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News Archives 121 to 130
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130. A couple of new updates.
Date: 31st of July, 2006
Updated By: Solo
  Kimimi has recently translated part of the Japanese Panzer Dragoon Zwei manual. This translation contains the information found in the part of the manual that discusses the game's storyline. It's mostly information that we already know, but it's always nice to have a different version of the text, just in case we've missed some details that got lost in the original 1996 translation when the game was released outside of its native country. Kimimi was going to do some of the Azel manual as well, but has taken a break to work on the Shining Force III translation over at Shining Force Central. I dare say that the time spent on that translation will be well worth the trouble; both Shining Force and Panzer Dragoon are classic video game legacies.
Besides the Translations section receiving an update, Jeremy Prusak has contributed a new article for the Theories section called Gash's Identity Theory. Was Gash simply a human, or is there more behind that mask than we are lead to believe?
I've been notified of some problems with the RAR files on this site not downloading correctly when their respective links are clicked. It seems that because of the recent change over at my webhost (see last update), the .rar file extension was behaving abnormally. These are links should now work correctly.
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129. We're back.
Date: 29th of June, 2006
Updated By: Solo
The Will of the Ancients was down for a few days, due to some problems with the domain, and my webhost changing owners. Everything seems to be up and running smoothly again now, but if you encounter any problems with the site please do let me know. My webhost has made a number of changes to their servers, so there is a chance that certain parts of TWotA may not work correctly.
I recently obtained a copy of the Sega Ages 2500, the PS2 remake of the original Panzer Dragoon game. To be blunt, there isn't a great deal of point picking this title up if you've already played the game before (which I suspect most readers of this site probably have), but I'll post a full review in the future going over my opinion of the game in greater detail.
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128. TWOTA is still alive and well.
Date: 6th of May, 2006
Updated By: Geoffrey Duke
 We've added two new theories to the site provided by fans who never seem to lose their enthusiasm. Firstly, the founder of the site himself has carefully pieced together a theory speculating that the ruins found in Episode 6 of PD Orta may have in fact been one of the mythical Towers, only sunken beneath the planet. We know from the Saturn games that not all the Towers were identical in design (or necessarily function for that matter), so this is open for debate much like the rest of the series' storyline which is as debatable as ever.
Secondly, Jeremy Prusak has examined the differences between the various coolias found throughout the various games in the series, theorising that coolias may have actually adapted to different environments in different ways in order to survive the harsh weather conditions peculiar to them. Is what we see evolution at work, or inconsistent modelling? You decide.
A new contributer has sent us the first two and a half chapters of a new ongoing piece of fan fiction entitled The Ancient Chronicles. The author, Chupacabra, plans to write more chapters over time, and recommends listening to certain music at certain points in time to put you in the moment.
I've updated the links section with a link to the Panzer Dragoon Saga Video Project, which is a recently new noble endeavour to capture/record all the in-game cutscenes from PD Saga itself for everyone's viewing pleasure. This is a project that could certainly use our encouragement.
As some of you already know, the Sega Saturn was by far my favourite console of all time. It pained me to see such an untapped console be turned into a punching bag by a biased mass media eager to usher in a new era of corporate Sony dominance where true gamers took a back seat to the direction in which the industry was heading as if it would be some kind of welcome change. Assembly-driven dual processors frightened away all but the most veteran of programmers, leaving the Saturn with little in the way of mass market support (which wasn't helped by Sony bribing everyone), but being branded as a console incapable of rendering good 3D graphics when games like Exhumed/Powerslave proved everyone wrong, and when Dead Or Alive walked all over the later Playstation incarnation, did the most damage and only exposes this biasness for all to see.
So, in memory of our beloved Saturn I've added another link to Game Pilgrimage, which covers the Saturn in quite some detail. Check out the comparison shots, between Dead or Alive for the Saturn and Playstation, and special effects found in some of the more graphically demanding games optimized specifically for the Saturn hardware including the real time light sourcing seen in Exhumed and reflective river effects seen in Sonic R. Any doubters can see some of the full screen light sourcing effects found in PD Saga with their own two eyes here to put those doubts to rest, too. Not very impressive now, of course, but at the time, these were effects the Saturn was apparently incapable of producing. I only wish all of the Saturn's greatest games reached our shores. I personally think that Grandia played to the Saturn's greatest strength by merging isometric 2D sprites with colourful 3D environments. For a corporation that tried to ban 2D graphics, I wonder why Grandia was suddenly good enough for a Playstation localisation when the Saturn was taken out of the picture?
We'll have more updates for our readers soon.
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127. Pandora's Box in Panzer Dragoon for PS2.
Date: 7th of April, 2006
Updated By: Solo
Although this will probably be old news to you by now, I thought that I should mention this news here for those who don't frequent the site's forums. The PS2 release of the original game, Sega Ages 2500: Panzer Dragoon, will now feature a Pandora's Box. Thus far the only thing that has been revealed about the Pandora's Box is a single screenshot, so it's difficult to say if this will be simply be a level/weapon select with a few additional options (Zwei) or an expansive database of Panzer Dragoon history (Orta). Judging by the screenshot, I'm guessing that it will simply be a menu containing the features found in the various cheats of the original game, with a few minor extras, but your guess is as good as mine.
A few other things have changed since the last time that I updated. A registration error on the forums that wasn't allowing any new members to sign up has been fixed. Also due to bandwidth limitations, I have had to take down the Panzer albums from the Music section. It's a shame really, but if you hunt around for a bit, you should be able to find other sites containing the soundtracks.
By the way, it may seem like I've been abandoning this place recently, and to a certain extent that is true. However, I can assure you all I have absolutely no plans to cease updating The Will of the Ancients. It'll just be longer between updates than it once was, but I'm sure most of you have probably noticed this trend already. Fresh content is currently being prepared however, so stay tuned.
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126. A music playing music box. And more music.
Date: 3rd of March, 2006
Updated By: Solo
Sega recently revealed on their Sega Direct website that a DX Pack for the Sega Ages 2500 Panzer Dragoon Volume 27 would be coming out. The deluxe version of the game includes a Panzer badge, as well as a music box that supposibly plays the main theme from the game. It's an interesting bonus, in my opinion. Videogame Imports.com has the game listed for the 3rd of May 2006, but as far as I know the official release date of the game is still up in the air.
Speaking of music, I've added lossless versions of Panzer Dragoon II Zwei Alternative Elements and the entire Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG Memorial Album (the complete soundtrack for Saga) to the Music section. I'm actually listening to the track "Interception" as I type this. It truly is an amazing soundtrack.
I was planning on having some more written content on the site for this update, but I wanted to get this news up quickly before it became too old. However, you can expect an update reasonably soon, containing some new articles.
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125. Two new sections. One new hosted site.
Date: 4th of February, 2006
Updated By: Solo
Lance has updated the page about Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 27 - Panzer Dragoon. The update contains links Sega of Japan's website, and Famitsu.com, both of which now feature information about the PS2 port of the original game.
I'm also pleased to announce that panzerdragoon.net now hosts another site, The Panzer Dragoon Saga Oasis. Jeremy Prusak overhauled the site recently as well, so it's worth having another look through all his new content if you haven't already done so.
And the two new sections? Kimimi has taken a lot of time and effort to provide us with five translations from the original Japanese Panzer Dragoon games! This includes full re-translations of the PDS ending and the Old Diary, which are some of the most debated pieces of dialogue in the series. I think the Panzer community really appricates contributations of this sort, Kimimi, so well done!
The other new section isn't really entirely new. I've removed the MP3s section is favour of a new Music section. The Will of the Ancients now hosts lossless versions of the Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Zwei OSTs, with more to come in future updates (if I make them available all at once I'd hate to think what might happen to the site's daily bandwidth limit). For those of you with iPods, don't worry: although you won't be able to load the .flac files directly into iTunes, there are free tools available on the internet to convert FLAC to MP3 such as foobar2000 using the LAME encoder.
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124. TWotA is finally back online...
Date: 4th of January, 2006
Updated By: Solo
The Will of the Ancients and most of its content is now back online, having been down for almost a month from sometime in December last year. Due some problems with my last webhost, I decided that it was best to move the site once again, but unfortunately it wasn't at a very good time for me as I'd been busy with a new job and also I'd only just arrived back from a relatively computer-free holiday yesterday. The opportunity has only just arisen to get the site properly up and running again. So my apologies for the down time; lets look forward to a future of (hopefully) stable Panzer Dragoon coverage at panzerdragoon.net.
Not that there's been any news on the Panzer front; nothing new has been revealed about the Sega Ages remake or a new title in the series. As most of you will know, the Xbox 360 was recently launched in a number of countries including the US and Japan, with a domestic release here in New Zealand planned for March the 2nd. Sega are already supporting the console with western developed games Condemned and Full Auto, but will a high definition Panzer Dragoon game grace the new Xbox? We can only hope for the best, but expect the worst.
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123. The physical appearance of the Ancients.
Date: 21st of November, 2005
Updated By: Solo
Jeremy Prusak has written a new theory which comes up with some ideas regarding the identity of the Ancients. It's common knowledge in the Panzer community that the Japanese versions of the Saturn trilogy do not state that the Ancients were human. And, supposing that they weren't human, what could they look like? Read the theory, and you'll see that there is indeed a possible explanation hidden within Panzer Dragoon Saga itself!
Also, Lance has updated the Products section with a few things, and also the Game Info section. If you have a look at the page about the original Panzer Dragoon you'll notice that there was a re-release of the PC version this year by Empire Interactive. It's essentially the same game, but with different packaging; someone must have thought that there was money to be made in printing a few more copies of the ten year old classic.
Atolm has also submitted a picture of her imperial necklace. Check it out by following this link or looking in the Fan Art section.
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122. Game Info section updated.
Date: 5th of November, 2005
Updated By: Solo
Lance Way has submitted a new page for the Game Info section, which sums up all the relevant information that we know about the new Panzer Dragoon remake for the Playstation 2. The summary contains a bullet pointed list of facts, as well as all the information that was revealed during the Tokyo Game Show (including screenshots). The summary of Sega Ages: Panzer Dragoon can be viewed by following this link.
In off topic news, the site's underground ruins now hosts a set of MP3s from the Sega Saturn classic NiGHTS Into Dreams. Daniel Von Boles recorded the music directly from the game, so the variety of tunes is much more complete than what can be found in the game's soundtrack. If you enjoyed the music from this game then by all means start leeching.
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121. Long time no see.
Date: 20th of September, 2005
Updated By: Geoffrey Duke
I must admit, I've found it very hard to remain optimistic about the future of this series (among others) considering Sega's recent mediocre output. However... things are set to turn around as Sega prepares to unleash a plethora of quality titles on the current and next generation consoles. The best thing that could happen for Sega would be to stop "jumping on trends" and start setting trends of its own once again by aggressively marketing its own brand of high-quality software realising Sega's full potential. And when I say high-quality, I mean of the highest quality. I will never condone a flow of mediocrity mingling in a crowd of clones instead of standing out from that crowd (for example) when we all know Sega is capable of so much more. But I digress.
As for this update, firstly, Robert Frazer has kindly written an enlightening article explaining the meaning and origins of the title Panzer Dragoon itself for those of you who may not be fully acquainted with it already. I can't see how he could have written anything more definitive.
Secondly, Lance Way has updated the Panzer Dragoon products section with coverage of more Panzer Dragoon merchandise on top of writing an entirely new article comparing some of the differences between the different regional versions of each game in the Panzer Dragoon series. I particularly enjoyed reading through this article from beginning to end, and I'm glad to see this section fill up with yet more elucidating insights worthy of our purusal.
And of course, last but not least Jeremy Prusak has contributed another concise yet fascinating theory to the site which provides a possible answer to the question of how the dragon is able store items that come from containers in the form of pure energy. It forces us to ask ourselves if there were any limits to what the Ancients' technology could accomplish...
Hopefully Sega has a few more surprises in store for long-time fans eager to see a return to the glory days in addition to the very impressive-looking high-speed next generation Sonic game (is Sega finally returning to its roots?). While I'm not particularly thrilled by the prospect of playing nothing more than a souped up port of Panzer Dragoon (see previous update), it shows that Sega still sees some worth in this series. Sega is also taking a very prudent multi-platform approach to as many next generation titles as possible, which needless to say, is a very encouraging sign of things to come for those of us who can't afford to buy every single console under the sun. I truly hope Microsoft can balance the scales with Sony in the coming console war since Sony's PS3 has such a complicated/unique multi-cored processor that porting PS3 code to other consoles (even the developer-friendly Xbox 360) may prove to be far more trouble than it's worth.
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Destroy the mutant stealing habits; it is the village's code. The Will of the Ancients is an unofficial fansite that is in no way supported or associated with SEGA or Smilebit. Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Panzer Dragoon Orta and all other official Panzer Dragoon content is © SEGA, 1995-2003. Everything else on this website was made or written by Solo Wing Dragon unless otherwise noted. Please ask me first before using any content on this website for fan or commercial purposes.
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