El Charnock Returns!

My continued efforts to get Tom's likeness digitised into a Dreamcast game has been given a huge kick in the pants thanks to the new crowd-funding campaign that started this week. While our chance to shoot Tom in the face in Retro Sumus's game Xenocider was scuppered due to a lack of funds (on both sides), we have a brand new chance to see our Mancunian candidate starring on our favourite little white box of tricks.

Initially, not one, but two of the support tiers for the upcoming indie tactical FPS game In the Line of Fire, gave us the opportunity to see a digitised Tom shoot other people in the face. I was going to focus on the higher tier: Become Gun Cage Manager, which would have seen Mr. Charnock taking a leading role in the game, but some lucky sod has already beat us to it.

You sunk my Battleship!

But fear not, we still have one remaining avenue to get Tom into the game. As of now, there are still 12 spots left for Tom's ugly mug to feature on a support character that will also be available in multi-player. Imagine how cool that would be, we might still get a chance to shoot him in the face...

DreamPod - Episode 44: RadioSEGA WinterFest 2016

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Once you've listened to/downloaded the episode, be sure to head over to RadioSEGA to enjoy a constant stream of awesome music and original shows. As ever, if you like what you hear please consider leaving us an iTunes review. And if you fancy chucking $1 a month at us for this lovely content feel free to check out our Patreon page. Thanks!

Dreamcast Exclusive Shooter In The Line Of Fire Hits Kickstarter

A few months ago we shared some brand new images of Militia Studios' awesome Dreamcast exclusive tactical first person shooter In the Line of Fire. We were given access to an early build of the first mission, in which a lone police officer must try to prevent bank robbers from escaping with and contents of the vault, pursuing them through the offices and eventually onto the roof of the bank. It wasn't perfect and it needed work, but as an early demonstration of what Militia Studios were trying to achieve, it was nothing short of breathtaking. With graphics comparable to those seen in officially released games like Headhunter, we knew In the Line of Fire was going to be special. Now we all get the opportunity to make this a reality.

In the Line of Fire has finally hit Kickstarter with a full campaign that details all of the features the team at Militia want to include. A lengthy single player mode, squad-based tactical gameplay elements where you control a team of up to four AI teammates, split screen and online multiplayer modes. Additional third person camera modes allow you to 'tag' enemies and then pop out from behind cover to take shots at them, and the final game promises other features such as hacking CCTV controls and being able to issue on the fly commands to your team...the list goes on.

At this point, I know what you're thinking. Not another Dreamcast Kickstarter?! Wait. This is different. It's different because In the Line of Fire is literally built from the ground up as a Dreamcast game. It is not a stretch goal. It started life a Dreamcast game, and will only ever be a Dreamcast game. And for that reason we cannot champion this project enough.

Megadrive Kickstarter Tanglewood Adds Dreamcast Stretch Goal

You've probably seen Tanglewood mentioned on various games sites and social media by now. It's a brand new Sega Megadrive platformer from Sheffield-based indie studio Big Evil Corporation. Assuming the role of a fox-like creature called Nymn, players are tasked with traversing the eponymous Tanglewood and safely returning to the pack. From the Kickstarter campaign page:

Set in the realm of Tanglewood, the game follows a young creature, Nymn, separated from the pack after the sun sets. Unable to get back to the safety of the family's underground home, Nymn must find a way to survive the night terrors and get to morning. Tanglewood’s world is a dangerous one after dark; guiding Nymn you must use your skills of evasion, traps and trickery to defeat predators.

- Tanglewood Kickstarter Page

The game looks like a rather interesting platform adventure with visuals that really do invite the ageing Megadrive hardware to do some new tricks, and the team behind Tanglewood has already added some pretty intriguing tiers for backers. One of these is the ability to download a ROM of Tanglewood for use on Everdrives and emulators, which is a really cool thing to do.

The Kickstarter has four days to run at the time of writing, and Big Evil Corporation has today added a new stretch goal - a Dreamcast port. Further to this, a 'Dreamcast HD' port is described as a stretch goal at the £75,000 point, to be developed on a genuine Dreamcast dev kit and with totally reworked and redrawn graphics.

Shenmue III PC Pre-Orders Will Open On 15th December

It's barely Dreamcast-related, but I spotted this while perusing some 'proper' gaming sites - namely Videogamer and Gamatsu: pre-orders for the PC version of Shenmue III will open on 15th December...which is two days away at the time of writing. We've been closely following the Shenmue III development journey, and take great delight in reporting anything and everything we can on the game's development. Yu Suzuki has a different filling on his sandwiches today? We're there. Somebody gets coffee granules in the sugar pot at Ys Net HQ? On it. Someone tramples mud in through the main entrance and doesn't even attempt to clean it up? We got this. Mainly by stealing content from other sites...but hey - at least we admit it when we do. Here's some other stuff some bloke said about some game or something (also copy and pasted from Gamatsu):

Development is entering the final stage headed towards full-scale production. Early in the new year, I think we’ll be able to show you things such as new videos.

We will continue progressing with development so that our backers and those who experience the world of Shenmue for the first time can do so with pleasure.

Also, at noon on December 15, we will start pre-order sales for the PC version of Shenmue III, which received a lot of requests.

Those interested in Shenmue III, please check the official website.

-Yu Suzuki

So yeah. Keep an eye on the Shenmue III official website. And don't get coffee in Yu Suzuki's sugar or there'll be trouble, right? Good.

RadioSEGA Winterfest 2016

RadioSEGA's third annual Winterfest weekend is approaching at a rate of knots, and we're super excited to announce that The Dreamcast Junkyard DreamPod will be kicking things off! If you're not familiar, Winterfest is a weekend long festival celebrating the very best music from the world of SEGA and is comprised of short shows from various content creators and websites. The Winterfest starts at 7pm GMT on Friday 16th December, continues over the whole weekend, and includes shows from sites like SEGA Driven and SEGA Nerds as well as the regular hosts. If you're at a Christmas party next Friday, be sure to tune in at 7pm and turn the volume up for some classic SEGA anthems! Find out more by keeping an eye on RadioSEGA here.

Enter Our 11th Birthday Giveaway!

Last year we celebrated 10 years of Junkyard glory and gave you lucky lot the opportunity to win one of three awesome Dreamcast Collection vinyl LPs donated by the lovely folk at Sega Europe. Now though, we're celebrating 11 years of being a thing with a giveaway that is almost - almost - as good.

Yep, one of you will get a prized physical copy of the outlawed Dreamcast Junkyard Ultimate Collectors Guide, along with copies of Volgarr the Viking, unreleased beta Hellgate, Mars Matrix and Dreamcast Puzzle Collection. On top of this, six runners up will also get copies of Dreamcast Puzzle Collection; a fan-made compilation that includes Cosmic Smash, Sega Tetris, Namco Museum, Super Magnetic Neo, Former Managing Director Yukawa's Treasure Hunt and a host of other games.

All you need to do to enter is click the button below and then enter your details. It's that simple. No questions, no following on Twitter or liking on Facebook (although you're free to do both if you want). No Sega Rally time attacks or guessing the VMU screens from games. Simply click that red button, enter your details and that's it. You can enter once a day too, so remember to come back here daily to enter. We'll announce the winners on Monday 12th December.

Terms: Even though you can enter multiple times, you can only win one prize. Thanks to Martin Kay for creating and donating the reproduction games we're giving away. If your Dreamcast can't play CD-Rs, these games will not run in your Dreamcast. Competition ends 12th December 2016 at 12:00 midday GMT (that's UK time, for the uninitiated). Anyone can enter, anywhere in the world. As ever, I will ship prizes at my own expense. Keep Dreamcasting.

A Quick Look At Namco Museum

Namco's output on the Dreamcast is curious. The Japanese arcade masters came out all guns blazing with the launch of Soul Calibur, and the game was never bettered as far as arcade fighting games go. Many tried, but ultimately the likes of Dead or Alive 2, Project Justice et al - while amazing games in their own right - never usurped Soul Calibur as the king of the 3D brawlers on the Dreamcast. After Soul Calibur though, Namco seemed to go a little quiet. The only other games the firm released on Sega's little box were retro compilations or games in that mould.

Mr Driller was a variation on the earlier Dig Dug; while Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness was an updated version of the classic dot-gobbler with added 3D platforming elements thrown in. Both of these games are of above average quality, that's undeniable, but these were hardly the types of offering many early Dreamcast adopters were hoping for as follow ups after the initial impact made by Soul Calibur. Namco did release another game for the Dreamcast though and - surprise - it too was a retro-themed title: Namco Museum.

Namco Museum was only released in North America and was a continuation in the trend of repackaging older games for a new audience. The Dreamcast played host to a number of these compilations, with things like Atari Anniversary Edition, Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits and Yu Suzuki Game Works representing the higher end of the genre, and Sega Smash Pack occupying the opposite end of the spectrum. Where does Namco Museum fit into this little party? Well...somewhere in the middle to be honest. It's a collection of Namco's most important arcade games repackaged for play on a home system, but it's not perfect by a long shot. Before we delve into the reasons for this though, let's have a look at the games included on this compendium of Namco's rich history...

Ferrari F355 Challenge: Dreamcast vs PlayStation 2

 

I've always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Ferrari F355 Challenge. It still looks amazing to this day, but the handling of the vehicles in the game is a bit of an acquired taste. The arcade machine garnered a lot of attention back in the day because the cabinet used a fairly inventive three screen display that made you feel as if you really were sat inside a £200,000 super car, with an unparalleled view of the track and dashboard of the Italian pimp wagon you were virtually sitting in. 

I did actually play the arcade incarnation of F355 Challenge back during the reign of the Dreamcast when I visited the fabled Namco Station at Manchester's sprawling Trafford Centre shopping mall, but when I played the Dreamcast version a few months later I was left cold by the ridiculous learning curve. In more recent times, I've actually learned to love this outlying entry in the Dreamcast's library of NAOMI ports, and as such have found myself playing it a fair bit.

For this reason, when I spotted a copy of the PlayStation 2 port on eBay for £1, I pulled the trigger more out of curiosity than anything else. There are quite a few ports of Dreamcast games to other systems - 18 Wheeler, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure et al; but Ferrari is the only one that only received a PlayStation 2 port, never making it to either the Gamecube or the Xbox. I'd heard about the added external view - something sorely lacking from the Dreamcast version - but that was all I knew.

Now though, I've had a while to explore the PlayStation 2 port of Ferarri F355 Challenge and at the foot of this post you'll find a gameplay comparison video. But before we get to that, here are a few things I noted while playing both versions of this often overlooked title.

LightConn: A Wireless Dreamcast Gun That Works With HDTVs

You may recall the DreamConn - the wireless Dreamcast controller we featured here at the Junkyard some time ago. Well, it seems that Chris Diaoglou - creator of the DreamConn - has been hard at work on another prototype device for the Dreamcast, and this time it's a wireless light gun...that works on flatscreen HDTVs with the aid of a modified Wii sensor bar! The LightConn, as it's known, is the next step in the plan to rid all of the Dreamcast's peripherals of wires and we can't help but be impressed with the reverse engineering Chris has shoehorned into the LightConn.

As with his previous creation, the LightConn also incorporates software VMUs and appears to use the cannibalised innards of a Wii controller to allow for use on a flat panel TV screen. And while this isn't true light gun technology, it's impressive stuff nonetheless. From Chris himself, here's a rundown of the features LightConn will offer, and there's a video of the LightConn in action below:

DreamPod - Episode 43

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As ever, if you like what you hear please consider leaving us an iTunes review. And if you fancy chucking $1 a month at us for this lovely content feel free to check out our Patreon page. Thanks!

The Official Sega Hardware Calendar 2017

As is usually the case for anything I post, skip past the pish to see what you came for.

It's not even December, but cheesy Christmas songs are being played on the radio and in shops around the country, decorations are going up in the streets, 'Tesco Value' branded Christmas puddings have been appearing nationwide like a seasonal bout of flu and invites for the local New Year piss ups from wankers you've avoided for the past year are flooding your Facebook events list. That said, I've not spent a Christmas in the UK for seven years, but I imagine these things are still happening regardless. Perhaps it starts as early as October these days, who knows.

Now while many of the weaboos out there have no doubt heard of this before, the majority of you surely haven't so I'll take this opportunity to blow your mind with a hilarious tidbit regarding Christmas culture in Japan.

Ready for it?

On Christmas day in Japan, hundreds of thousands of people rush out to KFC in an attempt to replicate the traditional western Christmas dinner experience (in their eyes at least). Yes, the vast majority of people in this country believe that us wide-eyed-barbarians gather our family on Christmas day and venture out into the wild to enjoy a Christmas colonel feast. No I'm not shitting you.

3 New Dreamcast Games You May Have Missed

There are loads of new Dreamcast games in development at the moment, and most of them we've been keeping an eye on. Xenocider, Elysian Shadows, SLaVE, Alice Dreams Tournament, Ameba and In The Line Of Fire (more exclusive info coming on that very soon, folks!) all look fantastic and if nothing else show off the breadth and depth of indie development on the Dreamcast. That said, there are a few more smaller projects on the go that may have slipped under your radar, and we thought it was high time they got some attention.

Hermes
Coming from prolific indie developer and publisher Retroguru, Hermes is a 'run and jump' game in a similar vein to Sqrxz. Sqrxz, apart from having an unpronounceable name (unless you're a Klingon) is a side scrolling platformer where you control a little rabbit-looking creature and must jump over gaps and avoid enemies...and die. Lots. It's like the Dark Souls of platformers and revels in its difficulty and frustration levels, and it looks like Hermes may follow this template.

From the PD Roms article on Hermes:

"Retroguru of Giana’s Return and Sqrxz fame are heavily working on their new game Hermes. In this Jump’n’Run you must chase a chicken to get your stomach filled with delicious meat. The game is sort of anti-vegetarian and features a doubtful sense of humor. As all Retroguru games, it’s expected to see this game on several other platforms than just Sega’s Dreamcast."

- Retroguru

There's no release date for Hermes just yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar it'll have you pulling your hair out in the very near future. Going off past Retroguru releases like Fruit'Y, it'll probably be cheap as chips, too.

The Original Blockbuster: Tetris On Dreamcast

Tetris. Even just typing that word brings the classic Tetris music pouring into my brain, accompanied by images of falling Tetriminos and the monochrome hue of a classic Gameboy screen. Alexey Pajitnov's groundbreaking puzzle game will forever be linked to Nintendo's classic handheld system simply because for many gamers, it was the first time they experienced the infuriatingly addictive gameplay of Tetris. Many an hour was spent by this gamer hunched over that lurid green and black screen, desperately trying to angle the console in the fading light of the evening to get the best view of those infernal, infuriating, infinitely falling blocks. If ever there was a gaming equivalent of an ear worm, Tetris is most certainly it.

Tetris has a long and storied history that begins in the early 1980s, but once Pajitnov's program found its way out of the labs of Moscow's Academy of Science, it landed and multiplied its way across pretty much every platform on Earth. Naturally, the first users to experience the game were computer users, followed by Commodore 64, Atari ST and Amiga gamers. But once Tetris was captured and re-purposed for pure entertainment machines, the blueprints for complete global domination were signed and sealed, and the Gameboy represented a delivery method with maximum yield.

Since those early days, Tetris has found its way onto countless platforms - and not just ones designed for gaming. Calculators, iPods, phones and even oscilloscopes have played host to variants of Tetris as the relatively simple nature of the game requires very little in the way of computational horsepower. If it's got a screen, an input device and a circuit board inside, the chances are it can play a version of Tetris. Naturally, computers and consoles have evolved over time, but the key components of Tetris have not. With flagrant disregard for anything as po-faced as Moore's Law, Tetris has remained almost unchanged in it's simplicity ever since that day in 1984 when it left Moscow and entranced the world, simultaneously rewriting the book on puzzle games as it went. If ever there was a perfect example of the old adage 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' then Tetris is surely it.

Dreamcast Magazine Issue 18

Issue 18 of Paragon Publishing's unofficial Dreamcast periodical hit the shelves on the 25th January 2001, just a month before production of new Dreamcast hardware was announced as cancelled. Even with this heartbreaking news on the horizon, Dreamcast Magazine issue 18 hit it home that the Dreamcast wasn't yet out for the count, with some truly stunning games reviewed. Before we get to those though, let's look at some of the interesting news and previews in the first half of the mag...

Previews include Daytona 2001, Phantasy Star Online, Giant Killers, Ducati World (shudder), Confidential Mission and Championship Surfer. The infamous Black & White development diary returns and news of Sega Europe's then chief JF Cecillon leaving the company is also reported. There are some intriguing news stories, such as a snippet mentioning rumours of a successor the Dreamcast coming out of Japan, and information on yet another Virtual On game heading to the Dreamcast, this time titled Virtual On 4: Force.

DreamPod - Episode 42: Featuring Chris Powell of SEGA Nerds & Mega Visions

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You can discover more information about Mega Visions by visiting the official website here, and you'll also find all the download links for all the Apple, Google and Amazon devices you could ever hope to own. We're pretty sure you don't need a link to SEGA Nerds...but if you insist you can find the main site here. Also, be sure to follow both the Nerds and Mega Visions Twitter accounts for further updates and general SEGA-related news! 

If you like what you've heard please consider leaving us an iTunes review, and thanks for listening!

Guest Article: Shutokou Battle Celebration

Martin Hinson is a man who knows his racers. Specifically Japanese racers you may never have heard of. And when he's not getting stuck into the likes of Racing Lagoon, Touge Max G, Side By Side Special or Battle Gear, he's tinkering with Japanese sports cars in real life. In this latest guest article, Martin takes a look at one of the Dreamcast's best racing series: Shutokou Battle. Western gamers will be more familiar with the title Tokyo Highway Challenge, and a lot of racing game fans may have initially looked at the fairly limited number of circuits and not really given the series a fair crack of the whip. Happily,  Martin is here to tell us all why we should give the series a second chance...

It came to my attention at the recent UK gaming event Play Expo Manchester, how few people still know about the Shutokou Battle series. Although I was aware the series is rather cult, I still found this somewhat surprising, given the age of the series and number of titles it spans.
  
Starting life on the Super Famicom in 1994, the series passed through the 32-bit era, flirting with both the Saturn and PlayStation before rising to prominence, albeit it on a small scale, on the Dreamcast in 1999. Starting as a somewhat standard Mode 7 racer, it had evolved into a fairly unique ‘CaRPG’ by the time it hit Dreamcast. It was also one of the earliest games to utilise tuning with a huge range of performance upgrades in some of the 32-bit games. 

The series focused on drift racing until it hit Dreamcast. It suited the arcade nature of the visuals and wide tracks on display - think Ridge Racer on the PlayStation. However due to the grunt of the Dreamcast, developer Genki put a huge focus on realism, not only visually but also from a gameplay point of view. This is perhaps most obvious in the handling, as it is much harder than before and car control almost feels sloppy. It’s easy to be put off the moment you play and most people probably were, but frankly, that’s a huge mistake. Stick with it and you are left with one of the most rewarding driving games around.