Dear Future Gamer,

So the PlayStation 2 rears its incredibly powerful head and promptly eats the Dreamcast for breakfast. But already everyone is treating the Dreamcast Vs Playstation 2 battle as a rematch of the Saturn Vs PlayStation fight. Big mistake. Apart from the manufacturers' names there's nothing in common with the last fight, and this is a fight in which Sega have NO chance of winning. Let me explain.

In '95 gaming was still seen as the preserve of kids and immature adults. The name of Sega was (and still is) synonymous with the under-16s and platform games with characters that appeal to kids, ie. Sonic. Sony realised that it's the adults that have the money so hyped the fact that the PlayStation has superb fighting and driving games, ideal when played with a group of boozed-up mates. The result is that gaming is now seen as a normal form of entertainment that grown-ups can admit to; and revealing that you have Sony's machine now holds a LOT more cred than saying you had a Sega one a few years back might have.

In '95 no-one had heard much about the PlayStation before the launch, and the name Sony was unheard of in the console market. EVERYONE knew Sega. How things have changed. Now it seems that everyone has a 'Station and the name Sony is associated with cool games and general 'hipness,' very unlike Sega whose name is still associated with Sonic and now conjures up images of a failed console and few games.

But now EVERYONE will know that the PS2 is coming, and I bet that even life-long Sega nuts are saving their money for it. So it'll be a MASSIVE sell-out beyond anything seen in '95.

In '95 both consoles were pretty closely matched in terms of power. In fact some people said that the Saturn was more powerful, which didn't seem to help Sega. But now, the new PlayStation may be up to 20 times more powerful than the Dreamcast. The massive gulf in technology will more than make up for the 12-month wait. Who wants to fork out for a Dreamcast when the thing that dwarfs it is on the way (and will still play all your old games, and maybe even DVDs?).

The Dreamcast got the hardened gamers and industry types excited for a while but the public never really gave a toss. Now that the PS2 has been shown to be so arse-rippingly powerful literally everyone wants one NOW. Even the broadsheets (The Independant, The Mail, etc) ran stories about celebrities pre-ordering one.

The hype will reach bursting point by this time next year, we could even see people camping outside shops for days and Japan-style riots just to get one. I feel sorry for Sega in a way but let's face it, the next five years are going to be great for us.

John Carberry

FG: A well considered argument. Sega do indeed have their work cut out, but they're aware of this and have set aside millions for their marketing campaign. What effect that has, and what state the NGPS is in (in terms of software available, whether it's got all the tech' specs we've been lead to believe) will also have an effect. Whichever way you look at it though, it does appear that gamers are going to be winners. Hurrah!