10,000 Twitter Follower Competition - Win Andro Dunos 2 and a DCJY T-Shirt!

Jumping on to Twitter in 2013, The Dreamcast Junkyard has enjoyed ten years of tweeting about all kinds of Dreamcast-related nonsense. Over the years, we've had many funny moments running the account, and have made many great mutuals too.

Earlier today we finally reached that huge 10,000 follower milestone. For an account that tweets about what I respect is a fairly niche retro console, that's an incredible achievement. With that being said, in one of Elon Musk's many big brained changes since taking ownership of Twitter, inactive accounts will now be removed if no activity is detected for 30 days. Check back with us 30 days from now and you may find our follower count has plummeted down to 10 or whatever. 

Anyway, while our follower count still sits at that almighty 10,000, we're running an exciting competition! We've got two copies of PixelHeart and Visco's brand new Dreamcast shooter Andro Dunos 2, along with two Dreamcast Junkyard controller t-shirts to give away. Thanks to PixelHeart for supplying the copies of the games for this competition!

That's a good lookin' shirt.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet the tweet below (also linked here) and make sure you're following the Junkyard Twitter account, as well as @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. Two winners will each receive a copy of Andro Dunos 2 and a t-shirt. Worldwide entries welcome. The competition will end on the 24th of May, a week from the competition's announcement and winners will be announced and tagged on our Twitter. Good luck!

Update: this competition has now ended.

To celebrate reaching 10k followers, we've got two copies of Andro Dunos 2 for Dreamcast to give away, and two Dreamcast Junkyard t-shirts! To be in with a chance of winning, simply retweet this tweet and make sure you're following our account, @DreamcastPics and @PixelHeart_eu. pic.twitter.com/uAGZyqU85Z

— The Dreamcast Junkyard (@TheDCJunkyard) May 17, 2023

Breakers NTSC Variants Available To Pre-Order - We Have 3 Copies To Give Away!

A few weeks ago we broke the news that Breakers was coming to the Dreamcast, and followed up with a huge review and emulation analysis. Visco's obscure Neo-Geo fighter has now shipped in PAL colours courtesy of publisher JoshProd, but there's another opportunity coming for those who didn't manage to snag a copy through French retailer Rush On Game.

As of right now, you can pre-order the newly repackaged version of Breakers in an NTSC style jewel case from Play-Asia.com and it will come with a reversible manual with both NTSC-U and NTSC-J artwork on the front and back covers. The game is identical to the PAL-styled version which was offered initially, but without the big blue box and PAL branding and is priced at $39.99. Shipping will commence on 31st May 2017 for those who pre-order. Note that if you're based in the United States or Canada, you can't order from Play-Asia.com. Instead, VideoGamesNewYork has the rights for your part of the world, so head over here to get your order in.

Here's a sneak peek at the new covers:

Competition (*Now Closed*)
Finally, to celebrate the release of this new variant The Dreamcast Junkyard has teamed up with publisher JoshProd to offer three readers the chance to win a copy of the NTSC packaged version! All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer the following question:

Which developer created the original Breakers?

a) Capcom
b) Visco Games
c) Namco

This competition is now closed and winners have been notified by email.

Enter Our 11th Birthday Giveaway!

Last year we celebrated 10 years of Junkyard glory and gave you lucky lot the opportunity to win one of three awesome Dreamcast Collection vinyl LPs donated by the lovely folk at Sega Europe. Now though, we're celebrating 11 years of being a thing with a giveaway that is almost - almost - as good.

Yep, one of you will get a prized physical copy of the outlawed Dreamcast Junkyard Ultimate Collectors Guide, along with copies of Volgarr the Viking, unreleased beta Hellgate, Mars Matrix and Dreamcast Puzzle Collection. On top of this, six runners up will also get copies of Dreamcast Puzzle Collection; a fan-made compilation that includes Cosmic Smash, Sega Tetris, Namco Museum, Super Magnetic Neo, Former Managing Director Yukawa's Treasure Hunt and a host of other games.

All you need to do to enter is click the button below and then enter your details. It's that simple. No questions, no following on Twitter or liking on Facebook (although you're free to do both if you want). No Sega Rally time attacks or guessing the VMU screens from games. Simply click that red button, enter your details and that's it. You can enter once a day too, so remember to come back here daily to enter. We'll announce the winners on Monday 12th December.

Terms: Even though you can enter multiple times, you can only win one prize. Thanks to Martin Kay for creating and donating the reproduction games we're giving away. If your Dreamcast can't play CD-Rs, these games will not run in your Dreamcast. Competition ends 12th December 2016 at 12:00 midday GMT (that's UK time, for the uninitiated). Anyone can enter, anywhere in the world. As ever, I will ship prizes at my own expense. Keep Dreamcasting.

Competition: Win Propeller Arena For Dreamcast!

We took a closer look at Sega's fabulous airborne battle game recently, and also the reasons behind its cancellation. If you'd like to know more, feel free to go here and have a look at the article in question. The long and short of it though, is that Propeller Arena is a brilliant game and one that you should definitely seek out if you want a demonstration of just how good late era Dreamcast games can look, sound and play. In fact, here's a screen I took on my very own Dreamcast mere weeks ago:

Looks good, eh? Anyway, on the back of our recent retrospective we teamed up with talented DCJY Facebook group member Martin Kay to offer three of you lucky folk the chance to win a very unique prize: a copy of Propeller Arena, complete with PAL case, manual, printed covers and a Shenmue-style cardboard protective sleeve!

These things were hand made by Martin and look like official games, and as they're repros they will run in any Dreamcast that can play copied games - without the use of a boot disc. Props must go the Martin (see what we did there?) for his efforts as these copies of the game really do look amazing and would look awesome on any Dreamcast collector's shelf.

Competition: Win a Sealed Copy of Shenmue!

We've teamed up with online store Retroplayers and Shenmue super site TeamYu (or rather, they've teamed up with us...or something) to offer you - yes you - the opportunity to win a brand new and sealed copy of PAL Shenmue. This is totally unopened so if you win, the first greasy finger prints that will ever be laid on that glorious sparkling GD-Rom will be yours!

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is go to the official entry page here and enter the competition. That's it! No questions, no tests, no 'tell us your favourite Dreamcast moment' nonsense. Just go to Retroplayers and enter for a chance to win this awesome prize. And while you're at it, you could also go and check out the Retroplayers store, where (and I'm not just saying this) you'll find a ton of really well priced retro gaming deals. I'm probably going to get a Neo Geo Pocket Colour next week from them, so don't go and buy them all. Cheers.

10th Anniversary Competition: Bonus Stage - In Association With Play-Asia.com

***Competition Now Closed***

Earlier in 2015 we celebrated the Junkyard's 10th year in existence with a series of three competitions in which entrants could win a limited edition Dreamcast Collection vinyl record. These were supplied by our good friends at Sega Europe and the triumvirate of triumphant winners produced the goods when it mattered. Competition 1 was won by James Steel for his awesome Dreamcast montage, competition 2 was won by Ricardo Almeida for guessing all the games, and competition 3 was won by João Borba for his outstanding time attack performance in Sega Rally 2. Rounds of applause were initiated, party poppers were pulled and everyone had a jolly old time. Huzzah!

The thing is, the actual 10th anniversary of this hallowed blog occurs on the 7th of December and we thought it was worth celebrating the momentous occasion with another competition. A bonus stage, if you will. And so, with the help of online super store Play-Asia.com, we are very excited to announce that we're wheeling out the bunting for one last time. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Dreamcast Junkyard 10th Anniversary Competition: Bonus Stage!

Once again, massive thanks to Play-Asia.com for supplying the prizes for this celebration of all things Dreamcast. If you're not familiar with Play-Asia.com then you must have been living under a particularly large rock for the last decade, as they are probably the number one retailer (and now publisher) of new, independent Dreamcast games anywhere on the planet. Want proof? Go here and look at the selection on offer. Not only that, but Play-Asia.com is regarded as one of the best sources for Japanese games and merchandise across a whole range of other systems too, not just the Dreamcast.

10th Anniversary Competition: Part Three Results

Well, the third and final part of our 10th anniversary competition has come to a close. Parts one and two were outstanding successes and allowed us to share in our community's fondest memories of the Dreamcast; and also allowed you to get creative. Before we reveal the fastest Sega Rally 2 players and the winning lap time for our Sega Rally 2 Time Attack Challenge, we at the Junkyard would like to thank you all for taking part and spreading the word about this momentous competition. We would also like to extend our thanks to Sega Europe for supplying the amazing limited edition Dreamcast Collection vinyl records for you guys to win.

Before I'm overcome with emotion and start crying into my keyboard, let's get on with it. For part three of this competition, we asked you to attempt to set a fastest lap time on Sega Rally 2's Desert SS1 using the Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205. Any combination of tires, suspension and gearing was permitted - this was really a test of how well you knew how to manipulate the game's settings and the best lines through the course. I tried to set a time as a benchmark but managed a paltry 56 seconds. Hey, I never said I was good at Dreamcast games! We had lots of entries and we thank you for that, but ultimately there can be only one winner. Without further ado, here's a run down of the five fastest lap times we received...

10th Anniversary Competition: Part Three

 

***COMPETITION NOW CLOSED***

Parts One and Two of our Sega Europe-supported 10th Anniversary Competition have been overwhelmingly successful and have seen two lucky winners each walk away with a highly prized Dreamcast Collection vinyl record. As previously stated, these limited edition LPs were given away in Australia only as part of the promotional activity surrounding the launch of the Dreamcast Collection for the Xbox 360, and only 2000 were ever produced. Due to this, they are pretty damn rare...and we have one left to give away.

In part one of our competition we asked you to explain what the Dreamcast meant to you on a personal level, and while we had lots of brilliant and varied entries, James Steel won with his fantastic (and rather clever) pastiche of game titles woven into a brief description of his love for the system (click for a bigger version, or just download it):

10th Anniversary Competition Part Two: The Results

So the second part of our fantastic giveaway has come to a close, and the 'guess the games' images really seemed to stump a lot of you! There was at least one red herring in there designed to throw you off the scent, and for the most part it seemed to work - the tennis game pictured was neither of the Virtua Tennis titles available for our white box of joy. Without further ado, here are the answers to our little quiz...how many did you get right?

10th Anniversary Competition - Part Two

***Competition Now Closed!***

Part one of our 10th anniversary competition went spectacularly well. Your submissions were fantastic and really showed how much the Dreamcast still means to us all as gamers. It's time to move on though, and we're pleased to unveil your second opportunity to win one of the fabulous Dreamcast Collection vinyls kindly donated by Sega Europe.

Last time we wanted your memories, but this time we're going to test your knowledge of the Dreamcast's outstanding library. Below, you will find cropped screens from 25 of the Dreamcast's finest, worst, most common and not-so-common titles. It's a real mixed bag but the one thing linking them together is this: guess them all correct and you could win the second vinyl and find yourself rocking out to the dulcet tones of Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure and Space Channel 5. Well, the PSN/XBLA versions of Crazy Taxi, anyway.

A worthy prize.

A keen eye will be required here, as will an in-depth knowledge of every genre from the Dreamcast's library. Once you think you've got them all, put your answers in a numbered list and email your entry to admin@thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk. In the likely event that we get multiple correct entries before the deadline, the winner will be drawn out of a hat - it's best to keep these things fair and simple.

What are you waiting for?! Get studying these images...

10th Anniversary Competition Part One: We Have A Winner!

Firstly, we have to thank everybody who entered the first part of our competition to win one of three limited edition Dreamcast Collection vinyl records. They really are lovely items to have in your collection, and we must also thank Sega Europe for giving us the opportunity to run this little contest. Alas, there can be only one winner per competition and it was ridiculously tough to choose who should get the prize. The vast majority of the entries were fantastic tales of how you first got into the Dreamcast, and many a Christmas morning or late night gaming session of yore was recounted. And for this, we thank you from the bottom of our beeping VMUs. It's truly amazing just how entwined the Dreamcast was (and still is) in a lot of peoples' gaming life.

We can only give one of these vinyls away though and we will showcase the winning entry at the bottom of this post. But before we get to that, here are a selection of some of the best entries that unfortunately weren't the winner. If we could give everybody who entered one of these vinyls, we most certainly would...

We asked you to tell us what the Dreamcast meant to you, and you responded magnificently. To be fair, we knew you would - a sharp mind, intelligence and creativity are all hallmarks of the typical Dreamcast fan!

10th Anniversary Competition - Part One

 

***Competition now closed!***

2015 is a special year for the Junkyard, as it marks 10 years since this humble blog began life as little more than a place for the documenting of Tom's second attempt at building a decent Dreamcast collection. The first attempt went well, but ended in all of the amassed DC goodies being traded in for a PlayStation 2 some time in late 2001. Those were truly dark days. In some ways though, if it hadn't been for that little mishap, the Junkyard might never have been born so in an odd way we have a lot to thank Sony's harbinger of doom for. But enough about that.

Since then, the Junkyard has grown into the omnipotent force that it is today, bringing you occasional mirth and honest, thought-provoking prose. Oh, and we also do a podcast now, too - just in case you hadn't noticed! However, let's get down to business. We wanted to celebrate this joyous milestone of a decade's worth of inane DC-related ramblings by giving something back to the community that has helped to propel this lowly corner of the internet into the limelight on many an occasion. And we've done this by teaming up with SEGA Europe who have very kindly donated three special edition Dreamcast Collection vinyl records to us, so that we may give them away to you - our loyal readers.