Dreamcast: Year Two hits Kickstarter!

Dreamcast: Year One was successfully funded and launched late last year, and those who managed to grab a copy were treated to a beautifully illustrated, fantastically detailed trip down memory lane back to the first year of the Dreamcast's life; albeit with a distinctly PAL flavour. You can read our review of Dreamcast: Year One here.

After the success of Dreamcast: Year One, it was pretty much written in the stars that Year Two would follow on its coattails...and now the Kickstarter for this very tome is live!

It's probably worth mentioning before I go any further, that author and campaign manager Andrew Dickinson has since joined the podcast and editorial team of The Dreamcast Junkyard, and many of the other contributors to this blog are involved in writing content for Dreamcast: Year Two...and that includes yours truly. With that out of the way, what can you expect from Dreamcast: Year Two?

Well, more of the same to be honest...which is no bad thing! A bigger, more content-rich book full of interviews and retrospectives on the games from the Dreamcast's second year on the market; and the Kickstarter campaign features a range a tiers that offer some pretty special backer perks. But what of the main book? I'm glad you asked:

• Main book has over 50% more pages than Year One
• Double the number of retrospectives than Year One
• Brand new artwork from graphic designer Dan Tiller
• Interviews with the likes of Corey Marshall, John Linneman and Steven Kent (and more)
• Retrospectives written by members of Dreamcast Years and The Dreamcast Junkyard

But that's not all! Oh no - there's also the opportunity to fund a one-off Dreamcast Years magazine, and a special edition of the Dreamcast Years podcast that will be exclusively available on Minidisc. Talk about going fully authentic on the era-specific formats... (you'll probably need to get a Minidisc player if you're up for that perk, though).

Dreamcast: Year Two is totally unofficial and written by fans of the console and prominent members of the burgeoning online community. The project is initially looking for £12,000 in funding and at the time of writing (a mere hour after the campaign went live) it stands at a staggering £5,000 already.

So there you have it. Dreamcast: Year Two is all set to take the momentum from the ace Dreamcast: Year One and run with it. Want to get involved with this Kickstarter? Of course you do! Check out the campaign page here.

Finally - a disclaimer: none of the contributors from The Dreamcast Junkyard will gain financially from this campaign. In fact, most (if not all) of us who are contributing written content are also backers. In other words - none of us are being paid, we're contributing because we love the Dreamcast, plain and simple!

Will you be backing Dreamcast: Year Two? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter. You can also follow Andrew Dickinson on Twitter here. Oh, and here's the Kickstarter link again, just in case you missed it!

Exploring EMAP's Lost Official Dreamcast Magazine: An Interview With Dave Kelsall

Magazines are an important part of gaming history.

They were the only way that regular people could absorb all the news from the industry and get opinions on games before they spent their hard-earned cash on them. Like much physical media though, they have become increasingly niche as the internet and digital technologies saturate the market. News can be fed right to your phone as it happens, while user and influencer reviews are taken on board just as much, if not more, than the professionally written ones of established journalists.

For many of us who revere retro (and especially Dreamcast, of course), physical media and good-old-fashioned games journalism feels sorely missed. Personally, I can find a place for the old and the new in my life, but when flicking through old magazines I never fail to stumble upon that one thing that made them special - magic.

Okay, I don’t mean magic in the make-believe sense (and most definitely not in the Dynamo sense either), but rather that feeling of holding in your hands the key to a world that is beyond the norm. They were a guide to all of those computers, consoles and games that you had no idea were coming. They held updates on things you were eagerly awaiting, and reviews of games you’d seen in the shop but had no idea if it was worth paying £39.99 for.

• Related article: Book Review: Dreamcast Year One

When I wrote my first book, Dreamcast: Year One, I took this very specific love of gaming magazines and injected that into the pages - both in the style and also the content. Specifically, I interviewed three people involved in that scene from the time of the Dreamcast; Caspar Field (editor of DC-UK), Ed Lomas (reviews & deputy editor of Official Dreamcast Magazine) and also David Kelsall (graphic designer at Official Saturn Magazine).

The latter of those interviews was more than just a chat about the good old days though, as David had a never-before-seen pitch from the magazine publisher EMAP for the Official Dreamcast Magazine. I therefore decided to share an edited down version of his interview, along with a few of the images he shared with me, in the book itself.

I had always intended to share a longer version of the interview with the images I didn’t use, and as we approach the launch of my campaign to fund Dreamcast: Year Two I figured this was the best time to do that. So here it is!


Andrew Dickinson: David, could you please tell us a little bit about how you got into games journalism?

Dave Kelsall: It’s quite a long story! I’ve always been obsessed with games magazines (and games of course). I used to buy everything available, even books with type-in BASIC listings. I wouldn’t necessarily type them, but I liked to read the code and look at the artwork.

I was on an art trip to London with my Sixth form college and I spotted Julian Rignal (renowned games journalist and editor) sitting in the buffet clutching a camera. He was off to do one of his seaside reports on the latest arcade machines, so I went over to say hi. I didn’t live that far from Ludlow (where Newsfield, the publishers of Crash and Zzap! 64, were based) and so he invited me down to take a look around the offices whenever we were both free.

A few weeks later I went down for a visit and he very kindly showed me around, took me to the pub, and we of course played games. Fast forward a few years and I had just finished my HND in Graphic Design and I was on the train accompanying my girlfriend who was going for an interview in London for a job in the fashion industry. I happened to be reading a copy of Mean Machines and there was an advert in the News section looking for a designer. As I remember it, I turned up to the EMAP offices and enquired about the job. I think I spoke to Julian beforehand and mentioned who I was, and I was promptly shown upstairs and told to design something. They must have liked what I did as I was offered the job the next day and that was the start of a career in magazines, and initially games journalism. I absolutely loved my time there and I only left the games division when EMAP sold it to Dennis. I moved on to other titles within EMAP.

Book Review: Dreamcast: Year One

Full disclosure before I begin this review: I - and other members of the Junkyard team - backed this book on Kickstarter. I was interviewed in the book and also did some fact checking. That said, I wasn't paid and stand to gain no financial reward for any of this. Now thats sorted, on with the review.

Dreamcast: Year One backers also get a cool little sticker to go with the book

The popularity of books exploring every corner of the gaming landscape shows no sign of being on the wane, and the latest crowdfunded offering is now plopping through letterboxes around the globe. Dreamcast: Year One is the third book in the 2 Old 4 Gaming template after the superb Sony PlayStation Vita: Year One and Years Two & Three, written by Sandeep Rai. This latest Dreamcast-flavoured tome was written by long-time Dreamcast fan Andrew Dickinson (founder of the Dreamcast Years podcast and website) and successfully Kickstarted back in April 2019.

Now that the book is finally here, how does it stack up against the competition? Quite well, actually. And the main unique selling point Dreamcast: Year One has over the other recent releases is that it focusses primarily on the UK release of the console. As someone who resides in the UK and saw the release first hand on this fair isle, the perspective is one that struck a chord with me on a personal level and so I was naturally intrigued by the premise.

The artwork is truly sublime throughout

As alluded to earlier, I was interviewed by Andrew for Dreamcast: Year One, and was asked about my history with the Dreamcast and also the story behind the creation of this very blog and the community surrounding it. For that alone I am grateful, as it allowed me to share my own experiences as just a normal random bloke who somehow found a niche with a blog about a failed Sega console. But enough about me.

OK...maybe a little bit more about me

Dreamcast: Year One opens with a fairly intricate deep dive on the history of the Dreamcast, going all the way back to the 16-bit era, the Sega Saturn story and the development of the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. The introductory chapters are about as comprehensive as you could get if you're a newcomer to the Dreamcast and wanted to educate yourself on the story so far. Particular highlights for me include the section on the Sega New Challenge Conference in 1998 - something which fascinates me still to this day, such is my obsession with the Dreamcast tech demos that were showcased during that event.

Dreamcast: Year One Smashes Kickstarter Target

Hello. It's me, Tom. Been a while hasn't it? Enough about me though (sort of) - there's a new book all about the Dreamcast coming very soon! Full disclosure: I was actually interviewed for this book, so I do have a special interest; however it's still nice to see yet another physical tome dedicated to Sega's final console assume a physical - albeit not yet final - form. Yes, Andrew Dickinson's Dreamcast: Year One recently hit its Kickstarter goal of £6,000 and will now join the recent, similarly Kickstarted PS Vita: Year One as part of 2 Old 4 Gaming's stable of niche publications.

As stated, I was interviewed for Dreamcast: Year One and Andrew sent me a list of probing questions about my affinity with the console, my favourite games, and where I think the future of the system and its faithful community lie. To be honest, most of the stuff I wax lyrical about can probably be found in the archives of this very blog, such has my life been completely ingrained and documented here over the past decade and a half. That said, it was an honour to take part, and due to the success of the Kickstarter, the book looks set to be sent out to backers in October 2019.

Naturally, it's not all about me (weak McFly reference - check), as several other much more important people are also interviewed, with editor of DC-UK magazine Caspar Field,  editor of Official UK Dreamcast Magazine Ed Lomas, and former SEGA America chief Bernie Stolar amongst that number. There are also a bunch of mini reviews and deep dives on certain Dreamcast games. As the name suggests, it will primarily focus on the first year of the Dreamcast's meagre lifespan, and have a very distinct UK flavour which will make this book pretty unique in comparison to the mainly Japan and US focused stuff we're used to. There's a glut of original artwork by artist Erik Pavik that accompanies the words too. Overall it looks to be a very nice addition to the 2 Old 4 Gaming library.

The previous release from 2 Old 4 Gaming was the aforementioned PS Vita: Year One, and again - full disclosure - I was a backer and recipient of that book. As something of a PS Vita fanboy, I was very impressed with the accuracy and quality of the information contained between the covers of that particular text, so I have high hopes for Dreamcast: Year One.

You can find out more about Andrew Dickinson's Dreamcast: Year One by visiting the Kickstarter page here, and the upcoming PS Vita: Year One and PS Vita: Year Two books from 2 Old 4 Gaming here.

It's worth noting that there is also the other Dreamcast Kickstarter book coming in 2019 from Darren Wall (you can read about that one here), but we think there's enough of a difference in approach to both of these projects that they can easily live side by side on anyone's bookshelf, coffee table or stall at an overpriced games convention.

Finally, some more full disclosure. You may have noted a recent drop off in terms of articles from myself here at The Dreamcast Junkyard. That's because I was totally fed up with the internet, gaming, the way everyone screams at each other on social media these days and, well, life in general. So I checked out of the internet and took a well-deserved hiatus.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and continue to do so. To this end, I doubt very much that I'll be back to updating this place as regularly as I used to, but I'll be checking in with the odd update every now and then to help the other writers keep it all ticking over. I won't be going back on social media though. Oh no. That dumpster fire can burn itself to the ground, and through to the very core of the planet.