Wipeout Ported, Segagaga Fan Translation Breakthroughs, Speed Devils now Online - Dreamcast News Round-Up April 2025

I must confess, there’s been a flurry of Dreamcast news these last couple of months that has largely passed me by. Distracted by the day job, some new(ish) part-time studies, and about a billion hours of pointing up the ugly paving slabs in my back garden (still somehow unfinished), I’d taken my eye off the ball. Fortunately though, a rainy Sunday has presented me with the opportunity to get caught up, and rather than taking notes just for my own benefit, I thought I may as well draft a news round-up for the Junkyard.

So, after dusting off my keyboard, pinching a list off Lewis, and conducting a systematic desktop review of relevant sources (skimming Dreamcast Talk), this is what I’ve managed to drum up. In no particular order, here’s what’s been happening in the Dreamcast scene lately.

Get in loser, we’re playing Dreamcast online

I know some folks take little interest in this aspect of Sega’s swansong console, but I MUST urge them to reconsider at every available opportunity, as 2025 is arguably the best time to be playing the Dreamcast online since its commercial heyday. We’re only in April and online multiplayer modes for several titles have already been launched or revived this year.

Most recently, in March, Speed Devils Online was brought back online thanks to the sterling work of Shuouma and flyinghead. As explained by PC Wizard in his Dreamcast Live blog post, Shu started work on this title way back in 2017, with some of us hoping that it could be cracked reasonably easily given that the game shares server code with the likes of POD 2 and Monaco Grand Prix Online (all developed by Ubisoft). Alas, it wasn’t as simple as that, but thankfully, eight years on, flyinghead has picked up Shu’s groundwork and managed to finally solve the puzzle.

Speed Devils Online opening screen, courtesy of Sega Retro.

Rewinding back a little further, in January the Dreamcast ports of two colossal PC titles were brought online. First of all, NuQuake, a version of Quake ported to the Dreamcast (thanks to mrneo420, dreameatergames, Ian Michael, BERO and Kazade), was brought online out of nowhere by a fellow called Maximqad. Why would you want to play the original Quake when the sublime Quake III Arena is available I hear you ask? Well, for one thing, NuQuake supports up to 16 players in a single match, far more than any of the officially licensed Dreamcast titles were able to manage. Fair warning though, if you do try NuQuake out, then a Dreamcast Broadband Adapter is highly recommended, as performance via dial up is currently still pretty sketchy.

The second port of a monster PC title that was brought online for the Dreamcast in January was no less than Counter Strike. Granted, unlike NuQuake which is publicly available, this title is still very much a work in progress and remains in a closed testing phase for now. Nevertheless, footage has been published by The Sega Guru showing the online multiplayer mode functioning via real hardware which is tantalising in and of itself. So, who’s responsible for this development? Maximqad of course. They’ve come out of left field, are rapidly stacking up big wins, and we’re all for it. God speed.

If battling it out over a phone line isn’t your vibe, then there are plenty of other reasons to get your Dreamcast online. For one, you could browse through the hundreds of thousands of internet radio stations available via the refreshed DCPlaya software released by Delux in February. Or, maybe you want to back-up your VMU saves, but don’t have a VM2 or one of those wacky cables Lik-Sang pushed back in the day? Well, now there is a web browser-based option in the wonderful Cloud VMU produced by Robert Dale Smith.

2025: year of the port

The last few months have seen an unprecedented wave of hefty high-quality ports released for our beloved little white box. Sometimes this blog may come across a little hyperbolic, but in this case I reckon there are reasonable grounds for getting hyped, and each of the following deserve your attention for varying reasons:

Wipeout box art snippet nabbed from Laced Records.

This month (April 2025) jnmartin84 released a port of the eternally cool Wipeout to the Dreamcast, which commentators such as The Sega Guys are (reasonably) touting as the best version of the game to date. Feature complete, running at 60fps, and with input remapping to allow for the Dreamcast controller, this is exactly the kind of work that we love to see. Check out the project’s GitHub page for more details.

Jnmartin84? Doesn’t that username ring a bell? Ah yes, that’s because in January, they also released a virtually perfect port of Doom 64 that features a whole suite of enhancements, some of which are exclusive to the Dreamcast edition, including real-time lighting. A gushing overview and interview with the developer from the Junkyard's founder, Tom Charnock, can be found here. 

Unless you’ve been entirely cut off from civilization lately, you’ll probably know that an alpha port of Grand Theft Auto 3 for the Dreamcast (yes, that still seems ludicrous to type) was released to the world on New Years Eve 2024. Without being paid a penny, a phenomenal international team of volunteers led by skmp achieved what many had thought would be impossible, thereby resolving a debate that has been running ceaselessly in the scene for nearly a quarter century. Oh, and as if that wasn’t impressive enough, they followed it up with a port of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in April, as covered by Lewis for the Junkyard.

Ken Rosenberg upon reading this blog post...

Unwilling to let the momentum fade, skmp is now beavering away at porting a more contemporary title, The Liquid Jet, to the Dreamcast too. In fact, Sad Mask Party’s “slimy and psychedelic” PC adventure game is so fresh that only a demo is available right now. It is hoped that the first level will be playable by the end of this month – stay tuned for further updates.

Segagaga Encore: A Fan Recreation for PC - Alpha Footage Released!

Back in June, while scrolling the paragraphs of conversation that populate the Dreamcast-Talk Segagaga forum thread, I came upon a post from a developer known as Rengundo, who mentioned that he was working on recreating the first chapter of Segagaga in Unreal Engine 5. Sharing a short 27-second clip of some gameplay, it looked surprisingly faithful to the original. It was on PC, as opposed to the Sega Dreamcast, but —perhaps most importantly— it was in English!

After getting the chance to recently talk with Tez Okano about Segagaga, my appreciation for his game was at an all-time high. But I was soon hit with the sobering reminder that an English fan translation patch for the game continues to remain a non-starter, despite the community's best efforts. As detailed in the introduction to that interview with Okano-san, technical issues with in-game text hacking has been the main hurdle that has prevented any fan translation patch project of the game from reaching completion.

That was when I found myself wondering about Rengundo's project once again. Replying to a comment on his original video, it turned out he was still working on it. He had encountered some issues with Unreal Engine 5, but had since switched the project over to Godot, and confirmed that an update was due imminently.

A cutscene from Segagaga Encore, which uses Ross O'Reilly's open source translation of Segagaga.

On January 5th, alpha footage of what Rengundo was now calling "Segagaga Encore" appeared on YouTube, and well, it's looking really impressive! In the new engine, Rengundo had not only managed to effectively recreate the game's distinct graphical look and "Development Studio A" area, but also its opening cutscenes (complete with English dubbing), and its RPG battle system — all in widescreen. This remake will also feature modern quality-of-life improvements like free movement and cinematic camera angles. If you want to see it for yourself, I have embedded the video below.

While we all obviously want a fan translation patch of Segagaga to be released someday for the Dreamcast, this outside-the-box approach of delivering at least something playable in English —in this case the first chapter— is certainly not something to be sniffed at, especially when it looks this good. Intrigued to learn more, I got in touch with Rengundo to ask him all about the Segagaga Encore project.

DCJY: Hi Rengundo, thanks for agreeing to answer our pressing questions about your Segagaga Encore project. We're really loving what we've seen so far, and are excited to get into the ins and outs of the project with you. First though, we must ask: when was the first time you encountered Segagaga? What was it that drew you to the game?

Rengundo: Thanks for inviting me to answer these questions! I first heard about Segagaga in early 2023 while looking around forums for interesting games to potentially translate. The strange name immediately caught my attention, and the more I learned about it, the more intrigued I became. I’m not sure there’s anything quite like it. It’s this wonderfully self-deprecating, meta take on Sega’s own struggles at the time, where two high schoolers are tasked with saving the company from bankruptcy. 

What truly fascinates me is the way Segagaga blends humor and commentary on the gaming industry. For instance, its “battle system” revolves around arguing with Sega employees. After each battle, there’s a chance to negotiate salaries with the employees, trying to bring them onto your team at the lowest possible rate to maximize your budget. A lot of its jabs at industry practices, like rushing out unfinished titles to boost sales during high demand, still feel very relevant today. It’s such an interesting little game that it’s impossible for me to ignore.

Various technical hurdles with hacking Segagaga have been blamed for why we don't have an English fan translation patch for it already. Was your recreation of Segagaga on PC an attempt to take matters into your own hands and bypass the roadblocks that face the Dreamcast version?

Absolutely. By the time I learned about Segagaga, there was some decent progress on many of the hurdles, though there were notable issues that still remained. As someone new to the Dreamcast modding scene, and seeing the nearly two decades of failed attempts to make an English version, I didn’t feel confident in my ability to create a translation patch. I had the idea of making the game in Unreal Engine, as it didn’t seem too logically complicated if I only focused on the RPG parts. I decided to recreate the first chapter of the game, hoping that part of the game being playable in English could build interest and support for patch efforts. 

For the earliest version, I ripped the player’s sprites from VRAM to make a sprite sheet for him and put some basic movement code together. I shelved the project when new people announced they were working on a translation patch. But after more than a year with no updates from them, I decided to pick it back up and have been making progress since.

An Interview with Tetsu "Tez" Okano - the Mastermind behind Cult Dreamcast RPG Segagaga

There isn't a day that goes by in the Sega Dreamcast community where someone doesn't ask when an English fan translation of Hitmaker's 2001 Japan-exclusive Segagaga —the RPG simulation title where you run Sega— is releasing. Since the mid-2000s, a handful of translation projects have been announced, only to inevitably fizzle out, leading some to go as far as to brand the game as "cursed" (see also: “the final boss” and “the Half-Life 3” of Dreamcast translations). But what many may not realise is that rounding up the perfect group of persevering translators to see a translation through to fruition is the least of Segagaga's problems. The biggest hurdle facing any translation patching attempt is actually the way the game was originally programmed to draw text from the Dreamcast's BIOS, as opposed to using a font sheet, like many (successfully translated!) Dreamcast games do. While the core of this issue has been solved by some exceptionally talented hackers in the Dreamcast fan community, there is still much to be worked on.

Photo of the regular Segagaga release. Photo: doceggfan.

But it's only natural that out of all the games, an English translation of Segagaga would be the most sought after by fans of Sega and the Dreamcast alike. Segagaga satirises Sega itself, providing an entertaining tribute to its diverse and beloved back catalogue of franchises and characters, while also not pulling any punches in its portrayal of the then-struggling corporation's various business missteps. Some great tributes have followed since, such as the animated series Sega Hard Girls, and ensemble games like All-Stars Racing Transformed. However, through its brutal honesty and self-awareness, it is Segagaga which stands out the most, not only as a fitting love letter to Sega, but also as a prime example of the rebellious nature the corporation was known for during its time as a console manufacturer.

When it came to masterminding Segagaga, there was truly only one man for the job. Step up Tetsu Okano, aka Tez Okano, aka "Zolger Tetsu", aka "Ichizou Zoruge", aka the director of the best Astro Boy game. Known for his unconventional approach to everything from video games to manga, Okano-san truly took a risk when he set out to create a game that poked fun at the very company he worked for, and we are elated to reveal that we recently got the chance to talk to him all about his career, and of course, Segagaga.

Screenshot of Segagaga. Credit: CDRomance.

Translator extraordinaire Duralumin —who previously assisted with our Kenji Tosaki interview— returns once more to translate Okano-san's answers from Japanese. Laurence Goodchild also deserves a shout out for assisting with the questions and supplying the lovely photos of the Segagaga launch event, scanned from issue 16 of Italian Dreamcast magazine Dreamcast Arena.

But this wouldn't be an interview with Tez Okano if it didn't diverge from the traditional format in some way! When asking Okano-san about his earliest memories of video games, his reply was... a comic? Well, in case you didn't know, in Japan, Okano-san published an autobiographical manga called "8-Bit Chronicles" which covers his formative years as a child discovering the burgeoning world of video games. He supplied us with the first two chapters in Japanese, and Duralumin —who translates manga professionally— proceeded to translate them into English. We have uploaded them to a Google Drive folder so you can read them, which is something I implore you do. The comic is not only an awesome homage to the golden age of video games, but also very amusing.

A small preview of the first page of 8-Bit Chronicles, as translated by Duralumin.

Finally, Okano-san wanted us to stress to you, our audience, that the answers you see below from him are his recollections of events that happened over two decades ago. He wanted to make sure that we clarify that he is not speaking officially on Sega's behalf, just recounting his own memories of the time. With that disclaimer out of the way — the interview!

Photo of Tez Okano. Credit: Sega Retro.

DCJY: Thank you for talking with us, Okano-san! We thought it was only right to start at the beginning, so what are your earliest memories of video games?

Tez Okano: When this is published, I hope you'll share the first chapter of my manga, 8-Bit Chronicles. It covers Space Invaders, Galaxian... I could talk about those games all day! But this is probably the easiest way to understand the story of why I, as well as many other Japanese kids in the late '70s, fell in love with video games.

What led you into a career in the games industry, and how did you eventually join Sega?

When I was still in my college years, I made my debut as a manga artist through Kodansha. However, working as a manga artist, you don't really have any security once your series is over, so I found myself enticed by the gleam of the rising star that was the gaming industry. And of course, Sega at the time was still young, and seeking unconventional talent.

"Morning" magazine, where Tez Okano's early manga work was published. His name can be seen at the top of the woman's right shoulder.

So let's get into Segagaga. It has been documented that you developed the game in secret for two years before presenting it to Sega. What was your reasoning for keeping it a secret?

Many places have a particular culture around satire, parody, and irony, Japan included. However —I understand you’re from England— irony is much less familiar to us in Japan than it is in the UK. And while Sega was a pretty big umbrella, it had no shortage of people who would take issue with self-deprecating parody. You'll also notice there's never been any effort to make, say, a Namcococo or Nintendododo, for example, and that should tell you something. That being said, Sega has always prided itself on doing the crazy stuff that no one else could pull off, and the Segagaga project explored that philosophy to the limit. But, it just wasn't the kind of thing that you wanted to make a show of around the company, and invite all that scrutiny and risk the project's survival.

For Whom The Bell Tolls...

Question: What is the greatest piece of video game music ever written?

Answer: The Justice Ray, by Hyakutaro Tsukumo

This is the face of unparalleled musical genius. Truly.

What do you mean you've never heard of it? It's Tsukomo-san's magnum opus, and its legacy is entwined with Sega's own destiny. Before we skip ahead though, lets start at the beginning - the very beginning.

Dream Room UK 2011 Marathon on YouTube!

If you missed my Dream Room UK 2011 livestream marathon from a few months ago, you could find it all on my livestream page, but now I have started uploading it to YouTube as well in 2 hour chunks with bits like me walking off to grab things cut out to save some time! The rest of it can be seen below!

Part 2 here. 
Part 3 here.
Part 4 here.

SegaGaga Translation project Interview on Racketboy

Racketboy has just posted a superb interview with the manager of the Segagaga translation project James Howell. it gives an in-depth look into the process, the reasoning, and the troubles that come with translating such a unique game that is so rooted in Japanese game culture and the many in jokes that even many Japanese natives may not get, let alone us. One thing that is noted is that the translation will be released as a patch as they do not intend to release a hacked version of the game itself as that would be breaking Sega's copyright of the game. They really do have a lot of passion and respect for the source matreial and i really can not wait to see more of this translation come to fruition.

Segagaga Translation Project Resumes!

A long while back, a group of english speaking SEGA fans made it their mission to translate the Dreamcast cult classic Segagaga. During the past year and a half, the project slowed to a near halt. Thankfully, things seem to be speeding up again as the Segagaga Translation Blog has returned with new posts and an update on the project! Check out their blog for all the details, and make sure to wish them luck!

I can't wait to see the finished product.

Check it out: Segagaga Translation Blog

DCJY InsideOut: Segagaga Box Set + Perfect File Book

This is a video from sometime in 2009 I found on my hard drive that I never got around to editing and uploading for some reason. Better late than never I suppose! This is of course that rather wonderful Segagaga box set that I bought back then, with the t-shirt, pin set, organizer and game in a DVD case. I posted some photos and info about it here back when I got it, but somehow this video got put aside until I found it today.

I have another InsideOut video that I made a few months back that I've also finally sorted out that will be up (probably) tomorrow and then after that I will work on some new videos with any luck!

The Segagaga Box set: Inside Out

Back in 2000 I learned about Segagaga in magazines, and found the official Japanese website that had all sorts of great images of the mysterious game, including all the limited edition content made for it including a Mega Drive style VMU and the collectors edition box set of the game. The game sounded so awesome to me that not only did I name my first foray into website making after it (which later became Mangagaga, where characters from the game made appearances in the comics) and also saved a whole bunch of the images which are now used as elements of Sega Memories.

I've been wanting to own this game ever since I heard about it, even if it's all in Japanese so I probably wouldn't get that far in it, considering it's an RPG of sorts. Particularly I wanted the box set that contained some rather fancy goodies. For years now I've been attempting to get one on eBay when they rarely pop up, getting outbid left right and center by people willing to blow more cash on it than me. Recently I found one by searching for 'SGGG' rather than 'Segagaga' that had a starting price of £50, and in a stroke of sheer luck, no one else even attempted to outbid me for it! Even better: the item was located in the UK so the postage wasn't as high as all the ones coming from Japan before it. It showed up at last the other day, and here it is!

A pretty simple white box with the SGGG logo. Open it up to reveal..

Even more SGGG logos! The presentation is very simple, and not the colorful craziness of the Samba De Amigo maraca set, but then the Dreamcast box itself was like this too with just a logo on it.

The game itself comes in a odd box. It looks like a DVD case but is twice as thick and also a little bit taller. Inside it has two disc holders (even though the game is only one) and the manual is CD sized, just like the one you'd get in the regular release in a CD case. A shame they couldn't make a book shaped manual with bigger art to match the box. Oh well.

Contained in the little white box is one of the nicest goodies: the pin set. There's a pin here for the logos of all of Sega's significant consoles from the Sega Mark III (AKA the Master System) to the Dreamcast along with a SGGG pin. The box is kind of cheap feeling but the pins are sweet.

The T-shirt at first glance looks just as minimalistic as the box, which nothing more than a logo on it. Take it out of it's re-sealable package and check out the back however..

..and you get this fantastic black and white image of Sega's many console controllers dangling and a huge Sega 'S' along with the words 'Generation S 21st century, Sega control the world". Of course they do. Ahem.

Finally there's this little black organizer book. The first pages include the lyrics and a music sheet of the 'Segagaga March' theme tune. The next two pages include some info about some of the oddball characters you'll fight in the game (including Alex kidd). After that it goes into normal organizer pages of dates, phone numbers, addresses etc. Oddly enough all these pages are in English.

As for the game itself. I've played it before via a CD-R copy of it, although on that to fit the game on a CD many of the cut scenes were removed. There is a translation guide for the first chapter of the game on gamefaqs which I used but once you get to that point you get into the game development simulation which is far more complicated as you have to manage your staff while they tap away at their computers programming games for you (the results of which turn out to be classic Sega games from all their consoles or parody games like 'Mortal Wombat' and 'Sega Lolly'). With the CD-R I could also rip a bunch of artwork from the game and screenshots from the cut scenes (the ones on it, that is)

Yes, those are the troops from the Mega Drive game ESWAT. GEEK OUT.

To see more of the game I dug out my trusty DC Tool disc which contains hundreds of VMU Save files, including a complete save file for this game. You can't technically play the game with this, but you can check out all the wonderful cut scenes, the games that your staff develop and best of all the unlockable mini-games.


I'm sure you've all seen this footage of a scrolling shooter where you fight each of Sega's consoles that spit out sprites from Golden Axe, Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier II amongst other things, but what you might not know is this mini-game is pretty much what the canceled Thunder Force VI for the Dreamcast could have been like. There is a mode with just the bosses one after the other but also a mode where you get a full stage of enemies (which include pink Playstation controllers, CDs and Mark III controllers) before fighting each boss. This mode is almost like a full scrolling shooter in itself, and is more fun to play than quite a few full shmup releases on the Dreamcast, even if it is a bit short. This mode also features some stunning remixes of classic Sega music, even Vectorman is represented!

The other mini games include one where you have to push Dreamcast boxes into a lift which is essentially a clone of Soko-ban, that also features music from Pengo. There's 40 puzzle in total to solve, which get rather tricky. Finally there's a game that requires you clean dirty Sega arcade cabinets before the time runs out by rapidly bashing the A and B buttons. It's amusing for a bit and has rankings to beat. To me the game was worth buying for the shmup mini game alone, it's amazing. I'm going to rip some footage of these which I'll upload later. If you missed it before check out this great video review of the game by the Happy Console gamer.

Segagaga Review by the HappyConsoleGamer

If you've never seen the late Japanese Dreamcast release Segagaga then prepare to cream your pants with Sega fandom glee. If you thought Sega Superstars Tennis was a love letter to Sega fans you have seen nothing until you have seen this. I've personally known about it for years (why do you think my old web comic was called Mangagaga?) but I still sadly don't own it. This guy in the video above however, does own it and he owns the special edition box set they made that contains all sorts of neat stuff like a set of pin badges for every Sega console. Way too awesome.

If your thinking the heaps of Japanese text in the game will put you off, luckily there is a guy who is dedicating himself to translating it. You can check out his progress at his 1up blog. He is also looking for help on the programming side of things, so if you have the technical know how and own the game you could help out! Once again talented fans are keeping the Dreamcast and it's games that many may of missed alive.