Sonic Generations Dreamcast Era Trailer



Courtesy of IGN comes the second era presented in the upcoming Sonic Generations, the Dreamcast era! Why SEGA chose IGN and not us to present this trailer, I'll never know. Sonic Adventure fans should enjoy the first look at the HD remix of Speed Highway, while Sonic Adventure 2 fans get yet another glimpse of City Escape. Seaside Hill, while not a Dreamcast stage, looks amazing. Far better than the original Sonic Heroes stage both in graphics and gameplay (no more incessant chattering from Sonic, Knuckles and Tails). To those arguing that the title "Dreamcast era" doesn't work for two Dreamcast games and one multi-platform game, remember that the same year Sonic Heroes released in Japan, many Dreamcast games were still being sold. So of the same era? Sure!

SEGAbits Celebrates the Dreamcast's 12th Birthday!


As most Junkyard readers probably know, I write for a number of SEGA blogs including SEGAbits. Thanks to SEGAbits admins George and Sharky, as well as their technical wizard Shadi and myself, we decked out the site in Dreamcast imagery and made sure that the writers contribute Dreamcast-related articles throughout the month of September. There is still a week and a half left, but you can catch up on the past three weeks of Dreamcast articles by clicking here. Check out nuckles87's multi-part "Years of the Dreamcast" series as well as editorials and special features.

Some interesting e-mails I've had recently.

Yep, it seems when people want stuff posted at the Dreamcast Junkyard in some fashion they come to me. I'm not sure why, because a lot of the time I take far too long to reply to these e-mails or post them up here. So seeing as I've had quite a few lately I may as well get them all out there..

This first one from Jack Clough is a long one about convincing Sega to not only make Shenmue III, but to make it for the Dreamcast!

Hello Gagaman. Like the majority of people who owned or own a Dreamcast, I currently own two working PAL and a new NTSC US dreamcast (which I bought as I was reminded that eventually all Dreamcasts will die and that scared me, triggered by using a UK plug with my pink Hello Kitty dreamcast resulting in it's smoky demise, annoyingly finding her original plug with step-down convertor shortly afterwards, I'm still grieving. Anyway I digress), most are obsessed with with the Shenmue series. This was the first game I had an emotionally bound with, and it plagues me that the series never got a conclusion, it left me a hollow shell. The only way I can explain this situation to anyone who isn't acquainted with Shenmue is to imagine reading the first two of Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings and then discovering that The Return Of The King will never get published.

       I understand why Shenmue 3 is unlikely to be made. The Dreamcast was an period where SEGA allowed their creativity flow, which led to exciting games however it with hindsight was damaging financially. Shenmue was a prime example of this as the ambition of the games is equalled by none, however the extraordinary costs and the poor sales means it's near impossible to for SEGA to rationally back a second sequel.

       There are also obstacles for developing on a current system. It has been a decade since the release of the sequel fans expectations would be hard to match. Remember the mixed response with Nights: Journey of Dreams on the Wii, SEGA's attempts to cater for fans of the original and a new audience essentially left the game in limbo. Gaming has changed a lot over the years and Shenmue's intrinsic style would be alien to modern gamers. However if they changed the mechanics of the game it would ultimately disappoint Shenmue's loyal fan base who've been praying for a finale and this would leave them with a bitter taste.

When SEGA pulled out of the hardware market, fans scattered across the platforms, aligning themselves with different companies. I personally went with Nintendo, my second love of games, they felt familiar. It's impossible to please all Shenmue fan boys, like with another Suzuki series Virtua Fighter which became a PlayStation 2 exclusive if you didn't own one you had to purchase one especially or, like me, do without.

You could argue they should release across multiple formats, but this leads to another issue. Shenmue was an astounding feat in technology, and no matter how hard a developer tries with a multi-format release it will not push the machines to the limit, and as a GameCube owner I know that at least one will get an inferior port.  

That was the first part, it continued on to another e-mail:

 My solution, prematurely sending email means I'll cut to the chase, is that Yu Suzuki should finally resolve this series by releasing the third Shenmue on the Dreamcast.
       This may sound odd, but as you know there is a thriving dreamcast community and independent games from companies like redspot games are intermittently released. This means there is a market there and I assume SEGA still have the original Shenmue game engine so it should be relatively easy, they wouldn't have to (and I wouldn't want them to) create a game with updated graphics and gameplay to suit the contemporary gaming audience as this would essentially be a love letter to the fans, much in the same way as SEGAGAGA (although wouldn't it be nice if SEGA aided the current translation for SGGG that could be included with Shenmue III). As most of the Dreamcast community are now adults now, and judging by the prices that these limited run of independent games go for on ebay, SEGA could charge more to cover financial costs, no amount would stop me (I've recently bought the limited edition Border Down with mousemat for just over £120 and I've only recently got into scrolling shooters, which by the way I think is one of my favorite shooters).

I think that it be nice to have the Shenmue series from beginning to end on SEGA's last console, although this could be me just being selfish as the only console I play these days is the Dreamcast, I had an XBox 360 briefly (bought one, broke, bought another then sold it after about a month when I got bored) and I've got a Wii but again I've lost interest in it.

       The reason I'm contacting you is because I need your help to get this idea out there. I personally have bugger all internet presence, I'm not on any social network site, forum or anything like that. I read your blogs and watch your videos on Dreamcast junkyard and I know you have a passion for the Dreamcast, I very much enjoyed your top 100. But not only do you have the passion, you also have a following and you know others within the community.

I apologise for the rushed nature of this second part of my email. Since your an illustrator I hope you enjoy this photo of part of my art installation on my emotional connections to three video games consoles I have owned.


I'll be honest: I had no idea how to reply to this e-mail. Either way if you're reading this Jack I hope you don't take offense to this but I don't think the likely hood of this ever happening is all that great. I'd love to see a Shenmue III like most people would, but I think it's hard enough to sell them on the idea of simply porting the first two to XBLA/PSN, let alone have them produce a new one on hardware they haven't supporting for almost a decade for £120. Blimey.

Four days ago I got this from Tris Bates:

"I didn't realize that the Phoenix mirror was a real thing in china , check out these 




If only Ryo had knew he could pick them up on eBay."

Well would you look at that. The resemblance of this one in particular is quite uncanny! Looks like we have an idea for a expensive prop for a Ryo Hazuki cosplay right here! If these are real does this mean i can also obtain a Sega Saturn with a 1986 copyright? I sure hope so.

..and finally here's one I got just yesterday from 'Lewis':

"you are my hero

thank you for the junkyard, just thank you"

Well isn't that nice? Except I think people are starting to forget that Tomleecee is the man to thank for this blogs' existence.

There are some perks to being e-mailed by fans of the blog though, I must say. I'll back to that in a future article.

Another Year Down, 364 Days Until the Dreamcast's 13th Birthday!



I've finally cleaned up the pizza plates, the beer bottles and the many wires and cables. Another Dreamroom has come and gone. Though I turned the feed off three hours ago, those who missed it can catch it NOW at our YouTube channel in 5 parts totaling nine and a half hours! We started things off with some demos and videos from the original demo disc bundled with launch consoles, the Dreamcast Generator. We then played the Japanese demo "What's Shenmue?" followed by Senior Managing Director Yukawa's goofy contest game. I had some lunch and threw on Shenmue the Movie, then returned with the awesome Skies of Arcadia and made a good amount of progress with my still in progress save file. Skies of Arcadia, someday I will complete you. Part 2 continues the Skies gameplay, and then I moved on to Jet Grind Radio. We made a bit of graffiti that memorialized the forgettable Dreamcast game "The Grinch" and tagged it about Tokyo-to.

Part 3 featured Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2, with some entry level Forest gameplay. A bit more of Shenmue the Movie played, and then I returned with Bust a Move 4 and Tech Romancer. Part 4 saw the arrival of my guests, so we cracked open some multiplayer games! But first... some VMU games played via the VMU Tool emulator. Pretty simple, but nostalgic, stuff. We then played some Power Stone, had a gripping game of Sonic Shuffle (I won!) and played a bit of Power Stone 2. In the final part 5 the goofy indie title Cool Herders was played, we headed to the islands to play Ooga Booga, we blew s*** up in Fast Striker, then finished the night off with Ready 2 Rumble and Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles. Overall, it was a great night! Lots of fun chatter and memories. I know next year's marathon is a long ways off, but I'm already looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone who joined in to watch!

Following the marathon, I jumped into an hour long podcast with writers from SEGAbits to talk about the Dreamcast. It's a great listen, check the episode out here!

Dreamroom UK 2011 is Today!

Watch live streaming video from gagaman at livestream.com

Today is the day before the 12th anniversary of 9/9/99 and because I won't have time to livestream tomorrow just before barry's one I've decided to dedicate today for my show!

I will be starting at 1pm UK time (7:00am Eastern Standard Time) will take a couple hour break somewhere between 3 and 5pm, then return continue on into the night! That's a lot of Dreamcast gameplay

So make sure to come and visit at the video link above sometime today for the celebrations! Then tomorrow it will be Barry's turn for him to treat you to some Dreamcast gaming goodness!

EDIT: It's over! Thanks to everyone who popped in! If you missed out you can watch it in the 'Dreamroom UK 2011' folder here. It was running for roughly a total of 8 and a half hours! Here is a list of the games that were played throughout the day:

  • Mars Matrix
  • Segagaga
  • Gundam E.F.F vs Zeon DX
  • Marvel Vs Capcom 2
  • Rush 2049
  • Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
  • Alien Front Online
  • Daytona USA 2001
  • Power Stone
  • Pro Yakyu Team de Asobonet!
  • Zombie Revenge (complete play-through of arcade mode)
  • Densha Deo Go! 2
  • Sengoku Turb - Fanfan I Love me Dunce doublentendre
  • Fast Striker
  • Heavy Metal Geomatrix
  • 18 Wheeler

Celebrate the Dreamcast’s 12th Birthday With Us!


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!

Guy on Reddit Finds a Dreamcast in the Trash

Amazing find. Among other games he got a copy of D2, one of the hardest games to make copies of. And TWO lightguns!


There are some excellent comments.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/jxpqo/just_found_this_on_the_curb_next_to_my_house/

-Caleb


DCJY Rummage - Sonic Adventure 2



My first Rummage video in two years, blimey! I hope to get time to do some more of these though they'll probably be shorter than this one: I sure had a lot to talk about with this massive game and there's still some stuff I didn't talk about like the music, but I think 13 minutes is more than enough to sum up the game! Enjoy!

DCJY InsideOut & Rummage - Bomber hehhe!



It's about time I make a Rummage video! I've had a sealed copy of "Bomber hehhe!" on the shelf for a little over a month, and knew I had to record myself opening it. What started as an InsideOut snowballed into a Rummage thanks to a vacation day. Join me as I blow buildings up in this crazy obscure import!

Sturmwind delayed till 11-11-11. Improvements being made.

Redspotgames have just revealed that Sturmwind, it's next scrolling shooter for the Dreamcast, has been delayed. The reasoning being that the developers Duranik are making some major improvements to the game including a revision of the weapon system and plenty of extra polish based on feedback they have had from beta tests and the like. The new release date is planned for 11/11/11. I like it, reminds me of 9/9/99! You can read the full statement here.

While we'll have to wait a bit longer for the game to release this can only be seen as good news as it means we will be getting a even better game that hasn't been rushed out the door! I have yet to pre-order, but that's only because i'm waiting to see if they will announce a special edition first!

DCJY InsideOut - Sonic Adventure 2 Anniversary Box Set



(Sort of) in time for Sonic's 10th anniversary and Sonic Adventure 2's 10th anniversary, here's a quick look at the birthday pack that was sold with Sonic Adventure 2 between June 23-24 2001. I filmed and edited this all up yesterday and am currently in the process of recording footage for a Sonic Adventure 2 video review, so hopefully I can get that done within the next week or two.

New Hypertension gameplay



Remember this upcoming homebrew/indie Dreamcast release? Well I've been sent over this new footage to show you lot of it, showing off a split screen mode, though it turns out both players are being played by one person here, using a mouse for one player and a keyboard for the other! The team are even aiming for net play with this, however tricky that may be!

Classic Game Room HD - Crazy Taxi 2



The Dreamcast Junkyard always likes to see a Dreamcast game featured on Classic Game Room HD. This time, Mark plays Crazy Taxi 2 and reminds us of how awesome a game it is. Mark makes a good point too, stating that despite the many ports of the original Crazy Taxi, there has yet to be another home console port of Crazy Taxi 2. This one is still a Dreamcast exclusive!

Speaking of Classic Game Room, I wanted to give a shout out to a DVD documentary which follows the early years of the internet gaming show. Titled "Classic Game Room: The Rise And Fall Of The Internet's Greatest Video Game Review Show" and released in 2007, the 100 minute documentary is narrated by Mark and features a number of early episodes intercut with new footage. Dreamcast fans should take note that the series began just two months after the American launch of the Dreamcast, so some of the included video reviews cover Dreamcast games. It's a fun documentary, with Mark never taking the subject matter too seriously, and it's a nice time capsule for Dreamcast fans who recall the early days of the console. Yes there are cheesy jokes, and the guys behind the original shows aren't seasoned professionals, but the early episodes have a public access charm and the grown up Mark is an apt filmmaker.


While the DVD shows up on most major retail sites, it isn't often in stock. The only place I've found it in stock was walmart.com and I can confirm that they do have it as I ordered it from them a few months back and received it within a few days. The DVD is also available to rent on Netflix, so add it to your queue. The Dreamcast episodes included are SEGA GT and Seaman and there is also a review of X-Men for the SEGA Genesis.

Some guys scribbled all over my Dreamcast!

Who would do such a thing? Some vandals that go by the names of Yuji Naka, Takashi Iizuka and Jun Senoue.


Whoever they are two of them also scribbled on my copies of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Adventure 2 as well! I was just casually walking around with this stuff in London like I always do and I wasn't the only one they attacked: hundreds of people who also just so happened to have Sonic games, soundtracks and I believe someone else with a Dreamcast.

We were all wandering around this place. Who knows how we all just so happened to be in the same place at the same time like that.

Best bit is one of the men in question, the one with a guitar so probably from a rock band of some sort, rubbed it in by taking a photo with me in a confused and frightened state. I got away from the other two too quick for them to do the same. Let us know if you were also a victim of this bizarre crime.

Lisa Foiles Wore an Awesome Dreamcast Shirt.


Who says there was no Dreamcast news at E3?

Lisa Foiles looks really excellent with her new hairstyle and Dreamcast Tshirt. (Now does she make the shirt look good or does the shirt make her look better?) Kudos to her! This and her interview with Spoony about the new Startrek game totally make up for her hanging out with that degenerate Tim Rogers. (It doesn't, however, excuse her for putting a video game console on a carpeted floor in that one video she did. Jebus Lisa! You should know better.)

This is probably a a bit of a stretch to create an article about but honestly I didn't hear any other Dreamcast related news at this years E3. Well besides Keith Apicary probably asking someone about the Dreamcast 2 again. (Keep on believing the Dream Keith!)

Watch Lisa's E3 video at Kotaku. (Warning does contain images of Tim Rogers. Just try to focus on the shirt and ignore him)

http://kotaku.com/5812278/what-you-really-missed-at-e3-2011

City Escape Hits E3!



People playing City Escape at E3, what is this? 2001?! No, it's the latest stage reveal for Sonic Generations. This time, SEGA has unveiled the classic and modern acts for the HD remake of the famous Dreamcast stage. Gamestop sat down with a SEGA rep and chatted as footage played. Check it out, I can't wait to hear what other Dreamcast era stages we'll get to play!

Somewhat Shady Site Offering Portable Dreamcasts For $470 Each


I got an email about this.

Apparently some Japanese site is now offering to sell portable dreamcasts for just under $500.

I don't like the look of the site however.

http://pachimon.tv/goods.php?code=438310&menu=&kind=NEW&keyword=&shop_id=aqsASsrSx

So yeah. Like I said earlier companies can sell portable SNES and NES units legally because Nintendo let their patents expire.

But Sega never let the Dreamcast patents die out as far as I know.

So even if you happen to have a half grand sitting around I would probably pass on this deal.

It's very interesting to note that a company is trying to do this though.