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> Back in 1997, when the internet was still relatively young, I was skeptical
that it would become so integral in daily life as quickly as it did.
One of my best friends, John, convinced me to get connected. Like
many newcomers to the net, I chose the quick and easy route, AOL.
*heheh* That lasted for about two months, most of which I spent offline.
Problematic connections (until after 2 am), and the constant updating once
you did connect quickly showed me that AOL wasn't the solution.
> Enter Cyberdrive, an up and coming ISP that was local, and boasted the
fastest, no hassle connections in town! I gave them a try and my
friend John did as well after witnessing their quality. At the time,
John and me were already producing a multi-console Fanzine for the local
audience. This gave me the bright idea to go online with a dedicated
Sega website, as Cyberdrive's dial-up service included 10MB of webspace.
As you probably know by now, "Sega Force" was born on January 27, 1997.
It's original address was <www.cyberdrive.net/~gskalba>. Thousands
of pages, hundreds of pix and updates later, I eventually increased the
storage to 35MB. My dream was to make a haven for Sega Fans and inform
people about a company which didn't always get a fair shake in the media.
> Cyberdrive was eventually renamed Verio (through various acquisitions),
which spread to national and international services. Sega Force's
alternate address became <www.oh.verio.com/~gskalba>. Success
was mine, as Sega Force quickly became an often visited site. I think
we have a great set of loyal and proud visitors, many of which were there
from the beginning. One of my proudest accomplishments in Sega Force
is the vast amount of Saturn information available to fans worldwide.
The Sega Saturn will always hold a special place in my heart, as it provided
some of the best games in my life. Many of these games, including
Iron Storm, Shining Force III, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, remain unequaled
in today's videogame landscape. Someone once said that all good things
must come to an end. And in one respect, this came true for Sega Force.
> The original Sega Force has come to a premature end, as Verio (my original
ISP/host) has sold their dial-up accounts to Earthlink in order to concentrate
on broadband. Today, January 7, 2002, I called Verio to cancel my
internet service, and effectively take Sega Force offline. Ever since
I started Shin Force (July 1999), I've slowly been revamping Sega Force
and moving various parts to Shin Force. Sega Force still remains,
however, a huge site with thousands of pages (on my hard drive).
Sega Force will not die though.
> I have decided to make a memorial sub-site on Shin Force, dedicated to
Sega Force. I'll be adding various pages over time which will help
to commemorate this hardcore dream come true. As time allows, I'll
also be adding more content from Sega Force to Shin Force. If any
of you loyal visitors have anything to add, please do so by dropping me
an email (Contact). Thank you very
much for your past and future support... and may the Force be with you...
always.
Sincerely,
~
Shinobi ~ |
