The Talented Mr Tom

Presenting the world's most impressive Dreamcast-flavoured desktop wallpaper:

Look! It's got (a slightly Spock-like) Ryo! It's got Ryu! It's got some dude from Phantasy Star Online! It's got Sonic! It's got that twatting cat from Chu Chu Rocket! And some Mice!

In a word: Kick Ass. Ok, two words.

My advice? put it on your laptop and then sit with your back to the window in Starbucks (or Cafe Nero - we don't do product placement here at the Junkyard) so that everyone walking past and nosing at your screen can see that you are keeping it real...keeping it Dreamcast. Just don't do it in Manchester. Laptops and street lynchings go hand in hand round these parts.

Anyhow, it was created by a rather talented chap called Tom (I'm seeing a link here, people) and displayed at his site, www.2dforever.com.

And for those people who are a bit thick (or, you know, just not familiar with the DC), here is a guide to all of the characters on the picture above:


This guy is seriously talented though - check out this SNK-esque drawing of Sonic:


Go there now and admire his other Sega and general video game related scribbles.

Ying/Bang

Well shit in my eye - it's Friday the 13th! AAARGH!

Ahem. Following on appropriately:

You know, they say (whoever the fuck 'they' are) that for every good thing that happens in life, another thing just as astonishing - but in a shit way - occurs to readdress the balance. A bit like when that Newton fellow decided that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

After the last few days' events, I'd like to find this Newton geezer and knock his fucking head off.

Some of you reading this may have been privy to one of European football's most spectacular displays of brilliance earlier this week. Yes, Manchester United's systematic destruction of Roma at the Theatre of Dreams, Old Trafford. Twas a night to remember and signal of intent to all of the lesser teams daring to attempt to win the Champions League. I for one was making merry after the final whistle. As I'm also sure (blue scum) Father Krishna was :-)


So far, so good.

Imagine my horror then, when not so long after those (Spartan-esque) heroic events on the hallowed turf at Old Trafford, I discovered that while moving my beloved Dreamcast stuff from my mother's old hovel to her new...erm...hovel (I keep my stuff there because I have no space for it!), the shaven monkeys masquerading as removal men had virtually destroyed every single jewel case in my possession. Quite how, I'm still not sure - but rest assured that every single mother-humping case is in some way broken. Not a big deal you may think, but after taking so much care of the boxes for so long...and to have them all smashed to bits by fucking ignorant Neanderthals is extremely annoying.

Nay - heart rending.

Nevertheless, life goes on (whereas my old Mum's nearly didn't when she remarked "they're only games..."). As such, let me illustrate two of my newest Dreamcast purchases:

Tee Off Golf
The Dreamcast's only golf game (I believe), Tee Off is a twee little title in which massive-headed cartoon characters battle it out for golfing domination across several generic courses. It's certainly no Tiger Woods or PGA Tour Golf (Mega Drive version), but it's playable enough and has a multitude of game modes (including a rather strange virtual reality bit). Oh, and the graphics are quite pleasant - look:


Unfortunately, listening to the 'music' is akin to letting Thor smash bolts of lightening through your ear drums with his Thunder Hammer (TM).

Tech Romancer
A frankly brilliant fighting game that has you smashing the shit out of each other...whilst controlling fuck-off massive robots! Heaven! It sort of reminds me of GASP!! on the N64 (is that a good thing?), only...erm...better. The controls are pretty simple and it's really easy to pull off some epileptic-fit inducing special moves. The best thing about Tech Romancer though (no, it's not the name), is the way each battle has the feel of an episode of a Manga-style cartoon. All round brilliance, make no mistake. Not Soul Calibur by any means, and the in-game graphics are hardly stellar, but still...Tech Romancer is a highly decent game of robotic fisty-cuffs.


Hopefully, I'll be able to keep at least these two games in some sort of semi-complete state, and even retain the little plastic tabs that hold the cases together. Hopefully...


Finally, whilst perusing Google (utilising somebody else's unsecured wireless network, I might add) I found this rather nifty (read: Geekish) Dreamcast-oriented word search! Cool or what?!


Not that I can be arsed finding all the words, mind.

Adios!

The Dreamcast Will Rise!


I started this off as a reply to someone on the Planet Dreamcast Forum, but then decided it would be a good topic for debate as a post in its own right...

There are a million links to click on, but put together I think they suggest that the Dreamcast as a console is far from dead!What I didn't mention in the original post, was the love for the DC on a large amount of websites like this one, the homebrew, emu and mod scene and I don't think I emphasized how huge the retro gaming scene both in terms of popularity and as a profitable industry in its own right! At a time when next gen consoles are battling out in the market place, its significant that a selling point for the Wii is the opportunity to play twenty year old games on the Virtual Console.Have a look at this and please let me know what you think.. my guess is that opinion will pretty much be evenly divided, especially since the demise of the GD Rom and the announcement that Sega will be withdrawing technical support for the Dreamcast on September 27th of this year, still...


Here goes my post...I found this article at the excellent http://www.seganerds.com/

"Reports from RetroBlast! indicate that French based website INpactVirtuel have the latest scoop on what could possibly be the next Sega console!Dubbed the ‘Sega Hedgehog’ this console will be a portable games device built on the same technology that the ill-fated Gizmondo platform ran on. Despite the flop that the Gizmondo was- the technology it held was actually more advanced and more powerful than the PSP- just very few games managed to show this and the Gizmondo company fell through soon after they launched the device in the US. The Gizmondo's main feature was that of the Satellite Navigation built in, which was not only used for in car SatNav, but was set to be used in many games too. It’s just a pity that the device was never marketed properly, nor had the support from the gaming community. On a side note- the Gizmondo's SatNav is actually very good- I use it in my car still today.Whether the ‘Hedgehog’ will have the same SatNav technology the Gizmondo had we do not know. Reports Rumours indicate that the Hedgehog will possibly have ‘retrocompatibility’ with old Sega consoles, namely the Mastersystem, Saturn and Dreamcast. Though how that is done, it is not yet known. From the rough image we have seen the device is set to have a USB port for possibly connection to printers, scanners, PC and possibly for wireless Internet access.Of course this is all heresay right now, and to be honest I don’t believe it to be true. Especially as it is said to be available at the end of 2007. But it’s always nice to dream isn’t it? Imagine a handheld Dreamcast or Saturn?"

Wouldn't you like one of


Then there's the love for Dreamcast shown here: IGN Dreamcast...

and here:Play Asia
and here:Game Set Watch
and here:Amazon
and here:Gamestation
and here:Online Consoles
and here: The BBC


Plus there is the case in point of this little reincarnation of the defunct mastersystem/gamegear: Pocket Gaming


Then there's this:Kotaku


And this:Sega Nerds

If there is one fact of which we can be certain its that Sega as a company NEVER miss an opportunity to whore out (or 'recycle for cash' to put it more delicately...) its back catalogue! So who knows? The Dreamcast, like the Game Gear before it, could one day rise from the grave...My opinion? Well lets just say I'm living in hope!!!

Wash Hands After Use

It's always nice to know that you're not the only Dreamcast fanatic drifting on the tides of the internet. Of course, the fact that we get such a high volume of visitors here, at the epicenter of Dreamcast activity in 2007 is proof that we are many. Sometimes though, a fellow appreciator of all things DC related comes to the fore with such a shining example of his or her love for the sacred white block, that we must all down tools and look upon them. And today, my brethren, today is Caleb's day.

Caleb, regular commentator on these hallowed pages and self styled Dreamcast devotee has produced an exceptional video-diary thing that explains exactly why shitting and the Dreamcast go hand in hand. Enjoy:




Makeshift Philosophizing

Word, people. Christ - it's been a while eh?! And, as I've stated many a time in the anals (or is it annals?) of time, Father Krishna and The Gagaman have done a fucking amazing job of keeping the Dreamcast Junkyard the world's - nay - the Multiverse's premier source for Dreamcast related...erm...stuff. And to them, I doff my cap in a fashion not seen since, ooh, 1876. In London. With mist and shit swirling around gas powered street lamps. But ENOUGH!

In time honoured fashion I ask the question - WHY? Why do I grace these hallowed pages today? Today of all days? Well, the answer is like a fat bloke's stomach upon taking a seat after a particular strenuous trip to the fridge for more food - multi-layered. Firstly, I would like to announce that today - Thursday - is the day before Good Friday. And if you happen to be classed as Proletariat, tomorrow signals a day off work. Huzzah!

I understand there's also some religious guff that goes with Good Friday, but I'll be damned if I know what it is. Chortle. The point I'm trying to make is that with days off comes free time - and free time generally goes hand in hand with drinking more beer...and more time to play on your Dreamcast! See - I told you there was a point!

I don't know this Bob guy, but I like him already...

More importantly, yesterday saw something of a mini milestone for me - my first Dreamcast related purchase in over 6 months!!! Buying DC games used to be something of a formality for me - every time I stepped through the wierd portal on the front of the house (more commonly known as a 'front door'), I sort of knew that I'd be returning with something with a blue swirl on it. Even if I was going for a pint, I'd be on the lookout for Dreamcast shit, and those who remember the 'Dreamcast in pub toilet' episode can testify to that.

Sad? You bet you're ass.

However, In these turbulent times, such frivolity is no longer possible. And that's why yesterday's purchase of Stunt GP for the incredible price of £3.00 is so important. Have we mentioned Stunt GP before? Not sure, but basically it's Re-Volt on steroids. With Stunts. And not set in real-life locations. And without the joypad-smashingly frustrating controls.

OK, the only thing it's got in common with Re-Volt is that it's got RC cars in it:

See - they're doing stunts by driving round the curly T! Amazing!

If only all multi-storey car parks were such fun

Two wheels = more points

Whoever took these shots is shit - they're always in 6th place

Rather than have you racing through houses and super markets like in Re-Volt, Stunt GP's locales are limited to specially built tracks that look as if they're made from bits of scalextric, replete with banked corners, slaloms, tunnels and the obligatory jumps from which you gain 'air' and perform the titular stunts. All well and good. And that's not me being sarcastic either - Stunt GP is a brilliant game, with superb (albeit slightly sparse) graphics and highly manouverable vehicles. Put simply: It's a fun little game made even better by the fact that I only paid three quid for it. The only thing I thought strange though (and the same thing goes for Re-Volt), was that if these are supposed to be radio controlled cars...where are the people controlling them? Think about that one. It's a bit like that "if a tree falls and no-one hears it...does it make a noise?" thing innit. Or maybe just for me. Moving swiftly on...

I looked in my hotmail inbox this morning and saw an email from a familiar name. It was Gary from Dreamcasting. You may remember that we featured Gary's awesome collection of DC paraphernalia quite some time ago (probably about a year ago, actually), and also the fact that he's yer man if you want to play Half Life, Propellor Arena, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (whatever that is), Flintstones etc on your Dreamcast.


Well, now he's set up an online photo album thingy where you can admire his artistic handywork when it comes to creating bespoke game boxes and manuals. And more importantly you can contact him and order the damned things. If anyone gets Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, be sure to let us know what it's all about. Cadillacs and...er...Dinosaurs, I'd imagine, but the only Cadillacs and Dinosaurs this gamer can remember is the one that was portrayed as a screenshot on the back of the Atari Jaguar console box. Very Intriguing indeed.

Email here for more information

Anyway, until December 2010 (probably), this is Tomleecee signing off.