16 Years, Still Thinking...

The 16th birthday of the NTSC-U Dreamcast is upon us. 16 years of awesome. Yes, it's an inanimate plastic object...but let's all wish the Dreamcast a Happy Birthday regardless!

If you'd like to read a bit more about the NTSC-U Dreamcast, check out our recent look at the different styles of US packaging here.

The Dreamroom Dreamcast Marathon returns on 9/9 at 9am ET!

From 2009 to 2011 here at the 'yard, I hosted the Dreamroom - a SEGA Dreamcast marathon celebrating the console's memorable American launch date. Since 2011, however, the Dreamroom remained locked. I knew I wanted to host another, but I was busy with work and my increasing duties at SEGAbits. Not to mention, I didn't think aiming a webcam at the TV cut it as a live stream anymore.

This year, however, I'm excited to announce that the Dreamroom is reopening on 9/9 at 9am ET at the SEGAbits SEGA Channel Retro Twitch channel for a special 8 to 9 hour marathon of Dreamcast games streaming directly from the console! Yes, I've finally caught up with streaming technology.

Hope to see DCJY regulars there as we celebrate 15 years of the SEGA Dreamcast!

Dreamroom 2010 Marathon Videos Hit YouTube!

Dreamroom 2010 was an eleven hour marathon that took place on September 9th, 2010 in celebration of the Dreamcast's 11th birthday. I streamed the event live from my living room, and throughout the day a number of viewers popped into the live chat to talk about Dreamcast memories. If you missed the event, you can watch the event in full (almost) thanks to YouTube's latest policy of allowing super long video uploads. The videos were originally recorded from the Justin.tv web stream that I held, so I apologize that they aren't in the HD we're so accustomed to.

The first part is above, the second and third are below. I have a good three or four more videos to share, so stay tuned to the DCJY and YouTube for more videos! For whatever reason, one video was being problematic. So I might not be able to share the final stages of Space Channel 5, Zombie Revenge, 18 Wheeler and Sonic Adventure 2. Still, there are a good 9 hours of gameplay footage to look forward to, enjoy the videos!

UPDATE: Added two more videos! Part 4 features Star Wars Demolition, part 5 features Rush Rush Rally Racing and Samba de Amigo. Again, enjoy!

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.

Dreamroom 2010 Postgame Show

 For those who missed the action yesterday, check out all ten hours of my stream available to view for another week as well as Gagaman's stream which currently has his four hours of gameplay on loop.

Another year, another loop added to the Dreamcast's swirl. As I stepped outside this morning, after a day of Dreamcast gaming, I realized that I hadn't stepped outside the entire previous day! Still, it was all worth it and I'd gladly do it all again next year. In fact, I will do it all again next year! Until then, let's reminisce on something that happened 24 hours ago...

The fun began when the always awesome Gagaman made a wise last minute decision to begin the party early with Dreamroom 2010 UK. He even made a cool version of my logo to go with it, blue swirl and all! Gagaman played a variety of games, from Japanese oddities to SEGA Marine Fishing.

A real man's game.

After a good four hours of fun (which you can still watch) things switched over to my feed (which you can also still watch). During the ten plus hours that I played, a good number of visitors popped in including Junkyard favorites Gagaman, Stacey (who is actually the inspiration for the game 18 Wheeler!), Caleb, Tom (he stopped into Gagaman's stream), BIGMercenary, A Moomintroll and SEGAbits regulars Crackdude, Fluffy and Cube. The first portion of the day saw Sonic Adventure, a good number of demos, Rent-A-Hero, Rayman 2, a complete auto playthrough of Space Channel 5 (best ending ever), Cool Cool Toon, 18 Wheeler, Zombie Revenge, Sonic Adventure 2,  Tokyo Bus Guide, Ecco, Super Magnetic Neo (ARGH!) and Tech Romancer.

Words to live by.

A Dreamcast rug in Rent-A-Hero!

The second half saw a visit from my good IRL friend and Dreamcast fan Jason. Those on the chat were in awe that two Dreamcast fans could exist in the same city and know each other. To prove Jason's cred, I'll let you all know that he brought his own Dreamcast controller (red) with VMU, cable extender, maracas and games. We played a good number of 2 player games including Capcom vs. SNK, Last Blade 2, SEGA Rally 2, Star Wars Demolition, Rush Rush Rally Racing and an hour and a half of Samba de Amigo. Best. Game. Ever.

Tougher than it looks.

After 90 minutes of maraca shaking, I was beat and so I called it a night. The Dreamcast was shut off and yet it still retained a warmth that surly was due to the love it felt for all the fans who remembered its birthday. Okay, so it was actually hot due to ten hours of use, but I still think love played a small part.

Until 9/9/2011!

The Dreamroom Returns - Streaming Live on 9/9!

I'm happy to announce that the Dreamroom will return for the Dreamcast's 11th birthday! The official date and times are as follows:

September 9th, 2010 

12am-11pm EST (US), 6pm-5am GMT (UK) 

Last year was a blast, and I'm sure this year will be just as fun. For those who missed last year's Dreamroom, essentially it will be eleven hours of Dreamcast gaming streamed live online with live chat. The first half will be me going solo playing Dreamcast games. During the second half the IRL party kicks off with whoever I invited showing up for multiplayer games and the occasional visit to Seaman.

Games will be played from my library, and requests are welcomed! Expect to see some of the best, worst and delightfully oddest Dreamcast games. Of course a Dreamcast birthday party isn't a birthday party without the guests, so I hope to see everyone (virtually) there!

Dreamcast Hangover.

I am feeling a bit blue this morning.

You see I was celebrating the Dreamcast's birthday last night with a few rounds on the off-white box.

Yep. In North America 9-9-99 only meant one thing...the Dreamcast (and stocking up on canned goods and bottled water for no good reason *Y2K*). And now so many years later the Dreamcast is still a wonderful gaming device enjoyed by many.

Yet this auspicious occasion was marred by this article that reminds us of of the sad truth that soon Sega will no longer support it's greatest creation. You should still read that Kotaku article though, the comments people listed below it are a testament to how great the Dreamcast truly is.

So go to Sega's website while you can if you need to grab a manual for the Dreamcast or a Sega Dreamcast game (Scroll down to the bottom of the manual's page). Or consider sending in your Dreamcast in to Sega to be fixed if it's a limited edition one.

I currently have 4 Dreamcast's in the house. One mint condition one hooked up to my VGA adaptor at my computer desk. My Sega Sports limited edition is in secure storage in my closet. Down cellar I have Dreamcast that has been professional repaired and a beater Dreamcast that I use the most. The only thing that has ever gone wrong with any of them was the control board blowing up the F1 fuse in my beater model. But a quick fix and that Dreamcast is still going strong. If you make sure that they are on a cool hard none-carpeted surface Dreamcast consoles can keep working for a long time... But it would be nice if I could send in my Dreamcasts to Sega to get professionally repaired after this month is over. Too bad.

Still it's not all bad news. While I was at a game store recently a young gamer who looked about 14 years old was buying Dreamcast games. I heard him tell the store clerk that he had only recently got a Dreamcast and that it was his favorite console. It's nice to know that the system keeps getting new fans even as Sega keeps trying to pull the plug on it.

But Sega can't end the Dreamcast. It has a life of it's own and it will never die.

All hail the undead console. All hail the Dreamcast.