in playable form to an impressed audience. The game is previewed in detail at 3dportal.com it includes some quite tasty screenshots as well. Duke Nukem Forever is almost complete and should be on general relese within the next couple of weeks, using a modified version of the Quake II engine, and in my humble opinion (although the engine is supposedly inferior to th elikes of Prey) it is looking more promising than most First Person Shooters that will be arriving shortly. Theres obviously a lot of work gone into making the locations look original Hopefully the humour of the original will be successfully translated.
Unreal Finally Ships??After what seems like half my lifetime, Epic finally announced that Unreal had gone gold (final master) and would be in the shops within a week. Unfortunately the shareware version (which 20,000 people have apparently already signed up for) will not be posted until sometime after the E3 show. Well weve waited this long whats another week eh?? Click here for Unreal's official homepage.
Added 15:00 GMT : The E3 Show preview
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