Dreamcast

Celebrate the Dreamcast’s 12th Birthday With Us!

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Since 2009, It has become a yearly tradition for me to throw a Dreamcast birthday party by way of Dreamcast gaming, a live stream, chit chat, drinking and pizza. This year will be no different from last year: Starting at 11am Eastern Standard Time (5pm GMT) on Friday, September 9th, I’ll be kicking off the party at twitch.tv/dreamroom. We’ll play a ton of games, chat, reminisce and celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Dreamcast’s American launch. We’ll check out the original launch titles, play some wacky imports, go on a Dobuita shopping spree and I even have a few surprises.

So mark your calendars and keep your eyes on The Dreamcast Junkyard and SEGAbits as the big day nears!

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The Weekly Five: The Best VMU Games

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Despite being over ten years old, VMU games can still be fun! Sure they pale in comparison to modern day handheld devices, but even back when VMUs were new they couldn’t compete with the handhelds of the early 00’s. The main purpose of a VMU was to save your game data, the fact that they could play mini-games was the cherry on top. While the VMU didn’t change the world, at least SEGA didn’t advertise it as the standout feature of the console (subtle dig at the Wii U). While I don’t carry a VMU about with me like I did back in ’99, I still make it a point to occasionally pick up some CR2032 batteries to bring my VMU back to life. What follows are my personal favorite VMU games.

Want to play these yourself, but don’t have all the Dreamcast titles that offer these extra features? Check out Blue Swirl’s VMU Tool. An awesome application for the Dreamcast which allows you to make a number of (safe) modifications to existing VMUs as well as download game saves and VMU games from the entire Dreamcast library. It even has a VMU emulator, for those too lazy to play an actual VMU.

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The Weekly Five: Lesser Known Dreamcast Exclusives

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I make it no secret that I am a big time Dreamcast fan. It is the SEGA console I own the most games for (around 120 last time I counted) and every September 9th I take the day off from work to host a nine hour Dreamcast marathon. There are many reasons why I love the console, but the number one would have to be the exclusives. Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and Crazy Taxi 2 are fantastic games and have yet to appear on any other console, and I’m totally cool with that. It’s a perfect reason for my Dreamcast to remain hooked up next to my current generation consoles.

But as time goes on, SEGA has been porting more and more Dreamcast classics to other consoles. Great for the gaming community, bad for the Dreamcast. Less exclusives mean less of a reason for gamers to pick up a used console. I know it sounds like I’m being overly dramatic, however this past May I did witness a kid turning down the purchase of a Dreamcast due to SEGA’s recently released Dreamcast Collection. As such, I thought I’d share five lesser known Dreamcast games that remain exclusive to the console and show no sign of receiving a rerelease. If you want these, you need a Dreamcast.

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Dragon’s Crown orginally started life as Dreamcast game

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The upcoming Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita game by Vanillaware started life as a Dreamcast game. Famitsu had a 4 page interview with director George Kamitani.

The project started about 13 years ago after the team released their SEGA Saturn title “Princess Crown” (Published and developed under the Atlus banner). This game was supposed to be its successor on the Dreamcast. George Kamitani says games like Golden Axe and King of Dragon have influenced this game greatly, and has confirmed 4 player co-op.

Feels good seeing people finish up Dreamcast projects, even if they’re not on Dreamcast. How about we get a polished up version of some of these great canceled DC games?

[Source: AndriaSang]

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Want to donate to Japan relief and get some cool SEGA swag?

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Well, you still can. It looks like SEGA Of America is about done auctioning off their items, having raised thousands of dollars by selling rare merchandise on eBay the past couple of weeks.

Well, they still have a few items up. If you’re into cosplay, two Valkyria Chronicles uniforms are up for grabs, as well as some Aliens Vs. Predator games, a rare Sonic & Tails 1992 SEGA watch, and more.

Get them while you still can, and help out a truly noble cause.

[Source: SEGA]

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Segagaga translation project hopes to finish translation job this year

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I was following this project for awhile, all the way back when I started writing for SEGA Nerds. In a new interview with RacketBoy, the team states they are 1/3rds of the way done with raw translation. Yes, far ways off. But they said that they are picking up steam now and hope to finish translating before the year ends.

“We hope to have the text translated within the year. Unfortunately, the largest obstacles to a completed patch might lie beyond the realm of translation and wordsmithing. We still need assistance working through some coding problems that will create the localization patch.”

That is all well and dandy, but they will still need to come up with a way to patch the text into the game. The team wants you, the user to play the game the way it was intended, on the Dreamcast. They say they will most likely patch it into a back up.

I for one I’m excited about this and can’t wait to take down Dogma!

[Source: Racketboy]

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GeistForce Beta Acquired by Assembler Games

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Geist Force was one of the earliest Dreamcast games that was shown as a tech demo at TGS and E3 prior to its launch. Reportedly 80% complete, it ultimately failed to impress former President Bernie Stolar and his team, so it was quietly cancelled.

Recently a former Sega Employee registered at Assembler Gamer discussed DreamPast in great detail. Along the way he revealed he had a copy of Geist Force, which Assembler acquired for 700$. Currently the Assemblers are working on bringing the game to the masses.

For More Information Watch This Video, Sorry embeding has been disabled.

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Round Table: Our favorite SEGA advertisments

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SEGA has been around the gaming business longer than most companies and when they came into the home console business they changed the game. Especially in the 90’s with their marketing campaigns that really expanded the demographic for video games.

Now we tell you what our favorite advertisements are, you can share yours as well in the comments.

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Strumwind Gameplay Footage Appears in Destructoid Live Stream

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A demo of the upcoming indie Dreamcast shmup Strumwind, published by redspotgames, appeared in a live stream held by gaming website Destructoid. The Strumwind footage appears at 1 hour and 44 minutes into the stream. Seems the Destructoid folks were bitten by the Dreamcast bug and decided to play a number of titles, concluding with Strumwind. At the startup screen, it is revealed that the game will support VGA, arcade stick, VMU and the jump pack. Most of those were obvious, but it’s nice to hear it confirmed. Ignore the dumb commentary that follows and enjoy the gameplay, graphics and music.

Personally, I’m loving the use of “GET READY”.

Watch the stream here, click ahead to 1 hour 44 minutes for Strumwind

[Thanks to Gagaman of The Dreamcast Junkyard for the tip]

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Review: Fast Striker Ver. 1.5

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[Cover of the standard edition]

Fast Striker was developed by NG:DEV.TEAM for the Neo Geo MVS, later it was ported to the Dreamcast. This review will cover the Dreamcast port. This is going to be the first indie review for the site, I hope you enjoy it.

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CAPCOM says Nintendo 3DS launch is as Exciting as the Dreamcast launch

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Even though this statement does focus on the Nintendo 3DS launch, it’s nice to see that the guys at Capcom still worthship the great times they had with the Dreamcast. Recently Yoshinori Ono told the EDGE magazine, that the Nintendo 3DS launch is as exciting as the one of Sega Dreamcast back then.

“First, we are in Nintendo country. Second, the feeling I have with 3DS is the same as when the Dreamcast came out – as a developer, I mean, these machines are so exciting. We’re fascinated by it at Capcom, and diving into the innards at the moment, but you know there’s just so much more there to unlock; it’s got more to give.”
– Yoshinori Ono, Capcom

Source: Computerandvideogames.com via Dreamcast-Scene

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Fast Striker Sold Out

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Don’t get too excited, Fast Striker hasn’t completely sold out.

Play-Asia has simply run out of stock, the game is still available at NGDEVDIRECT, nonetheless it is still somewhat impressive, though things would’ve been more impressive had NGDEVTEAM revealed the number of units they had actually shipped to Play-Asia. As of yet they haven’t even revealed the number of units they have pressed altogether (even the Limited Edition units are unknown).

There is still significant demand for Dreamcast games out there. Last year R4 Regular Edition sold out completely in 2 months as well.

[Source: Dreamcast-Scene]

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5 Indie Dreamcast Games Worth Your Time

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While there are a lot of great independent Dreamcast games out there, many worthy of a Dreamcast collector’s collection, not every game is worth it for the casual fan. Some games are too short, too difficult or too simplistic. Gamers shouldn’t be expected to pay $20 to $60 for a so-so indie game simply because that money goes towards development of new games. We’re not dealing with charities. People buy games with the promise that the game will be worth their money.

As such, I thought I’d share five independent Dreamcast games that are worth the time and money of not only collectors, but also those who have a Dreamcast console but aren’t into the indie scene. The following five games are just as good, and in some cases better than official Dreamcast games.

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Phantasy Star Online’s Elenor gets an action figure

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Check out that action figure of Elenor from PSO, pretty cute? I bet you want yourself one. Well it’s Japan only as of right now, but you can get it on AmiAmi for ¥2,530 ($31).

Seems that this figure, which was shown 8 years ago at Wonder Festival, will finally be in mass production in May 2011. The figure will be made by Kotobukiya.

[Source: TinyCartridge]

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