Dreamcast Console Shells in 2021

As recently as 2018 we debated why, or more accurately if; there would be a market for third-party shells. And it would seem that finally there is 'a market' of sorts, in the sense that there are now at least 3 areas of purchase available should you want a shell in the great old year of 2021. 

With this I am obviously talking about various sellers on eBay rather than the retro section of your local Jimmy Games Emporium R Us or whatever stores are left these days, but there are now options out there if you want a new shell for your trusted Dreamcast and you aren't Kayne enough for the Dreamcase Metal shell.

TR Fight Stick Opens 'Dreamcase' Metal Shell Pre-Orders

Cast your mind back to November 2018 and you may recall an article here at the Junkyard about a custom Dreamcast shell being designed by TR Fight Stick. Fast forward to February 2020 and you can now pre-order said custom shell. Named Dreamcase, the case allows you to take the innards from your favourite console and plonk them inside a metal prison that claims to keep the contents at a perfect operating temperature courtesy of a silent fan.

It's worth bearing in mind that your Dreamcast needs to have been modded with a GDEMU or similar device before stuffing it inside the Dreamcase, as there's no way to play GDs once the shell replacement has been completed. Well, without taking the lid off again...which defeats the object somewhat.

The design will probably divide opinion as it makes the Dreamcast look more like a small form PC than an actual Dreamcast, but for those who want to give their console the ultimate visual makeover, this could be just what you are looking for. Some of the info listed on the TR Fight Stick website includes:

• Blue Backlight (Homogeneous)
• Compatible with GDEMU and DCHDMI
• New Technology DC 12V Mini Power Supply
• Extender PCB for SD-Card 
• Game Swap Button for GDEMU
• Compatible with 56K Modem and DreamPİ
• 40MM Silent Fan ( Noctua Supported ) 
• Not Supporting original GD-ROM nor USB-GDROM 
• Metal Sticker with Serial Number for Each Case

It looks as though TR Fight Stick will need pre-order numbers to reach 100 units before they can go ahead with mass production (each unit costs $149.99 plus shipping and comes without a power supply), so time will tell if there is enough demand for the Dreamcase to become a reality. Check out the Dreamcase at the TR Fight Stick website.

Credit for this news snippet goes to my DCJY colleague Martin, who discovered this while Googling for Fight Stick parts. So what do you think? Will you be taking the plunge and splashing out 150 big ones? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

TR Fight Stick & Beharbros Working To Bring Custom Dreamcast Console Shell To Market

There is a market for custom Dreamcast console shells, and we all know it. The standard white ones yellow like crazy after a few years, and even with a nice peroxide bath they still go yellow again in time. Yes, there are the black special editions such as the R7 and SEGA Sports models; and there are the official and unofficial aftermarket coloured console shells, but they now fetch silly money on certain auction sites, so for the average Dreamcast gamer they aren't a viable option.

We recently ran an article here at The Dreamcast Junkyard asking whether a new run of official coloured console shells from SEGA would be a viable money spinner, and the general consensus was a deafening yes, but obviously no-one at SEGA gives a flying toss what we - or the Dreamcast fan base - has to say, so it obviously fell on deaf ears. Fret not though, as somebody else has heard the aforementioned call.

SEGA says "no!" - or rather...nothing.

Enter TR Fight Stick, a firm known for creating top quality custom fight sticks. Working in conjunction with Beharbros, the fine people behind the Akura, Toro, Hanzo and Gekko Dreamcast display adapters, TR Fight Stick might well have the answer to all of you custom Dreamcast console shell needs.

TR Fight Stick have previously created - as the company name may suggest - a range of high quality, metal-cased custom fight sticks and arcade cabinets. Their pedigree is pretty much confirmed at this point, and if you need any proof of this please feel free to visit their website and take a look. That they are working with one of the Dreamcast community's most highly regarded hardware creators on this project fills us with optimism.

We spoke to Yunus Emre Soğukkanli from TR Fight Stick to get the low down on this exciting new project. Here's what he said:

"My regular job is as a stunt coordinator and action director, but game consoles - and especially arcades - are my lifestyle. It's a special hobby for me. I've always made arcade stuff for myself as a hobby. But this year I decided to produce things for other people, simply because so many people ask me to sell my projects to them. So I produced the TR Fight Stick, and people loved it.

"I love the Dreamcast and I've always wanted to build a good quality Dreamcast shell. I think it will be a good introduction to my work for other people. I will produce it in both metal and wood. It will be look better and be more effective in terms of colour degradation and heat transfer I think."

- Yunus Emre Soğukkanli - TR Fight Stick

We can't wait to see how this project pans out, and that Beharbros is also involved fills us with a lot of confidence. BBS Products are always of the highest quality and if SEGA won't step up to the plate and give us genuine replacement shells for our consoles at a reasonable price, we hope TR Fight Stick and Beharbros can step in to their shoes.

It's probably worth noting that it does look (at this point, anyway) that this mod is only for Dreamcasts without an optical drive, but hopefully this will change in the near future. Keep your eyes peeled for further developments on this exciting project.

What do you think? Will you be in the market for one of these console shells? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter or in our Facebook group.

Links:

• TR Fight Stick
• Beharbros

Is There A Market For New Dreamcast Console Shells?

Let's face it - the Dreamcast is enjoying something of an extraordinary rise in popularity as of late. The little console that didn't back in the day, has attracted a whole new audience to bolster the ranks of the ageing and decrepit veterans (like me) of the initial war in which the Dreamcast ranks were decimated. We have returned and we now have reinforcements.

With this in mind, firms like Retro-bit have jumped on the opportunity to capitalise on the renewed interest in the Dreamcast, and rightly so. The promise of affordable wireless controllers and VGA boxes has done wonders for the Dreamcast's reputation on social media. We want to go one step further though. Remember the aftermarket multi-coloured shells for the Dreamcast console? Well...why not bring those back too?

There were both official Sega-branded and unofficial Dreamcast console shells available back in the day and even though they were hard to acquire in the era of the Dreamcast, they have become almost impossible to find for a realistic price in the current climate. Only a couple of firms actually produced the third party shells, and these have long since gone bust, leaving the remaining stock to become highly collectable and fiercely contested when they appear on eBay.

With original Dreamcast consoles going yellow at an unprecedented rate (even after whitening, the colour fades after a couple of years), we are now calling on Sega to fire up those furnaces and moulds and re-issue aftermarket Dreamcast console shells. We don't care if they're in standard white, standard black or in any number of other colours - there is a huge market for this type of augmentation, and for Sega to ignore this demand would be pretty ridiculous.

Come on Sega - you rarely listen to your fanbase when it comes to software releases, but the recent collaboration with Retro-bit to bring wireless controllers to the mainstream showed that there is a real thirst for stuff like this. Listen to us. Listen to your fanbase. Get those Dreamcast moulds out of storage and give us a new range of multi-coloured Dreamcast console and controller shells and your license to print money will be reinstated.

What do you think? Would you buy these cases if Sega or a third party brought them back to market? We know we would! Let us know in the comments or join the conversation in our Facebook group or on Twitter.