Our sources in Japan have noticed a few indicators of a negative public reaction to the Dreamcast. Gamers have thus far been underwhelmed by Sega's dream machine, a fact illustrated in the second-hand software stores across the country – there are an awful lot of Dreamcast games available for £10 to £15. If they were any good people may have decided to hang on to them. But don’t write it off just yet, with so many great games in the pipeline. By the time the Dreamcast hits the UK we will all be itching to play Metropolis Street Racer, TrickStyle (check out the preview) and, of course, Shen Mue. Sega really must get one of these 'triple A' titles out as soon as possible, before everyone gets bored waiting. Maybe they should have held off the Japanese hardware release until they had some serious software to back it up.

Plenty of diversity in the Future Gamer Chat Forum this week, kick-started last Wednesday by Manchester United's famous European Cup victory. A lot of congratulatory messages appeared, plus many cynical ones about just how big an achievement it was, which then led onto some debate about the number of foreign players in the Premiership. Not exactly games-related, although the fact that there are so many footie games out there today could be a valid, if slightly tenuous, link. It does proves that the Chat Forum is not just about computer games though, so feel free to drop by and give us your views on just about anything (within reason, of course!). Some interesting comments this week on Nintendo, and more specifically the N64 - has the machine been a success, or, as some see it, a huge let down? Forum users seemed to be split down the middle on this one, with many seeing its comparatively low sales against the PlayStation as a sign of failure. Plenty of Nintendo support as well though, with claims that it is unfair to compare the two in terms of units sold, and that in the area of software quality Nintendo win hands down. Continuing along this machine vs. machine theme, users also wanted opinion on why the Saturn was such a failure compared to the PlayStation, when both machines were so close in terms of power. Most agreed that the war was won and lost in the respective marketing campaigns. Finally news this week from 'Cheesy' that Sega are to make games for Nintendo's Game Boy Color. Whatever next? Rumours that Nintendo are to help Sony with the design of PS2's controller, and that Sony in turn are to help market the Dolphin for the big 'N', are unfounded...

Drop by the Future Gamer website for all the latest demos and patches, as well as hints & tips for all your favourite games. Demo of the week has to be Drakan: Order of the Flame – weighing in at a hefty 65.7Mb! And you may as well patch your copy of Requiem: Avenging Angel while you’re there. If that's not enough to tempt you, there’s always the Hints & Tips database. Recent additions include Bloody Roar 2 on PlayStation, Rollercoaster Tycoon on the PC, Superman for the N64 and Get Bass on the Dreamcast. Enjoy.