4) Street Fighter Alpha 3 - For the Saturn.
Capcom did a marvelous job on the PSX version, and I really can't believe it turned out that well for the PSX seeing as how the Playstation translations of previous 2D games were poor if not downright horrible. Example being Samurai Shodown 3 for the PSX, ohmygod! What happened here? I love samurai don't get me wrong. It's one of my favorite series. However the conversion was the worst I've seen. The loading screen alone is enough to make you puke, and it almost does. Back to my point, being that if the PSX version was that wonderful, they could make the saturn version even better by utilizing the 4mb RamCart. They may not want to take profits away from the PSX version or the Dreamcast version (there is supposed to be a DC version, right?). But my contention is this. Not everyone owns more than one system. Some people can afford only one. People who only have a Saturn will miss out on this great game, so you're going more of a profit by making a Saturn version, because not everyone can afford to run out and buy a dreamcast.

3) The death of the Nintendo 64. I'm not the only one out there who doesn't like the 64. Actually I did put my 64 to some use before I sold it off, it made a pretty good doorstop. :) This system is way over-hyped, I don't know of a single game that has really lived up to the hype so far. (With the possible exception of Zelda, but I never got to play this really) Every other game was supposed to be revolutionary as far as Nintendo was concerned. Revolting is the word they should have used. The only game that was never really hyped all that much , but was worth it's weight in gold (hehehe, no pun intended) was Goldeneye. This still remains one of the best first-person shooters I think I have ever played, and I have played a lot of 'em. However 1 or 2 games does not a system make. Nintendo says that they believe in quality and not quantity of games, yet they keep coming out with a pushing games like WarGods. Has Nintendo been smoking crack? I believe so, cuz who wants to play these games? Not a true gamer I tell you that much.

2) The Dreamcast to come out in the states and not require me to have my left leg and right arm amputated to pay for it. As I am writing this column the going rate on www.gamecave.com is $720 for the following package: The Core system, AV Cables, 1 Controller, VMS Unit, Arcade Joystick, VF3tb, Tetris 4D and Sonic Adventure. Ouch, please take your hand out of my bank account. I do admit that gamecave has never been the cheapest place to buy from, so even if the price should drop a bit thats still A LOT of cashola to place on some games. Is it worth it in the longrun? I'm sure it is, but how many people can afford to shell out that much? If the price on this doesn't drop I don't know how well it will sell in the states. I being a hardcore gamer will buy it. Hell I would have probably bought a NeoGeo Gold system at $750 when I saw it at Electronics Boutique a year or so after it came out, but the games were $200. At least the games for the DC will reasonable at $45-60. Parents are just now starting to really buy the Playstation at $99 or $129 (I forget which since I bought mine years ago at $299) how many parents do you think are going to be willing to shell out $700+ for a system? Not many, Please drop the price Sega so you will live and prosper forever and so people will start buying your systems instead of the retarded Nintendo 64. [N8 note: The Dreamcast does not, I repeat, not cost THAT MUCH. Once again it is importers trying to screw us out of money! The Dreamcast costs 230 dollars at the current U.S. Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate, the price cited in the above paragraph is what IMPORTERS are trying to get out of us for it since none of us can just hop on over to Japan and pick one up. In fact I have heard from reliable sources that Sega is hoping that hardware costs will drop enough by the U.S. launch to bring to the shelf for $199. For more info on importers (grrr) and the dreamcast please read my columns from a little while ago!]

And now for the #1 thing I want to see happen in '99..

1) People to become educated about videogames. Most people tend to read magazine articles written by people who I don't think have ever played the game they are reviewing or have ever played a game in their lives and then taking that judgement and going out and buying a piece of trash game, or crappy system. There are alot of videogame magazines out there on the market all claiming to be experts on games. How do you know which ones to stay away from? If it doesn't say "GameFan" as the title , generally stay away from it. Gamefan has had some troubles of late getting their magazines put out, however they still have the website www.gamefan.com and you can find reviews on all the latest games there. They are one of the few that will tell it like it is. That the Saturn doesn't suck, like most game magazines will say. That the 64 is an over-hyped machine will a poor gamebase. That the PSX as popular as it is and everything still has it's limitations and isn't right for every type of game or gamer. However I still see this as a problem for years to come.. I just hope that little by little people start to learn to make their own judgements, I don't always agree with gamefan about a game and sometimes I don't even agree with my closest videogame playing freinds. But thats the way it is.. the best solution to do is take what other people say in a review with a grain of salt and go out and rent the game and see for yourself.