Dreamcast Collection Oddities - A Gallery as Submitted by Readers

A selection of the many superb collection items submitted by readers for this article.

Back in July we put out a call for readers to submit photos of items from their personal Sega Dreamcast collections that are unusual, unique, custom, weird, odd, obscure, esoteric, rare or overlooked. And of course, the network of international Dreamcast afficionados didn’t let us down. When placed together, all the submissions we received offer a great spread across the Dreamcast-weirdness spectrum that I’m delighted to now present here in this article.

Before we delve in though, a few words on the inspiration for this task. Firstly, exploring the esoteric nooks and crannies of Sega’s swansong console is something that can (occasionally) bring me joy, and, considering that the Junkyard has maintained a readership for two decades now, I guess that is the case for others too. Secondly, given that having more than a passing interest in the Dreamcast is clearly a niche affair, most are unlikely to have ‘real life’ friends or family that genuinely wish to hear about odd collectibles, so sharing with an internet community is where it's at. Lastly, in the context of auction bidding wars and inflationary prices, I thought it would be nice for folks to be able to share with each other, not in a boastful way, but in a spirit of mutual appreciation.

Fed up with this pretentious justification? I hear you. Here are the photos of cool Dreamcast stuff that you’ve come here for…

Not Your Average Console

I imagine most of you reading this know what a Dreamcast looks like (a sleek machine that can perfectly offset the offensive ugliness of the PS2 that it is designed to sit atop). The console wasn't around for long enough for second or third iterations which vary considerably in terms of physical appearance or technical features. Even so, a wide variety of special or limited editions were released (mainly in Japan), and now and then we get glimpses of D.I.Y. customisations that can vary in looks from, uh, shall we say "homely", to professional-grade perfection. The aesthetic variations of the Dreamcast have always interested me, and so I was pleased to see that we received five contributions that scratch that itch.

First of all, we have two official variants of the console, both of which have peculiar origin stories. According to a sketchy internet source, the CSK Dreamcast, a photo of which was kindly sent in by JoeEardley77, was distributed by the health insurance arm of Japanese conglomerate CSK to Sega employees under the impression that they would use it to digitally connect with healthcare providers from home. Whether that actually occurred on a widespread basis is unclear. Using a DreamEye to consult with a doctor is definitely no longer possible (or advisable), but the console itself, whose origins are only given away by a sticker placed atop the console shell and packaging, is a neat artifact nonetheless. 

CSK Dreamcast submitted by JoeEardley77.

The Regulation 7 Dreamcast, a photo of which has been submitted by Rosewood, was supposedly distributed to Japan's pachinko (slot machine) parlours, presumably to be used as either as a demo kiosk or perhaps a cheap internet browsing device. I seem to recall folks explaining that, because gambling for cash is illegal in Japan, this variant was also offered as a prize to parlour customers, although Google is now telling me that it was made available for mail order in 2001 too. Whatever the exact answer may be, the console looks lush.

Regulation 7 Dreamcast submitted by Rosewood.

Next up, we have two variants of the Dreamcast console that definitely aren't official. The custom-painted Illbleed-themed Dreamcast submitted by waynejamesp will undoubtedly appeal to devotees of the quirky horror game which has amassed a bit of a cult following in recent years. With an average NTSC-U copy of Illbleed now costing above $200, painting your console might actually be a more affordable way to demonstrate your love for this particular game. 

Illbleed console submitted by waynejamesp.

The black Treamcast, submitted by le_Pot_de_Mayo, isn't quite as unique, but is still legitimately worthy of the "L@@K RARE" eBay label, and has bizarre origins that are perfect for the scope of this article. First produced in 2002 or 2003 by a Hong Kong-based manufacturer, the Treamcast is essentially a modified Dreamcast, repackaged into a smaller shell with an integrated fold-out screen. Despite arriving after the console's official death, this transportable Dreamcast allegedly sold quite well, even despite the fact that its distribution to Western markets was hamstrung thanks to Sega's disapproval. 

Treamcast submitted by le_Pot_de_Mayo.

The last console that we are to feature is one which, on the face of it, might look pretty ordinary. OK, admittedly the packaging for this first launch variant featuring eight photos of the then-President of Sega Japan, Hidekazu Yukawa, is cool — but those of you that have browsed internet auction websites will know they are fairly common. What makes this particular edition stand out though is that it features stamps confirming it was purchased on the original Japanese release day of November 27, 1998. Thanks go to The SegaHolic of the Sega Guys for submitting these photos. Next you need to track down and interview the person who bought this exact console... How hard could it be?

Launch edition Dreamcast submitted by The SegaHolic.

Halloween 2024 Compilation released for the Sega Dreamcast!

Looking for something to do this Hallows Eve? Perennial Dreamcast developer Ian Micheal and Adam Burrell have got you covered with his latest Dreamcast compilation release, especially for Halloween.

The compilation features a number of spooky themed games from older systems like Castlevania Bloodlines, Splatterhouse 3, Ghostbusters and even a Halloween-themed ROM hack of Sonic The Hedgehog! My personal pick is the long lost Game Boy Color version of Resident Evil - here to play through in full. All together, there are a whopping 20 games to get stuck into and so you'll have plenty to do in between your pumpkin carving.

If you don't feel like gaming, you can also enjoy an animated movie called The Hallow Tree from 1993, or fire up the jukebox to listen to classics like Monster Mash, This is Halloween and Pet Cemetery.

It has to be said that as usual, the presentation of this compilation is impeccable. Ian works wonders with a menu system that makes most modern games bow their heads in shame. 

Available for free download, you can run Ian's gift to the community on a GDEMU or you can burn the CDI to disc. You can find the download link here.

If you like what you see, Ian has made compilations like this before for the Dreamcast - including a Christmas special from 2023 and of course his excellent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, which in all honestly is better than the official collections released recently!

On behalf of the entire Dreamcast community, we'd like to wholeheartedly thank Ian for this free release as well as everything else he's contributed over the years.

The Gagaman's London Gaming Market Haul

So last weekend I went to the first ever London Gaming Market. Run by the same people who bring you the wonderful Play Expo further up north, it was nice to finally have an event like this nearer my way. I haven't got any photos to share of the event unfortunately but there was two reasons for this:

• It was quite a small venue
• It was very very very crowded

Literally the second the doors opened till near the end when I left around 2pm it was shoulder to shoulder, you could barely move in there! I was afraid it was gonna be like a mad rush to grab bargains with everyone tearing each others eyes out, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Unlike other busy conventions I've been to like EGX and MCM Expo, a majority of people all desperate to have a browse here were polite and courteous and weren't shoving in. I don't think I have both said and heard 'sorry' more times than I had here, heh!

There are photos on the Facebook page for the event, photographed by Alan Chang. You might even spot me in a couple of them!

Dreamcast wise there was quite a lot on offer at the stores, with a good selection of PAL, American and Japanese game and a few nice boxed systems and accessories like the Mr. Yukawa box console and a boxed arcade stick. I wouldn't say I spotted much in the way of rare games per say, certainly not anything from my most wanted list, but I still managed to spend quite a bit of money in total on a few curiosities.

One thing that is great about the Dreamcast is there is still a lot of games that can be picked up for less than a tenner, of which every game I grabbed were around that price. I particularly wanted to grab a few American games as they don't come up quite as often, and postage from America is usually too expensive. I bought a majority of my games from Console Passion, who had the biggest selection and some of the fairest prices.

Here was my total haul, though considering where we are you're only interested in the Dreamcast games right? I've given each game I picked up a go so here's my first impressions on all of them, after the jump!

RPGs Across the Board; or, Grandia II - The Beginning

One of my favorite genres of video games is the RPG. I'm not overly attached to the turn-based combat (although I have come to like it over the years): I like the stories, and the bigger RPGs have great composers, like Final Fantasy, or the Mario RPGs. I had at least one RPG on most of my major systems, like the PlayStation, Gamecube, Gameboy etc...but something was amiss.

I had no RPGs for the Dreamcast! And because my current system had no affordable games available at the time, I made it a goal to get at least one good game. Fortunately, my brother had received a gift card to a local retrogaming shop. I had gotten Final Fantasy 7-9 there, so I hoped that they would have at least one good Dreamcast RPG. They had two.

Dreamcast Collection (360, PC) releases today! Contest to come...

The Dreamcast Collection is now available to purchase in the USA for the 360 and the PC! The collection will be available in Europe on the 25th. Are you planning on picking it up? Did you pick it up? Sound off in the comments section!

Keep visiting the Dreamcast Junkyard in the coming weeks, as there is a contest with Dreamcast Collection prizes (courtesy of SEGA of America) in the works. What is the contest and what are the prizes? Stay tuned.

Personally, I'm very interested in seeing how Space Channel 5 Part 2 plays. If it is a solid port, it could be the selling point of the collection. SEGA Bass Fishing, while lacking the fishing controller, also has the potential to be good as it will be in widescreen and is presumably uncut. Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure have already released on PSN and XBLA.

Dreamcast Collection gets Pre-Order Bonus Vinyl in Australia !

Does anyone remember that Vinyl LP that some people were lucky enough to get as a pre-order bonus with Mega Drive Ultimate Collection on PS3 and 360? Well looks like they are doing a similar deal again for the 360 release of Dreamcast Collection! So far though this only appears to be in Australia, but if it turns out anything like the Mega Drive one it *might* show up in areas of Europe too, I manged to pick up the mega Drive LP on Ebay in the end and only paid a tenner for it. Either way see where this offer has been first spotted here. Turns out the LP contains 3 Crazy Taxi tunes (not Offspring I'm presuming so er...kind of pointless IMO) 1 Sonic Adventure track (Open your Heart surely?) 1 Space Channel 5 part 2 track and one Bass Fishing track. Will make a cool collectible none the less if just for the design of it.

Via SegaBits and TSSZ

100 Games and Counting!

Over the weekend I realized that I've hit the 100 games mark with my Dreamcast collection! The epic event started when I paid a visit to the local used games store and found a few treasures: the Limited Edition version of Shenmue, complete with Jukebox CD for $17, Alien Front Online in box with microphone for $14, Versus Books Official Shenmue Perfect Guide with poster for $9 and the SEGA Saturn's Puyo Puyo Sun for $8 (check out the Saturn Junkyard for a look at that game).

Arriving home, I found that the indie shmup Fast Striker standard edition had arrived in the mail from Play-Asia (InsideOut video to come). So I got on the computer, went over to my playfire.com profile and added the games to my collection list and the counter hit 100! No flashing lights went off, and there wasn't any confetti, but it was a fun moment. I should note, the 100 count doesn't include games I own in multiple regions, demo discs and browser discs. If that were the case, I'd be at around 125. I plan on doing a collection photo roundup, just as Gagaman did back in November when he hit 200, but will hold off until a few other items arrive in the mail. Specifically Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Fur Fighters, Wetrix+, Seventh Cross Evolution, Slave Zero, Soul Fighter, Time Stalkers, Trick Style and Tokyo Xtreme Racer which were all in a lot sale. The seller just has to get back to me once he "finds all the games", lolz.

There's something about the winter months that make me buy more Dreamcast games than usual. I think it's due to the lack of new games being released in January and being stuck indoors.

Dreamcast Collection for 360 and PC Revealed (don't get excited)

From SEGA comes the full press release revealing just what that Dreamcast Collection compilation disc contains. For those not in the know, back in December we made note of an XBOX 360 Dreamcast Collection compilation disc momentarily made available for pre-order at GameStop's website. This collection was confirmed in a Game Informer interview with Alan Pritchard. Well speculate no more, it contains exactly what I thought: Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 Part 2 and SEGA Bass Fishing. As Bass Fishing and Space Channel 5 have yet to hit downloadable marketplaces, I assume they will first release on the disc, thus providing a little incentive to pick it up. Also, I should note that no PS3 version has been announced. Then again PS3 owners get Virtua Tennis 4 this year, so it all evens out. ;)

SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that a packaged compilation of  classic titles from  SEGA’s  popular Dreamcast™  console will hit retail shelves on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PC. The Dreamcast Collection will be available on February 25th 2011 in Europe and February 22nd in North America, February 24th in Australia and February 25th in New Zealand.

The Dreamcast Collection includes the fan favourites Sonic Adventure™, Crazy Taxi™, SEGA Bass Fishing™ and Space Channel 5™: Part 2.  Players will get to enjoy four very different Dreamcast experiences, from hopping behind the steering wheel of Crazy Taxi, to taking things a little slower by luring in their fish before catching them hook, line and sinker with SEGA Bass Fishing. Alternatively, take over as intergalactic news reporter Ulala in Space Channel 5: Part 2 and dance your way past the evil Rhythm Rogues, or make it all about speed in Sonic’s first Dreamcast outing, Sonic Adventure!

SEGA’s Dreamcast Collection features enhanced graphics for both platforms versions, providing an even more engaging experience. In addition to this, achievements and online leader boards will be available for each game providing a competitive edge and allowing players to prove their skills!

“The Dreamcast console is still remembered as a pioneering console for online gaming,” commented Gary Knight, VP of Marketing at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe “We are delighted to be able to offer to our large community of dedicated fans a collection such as Dreamcast Collection for them to enjoy old favourites on this generation of consoles”.

Dreamcast Collection will be available in Europe in February 2011 for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PC and PC digital download.

While I know this might be a letdown for some who were hoping for many more games on the disc (such as Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue, Sonic Adventure 2 and Jet Set Radio), did we really expect SEGA to cram all those great games on one disc? What is more likely the case, we'll see all those other games down the line and hopefully they'll receive the same treatment as successive volumes. If the retail price of $30 remains, at the very least those who didn't pick up the games on XBLA will save $10 by getting the disc.

Dreamcast rarity Space Channel 5 Part 2 could be a great port and the cover art is pretty cool. There's also a chance that there will be a disc menu in which you can select the games, unless the disc simply causes the titles to appear in your game library. I'll probably pick it up simply because it isn't every day that you see something Dreamcast related on game store shelves.

Interview with Corey Marshall, the DC Turns 12 and ODCM Overload

Courtesy of the awesome SEGAbits community member Supa comes a great interview with the English voice actor of Ryo Hazuki, Corey Marshall! Fittingly, this interview comes the day after Ryo’s fictional birthday. Ryo would have been forty-two years old. Check out the interview to see what Corey has been up to, hear some great stories from the days of Shenmue 1 and 2 and his thoughts on Shenmue City!

Click here to read more

In other news, while it happened a few days ago, the Dreamcast had it's 12th birthday in Japan on November 27th! Yup, November 27, 1998 was the day the Dreamcast first hit the retail market. And here we are in 2010 still talking about and still anticipating new (independently developed) games for it! Dead console my foot!

In other OTHER news, I have finally completed my Official Dreamcast Magazine collection! All I was missing was Issue 0, and now it is mine. Muahaha. Hopefully before the holidays I'll get to making a video detailing the mags as well as maybe showing off the demo discs.

My collection as of now...200 games you say?

Well, roughly 200 games anyway. If you start to get technical and don't count games I own in multiple regions, don't count discs like Visual park, What's Shenmue etc etc it varies, plus I actually forgot to include a couple games that were in PAL cases and a couple Japanese games I'm considering selling. Either way to celebrate this milestone here's a bunch of photos showing most of them. The ones with spine cards are not sealed by the way; rather they have sleeves over them to make them look that way. I know, sad..

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Capcom vs SNK, Capcom vs SNK 2, Marvel vs Capcom, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Power Stone,
 Street Fighter Zero 3, Street Fighter III W Impact, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Star Gladiator 2, Vampire Chronicles,
 Last Blade 2, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, King of Fighters Dream Match 1999, Evolution '99, 2000,
 2001, Guilty Gear X, Dead or Alive 2, Fighting Vipers 2, Virtua Fighter 3tb.

18 Wheeler, Cyberteam in Akihabara Pita Pies, Bikkuriman 2000, Blue Stinger, Cardcaptor Sakura: Tomoyo's Video War,
Blue Submarine No.6, Cool Boarders Burrrn!, Cool Cool Toon, Crazy Taxi 2, D2,
Daisessen, Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Mix, Daytona USA 2001, Death Crimson OX, Expendable,
F355 Challenge, Fish Eyes Wild, Frame Gride, Get! Colonies, Get Bass.

Gigawing, Godzilla Generations, The Lost Golem, Mobile Suit Gundam E.F.F Vs Zeon & DX, Jet Set Radio,
Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2, Lack of Love, Mr.Driller, Napple Tale, Net De Tennis,
Netto Golf, Pro Yakyu Team de Asobonet!, Pop n' Music 2, 3, 4,
Power Jet Racing 2001, Psychic Force 2012, Plus Plum, Puyo Puyo 4, Puyo Puyo DA!

 

 Puyo Puyo Fever, Puzzle Bobble 4, Rainbow Cotton, Radilgy, Rayman the Great Escape,

Rent-a-Hero No.1, Rez, Roommania #203, Samba De Amigo, Samba De Amigo Ver.2000,

Sakura Wars, Sakura Wars 3, Sega Rally 2, Sega Tetris, Sengoku Turb,

Sengoku Turb Fanfan I Love me Dunce-Doubletendre, Silent Scope, Shenmue, What's Shenmue, Sonic Adventure 2.

Space Channel 5, Spawn in the Demons Hand, Sports Jam, Tako No Marine, Tetris 4D,

Tokyo Bus Guide, Treasure Strike, Trizeal, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, Virtua Striker 2 Ver.2000.1,

Visual Park, Zombie Revenge, Zusar Vasar, Last Hope, Wind & water Puzzle Battles,

Rush Rush Rally Racing DX, Cosmic Smash, Segagaga, Last Hope Pink Bullets, DUX.

Dreamcast Express Vol. 4, Vol. 7, Armada, Gauntlet Legends, I Spy Operational Espionage,

Maken X, MDK 2, Pen pen Triicelon, Power Stone, Resident Ecil CODE: Veronica,

Space Channel 5, Speed Devils, Super Magnetic Neo, Sword of the Berserk: Gut's Rage, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater,

TrickStyle, Wacky Races, 4X4 Evo, Alien Front Online, Atari Anniversary.

Bang! Gunship Elite, Bomberman Online, Charge N Blast, Coaster Works, Demolition Racer No Exit,

Floigan Bros, Frogger 2, Gigawing 2, Illbleed, Jet Grind Radio,

Kao the Kangaroo, Looney Tunes Space Race, Mars Matrix, Maximum Pool, Metropolis Street Racer,

Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits 2, Ooga Booga, Outrigger, Phantasy Star Online Ver.2, Power Stone 2.

Q*Bert, Quake III Arena, Ready 2 Rumble Round 2, Sega Smash Pack, Samba De Amigo,

Seaman, Sega GT, Sega Marine Fishing, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia,

Sonic Shuffle, Starlancer, Test Drive Le Mans, Tokyo Extreme Racer 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2,

Typing of the Dead, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Unreal Tournament, Vanishing Point, Xtreme Sports.

4 Wheel Thunder, Aerowings 2, Bangai-O, Chicken Run, Chu Chu Roket,

Confidential Mission, Crazy Taxi, Deadly Skies, Donald Duck's Quack Attack, Dynamite Cop,

Ecco the Dolphin, F1 World Grand Prix II, Fur Fighters, Gunbird 2, Heavy Metal Geomatrix,

House of the Dead 2, Hydro Thunder, Jet Set Radio, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Mortal Kombat Gold.

Pod 2, Project Justice, Pro Pinball Trilogy, Rayman 2, Re-Volt,

Rush 2049, Samba De Amigo, Shenmue II, Solider of Fortune, Sonic Adventure,

Soul Calibur, South Park Rally, Chef's Luv Shack, Stunt GP, Super Runabout,

Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing, Stupid Invaders, Tech Romancer, Toy Commander, Virtua Tennis

Virtua Tennis 2, V-Rally 2.

Gagaman crazy DC splash out ...again.

So yeah, I've spent rather a big chunk of money on this large bundle of Dreamcast stuff you see above you. For reference there is 70 games amongst it (68 American, 1 PAL and 1 Japanese), two controllers, two VMUs, two rumble packs, a VGA box, two microphones (bundled with Seaman and Alien Front), a fishing controller and Samba De Amigo Maracas. To be fair I'm not keeping everything you see here: whenever I buy bundles I end up selling whatever I don't want out of it to make some of (or if I'm lucky sometimes all) the money back Obviously there are plenty of games here I already own, and in some cases I will be replacing my chunky PAL games with these much slimmer-on-the-shelf American versions.

Now I'm pretty aware that this black Sega Sports Dreamcast isn't mega rare over in America but not many of these pop up here in the UK for sale and I must say it's much nicer than I was expecting.The fact that even all the buttons and areas that are normally grey on a standard Dreamcast are all black too makes it look very slick, and the matching controller is a nice compliment to it as well. The system even had two black VMUs to blend in with it, though a shame there was never any black rumble packs. I now own PAL, American and Japanese Dreamcast consoles. Why? Why not?

The one lone Japanese game that featured with this bundle was also a highlight for me, that of the rather pricey 2.5D platformer Napple tale. Separately this would have cost me quite a bit, much like that time when I got a bundle that had Gigawing 2, Trizeal and Radilgy in it: it's the only way I'll ever afford to buy some of these rarer games, even if it does mean I end up with a ton of other games I already have lol.

Highlights amongst the huge array of American titles include Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Grind Radio (now own all three regions of this game lol), all three Sonic games, both Tony Hawks, every Sega Sports 2K2 game (including the odd renaming of Virtua Tennis 2, changed in the US to Sega Sports Tennis 2K2), both Power Stones, Seaman, Alien Front Online, both Phantasy Star Onlines, both Crazy Taxis, Daytona USA, both Sega Bass and Marine Fishing, both Tokyo Extreme Racers, both Reday 2 Rumbles, and lots and lots more. Phew!

After sorting out what I want from the lot I have a total of around 200 games for my Dreamcast: roughly 50 PAL, 50 American and 100 Japanese, plus the indie releases, and I'm still not done! I must be nuts.

Paper Dreamcast Goodies

During a recent trip to visit the parents, I uncovered a few Dreamcast goodies in the remnants of my old bedroom (now the combination workout/storage room). The first of these goodies is a very cool flyer advertising the Dreamcast's US launch. As you see above, the cover is very minimalistic and follows that dark edgy aesthetic that was so popular in the late 90's.

The flyer opens to a cool render of the console, with the design and features detailed on the second page.

It opens once again to show screens from the two biggest launch titles: Sonic Adventure and NFL 2K. I loved this campaign.

The other side detailed the other launch titles as well as titles that released later in the fall, complete with screens. Overall, it's a very stylish and well designed promo item. Hey, it made me want to buy a Dreamcast!

 Next up is a postcard advertising Phantasy Star Online. I found this at a sandwhich shop located next to my dorms in Chicago. They were given out via a little rack filled with cards advertising anything from vodkas to video games.

I had also found a Seaman postcard but forgot where I put it. However, it looked like this:

Finally we have a full-scale replica of Granda II! Okay, it's not that exciting, but it's sorta cool. These were put on display pre-release at stores like GameStop to advertise upcoming games. I received this along with a massive Sonic Shuffle box when I politely asked the store employee if I could have them.

Left: The imposter, Right: The real thing

So there you have it! Paper Dreamcast goodies. Until next time, keep dreaming!

Join The SEGA Network Scrap Heap

Inspired by a discussion at The Saturn Junkyard, I've created a shared Flickr photo group called "The SEGA Network Scrap Heap"! The SGNW Scrap Heap is a shared album open to all readers and writers from the Sega Network blogs. The purpose of the Scrap Heap is to collect photos of our SEGA collections to create, well, a scrap heap of SEGA consoles, games, books and collectibles.

The only rules are that you may only upload photos of items you own, no fuzzy Google image searches, and that the items must pertain to SEGA. Feel free to show off your shelf of PS2 games, as long as there are SEGA games to be seen. No worries if a pesky Squaresoft or Nintendo game sneaks into the frame.

Check out the album here and start uploading!

Revenge of Video Games New York

Last year I chronicled a trip to New York, specifically the video game mother load that is Video Games New York. Well warm weather has returned and so another trip to New York seemed in order! While the trip consisted of a number of non-gaming related activities (I'll save you from stories of glowing lobster heads), I'll just detail the the video game moments. Unless you'd like to see a glowing lobster head.

Last time I visited the shop, I was overwhelmed by the amount of games. Literally shelves and shelves devoted to each console! Used games were out in the open, while hundreds of sealed games sat behind glass. The last time I had seen that many sealed Dreamcast games in one place was GameStop in 2001. Still, I had a sneaking suspicion that the reason why so many games go unsold is because of another factor. I ruled out ghosts and assumed the games were marked up to insane prices. After checking the tags, I was mostly correct.

VGNY is great, don't get me wrong, but the prices were and still are selectively insane. I can understand why a sealed 'Capcom vs. SNK" is priced at $60, but do they really have to charge $10 for used copies of NFL2k when they clearly have over two dozen of them? A new in box late production model Dreamcast went for $160, used VMUs (sans cap) were $15, used lightguns were $50 to $60. For the most part, $10 is the lowest used game price, even for the crappiest of crappy games. A disc-only copy of the first 'Tony Hawk' might be $7, but that's as low as they'll get. So forget about picking up 'Razor Freestyle Scooter' for a few bucks as a laugh.

Having this knowledge of inflated prices, I came prepared with a list of games that I had my eyes on as well as the average ebay prices for said games. That way, if I were to spot 'Stupid Invaders' for $25, I'd know that on ebay it can be found for $30 and I'd be making a wise choice to pick it up at VGNY. Unfortunately, I didn't encounter anything from my list at VGNY that I couldn't get for a half to three quarters of the price on ebay.

Fortunately, and this is the HUGE positive I have about VGNY, there is always a treasure to be found. Something that slipped through the cracks and avoided a crazy price. Last year I snagged 'Illbleed' and 'Floigan Bros', this year I found a PAL copy of 'Headhunter' for $25 and the XBOX version of 'Sonic Riders' for $9. VGNY also stocked a number of copies of 'Wind & Water Puzzle Battles', 'Rush Rush Rally Racing', 'DUX' and 'Last Hope Pink Bullets'. For the most part, the indy games were on par with their online prices. Though $60 was a bit much for the 'Rush Rush Rally Racing Deluxe Edition'.

While I didn't leave VGNY with the pirate's bounty I was hoping for, I did leave knowing I was a smart shopper. Not as cool as a pirate though...

eBay eXtra

After my visit to VGNY, I hit up eBay on my iPod and went shopping. I couldn't end the day with buying only one Dreamcast game! I found a sweet Dreamcast game lot and placed a bid. Four days passed and the auction countdown began, and so too began a bidding war. In the end my top asking price became too much for them and I won a lot of three games I didn't have: 'Tech Romancer' (complete), 'Record of Lodoss War' (complete) and 'Bangai-O" (disc only). I also won two games I already had: 'Soul Reaver' (complete) and 'Sonic Adventure' (disc only). Total price: $39.

I had once rented all three games, and loved each of them. It's nice to have them in the permanent collection. 'Tech Romancer' especially. I've always loved games that truly take advantage of the VMU. Capcom seemed to have been masters at VMU utilization, whether it be mini-games in 'Tech Romancer', item trading in 'Power Stone 2' or the health bar display in 'CODE: Veronica'.