NTSC-J baseball title Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou Net! is back online

Another day, another dollar. And by 'dollar,' I of course mean 'obscure Dreamcast baseball game has been brought back online.' This time, the game in question is Smilebit's Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou Net!, which for those who may be unfamiliar, is a baseball game that was released only in Japan back in 2000, and was part of the popular 'Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team!' lineage.

Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou Net! differed from other entries in the popular super-deformed series by offering Dreamcast players the opportunity to enter into online games of rounders-on-steroids via the Dreamcast's Dricas service, essentially meaning you could attempt to hit a ball thrown by another human from the comfort of your own couch. Who needs to even bother going outside when such a concept is proffered? Not me, that's who. And neither do you.

I bet leg warmers are cheap in this reality.
And gloves with fingers. Mittens though? Gold mine.

Interestingly, Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou Net! is actually quite highly regarded as a decent baseball experience; which is surprising when you consider how much of a dog's dinner Smilebit's 90 Minutes was. They also made some other game about breakdancing rollerbladers or something, but I'm not sure what that was called or if anybody ever played it.

Anyway, this magic has been conjured by none other than Dreamcast online gaming royalty Shuouma, and if you point your weary eyeballs downwards, you'll find an excellent gameplay video from our good friend Pcwzrd, who also explains how to get involved via the DreamPi contraption in the video's description. Of course, you can also find a bit more information on this new Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou Net! release over at Dreamcast Live, along with a handy DreamPi connection guide. To be fair, the online scene on the Dreamcast has been on fire lately, with multiple games being brought out of the archive and placed back onto lane one of the information superhighway. Which is what us old people call the internet. Ask your dad/grandad. Cough.

Thoughts? You played this obscure gem? If so, what did/do you think? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to check out our look at similar (but not really) Dreamcast baseball-flavoured cartoon-characters-with-no-arms-which-aren't-Rayman-a-thon Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu here.

Show Report: Nottingham Video Games Expo 2026

Back in 2022, The Dreamcast Junkyard travelled to the fair city of Nottingham to take part in Nottingham Video Games Expo '22. Nary four years later we were back to our old shenanigans, once again gracing Robin Hood's stomping ground with our collective odious presence. That's because on Saturday 18th July 2026, NottsVGE returned with gusto, in a plush new city centre venue to welcome hoards of rabid enjoyers of electronic games to the hallowed event space hidden within the bowels of the (actually pretty nice) Crowne Plaza hotel.

Armed with a plethora of slightly dodgy display screens (some of which were salvaged from charity shops), and an overflowing Lidl carrier bag of Dreamcast consoles, we trudged through the back alleys of Nottinghamshire to set up our encampment in a small corner of the event space. The scene was set, the hangovers were negligible and the monitor connection issues were overcome by the crack team of weary Dreamcast apologists which staff this very blog. Eventually, the doors were flung open at 10:00 and we greeted our expectant audience.

Early drama during the setting up process, as Lewis and Brian discuss whether Jaz should be allowed to run another Spirit of Speed 1937 competition.

Multi-player Mario Kart 64 running on a Dreamcast seemed to go down well. 

Marvel Vs Capcom 2 was a particular crowd favourite while I played Suzuki Alstare. Um.

To be fair, there were probably far too many of us manning the 12 foot table as myself (Tom), Lewis, Andrew, Lozz, Brian, Kev, Jaz and Harvey (aka Pizza Hotline and composer of our podcast's epic outro tune) were on hand to bellow uncontrollably at anyone who dared come near our stand. But by the grace of Zeus we were there to spread the Gospel of Dreamcast™ to all who would heed our words...and I don't believe anyone was left disappointed.

The event was very popular with those seeking gaming goodies.

One of the talks, this one being an interview with Ocean Software's Gary Bracey.

Sega Bass Fishing was popular with everyone. Because it is class.

Throughout the day we welcomed all and sundry to experience the delights of Under Defeat and Radirgy in proper TATE mode; unreleased Atomiswave gems such as Kenju, Maximum Speed and Faster than Speed; CRT-enabled joy in the form of House of the Dead 2 with light guns; slightly unhinged prancing with Samba De Amigo and maracas; and a whole host of competitions with titles such as Crazy Taxi, Sega Bass Fishing, Power Stone 2, ChuChu Rocket!, and Virtua Tennis 2. 

There was an online-enabled Dreamcast showing off Phantasy Star Online, Quake III: Arena and web browsing functionality through the unbridled power of DreamPi; and we also managed to showcase some of the work of the Dreamcast community, with the excellent ports of GTA III, Mario Kart 64 and Super Monkey Ball all going down a storm.

As you can probably appreciate, many a conversation about the awesomness of Dreamcast was had and many a round of Soulcalibur was lost and won. We even managed to rope gaming royalty like Wil 'Super Play and N64 Magazine' Overton into a doubles tournament on the aforementioned Virtua Tennis 2/Tennis 2K2.

Several generations of Dreamcast enjoyers in one shot.

That is one sexy modded Dreamcast system, I think you'll agree.
Ignore the yellowed controller on the right. Cheers.

Wil Overton is actually pretty good at Virtua Tennis. Who knew?!

Away from The Dreamcast Junkyard's set up, there were numerous traders hawking their glittering warez. YouTuber TootyUK and the ever-present Sore Thumbs Retro Games were selling hardware and software; our good friend Marc Jowett (aka The Gaming Newsagent) had a massive assortment of games magazines and books on sale - I even grabbed a copy of Chris Scullion's excellent Dreamcast Encylopedia for an unbeatable price.

Elsewhere, the Derby Computer Museum had a whole array of classic consoles and computer hardware on display which were fully playable; Arcade Club had a range of classic arcade cabs availiable set to free play mode; Debug and Secret Mode had a pretty massive area showing off a range of brand new indie games (I was quite partial to SUPER 56 from Onion Soup Interactive - think WarioWare, but even more unhinged); and the UK Amstrad Group had an entire room filled with Amstrad games, hardware and slightly musty nostalgia.

I grew up with an Amstrad. Not this one. I had a proper
CPC 464+ though, not a CPC464+ monitor connected to a povo CPC 464. Cough.

Roland Perry (right, obvs) is royalty in the Amstrad scene.

Obligatory Atari Jaguar mention. This one was £300, 
but can you really put a price on being able to play Club Drive on native hardware?

The UK Amstrad Group's area was of particular interest to me, as my very first gaming device was an Amstrad CPC 464+, so speaking to people who are as passionate about the Amstrad platform as I am about the Dreamcast was very, very cool. I even got to meet Roland Perry, the visionary architect behind the whole Amstrad CPC range. Not sure he was too thrilled when I said I wasn't a fan of his eponymous Roland series...but I digress/cringe.

Look at it! It's pure art. The thing in the middle, I mean.

Is this basically Inception?

Back at The Dreamcast Junkyard's area, we welcomed one of the OG members of the editorial team, Aaron 'The Gagaman' Foster, where he was presented with one of the amazing objets d'art created by VGNYsoft - an acrylic sign of his own artwork, a visual representation of the beginnings of this very blog. By all accounts he was very humbled, but that was short-lived as he was press ganged into a session of Samba de Amigo. On the topic of VGNY though, we also had on display some of the very special, very limited edition Dreamcast Junkyard 20th Anniversary Dreamcast console shells...and they looked (look) absolutely superb, even if I say so myself.

Old favourites like Crazy Taxi still command so much attention.
Note the DCJY console shell on the left, courtesy of VGNY.

ChuChu Rocket! 4-player went down a storm.
We won't talk about the fights that ensued after a Cat Attack.

Soulcalibur on a crisp CRT won't ever not draw a crowd.
The Pokemon toys weren't ours, btw.

I think it's safe to say that NottsVGE 2026 was the biggest and best yet, and full respect goes to Alex (aka The Sega Guru) and his team for putting on yet another stellar event. Personally, my thanks go to the DCJY team for their outstanding efforts throughout the day, and also to the people who came to speak to us, share their love for the Dreamcast and play some quality games. 

Never, ever accept a donut (or a cupcake) from this man.

Had to keep a tight watch on Jaz, lest he sneak off and subject
the entire event to more janky racing games.

Another highlight was that Jaz didn't get to re-run his disgusting Spirit of Speed 1937 competition on a giant screen (see the 2022 event for that blasphemous display of hubris); meanwhile Kev forgot to bring his customary petrol station cupcakes to hand out to unsuspecting event goers. He did go to Wendy's and buy some tiny donuts (most of which he consumed himself while grunting feverishly under a table), but to be honest I think the less said about that, the better.

From left to right: Pizza Hotline, Lozz, Kev, Jaz, Andrew, Brian, Tom, Lewis and Aaron

So there we have it. NottsVGE 2026 was a resounding success, and no doubt we'll be there again in years to come. See you there!

Were you at Nottingham Video Games Expo 2026? Did you encounter any of the reprobates in the image above? Are you mentally scarred? Let us know in the comments!

Dream Table Poker — New Dreamcast Game in Development will Include Online Multiplayer

The newest indie title for the Sega Dreamcast comes from Glowhare Studio in the form of Dream Table Poker, which is currently being developed.

It’s a poker simulation which features a number of different ways to play for solo players against the “smartest poker AI for the 128-bit era”, as well as local multiplayer for up to four players. There are even strong possibilities for online play via DreamPi, which would be absolutely mega.

Rather interestingly, and perhaps the most unique part of Dream Table Poker is that it fully utilises the VMU display on your controller to show your cards away from the main screen, so that local multiplayer games become a whole lot more fun!

But the even cooler news is that there will be a Dreamcast Junkyard themed table and card deck available in the game as well!

It’s locked behind a cheat code (just to make things extra old school) which will remain a secret for now, but it will be shared at some point when the game gets a public release. An early build was released onto itch.io back in October, but this is now unavailable as the dev wants the final release to be everyone’s first impression of the title. 

The game is still in the early stages, so we’ll not fully preview Dream Table Poker quite yet; but once we get hold of a newer build from Glowhare Studio, you can expect a full rundown of how the game is shaping up from your favourite Dreamcast news source.

You can play Virtua Tennis online?!

We are not even at the end of January 2026, and we have already seen two online Dreamcast games resurrected for enjoyment via DreamPi. First we had Hundred Swords on New Year’s Day, and then as of the other day, Sega’s Power Smash Tennis is back online.

Those of us in the West will be more familiar with Virtua Tennis than the Japan-released Power Smash, but rest assured they are the same game, just released under two different titles. Chances are though, you probably didn’t realise there was actually an online multiplayer mode in Virtua Tennis; but you won’t be alone as it was exclusively available in the Japanese version.

Incidentally, Virtua Tennis is a rare example of a game in that era coming out in the West before Japan, with the Japanese release arriving a full four months later. Presumably this was because an online mode was being added to the game.

Having updated my DreamPi to the latest version 2.0, I couldn’t wait to try out Power Smash online. As luck would have it, the DreamcasticChannel was planning a livestream for the community that very same day, so I knew there would be a few players online. 

Navigating the Japanese menus can be daunting at first, but once you remember it is 2026 and we have Google Translate in our pocket, getting connected, setting up your username and waiting in the lobby for other players to arrive is an absolute breeze.

Around eight of us were online and we spent the evening chatting in the lobby, playing each other over and over again, and it certainly seemed like nobody could get enough of the tennis action. 

Amazingly, there is hardly any lag to speak of and the game runs as smooth as silk. Most of us will be familiar with Virtua Tennis' gameplay and I’m delighted to say that it feels identical when you play Power Smash online. 

Once you’re in the lobby, challenging other players can be done with a few clicks of the A button, and once they accept, you’re almost immediately into a match. You select your preferred player, court type and match options beforehand (which are stored server side), so there’s no messing about when you get into a game. 

Matches tend to last between four and eight minutes each which makes it perfect for an online gaming night on Dreamcast, especially if there are a few players online. 

Each player has their win/loss statistics saved on the server, and the team at Dreamcast Live have set up a leaderboard page on the website so you can see who’s in the running to become the next Wimbledon champion. 

It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve had playing Dreamcast online and I have no doubt that Power Smash will quickly become a community favourite, with regular online matches being scheduled. It’s certainly become one of my favourite games to play online because of how much action there is, how smooth the game plays, and how little waiting around there is. 

If you’d like you find out more about how to get your Dreamcast setup for online gaming, be sure to check out the excellent connection guides over at Dreamcast Live.

See you on the court soon!

Dream Disc '24 Dreamcast Game Jam - A Showcase of All 24 Entries!

The entry period for the first ever Dream Disc game jam —a homebrew jam for the Sega Dreamcast— came to an end on January 3rd. Organised by Cypress of PsyOp Studios, and Ross Kilgariff of Orc Face Games, the jam was created with the aim of uniting the talented developers of the Dreamcast homebrew scene behind the shared challenge of developing new software for the console in a short space of time — and boy, did they deliver! 

Although judging is still yet to take place, each entry is already available to download from the Dream Disc '24 itch.io page for free. While the majority of submissions take the form of bitesize game demos for play on the console itself, there are also VMU games and some other miscellaneous pieces of software to check out too.

As detailed in Lozz's article from October (check it out for more details on the jam), the top ten entries chosen by the judges will go on to be featured on a physical compilation disc from Orc Face Games. While we intend to talk in more detail about those chosen games on an upcoming episode of our DreamPod podcast, for now I wanted to showcase every submission here so you can learn more about them and choose your own personal favourites from the bunch! 

Update (08 March 25): the judges have made their decisions! Click here to see the top ten.

Junkyarder Mike Rogers also took the time to record some footage of all the Dreamcast software entries, which we have uploaded as a nice compilation to YouTube, which you can watch below. I also recommend checking out The Sega Guru's great coverage on each entry as well.

So without further ado, let's get into the entries — all 24 of them. 24 entries for Dream Disc ‘24. How fitting!

Game Entries

Each of the 20 games submitted to Dream Disc '24 is unique, with an eclectic mixture of gameplay, graphical styles, and game engines on offer — there's something here for everyone to enjoy. 

While compatibility can vary, you should be able to burn all of these games onto a CD-R, stick them on an ODE (i.e. GDEMU, MODE), or play them on an emulator like Flycast.

A-Blaster by PrOfUnD Darkness

Mashing up ideas from classic space shooters Astro Blaster (Gremlin/Sega) and Megamania (Activision), A-Blaster is the first of many entries that will be challenging your dexterity. You get a single life to shoot down nine single-screen levels’ worth of alien invaders, as they move quickly across the top of the screen. To help overcome their barrage and be within a chance of staying in the game, you have a “warp” ability at your disposal (a feature made famous by Astro Blaster), which slows down enemy movements and lasers for a few seconds.

Download A-Blaster

Beach Box by PsyOp Studios

A complete remake of a Summer Jam 2024 entry, Beach Box is the first of two submissions to Dream Disc '24 by jam organiser Cypress, aka PsyOp Studios. This summery romp may be made up of simple shapes, but its gameplay is addictive. Taking control of a little square, the aim is to dodge larger rectangles by jumping or shifting dimensions, collecting coins as you go. It's sort of like Flappy Bird, except if Flappy Bird was actually fun. You also don’t have to give yourself carpal tunnel to play it.

It's a nice touch to see such a simple game have such a surprising range of unlockable power-ups and characters. I'm still trying to collect enough coins to get the little sock dude, Murph.

Download Beach Box

Big Drill by captkuso

Big Drill is what trendy internet pundits would call an "idle" game (wait, does that make me one of them?), in which you are in charge of a... big drill. It does what it says on the tin, really. 

Basically, the 3D blocks on screen are mined away automatically, with your resource numbers —which are listed on the right-side of the screen— increasing as you go. When your resources total specific amounts, it's time to take charge and buy upgrades for your drill. Upgrades include speeding up the drill, making it more durable, and increasing the amount of resources it collects. Pick the correct upgrades at the best time to see how deep you can drill.

For those looking to challenge themselves further, there is also a "prestige mode" to unlock, which resets any current progress and starts you again at a higher difficulty. 

Keep your eye out for a video detailing Big Drill's development coming to captkuso's YouTube channel in the next couple of weeks.

Download Big Drill

Ordering a Pizza Online on a Sega Dreamcast in 2024

A few months ago, fellow Junkyard compatriot Harvey Jones notified me of a cool thing he'd seen in the Sega Online Discord. Considering Harvey's online/musical alias is Pizza Hotline, it was no surprise that what he wanted to share was, of course, pizza-themed...

Those of you in the loop may be aware that a sizeable section of our scene has been indulging in multiplayer gaming via fan-hosted servers for many years now, yet although it doesn't often get discussed, the ability to browse the web via the Dreamcast never disappeared either. Of course, given that the composition of your average website has changed dramatically since the turn of the Millennium, your mileage may vary while surfing the web via Sega's aging hardware. Many contemporary websites simply will not load, and to the dismay of geeks like us, few administrators are enlightened enough to produce Dreamcast-friendly versions of their sites, such as that created by Reye for the Dreamcast Junkyard (http://dcjy.reye.me).

But what if, after an exhilarating session of Phantasy Star Online, you are feeling hungry? Maybe you have a hankering for a piping hot pizza? You could reach for your smartphone and open your preferred delivery app... but no. Real Dreamcast gamers should order their pizza on the Dreamcast.

Well, that is exactly what "Delux" has proven to still be possible in the year of 2024. While ordering a pizza from Domino’s was actually possible on Dreamcast back in the day, Delux has been forced to think outside the box to acquire his favourite pizza pie. In the video that he has kindly prepared for us below, you can see the lengthy but very impressive process that is taken to place an order for two 12" pizzas with extra pepperoni - one pan style, one New York style - on the Domino's website.

So I suppose I should try and provide some kind of explanation for what is going on in the video... Okay, so basically, Delux is able to access the Domino's website on his Dreamcast by using a tool known as a "WRP", or "Web Rendering Proxy", which Google describes as a tool that's designed to "render web pages for use in antique web browsers". Wow... antique, huh? I'm not sure if I should be offended or not.

The Dreamcast Directory: Websites We Love in 2024

Late last year, in a gratuitous act of procrastination, I authored a piece for the Junkyard that surveyed the hefty range of Dreamcast websites that had sprung up in the console’s “post-Sega” era but which had sadly since bit the dust. In reality that piece was an excuse to indulge in some nostalgic daydreaming about the period when I first came across the console as a nerdy teen: a bizarre time when the burgeoning unofficial world (Goat Store, Beats of Rage, Treamcasts) sat alongside the last vestiges of Sega’s official involvement (idiosyncratic Japan-only shmups and surprisingly resilient online game servers).

As this list of deceased Dreamcast websites was pretty lengthy—and could have been even lengthier if not for a couple of oversights—readers could be forgiven for assuming that the hobby of maintaining websites dedicated to a 25-year old console was fading away. Fortunately though, they would be badly mistaken, and therein lies the purpose of this follow-up: to shine a light on the plethora of websites that are alive, kicking, and proudly serving the Dreamcast scene in 2024.

In no particular order, I present to you the Junkyard’s comrades-in-arms:

Dreamcast-talk (https://www.dreamcast-talk.com) 

Founded in 2004, and thereby pre-dating the Dreamcast Junkyard by a year, Dreamcast-talk is undoubtedly the lodestar of the scene. The website’s founders set out to establish a forum where DC-heads of various stripes could converge to chew the fat, sans what was perceived to be the overly restrictive administrative practices of certain prior forums. Dreamcast-talk quickly achieved that goal, and has continued to do so persistently and reliably for two decades now. Theoretically it's a fairly easy gig: set out a bunch of themed boards where relevant topics can be discussed, weed out spam or egregious flaming, and undertake technical maintenance from time to time. In practice though, maintaining a forum can be a bloody nightmare, and the fact that a day rarely goes by without fresh posts being made or a new member signing up is a testament to how important Dreamcast-Talk remains. 165,348 posts made and not out: as solid an innings as you are likely to see from an internet forum. When the gold anniversary hits in 2054 I promise I’ll deliver a better present than a couple of paragraphs in a rambling blog post…

DCEmulation (https://dcemulation.org) 

DCEmulation is another of the scene’s OGs that is still trucking in 2024. Actually, screw that. Given that it was founded in September 2000 (!), and is by my estimation the oldest Dreamcast-focused website to grace the worldwide web today, it would only be fair to say that DCEmulation is the OG of the scene. When the historians finally turn their academic gaze to our beloved little white box, DCEmulation will probably be mentioned in every other footnote. 

As the name suggests, DCEmulation’s initial focus was on documenting and discussing the development of emulators designed to run on the Dreamcast. Naturally, due to the type of audience and contributors that flocked to it, this focus quite quickly broadened out to cover Dreamcast homebrew development in its entirety. A few years in, spats between admins resulted in some splitting (which is succinctly summarised by our German brethren at Sega-DC.de), but thankfully this behaviour wasn’t endemic. In fact, efforts turned from splitting to amalgamation in 2010, when DCEmulation incorporated the forum for the unofficial Phantasy Star Online server, Sylverant.

Although the DCEmulation Wiki has now been mothballed, the forum, which alongside the Simulant Discord server is home to some of the most knowledgeable Dreamcast coders out there, is still in active service after 729,068 posts. Props to [darc], Bluecrab, and the whole DCEmulation community for keeping the show on the road all these years. 

The Dreamcast Junkyard's choicest cuts and hottest takes of 2023

Well, here we are again. A whole 12 months since the last time we did one of these yearly roundup articles, and 10 months since I decided to retire from the Junkyard for the sake of my fragile sanity. Going against my better judgement, I thought it would be nice to pop in to the 'Yard at this special time of year to look back in anger with fondness at some of the highlights of 2023, published by the hard-working and dedicated team of nerds who keep this place going in earnest. Even with the AI-powered threat of the Dead Internet™ and Big Gaming Websites™ slowly terraforming the entire World Wide Web into a sanitised, homogenous wasteland of black text on white backgrounds and carefully prepared press bullshots, The Dreamcast Junkyard is still here showing that little niche blogs can survive in the present era. But, y'know, that's not to say if some conglomerate wants to buy us out for a few million quid we wouldn't listen to offers. Of course, I jest...cough.

Now, back to that actual topic at hand. The dystopian nightmare that is/was the year 2023AD. It's been...interesting. So much new Dreamcast news to report on, new releases to salivate uncontrollably over, and original features that simply wouldn't write themselves without the aid of an advanced large language model and a few clever prompts. Yes, the humble Dreamcast has had quite the year, and so without further ado, I present to you a concise(ish) whistle-stop tour de force of the choicest cuts and hottest takes published here over the last 365(ish) days.

Are ya ready? Here we go...

Reviews

• Not actually a Dreamcast release, but a title heavily influenced by Jet Set/Grind Radio, Lewis laced up his roller blades, donned his finest DayGlo lycra and tackled Team Reptile's excellent homage Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Reports of lycra chaffage are wholly unfounded, refuted and are to be quashed immediatley.
• Taking a pinch of inspiration from Rocket League, the first online-enabled retail release in nigh on 20 years arrived on Dreamcast in 2023. As expected, Lozz buckled up, checked his mirrors, signalled and then manouvred into battle in Luke Benstead and David Reichelt's indie hit Driving Strikers.

• Another game heavily influenced by a much-loved Dreamcast original, Cosmic Smash homage C-Smash VRS from RapidEyeMovers and Wood & Wolf was given a thorough going over by a VR-helmeted Brian. Rumours that he destroyed his living room while jumping around in said VR helmet are wholly unfounded, refuted and are to be quashed immediately.
• After Tom checked out the Dreamcast re-release of Visco's 1992 Neo-Geo title Andro Dunos (brought to us by JoshProd and PixelHeart), Lozz entered the very same (heavily sanitised) cockpit to take on the challenge presented by Andro Dunos II.

• Our colleague Andrew Dickinson wrote a book once - did he mention that? Well, guess what - he wrote a sequel to it and it was released this year. Dreamcast: Year Two featured many contributions from across the Dreamcast community and Lewis was on hand to leaf through it. Will there be a Dreamcast: Year Three? Will Andrew mention he wrote a book again? Answers on a postcard.
• Mike kicked off his Dreamcast-themed loafers, donned his velvet smoking jacket (probably) and delved betwixt the pages of Fusion Retro Books' Dreamcast-themed special edition, the snappily titled Fusion Dreamcast Magazine.

• Mike also cast a critical eye over two indie releases this year, with PRO's physical release of Wolfenstein 3D mod Witching Hour and Lowtek Games' semi-sequel to Flea!, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle, both getting the Phelan treatment. Which sounds way more ominous than I thought it would now I've typed that sequence of words out.
• Drunk on nostalgia while waiting for some form of Crazy Taxi reboot to appear (it'll never happen), Brian hailed down Cassius John-Adams' Fifth Element-inspired Crazy Taxi homage MiLE HiGH TAXi - a game which presumably also took at least some naming inspiration from psychedelic Saturn k-hole NiGHTS into Dreams.

Features and News

• A highly skilled Dreamcast developer who goes by the name Frogbull decided they wanted to see PlayStation 2 stalwart Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty running on Sega's superior hardware. So they went out and created a proof of concept demo. No, we aren't making this up, and Lewis was on hand to investigate.
• Tom noticed that it was high time he delved back into the Atomiswave library that was recently made playable on Dreamcast, with a look at Sammy's lesser-spotted Need for Speed: Underground rip-off homage Faster Than Speed.

• 2023 represented a major milestone in the history of the Dreamcast - 25 years of existence. To mark the occasion, Brian revisited the Japanese release of the console, and even looked at the four launch titles on offer, particularly zooming in on one of the more maligned of the four - Godzilla Generations.
• Y'know, it wasn't always like this. Not very long ago, just before your time, right before the towers fell, circa '99, this was catalogues, travel blogs, a chat room or two. And loads of random Dreamcast-themed fan sites. To illustrate, and take a look at what became of our brothers and sisters in arms, Lozz sampled a load of other online Dreamcast resources that were founded after the Dreamcast was discontinued (some even before the Junkyard started)...and where they are now. Thanks to Bo Burnham for this guest entry.

• Back in 2022, Tom lamented over the lost Dreamcast boxing game Title Defense. With the help of Dreamcast community legend PC Wizard, he managed to track down and speak to someone who was heavily involved with said game's development and ultimate demise, and uncover the true story of why Title Defense never came to the Dreamcast. Spoiler alert: it never existed.
• Apparently modern Sega isn't simply a hollow shell and shadow of its former self, and this year teased reboots of two of its most popular Dreamcast franchises. So you can disregard the previous comment about Crazy Taxi never coming back. Because it is, along with Jet Set/Grind Radio. Hopefully not as mobile games, but only time will tell. As ever, Lewis was on hand to take a look at the teaser trailer.

• Long time Junkyard contributor Aaron "The Gagaman" Foster checked in earlier this year with a rather fascinating investigation into the smallest Dreamcast games. Not small in stature, but in file size. No, it's actually more interesting than you'd think. Honest.
• How many versions of The Typing of the Dead are you aware of? Apart from the Dreamcast release of this zombie-themed Mavis Beacon homage, you might be surprised to know that there were numerous spinoffs and ports to both computers and other console platforms. Want to know more? Of course you do, so be sure to check out Lewis' superb dissection of The Typing of the Dead's weird and wonderful ports.

• Many Dreamcast releases were originally promoted via the arcane medium of the humble flyer or leaflet, and in this excellent deep dive into one of the more esoteric aspects of Dreamcast lore, Lozz investigated the myriad flyers and leaflets now preserved online for all and sundry to gawp at.
• If you've been online for as long as most of us have, and have been trawling the Dreamcast-flavoured underbelly of the internet for an equally terrifying stretch of time, you'll have undoubtedly come across heavily compressed images of Dreamcast consoles modded to resemble the Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube and Sony PlayStation 2. Ever wondered where these curiosities came from, or what became of them? Enter contributor Dark, who investigated the origins and fate of these mysterious variations of the Dreamcast.

• Tom took time out from shaking his fist at a cloud, put some clothes on and ventured out of his delapidated shack; and then took a train to London to experience C-Smash VRS and interact with some real life humans. Read his report on the launch event here, and then scratch your head in bemusement at the final paragraph where he annouces his retirement from the Junkyard...while you simultaneously read these very words which are being written by him on a keyboard right now.
• Contributor Oliver Luddy announced his debut at the Junkyard by checking out the various iterations of steering wheel peripherals with which Dreamcast users can control onscreen vehicles. Some are good, others are not so good. But how will you know which is which without checking out Oliver's Dreamcast Steering Wheels - An Overview?

Credit: The Sega Guru

• Dreamcast indie royalty and wombat appreciator Ian Micheal fully inserted himself into something commonly known as 'Christmas spirit' by releasing his latest creation - a compendium of Christmas-themed games for the Dreamcast. Featuring rom hacks and ports of games from a multitude of genres, the Dreamcast Christmas Collection is also notable for featuring covers of various festive songs which are sung by Ian himself. Ian, your talents are clearly wasted on indie dev.
• The DreamPod crew asked our listeners to share their favourite Christmas Dreamcast memories from years gone by, and boy did they not disappoint. In this festive roundup which served as a companion piece to DreamPod episode 125 for RadioSEGA's WinterFest, Lozz packages them all up for your reading pleasure, while nursing a hangover inevitably brought on by enjoying too many Creamcast ales.

• Bet you didn't know Radirgy/Radilgy received a spinoff on the Nintendo 3DS. Well, it did, and in his deep dive, Lewis discovers that not all is rosy in this particular entry's cel-shaded garden. To be fair, the clue is in the title of the feature: Radirgy De Gojaru! - Radirgy's Terrible 3DS Spinoff.
• It's been a good few years at this point since Retro-Bit teased their wireless Dreamcast controllers. While wireless controllers for the Dreamcast have been available for quite some time thanks to the work of Chris Diaoglou, the Retro-Bit ones are officially sanctioned by Sega and were spotted "in the wild" a few months ago in 2023.

• Fresh from his recent foray into the world of Dreamcast soccer management blockbuster Giant Killers, Kev decided it was high time to turn his attention to American sports games. More specifically, the unusual Japanese releases of NFL 2K1 and NBA 2K1. What makes these two titles so notable? Well, it's the fact that they received special “bible” editions. Want to know what any of that means? Then check out Kev's feature on the Sega Sports 2K1 Bible Editions. Note: God and/or Jesus are not involved. Sorry.
• Sticking with Kev for a moment, he also investigated the experience of playing a range of games with the Dreamcast Arcade Stick (see what I did there?), but the twist here is that they aren't games that any normal person would actually want to play with an Arcade Stick, but which are fully compatible. The things we do in the name of science, eh? You can read about Kev's highly empirical findings in his feature here.
• Last but by no means least, and after a whole year, many hours of work and hundreds of contributions, The Dreamcast Junkyard's refreshed Top 200 Dreamcast Games 2023 was finally unveiled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the system. This really was a Herculean effort from all of those involved, and the final list throws up some very interesting placings in the definitive ranking as voted for by you - the loyal readers of t'Junkyard.

English Translations

This year saw even more Japan-only titles translated into English by the dedicated Dreamcast fan translation community. There are many talented people involved in this niche within a niche (with a special nod to the likes of Derek "God" Pascarella, VincentNL, SharkSnack, Rolly, RafaMGam, TheKitchenSunk, Harpu, Ozidual, DocHikari, dukeblooders, Marshal Wong, Duralumin, James Tocchio/GGDreamcast, Yuvi, Cargodin, rio de popmocco and TapamN, to name but a few).

Some of the most notable titles to receive an English language translation were covered by Lewis here at The Dreamcast Junkyard, with one of them even being worked on by him (Nakoruru). Check 'em out:

• Shiren the Wanderer Gaiden: Asuka Kenzan
• Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000
• Rent-A-Hero No. 1
• Nakoruru: The Gift She Gave Me
• Cool Cool Toon
• Under Defeat
• Trizeal

Interviews and Podcasts

• Daytona USA 2001 was brought back online in 2023, restoring much of the original multiplayer experience that was enjoyed by Dreamcast owners in Japan and the USA back in the day. The bulk of the work to bring the game back online was completed by developer ioncannon, and Lozz was on hand to get all the details on this excellent resurrection project.
• On episode 126 of our podcast DreamPod, Lewis and Kev welcomed Nick Thorpe, Retro Gamer Magazine Features Editor. The conversation covered a wide range of topics, including how Nick's career in games media started and progressed, some contentious entries in the 2023 Top 200, Nick's memories of the Dreamcast launch and favourite games, and how he would get hooked on playing the Dreamcast demo pod in order to get his Sonic Adventure fix, much to the frustration of the other kids.

• Seasoned games journalist Chris Scullion joined Kev and Mike for episode 121 of the DreamPod, during which Chris detailed the process of writing his latest book The Dreamcast Encylopedia, his memories of the Dreamcast, and some of his favourite titles. Mike mentioned that he is also writing a book. Andrew wrote a book once, too. Not sure if he's ever mentioned that.
• Episode 120 of the DreamPod saw Andrew and Lewis welcome YouTuber Dreamcast Enjoyer (aka Dominic) to the podcast, during which they spoke about a range of topics, from the Dreamcast's “cosiest” games to Dominic's foray into the world of YouTube.

• Regular hosts Lozz and James welcomed guests Harvey (aka Pizza Hotline) and Holsten to episode 118 of the DreamPod to discuss the burgeoning online gaming scene, which has had something of a resurgence on the Dreamcast thanks to DreamPi. If you ever wondered how to go about getting your Dreamcast online, and which online games are worth your time, then this is the episode for you!
• Harlequest developer Ross Kilgariff joined Lewis and Lozz on episode 115 of the DreamPod, during which the jolly trio discussed all things indie dev, Kickstarter and of course Harlequest - a brand new 3D platformer heading to Dreamcast in the not too distant future.
• Of course, you can find all of the other episodes of The Dreamcast Junkyard DreamPod on all of your favourite podcatchers, so be sure to give us a review and a rating if you can be bothered. We'll love you forever if you do. It doesn't even have to be positive. I left a one star review myself on all the ones I'm on, for example. Can't stand the sound of my own voice.

Community Collaborations

• Mike and Lewis were special guests on episode 377 of the excellent podcast The Retro Hour, chatting all things Dreamcast and Dreamcast Junkyard. Turns out the episode Mike and Lewis appeared on was one of The Retro Hour's most popular episodes of the year...who'd have thunk it?

• We also appeared as guests once again on RadioSEGA's WinterFest 2023, sharing fuzzy memories of Dreamcast Christmases past for the 125th episode of the DreamPod, joined this time by none other than Patrick Traynor of Sega Saturn, SHIRO! fame. WinterFest is an institution within the Sega community at this point, so as ever we thank the team at RadioSEGA for having us.
• Lewis was invited to appear on episode 201 of The SEGA Lounge podcast by venerable host David "KC" Luis, where he spoke about his own personal history with the Dreamcast and gave a little glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes at the Junkyard (hint: it's organised chaos).

What's next?

I'm pretty confident that the Dreamcast scene will continue to go from strength to strength in 2024, and no doubt the fine team manning The Dreamcast Junkyard will be on hand to offer a familiar torrent of news, features, reviews, previews, podcasts and interviews. If you haven't already, please go and give The 'Yard a follow on Twitter, or join our lovely Discord community so you don't miss anything.

I'll return at the same time next year to post my annual round-up of other people's hard work; but until then, I wish you all a very happy 2024 and give you my thanks - as ever - for continuing to support the Dreamcast, the Dreamcast community at large, all the indie devs doing amazing stuff, and of course this very blog. Ciao for now!