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General Questions and Information Thread

Discussion in 'General Sega Discussion' started by Andlabs, Aug 25, 2011.

  1. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    That's from a later event, which I still need to look up. They were promoting this thing for a full year, and half of the time it's the same story:

    "Shenmue is delayed, but here's a demo"

    I think that happened two or three times. It was March/April 1999, then August 1999, then December 1999, then... surprise! earlier in December 1999. That last one upped Sega's share price by 5% apparently.
     
  2. Here's some of the EDGE Shenmue coverage from back then

    [​IMG]

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    [​IMG]
     
  3. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    ALWAYS Sonic the Fighters
    Okay, this one with Shenhua REALLY interests me...
    shenmue.jpeg
     
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  4. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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  5. Is there a thread for pointing out which game developers have Sega Retro accounts? I see earlier today, Itouh2 made some edits exclusively related to Hiroki Ito.
     
  6. biggestsonicfan

    biggestsonicfan

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    ALWAYS Sonic the Fighters
    Time for SegaRetro to capitalize on some blue checkmarks :eng101:, just kidding! A small amount of google-fu seems to show that those two are very much related, so it could be them!
     
  7. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    There isn't, no.

    This is like the third time a JP Sega employee has edited/made their own page though, so people ARE making accounts, which is neat.
     
  8. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Virtua Fighter 3 was top of the class when it debuted in 1996. The fans were desperate for a Saturn version, but when its update, 3tb arrived on the Dreamcast, the reception was more... muted.

    I'm not a super expert in these matters, but I think the idea is the port was handled by Genki, and falls short in a few areas - a stark contrast to Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn, which was a technical powerhouse.

    If the title screens are anything to go by, it's a bit sloppy:
    [​IMG]
    Scaling issues and missing anti-aliasing between regions. It's not a good look for the Dreamcast's first big game.

    By contrast
    [​IMG]
    The original Model 3 version, with none of those problems.

    I mean sure, you wouldn't notice unless you put them side by side, but... well.
     
  9. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Thinking of splitting our Street Fighter Alpha 3 page in two, mostly because the Dreamcast version clearly subtitles itself as "Saikyo Dojo" on its title screen and has more (or at least, "different") content, while the Saturn version was a Japanese exclusive (so would be "Zero 3").

    aka according to the title screens, no vanilla "Street Fighter Alpha 3" was ever released on a Sega console.

    However

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    it was never marketed under the Saikyo Dojo name in the West. It's there on the title screen, but that's not what Capcom or Virgin called it, probably because nobody could pronounce "saikyo" or knew what it meant.

    In Japan it's always Street Fighter Zero 3: Saikyou-ryuu Doujou (ストリートファイターZERO3 サイキョー流道場) and the distinction is obvious, but depending on who we want to side with on the Western front, we could end up with both "Street Fighter Zero 3" and "Street Fighter Alpha 3" pages. Or not bother splitting at all because this is more awkward than I anticipated.



    As far as the exact differences go, the Dreamcast has all this:
    [​IMG]
    (or at least the Matching Service version does - the regular (Japanese) version craashes Redream)

    while the Saturn has all that:
    [​IMG]
    The Saturn version also has more animations, apparently.

    (and yes it's a strange case where the Saturn version came out after the Dreamcast)
     
  10. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    For a long while I thought we had split pages until I wad specifically looking for "Saikyo Dojo" some months ago.
     
  11. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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  12. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    [​IMG]

    Biohazard 0: Trial Edition. It's a GameCube demo disc given to customers who pre-ordered the game in Japan from a specific retailer. Which retailer?

    https://web.archive.org/web/20021006101655/http://www.d-direct.ne.jp:80/shop/pc/camp/bio_taiken.asp

    Dreamcast Direct

    ..?

    Dreamcast Direct is that service that people usually point to when talking about special Dreamcast consoles or accessories - an early internet shop where you could order special Sega things. Or indeed all Sega things, since most of the Dreamcast's library was up there. We don't handle this stuff very well (though to be fair, the wayback machine is missing pages) - loads of games had exclusive pre-order merchandise, and it can be tricky to hunt copies down.

    But yes, Sega partnered up with Capcom to sell their wares through the store too, so you get situations like these: a Dreamcast Direct exclusive GameCube demo.


    Do we cover this on Sega Retro? I don't knowwwww. It wouldn't get its own page, but it is technically Sega history in a weird way?
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2023
  13. Chimes

    Chimes

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    You could add it as a tiny footnote on the Dreamcast Direct page, saying that Sega Direct briefly had a extended venture or sumn. Then again, we have a Incredibles DS game page on there on the basis that Sega published it...
     
  14. Titan

    Titan

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    I don't know if anyone besides me has wondered/looked into this or not, but here goes.

    So in Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, there is DLC that allows you to play music from all of the previous games. Generally, the music you get for each stage will correspond to that character's theme from that game. But what music plays for stages belonging to characters not yet introduced in that game?

    The answer is that they generally find something in the game's soundtrack and use that - when VF1/VF2 music is set for example, they'll generally use one of the Saturn version remixes. (or for El Blaze's stage when VF2 music is set, they use the music from the bonus 'Chicago' stage) For VF3, they'll use the alternate tracks for the 'Dural' versions of each stage (VF3 even got a bonus arranged soundtrack created especially for this game) For VF4 they even use music from something as obscure as Virtua Quest.

    There is also a secret option to unlock the Virtua Fighter Kids soundtrack (I say secret - it was revealed via a tweet by the official VF account). All well and good. But this game only featured the VF2 cast as freaky super-deformed versions of themselves. What about everyone else, i.e. those introduced from VF3 and beyond, what music do they get?

    Well for El Blaze, Eileen and Jean at least, the answer is fairly simple (all of these uploads are a recording by me of the music playing in training mode, not directly ripped from the game)

    El Blaze simply gets the 'Chicago' music again - this time the 'Kids' version

    For Eileen's stage you get the music track from the FMV intro sequence of the Saturn version - 'We are Virtua Fighter Kids'

    For Jean's stage, you get the VF Kids version of the attract mode track from VF2.

    And everyone else?

    Lei-Fei's proved a little more obscure to figure out, but it's actually the track from Lau's ending in VF Kids (yes, a Virtua Fighter game actually had endings)

    For Aoi/Taka/Vanessa/Brad/Goh however - I am honestly mystified as to where these tracks actually come from. None of them seem to correspond to any of the other character endings (the indvidual ending tracks were included on the official soundtrack but there doesn't seem to be a rip of these anywhere online, so here's a link to the endings compiled together instead)

    Are they even anything to do with VF Kids? Are they from some AM2 game I'm not familar with? Were they composed especially for VF5US?? See below for these mystery tracks, if anyone can help identify them!





     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2023
  15. Black Squirrel

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    [​IMG]
    There are nine "Dream Preview" GD-ROMs of unknown origin. Only volume 8 appears to have been dumped, but there's at least an acknowledgement that the others exist. We'll get them one day.

    [​IMG]
    Less known are the Dream Preview VHS cassettes, which were probably distributed exclusively to retailers. There are at least 26 of these, and not a single one has been documented. I have no idea what's on them - maybe juicy prototype footage, maybe a load of crap we've seen elsewhere. It's a complete mystery.
     
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  16. @T
    I don't recognise the ones for Brad or Goh, but the rest are from VF.TV, which broadcast live gameplay alongside commentary, replays, and live-action segments. I don't know the contents in-depth, not sure if there's footage online, so I can only give you the filenames from when I ripped the songs out of Virtua Fighter 5 R.
    AOI - vf5b_bng3
    TAKA-ARASHI - vf5b_bng1
    VANESSA - vf5r_desi01

    I should note, I haven't heard any (if there are) VF.TV songs that debuted alongside FINAL SHOWDOWN. Maybe Brad and Goh have their themes pulled from there.

    Post-note should also be that, just cause VF.TV is the earliest place I know of these showing up in, doesn't necessarily mean they debuted there. There's a bunch of tracks I used to think were made for VF.TV until I found out they were in the PS2 version of Virtua Fighter 4 EVOLUTION before that.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2023
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  17. Titan

    Titan

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    Wow much appreciated, thank you! I’ll investigate that possibility for Brad and Goh’s tracks!
     
  18. Pirate Dragon

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    Looks like they're all available here except for Vol.1. I guess they're waiting for a second dump before releasing that one.
     
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  19. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Oooh, nifty - I'll get to documenting those.

    (this is an issue with Dreamcast dumps - I was looking at (newer) CHD lists, this is a GDI one)
     
  20. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    RE: What's a GameJam?
    (https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?posts/1034119/)

    Turns out there was a second one:

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    GameJam2 in Tokyo International Forum: Sega Spring Collection (March 2002)

    [​IMG]
    Things you won't see today: Sega having enough new products to fill a convention hall. 20,000+ visitors too.

    It's hard to know if anything stands out as interesting (which might explain why everyone forgot about this) - each of the Sega development studios had some time on a stage, and some new games were announced, but there were plenty of things at the show that were already on sale.

    Still, there wouldn't be much more of this before Sega consolodated everything and became dull for a bit. I count 35 different "consumer" games you could buy on disc or cartridge, and then there's the arcade and mobile titles that we don't have concrete lists for.