9-9-09 A Decade After Dreamcast

On this day 10 years ago die hard gamers made one final stand. Their way of life was disappearing. The once dominant arcades were losing their prominence. The shift to console gaming was on. To make matters worse the industry was being taken over by casual gamers. Companies had figured out how to mass market games. It was no longer about creating new and original content. It became a science and all creativity was thrown out the window. Gone were the days when real gamers had a say. Now all game makers had to do was advertise Lara Croft’s polygonal boobs or another cheesy gimmick and they had an instant million seller. One company stayed true to gamers and that was Sega. Sadly, they weren’t in the greatest shape after years of misfortune. Their last hope was the dream machine and real gamers rallied behind it.

Sega took 200,000 pre-orders (then a record) and then launched the Dreamcast on 9-9-99 to much hype. 18 games were immediately available and by Christmas the system had a sizeable library. The system quickly overtook the Playstation as the fastest to hit a million. For a brief moment in time everything was finally right. The Dreamcast was a success and it looked as though the future of the videogame industry could be put back on track. Of course, most people didn’t believe it would last. They were right. It was just the calm before the storm.

Sega had to overcome many obstacles for the Dreamcast to be a success. They not only faced fierce competition, but their own history and financial troubles. The odds were against them, but the system was succeeding. A juggernaut was looming and how the Dreamcast responded would determine its fate. When the PS2 hit it smashed everything. People instantly forgot about the Dreamcast and that was the end. The question is why?

The success of the original Playstation was undeniable. Sony owned the console market by the time Dreamcast arrived. They had incredible brand loyalty and they parlayed that into even greater success with the PS2. Sony could only deliver 500,000 units at the launch on October 26th 2000. That just wasn’t enough. Throughout the holidays it was nearly impossible to get one. You would think that would have translated into more Dreamcast sales, but it didn’t. People would rather wait for a PS2 and have nothing for the holidays than buy a DC.

The ironic thing is that the PS2 wasn’t the great console at launch it would later become. It cost $100 more than the Dreamcast and its launch lineup was mediocre at best. Dreamcast was into its second generation of software by that time. Sega had a stellar library of software and many of the second generation games on their console actually looked better than the PS2’s launch titles. None of that seemed to matter though. People weren’t buying the PS2 because it was better. They were buying on name alone.

In January of 2001 Sega pulled the plug on the dream machine. The Dreamcast didn’t die because it was a terrible system. In the end it was Sega’s past that caught up with them. They were in bad financial shape before the launch of the Dreamcast and were bleeding money profusely. They needed an instant and massive success to keep going. The Dreamcast was a success, but just not a big enough success. To reach the level of success needed to keep going Sega needed to sell 5 million consoles. They only managed to sell 3 million. Sega tried everything. They cut the price of the system by $50. They even tried giving away the system with a SegaNet subscription. Nothing seemed to work.

In order to survive Sega had to drop the Dreamcast. If they had been in better financial shape the Dreamcast would have at least survived as a niche product. Instead Sega had to drop out of the hardware business for good and become a third party developer. Along with the loss of their hardware Sega also lost something else. They lost their creativity. The days of creating quirky original games were over. They were now just another developer making cookie cutter games that they hoped would sell.

The end of gaming, true gaming, was marked by the death of Dreamcast. Ten years later and it is still looked at as one of the greatest consoles ever. The Dreamcast should have been the console that took gaming to another level. Instead it will be forever known as the console that was ahead of its time.

The Decline Of Rocklahoma

It was apparent to anyone who went to Rocklahoma this year that something had gone terribly wrong. The big crowds from the previous two years were no longer there. The fun and excitement over the event seems to have faded as well. The sense of wonder had turned into a “been there done that already” attitude. So what changed?

The first Rocklahoma came out of nowhere. The 80’s have been discredited in just about every imaginable way. That is especially true musically. The 80’s were a lost decade, a decade of disgrace that for 15 years the media managed to contain. The bands from that era were destroyed and buried. The only time you ever heard anything about those bands was if someone was taking a shot at them. If you lived through the decade and were part of the scene it was something you were sure to deny. If you were one of the few who admitted love for music of the 80’s you were deemed an unsophisticated idiot. The media made everyone believe no one listened to glam metal any more. The fest was sure to fail, or so they thought.

The demand for 80’s rock had been so suppressed over the years that the announcement of the fest created an instant outpouring of support. People who had no way of seeing those bands before flocked to Rocklahoma. Fans from all around the world traveled to a field in the middle of nowhere and reclaimed what had been taken from them. At its peak there were around eighteen to twenty thousand people in attendance. That’s not bad for a much-maligned dead genre. I’m sure that there were many who were shocked by the amount of people who actually attended. I wasn’t too surprised.

So why was the first Rocklahoma so successful? The events organizers created a spectacular lineup and the demand was there. The events organizers listened to what the fans wanted and responded. They also brought in more fan participation by doing the JPot contests. Bands who had not been invited to play Rocklahoma were given a shot and the fans decided. When Dirty Penny played they became a bona fide fan favorite. Before Rocklahoma nobody had even heard of those guys.

The event was a huge party. It didn’t matter who you were. At the event you were somebody. If you were there most of the bands were more than happy to sign autographs and take pictures with you. Warrant signed autographs for over an hour. Other bands like Gypsy Pistoleros went out and partied with the fans. Electric was in the air and I believe that most people knew how special it was. Even with the technical issues that arose most people were forgiving. When it counted most they got it right. Dokken, Poison, Twisted Sister, etc flat out killed it. Their performances were spectacular.

Where did Rocklahoma go wrong? By the second year things had become very different. 80’s metal was once again a legitimate genre. Others saw the potential for money and jumped on the bandwagon. The Dakota Rockfest and South Texas Rockfest soon appeared. Later it was Rock The Bayou and an announcement that there would be a new fest the next year called Rock Gone Wild. Rocklahoma kept a solid lineup, but didn’t deliver bigger bands. How could they? They basically got every big band for the first fest.

The South Texas Rockfest planned their fest for the same weekend. That split the fan base. People who would have automatically gone to Rocklahoma now had to decide where they were going to go and many ended up in Texas. Catch The Fever thought they were king of the hill and nothing could topple them. They jacked up the prices and eliminated the general reserved seating. That was a huge mistake. They were left with many unsold seats because of that decision. That really changed the atmosphere of the event. They also added a fifth day way too late in the game and that ticked people off because they had no way of making it. They eliminated fan input by ending their partnership with JPot. They also cracked down on dissent by sanitizing their message boards. If something was said that Catch The Fever didn’t like it magically disappeared.

What they did get right was the side stages, sort of. The first year the side stages were of little use. They were placed in the tents as an afterthought. For the most part the tents were just a place to relax and escape the sun in between sets. The music didn’t really matter. The second year they had much better side stage bands. The bands that played gave people more great music and the main stage more time to setup. Unfortunately, they took the side stages out of the tents the second year. If you wanted to enjoy the music you had to bake in the sun.

Where Catch The Fever really dropped the ball was on improvements to the facility. The first event had problems with rain. When it rained the water had nowhere to go so the place became a swamp. The amount of rain wasn’t horrendous so they got away with it the first year. Potential problems like that one should have been evaluated and fixed after the first event. That didn’t happen and the second year quickly became known as Soaklahoma. It rained heavily the second day and the place became a swamp. By the third day the rain had drained off and we were left with a muddy mess. There were no paths and you couldn’t avoid the mud. Your only options were to risk ruining your shoes or wear no shoes at all.

The attitude they’ve taken with fans may turn out to be their downfall. They went from being very open to suggestions to flat out not caring. If you didn’t like it they basically told you to leave. If the change wasn’t apparent before it certainly was after the storm hit. There was no warning and we were left to find our own safety. It felt like they could really care less about the fans. People were desperately looking for shelter from the pouring rain and strong winds. At first the security guards wouldn’t let non-VIP members into the VIP tent and it was an emergency. Both side stages had collapsed and yet they were still trying to enforce the rule. After that I assume most people were done with Rocklahoma. I didn’t experience the VIP tent debacle firsthand, but all of the other things that had happened to me throughout the fest were cause enough to give up.

Over three days I was drenched, burned, and drenched again. I ruined 2 pairs of shoes and I never got to see the band I wanted to see most (Oney). I left after Lynch Mob played and the worst of the storm passed. When I left that was the end of it. I had no intention of coming back. The VIP parking was a swamp. I’m lucky my car didn’t get stuck. From what I’ve read the VIP section of the grounds were actually worse than general admissions. My leap from general admission to VIP lets me know that it was true about the parking. General admissions were much better.

The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. It took a long time to put the events of the second Rocklahoma behind me. Eventually I let it go. Going back was another story. I had to debate it for a very long time. My love for the music won out. With that being said, if I didn’t live close and if the price of the tickets would have been too high I wouldn’t have gone. I would have just stayed home like everyone else did.

How did Rocklahoma 2009 stack up? Rocklahoma 2009 was a lot of fun despite the weaker lineup. Most of the bands that played were of top quality. Since no one showed up it was easy to get into and out of the place. There was plenty of great parking. You didn’t have to worry about getting there early just to find a decent spot. Since there were three side stage tents finding prime positions up front near the band was usually a piece of cake. It was especially true the earlier in the day you went. It was also relatively easy to get a good seat for the main stage acts. That was even true for the headliners. Surprisingly the weather was relatively calm this year. The worst it got was a few sprinkles during Kix’s set. The only thing you had to worry about was the sun. So despite what you may have heard it wasn’t all bad. About the biggest complaint I have is over the lack of meet and greets. The amount of main stage acts that met with their fans dropped considerably from the previous two years.

The first day was metal day. I watched the first two sets and I found myself incredibly burned. From the second day on I wore a long sleeve button up. I thought Leatherwolf was great. They were pretty close in sound to their releases. Metal Church was only so-so. After they played I stayed out of the sun. I didn’t come back out until the sun was setting. I really wanted to watch Anvil, but I couldn’t because of my condition. I tried to and what I did catch was good. I’m happy they were there because they really deserve success. Probably more so than any other band that was there. Anyway, Saxon was next up. They pleasantly surprised me. They were a great live band. On the other hand the headliner, Anthrax, bored me to tears. The lead singer was dumb as a rock too. Most of the people around me looked entertained so I can’t really say much. I’m not too much on the metal day, but if that’s what people want they should get it.

Over the next three days Rocklahoma went back to the basics. There were plenty of solid performers like Night Ranger, Ratt, Kix, and Stryper. Unfortunately, only a few bands were able to somewhat replicate the magic of previous years. Jackyl and Twisted Sister were phenomenal, but I couldn’t help but think I had already seen it before. I’m not sure how many people paid attention to the side stages. There were many excellent bands that played. Lickity Split, Harlot, and Mad Max were a few of the great bands that played during the day. At night we had Icon, Baton Rouge, and several others.

Some of the additions to Rocklahoma were much needed or added to the Rocklahoma experience. Placing the side stages under tents brought more people in. Fans had an opportunity to escape the sun and hear more music. It was a win win for both parties. The addition of more beers was also a good thing. The first two years it was basically just Miller Lite. I also have to commend Catch The Fever on the Miss Rocklahoma contest. It was of no real value, but it was a nice diversion. In all honesty, didn’t we know who was going to win before they even announced it? If someone else had won I would have been shocked. The contest was purely about looks and Erin had them.

No matter how you spin the fest it’s all about the numbers. Rocklahoma 2009 didn’t have them. I heard at its peak they expected between eight to ten thousand people. That was for Twisted Sister. I’m not sure what they expected for the other headliners. For most of the fest the place was empty. Only about half the VIP seats were filled. I’m not even sure if they sold 1/3rd of the general reserved seats. I know they took out a big section of seats because no one was buying. The general admission attendance was almost non-existent. The first year the place was packed out. The second year attendance ran in the neighborhood of 25% less. By the third year they had to have been running more than 50% behind the first.

I believe there was nothing Catch The Fever could have done to change the outcome of this year’s fest. Weak lineup or not irreparable harm had been caused by the storm and their callous attitude towards the fans. This year’s fest was also faced with a down economy and some people probably stayed home. The people that did have money went to the competition. Once Catch The Fever made it apparent that they didn’t care about their customers they had no reason to come back. Money is too hard to get to be wasting on a company that doesn’t deserve it.

Can Rocklahoma be saved? I’m not sure if anybody can answer that question. It’s really up to Catch The Fever to reclaim past business and bring in new customers. The first thing they should do is offering some sort of apology to those who have been wronged in the past and attempt to make it right. If all they did were explain their side of the story it would do much to end negativity. The second thing they need to do is go all out on the bands. They need big bands to headline the event. If people want to see Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, etc they should do everything in their power to get them. No matter how great the other bands are people aren’t going to pay to see them if they don’t know who they are. That was proven this year. Catch The Fever also needs to bring back fan input. When fans make decisions they take ownership in it. If that power is taken away they no longer have a vested interest. The JPot contests gave people that power. Any band that wanted to play was given an equal shot and the fans decided. Another thing they might want to consider is moving the date of the fest. The July heat is brutal. If the event was held in a cooler part of the year people might be more likely to attend and the event itself would be much more enjoyable.

Those are just a few basic ideas on how to save Rocklahoma. It might be in my naiveté to think they care about any of this. I’m sure these ideas have already been discussed and there are other problems we don’t even know about. The effort it takes to put on Rocklahoma must be immense. Regardless, a debate needs to take place over the future of Rocklahoma and this is as good a place to start as any. Fans need a way to voice their opinion and Catch The Fever needs the ability to respond. If that doesn’t happen these problems won’t be addressed and nothing will ever get resolved.

The Political Game

Each go round in the political game I find myself becoming more and more disillusioned. Every politician makes bold claims and promises. At the end of the day it does not matter which candidate you vote for. Democrat, Republican, Liberal, or Conservative it makes no difference. No matter what party wins you get the same result. They flip off those who voted for them and do whatever they want once they get into office.

George W. Bush was elected as a conservative Republican. The further we got into his presidency the further he strayed from his principals. His policies failed as he completely abandoned his conservative beliefs. Bush still claimed to be a conservative, but on most issues he was clearly on the liberal side of things. Conservatives were left in disbelief over his actions. The crazy thing is that no matter how liberal Bush became the liberals still hated him. If a Democrat had been behind most of his decisions they would have been praised. Of course there’s nothing Bush could do to please them. They hate him for the sake of hating him. After he betrayed his base Bush was left alone. The Democrats blamed the Republicans for their failed policies when it was Bush bowing to the Democrat agenda that caused the problems to begin with. Now the public hates the Republicans and it is all because Bush failed to do what he promised.

Now the whole cycle of idiocy begins again. The media, parties, politicians, and voters all have their own agenda. The media is clearly in the Democrats corner. Other than Fox News and Talk Radio the Republican Party has no voice. Nearly all of the media is pushing for a Democratic President. NBC itself is heavily entrenched on the Obama side. They want Obama to win and have attacked Hillary to discount her as a candidate. The media’s intrusion goes further than that. The mainstream media did everything in its power to prop up John McCain and discount his competition. Even when Mitt Romney had won more states and had more delegates all you would hear on the news is that John McCain was the frontrunner. Nobody would ever mention the fact that McCain was in fact behind Romney. The media helped swing the race in McCain’s favor. Once McCain becomes the Republican candidate they will then turn on him.

So now voters have a choice between a Republican candidate that’s basically a Democrat and two Democrats that are basically the same. There’s no choice in that. It is like choosing between getting punched in the face or getting kicked in the crotch. No matter what you choose it is going to hurt and you still lose. There was never much choice on the Democratic side. Hillary and Barack were the only real contenders. John Edwards was in it to be in it, Bill Richards because he could be, and Kucinich because he is always there. The Republican side was up for grabs between many candidates. The only true Conservative Republican was Fred Thompson. He never stood a chance because he has no charisma. Next you had Rudy Guiliani who was only conservative on the terror issue. He failed to compete in the early competitions and was soon out of the race.

Huckabee is a social conservative and Romney is a fiscal conservative. Romney is also a Mormon so that has always hung over his head. His recent change of social values has also hurt his cause. He may have better aligned himself with the Republican base, but with all of his flip-flopping most people did not know whether or not to believe him. Huckabee stole Thompson’s base and then split the conservative vote between him and Romney. Huckabee eventually took enough delegates from Romney and forced him out of the race. While this is going on John McCain is getting the backing of the media and stealing all of delegates from his opponents. Huckabee is still in the race, but McCain’s nomination now seems imminent.

McCain pulled in the Independent vote and the moderate Republican. True conservatives went elsewhere. As the media kept promoting McCain and the delegates kept stacking up many voters gave in. They no longer fought what they thought was inevitable. Their beliefs went out the window. Their vote for McCain became a vote for the candidate that they thought could beat the Democrats. It was no longer about which candidate was best for the nation. When it got to this point the conservative talk show hosts went crazy. All voters were left with was another watered down candidate and we were being told to get in line behind them. The clear resounding answer to that was a big fat NO. Everyone is sick of that game. The outrage being expressed was more than justified.

The parties have once again turned this into an “Us vs. Them” election. The Democrats say the Republicans are failures and the Republicans always warn of the evils that will happen if the Democrats get in office. Honestly, does it really matter? They do not care about us. It is only about keeping control of the White House. John Gibson said we should be thankful that we have John McCain to vote for and that he has a chance to win after Bush screwed things up. Mr. Gibson why should we be thankful for another watered down candidate when America deserves so much better? The two parties should be thankful there is not a credible third party out there or they would both be irrelevant. Voters are sick and tired of the lesser of two evils elections. We will not fall in line to appease the party. Enough is enough.

Simon & Simon (DVD)

Going back to the classics looks better and better every day with the writers strike in full swing and very little new original programming on the air. What better place to start than Simon & Simon? It was one of the best shows on TV during the 1980’s. As a child I remember watching the show and always looking forward to it every week. I was only 3 or 4 years old when I originally watched this show. I cannot say I really remember much about it or understood what I was watching at the time, but I loved the show nonetheless. With the release of season one on DVD my love has been rekindled.

The series is a more lighthearted take on the detective genre. A.J. (Parker) and Rick Simon (McRaney) are brothers with little in common other than being related. Together they run their own private investigator service. Many of the early episodes involve the trouble caused by their inexperience. They take on cases they know they should not touch, but do so because of their desperation to make it in a very competitive business. As the season progresses they become more established and work comes easier. They no longer have to take terrible cases just to survive.

Overall the first season is pretty good; although at times feel a bit dated. Most episodes were good and some were not so great. The less than great episodes that stick out most are The Uncivil Servant and Matchmaker. Jerry Stiller playing a crazy guy in The Uncivil Servant is not a stretch. The story of a vengeful I.R.S. agent out to get him is. In Matchmaker the boys work for one of A.J.’s exes. Knowing what trouble she is I find it hard to believe they would mess with no matter the payoff. Most episodes do seem better written than those two examples. It seems as though the writers were not able to fully solidify what the show was all about in the first season. There were hints at how great the show could be, but they were rarely able to hit that mark. The best surprise of this whole set was the inclusion of a bonus episode from season two. The second season has a new theme song and introduction. The writing is also much better and the possibilities of the show were much better executed. It is easily the best episode of the set.

The set itself includes all 13 episodes from season one on four discs. The packaging is sleek and attractive. After you slide the case out it opens up like a book and there are two discs on each side. Very well designed and thought out. It would be nice if more shows were released in the same manner. The extras are a bit more bare bones. There is a featurette about the impact various television programs had on the 80’s culture and a bonus episode from season two was thrown in for good measure. There are no behind the scenes features or interviews with the cast that fans of the show would love to have.

The outlook for a season two release does not look too likely. For whatever reason people did not go out and buy this release, as they should have. As people start to look elsewhere for entertainment during the strike one could hope they will look here and at other classic shows. If the strike lasts long enough maybe this series will be given another shot at life in the DVD market.

Balls Of Fury (HD-DVD)

Balls Of Fury is one of those absurd comedies you watch without any expectations at all. It was only created for a quick laugh. If you have any expectations you will feel let down when the movie is over. The movie takes the classic martial arts storyline and replaces it with ping-pong. Randy Daytona is a famous child ping-pong star in 1988 and he loves Def Leppard. At a big match in the Olympics Karl Wolfschtagg (Lennon) humiliates him. The criminal Feng (Walken) kills Randy’s father as a result. 19 years later we find a grown up Randy (Fogler) working in Reno as an entertainer. He is now a fat loser who still loves Def Leppard. Soon he finds himself unemployed. Not long after FBI Agent Rodriquez (Lopez) recruits Randy for a top-secret mission. The goal being to get invited to a secret tournament run by Feng and finally put an end to his enterprise.

From there Randy embarks on a journey of redemption. He trains with blind ping-pong trainer Master Wong (Hong) and his beautiful niece Maggie (Maggie Q). Soon he finds himself regaining his skills and competing in the underground ping-pong world. Along the way Maggie finds herself falling for Randy after first detesting him. Randy wins some big matches and gets an invite to the tournament. Once invited Randy has to face his past and overcome it if there will be any chance at stopping Feng.

This release was a combo HD-DVD. The movie looked great in high definition. I cannot say that the movie needed to be in high definition, since it is just a comedy, but it looked great nonetheless. The interactive menus are easy to use and are far beyond what you will find on any standard DVD release. The template they used for the menu seems to be the standard. It was also used in The Bourne Identity and The Bone Collector. I am not sure about other titles because I have only seen three HD movies in total. I can only assume it is used in others.

For extras the movie had deleted scenes and an alternate ending. There were also two behind the scenes featurettes. The first one was very interesting. The writers explain how the came up with the story and then take us into the making of Ball Of Fury. The second was rather pointless. It was nothing more than a mock documentary about the girl who kept track of the ping-pong balls. After I had checked out all the extras I flipped the disc over. The standard definition version was completely different. The menu was toned down and simplified. All of the content was still there. However, the picture quality was now somewhat grainy. I thought the combo disc was very cool. I do not understand the ill will towards forwards compatibility.

If you are a fan of absurd comedies you will like this movie. If you only watch movies that take some thought you will likely be disappointed. With the excellent picture quality of HD-DVD the experience is even better. The writers, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, are ahead of the pack when it comes to smartly written dumb movies. They also did a marvelous job of casting the movie. Those morons behind garbage like Epic Movie and all of those other wretched spoofs could learn something from these guys. Making a movie as dumb as humanly possible does not make it funny. Balls Of Fury is the best movie of its type in a long time.