Online Multiplayer discovered in Spirit of Speed 1937!

Incredibly, the most infamous racing title on the Dreamcast, Spirit of Speed 1937 - the Dark Souls of racing games itself - had online multiplayer all along, and we had no idea.

As many of you know, I have previously spoken to the original Broadsword development team on numerous occasions, including a lengthy interview featured in the excellent Dreamcast: Year Two book released last year. Recent discussions have revealed that online multiplayer not only existed in the Japanese version of the game, but it’s now back online thanks to recent efforts.

The online mode was added after the official European and American releases and is only available in the Japanese version of the game, according to the original Broadsword development team:

“We wanted to add online multiplayer into the original release, but the deadline dates for launch prevented us from ironing out a few network bugs. With the Japanese version releasing 9 months later, it gave us the opportunity to do more testing. Ultimately we still decided against officially releasing it just before the Japanese disc went gold, but left the netcode there hidden away. If servers had existed, it would’ve worked online, but they never did.”

That is, until now!

Since this revelation, we connected the original developers to Dreamcast network development expert Luke "Kazade" Benstead, who has helped them re-create the server to restore the online functionality.

The hidden network mode can be accessed on any Japanese copy of the game. On the “Press Start” screen, simply press and hold Y, X, A before hitting the start button and you’ll be taken to the hidden menu allowing network play to be started.

We’ve only tried a few online matches so far, but they’ve all worked great. The online Dreamcast community is constantly growing with new titles being resurrected every year - this is certainly one we were not expecting. Are you excited to hit the Spirit of Speed 1937 courses online? Let us know in the comments below…

April fools!!!

Dreamcast Printer Prototype Discovered

Whilst flicking through the second issue of Official Dreamcast Magazine, I noticed on the letters page a keen reader had written in asking if Sega had any plans to release a printer for the Dreamcast so that they could print out web pages they’d found. Sega’s response to this particular letter sounded like it was something they’d already been considering:

“Dreamcast is an evolutionary product with flexibility built into the whole design. If enough people develop a need for a printer, then we will look into releasing one in Europe.”

This was enough to make me curious. Were Sega working on a printer add-on for the Dreamcast? It’s not as crazy as it sounds -- don’t forget, back in the late 90’s/early 00’s, not everyone owned a PC and so browsing the web on their Dreamcast was the only way possible for a lot of people to get online. The Dreamcast already had a keyboard and mouse, so having a printer just seemed too obvious not to be true in my eyes.

I also knew that Sega were not afraid to work with other hardware manufacturers for PC-like peripherals, such as the ultimately unreleased Zip Drive from Iomega. So, I sent some emails. Through various contacts, I fired off a few speculative enquiries to various sources who were working for major printer manufacturers back at the turn of the millennium.

Amazingly, weeks later, one individual who had previously worked for Canon’s R&D department in Uxbridge, in the UK, got back to me with this amazing reply:

“Sega approached us (Canon) in early 2000 to make an inkjet printer for their Dreamcast console. It was early days but we had a fully working prototype that, as long as you had a keyboard connected to the console, would allow you to print whatever was currently displayed on the TV by a simple press of the “Print Screen” key. Amazingly, this worked during gameplay as well, so you could print off screenshots if you wanted to. During testing, we had numerous copies of printed screenshots all over the office -- I think gamers would've loved it.”

Even more amazing, attached to the email was a photo of the prototype for this printer from my source’s personal collection. Known only by its internal model number at the time, 5L-00FLIRPA, here she is: the Sega/Canon Dreamcast Printer Prototype:

Note the modified cord with a Dreamcast controller plug added to it, allowing you to simply use one of the available controller ports on your console to attach the printer.

Unfortunately, the current whereabouts of this prototype are unknown but my source does not believe it has been destroyed. This means there is still hope we can enjoy printing out our favourite web pages and Spirit of Speed screenshots directly from our Dreamcast at some point.

It’s incredible that here we are, over 20 years since the Dreamcast launched and we’re still uncovering new and unknown things about our beloved system. Would you have bought this printer had it actually been released in 2000?

Let us know in the comments below, or on Twitter.

Update: If you've read this far, your reward is the knowledge that yes, this was an April Fool! Look at the date in the photo; and the model number of the printer. We do like a good April Fool here at the Junkyard, as was seen back in 2017 when everyone lost their shit when we announced DreamStream - a Switch streaming service for Dreamcast games. One that didn't go down too well was when we announced on 1st April 2016 that we had become the 'PlayStation 2 Junkyard.' We don't mention that. Thanks for playing along...and remember - it's all just a bit of fun!

Dreamcast Streaming Service DreamStream Announced For Nintendo Switch

People with only a passing interest in research and development processes, business procedures and manufacturing fundamentals have been calling for a sequel to the Sega Dreamcast for some time now; but the desire for a bonafide 'Dreamcast 2' has fallen on deaf ears for the most part. However, it now looks like Sega is ready to give the notion at least a slight nudge in the right direction. This week, Sega announced a new partnership with old rival Nintendo which will bring Dreamcast games to the new handheld hybrid system Switch.

The service, tentatively titled 'DreamStream' will allow Switch owners to connect to a cyber razor-powered service that will initially offer a handful of HD remasters of popular Dreamcast titles like Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure, Spirit of Speed 1937 and Space Channel 5. Details on further games, and just how the service will work are sketchy at best right now, but this information has literally only just leaked through this article on art and tech website Art News. Quick to capitalize on the leak, Sega Europe spokesperson Avril Tonto responded to the claims:

"Sega Europe and Nintendo have a long and storied history. With this new partnership, we hope to bring much-loved franchises to a new audience."

As stated, details are thin on the ground at the moment, but we hope to bring more details as they emerge. With the strong initial sales of the Switch, and the heavy leanings toward retro emulation and classic gaming experiences, we think this can only add another string to Nintendo's bow in the fight against Sony and Microsoft.

Source: Art News