Recently we discovered the Dreamphone, and with the help of the wider Dreamcast community were able to piece together the mystery behind this long forgotten peripheral. The Dreamphone turned out to be a repurposed Fujitsu My Phone YT8100, a simple device that let Japanese Dreamcast users connect to the internet and still allow phone calls to be made. The Dreamphone was given away as a low end Dream Point Bank prize (4000 points) and quietly fell into obscurity. It seems that Sega did have other plans for the Dreamcast when it came to telecommunications though, and here's proof:
This screen is taken from a video recently uploaded to YouTube by user DeChief. DeChief contacted me through the Assembler forums to ask if I would be interested in seeing a video that had been digitised from an old Japanese promo VHS tape. Naturally, even with overtones of the film Ring, I was keen and upon viewing it I realised the video was one I'd never seen before.
The second half of the upload busies itself with game previews (and includes footage of Geist Force); but it's the first half that offers up the good stuff. At the 3:45 mark, the video shows off some intended uses for the VMU which include being able to attach the device to an arcade cabinet, the VMU attached to a mobile phone, and a VMU stuck in a hi-fi mini system!
By now, it's common knowledge (well, in the Dreamcast community - probably not down the local pub) that Sega was planning some kind of Dreamcast MP3 player. The device would likely have connected to the system via the VMU slot and shared a form factor with the aforementioned memory device. Indeed, if you do a quick search on the worlds most popular search engine Lycos, you'll no doubt come across this image:
Cheers, IGN.
This whole subject seems to have become quite popular again in recent times, as evidenced by the sheer number of memes and videos showing people fitting iPod Nanos into VMU shells. To be honest, that whole thing isn't really new - we did a little article on potentially fitting a no-brand MP3 player into a VMU shell back in 2006, back when nobody gave a flying turd about the Dreamcast and this was a personal blog where I told fanciful tales about buying tins of beans and cans of Carlsberg with money I found in the street (that hasn't changed in the intervening decade, by the way).
If you have dabbled in anything Sega Dreamcast in the last so many years, you'll most likely be aware that the modern indie game scene for the console is bustling, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Despite the abundance of new indie software releases for the Dreamcast, there was one physical indie release in particular that seemed to peak my interest recently for an entirely different reason unrelated to the game itself, that being Hermes: Limited Edition, and its included Hermes-branded Visual Memory Unit (VMU).
Hermes is a fun indie platformer developed by Retroguru with a glorious chiptune soundtrack where you play as a chef chasing after a chicken. Mike has already reviewed it on the blog a long while back, and you can check out his review here. In this post, though, I wanted to focus on that special VMU, because it is pretty much the first of its kind: the first indie-branded Dreamcast VMU. The only thing that would have come remotely close to something like this was the VMU lamp for Alice Dreams Tournament, which seems to have have been a Kickstarter-exclusive backer reward, as Adam Koralik and James from Shenmue Dojo both told us they own one.
Released by Video Games New York (aka VGNYSoft), Dreamcast diehards across the globe were understandably eager to get their hands on one of these cool VMUs. Unfortunately, dwellers of the United Kingdom like myself couldn't order from Video Games New York's website as they don't ship here. Luckily, Wave Game studios put a very small batch (ten, I think) of the limited edition up for sale on their website, so I snatched up one of those. Thanks, dudes!
The transparent green VMU is printed with the Hermes logo, as well as the chicken you play as, and the chef's meat cleaver. It actually comes packaged in an official American VMU box, which is stored inside the larger Hermes: Limited Edition box. It is pretty obvious that the VMUs used for this release are leftover brand new official VMU stock, but the printing on the VMU is such high-quality, you'd be mistaken for thinking it could have actually been an official release from Sega back in the day. Also, VGNY made a great choice in using the transparent green VMU!
Because I was so excited to receive my Hermes VMU, I actually mustered up some courage and decided to record a short clip showcasing the VMU, so check that out below! Apologies if I say “erm” a lot, I was ad-libbing!
If you want to get yourself one of these VMUs, there is currently stock available on VGNYSoft's website and Canadian site Video Games Plus. As for whether or not either will ship to your country, I'm not quite sure. Either way, let's hope this is the first of many indie-themed Dreamcast peripheral releases to come!
You may be familiar with the name Chris Diaoglou. He's the man behind the DreamConn wireless Dreamcast controller, which is now on its fourth revision and features improved firmware and a host of new functions since my video review. Most notable of these is PC connectivity and a VMU browser app. Chris is planning to apply his impressive wireless technology to a selection of other Dreamcast peripherals too, and we're hoping to bring news about those in the coming weeks. For now though, here are some exclusive images of his latest creation - a VMU with a backlit screen and a rechargeable lithium polymer battery:
One of the major criticisms of the humble VMU is its ability to suck those CR2032 cells dry in a matter of hours, resulting in that skull-piercing beep every time you turn your Dreamcast on. That could be a thing of the past though, as Chris's VMU incorporates the aforementioned Li-Po battery that recharges as the unit is inserted into the controller. Charging states are indicated by an LED located on the bottom of the VMU, with a red light indicating that the battery is charging and a blue light indicating fully charged status.
Based out of New York video game boutique Videogamesnewyork, publisher VGNYsoft have been well known in the Dreamcast scene for a long time now for publishing a whole load of indie games stateside for our beloved Sega console. For a list of what they have released in the past, check out Mike's Complete Guide to Commercially Released Dreamcast Indie Games.
I was particularly excited last year to see them venture into releasing custom VMUs, starting with a limited edition of Hermes featuring a Hermes-branded VMU, which I showcased on the blog back when it came out. This was then followed by a Blockbuster-branded VMU (actually authorised by the Blockbuster's owner Dish) which was offered as a prize for the fourth World Video Game Championship at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I rightly presumed these two VMUs were a sign of more to come, and today at 12pm EST VGNYsoft will launch their campaign for replacement VMU shells in a variety of unique colours.
We got a chance to talk with Daniel Mastin of VGNYsoft and get the scoop on this brand new Kickstarter campaign, along with some teases about upcoming indie releases.
DCJY: Hi Dan! Thanks for chatting to us about your Kickstarter. I think we can speak for a lot of Dreamcast fans when we say that we are excited for the prospect of replacement VMU shells. What can people expect from the Kickstarter? And what was your reasoning for going to Kickstarter as opposed to just selling them via your normal store?
Dan: The Kickstarter is a way to connect with the community before all of the production numbers become finalized. The initial production is set to include six colors, with stretch goals and a community vote to help add additional colors. Each VMU shell includes five injection-molded parts: the front, back, cap, battery door, and the D-Pad, and will have an MSRP of $16. In future productions, we will continue to introduce new colors as we produce more.
Where did the inspiration come from to produce replacement VMU shells?
The idea came to light as a culmination of circumstances. Our retail store handles a considerable number of repairs and shell swaps for customers. Additionally, our publishing company (VGNYsoft) continues to produce and release numerous indie games for the Dreamcast, and our warehouse happened to have an abundance of new, sealed clear green VMUs. With some creativity, we pieced together the concept of elevating Dreamcast indie releases to the next level!
So were the Hermes and Blockbuster VMUs early tests for this idea?
Hermes was our proof of concept, we used new [official] VMUs for that production. The Blockbuster VMUs were a very small batch built using some of our early production samples.
You are based in the USA, will fans overseas be able to get hold of these VMU shells?
The Kickstarter will ship to most international countries, and we will also collaborate with international retailers to offer additional overseas solutions once the production is complete.
You previously released a Hermes-branded VMU. Can we expect to see more custom VMUs to tie in with other Dreamcast indie releases?
Custom VMUs are the secret sauce behind the entire production and the foundation for funding the very expensive injection molding process. We have a lineup of future limited edition releases that will feature custom-printed VMU shells. The first one will be announced in just a few weeks before the VMU shell Kickstarter is finished!
That's exciting to hear! Finally, is there anything else that Dreamcast fans can expect from VGNYsoft in 2024?
VGNYsoft recently released North American versions of Ploid and Reknum from Nape Games (who also has a new game currently on Kickstarter). We have a few titles in the works for 2024 as well, which will be announced soon. In general, we are always looking to build deeper engagement with Dreamcast indie developers. Our goal is to help uplift their projects and bring them to a wider audience through high-quality physical productions.
***
Thanks to Dan for giving us the lowdown on the Kickstarter campaign. Click here to go check it out for yourself, and be sure to let us know in the comments below which colours you'd like to see VGYNSoft produce next.
When we first laid our eyes on the Dreamcast's memory card, the VMU, we all collectively thought, "Wow, it has a screen. This is the future", only to soon realise it had a battery life so short it could rival the lifespan of an adult mayfly. Still, the VMU was undeniably cool. When slotted into the Dreamcast controller, it added to gameplay, like providing an easy way to track your health in Resident Evil: Code Veronica or becoming a compass so you wouldn’t get lost in D2. When removed, it could play a whole host of little applications, even doubling up as a sort of Tamagotchi, letting you raise your chao from Sonic Adventure on the go. The VMU had plenty of cool features but was ultimately held back by the technology of the time — a point ex-Sega peripheral designer Kenji Tosaki reflected on in his interview with us last year.
It’s only natural, then, that those manufacturing modern takes on retro hardware would want to revisit the VMU and finally unlock its full potential. We’ve previously seen the excellent VM2 from veteran Dreamcast modder Chris Diaoglou, but now the UK-based 8BitMods are throwing their hat into the ring with the “VMU Pro”.
Considering the success of 8BitMods' MemCard PRO line of souped up memory cards for both PlayStation (1 and 2) and GameCube, it was inevitable that they'd turn their attention to the Dreamcast's VMU, and they started teasing the development of such a product as early as 2022. Various videos of the VMU Pro's development process would show up on 8BitMods' social media channels in the intervening years, including a video of an in-development prototype running DOOM. Watching the teaser trailer 8BitMods put out at the weekend, it looks like the VMU Pro will be capable of doing much more than that, though.
Don’t let Nintendo see!
One of the hooks that is being heavily promoted as part of the product's announcement is the fact it can play "8-bit era handhelds and games consoles like the Game Boy Color, NES and Master System" and do so "on a beautiful 16-bit [colour] IPS TFT display", so no monochrome here. Another feature that isn't mentioned explicitly but I did notice flash up in the footage, is the inclusion of an in-built music player. A spiritual successor to the ill-fated VMU MP3 player before Grand Theft Auto 6? Madness!
A showcase of the on-board file management system.
Touted by 8BitMods as "the last VMU you'll ever need for your Dreamcast", the preview also boasts these following features:
Wi-Fi enabled
Backwards compatible with original VMUs
Rechargeable battery
“Unlimited” storage
"The best on-device file management you've seen on a memory card"
For pre-orders and a full list of features, head to the 8BitMods website on the 15th of May at 6pm UK time (10am PT/ 1pm ET). The VMU Pro will cost a respectable £74.99 and will ship in November. It will be available in a variety of different coloured shells, including some transparent ones that look straight out of Y2K.
Are you excited about the VMU Pro? Does it look like the perfect storage solution for all your Dreamcast save file needs? Let us know in the comments below or via social media.
Duranik's shooter Sturmwind is renowned by Dreamcast fans the world over, often seen as the best indie game on the console - whilst it held onto second place in both our 2016 and 2024 Top Dreamcast Indie Games votes, it also ranked at 35 in our 2023 Top 200 Dreamcast Games poll, becoming the highest-ranked indie game on the list, and beating out many beloved contemporary releases on the console. Just shows how much love the game has.
Of course, with such acclaim comes demand, and unless you look to eBay, the last proper re-release of this title (from PixelHeart) is now sold out. Step in, US-based outfit VGNYsoft, who have a brand new reissue of the game now up for pre-order, and most exciting of all, there is also a limited edition available which comes with a Sturmwind-branded VMU shell!
No CD-Rs! 😉
VGNYsoft recently went to Kickstarter with their brand new injection-moulded VMU replacement shells. We chatted to Dan from VGNYsoft when the Kickstarter launched, and he made us aware that they were planning to include indie game-branded VMU shells as part of future indie releases. Well, they are certainly starting this new wave of limited releases off with a bang by starting with Sturmwind!
The regular edition of the game will cost $39.99, while the VMU edition, which is limited to 500, retails for $59.99. This limited edition will include the regular game in a box with the Sturmwind VMU shell. The parts included are a black silicone pad, the D-pad and the outer shell itself. YGNYsoft previously sent us some of their shells to look at, and they are really high quality, built as tough as official VMU shells. You'll of course need to supply your own donor VMU, but it'll thank you for it when it looks cool as hell.
The pre-orders launch at 10am EST (that's 3pm UK time) on the 15th of May, and are available from VGNYsoft themselves. For those outside the US, you can order from Video Games Plus. VGNYsoft have also told us that they may have some available to order from suppliers based in Spain and Japan, along with Play-Asia at some point in the future.
Looks legit.
Are you going to grab this reissue of Sturmwind? Are you excited for more indie-branded VMU shells? Let us know in the comments below or via one of our many social media pages!
Dream Color Plus being tested with Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Credit: Costenaro
There's been a lot of buzz within the Dreamcast fan community as of late over Dream Color Plus, a new controller mod from Brazil-based developer Nai Adventure, which converts your controller to show VMU graphics in full colour, as opposed to its typical monochrome display. The idea with the mod is that by taking apart an existing Dreamcast controller, and removing the existing PCB, you can pop the Dream Color Plus in, and voilà , you now have a wireless Dreamcast controller that has a built-in, backlit VMU screen that displays in full colour. The mod will also include on-board save game storage. You can watch the mod in action below. It's looking very impressive indeed...
Many of our followers have been tagging us under social media posts about the Dream Color Plus in the past week — don't worry, we've been paying attention, and since a crowdfunding campaign has been confirmed, we thought it was time we spoke with the dev to get the lowdown on this exciting project.
DCJY: Nai Adventure, thanks for chatting with us. The Dream Color Plus project looks awesome — it’s wild to see VMU graphics of games we’ve been playing for decades suddenly brought to life in full colour. Can you explain how it all works? And with such a huge library of Dreamcast games, how do you plan on colouring every VMU graphic?
Nai Adventure: The controller has three modes:
Monochrome, like the original Dreamcast.
Palette mode, [which is] similar to what the Super Game Boy does with Game Boy games. To switch palettes, you hold the analog stick (which works as a new button) and press A to change line colors, B to change background colors, and the start button to invert them (like a photo negative). Here’s a quick demo:
Full color mode: for new games, devs can send pixel-by-pixel colors directly to the controller (I’m preparing some sample code for that). For older games, the process is more manual. We capture the frames that the games send to the VMU, color them, and whenever the VMU calls for that frame, the controller swaps it.
It sounds crazy, but we already have a good list of games converted. Of course, coloring the whole Dreamcast library is almost impossible, but the main games will get full color support. Since the PCB has an SD card slot, new games can be added little by little over time.
Left: Dream Color Plus showing off a coloured-version of the Sonic Adventure 2 VMU graphic. Right: The Dream Color Plus PCB.
Sounds great! So is swapping the stock Dreamcast controller board out for the Dream Color Plus easy?
Yes! The whole idea is for it to be plug and play. You just open the controller and replace the PCB. That’s actually why we didn’t make a version with a second analog stick (something people ask for a lot). If we can get a partner to make new shells in the future, then a dual-stick version would totally be possible.
That potential dual-stick mod is something the community would go crazy for, I'm certain. So, with the Dream Color Plus, as it is effectively a VMU built into the controller, how much storage for saving can we expect to see?
Right now we’ve got eight VMU pages by default, but that number can be changed with a config file on the SD card. The controller also comes with built-in rumble. You lose the external VMU slots, but the main features are all there.
Remember me showing you these in a post a while back of recent purchases of mine, including that modded Japanese Dreamcast? If not I'll jog your memory: these are demo discs that you could only obtain if you were part of the Dreamcast Partners Club. They only made 7 volumes but many of them had 2 discs in each. I managed to get these two volumes pretty cheap and they're quite a novelty.
Volume 4 contains a Tokyo Game Show '99 disc which is crammed with video previews of all kinds of Dreamcast games, including many that were not released here. Below is two youtube videos of all of these clips on the disc. Be warned; squeaky Japanese narration throughout that may grate on your ears.
What you won't see is how they're presented: you select a stand of Sega's Tokyo Game Show area, and a camera is swooped through that area in live action. As you swim past the set up games, you can hit A to view a video of that game. There are also interviews about Space Channel 5, Virtual On 2 and D2. The D2 video is a special screening in a fancy cinema room. The disc also contains some content to download to your VMU.
Volume 7 contains two disc with a whole bunch of playable demos and heaps of VMU game saves. One of the discs contains a bunch of videos, which I have a video of above. Blue Submarine No.6 looks particularly interesting, with stunning cel shaded graphics for it's age. Looked it up and the game is mega rare and expensive. I remember seeing the anime of that once.
There is also a video on there all about the Dream Eye, that sweet digital camera we never got over here, which gives you a good insight into how it works and what you can do with the software. Web cam chat on a console in 1999. Mental. As a further tease, the video also has footage of 'presents' you could obtain if you were part of the same club you would get these demos from. Virtual On soft toys! A D2 figure! An Afro Thunder T-shirt! I want it all! :(
A while back we reported on guacasaurus_mex (aka Tom Napior) and his quest to port a Pokemon style game to the VMU. It all went a bit quiet as Tom worked on other more important stuff, but now he's revealed the final product running on a lowly VMU:
As he states in the video description, Tom won't be releasing the game for public consumption as he doesn't own the IP; and Nintendo would most likely release the hounds if he did. We can't say we blame him to be honest. With that in mind, we'll have to make do with the video above which shows a pretty competent little Pokemon clone, complete with a randomly generated map. Other features include over 25 Pokestops, a fully functioning Pokedex and full audio.
We had a little chat with Tom, and he told us the following:
"At this stage I've decided not to release Pokemon Go VMU publicly. When I started this project I had no idea Nintendo were so strict on this kind of thing, unlike a company like SEGA who couldn't care less when it comes to fan art. Given it's pretty clear now what their stance is on fan games, I think this is the right decision.
"It's not all a loss though, I have fully functioning map generation, character movement and collision detection code written which I can use in a number of original games I have planned. I already used the timing based mini game concept in my last game Zombie: Player vs Monster.
"I would say the game is 90% complete in it's current state. The only thing I need to do is add more Pokemon (there are about 70 in the game at this stage). Some are just impossible to draw with the limited pixels available, especially in the map grid, but to a lesser extent in the gym battles as well. I'd probably like to tinker with the sound a bit more if I ever release it as well."
SEGA Corporation has filed a new application to protect the trademark Dreamcast - sparking rumours that the Japanese publisher is planning on making a shock return to the console manufacturing market with the Dreamcast 2.
The application, sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) dated August 13 2007, relates to:
Home video game machines; player-operated electronic controllers for electronic video game machines; video game interactive controller, namely, hand held pads, and floor pads or mats; joysticks for video games; computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mouse; flash memory cards; video game software, computer game programs".
Web chatter suggests the proof is in the detail of the application - the original Dreamcast didn't have a floor mat accessory and the Dreamcast's Visual Memory Unit (VMU) is far from the flash memory cards we know and use today - although we'd say that the VMU is pretty similar to the modern day memory cards.
The filing could, of course, simply be a further effort from SEGA to protect the Dreamcast name. According to the USPTO the original Dreamcast trademark is still active. However, the two descriptions are very different. You can see the original trademark description here.
We've contacted SEGA UK for comment. We'll update you on this potentially megaton story as we get it.
By the sounds of it, Sega is simply updating their trademark of the name Dreamcast so that no one else can use it for something, but when you compare the new trademark to the old one, you'll notice the description is rather different.
What could this be hinting at? It's probably nothing, but Sega could have something up their sleeves involving our favorite little system, or at least it's brand name. There's a possibility that Sega plan to port Dreamcast games to a download service such as the Virtual Console, X-Box Live Arcade (which is already getting REZ, Trigger Heart and Ikaruga) or Playstation Network. Of course this is only the most rationale reason I could think of other than protecting the name, but if we really wanna let our minds wander...
DREAMCAST 2? (A dreadful mock up I drew in about 2 minutes)
EDIT:According to Gamedaily, It's been confirmed by Sega that they are defiantly not considering going back into the hardware business, saying they are sticking to their guns of being a third party developer, that has so far been better for them then people realize. HOWEVER, it is still unknown, even to the Sega representative who responded, exactly why Sega of Japan has updated their trademark. While a new console is obviously out of the question, there's a small chance they have something up their sleeve. Remember back when they announced they were moving into the multi platform side of things that they had plans to develop the Dreamcast hardware into a single chip which could be used in other devices, such as set top boxes etc? Just a thought.
Technology continues to get ever more powerful and ever smaller, but sometimes the ingenuity of the modding community serves up a project that beggars belief. This is one of those occasions. Allow us to introduce you to the VMU-boy, a RetroPie powered console inside a VMU shell with the ability to play a host of retro roms on a tiny LCD screen. You thought the Gameboy Micro was small? Wait till you get a load of this!
The result of some stellar work by Giles Burgess (aka Kite), the VMU-boy is truly a wondrous accomplishment and as the images and video show, the contraption fits easily in the palm of a hand. Whether it's actually practical to play games on a device so small for any length of time without causing long term damage to eyes and hands remains to be seen, but 10 out of 10 must be awarded for effort.
The specs and features of the device are fairly impressive too, as detailed in the forum post over at sudomod:
Pi Zero/W
128x128 SPI LCD
Main PCB with direct Pi soldering
850mAh battery (4 hrs or more gameplay!). If I could find a slightly wider battery it might even make it to 900/1000mAh!)
Safe shutdown!
Micro USB charging which doubles as USB OTG port (plug in a USB OTG adapter and it will power the USB device and connect it to the Pi)
Power switch and status LEDs
Battery voltage monitoring + charging status
Built in speaker amp
'Basic' OSD (need to work on this more, whipped it up very quickly!)
GPIO buttons built into the PCB
All inputs available under the 'cap' at the top, including the Pi SD card so it's really easy to work on
Internal serial port available as a JST header (made it very easy to see my Pi was working after I had removed the HDMI port!)
Battery connectors (1mm JST) or solder pads. Extra pads allow putting 2x batteries in parrallel (e.g. if you have 2x small batts that will fit)
Interestingly, Kite's post suggests he will be offering the VMU-boy for sale at some point in 2018, and a link to a waiting list has already been added to the post.
Find out more on the VMU-boy, including more details on the creation of the fascinating device by visiting the sudomod.com forum here.
Thanks to @pomegd on Twitter for sharing this info with us.
In this latest guest article, Leigh Bonser explains how in his native Australia the Dreamcast passed him by completely. However, after recently discovering the console he is now tutoring himself in the delights of the fantastic library. In some ways, I'm quite envious of Leigh as the Dreamcast is a fresh concept and there are so many amazing experiences waiting for him. Anyway, enough from me. Over to Leigh, the self-styled 'Dreamcast virgin'...
Like most readers of the Dreamcast Junkyard, I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid, fascinated by the technology and the escapism that video gaming presents to the open minds of youth. My first real memory of gaming started when a kid on my street got a Commodore 64 and allowed a select few local kids to come over and play. Now I can’t really remember exactly what we played, but I know it was off cassette and that it was dreadfully slow. But back then, who cared? We knew what was coming was exciting and would absolutely be worth the wait. Skip forward a few years and my Dad, out of nowhere, came home one day with a second hand Apple IIc computer; also a dog. I think the dog was to smooth over my mother due to the expenditure. Such a wise man. This event is what I consider to be the starting point for the path my life has taken so far, as a gamer, computer enthusiast, career in IT and also, how to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission. That’s not to say that I wasn’t already into other forms of video gaming. The NES was certainly around at this time as was the Master System. However, neither were very popular in the town that I grew up in, unless you had a wealthy or American friend, courtesy of the local American installation. Video games just weren’t really accessible amongst the circle of friends and family that I had.
Welcome to 2016! The future has arrived and it looks just like it did in The Jetsons. Flying cars, robotic butlers, houses on stilts and 75" hovering CRT televisions for every room in the home. But by far the best thing about living here in 2016 is the DreamConn wireless Dreamcast controller. We have featured Chris Diaoglou's impressive Bluetooth-enabled peripheral here at The Dreamcast Junkyard several times in the past, and even did a full-on video review of the second revision here, but now DreamConn V3 has arrived with several hardware updates and one major software update: the ability to connect it to a PC to browse VMU files. The hardware updates include a new white on/off button and a bi-coloured LED, along with minor internal hardware and firmware upgrades. The real appeal here though, is the new VMU Explorer connectivity.
The DreamConn I reviewed comes with a USB cable and I did try to connect it to my Macbook to see if file browsing would be possible, and I also tried to connect via Bluetooth but it was futile as the DreamConn V2.0 will not allow such rummaging around - the supplied USB is for charging the unit only and it seems only the Bluetooth transceiver is capable of recognising the DreamConn itself. Now though, using the newly created DreamConn Backup Utility in conjunction with Speud's VMU Explorer, it is possible to connect DreamConn V3 to your PC via Bluetooth and edit the contents of the memory units (both the built in memory and external VMUs), and also add downloaded save files. Chris explains the power of this PC connectivity in his own words:
"As you see, this feature gives now numerous possibilities for VMU managing (like copying from a real VMU to DreamConn and then to PC); and it may even render the usage of real, physical VMUs as obsolete."
- Chris Diaoglou, creator of DreamConn
This is a great addition to an already fantastic device and we'll be keeping an eye on any further developments. While the price point may still be prohibitive for many Dreamcast owners, I can personally vouch for the quality of the product and would recommend it in an instant if you are in a position to buy one. DreamConn V3 is available to buy here.
Edit: Chris has made the PC software freely availible for people to have a look at. You can download the DreamConn Backup Utility here, although be aware that at present it is PC-only.
A few months ago we brought you news that Instagram/DCJY Facebook group member @guacasaurus_mex (or Tom Napiorkowski, as his human friends call him) had successfully ported Flappy Bird to the humble Dreamcast VMU. Looks like Tom's been busy since then and has just released his next game to make use of the removable storage nugget: Street Race. This is quite an ambitious title for the tiny dot matrix and humble Sanyo LC8670 CPU beating at the heart of the VMU, but somehow Tom has managed to cram 6 different tracks, grey scale graphics and rudimentary audio effects into Street Race.
There's a gameplay video below and you can download the CD image file here or the SD reader file here. Both work in a similar fashion to the Flappy Bird files in that you need to use the bundled VMU Tool software to add the Street Race file to your VMU. This is impressive stuff from Tom/Guac, and we can't wait to see what else he creates for the Dreamcast's unsung hero.
It should also be noted that the download files for Street Race contain the original Flappy Bird game too, so there are now two reasons to get those VMU battery supplies stocked up!
Back on the 14th of March, VGNYsoft (aka Videogamesnewyork) launched their Kickstarter for replacement Dreamcast VMU (Visual Memory Unit) shells. These new VMU shells are formed of five parts, will be injection moulded, and available in a variety of colours. For more information, including a talk with Dan of VGNYsoft, check out our previous article about the campaign. The campaign has already reached its funding goal, and at time of writing has five days left to go.
VGNYsoft were kind enough to send us some samples of the upcoming VMU shells; a clear one and a silver one. It took me about 10 minutes to put the shells on two of my grubby old VMUs, and, well, the result is amazing. The build quality of the new parts is frankly rock solid, and held up during the replacement process. If it wasn't for the lack of Dreamcast logo and text above the buttons, these could easily be mistaken for the original Sega VMU shells.
For a more detailed overview, check out the video below that I slapped together, where I um and ah a lot.
A big thanks goes out to VGNYsoft for sending us these shells. Are you excited for these replacement VMU shells? Have you backed the Kickstarter? Let us know in the comments below, or via one of our many social media pages.
Last year I chronicled a trip to New York, specifically the video game mother load that is Video Games New York. Well warm weather has returned and so another trip to New York seemed in order! While the trip consisted of a number of non-gaming related activities (I'll save you from stories of glowing lobster heads), I'll just detail the the video game moments. Unless you'd like to see a glowing lobster head.
Last time I visited the shop, I was overwhelmed by the amount of games. Literally shelves and shelves devoted to each console! Used games were out in the open, while hundreds of sealed games sat behind glass. The last time I had seen that many sealed Dreamcast games in one place was GameStop in 2001. Still, I had a sneaking suspicion that the reason why so many games go unsold is because of another factor. I ruled out ghosts and assumed the games were marked up to insane prices. After checking the tags, I was mostly correct.
VGNY is great, don't get me wrong, but the prices were and still are selectively insane. I can understand why a sealed 'Capcom vs. SNK" is priced at $60, but do they really have to charge $10 for used copies of NFL2k when they clearly have over two dozen of them? A new in box late production model Dreamcast went for $160, used VMUs (sans cap) were $15, used lightguns were $50 to $60. For the most part, $10 is the lowest used game price, even for the crappiest of crappy games. A disc-only copy of the first 'Tony Hawk' might be $7, but that's as low as they'll get. So forget about picking up 'Razor Freestyle Scooter' for a few bucks as a laugh.
Having this knowledge of inflated prices, I came prepared with a list of games that I had my eyes on as well as the average ebay prices for said games. That way, if I were to spot 'Stupid Invaders' for $25, I'd know that on ebay it can be found for $30 and I'd be making a wise choice to pick it up at VGNY. Unfortunately, I didn't encounter anything from my list at VGNY that I couldn't get for a half to three quarters of the price on ebay.
Fortunately, and this is the HUGE positive I have about VGNY, there is always a treasure to be found. Something that slipped through the cracks and avoided a crazy price. Last year I snagged 'Illbleed' and 'Floigan Bros', this year I found a PAL copy of 'Headhunter' for $25 and the XBOX version of 'Sonic Riders' for $9. VGNY also stocked a number of copies of 'Wind & Water Puzzle Battles', 'Rush Rush Rally Racing', 'DUX' and 'Last Hope Pink Bullets'. For the most part, the indy games were on par with their online prices. Though $60 was a bit much for the 'Rush Rush Rally Racing Deluxe Edition'.
While I didn't leave VGNY with the pirate's bounty I was hoping for, I did leave knowing I was a smart shopper. Not as cool as a pirate though...
eBay eXtra
After my visit to VGNY, I hit up eBay on my iPod and went shopping. I couldn't end the day with buying only one Dreamcast game! I found a sweet Dreamcast game lot and placed a bid. Four days passed and the auction countdown began, and so too began a bidding war. In the end my top asking price became too much for them and I won a lot of three games I didn't have: 'Tech Romancer' (complete), 'Record of Lodoss War' (complete) and 'Bangai-O" (disc only). I also won two games I already had: 'Soul Reaver' (complete) and 'Sonic Adventure' (disc only). Total price: $39.
I had once rented all three games, and loved each of them. It's nice to have them in the permanent collection. 'Tech Romancer' especially. I've always loved games that truly take advantage of the VMU. Capcom seemed to have been masters at VMU utilization, whether it be mini-games in 'Tech Romancer', item trading in 'Power Stone 2' or the health bar display in 'CODE: Veronica'.
In better times, my neighborhood reminds me of Dobuita, the vibrant business district setting of Sega and AM2’s pedestrian stalking simulator, Shenmue. It bustles with life as people pack the restaurants, bars, shops, parks, arcades, and the streets in between. I can take a quick jaunt down the road and be surrounded by patrons, workers, shop owners, cooks, bartenders, barbers, and even sailors (well, commercial fishermen, actually). These folks are more than cursory non-player characters. They are my neighbors. They are my friends. They are the very fabric of my community.
But for now, they are gone.
These days, walking through my neighborhood feels like I’m in a typical late '90s video game town. Clusters of buildings line the street but the developers were unable to render more than a handful of NPCs to populate it.
Taking a step back: My heart goes out to everyone struggling through this uncertain and challenging time. If there’s a silver lining, it might be that we’re fortunate to have a hobby like video games to help bide our time as our non-virtual world lies in stasis.
It also helps that gaming is a uniquely personal medium. Through our interaction and immersion, games invite us to co-author a broad range of experiences which we can enjoy on a multitude of levels. Games can bring welcome moments of reprieve and distraction. We can find comfort in their escapism and nostalgia. Whether from across the couch or the internet, we can share experiences with old friends and make new friends of strangers. Beyond that, games can challenge us – and not only in terms of precision, reflexes, or strategy. They can push us to expand our understanding, grow our perspectives, and stretch our imaginations through memorable experiences that we carry with us long after we’ve put down the controller.
In its own way, this situation is a unique opportunity to slow down and consider what is most important to us, whether that's friends, family, community, altruism…and video games, of course. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my time with gaming, what I appreciate most about the hobby, and what I really want out of it going forward. I’ve also thought about the games that significantly shaped how I engage with the medium. In that sense, I can’t help but keep coming back to the Dreamcast’s library.
Nostalgic attachment aside, Sega’s swansong console simultaneously defined and challenged my perceptions of video games. Although the Dreamcast initially drew me in on its promise of more-than-faithful arcade conversions and the triumphant return of a blue childhood icon, it ultimately forged its legacy by striving to redefine gaming’s future more than rehash its past. It showed me how games can be more unique, interesting, and meaningful experiences well beyond their fun factor and replay value. Through its culture of unbounded creativity, the Dreamcast was refreshingly unorthodox and innovative in ways the industry rarely allows.
In some ways, the Dreamcast was as much an art collective as it was a consumer product. Nowhere was this clearer than in the unchecked (and frankly, fiscally reckless) authority Sega gave its development studios and publishing partners to create whatever the hell they wanted for its wacky white box. In that spirit, this essay could've been about any one of the Dreamcast’s unabashedly inventive works: Rez, or Jet Set Radio, or L.O.L.: Lack of Love, or the VMU, or Illbleed, or Maken X, or Chu Chu Rocket, or D2, or Roommania #203, or Seaman, or Samba de Amigo’s maracas, or…you get the idea.
But this is about Shenmue, because of course it is.
Note: First off, this little post is about the American game store "Gamestop". However, many of video game chains in Europe have been recently making similar mistakes of not stocking Dreamcast material. Therefore this article can be helpful to anyone. I am sure that anyone who has tried to shop for retro video games has encountered a similar situation (what with the "new gen" crap they have been trying to foist upon gamers).
GameStop.
Stop lying to consumers.
I have asked MANY different branches if they had any Dreamcast stuff left and they all pretty much had the same answer.
"No. Gamestop does not carry any retro games."
"None of our stores have any Dreamcast stuff left."
"There is no store that we sent all our older video games to."
I recently found out this was not true. There ARE some stores that have been sent Dreamcast stuff. I have no idea why gamestop employees wouldn't tell me this. Maybe they just didn't know because:
1. - Managers in local stores want you to shop in their store, not someone else's.
2. - Corporate leaders decided that nobody cares about Dreamcast stuff and didn't bother telling local area stores that certain stores do still carry retro stuff.
3. - There is such poor communication between stores that nobody really knows what the other store have in stock.
Now I have been to Gamestops and EBgames (same corporation) in most of the major cities in Northern and Central NY. Most of them do not have Dreamcast stuff. Every once in awhile they will have some VMU's and the occasional controller. However one store in Syracuse, NY DOES have Dreamcast stuff. ALOT of Dreamcast stuff. A whole damn shelf full. And I got a bunch of it last weekend.
Three bags full! (not all of this was Dreamcast, but the bulk of it was)
The haul included 3 Dreamcast fishing controllers!!!! Only one was first party but the "fission" controllers from Interact work quite nicely.
In addition I got a crapload of VMUS for .25 cents each. Including colored VMUs and the extra memory one. How much is this stuff selling for on Sega parts? New for $29.99???
The best part about all this is that I got all this stuff for less than $20.00. 75% off everything. The manager was happy to clear out shelf space.
This is YEARS after Gamestop stopped selling Dreamcast stuff. So for my European friends who are going through the painful process of Dreamcast merch being pulled off major chain store's shelves, take heart.
It's always worth asking the clerks if they happen to have any Dreamcast stuff left in stock. Or at least to try to ask if any local stores have any backstock of retro video games. You may get lucky.
In other news I managed to snag an Interact lightgun in another store (Game Craze). It's in good shape and it's HUGE. It's really one of the coolest lightguns I have ever used. Of course this the brand that is famous for breaking easily so I am gonna keep my Madcatz brand dual pistols for casual HOD2 or Death Crimson OX blasting (US brand lightguns work with Death Crimson OX...) It's good to know that some stores still support retro gaming and we should all try to support them as much as possible.
It's 2024, we’re now into July, and the SEGA Dreamcast is still not dead. Critics are baffled. "It was supposed to have been declared dead in 2001, dammit!" - some PlayStation 2 owner, probably. In fact, there's been so much Dreamcast news recently that I've found it hard to keep up with it all, so in an effort to convince you all that I'm still in the loop (perhaps not sanity-wise), I've rounded up all the best items of recent news into one post. So, here's everything that has happened in the world of Dreamcast recently...
Indie and Homebrew
Or "bedroom coders" as people used to apparently say back in the '80s. I wouldn't know, as I literally didn't exist. Anyway, this supremely talented bunch are doing some cool stuff with software on the Dreamcast. Let's take a gander.
A few weekends ago, Ross Kilgariff, the Dundee-based maestro behind the highly anticipated Dreamcast indie HarleQuest and head of Orc Face Games, dropped the Junkyard a DM about a big breakthrough in Dreamcast development which will result in a significant performance upgrade for new games being developed for our beloved platform. Take it away, Ross...
"We (Orc Face Games) recently hired TapamN to get the HarleQuest! engine running as fast as possible. For those who don't know, he's one of the best programmers in the unofficial Dreamcast scene, with over 20 years of experience and he's helping elevate everyone's understanding of the platform.
While optimising the code, he found a critical bug in the operating system that's used as a basis for many unofficial projects including HarleQuest!, Simulant Engine, Spiral 3D and more. This operating system, KallistiOS, is a community-driven effort to provide re-usable code that makes Dreamcast development easier for everyone.
The issue is quite technical but I'll try to keep it simple. There's a special kind of memory inside the CPU called the cache. It's way faster than RAM, but also way smaller (only 16KB in the Dreamcast's case). Normally the cache works automatically and doesn't need any special programming - it just stores things you've accessed recently so it's faster to get them next time. However, the Dreamcast's CPU has a special feature called OCRAM that lets you take control of half the cache manually. This can let you get great performance, but you need to actually program it. It's not on auto-pilot anymore.
The bug is that since November last year, OCRAM mode was being enabled by default in KallistiOS. This meant every game was saying "give me manual control over half of the cache" on startup, then simply not using it - in effect being left with only 8KB of automatic cache instead of the full 16KB.
As soon as we made the KallistiOS community aware of this they got straight to it and fixed the bug within a few hours. Falco Girgis identified the cause and worked with darc and BBHoodsta to coordinate the fix. The developer responsible for the Doom 64 port (jnmartin84) verified the fix and reported that with this change along with another optimisation, the busiest areas of the game don't chug any more and play much more smoothly.
On one hand, it's unfortunate that the bug occurred in the first place, but the benefit is that all those cool 3D demos and games we've been seeing recently will be able to pull the latest version of KallistiOS and might get an automatic speed boost.
Hopefully this is one step closer to seeing more high-quality games on the platform. I have a good feeling about 2025."
Thanks to Ross for letting us in on this big development and for supplying us with an explanation. The future sure is bright for Dreamcast game development! Speaking of Ross, last month he put out the first part of a video series showcasing the results of his "What Dreamcast Gamers Want" survey, which is well worth a watch.
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