Segagaga has Finally Been Translated into English — Here's How to Play It (and How it was Achieved!)

The headline you see above is not some form of freaky clickbait, nor is it a two-month-early April Fool’s prank. It is, however, signalling one of the biggest pieces of Sega Dreamcast news that we will probably ever report here on this website. Some thought it would never happen, but the day has finally arrived: Segagaga is now playable in English, thanks to the work of a team of dedicated fans led by Exxistance. If you just want to know how to play the translation, skip to the end of this article, where you will find a link to a download and instructions on how to apply the patch to your existing disc image of Segagaga. But we felt it was important to document the technical feats which made this holy-grail translation possible — and to ensure that those responsible receive the recognition they deserve. So read on if you want to learn more!

If you’ve spent more than ten minutes in Dreamcast fan circles, you’ll undoubtedly be aware of Segagaga, a 2001 Japan-exclusive RPG that tasks players with running Sega as it tries to regain market share against its main competitor, DOGMA (Sony, basically). Developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega, the game is well known for its wacky humour (much of it at Sega’s own expense) as well as its abundance of references to the company’s past IPs. Because of this, Segagaga has retained an almost mythical quality among Western Dreamcast fans, and from the moment it became clear the game wouldn’t be released outside of Japan, it has without a doubt been the most anticipated English translation of any game in the console’s library.

But as I'm sure you're aware, Segagaga's translation journey has been wrought with roadblocks. Many projects have started up over the years, only to inevitably fizzle out. But as we previously mentioned at the top of our interview with Segagaga’s creator, Tez Okano, the reason for the game’s multiple-decade stint in translation hell wasn’t due to a shortage of skilled translators capable of handling its distinctly Japanese humour, but rather a series of daunting technical hurdles.

The primary challenge stemmed from Segagaga's use of the Dreamcast’s BIOS font, as editing it was thought to be impossible for the longest time. What's more, the game only supported Shift-JIS encoding for text, a common two-byte format for Japanese language that was widely used in video games of the era (and still is today, though typically alongside ASCII or UTF support). Without changing the game to retrieve narrower Latin alphabet characters from the BIOS instead, the original Shift-JIS would leave the in-game text looking horrible, and too big to fit in numerous places.

Demonstration of Shift-JIS encoding, provided by Derek Pascarella.

By contrast, many other Japanese Dreamcast titles rely on their own internal font sheets, unique to each game, meaning that savvy hackers can go in and swap a Japanese font sheet for an English one, adjusting spacing between characters, along with other necessary tweaks. Because of this, these games were able to see successful translations much sooner, and form the majority of past fan translations we've seen for the console over the years. 

After two decades of unsuccessful attempts at translating Segagaga, it was time to bring in the big guns. Cracking a technical nut this tough required a meeting of some of the most talented minds the Dreamcast scene has to offer, including megavolt85, mr.nobody, VincentNL, Derek Pascarella, and madsheep. If it weren’t for them, I can only imagine how much longer it would have taken for us to see this translation become a reality… perhaps another decade?

In steps megavolt85, hacker extraordinaire, who was one of two previously responsible for making it possible for Atomiswave games to be ported to Dreamcast. On megavolt's input, Derek Pascarella explains:

"megavolt85 modified Segagaga to interpret ASCII, the single-byte encoding commonly used for the Latin alphabet. Not only that, but he modified the game to read from the ASCII section of the BIOS font, rather than the Shift-JIS section."

The next step was to make it so that ASCII from the BIOS could be edited. This was where Derek worked his magic, and shares how he made it happen:

"Segagaga speaks directly to the Dreamcast’s BIOS when it comes time to render text on screen. After megavolt85 did all of the assembly hacking to force the game to interpret ASCII-encoded text and then pull from the ASCII section of the BIOS font (rather than Shift-JIS), I started poking around a bit to see how it all worked. What I discovered is that the game actually copies the entirety of the BIOS font into RAM pretty near the location where the game executable ends! So, I disabled the assembly code that performed this copy, then also disabled the code that null’d out that portion of RAM before doing the copy. I then appended the BIOS font to the end of the game executable, and just like that, the font data was precisely where the game expected it to be, and it could be modified! This came in handy a number of times as font glyphs needed tweaking for optimal appearance."

See how much better ASCII looks in comparison:

Demonstration of ASCII encoding, provided by Derek Pascarella.

It appeared that the first-documented Segagaga translation patch project —which began in 2006— did manage to make progress in this regard, but unfortunately wouldn't see an update past 2013. While nothing technical from that previous project would make it into this one, project lead and texture artist Exxistance reveals that he was still able to utilise a wealth of other archived community resources.

"What was helpful [...] were the various artefacts people left on the internet, including the FAQs on GameFAQs that were created back in the mid-00s. Those were especially useful in helping me get my bearings as I initially worked through the game. Other helpful resources included The1Ross’ Open Source Translation Project, as well as various YouTube videos like Korone’s full playthrough of the game."

It was actually on a Dreamcast-Talk forum thread initially created to share The1Ross' project, where Exxistance would post his English-translated edits of Segagaga's textures. From there, mr.nobody —who previously worked on the English fan translation of Dreamcast horror title Seven Mansions— would get in contact with Exxistance.

Sega Dreamcast Visual Novel "Di Gi Charat Fantasy" has been Translated into English!

Hey kids! Do you like visual novels? …What’s a visual novel, you ask? Honestly, I don’t blame you for not knowing. When it comes to video game genres, these things are nicher than even the Sega Dreamcast itself. Well, Di Gi Charat Fantasy is a visual novel, and it's the latest English fan translation project to come our way from hacker extraordinaire —and good friend of the Junkyard— Derek Pascarella, along with a team of other talented individuals. 

Di Gi Charat Fantasy will be the the second officially released Dreamcast visual novel to receive an English fan translation patch, the first being Nakoruru: The Gift She Gave Me (also released by Derek et al) which received its updated 1.3 patch back in June.

Originally released exclusively in Japan on PC in early 2001, with a Dreamcast port following later that year, Di Gi Charat Fantasy presents an alternate storyline to Di Gi Charat, an anime and manga series I remember being fairly prevalent in the late-90s to early 2000s. The game was then ported to PlayStation 2 with some additional content as Di Gi Charat Fantasy Excellent. This PS2 port received an English fan translation back in October from Gopicolo, and serves as the basis for Derek's patch for Dreamcast.

Here's a little background provided by Derek on Di Gi Charat, and what you can expect from the plot of the game...

"The early anime [of Di Gi Charat] is set inside Gamers, a real retail chain in Japan that sells character goods and pop-culture media, with the main store in Akihabara. Dejiko, Puchiko, and their floating companion Gema work at Gamers, trade barbs with rival idol La Vie en Rose, and lean into running gags like Dejiko’s signature eye beam attack.

"In 'Di Gi Charat Fantasy' on Dreamcast, players will find themselves pulled from the familiar Gamers setting into Etatia, a separate fantasy world. During a spat at Gamers, Dejiko fires her eye beam, a portal opens, and the whole group is swept away. The player character wakes in a forest with Dejiko, who now has amnesia and a gentler demeanor. From there the story follows a visual novel structure with voiced scenes, character banter, and route-shaping choices as the cast explores Etatia, meets new allies and foes, and works toward restoring Dejiko’s memories and returning home."

Di Gi Charat Fantasy is a pretty standard visual novel. Lots of cutesy anime characters and text to read, with a wide variety of choices to be made that effect the direction of the narrative — with eight different character routes in total. There are also plenty of anime cutscenes in this one, so it's definitely good for existing fans of the series. Despite this, it is still accessible enough for those who haven't engaged with the franchise before.

If you fancy giving Di Gi Charat Fantasy a try, you can head over to its GitHub repository to download the patch. Instructions can be found in there on how to patch an existing GDI of the game. Another handy download that can be found in the repository is a fully completed VMU save. The game locks its "Extras" section until the player has completed all eight story routes, so this downloadable save file will give players immediate access to a cutscene gallery, a video gallery, and a music jukebox. Again, instructions can be found in the GitHub on how to transfer the save to a VMU.

Download Patch (1.0)

I always love to see Japanese Dreamcast games get translated for English-speakers, making them accessible to a whole new audience. Let us know if you'll be giving this one a go in the comments...

Sovietborgs on IndieGoGo, El Dorado Gate Translation, Outtrigger Back Online - Summer DC News Round-Up

 Credit to Dreamcast Enjoyer for the Virtua Fighter 3TB background.

The scorching summer heatwave has finally dissipated, providing me with the opportunity to sit here and type up a Dreamcast news round-up without melting into my creaky computer chair. Fortunately though, while I've been lounging around outside, Mr Freeze in hand and with the neighbours clingy cat at my feet (Trevor, generally chill, occasionally bitey), others in the scene have been busy cooking up all sorts of goodness. And, really, given the variety on display, there should be something here to suit everyone's tastes...

One of the few consumer goods to have avoided the savage inflation of recent years. I'm still waiting for a response to my enquiry about a DCJY edition though - call me back Mr Freeze!

News from the Indie Front

The stream of commercial indie releases on Sega's swansong console has definitely slowed over the last year or two. During the frenetic period that roughly coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of titles were being published each year, and the pipeline of forthcoming games was packed. In hindsight, maybe that was never sustainable in the long-run, and it is feasible that the market became a little oversaturated. Who knows, maybe I'll scribble a deeper dive into the phenomenon soon, but regardless, the indie market is certainly far from finished and there is still plenty to look forward to.

Undoubtedly deserving of top billing here is the launch of the Sovietborgs crowdfunder by Dreamcast scene heavyweights Retro Sumus. After blessing us with the sublime Xenocider in 2021, this European development outfit took a well deserved break, but thankfully, last year we began to hear them stirring again. This time around they are pitching a top-down run 'n' gun game set in a parody world where the Soviet Union won the Cold War (and Gorbachev didn't end up starring in Pizza Hut adverts). Ample detail is available on the IndieGoGo page, so I won't regurgitate it all here. The campaign has around three weeks left to run, and the crew are 57% of the way towards their £41k funding goal. Here at the Junkyard we're hoping Retro Sumus are successful - if anyone is deserving of backing, then it is scene-stalwarts like them!

In other recent news, Gladmort, the 2D action-platformer that pays homage to titles like Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Metal Slug and Magician Lord, has been landing on the doormats of nerds all around the globe. Lewis was enamoured with the game's visual panache when he covered its KickStarter launch last year, and now we'll get to see if it lives up to his (and others) expectations. Those who missed the pre-orders but are now interested can pick up a copy from Pixelheart should they wish. I didn't take the plunge on this one, but a couple of our other writers-at-large did - hopefully one will turn out a review (yeah, Mike, that means you, buddy).

The PAL edition of Gladmort. Photo courtesy of MikeRox.

Elsewhere, occasional updates continue to arrive about the handful of other indie titles that are in the oven. A few days ago, the good folks at JKMCorp let us know that Shadow Gangs Zero is making steady progress and that the Dreamcast version is expected to be ready in early 2026. Orc Face Games, who published The Storied Sword earlier this year, are juggling several projects. In late April they announced that Chew Chew Mimic was available to pre-order (for a mere £15 a piece), but their latest news is that the Dream Disc '24 build is tested and "good to go", which hopefully means that discs will be printed soon. Ross of Orc Face has admitted that development of their key title HarleQuest! has slowed as a result of these other initiatives, but nevertheless, transparent KickStarter updates continue to arrive on a steady basis, and the latest post (May 2025) notes that the aim is to get the game to a content-complete state by the end of Q3 2025. Personally, as long as the game gets there in the end, I wouldn't begrudge a few delays - Orc Face are doing a lot of good for the scene and are worthy of some patience...

A work-in-progress version of the Dream Disc '24 demo disc cover.

Patience? Patience?! But Lozz, I here you cry, where is the news on Izzy's Arcade and Terminator 2D No Fate? Well, since Senile Team playfully hinted that Izzy could make a return to the Dreamcast, Roel and his posse have been tight lipped. We really must see that semi-sequel on our beloved console, though. Ditto for Terminator 2D NO FATE, which Bitmap Bureau have declared will be coming to retro consoles (without specifying which).

Whopping Big Translations

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Dreamcast will know that the Japanese market received swathes of titles that never saw the light of day over here in Europe or across the pond in the States. However, thanks to some plucky and selfless people who dedicate hours to producing translations, this disparity has been gradually chipped away at over the years.

Most recently, bigbanana23 (look, that it a perfectly good username alright?) announced that they have begun translating Capcom's multi-volume RPG El Dorado Gate. Spanning seven(!) entries on the Dreamcast, which, if you are lucky enough, you can pull together in a neat slipcase, this title has undoubtedly been high on the wishlists of many for a long time now. Clearly it is still early doors on this project, but the initial signs are looking positive. 

A complete set of El Dorado Gate, including the snazzy green slipcase.

It also fills my heart with joy to see that Exxistance is inching ever closer to being able to release their translation of the iconclastic Segagaga. This month they released a new video which demonstrates how far the project is progressing. Word has it that the aim is to drop this muther as a 25th anniversary patch, which would suggest that 29 March 2026 should be booked off work (and maybe a few days after that actually). Of course, we don't want to apply any undue pressure - when it's ready, it's ready. For now, if you've got Segagaga on the mind, be sure to check out our interview with its creator Tez Okano.

Oh, and how could I make a blog post without mentioning the Italian Stallion himself, Derek Pascarella?! Those with an interest in the technical side of translations should check out his recent social media posts exploring some problem-solving in action on the Love Hina: Suprise Engagement translation (W.I.P).