The NTSC-J Dreamcast Alarm Clock

The humble alarm clock. Quite an innocuous piece of technology, but one that strikes fear into the very soul of those lucky/unlucky enough to have been born into a capitalist dystopia in which earning a paltry wage is a necessity. Every morning, the incessant and skull-splitting cacophony of either a traditional alarm clock or a mobile phone's electronic wail drags us from our slumber, heralding the start of a new day chained to a desk or doing some other mundane task for hours at a time. It needn't be like this though, oh no. The first remedy to this revolting scenario is to find a job we actually enjoy. The second (and easier option) is to employ the use of an alarm clock so overtly fabulous that waking up to it is never, ever a chore. Ladies and germs, I present to you the NTSC-J Dreamcast alarm clock:

I actually acquired this specimen with the help of my DCJY co-writer Ross. You see, he lives in Japan and after I spotted this clock on a Japanese auction site I asked him to bid on it for me and then send it to the UK after the auction ended. He obliged, and a mere three weeks later the clock is sat on my bedside table in rainy Britain.

Dreamcast Magazine Issue 15

Issue 15 of Paragon Publishing's Dreamcast Magazine was fired from a gigantic pink howitzer and onto newsstands across Blighty on the 2nd November 2000. This is one of my favourite issues simply because of the iconic Phantasy Star Online cover art, but it's also one of the most awesome-packed editions of the magazine; and there's barely any hint of a slowdown (unless you count the Half-Life review!) for the Dreamcast or Sega.

Considering the Dreamcast's cancellation was announced only 4 months later, this makes it quite a perplexing issue to look back at. The Dreamcast was only a year old (in the UK, at least) and the 'second wave' of AAA Dreamcast titles was just about to hit, and this magazine is a showcase of that.

News of the VMU MP3 player being cancelled is mentioned in brief (see above), but this doesn't sour proceedings in the slightest, guv'nor. Half-Life, Jet Set Radio, Metropolis Street Racer and Silent Scope dominate the reviews section like sweaty 128-bit ogres, while the previews section is absolutely full of new games. Outtrigger, Sonic Adventure 2, 18 Wheeler, Phantasy Star Online...if you'd only ever read issue 15 of Dreamcast Magazine there'd be enough here to convince you that the future was very, very bright for the good old Dreamcast...

A Quick Look At Fighting Force 2

Clones. You can't live with 'em, you can't fight a global future war without 'em. Luckily, the Knackamiche Corporation is on hand to secretly develop a genetically modified super soldier from recycled body parts, mutated human DNA and left over Ginsters pasties. We can all sleep soundly in our beds tonight, safe in the knowledge that good old Knackamiche will be there to dispatch certain death should anyone start causing trouble. Unfortunately, the Si-Cops think human clones are a bad idea and they've unleashed special agent Hawk Manson to single-handedly destroy every computer, desk, mug, photocopier and calculator Knackamiche owns. Yay!

The Feng Shui was all wrong.

Fighting Force 2 has very little to do with the first Fighting Force game - a game that famously started life as a prototype for Streets of Rage 4. Sure it features a returning protagonist, but gone is the side-on viewpoint and traditional roaming beat 'em up gameplay; and in its place is a third person, over the shoulder camera angle and Tomb Raider-esque exploring and shooting. That Fighting Force 2 comes from Core Design and Eidos further increases the chances that it'll be likened to the Lara Croft adventures of the era, but where those games were (arguably) quite enjoyable, Fighting Force 2 is far from it.

DreamPod - Episode 36: RacePod

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Music in this episode of DreamPod comes from Metropolis Street Racer, Daytona USA 2001 and Sega Rally 2. Be sure to visit fellow Sega Network site Sega Driven and also Lewis’ other site UK Scummscene if metal and rock music are your thing. Once again, massive thanks to our Patreon supporters; and if you like what you’ve heard please consider leaving us an iTunes review as it really helps to get the podcast noticed.

Developer Interview: Yuan Works

Yuan Works wowed the gaming community in 2007 with the release of their first indie game Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles. A charming mix of tile-based puzzling, role playing and mini games, Wind and Water blew many away with its outstanding pixel art visuals, catchy music and cutting sense of humour. The game went on to be a massive hit on the Dreamcast as well as the other platforms it graced, and recently received a re-print through publisher Dragonbox Shop.

We've documented our love and admiration for Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles many, many times here at The Dreamcast Junkyard and fellow Sega Network site Dreamcast Hub recently published a review of the game. We wanted to go a bit deeper though and find out more about Yuan Works, the developer behind one of the Dreamcast's most highly regarded indie gems; and so we got together to interrogate them about the history of Wind and Water, the future of Dreamcast indie dev and to ask if they know the identity of the elusive Dreamcast barber...

DCJY: First off - thanks very much for taking the time to talk to us and the Dreamcast community at large! Could you tell us a little bit about Yuan Works? Who are you and how did Yuan Works start as a developer?

Yuan Works: We are an independent game company founded by brothers Yuan-Hsi and Yuan-Hao Chiang. Although we have received help from others before, 90% of the work we do was pretty much done fully by ourselves. Yuan-Hsi is in charge of the art, aesthetics, music and sound, while Yuan-Hao focuses on programming and testing, as well as other parts of design (think website, manual). As for the gameplay and direction, we worked together by designing a concept and sending it back to the drawing board as many times as we needed. We grew up with all kinds of classic games, which inspired us to create our own.

Small fact about us: We are half Costa Rican, half Taiwanese and in Chinese culture, siblings and cousins sometimes share the first character of the name — in our case, Yuan. Yuan-Hsi is better known as 'Yuan' while Yuan-Hao is better known as 'Hao,' which can get very confusing at times.

French Magazine 'JV - Culture Jeu Video' Features Dreamcast, Interviews DCJY

 

The Dreamcast Junkyard, as I'm sure you're aware, is a trans-dimensional hub of Dreamcast-related nonsense. When we're focusing our combined efforts to spread the love for Sega's final console in this realm though, we endeavour to embrace the world's fandom. To this end, you may have noticed the little Google Translate button down there on right (go on - have a look if you're viewing this on a desktop computer) so people of all denominations and speakers of all languages may enjoy our random blathering.

Hot off the press...

Occasionally though, we are lucky enough to be invited to share our thoughts and Dreamcast knowledge with other entertainment media producers and recently I was invited to take part in an interview with French video games magazine JV Magazine (aka Culture Jeu Video) for their imminent Dreamcast special issue.

 

A Rechargeable, Backlit VMU Appears!

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.