Thanks to the efforts of Derek Pascarella of backdrift.net and ‘Pasca Entertainment’, Andrew Rosa reviews the Dream Movie VCD & MP3 Player from Innovation for SEGA Dreamcast.
Yes, the Video CD format may be as dead as 8-track tapes and MiniDisc. Regardless, the Saturn and Dreamcast VCD peripherals are rare, expensive, and in high demand. Aside from their ‘collectible’ status, why are so many SEGA fans so anxious to watch VHS-quality video on their SEGA consoles?
We honestly have no idea, but if you’re curious to see how this dated format fares on Dreamcast, as well as how it compares to Saturn, you’ve come to the right place.
Do you own the Dream Movie hardware but your disc is damaged or missing? Download the CDI file and burn a replacement today! You’re welcome.
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why not just create blu ray add on for the Dreamcast and Saturn, how extensive is VCDs range anyway? There can’t be any beneficial point for the format over the bluray.
To answer your second question: VCDs cover a LOT of ground. You have to realize, while VHS was king in the West, the same was not true in the East. The highly humid and warm climate of a lot of Southeast Asian countries means that VHS tapes didn’t hold up well…they tended to degrade fairly quickly (in comparison) than they did elsewhere. Once the VCD format came out, it was embraced pretty much wholeheartedly as an alternative and replacement to VHS tapes. As such, there were far, far more releases on that format over there than elsewhere.
To address your other questions…
Well, using that sort of logic, what beneficial point is there in using a Dreamcast over a PS4 or XBONE? Or any so-called ‘retro’ system over the modern equivalents? It’s (in many cases) simply a situation based around personal preference, not to mention the previously explained large and far-reaching range of videos on that particular format (many of which have not seen release on anything else). There’s no beneficial point in me driving an 80’s muscle car, either (in the grand scheme of things), but if I had one I most certainly would as it would be more enjoyable to me.
Lastly, the hurdles implicit in creating an entirely new hardware ‘add on’ for defunct (to most) gaming hardware are substantially greater than I’m guessing you are thinking. That’s not exactly a project for your average workaday garage tinkerer.
A Dreamcast bluray player?
Troll. Dont you see the above comment?
And even if you dont add alott of hardware besides the blueray laser disk assembly, psu and IO. (maybe over IDE?) what in the world would be the speed you will be watching that HD movie in? that poor thing cant decode that stream of data that fast.
you will be putting a Blueray player (completetly working) ontop of a dreamcast. wich is dumb, unless awesome casemod. so no, its never gonna happen. VCD and mp3 (maybe flac, maybe some other codec that isnt to much to decode)
No trolling, it was a rhetorical question. Anyway, what’s to stop there being a modded bluray Dreamcast adaptor that decodes independently from the Dreamcast’s cpu? I mean if someone can build an entire top range PC into the Dreamcast (yes it’s happened, it’s possible), this can’t be that complicated by comparison. It doesn’t have to be a big box by the console, it can be reduced to only the very necessary components and minimised to compatible size then integrated into the console like the firmware mods they done a few years back.
*For example ~ http://kotaku.com/5098975/oh-yes-a-dreamcast-pc-with-blu-ray
LOL personally I have an interest because I’m stupid and like this kind of thing but I can’t at all see why so many others would care, only collectors so they can have something for no reason though I suppose I don’t have any better reason than them.