cation changes the theme of the game, to the tension between fragmentation and wholeness, between diversity and imperial unication. Resistance against the unification and thereby destruction of the world is an interesting story to tell in a game on the theme of pirates, because it lauds individualism and regionalism in defiance of a structuring global order.

This is a curious narrative for a Dreamcast game, because of the possible parallel between the totalising technology weaponised in Arcadia and the unifying technology of digital networking that was the console’s unique selling point. The valorisation of regionalism and fragmentation in the narrative of an online RPG may hint at unease about the market changes that were hotly anticipated during the dot com boom. The signicance of dramatic changes in telecommunication is reflected in the game’s sub-plot about a giant whale, as well as the exploration of `deep sky' later in the game, both of which are references to Jules Verne’s 1,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was written around the time that the transatlantic telegram cable was being installed. Perhaps the role of this game was to give]>