October 1 signals the commencement of the videogame 'season'. The three month run-up to Christmas is traditionally the period when the majority of the year's best games are released, although, thankfully, the videogame industry seems to have woken up to the fact that some of us do actually have disposable income at other times of the year. Of course, it's a little bit more exciting this year because Sega's Dreamcast console launches in a fortnight. More immediately, October 1 sees the eagerly-awaited Homeworld and Driver debut on the PC, and the Red and Blue Pokémon's launch on Game Boy Color, together with some 40 other titles released. Spend your war chest wisely... and let's be careful out there. So, what's Mario Golf like then? Check out the definitive review of the Italian plumber's latest escapade in this issue. A good walk ruined? Not likely... Also reviewed are the super scary System Shock 2 for the PC and, um, Tarzan on the PlayStation. Make sure you don't miss this week's Game Kid too, as he plays agony uncle and solves all your gaming queries... Did you know that in the United States, Sega have sold 514,000 Dreamcasts in just two weeks? If it's in the news, it's in the news section. Check it out. By the way, Editor of this august weekly, Andy Smith, is honeymooning in Cuba, in case you were wondering. Just in time for the hurricane and rainy season. Heh, heh, heh... Steve Bradley - Deputy Editor

News headlines:

Pokémon at Last ... Tesco PlayStations ... PC Playmobil Adventure ... MDK 2 for Dreamcast ... New PC Budget Range ... UEFA Fantasy Site ... TLC to Expand ... Defender of the Crown Goes Portable ... Castlevania Still on Track for Dreamcast ... New X-Box Details Revealed ... New PC Label ... Outcast II Coming to PlayStation2 ... Rogue Spear on Dreamcast? ... 32bit Neo Geo ... 500,000 Systems Sold, and Counting! ... Namco Announce Namco Museum ... We are Wonder Borg ... Outcast Cast Out ... War in the Skies ... Nibbles ...

In this issue:
Preview: Team Alligator (PC) Great helicopter sims are few and far between, but this one looks like it could be the benchmark that all the other chopper games are judged by. Andy Smith dons his flight goggles and gets ready for a flight and a fight...
Review: System Shock 2 (PC) It's scary and it's one of the most anticipated releases of the year. But, asks Kieron Gillen, is it a role-player or a first-person shooter? And, even more importantly, is it actually any good? You can find out here.
Feature: Kill Your Television Games show Bits has come in for a lot of abuse in the Feedback section over the last couple of weeks, but is the state of videogaming coverage on TV really that bad? Andrew Adam turns on, tunes in and finds out.

Future Gamer was brought to you by: Andy Smith [editor], Steve Bradley [deputy editor], Mark Wheatley [production editor] and Andy Ashwin [staff writer]. Contributors: Dale Bradford, Catherine Channon, Kieron Gillen, Martin Kitts, Gideon Kibblewhite, Rob Wilson
Advertising enquiries: please contact Mike Hawkins.

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