Collection Video! Oh god.

After Caleb made his video showing off all the Dreamcast stuff lying around his house, it inspired me to make a similar video of my own. Of course, that was over a year ago and now I've finally gotten around to it now that for once I don't have Dreamcast stuff waiting in the post, although you'll see a fishing controller in the video I received the day I filmed this.. which I believe was Thursday.
I may not have any of the charm, wit and skill at video blogging as the American Dreamcaster has, but hopefully you'll be able to make out all the mumbly crap that blurts out of my mouth here. I cut it down to just under 10 minutes and added music in a hope that it may be slightly more watchable so er...enjoy?
Just so you know, I have a couple more videos in the works as we speak so er, hopefully they;ll show up at some point if I get around to finishing them. Whoo! And all that.

Jet Set Radio! (or Grind Radio If You'd Prefer...)

Oh my god! Having ponced about all over the next generation, going "Oooohhh! Aren't these graphics lovely?..." and "Wow! These motion controls are really cool!" I've just given Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast a proper play and I'm in love...

Dreamcast June was a little idea I came up with over at one of my favourite hang outs, the PDC Forum. Of course, way back in May it was just a concept. I had no intention of having a Dreamcast only month, but I was painfully aware that my Dreamcast was gathering dust and that with my whopping Dreamcast software collection finally sorted, there were loads of games that I'd spent the Krishna family budget on, that I'd only dipped into, or more criminally never played.

However, after messing about on Crazy Taxi and falling in love with Soul Calibur all over again, playing Manchester United with Sheffield Wednesday (and beating them hands down) on Sega World Wide Soccer 2000 (Euro Edition) and then completing Sword Of The Berserk (Gut's Rage) I realised that Dreamcast June was actually a good idea...

Therefore, I've not touched the Wii or the 360 for over two weeks... All of my unfinished and unexplored games on those consoles remain in that state. I nearly cracked on Monday though, fancying a little dabble on Viking or a little zombie dispatching on Dead Rising...

Or maybe I should have completed No More Heroes? After all I was about to waste the number two assassin... *(note to self... "Were you really? I thought you'd tried to loads of times and kept getting your sorry arse kicked all over the show...)*

But no! My resolve stayed strong and I picked out the original cell shaded epic for my gaming pleasure... Jet Set Radio!

Now here is a game that I've dabbled with in the past. Usually that means completing the tutorial and even once completing the first level, but I never really understood the game or got any good at it.

Well all that's changed. I'm two thirds of the way through Garam's challenge after completing three levels. I'm fucking in love!! What a game! The graphics, the gameplay, the soundtrack!!! Fan-fucking-tastic!!!!

Now if you want to know more about it please click on this link...

For now I'll just state that this has been one of my gaming highlights this year. There is so much Dreamcast goodness that I've only ever played in a half arsed fashion, or more ashamedly, not at all...

Here's a little video to make you all go and play it. Right now! (BTW... What should I play on the Dreamcast next? Answers on a postcard please...)





DreamOn Demo Disc Hacks

Hello again, remember me? Sorry I have been more or less completely post-less on here and Sega Memories for quite some time, as you may or may not know I have been rather busy the last few months, but here I am again. Anyway,after my one resource of ripping video from Dreamcast games decided to become incompatible with my new telly, I haven't been able to do any Rummage reviews or anything like that for the YouTube account. Now however I have a DVD recorder that I can grab footage with, and best of all it lets me record in NTSC as well so I can record footage of Japanese and American now if I want to. That means I should be bringing some brand new Rummage videos your way, as well as possibly some video features (thinking of making a video that explains the whole Bleemcast thing, for example) in the near future. In case you missed them before, here are the Rummage videos for Bangai-O, Pen Pen, and 18 Wheeler. To think I made all of those in one week and haven't made any in almost a year. Peh.

So to test it out I've put together a video just showing off some hacks I put together last year based on a tutorial up on DreamAgain.fr that gives you access to the menu from one of those PAL Dream On demo discs which you can use as a menu for multiple full games on one CD-R. It's mind bogglingly complex and i went through quite a few CD-R's trying to put together discs where every single game worked like a charm, but I managed to make three 100% successful discs each with 3 or 4 games crammed on. I'm taking screen shots using the DC for PC emulator Chankast (in which I cannot seem to switch the language to English).

First off: "Power Stone Collection", which as the name obviously suggests features both Power Stone games. Because I also had some more room left over I squeezed two small games also by Capcom on the disc for good measure; Cannon Spike and Net De Tennis. Thanks to a rather handy Photoshop PVR texture converter (I.e: the images the Dreamcast runs )I could also open up all the textures of the DreamOn menu and give it a fancy custom look with my own fonts and such. The best thing with this set is all the game's on it feature music that resides on the data side of the disc, so they all have music intact. You see, if the music runs on the audio side of a disc, then you can't stick it on one of these multi-game discs. making these things is complex enough as it is!

Another disc idea was to put both Tokyo Extreme Racer (AKA Tokyo Highway Challenge AKA Shutokou Battle) games onto one disc. I also had some room over here so I stuck a small racing game on there; Team 17's Stunt GP. Unfortunately with Stunt GP the music is CD audio so the game plays with no music but the Tokyo games are fine.

Finally, a disc with a random assortment of games that have just one thing in common: shooting things! I was going to make a whole collection of these 'GAGAPAK's, each with their own theme, but this was the only one that got finished. It contains 4 games: Incoming, Millennium Solider Expendable, Silent Scope and Under Defeat. The latter two games have music but the two rage produced games don't (western developed games tend to rely on CD audio a lot more than Japanese ones, it seems).

For those wondering, I don't intend to release these to the many torrent sites out there, although this is mainly because I don't know how to make this content into a burnable file thingy. I mainly did these for my own amusement (although it became frustration in the end what with all the attempts they took to work) and so i can say I've kind of made something that I can run on a Dreamcast...sort of. Anywhoo, here's the video showing off all the menus to these discs. I think I'll record in Short Play quality next time..



As for more hacking from me? Eh, probably not, although I do have all the files to The Lost Golem here that I might attempt to make a translation out of...

Eh, I probably won't ever get around to it.

Crank Calls Shenmue Style.

Continuing the Shenmue Stuff I have been posting (Hell lets just make this week Shenmue week on the Junkyard).

Maybe this isn't going to be very funny to some of you but I laughed.

Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki makes some phone calls...



Pulled from Kotaku

Some guy attempts to experience Shenmue in real life.

"I went to Yokosuka, more specifically, Dobuita, to the locations where the Sega Dreamcast game Shenmue were based on. Shenmue is one of my top 10 video games of all time, and I was able to discover some of the same locations that were adapted into the game."

He also wants Shenmue 3, but hey, who doesn't?



Ok, I was a bit disappointed. He said right at the beginning of the video he was going to do everything that Ryo did in the game but I saw no quest for vengeance, no forklifts and no martial arts against random gang members.

And no kitten...there was no kitten...

The Gaming Historian takes a look at the Dreamcast - part 1

I think we have all heard this before, but still, it's always fun to watch a new Dreamcast themed video. He does a decent job editing his videos which is more than most can say.

Plus it's always fun to point out all the stuff people get wrong!

For example the graphic he sets up says that the Dreamcast only had 56k modem and did not have broadband capability. Wrong. You could buy a broadband adaptor for the Dreamcast just like you could buy a broadband adaptor for the PS2.

See if you can spot any other errors.



Oh and the other thing that bothered me is that he mentioned Bernie Stolar but didn't mention any of the horrible mistakes he made, including needlessly cutting the initial Dreamcast price in the US by $50. People would have paid the extra $50 and Sega could have got a ton of extra profit. I dunno. Why drop Stolars's hated name if you are not going to discuss any of that stuff?

(Not to mention all the mistakes Stolar made with the Sega Saturn)

The DCJY gets a nod in Retro Gamer Magazine! - Part 2


Remember this? I bet most of you went right away to the near kiosk/book store/other magazine selling place to buy it, didn't you? Unfortunately not all of us have access to it (I remember even Racketboy himself was having some trouble finding a copy of said issue), so for all of you who have been dying to read it here's a shot at the column where the DCJY gets mentioned for your reading pleasure (click for full size, although the full image is not that big, don't forget to put your reading glasses on...).

SOTB:GR Video Review and 'Why The Visuals Aren't That Bad After All...' Clip...

First is a quite funny video review of the excellent (see how fickle I am?) SOTB: Gut's Rage.
Wait for the quite disturbing quote "but at least Tinkerbell had a hot body..." I found it rather amusing!

Next is an example of just how good the visuals get towards the end (SPOILER ALERT!)
Now either the developers were tripping when they wrote this, or I was tripping when I was playing it... (Pesky kids! They've spiked me horlicks with mescaline again...)

Enjoy!!



Sword of The Beserk: Gut's Rage


In order to give it the attention it deserves, I've decided that for the month of June, I'd give myself a break from the Wii and360 and remind myself of how great the Dreamcast is. I started on the 2nd of June and played a few sessions of Crazy Taxi and SWWS 2000 (Euro Edition) to get me in the mood. Then I played a 'ten minute' blast on Soul Calibur, which then got me (as well as my three sons) hooked for a few days, whilst I made my way through Mission Mode and started to unlock all thos lovely art cards, costumes, arenas and weapons...
But enough of going over 'old ground'. What dusky gems and hidden treasures could I find deep in the bowels of my newly ordered Dreamcast collection? What underplayed classics, what gaming marvels might make my Dreamcast June a month to remember?

Having managed to tear myself away from Soul Calibur, I perused my stack of games and finally plumped for a one eyed man with a massive chopper. That's right, the legendary Sword Of the Beserk...


For research purposes, I read this review on Planet Dreamcast, which rather succinctly gave me the background story to the release of the game. (I'd recommend you always check out the PDC games guides if you're going to buy or play a Dreamcast game, they're quite open minded and usually on the money.

Make no mistake, this is a bizarre game if you've never known anything about it's characters (and pretty bizarre even if you do...) But the back story goes something like this... *clears throat and begins reading from PDC review...*

" For those of you intending on buying the game, a little background is necessary, as the game itself provides very little background about its characters. Sword of the Berserk is based on the Japanese manga series Kenpu Denki Berserk, which is drawn by Kentarou Miura and which was serialized by Young Animal Magazine. The comic also enjoyed popularity as an animated series on Japanese TV.

The background story revolves around the adventures of Guts (Gatsu in Japanese), a strong and skilled swordsman who wanders a medieval land on a quest to destroy the members of God Hand, a group of dark angels and demons who destroyed all he ever cared about. Armed with his giant sword DragonSlayer, he searches for them relentlessly.

On the back of his neck is a mysterious brand, which attracts creatures of the night while making him virtually indestructible in combat. This brand, given to him by the God Hand, serves as a tracking device. Eventually the members of God Hand catch up to Guts, and while he puts up a struggle, it is not enough to prevent his lover Casca from being brutally raped before his eyes. While being held down and forced to watch, his right eye is gouged out by one of the restraining demons. This is where the game picks up the story."


Right! Got that? Good!!! I'll carry on. First of all, if you are not a fan of cut scenes (I rather like them) avoid this game at all costs!!! There's over an hour's worth of the little blighters in there. These cut scenes join up the action giving the game a very cinematic feel, and to use a cliche'd phrase, the game is something of an interactive movie.

The story isn't great, but it isn't bad either. Gut's and his entourage, including his Mrs, his naked male fairy 'Puck' (stay with me) and a group of travelling performers arrive in a typical medieval town. Only it's overrun with very freakish looking mutants, who have been effected and taken over by the dreaded Mandragora plant.

Now naturally, the lion faced leader of the village - named Ball Sack - I kid you not!!!!
(Alright it's Balzac) is keen to get the situation under control. He employs Guts to go into the Mandagoran village and steal the living heart of the great Mandragoran tree. Only it's protected by this Nun, see? And she is no way going to let some monocular steroid abuser come in and start battering her Mandragoran offspring....



OK I give up on the story. It's freaky deaky and doesn't make a whole heap of sense. You're either going to love it or hate it. I'd say my affections fall on the love side so far...

The graphics are somewhat, well... rubbish. If you can throw yourself back to 1999 (and I always could before that pesky 360 got in the way...) I guess they're OK, but when you look at the glorious graphics of, say, Soul Calibur, Shenmue, Dead Or Alive 2 or Headhunter, you wonder why some developers settled for second best. They're somewhere between Blue Stinger, Death Crimson OX and Half Life. Still, graphics do not maketh a game, and I have to say that sometimes they do look pretty decent.

In fitting with the cinematic feel of the game, both the musical score and the voice acting are pretty damn good! A criticism of the game is that it's too short. That suits me down to the ground. Half Life proved to me that epic games can grow stale after a while...

Now to the gameplay. It's pretty much a repetitive hack and slash between cut scenes. The control methods are pretty straight forward and each time Guts gets in a good old hit there's a lovely sound and a satisfying spray of blood... He sometimes gets his whopping chopper stuck down a tight back passage though (!) and swinging to no avail is pretty frustrating in a confined area. Guts also seems to have some sort of a crossbow thingy and some bombs of some sort, but although I'm quite far into the game, they've been pretty useless so far.


All in all it's definitely not the worst of Dreamcast games, but it aint up there with the best either. A slightly conservative Krishna rating of 7/10!




Command and Conquer Coming to the DC.

I know you have probably already seen this elsewhere and there really is no reason for me to post this here...

...but I still think it's pretty damn cool.

One of the finest RTS games ever made is coming to the Dreamcast!



Pulled from DC Emu UK.

http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=116105

Metal Gear Solid: Dreamcast VS PS2

A side to side comparison of the Bleemcast version of Metal Gear Solid VS the PS2 version Metal Gear Solid. Yeah NOT the original MGS disk running on a PS2. This is the version they recently released in the Metal Gear Solid 3 pack for the PS2...

The Dreamcast version had some blurring of the text but the rest of the comparison will shock you...(Well, it didn't shock me as much as leave me with a smug feeling that's gonna last all day)



And now to get a copy of Bleemcast for Metal Gear Solid. Unlike other bleem offerings you can actually save your game. Of course this takes up a whole VMU dedicated to Playstation saves but thats not really a problem for a guy like me who hase collected like 20 of them.

So while all the current-gen sheep line up to buy MGS4 I will be playing the best game of the series on the best console of all time...

All hail the Undead console!

Treamcast review


I'm pretty sure everyone here knows what a Treamcast is, but in case someone doesn't there's a great article over at Racketboy's that gives you the basics about that rather unique and interesting (and somewhat illegal) clone of our favourite console. It's a pretty interesting read, so even if you have heard of the Treamcast already, or even own one (*looks at Father*), I'd still recommend you take a look.