Each year the shelves of toy stores and electronic specialty stores are
inundated with scores of video game peripherals. Most of these peripherals
are controllers of various types, but invariably there are a few game
chairs, memory cards and packs, and other miscellaneous peripherals.
However, every so often a new peripheral comes out that clearly stands
apart from its counterparts. InterAct's DexDrive is one of those
peripherals. It takes up about as much space as a 3.5' diskette and weighs
about half a pound, but as you're about to find out, it can do some
phenomenal things.
As most of you well know, memory cards are a necessity for every
Playstation owner. They retail for around twenty bucks, and they hold
fifteen game saves. More often than not those little cards fill up very
fast, and having to continually plunk down twenty bucks for new memory
cards isn't a very appealing option for most people. InterAct's DexDrive
not only solves this problem but takes memory cards to their zenith. For
many people, freeing up space on a memory card was an option that only came
at the expense of already existing game saves. Many times there are game
saves that you don't want taking up space on your memory card, but at the
same time you don't want to delete said save to make room on the card. The
DexDrive eliminates this problem. Quite simply, the DexDrive, via your PC
and the DexPlorer software, allows you to take the game saves on your
memory card, or cards, and stick them directly onto your PC's hard drive.
You get to keep the saves, but they don't have to take up room on your
memory card that could be used to store the saves from a more current or
more often played game. If that were the limit of the DexDrive's
capabilities it would be more than worth its forty dollar price tag, but it
can do much, much more.
The DexDrive's primary feature is extremely impressive, but its other
features are what really makes it shine. With the DexDrive you can
download and upload memory card save files to and from the Internet. If
you're stuck in a game and simply can't progress, you can log onto any
number of websites and download a save file which will enable you to get
past that tough point and finish the game. Perhaps you've got a fighting
game, and you don't want to spend the exorbitant amount of time necessary
to unlock all of the secret characters. Not a problem. Just log onto the
net and download the save file that has all of the secret characters
unlocked. The scenarios are endless.
If storing game saves on your hard drive and downloading and uploading game
saves from the Internet were the extent of the DexDrive's capabilities,
it'd be a steal at forty bucks, but again, it can do more. Perhaps you've
got a friend who's playing the same game as you, and he or she doesn't
believe you've gotten as far as you say you have. Well, with the DexDrive
you can email that friend your save file and, providing they have a
DexDrive, prove that your skills truly are superior. As if all that
weren't enough, you can also do the basic functions of formatting and
deleting files from your memory card using the DexDrive and you can switch
pages should you be using a high capacity memory card with multiple pages
of saves.
In short, the DexDrive is one of the best peripherals I've ever laid my
hands on, period. InterAct has in the DexDrive one of the most
revolutionary and innovative accessories that has ever been released for
any video game platform. I can't say enough good things about it, and I
wholeheartedly suggest that every Playstation owner buy one. Run to your
local video game retailer and get yourself a DexDrive. You'll save money
on memory cards and greatly enhance your game playing experience in the
process.
We're a little over two months removed from one of the greatest baseball
seasons ever. The Yankees won one hundred and twenty five games, Mark
McGuire hit seventy-one home runs, and Cal Ripken's consecutive games
played streak ended. It was quite a season. I for one wasn't ready for it
to stop, and I was yearning to play a good baseball game. Lucky for me
Hardball '99 arrived in my mailbox.
Once I popped Hardball '99 into my Playstation and turned on the power I
was treated to a nice full motion video intro featuring some of baseball's
best players. I was happy to see that Hardball '99 was fully licensed by
Major League Baseball and therefore had all of the real Major League
players and teams. Not only that, but I found that the 1998 All-Star teams
for both the National and American League were present as was an All-Time
team. This All-Time team contains some of the greatest players to ever
play the game. Players like Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, and Jimmy Foxx.
At the title screen I found that there were two modes of play. You could
either select Exhibition Game or League Play. Both modes are fairly
self-explanatory, however the level of statistical depth and sheer number
of options that are found in both modes are not. The first time I played
Hardball '99 I decided to try an exhibition game. At the team select
screen I picked my team, and then I picked my opponent. What I didn't know
was that in Hardball '99 you have to pick your opponent first and then the
team you want to play as. This is extremely minor, but a nuisance
nonetheless and something I hope is fixed in future installments of
Hardball. After I had picked teams I was taken to a stadium select screen.
This was where I got my first real impression of the depth of detail in
Hardball '99. Every Major League Park was present, and each had a
description that included name, city location, turf type, capacity, and
weather conditions. After selecting the stadium I came to the pre-game
screen which is where I was allowed to customize my lineup and check out
the stats for my players and my opponents. This also where the game option
menu was, and at the menu I could customize my controls, the fielding
camera, the batting camera, the difficulty level, the game speed, and a
host of other things.
As the game started, I heard the voice of the announcer for the first time.
There have been many announcer voices in a multitude of games that have
really annoyed me, so the fact that the announcer in Hardball '99 didn't
scream his head off or grate on me in any other way was very welcome. The
polygonal graphics looked very nice, as did the batter's swinging animation
and the pitcher's pitching animation. When batting you can choose contact,
power, opposite, or bunt. By pressing R1 while at the plate you can select
several options depending on how many people are on base. The crowd noise
was also very noticeable, but wasn't loud to the point of being a
distraction. Occasionally the PA announcer asks the crowd to refrain from
using profanity and to be considerate of their fellow fans. I also heard
occasional taunts and jeers from the fans when I wasn't doing too well.
When pitching you usually have four pitches to choose from, and the pitch
selection greatly depends on the pitcher. The music is Hardball '99
consists of several hard rock tunes, and they actually sound quite good.
The sound effects are also really well done and, along with the graphics
and crowd noise, really make you feel like you're at a ballpark. I've only
really scratched the surface of Hardball '99, but if I were to cover
everything this review would end up being many, many pages.
Over the years I've had the pleasure of playing many spectacular baseball
games. Among my favorites are Baseball Stars for the ill-fated Neo-Geo and
Tommy Lasorda Baseball for the Sega Genesis. What made these games great
weren't graphics or special sound effects, but the mere fact that they were
fun to play. Many of the Playstation baseball games on the shelves aren't
really fun to play because too much emphasis has been put on graphics and
options and not enough on ensuring that the game is fun and plays well.
I've wondered for a while now why someone couldn't make a Playstation
baseball game that had nice graphics, good gameplay, good music, and
extensive options while also being fun to play. After extensively playing
Hardball '99 I can say without a doubt that it is a complete package. I
think loads of options are often included in games to cover for the fact
that they really aren't very entertaining. When you strip away all of
Hardball '99's options and graphics what you find is a game that is truly a
blast to play, and in the end that's all that matters. If you want the
best Playstation baseball game currently available forget all the others
and buy Hardball '99.
