Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts

New Dreamcast Compatible Arcade Fight Stick heading to IndieGoGo!

We've seen a lot of new indie hardware teased or released for the Sega Dreamcast in the last few years - such as the VM2 and a number of new controllers - but what with the popularity of fighters on the system, it was only a matter of time before someone produced an arcade/fight stick for it. Well, that is exactly what is going to happen as Turkish company TR Fight Stick are heading to IndieGoGo on November the 18th to pitch their "Octopus" arcade fight stick to the world.

Based in Istanbul, Turkey, TR is known for producing precision quality fight sticks and other arcade accessories, but it was not for these products that they previously crossed the radar of the Junkyard. Back in 2018, TR advertised the "Dreamcase", a metal shell that could house your GDEMU in the interest of keeping everything compact and sleek. While this idea wasn't one I noticed taking off much with Dreamcast owners, TR's latest Dreamcast-related project is definitely sure to. I mean, who doesn't love a nice arcade stick? 

TR reached out to us the other day to inform us about this upcoming project, and I must say the Octopus looks like a really nice bit of kit, and that's just from seeing prototype images (like the one above), as well as the trailer the company put out to promote their campaign. See listed below all of the bells and whistles we can expect from this upcoming controller:

  • Compatible with the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, MiSTer, and more. 
  • Custom built Dreamcast Encoder PCB: this arcade stick offers a built-in next-gen backlit VMU and 10 separate internal memory cards. You can swiftly swap the internal VMUs with a combination of buttons.
  • Connection is wired for microscopic latency.
  • A layout inspired by the ergonomic Vewlix layout, which is designed for lengthy gaming.
  • Non-slip padding ensures the controller is comfortable and stays put during intense gaming sessions.
  • Both analogue and digital control modes available. 
  • Changeable artwork for personal flair. 
  • Activate Turbo button for turbocharged game sequences. 
  • Start button on the rear and a tournament lock switch to prevent unauthorised changes. 
  • Uses the Open Stick Community's GP2040-CE multi-platform gamepad firmware.
  • SOCD Remover. 

While I'm not exactly quite sure what an "SOCD remover" is, I'm sure some fighting game buff somewhere just nodded their head with satisfaction upon hearing that information. Just giving you all the facts I can, folks. Anyway, check out the teaser trailer below to see some cool 3D renders of this potential product.

The IndieGoGo campaign for the Octopus launches on Saturday the 18th of November, at 8AM PST. A portion of the funds will go to aid recovery efforts for the earthquake that struck Turkey back in February of this year. TR can be found on Twitter if you want to follow them for further updates about this campaign.

Do you like the look of this fight stick? Do you think it's exactly what you need to enhance your Capcom vs. SNK gameplay experience? Let us know in the comments below or on one of our many social media pages.

Prototypes of Retro-Bit's Upcoming Dreamcast Controllers Finally Revealed

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

Let's face it, the Dreamcast controller isn't exactly beloved. Sure, it was the tool that granted us the ability to experience some of the best games to ever exist, but unfortunately suffers from a not very ergonomic shape, a single uncomfortable analog stick, a funky D-pad (no, not the Jet Set Radio kind of funky), and a wire that comes out of its butt. Probably it's best attribute is the fact that it is compatible with a variety of accessories like the VMU memory unit, the rumble pack and the microphone, but those don't make up for how sore your hands feel after an intense sesh of Maken X.

Anyway, those who frequent the Dreamcast community may recall that Retro-Bit, a manufacturer of all kinds of aftermarket retro gaming accessories, including officially licensed recreations of Sega controllers, announced a redesigned Dreamcast controller in 2020 with an ETA for later that year. In 2021, they provided an update to say that due to manufacturing shortages, the controller had been delayed. Finally, at this year's Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Retro-Bit finally offered us a glimpse of these much anticipated pads.

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

Thanks to our friends at Sega Saturn, SHIRO!, those who didn't attend the convention were able to get a look at these in progress prototypes of both a wired and wireless variant of Retro-Bit's controllers via some photos they uploaded to Twitter. Matching the original designs presented to us in 2020, these upcoming controllers feature a more comfortable-looking recessed analog stick (compared to the dome design of the original), a Sega Saturn style D-pad, redesigned trigger buttons, and six face buttons that are laid out in a slanted orientation more suited for fighting games, with the C and Z buttons doubling to mirror the L and R triggers. On the wired version, the wire comes out of the top. This means there is now only one VMU slot available, however the controller does include built-in rumble, and if you're anything like me, the rumble pack is all that second slot gets used for anyway.

The wireless Bluetooth version shown off does not have a built-in VMU slot, and instead opts for the use of a VMU receiver dongle, which is similar to what we've seen from the upcoming Retro Fighters StrikerDC wireless controller. A possible reason we're seeing this workaround from companies like Retro Fighters and Retro-Bit was explained to us in our Discord by our pal Derek Pascarella (not affiliated with either company, just a bit of a tech whizz), who explained that not only can Bluetooth connections be interrupted which can lead to save data being corrupted, but also the "madness of trying to synchronise timings of a Bluetooth signal with strict MAPLE bus timings for Dreamcast input peripherals". Very good, what he said. So far, the only person to pull off this technical feat of allowing VMU support in a wireless controller is Chris Diaoglou with his DreamConn, and we can only imagine how much time and effort that took him to pull off.

Retro-Bit's dongle connects from USB-C to the Dreamcast controller port, stands vertically, and even has a little kickstand for extra support. Retro-Bit's wireless controller will also ship with a compatible USB dongle for compatibility with PC, Mac and an array of modern consoles.

Photo courtesy of SHIRO!

At the expo, SHIRO! also filmed an interview with Retro-Bit's Marketing and Product Specialist Andreas Ordonez, where he showed the controllers off a bit more, and also answered some very important questions. Andreas confirmed that various aspects of the controller are still being improved and ironed out, such as the form-factor, and how the VMU receiver will operate. With this in mind, he said we may hear more in 2024 depending on how everything progresses. As for pricing, he speculated that it would possibly by in the $49.99 range and not much more than that, with the wired version obviously being cheaper, although an idea of price wasn't given for that one.

I do like the idea of having a Saturn-style D-pad and an improved analog stick, but I'm personally not as keen on the drastic change to the layout of the standard A, B, Y, Z button layout, and perhaps wished they'd opted more for something like that of the Mad Catz Dream Pad, that preserves their original position (I never thought I'd praise something Mad Catz made). Also, while it's not so much an issue for me, the form factor still looks very similar to that of the original controller, which many have criticised for being unergonomic, so to have all these potential improvements but keep that original shape seems a bit of a misstep. But of course, these are just prototypes, so are subject to change from what we should expect from the final product.

Anyway, let us know what you think of these prototypes in the comments section below, or via one of our many social media channels. A big thanks goes out to Sega Saturn, SHIRO! for their coverage of these controllers. Be sure to go check out their website.

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!

DVD Support Heading To Dreamcast

Artist's impression. Um.
DVD is the one that got away when it comes to discussing the Dreamcast and the age-old reasons for its failure to go stratospheric. One of the many reasons people held out for a PlayStation 2 was because it offered the consumer the opportunity to try out new-fangled digital versatile discs, and it was an inspired tactic if you look at it from a business perspective. Yes, the Dreamcast was (and still is) a hoofing system and plays host to some of the finest vidya gaemz known to humanity; but back at the turn of the century the promise of owning a console that could also play movies out of the box was too great to resist for the majority.
An IDE modded Dreamcast is required at present
Anyway, it seems that the ever-inventive Dreamcast community has worked out a way to allow the Dreamcast to 'see' an external DVD drive as a storage medium and attempts to run games stored on DVDs have been successful. At present, the DVD drive is being used as an alternative to a standard IDE HDD with consoles modified to accept such a storage device, but with more development time it appears that running DVD movies on a Dreamcast is entirely plausible.

The original thread over at Assembler Games tells us a little more, and I also spoke to programmer Luiz Nai who is assisting the DreamShell developers in this quest. Here's what he told me:

"If you have the IDE-Mod in your Dreamcast just connect a DVD-IDE drive on your Dreamcast. You put the ISO files on the DVD and select them as you do on the HDD. At present, games files in CDI or GDI format are incompatible as games that use CDDA (Compact Disc Digital Audio) would not work. Also, the Dreamcast certainly has the power to run DVD movies but at the moment the priority is to get the DVD drive to read games. At present, the project is in the debug phase and the game Millennium Soldier has already been tested successfully."
- Luiz Nai

Probably don't start getting your DVDs in out of the garage just yet then, folks. And if you do you can probably just play them on literally any other device in your house (including some fridges, apparently). However, for another example of how the Dreamcast community strives to add new functionality for no reason other than it can, look no further.

Source: Assembler Games