Daytona USA...It Has Cracks In It, Sega....

I'm watching this special on Speed Channel.  They're talking about Daytona International Speedway.  The 2.5 mile speed oval opened in 1959 and has 31-degree banking turns (which is steep when you think about it).  It was repaved once in 1978 but then the track, after much abuse, started to come apart.  During the 2010 Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, the pavement split and created a pothole which interrupted the race.

So what to do?  Fill the 9-by-15-inch hole (twice) mid-race and then tear up the whole pavement and repave it all over again.  They originally intended to repair the track in 2012 but this sudden tear caused engineers to re-evaluate the situation.  Workers systematically tore off all the pavement (including the pit road & everything else), put down the dirt/limerock foundation just right, then pour on the 50,000 tons of asphalt to repave 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 square meters).  It took less than six months (July-Dec. 2010) and $20 million to complete, just in time for the 2011 Daytona 500 (which Trevor Bayne won).

And while we're talking about the actual Daytona track, let's talk about Daytona USA.  Sega, isn't it about time to "repave" Daytona?  Can we get a new shiny Daytona game?  For good justice?  Or do we need to "patch it up" with emulators and whatnot?  We don't even need the "Daytona" trademark, just make the game for a next generation of gamers!

But speaking of emulators, our Model3 emulator friend Bart is awfully close to completing our dream.  He already implemented sound, analog controls, and more graphic fixes (but you can't play it yet since it's in a Beta stage).





I recently fired up the Supermodel emulator again and now the emulator runs at about 80%-100% speed (still quite jumpy)...I don't know why but I guess different parameters must've done the trick.

Question--so this is it?  Is this the "end-game?"  We finally have Daytona 2 and Scud Race with fine sound & controls and we can play it for FREE.  Is there anything else to do--any progress left to make?

To me it's like the 2000 critically-acclaimed movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks.  I'm pretty sure everyone's heard of this movie.  It's about a FedEx manager whose plane crashes while over the ocean and he ends up in the city of Rapture on a desolate island and he survives for several years with his volleyball friend Wilson.  Then after much frustration and discomfort, he is eventually rescued and ends up home.

Contrary to what you'd think, there's a lot of the movie left after he makes it home.  He has a very indifferent attitude towards everything.  His family, friends, and workers left him for dead.  His wife married another man.  He's like "My God, what have I wrought?" cause life is completely different so he really doesn't know what to say.

This is kind of how I feel.  I was playing Daytona USA 2 in arcades all the way up to December 2004.  Then the game was retched from my hands.  I've only may played the game 5 or 6 times at a couple of scattered arcades in between '05 to '06.  Now now, only NOW, in September 2011, am I able to play the game as many times as I want.

So...I'm just going to play Daytona USA 2 now and be happy?  I don't know how to react.  I'm happy but not "jump through the ceiling" happy.  Maybe cause I totally forgot about what playing Daytona 2 was like which is sad.

Don't get me wrong...it's still my favorite game so let me warm up to it first. Thanks Bart, this is awesome.

While I am happy, I am still going to be a game designer (I think anyway) and there's even better things to achieve than before.  Let's go save Sega and bring balance to the gaming world again.  Or whoever I work for.  Just do something great.