Dear Future Gamer,

I recently went into a couple of my local stores to enquire about Dreamcast, but was very put off by the reaction I got from many stores. One person told me they had seen one running and said it was a load of cack, another said that I'd be better off waiting for the new PlayStation as it would be better. I seem to remember the same thing happening with the Saturn Vs PlayStation and look what happened there. I will personally wait and see one for myself before making up my mind.

Nigel Craft

FG: I'm glad you wrote in Nigel because your letter disturbs me. I thought sales people were supposed to be impartial (unless they're tied into some kind of exclusivity deal ie. if they're only carrying the Dreamcast they say it's miles better than the PlayStation 2, but that's kind of expected). To hear that people are already slagging the machine off before it's even released is very worrying. Granny looking for a console for little Johnny's Christmas present is going to rely on these people to give her sound advice. If they're not giving the Dreamcast (or any machine for that matter) a fair crack of the whip then Sega should be concerned. Let's hope these were merely isolated incidents and sales people become more acquainted with the various pros and cons of all the available consoles. There's nothing wrong with someone telling someone what they, in their opinion, think is better as long as their opinion is informed.