Launching the Dreamcast on 9/9/99 - An Interview with Electronics Boutique's Alexander Danielian

Dreamcast launch night on 9/9/99 at Electronics Boutique, Las Vegas.
(Image credit: Next Gen Magazine, November 1999)

Serendipity is a thoroughly wondrous phenomenon. I'm happy and confident to make this statement, as the parameters which lead to the following could quite easily be laid firmly at the door of said concept. See, a couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a fabulous interview conducted by The Retro Hour with one Alexander Danielian. Alexander was the store manager of the Electronics Boutique store at Sunset Galleria, Henderson, Las Vegas - the store which was selected by Sega of America as the flagship location for the launch of the Dreamcast on 9/9/99.

In that interview, Alexander explained how he was a pivotal cog in the Sega machine unleashing the Dreamcast on the expectant American public, and it was a truly fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. A few days after hearing the episode, a mutual friend, Jordan Freeman of Zoom Platform fame, reached out to me and asked if we here at the Junkyard would also like to speak to Alexander...and naturally I enthusiastically accepted.

Who even are you if you don't listen to The Retro Hour?

I want to make it clear that you should absolutley also listen to or watch The Retro Hour's fantastic interview with Alexander (think of this interview as a supplementary piece), but I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to really drill down into some specific Dreamcast-related insider info on that hallowed launch night, and pick Alexander's brain about some of the more esoteric aspects of the Dreamcast's brief tenure as the hottest new games console around.

Alexander was featured in Business Week for his outstanding Dreamcast sales performance.

The following interview is pretty in-depth and therefore quite lengthy, but naturally all of it is exquistely interesting, so I encourage you to read every word. You might even learn something about one of the enduring urban legends about special edition Dreamcast consoles and Electronics Boutique...

DCJY: Hi Alexander. It’s a pleasure to be able to speak with you. Could you give a brief introduction as to who you are and how you are linked to the story of the Dreamcast?

Alexander Danielian: Sure, it’s great to speak to you Tom. My name is Alexander Danielian, and I was the district trainer and store manager at Electronics Boutique at Sunset Galleria, Henderson, a suburb of Las Levas, Nevada - which was the flagship location for the official North American launch of Sega's Dreamcast console, back on 9/9/99.

Four More Games Coming to the Sega Dreamcast! — NATP, Sonic R, SuperSolar, and OverServed

"Why make new games or port old ones to the Sega Dreamcast?" some contrarian Twitter user sneers. To which we reply, "why not?" Case closed, innit. Anyway, here's four games you can hopefully expect to be playing on your Dreamcast sometime soon...

Noah & the Poohloudies

Credit: Noah & the Poohloudies on YouTube

A few years ago, a guy launched a Kickstarter to make a game that would be available on every gaming system ever conceived by mortal hands. People were understandably skeptical about whether that was even possible, and, unsurprisingly, the campaign didn’t succeed. However, it turns out that someone has genuinely been attempting to pull off something similar. That person is developer Walfrido Abejón, who has spent several years plugging away at his game Noah & the Poohloudies, a charming robot-themed platformer which is not only in development for our beloved Sega Dreamcast, but also the 3DO, original PlayStation, Nokia N-Gage, Nintendo 64, and the Saturn.

Walfrido has kindly sent over a prototype build of the Dreamcast version of the game, which we’ll definitely be taking a closer look at soon. In the meantime, you can check out the video below from our pal The Sega Guru, which showcases footage of all the different versions in development. Even at this stage, what’s been shown looks genuinely fantastic, and we really hope it will eventually be developed into a full release. Be sure to subscribe to Walfrido's YouTube channel to be the first to see future development vlogs.

Sonic R

Credit: SonicRetro

The ports just keep on a-coming, and this one is an exciting one for those who were hoping to maybe see a bit more Sega amid the recent flood of (excellent) Nintendo 64 ports to Dreamcast. Absolute madlad Jnmartin84 is back again, and he has decompiled the PC version of Traveller's Tales Sonic-themed racer Sonic R and got it running on Mac. This game also came out on the Sega Saturn, and other than delivering a jukebox of banging tunes, it also provided an early taste of what could be for a fully 3D Sonic adventure.

But why do we care about a Mac version of Sonic R? Well, because it means the game can also now be ported to other systems, including the Dreamcast, and that is exactly what Jnmartin84 has promised. Plus, he's also teased the possibility of network play? Now that would certainly be epic to see. Watch this space!

SuperSolar

Developer Ninja Dynamics is currently working on an Afterburner-ish flight combat game for both mobile and Dreamcast, and it's looking "sleek af", as the kids would say. To get a taste of what you will eventually play on your Dreamcast, there is a version currently available for you to play in your web browser.

Check out footage below of the Dreamcast version, and follow the dev on Twitter to see new updates as they come out. It is shaping up to be an absolute stunner, though.

Here's the latest Dreamcast build of SuperSolar with a brand new water splash effect! I swear it's not a DBZ game! 😆 pic.twitter.com/WeRNmiioiX

— 🇪🇺🇵🇹 Ninja Dynamics (@ninjadynamics) April 20, 2026

OverServed

Finally, we come to OverServed, an upcoming Neo Geo multiplayer arena battler that looks to channel the chaotic fun of Bomberman. It'll support up to eight players duking it out at once, and what's more is it'll also support online play. But this is not just online play, this is cross-platform online play. That's right, we've got another game that's coming to a whole heap of platforms! We've already mentioned Neo Geo, but OverServed will also be released for —and cross-play over the net with— Saturn, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Apple TV and Android. The game is due to be released in November this year.

But what about our beloved Dreamcast? Well, good news: a version is in the works from developer FULLSET, but it is most likely to release after the other versions. However, they have said that if 1,000 people go to the Dreamcast version's Sumthings page and add it to their “wanted” list, they’ll fast-track it to meet that same November release. Now, getting 1,000 people to sign up to Sumthings and click "wanted", may be a tall feat, but I'm sure we could get the community to at least retweet and like the heck out of this Twitter post.

I can’t wait to face off on OverServed on my yellowed, scuffed-up Dreamcast against some dude rocking a console worth a grand. Nothing like a bit of class warfare to go with my retro games. Anyway, here's some gameplay footage.

Prototyping some exploding cakes in Overserved tonight. That lava cake situation needs some fixing for sure :) Many level specific elements and tons of other stuff still to be implemented. 8-player online play across #neogeo, #saturn & all modern platforms. pic.twitter.com/O5e9jRkHqS

— FULLSET | Neo·Geo Dev (@FULLSET_Collect) March 28, 2026

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Which of these games coming to Dreamcast are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below.

An Interview with Midnight Scribe — Retro Game Collecting in Portrait

I learned recently that social media platform TikTok has nearly 2 billion users. That's more people than ever bought the Sega Dreamcast, not that that's exactly a high bar. It also turns out that it's not just all dancing videos on TikTok either. In fact, from a purely algorithmic standpoint, the TikTok gremlins' ability to present me with snappy videos in portrait that match my interests to a tee definitely outshines similar services provided by Instagram and YouTube. My "For You" feed is frequently filled with a generous helping of great short-form retro game collecting coverage, and one creator who caught my attention in particular was Midnight Scribe.

Midnight Scribe creates chilled, uplifting videos covering their many game-collecting adventures. I first discovered their account through a video documenting their mission to collect the entire PAL PlayStation 3 library, and from there it wasn't long until I'd watched everything else too, from videos on the Wii U and Nintendo 64 to the original Xbox and PlayStation, and, of course, the Dreamcast — a system Scribe is particularly fond of.

DCJY: Hello! Thanks for joining us here at the Junkyard, Midnight Scribe. For starters, how would you describe the videos you make for those who haven't seen them?

Midnight Scribe: I’m a Scottish retro gamer and collector, yakking away about all the fun and wonderful things gaming has to offer. I talk about a bunch of different consoles including the N64, original Xbox and Dreamcast. I'm probably mostly being watched for my videos tracking my efforts to complete the UK PS3 game library and a PS1 challenge I'm doing, where I try to build a PS1 collection without going to CEX or eBay, to show there are still deals to be found.

When did you start making videos, and what made you gravitate to TikTok specifically?

I only started making videos in January 2026, I’m very much a baby creator right now! Between the dark nights and some very stressful days at work, I needed something to perk me up after the work day was done, and I thought it would be fun to film a video about a Sega Saturn game I’d bought recently, Pebble Beach Golf Links. I have a lot of fondness for the game, even if I’m very bad at playing it! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a birdie in that game yet.

I've had TikTok for a few years but I was very much a lurker, and never really did any videos or commented much. I had the itch to do something creative to raise my mood and give me something to focus on and I loved the immediacy of being able to record and publish a video and the community aspect that exists on TikTok. I didn’t have any expectations of how it would go or the reception I'd get, but a couple videos blew up about my attempts to collect the full UK PS3 library very quickly and everything snowballed from there!

It was actually your PS3 videos that brought me to your TikTok. It always felt like a bit of an underdog system to me, despite finishing second place that generation!

I feel the same about the PS3 too. When it was first announced and the first few years it was around, I really wasn't a fan of it and definitely felt Sony were taking their fans for granted, while the 360 was offering great online play and the Wii was bringing gaming to everyone and their gran! I did eventually pick one up in late 2009 and I come around on it. Despite it selling more than the 360, it does feel like it was really stuck in third place, but it’s an amazing machine to play and collect for. It’s been the most fun console to explore for me since the original Xbox.

So how did you feel when your videos starting to gain traction?

Shock, and a fair bit of confusion! It was the third video I did that blew up, getting around 8000 views. I went to bed with a couple hundred views and had answered a few questions, but overnight I woke up to dozens of comments asking about if I had certain PS3 games, how cool it was to see a collection like this, if I could curate a PS3 collection list for them, just lots and lots of positive feedback. Amazing way to wake up while having a morning coffee!

About a week later, another PS3 collection video shot past 20000 views and everything went into overdrive from there. I was having fun making videos and it really quickly became apparent that people were actually enjoying hearing me ramble on about games and my collection! I didn’t expect anything close to this to happen; I had no expectations at all, so it’s really been a joyride for the last three months. It definitely encouraged me to keep going and it’s made my evenings so much more fun. I get to chat with all sorts of gamers around the world about the games we like, show love for systems like the Wii U and PS3 and just have a really chill and positive chat together!

Considering I started doing these videos to basically help get me out of a rut, it honestly makes me so happy knowing that my little videos and chats with fellow gamers is being received so well and bringing them a little bit of joy too. I can’t honestly ask for any more than that, I’m extremely grateful for how kind and nice everyone has been, it means a heck of a lot.

Watching your videos, I can see that you have a very impressive collection. How long have you been collecting games for?

I used to collect a lot in the late 2000s and early 2010s, especially during my university days! That’s when I got the Dreamcast games and a good chunk of my N64 library. However, I sold off most of my collection to fund moving in with my partner and to get funds for a house. The majority of my current collection though has been built up in the last 3 and a half years, so I’ve been very busy… or obsessive, there’s a very thin line there! The Wii U ignited my passion for retro games again in a big way, I feel it’s a very under-appreciated console. I do have a thing for underdog systems, something the Wii U and Dreamcast have in common for sure. 

So let's talk Dreamcast! In a recent video, you spoke very fondly about the all-important moment you first got yours.

I never knew of the Dreamcast growing up. None of my friends had one, so it completely passed me by. In the summer of 2004, I went on holiday to Scarborough with my family and we visited the local Gamestation branch while we were there. I remember seeing a boxed Dreamcast and a shelf of games and I knew I was leaving there with it. I’d got an N64 the Halloween previous so I was just beginning to explore consoles I’d missed out on.

I left with the Dreamcast and two games, Sonic Adventure and Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation. However, I remember not liking Tomb Raider when I first played it so we went back and swapped it for Sega GT, which I definitely preferred. I remember commandeering the hotel room TV, hooking up the Dreamcast and playing the first couple stages in Sonic Adventure, the summer vibes of Station Square and the beach level mirroring the lovely weather and sandy beaches outside the window in Scarborough. That was basically all my money I saved for the holiday gone, but worth every penny. I think I carried the console in my arms in-between train stops on the way back home, it was my baby!

A Dreamcast DVD Player Appears!

Image source: Throaty Mumbo

The Dreamcast's inability to play DVDs out of the box is often cited as one of the main reasons the system faltered in the face of competition from Sony's PlayStation 2. Indeed, even the late, great Bernie Stolar himself mused about SEGA's decision to eschew a DVD drive in favour of internet capabilities when we spoke to him several years ago. In an effort to capture the buzz around DVD technology at the time, SEGA Europe went as far as bundling the Dreamcast with a seperate standalone DVD player, but it was too little, too late - the writing was already on the wall for the little white box of dreams.

Now, anyone who knows anything about the current state of the Dreamcast scene will attest to the ingenuity of the community when it comes to squeezing more than was ever intended out of the console. We have new games coming out at a steady pace, new VMU technology, new controllers, the system is back online, there's a whole online gaming scene and replacement internal components are myriad. At this point then, it was probably only a matter of time before somebody reverse engineered a Dreamcast to be able to play DVDs...and that's exactly what one particularly talented YouTuber has accomplished.

Going by the name Throaty Mumbo, the gentleman in question describes himself as someone who likes to 'test and play around with old hardware and software,' and upon viewing the video above, I can attest to this claim. Through a series of tests and hardware experiments, Mr Mumbo successfully convinces a Dreamcast to recognise and eventually play an Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD via a drive connected to a controller port with a bit of Raspberry Pi action thrown in for good measure. It's a really interesting journey of discovery and raises the question of whether an officially released DVD drive attachment could have turned the Dreamcast's fortunes around back in the day.

Be sure to check out Throaty Mumbo's channel here.

Image source: Derek Pascarella

But wait - there's more! In other, somewhat relevant Dreamcast video player related news, Dreamcast development legend Derek Pascarella (with help from Chris Daioglou of Dreamware Enterprises fame) has recently released a patch which removes the proprietary infrared dongle requirement from the DreamMovie VCD/MP3 player, allowing for standard Dreamcast controller support. Check out Derek's work, read a history of the DreamMovie hardware and software, and download the fruits of his labour over at Github.