Since we are celebrating 15 years with the SEGA Dreamcast, its probably time we did a Round Table based on our first experiences with the console. What was going through our minds when we first laid eyes on the white dream machine that could.
Back in 2011, I wrote a Weekly Five about the five best “unknown” Dreamcast games. The goal was to highlight some of the Dreamcast’s best titles that no one really talks about. Among the handful of comments it received was a complaint that I didn’t go “obscure” enough, even though that wasn’t really the point (though I will admit my topic is and continues to be pretty vague). Since then, I’ve done some real digging into some of the deepest parts of the Dreamcast library and I feel ready to come up with an all new selection of titles.
I hope some of these titles are new to you! There’s no better way to celebrate 15 years of the SEGA Dreamcast than with a new game.
This week on the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast, Barry and George celebrate 15 years of the SEGA Dreamcast with Tomleecee and Aaron aka The Gagaman of The Dreamcast Junkyard.
Being from the UK, Tom and Aaron bring the unique perspective of what the SEGA Dreamcast launch was like in Europe. Topics include UK marketing, the delayed launch, games exclusive to the region, the official and unofficial magazines, the collecting scene, and Tom and Aaron’s thoughts on the US release. We also have a discussion on SEGA’s decision to change the red swirl to blue, and which region had the best box art.
You can follow Tomleecee and The Gagaman on Twitter, and make sure to visit The Dreamcast Junkyard, RetroCollect, and Lucky Hit!
When I originally bought my Dreamcast in December of 2000, it was a refurbished GameStop unit in a bland white box. At the time I was trying to be a good son and save my parents some money, but unfortunately this also means I never had a box to proudly display, but I would never even know what the system’s original packaging was like.
That is, until I plunked down some cash to buy a near mint system on eBay a few days ago! In order to mark the occasion, I decided to record the experience so anyone in my predicament can finally get an idea of what it was like to get a (sort of) new Dreamcast in September of 1999. A few screw-ups aside (calling the controller a Dreamcast, not looking at the manual, not knowing what some of the launch games were) I daresay this might be the best launch edition Dreamcast unboxing video on the internet. At least, I couldn’t find one. I hope you enjoy my belated little birthday gift for the DC!
Today we’re focusing on two songs represent both ends of Adventure’s soundtrack: cheery and Genesis-esque instrumentals of “Emerald Coast” and the corny rock tunes of “It Doesn’t Matter” that would go on to become more prevalent in many later Sonic OSTs.
Emerald Coast will probably always hold a special place in my iPad for one simple reason: it was the first song I ever heard on a Dreamcast. Seeing Emerald Coast on a Target Dreamcast kiosk is what ultimately made me buy the system, and the graphics and sound played a large part in that decision. I imagine many Dreamcast owners will feel nostalgic over this track for this very same reason.
It Doesn’t Matter was my introduction to Crush40 and its brand of cheese rock. I loved this stuff when I was a teen. Even today, this song always give me a warm feeling because it’s so goddamned optimistic! As cheesy as its lyrics may be, I love the sound, and it continues to be one of my favorite Sonic vocal tracks. Back then I would listen to this a lot whenever I was feeling down, and to my surprise it still has the same effect on me today.
For me, this song is in many ways the theme song of the Dreamcast. This was SEGA’s last shot and they put everything into it. The system’s short lifespan had the greatest concentration of legendary titles in the history of gaming, at least since the onset of 3D consoles. SEGA may have given up the fight, but in many ways the Dreamcast never did. It continues to enjoy one of the most prosperous afterlifes of any console on the market.
Check out “It Doesn’t Matter” below the fold.
It’s hard to think that the Dreamcast turned 15 years old today. For many of the writers here at SEGAbits, the Dreamcast holds a special place in our hearts, and even though the console was active in retail for less than 2 years, it amounted itself an incredible amount of great games. Let’s look back at the history of the iconic console, its death, rebirth, and its future…
The Dreamcast’s life-after-death continues with yet another new game from the indie scene: Jay Townsend’s SLaVE. This new game is considerably different from most other indie projects the Dreamcast has received over the last few years. Neither a sh’mup nor an old school RPG, SLaVE is instead a colorful first person shooter built around an enhanced Doom engine called 3DGE.
Jay Townsend is making this game in collaboration with indie developer Isotope and GOAT Store Publishing. Only 484 copies of the game will be produced, including 400 limited edition copies and 84 “Limited Limited” edition copies, which will be sold for $20.84 and $30.84 respectively. You can pre-order them here. Production is slated to begin in April 2015.
SLaVE is supposed to combine the game design sensibilities and aesthetics of 80s arcade shooters with old school first person shooters like Doom and Wolfenstein. The game was originally revealed for the PC and is not currently slated for any other platforms besides the Dreamcast.
This isn’t the only Dreamcast project GOAT Store and Isotope are working on. Earlier this year GOAT Store revealed that it would be publishing another Isotope project running on the same technology, Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness. Check out a developers diary for SLaVE and a trailer for Hypertension below the fold. Check out the official press release here.
The SEGA Dreamroom is here! Enjoy live streaming Dreamcast games from 9am ET to 6pm ET – head on over to our twitch channel to chat as we play.
9/10 Update: Dreamroom 2014 was a huge success! Thank you to all those who tuned in. Enjoy the archived broadcast embedded above, and we’ll see you in the Dreamroom next year!
With Dreamcast month currently underway, I thought I’d share my launch memories with all of you. It’s a little different from the launch discussion we’ll be talking about in our next round table, because I already had an import Dreamcast for a little while. This is more about helping a small business out by giving them a bigger launch while helping big business sell out it’s stock. Well…that and paying off some debt.
The Dreamcast is turning 15 years old and we here at SEGAbits will take this opportunity to talk about a game that we thought defined the console. Its hard to just pick one when the console had multitude of fantastic and unique titles.
Like always you can share your title via the comments.
From 2009 to 2011 at The Dreamcast Junkyard, I hosted the Dreamroom – a SEGA Dreamcast marathon celebrating the console’s memorable American launch date. Since 2011, however, the Dreamroom remained locked. I knew I wanted to host another, but I was busy with work and my increasing duties at SEGAbits. Not to mention, I didn’t think aiming a webcam at the TV cut it as a live stream anymore.
This year, however, I’m excited to announce that the Dreamroom is reopening on 9/9 at 9am ET at the SEGA Channel Retro Twitch channel for a special 9 hour marathon of Dreamcast games streaming directly from the console! Yes, I’ve finally caught up with streaming technology.
Hope to see SEGAbits and DCJY readers new and old there as we celebrate 15 years of the SEGA Dreamcast!
More than eight years since the death of SEGA’s final console, SEGA fans have been left digging deeper and deeper into their console’s libraries, looking for new games to play. Though impressions, reviews and videos for SEGA’s English language releases are typically easy to find, information on their console’s Japanese exclusive selection of games can be quite elusive. That is why we at SEGAbits are launching a new feature focused on the quality and playability of SEGA console regional exclusives. Today, we will be looking at an obscure rhythm game released by SNK exclusively for the Dreamcast in mid-2000: Cool Cool Toon. I’d like to give a special shout out to my niece for getting me this for my birthday!
Cool Cool Toon is a unique game in SNK’s Dreamcast library. A rhythm game made from the ground up for the Dreamcast, it was neither a fighting game nor an arcade port. It is so far removed from what SNK did for the system that it doesn’t even look like an SNK game at first glance. It does share one common thread with other SNK games though: it is very easy to pick up and play.
As we previously reported, a new Sonic soundtrack album, “Passion & Pride: Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era” is on the way, due for September. Today we’ve gotten a plethora of new information on the release, including the rather awesome cover art, seen above, and a full tracklist.
The new information comes from the album’s official listing on the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog website, Sonic Channel, and the tracklist, containing songs from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, is as follows:
I thought it would be best to start out the month with something many of you may have never heard, at least not in a SEGA game. The above track is a little gem from the canceled (and subsequently leaked) SEGA Dreamcast game, Propeller Arena. We’ll be covering the game in more detail later this month, but for now I’d like to talk about the game’s soundtrack.
Propeller Arena’s soundtrack is filled to the brim of punk rock, including nine tracks from five different guest bands. I have to admit that I don’t really care for a lot of it (including many of the AM2 produced tracks), but there are definitely some gems in it that I absolutely love. The above track was composed by a “Mad Caddies”, a band I definitely intend to check out after this. Whenever I’m blasting through the game I usually try to keep it on this and one or two other tracks because it does a great job getting your blood pumping while you’re dogfighting seven other planes over cityscapes, volcanic islands and castle.
Below I’ve included another track that I discovered when I downloaded the game’s OST. I suspect it’s something I need to unlock since I can’t currently find it in the game’s options menu. I also can’t find any info of it online, so I have no idea who made it. Should I ever find out I’ll be sure to give it its own Tuesday Tune, since it is my favorite track in the OST bar none.
Please check out “Welcome to the Promised Land” below the fold.
In nine days, SEGA’s final console the SEGA Dreamcast turns 15 years old in the United States. The Dreamcast is a rare instance in which the US launch overshadows the Japanese launch, thanks to the memorable date of 9/9 and a stellar launch lineup. While Japan had a paltry four games, the US had nineteen which covered just about every major genre. Racing fans had the most options, with CART Flag to Flag, Hydro Thunder, Monaco Grand Prix, Pen Pen Trilcelon, TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat, Tokyo Extreme Racer, and TrickStyle. While those who prefer their speed in the skies had AeroWings and AirForce Delta.