Dreamcast Collection Vinyl Surfaces on eBay

I'd never even heard of this until...about 20 seconds ago, but it appears that in 2011 SEGA released a 12" vinyl record containing a selection of the Dreamcast's best tunes. This record was made to celebrate the launch of the Dreamcast Collection on the Xbox 360, and bizarrely only made available to those who pre-ordered from certain retailers in Australia. I've got nothing against Australia (in fact, I was considering emigrating there a few years ago), but Australia?! No US or EU release at all? Very odd if you ask me.

But fear not! One lucky record-collecting Dreamcast fan (I would presume) has decided to put their extremely rare copy (1686 of just 2000) of the Dreamcast Collection vinyl up for auction on that there eBay. Please be assured that this isn't me shamefully trying to get my own item sold/get more views - anyone who knows me knows damn well that I'll never, ever part with any of my retro gaming items. Indeed, I fully intend to have a coffin specially created that will be voluminous enough to contain all of my collected junk so I can take it to the grave with me. Don't worry, I've also booked a forklift truck to move said coffin so no 'No Win, No Fee' backache claims will be coming to bite my ghost in it's spectral ass.

Fancy bidding on this super-rare item? Or just fancy having a look? Then go here, dear reader! Please note that the starting bid is £99.99...which bit steep for six tracks from Sonic Adventure and Space Channel 5, but cest la vie and all that.

Update: It appears that the item didn't sell...but never fear, it's been re-listed. I'd advise lowering the £99 starting price to be honest. Meh.

Classic Game Room: Dreamcast Week

Thanks to reader and commenter BIGMercenary for this heads up - it appears that Classic Game Room are running a Dreamcast Week from 29th March. Naturally, every week is Dreamcast Week here at the DCJY, but I really enjoy CGR's video reviews and general retrogaming coverage so thought I'd share this news with you all. Check out the trailer below:

The Blueprint

The Dreamcast Junkyard is, as the name suggests, primarily a place where the love is targeted squarely at Sega's fantastic 128-bit swansong. However, being part of the Sega Network and all, there is a fair bit of affection around these parts for the rest of the Sega hardware stable. I personally own a Master System, a Megadrive 2, Mega CD 2 and a Sega Saturn as well as a Dreamcast, so I occasionally find myself purchasing bits and bobs for those systems too. This past weekend, I managed to get hold of a  Saturn 3D pad - you know, the one that you're meant to play NiGHTS Into Dreams with. I also got a copy of that very game (it was actually very kindly donated by Cauterize from Retro Collect - big thanks!), as well as a copy of Christmas NiGHTS too.

The reason for me going on about all this is that I never really appreciated just how similar the 3D pad is to the standard Dreamcast controller. Putting them side by side, you can really see just how alike they are, and you can see how Sega took the 3D pad and developed it into the Dreamcast controller we all know and love today. Random thought: is it mere coincidence that the 3D pad was bundled with a game with the word 'Dreams' in the title...but then went on to become the blueprint for the controller for a console with the word 'Dream' in it's name? Conspiracy theories abound.

A picture speaks a thousand words, but a video speaks twenty billion...so I did a little comparison and uploaded it to Youtube. Yes, I sound like a complete arse and say "erm" every 2.8 seconds...but hey - I never claimed to be a professional. I'll leave that to the...erm...professionals. Eh? Enjoy:

Thunder Storms

One of the first games I played on the Dreamcast, and also one of the most spectacular home conversions of an arcade racer that I've ever seen. What am I on about? Hydro Thunder, of course! Amazing graphics, great music and sound effects, perfectly balanced vehicle (should that be boat?!) handling and a sense of pure fun that most modern games are sorely lacking: make no mistake, Hydro Thunder is one mind-blowing Dreamcast game. Indeed, it was the game I would put on if ever I wanted to show off what the DC was capable of whenever any of my PS1-owning (deluded fanboy) friends came round to the house. Not that it stopped them waiting for the PS2, but at least I did my bit. Sigh. The game was, however, ported to other consoles too - namely the N64 and PS1. How did those versions measure up to the mighty Dreamcast incarnation? Not too well, actually. OK, I respect that the Dreamcast is vastly superior to both of those machines in terms of technical specs so we shouldn't be too harsh, but regardless Eurocom and Blue Shift were handed the task of cramming the game onto the N64 and PS1 respectively by Midway, with varying levels of success...

The N64 port of Hydro Thunder actually looks the worst of the three - it's got muddy graphics and a lack of visual effects that made the original so attractive, such as lens flares and water reflections. It is smooth though, and with an Expansion Pak a four player mode is unlocked. That extra 4MB of RAM could probably have been better used increasing the screen resolution though, in my opinion. The PS1 version, whilst a lot sharper than the N64 game, does have a rather choppy frame rate and there are plenty of trackside details missing, as well as some amazing polygon tearing and water effects that border on the laughable in places...but on the plus side it does have a career/championship mode which is missing from the DC and N64 versions. The DC version itself isn't perfect - the sun is clearly visible through the walls of the tunnel in the first track...but I can live with that. Overall though, the Dreamcast version kicks seven bells out of the others...and the proof is here in this lovely little video I made. Enjoy: