The Light Fantastic

Today's post is a bit of a cop out, as it has required minimal creative input from me. Other than, y'know, browsing Youtube, watching people fire M&Ms out of their belly buttons into cups, realising what the hell I'm doing and then looking for proper stuff...like this:

Yeah, a guy with a blatantly obvious talent for electronics (and a truckload of patience, I'm guessing!) modded a VMU so that it has a cool backlit screen. Reminds me of the Game Boy Light...only smaller, and I would probably buy one if he was making them to order as it looks fantastic when plugged into the controller. I was actually planning on doing a post about this:

Please ignore the dust on the TV. The butler hasn't been in yet.

It's a Dreamcast SD card reader I managed to acquire through a very odd series of events that I won't go into here, but after wasting a shit-load of CD-Rs and trawling various forums I still can't actually work out a) how to use it; and b) what the point of it is if you've already got 90% of the DC's game library and enough VMUs to fill a quarry. I understand it can be used to run other operating systems and games from, but to be honest I'm not really overly interested in that kind of thing...so it shall remain in my box of Dreamcast-related paraphernalia as an odd little curio, alongside the tissue holder and the jar of pickled eyeballs.

Purely Belter

Alright. Just been trawling eBay for Dreamcast stuff and I happened upon this little trinket:

It's advertised as a VMU Belt...which is a pretty accurate description...but look at it! It's just a VMU glued to a canvas belt! Call me cynical, but isn't this the cheapest attempt to glean cash from DC fans you've ever seen?

Saying that though, if this Frankenstein's belt had been around back in the day (1999), I probably would have bought one. Beats carrying the enormous and unwieldy bulk of the massive VMU in your pocket. Hmmm.

Fancy one? Go here.

iVMU

Via Kotaku comes this rather cool VMU mod. Looks like the new iPod Nano has the exact same screen size as the Dreamcast's VMU, so somebody was smart enough to put two and two together! It's a pretty cool mod, however it would be extra cool if the VMU still functioned. The buttons seen above are merely aesthetic now. I'll bet some genius could jail break the Nano and add a VMU emulator then find some magical way for the Nano to talk to the Dreamcast. If only that was made a reality...


Check out more photos here!

More than just an orange swirl

こんばんは！ OK, that's the last Japanese I type unless someone asks me to. Good evening, dear readers. For my first post on the hallowed 'yard, I thought I would bring something special. Something from a distant land. Over here, for whatever reason it is (though I have my opinions) we don't seem to give much of a damn about limited editions. Over in Japan, there have been limited edition game consoles and peripherals since the early 90s. Typically, if someone says they've been playing games from Japan, it'll usually be chipped or modded native hardware, playing 'backup' games/CDRs. Rarely, do people import consoles themselves. There's the large postage cost, the language barrier and the question of power sources (see my reply to "modded DC goodness"). There is, however, a beautiful and rarely seen world of limited edition consoles and peripherals...

This is my Sakura Taisen (Sakura Wars) Dreamcast system. Sakura Wars is one of the largest RPG and anime franchises in Japan. In 2006 I went to the Sakura Taisen café in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Inside, the waitresses were dressed as the very characters printed on this limited edition Dreamcast. For those of you interested in Sakura Wars, I plan on doing a special feature at some point. There have been many limited edition games, including goodies ranging from calendars to music boxes, included with the games. Anyway, this one is pink (yes, girls either love it or worry about your sexuality), there's a matching controller and VMU too. All boxed. Lovely.

Doesn't this thing look evil?? It's my Regulation 7 Dreamcast. This is my console of choice. Sleek, sexy and very rare. Regulation 7 is related to the Pachinko (Japanese slot game) restrictions on gambling. These Dreamcasts were made for pachinko parlours (in the UK these are seedy "arcades" - think Piccadilly Gardens bus stop arcade), for people to get a feel for what the Dreamcast was about. Showing the "edgy" side of gaming, this black limited edition console really has character. Again, matching black VMU and controller. All boxed. Lovely. Running out of room; I will include my Hello Kitty Dreamcast in a Hello Kitty special in the future :)

Now, a weird peripheral this one. The Densha de Go! controller! Yes, you drive a train in the game. Yes, this is the controller. Yes, that space in the middle of the controller is for your pocket watch. Yes, I feel a bit weird owning one, but the plethora of DC stuff I own hides this weirdo controller... which is actually brilliant for Densha de Go! An often overlooked game, "Let's go Train!" is an excellent arcade conversion. More on that another time though... but you'll love it I am sure.

Anyone reading this on a MacBook, iMac or MacBook Pro? How about anyone owning a phone with a 0.3MP camera on it (VGA)? OK, well, the Dreamcast had a webcam years ago. It is a stand alone digital camera; a webcam and also part of a series of games and 'foto-fun' on the Dreamcast. Again, this is pretty rare folks. The build quality is astounding and it genuinely makes me wonder how the Dreamcast didn't crush the PS2 and DC2 (*we wish*) kill off the PS3 and rival XBOX 360 consoles. Only problem with this is that there's no memory card. That means, you have to upload photos to your Dreamcast and email them. Of course, you can save it on your VMU if you have one...

Which brings me onto my last photo and set of comments. Visual Memory Units. Look at them all. So cute. Why aren't we all walking around now, with something similar to a PSP/iPod Touch that plugs into our 360s? The potential of the VMU was huge. Plugged into arcade games, around a friends. Take your gamer profile with you... again, huge potential. As you can see, the bottom left VMU is the dull generic and UK only model. The others are, clockwise from top left: Godzilla VMU; SEGA direct black; SEGA direct camo; SEGA direct leopard; Astro Boy VMU; Reg 7 VMU; Limited Ed Green; Limited Ed Blue; boring-UK-why-the-fuck-don't-we-do-limited-editions VMU.

So there you have it. My first post and hopefully a little colour into the otherwise drab world of western gaming experiences. There's more to import Dreamcast gaming than an orange swirl...

New DCJ Video: VMU Wonders

There really hasn't been too many interesting videos of note popping up on Youtube recently, so I skipped Fideo Friday again this week. To make up for it, I've put together a new video of my own for the Dreamcast Junkyard Youtube. Remember that VMU Wonders article I wrote a while back? This is very much a compliment to that, featuring clips of dozens of VMU games, including instructions on how to get your hands on them all.

Wash Hands After Use

It's always nice to know that you're not the only Dreamcast fanatic drifting on the tides of the internet. Of course, the fact that we get such a high volume of visitors here, at the epicenter of Dreamcast activity in 2007 is proof that we are many. Sometimes though, a fellow appreciator of all things DC related comes to the fore with such a shining example of his or her love for the sacred white block, that we must all down tools and look upon them. And today, my brethren, today is Caleb's day.

Caleb, regular commentator on these hallowed pages and self styled Dreamcast devotee has produced an exceptional video-diary thing that explains exactly why shitting and the Dreamcast go hand in hand. Enjoy:

VMU Wonders

The VMU, Dreamcast's memory card thingy, is a truly underrated piece of kit and I'm surprised that the idea never managed to stick with consoles that came after it. Sony tried to rip it off just months after the Dreamcast launch in Japan with the PocketStation, and Nintendo did there own teeny tiny handheld with the Pokemon Mini, but this is still the best smaller-than-a-game-boy-micro hand held out there. Thing is, a lot of people who are first time buyers of a Dreamcast won't know of the possibilities of this little thing, other than saving progress. As if the screen and buttons weren’t a dead giveaway,

Back when the Dreamcast was online, many games had websites you could access on the disk which would have special downloads to add to your games. These include some lovely seasonal themes and extra race tracks for the Sonic Adventure games, new mini-levels for Rayman 2 and replacement characters for ChuChu Rocket. Then of course there were the Mini games. These were unlockable in certain titles, and as long as you have some watch batteries in the VMU, you could play little games on it on the move. In the end not many commercial games actually used this feature (mainly Sega and Capcom titles), but like all things Dreamcast, the Homebrew scene got into the act and programmed countless games, animations and even music for the device. While only one game can be placed on a VMU at any time, there are in total there are around 100 games for download out there. Now most people won't want to go to the hassle to set up their DC online, however, how can you get all this stuff?

This is where the wonderful world of HomeBrew development comes in again. VMU Collections have been made that can be burnt to a CD-R and played through the Dreamcast, which not only feature save files for every released DC game but all the other downloads too. The two best discs are VMUBackupCD by and VMUTOOL by . I'll be reviewing both of these discs, as well as showing you the best downloads for the VMU
which are on them.

VMUBackupCD: Available at El Bucanero, this disc has a very simple layout with full descriptions on each file. Nothing too complex here at all. Also, there is a disc you can get that also features a tool called VMUZIP, which lets you compress the amount of blocks a save file takes. When these games are compressed, you can't se them in the game, but this is very handy for games you don't play often that take a lot of blocks. All the VMU Games are in one folder, and you run them through a emulator on the TV and on the VMU screen sitting in the square ole your controller
, although I soon discovered that while you can emulate the Mini games, you can't actually copy them to the VMU to take away, which is a real shame. The other snag is probably he music, which as far as I can tell is not turn-off-and-onable, and also rather dull so you may want to turn the TV to mute while using it. It is, however, very good for save files.

VMUTOOL: Available at Blue Swirl, this disc has a hell of a lot of features, including some that need some sort of Dreamcast to PC plug in system going on, but plenty that can be used with just the DC too. This disc's layout may not be as simple or descriptive as BackupCD, it lets you do a whole lot more. Want to copy a save file to another VMU that the DC Bios tells you "cannot be copied"? Sorted. Want to change the colour and image of your VMU on the Bios without clearing all the files off? Sorted. Want to emulate AND download the mini games? Sorted. You can even slap a new image on the background of the DC Bios. Also the VMU game emulator on this disc is better and the settings are a whole lot more customable. Only thing that I got with this CD was it's a bit fussy which VMU's it lets you edit, and out of my collection of 10 (including the 4 slots on a 4-in-1 card) 2 of the VMU's crashed the CD every time I went into them on it.

CONCLUSION: get BackupCD for the save files and compression tools, and get VMUTOOL for the editing and downloadable mini games. There both worth tinkering with. One last note: the Mini-Games run better when actually downloaded to a VMU then they do in Emulation, where they lack their sound and often play to fast.

Now, onto the best of the Mini-Games!

Sega Pocket GT
From what I can tell this game was only available on the Japanese import version of the game (judging by how there's some Japanese in this game, although not enough to make playing difficult) and there is in fact three different sets of levels to download: Japan, Europe and America. Actually more fun than the game it was downloadable from, you find yourself racing on 6 tracks each set, trying to beat the clock while avoiding rocks and other cars. Graphics do their job well and there's also a great training mode where you have to prepare your little racer geezer to be ready for the championships. Great stuff. 9/10

Soul Calibur 3-in-1
I don't remember this being downloadable with the game but it's in English so I presume it was. This download gives you three cute little games: a game where you bounce treasure off of Volvo’s belly (no kidding!), a word puzzle game where you have to swap letters about to make words, and one where you have to light up the right rope to blow one of the characters out of a rocket. For those who can read Japanese, there is also a Soul Cailbur Text Adventure game for download. 8/10

Mini Pacman
A homebrew "port" of the game that as been on every format known to man (even Microsoft Excel). It may not run as fast as the original, and you are not able to see where about the ghosts are wandering about, but this is over wise a fine re-creation of the game. There's also some added features: a boost that lets you chomp faster for as long as you have the boost bar above empty, 20 levels including one in the dark, and even secret passage ways. 8/10

VMU Fighter
Possibly the best Homebrew title I have tried so far, VMU Fighter is a scrolling shoot 'em up with 4 changeling levels and some of the best SFX to be heard squeaking out of your VMU. Lot's of variation in the levels, and plenty to keep you coming back. 9/10

Chao Adventure 1 + 2
Downloadable off Sonic Adventure 1 + 2, you really need to do this on the actual game as it pretty much involves placing one of your own chaos onto an adventure where they bump into Sonic characters, get into fights and collect fruits. A lot of the game is made in he fashion of a virtual pet, where you leave it on and wait for it to bleep at you when an event occurs. Superb. 9/10

Chao Editor
An interesting homebrew download that lets you create your own Chao, or throw in one you have and edit it's stats (999 Power!), name, colour etc. Nice if you want to cheat n the Chao races on the games, or if you wan some truly freaky looking creatures in your garden. 7/10

VMU Football
Ok, so it's American football, but this mini-game features some brilliant animation and game play. Run trough all the opponents and make sure you don't get too close to them over wise they'll pounce on you. 7/10



VMU-a-Sketch
Missing our old Etch-a-sketch pad? Now you can use the VMU to be it's replacement! Still very hard to draw with, though. 6/10

Zombie Revenge
Another average Sega title with a great mini-game to download, here you train up the characters and gain points which can be used in the game. Featured are two games including the rather odd Zombie Fishing. 8/10

Breakout
Another homebrew "port". Cute SFX and still as additive as ever. 7/10

Space Invaders
More Homebrew classic game port goodness. 7/10

Tiny Tetris
"Tiny" is an understatement. You need very good eye sight for this. 6/10

3D FPS
Probably the most impressive of many VMU tech demos. Very short and vaguely interactive, but looks the bee's knees. 6/10

So while you should hardly expect Game Boy quality hand held games from your VMU, there is some nice stuff to pass the time away from it, so it's well worth a look into.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot to insert the links to the websitesthat provide these CDs! There up there now. I'll also add reviews of the Power Stone and Tech Romancer mini-games when I can remember what they were like.

iPod? Schmipod!

All this recent talk about the Dreamcast's most unsung hero got me thinking last night. As I began ironing my trousers for another long, dull day of mental anquish (work), my MP3 player fell out of one of the pockets and landed rather curiously slap bang next to one of my VMs. After nearly 14 minutes of standing there in total silence, staring blankly at the floor and dribbling, an idea began to form. An idea with implications of coolness not seen since the Fonze claimed one of the toilet stalls in Al's Diner as his office.

What if I combined an mp3 player with a VM?

I know that another site has featured such a device in the past (see picture below), but that was merely a prototype from Sega, and I doubt if it actually really worked. More probable, it was just an empy shell designed to get people interested in the ailing DC. Too little, too late methinks. And that idea of bundling a free DVD Player the size of Guatemala was a bit of disaster too. But I digress.My knowledge of electronics doesn't really advance much further than "give it here...are the batteries in the right way round?" and then banging whatever it is that won't work on a table until it does (but I get by with that technique quite well). However, basic knowledge of spacial volumes and the ability to use my eyes (rather well, actually) implicates that the innards of my £20 cheapo-nasty mp3 player will easily fit inside the shell of a VM. As of writing this post, I havn't attempted to do it (that will come in the next few days), but rest assured the possibility will be looked into. On the flip side, there is a chance that all of my VMs will end up like this:
Or, if after a few minutes of tinkering I believe that my skillz are not up to scratch, the project will be filed in the drawer along with my recently scuppered plans to change my Dreamcast's LED from that redundant orange to a more fitting turquoise.

I did manage to have a quick blast on Phantsy Star Offline last night too. First impressions: not really impressed. I watched the opening FMV then played for about 25 minutes but was largely unimpressed (how many times can I get away with using the same word?!) with the fact that I died twice at the hands of these big mole things while trying in vain to roundhouse their faces in. It always works in real life, so I'm a bit mystified as to why these methods are useless in a virtual world. Saying that, Dr Robotnik has just moved in next door and you couldn't hope to meet a nicer Gentleman. Perhaps I'm just being an impatient git though - loads of people (well, one - Diogo who reads this blog), have said how good it is. They can't all be wrong. Or can they...?

Now that the Dreamcast Junkyard has aquired it's own identity in the form of that rather lovely title banner (up there!), I thought it was about time that the people of the North West of England were enlightened as to what they are missing out on. Therefore, I saw it necessary to have an advertising banner placed by crane on the (still incomplete) new tallest building in the North, Beetham Tower :-)

PS - just seen the ad on TV for Tomb Raider Legend. Looks passable (although check the dodgy animation when Crofty dives over the waterfall). But right at the end, Lara says "I'm waiting" in that fake ass, non-existent 'English' accent. Why?! No neeeeeed!

Visual Memory, Baby!

You know what I really, really hate about the Dreamcast? It's the noise. The noise is unbelievable. I have moaned about this in the past - about the disk accessing and the hum of the fan, but this is about something else. And I'm sure everyone reading this will have experienced this at least once:

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

Yes, it's the VM politely telling me, the rest of the street and every dog in the neighbourhood that it's batteries are dead. I decided to remedy this annoyance by opening the VM and destroying the speaker module thing by twatting it with the screwdriver...but my common sense kicked in and told me that it'd probably disrupt the correct operation of the device. So I resorted to the semi-efficient practice of sticking a blob of blu-tack over the speaker vents on the back of all of my VMs.

However, it seems that all my beep induced problems have been solved. For today I picked up a Joytech 4mb VM (pictured) for the price of £2.49 stirling. I suppose it should really only be called an 'M' because it doesn't have an LCD screen, ergo dropping the need for the term 'Visual.' But it is this lack of an LCD that holds the true genius.

No LCD means no battery and no battery means no beep!!!! Plus, it's 4 VMs in one, so it abolishes the need to replace VMs every time I want to play a game with a save on another card.

Phantasy Star Online arrived too but I've had no time to have a go, but judging by the reports I've had fall across my desk about how good it is, I think my Friday night is sorted. Pub? nah. Phantasy Star Online. but offline. You get the drift.

***Tom Cruise update incoming***

Now, the Dreamcast Junkyard has brought up the subject of Mr Cruise on numerous occasions in the recent past. But this time, I feel I owe the pint sized scientologist freak a semi-apology. You see, I saw (not sure if that's good grammar) The Last Samurai yesterday and I must say that it's one damn fine movie. The story is quite believable, the fight scenes very impressive and the whole movie is beautifully shot. It doesn't quite undo the abhorrance contained within War of the Worlds, but it was good. But still, Mr Cruise worships alien ghosts that eat human souls. Quite.

***End Transmission***