Three Indie Games I'd Love to See on the Dreamcast

The other day I read an interesting article over on Kotaku (yes, yes I know) that documents the creation of a new football (soccer) game by an indie developer who has never played a football game. Furthermore, he doesn't even know the rules of the sport and has pretty much guessed how football 'works' through hearsay and supposition. It's a really interesting concept, and the resulting interpretation of the beautiful game - now titled Behold the Kickmen - looks like it's shaping up to be the best thing to happen to the football genre since Konami thought Goal Storm was worth reinvestigating.

The developer's name is Dan Marshall, and he's a BAFTA-winning indie developer. Earlier today I cheekily asked him via Twitter when a Dreamcast version of Behold the Kickmen was coming:

Kickmen for Dreamcast: confirmed.

He didn't give a definitive answer (although I'll settle for the 'like' he graciously afforded my stupid tweet), but this got me thinking. Since Volgarr the Viking suddenly appeared out of nowhere in 2015, what other cool indie games would it be amazing to see make the leap to the Dreamcast? Obviously, a lot of indie games these days are built to run on modern platforms and so some of them probably wouldn't be possible on the Dreamcast (stuff like Broforce makes even a PS4 shudder, for example), but this is just a fun little look at some of the titles I'd give my right arm to have ported onto Sega's little box. Well, maybe not my right arm as I'd then have difficulty holding the controller...but you get the idea.

The Ultimate Collector's Guide

A few months ago we had a little look at the DC Collector app for iOS and came to the conclusion that it's a pretty decent way to catalogue your ever-growing Dreamcast library and track the games you may have your eye on. The way it allows users to check eBay prices and create a 'wanted' list also adds to the appeal. The thing is, not everyone has an iOS device. Fear not though - there is an alternative. And boy, what an alternative it is...

Every game is listed. Every game.

The Dreamcast Collector's Guide is a document that spans 52 pages and is the culmination of over 3 years of work by it's creator Mike Phelan. Currently at revision 1.5, the Guide is a mightily impressive tome of knowledge and documents every single Dreamcast game ever released. Every single game. In every territory. Let that sink in for a moment, and then be even more gobsmacked that it also includes information on the slight deferences between various European releases of certain titles and also rates games in terms of rarity, price and special edition status. As well as this, the guide features listings for white label and promo editions, serial numbers and even a playability guide for Japanese releases - which basically allows you to gauge how much fun you'll be able to glean from an NTSC-J bargain without being able to speak (or read) Japanese. It doesn't end there though, as Mike has thought to include all of the indie releases and even includes upcoming games such as SLaVE, Hypertension and Elysian Shadows.

The very useful Japanese accessibility section

This document really is jam packed with information regarding the various release types of certain games and has detailed guides to the Sega All-Stars and Dorikore collections. The best thing about Mike's guide is that it is compiled as a PDF and can be downloaded for free and printed out. You'll need to create a free account at the hosting site in order to download it, but if you're serious about collecting for the Dreamcast, this check list is something you definitely need to have a look at.

Click here to download the DC Collector's Guide.

First Screens Of New Dreamcast Shooter Released

Hold on to your hats folks - it looks like there's another new Dreamcast game on the horizon. Not only do we have SLaVE, Elysian Shadows, Alice Dreams Tournament, Redux 2 and Hypertension to look forward to - there's an as yet unnamed shooter coming as well...and it looks pretty amazing.

This news comes from the DCEmulation forums (and I was notified of this by long-time supporter of the Dreamcast scene Pcwzrd13), but it appears that a talented two-man team has been working on a spectacular-looking new shooter that employs a game engine built specifically with the Dreamcast in mind. In the forum thread (you can read it here), lead developer PH3NOM explains that he can't give too much away due to an NDA signed with Goat Store but I think you'll agree that these shots (and video below) are very impressive.

A Look Inside The Junkyard

We spend a large part of our time here at the Junkyard bringing all the Dreamers out there the latest news, opinions and articles on our beloved little white box. Whether it be long thought lost games, articles on every element of the Dreamcast that you'd ever wish to have (and some you probably didn't!), collectors guides, an award nominated podcast, interviews with the best DC indie developers out there; you name it, we try to cover it.

But when we're not letting our creative juices flow, the staff here at the 'Yard can often be found building up our own collections. We're a varying bunch, covering 4 continents, and our own collecting goals are somewhat different – whether it be feeding the compulsion to finish a full set, attempting to expand on the Dreamcast family with arcade hardware and software, or just enjoying the thrill of the hunt and finding 10 copies of Spirit of Speed 1937 in a charity shop; we all have different aims and ambitions with our Dreamcast indulgences. And whilst we talk about the console a lot, it's occurred to us that we haven't shared our own collections – at least not for a while. With new members now aboard the Junkyard train, it seems the right time to share our own little corners of Dreamcast heaven.

Oh, and we want to show off a little. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

So without further ado, The Dreamcast Junkyard presents...a look inside the Junkyard!

DreamPod - Episode 50

[iTunes][Stitcher][Buzzsprout][UK Podcast Directory][YouTube]

Music in this episode is from Sega Swirl. You can find out further information on the Dreamcast emulator for Xbox One here, the Deer Avenger discovery here, Xenocider here and SLaVE here. Also, be sure to check out Orion's Escape 2042 here. Feel free to join our Facebook group, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter; and if you’re feeling flush and/or generous our Patreon is here. Oh, and one last thing - give us an iTunes review if you can be bothered. Cheers!

Upcoming Dreamcast Indie releases - 2021 and beyond!

We're quite lucky to be Dreamcast fans at the moment, living through what feels like a renaissance for the machine -  with Sega giving a little bit of merchandise love to the machine, a proliferation of hardware mods that allow access to older titles, full HDMI support, new controllers, a growing collection of Dreamcast related literature, ports of Atomiswave arcade titles, and an ever impressive indie library. There's a remarkable amount of activity around a machine which is approaching 23 years of age, and we here at the Junkyard are embracing it with a smile on our face, a VMU in our pocket, and a dwindling bank account as we welcome the second coming of our digital dream box. And long may it continue!

The year 2021 is set to be the biggest - by some way - year for indie releases in the systems history though. There is a quite staggering number of titles on their way - more than 30 by some counts - and a fairly large number of those will be in our hands sooner, rather than later. Whilst most of you will have already backed the titles you've seen, there's a good chance some may have slipped you by, or maybe you've just not been aware of the tremendous indie barrage about to assault the console. Fear not, for we're hopefully going to set that straight today.

Before we list all the indie titles on their way, we want to make a couple of observations. This list only includes titles that are set for a physical release. That will preclude some of the homebrew software being developed, and of course won't touch on any ports being developed. We're also not going to include anything which is *only* based on rumours. As you can imagine, we have heard several of these! Furthermore, expect some *big* announcements of titles in the coming months - we can't say anything about them at the moment (we're such teases), but this article will be updated as new titles are announced!

On with the list!

Alice Sisters

Published by JoshProd - set for release early 2021

The first of numerous JoshProd titles in this list, Alice Sisters is a follow up to previous indie platformer Alice's Mom's Rescue, a quite charming little game from prolific previous indie developer Orion. Like the original, this appears to be a 2D platformer, but with the interesting addition of co-op mechanics. Each player guides one of the sisters (or a single player can switch between them) through a promised 28 stages, each using different abilities to combat the games puzzles. 4 game modes are also promised, and screenshots show a charming, colourful world, very much in the style of Orion's previous titles.

A DC release was hinted at in the summer of 2019, but little was revealed for this cross-platform release (a Steam and Mega Drive/Genesis release are also on the cards), but the trailer dropped by JoshProd in February 2021 has the game running and looking as charmingly fun as I hoped it would. I'm looking forward to this one, a proven developer, a genre we've not seen much of, and an intriguing co-op mode which could be very enjoyable indeed.

You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.

You can also download the PC version of the game from Orion's itch.io page here.

Andro Dunos 

Published by JoshProd - set for release September 2021

Whilst Pixelheart / JoshProd made a big deal about the release of a brand new sequel, going as far as presenting a special event on Youtube for it's launch, the pending release of the original Andro Dunos went a little under the radar. It's perhaps not surprising though that this early 90's horizontal shooter is making it's way to the Dreamcast. It'd been rumoured for months, the acquisition of Visco's library by the publishers made it an obvious choice, and for many DC players, they've been enjoying the game via emulation for some time anyway. A decent, colourful example of the genre, it's become a minor cult favourite with some fans, and certainly won't be out of place in the plentiful supply of indie shooters the system is home too. There are possibly a few issues regarding how the emulation (presuming it will be played via emulation, like other Neo Geo ports from JoshProd) will work, and it's own sequel is now taking much of the attention away from this release, but it's a welcome addition to the library.

You can pre-order the PAL version here, the US version here and the Japanese version here.

James & Watch: Arm

As we've mentioned ad nauseum here at the Junkyard, we are massive advocates of the efforts of the myriad independent developers still supporting our favourite white box of joy. There have been some stunning post-mortem releases for the Dreamcast (2013's Sturmwind could easily pass as a PSN game, for example) and there are many more heading our way too. Elysian Shadows, Hypertension, SLaVE, AMEBA...they all look great and we're excited to see how they all turn out. However, here's an indie release you may not have seen before. James & Watch: Arm is a fun little title developed by Ben Lancaster and is slightly different to the other indie games mentioned here in that it eschews flashy visuals and in-depth story lines for a much more simple aesthetic - namely that of a Nintendo Game & Watch.

100 Games and Counting!

Over the weekend I realized that I've hit the 100 games mark with my Dreamcast collection! The epic event started when I paid a visit to the local used games store and found a few treasures: the Limited Edition version of Shenmue, complete with Jukebox CD for $17, Alien Front Online in box with microphone for $14, Versus Books Official Shenmue Perfect Guide with poster for $9 and the SEGA Saturn's Puyo Puyo Sun for $8 (check out the Saturn Junkyard for a look at that game).

Arriving home, I found that the indie shmup Fast Striker standard edition had arrived in the mail from Play-Asia (InsideOut video to come). So I got on the computer, went over to my playfire.com profile and added the games to my collection list and the counter hit 100! No flashing lights went off, and there wasn't any confetti, but it was a fun moment. I should note, the 100 count doesn't include games I own in multiple regions, demo discs and browser discs. If that were the case, I'd be at around 125. I plan on doing a collection photo roundup, just as Gagaman did back in November when he hit 200, but will hold off until a few other items arrive in the mail. Specifically Unreal Tournament, Quake III, Fur Fighters, Wetrix+, Seventh Cross Evolution, Slave Zero, Soul Fighter, Time Stalkers, Trick Style and Tokyo Xtreme Racer which were all in a lot sale. The seller just has to get back to me once he "finds all the games", lolz.

There's something about the winter months that make me buy more Dreamcast games than usual. I think it's due to the lack of new games being released in January and being stuck indoors.

Review: After the Fall

We first got a glimpse of Quake total conversion After the Fall back in August 2018 when the game's designer Pip Nayler treated us to a very early preview. Since then, we've also been lucky enough to sample a playable demo of the game. Now though, After the Fall is ready to be released for the Dreamcast community to enjoy on their own Dreamcast consoles, and come the end of June 2020 (Friday 26th June to be precise) you'll be able to download After the Fall - for the price of absolutely nothing - and experience this romp through a dystopian future nightmare for yourselves. You can't say fairer than that - dystopia with an entrance price of free. Step right up, folks!

As we've been following the development of After the Fall for a while now, we thought it was only right that we cast a critical cycloptic eye over the final product and give you our verdict on whether you should download it, burn it and give it a go; or leave it well alone and go back to watching the endless repeats of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares you somehow have recorded on your digibox (or maybe that's just me).

First things first. As you will no doubt be able to tell simply by pointing your eyes at the screenshots hither and thither, After the Fall is a total conversion of Quake. The origins of this mod can be traced all the way back to the simpler times of 1997, when it was released for the IBM compatible Personal Computer device. A proof of concept port of After the Fall was started for Dreamcast some time later, but the port was left abandoned like a dog in a hot car. That's where Pip Nayler came in to rescue the abandoned Dreamcast version, like a good samaritan with a hammer and bowl of water. You know, to smash the window and give the hypothetical dog/Dreamcast port a drink of water. Not all heroes wear capes, folks. As he told us back in 2018:

"After The Fall is a total conversion of Quake that was originally released way back in 1997. It's been mentioned on Dreamcast message boards before, but nobody has ever really played it on the console as it doesn't fit in to the Dreamcast's RAM without modification. Also, the Quake community largely considers ATF fun, but hampered by bugs and some low quality artwork. My goal is to help the game gain some new recognition and give the Dreamcast community something new to play, whilst also also allowing me to get reacquainted with Quake modding.

"Lowering the texture resolution has allowed me to fit the game in to memory, and it is now playable from start to finish, but my aim is to build upon the original game and make it something really special for the community. As such, I'll be replacing some of the assets from the original game, bug fixing where possible, writing a new backstory for it, and creating some all new levels to help tell the story and make the game feel more connected."

- Pip Nayler, After the Fall Dreamcast developer

Since we played that initial build, Pip has ironed out over 100 bugs in the code, made a whole host of edits and revisions to the graphics, gameplay and the storyline, and now After the Fall is finally ready to see the light of day, over 20 years after it was originally conceived. The crucial question remains: Is it worth your time? Or has Pip Nayler wasted his precious life energy poring over a dud? I can't stretch that dog/car analogy out any further, so let's abandon that and delve in to After the Fall...

Hardware Review: GD-ROM & Compact Flash Modded Dreamcast

Technology fails. It's as simple as that. With the passage of time, and daily wear and tear, eventually even the most robust equipment will suffer a breakdown. We can do plenty to prevent this atrophy, but inevitably, anything that employs moving parts will break. As Dreamcast owners, we're probably all too aware of the various failures that can besiege our favourite console, and the list of potential faults is long. Power boards, main boards, controller boards...pretty much everything in a Dreamcast is prone to the ravages of time, and public enemy number one is undoubtedly the GD-ROM drive. More than any other component as the Dreamcast rapidly approaches its twentieth anniversary, the main, bespoke optical drive that is a key component to enjoying those brightly hued games of yore is becoming a weak link. Raise your hand if you've ever put a game in a Dreamcast only to be met with the dreaded 'please insert game disc' message.

The catalyst for many a clenched fist and jaw

To remedy this, there are several devices on the market that allow users to negate the need for a GD-ROM drive; and in many cases they allow for the complete surgical removal of the optical drive in favour of solid state storage for games and other applications. The two most popular variants currently available are the GDEMU and the USB-GDROM.

GDEMU

USB-GDROM

These two devices require complete removal of a Dreamcast's optical drive and offer the option of using either an SD card or USB flash drive respectively from which to boot Dreamcast ISO files. There are also further alternatives that employ the use of a traditional hard drive, but these are not as popular or widespread as either of the two options mentioned above.

Internal HDD mod (courtesy of Pcwzrd)

Both GDEMU and USB-GDROM are great alternatives to the ailing GD-ROM drive - with both offering minimal loading times and enhanced curation of game files. Both also employ proprietary software for operation and boast almost 100% compatibility with games in the Dreamcast library. With the Compact Flash and other alternatives, DreamShell (the open source OS created by DC-SWAT) is employed, and while this benefits from being customisable, it doesn't offer the near full compatibiltiy enjoyed by GDEMU and USB-GDROM. That said, DreamShell is in a constant state of flux, with new updates always being worked on, so in the future full library compatibility is more than possible. In the meantime, here's a handy list of Dreamcast games that will work with DreamShell, courtesy of Pcwzrd of Dreamcast Live fame. The crux of the matter is this though: all of the other options for eschewing optical media listed here require the removal of the GD-ROM drive.

So, what to do? How can you have the best of both worlds? The solution is combining the convenience and enhancements that come with solid state storage, with the ability to still use a standard game GD (or CD) if the need arises. Enter the latest modification on the market that hits both these targets with quite some accuracy: the Compact Flash Dreamcast. Coming from Austrian modder Jan, this Dreamcast keeps the standard GD-ROM drive intact and perfectly functional, but also adds a fairly discreet CF card slot on the right hand side and a BIOS switch on the rear. This switch allows for the console to be booted in either 'standard' mode where the console is just a normal retail unit able to read disc-based games; or to be booted in DreamShell mode, where the CF card is interrogated and any game files on the card are presented in a rather nice menu using aesthetically appealing icons. There's plenty of other functionality too, but first, let's take a look at the hardware and just why Jan chose to use Compact Flash in this modification...

The Top 200 Dreamcast Games: Voted by you!

Happy 15th anniversary of the Dreamcast! The votes have been counted so now here is the final Top 200 Dreamcast games! Thanks to everyone who joined in on the voting!

Before we get started, some random facts about the final list:

- There is a total of 235 releases within this top 200: that's because in many case and game and it's sequel is one entry, and in the cases of a few, 3 or 4 games in the same series (NFL 2K, Pop n. Music) are one entry. The bottom 18 entries would have missed the list if I had not done this.

- Of those 48 were Japan only, 10 America only, 2 PAL only and were 11 indie releases.

- Release years are based on where they debuted.

- Of these 4 were released in 1998, 49 in 1999, 107 in 2000, 39 in 2001, 9 in 2002 and 20 in any year beyond that.

- Sega Smash Pack is not included, but Sega Swirl and Virtua Cop 2 from that collection are listed.

- I own 165 of the games featured, yikes!

Just a note: the article is a bit incomplete at the moment. All the poll positions are there but a few of the games do not have descriptions yet. I'm out all of today (in fact I'm celebrating the Dreamcast anniversary in style!) so I will be coming back to finish it off tomorrow.

So without further ado, beyond the jump is the complete list from last to first. Enjoy!

Revisiting the Aesthetics of TrickStyle and Dreamcast 20XX Futurism

You can tell a lot about a society’s hopes and fears by how its fictitious works depict the future. In this regard, the Dreamcast is a fascinating time capsule of our most prevalent insecurities at the turn of the millennium. As we’ve come to view the Dreamcast through a retro lens, we can also try to understand the historical context behind its own brand of retro futurism.

Revisiting a smattering of early Dreamcast games on the console’s 19th anniversary, I’m reminded of some of the common themes and aesthetics imbuing many futuristic Dreamcast and PC titles of the late '90s and early aughts. Notably, these games depicted vaguely dystopian futures that were all at once gritty, vibrant, desolate, and shrouded in a thick fog, both literally – to mask pop-in due to hardware constraints – and figuratively in their perturbed sense of uncertainty.

For me, this aesthetic characterized a fair share of the Dreamcast’s library, propagating a trend of worn, sterile, and heavily-industrialized future settings. I feel compelled to interpret this style – let’s call it “Dreamcast 20XX” for now – as a reflection of our most prevalent cultural anxieties at that time, both real and embellished. In other words, it is easy to imagine late ‘90s game developers – particularly western ones – depicting a future where the Y2K bug could’ve actually fucked up some shit. These themes manifest themselves in numerous games across a variety of genres.

They feature prominently in action titles like MDK2, Slave Zero, and Red Dog; but also in first person shooters Quake and Unreal Tournament; the open-world adventure game Omikron: The Nomad Soul; even racing games like the spectacularly boring Magforce Racing. Although these depictions vary in their degrees of cynicism, they broadly portray the toll that years of industrial and economic disrepair could take on the world in the wake of vague, societal catastrophe.

Towards the surprisingly bleak end of this spectrum is one of my favorite Dreamcast racing games, Criterion’s TrickStyle. Its chief conceit surrounds an international community struggling to rebuild itself following worldwide, war-torn devastation. In TrickStyle’s post-war future, society pulls itself up by its hoverboard binding straps and instills racing as a shared cultural tentpole, both as a means to stave off boredom and to strengthen global stability by way of awesome fucking hoverboards. It’s Marty McFly’s new world order.

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.

Developer Interview: Senile Team

Senile Team is one of the premier independent studios currently developing games for the Dreamcast. With an impressive portfolio comprising such well-known and critically acclaimed titles as Rush Rush Rally Racing and the ever-popular Beats of Rage, Senile Team has already claimed its seat at the top table. With this in mind, we though it was about time that we got together with one of Senile Team's main men Roel van Mastbergen to find out a little bit more about the history of the outfit, their influences and get some details on the brand new platform adventure heading to PC and Dreamcast very soon - Intrepid Izzy.

DCJY: Hello Roel, thanks very much for agreeing to talk to The Dreamcast Junkyard! We’re big fans of your output on the Dreamcast. Could you tell all those people who may not be familiar a little bit about yourself and the history of Senile Team?

Roel van Mastbergen: Hi Tom, thanks for inviting me to this interview. I’m Roel van Mastbergen, designer, artist and programmer for Senile Team. Senile Team is a small indie developer (currently made up of four people) originally founded in 2003, when we created Beats of Rage. This beat ‘em up based on Streets of Rage proved very popular, and we decided to keep making games, especially for the Dreamcast. Our next release was the Micro Machines-inspired Rush Rush Rally Racing, of which we recently did an updated re-release - Rush Rush Rally Reloaded which we also brought to the Nintendo Wii a few years ago.

It’s very interesting that you mention Beats of Rage - I’m pretty sure that most Dreamcast owners are familiar with it, but possibly don’t know that Senile Team is responsible for the original engine. Before we get to Beats of Rage though, one thing I have to ask - where does the studio's name ‘Senile Team’ actually come from? You don't strike me as being particularly old or decrepit. Much.

Well, back in the day we used to communicate via a mailing list. When creating the mailing list, I found that most names that actually made sense were already taken, so I sort of randomly picked the name 'Senile.' When we completed Beats of Rage, we decided to stick to it. We felt it made sense in a way, because we'd just made an old school game. 'Old' and 'senile' go hand in hand, after all!

Stock Take

Now that the Dreamcast is hardly what you'd call 'popular,' the games are extremely cheap - and Gamestation are seemingly trying to get rid of their stock of DC related stuff as quickly as possible. One tactic employed is their 'BOGOF' promotion that I have harped on about in the past. That is, Buy One, Get One Free. Today saw the purchase of Tony Hawk's 2 and that yielded a free copy of Charge 'N' Blast to go with it.

So that, I'm sure you'll be extraordinarily delighted to know, brings the total games library of the Dreamcast Junkyard up to the rather spiffing number of 46!

These games are:
Charge N Blast, Slave Zero, Tony Hawks 2, Soul Fighter, Crazy Taxi 2, UEFA Dream Soccer, 4-Wheel Thunder, V-Rally 2, Sega GT, Hydro Thunder, Jet Set Radio, F1 World GP 2, Sega Rally 2, Rush 2049, F355 Challenge, Dead Or Alive 2, Super Runabout, Red Dog, Royal Rumble, Virtua Fighter 3, Rainbow Six, Episode 1: Racer, Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, Sonic Adventure, Hidden & Dangerous, Chu Chu Rocket, House of the Dead 2, Soldier of Fortune, MSR, Berserk, Virtua Striker 2, Incoming, Ready 2 Rumble Round 2, Worms Armageddon, Code Veronica, Shenmue, Carrier, Dave Mirra, NHL 2K, Soul Calibur, Revolt, F1 World Grand Prix, Ultimate Fighting Championship, WWF Warzone and Planet Ring (ungraded because I can't play it).

Key - Games I love; Games I think are alright; Games that should be sent to the Black Hole of Calcutta.

There also some other items, such as Quake (the original), the Megadrive Emulator with about 400 games on it, the VCD player, Utopia Boot Disk and 9 Dream On demo discs.

No new hardware to report since last round up but here is is:
Console (obviously), 2 Official Guns, 3 VMUs, Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone. The Dreamcast Junkyard must, however, report the sad loss of an item. One of the joypads featured in one of the first posts on the 'Yard was from a shop that is manned by neanderthals and seems to only ever be visited by tracksuit wearing cretins who reek of sweat and beer (see picture). The shop is called 'Cash Generator,' and the pad in question appeared to be in fine working order...that is until I tried to plug it in for some 4 player action...the bit on the end was all squashed and wouldn't go into the hole. Even my incredible skills of fixing stuff was no match for the ridiculous mal-treatment this poor pad had undergone in the hands of it's previous owner. Therefore it had to be put down (thrown in the bin). What this diatribe means is that I now only have 3 pads.

But I've got no friends anyway, so in your face cruel fate!!!

Lastly, I've also started writing reviews for the American multiformat retro-games website Defunct Games. Here are my first published reviews of UEFA Dream Soccer and F1 World Grand Prix 2. As always, let me know what you think.

Kewl Boarding

You may remember that right at the start of this blog, when the Dreamcast Junkyard was a wee nipper, I posted that I had acquired a mouse and keyboard combo from a jolly chap who went by the name of Mr E. Bay. Well, if my memory serves me that post was published waaay back on the 19th of December 2005 - nearly 3 months ago. Christ, doesn't time fly when your playing Dreamcast games and living just above the poverty line? Anyhow, it's taken me till now to actually try these things out properly with the games I have that are compatible. So, the question remains - Does using a keyboard and a mouse really make that much of a difference when playing said games?

Soldier of Fortune
If you've read my review of Soldier of Fortune, you'll know that I'm not necessarily it's biggest fan. Indeed, I'm currently masterminding a plan to hunt down and destroy every copy in circulation via means of a 10,000 strong army of invincible time travelling robots...much like the one that supplies Xzibit's voice. However, I digress. Saying that though, with a mouse and keyboard set up, Soldier of Fortune is very smooth to play. Still doesn't detract from the overall skankiness of this rushed PC conversion, but hey.
Game: 2/10, Control: 8/10


Hidden & Dangerous
Another slightly below par (shouldn't that be above par?) PC conversion - Hidden & Dangerous really comes into it's own with the keyboard and mouse. All of the complex team based commands are readily availible via the keyboard, and controlling your line of sight is made mcuh easier with a mouse. Good stuff.
Game: 6/10, Control: 8/10


Unreal Tournament
Now this is what I'm talking about. I recind my comments about Unreal Tourney being a bit crap in a recent post - with the joypad it is a little sluggish - but slam in a mouse and keyboard and you're cooking on gas. Wow - i didn't think it would make so much difference! Being able to quickly and simply swing the view through 360 degrees makes for some really great and tense firefights and is so much more intuitive that using the cumbersome joypad control. Top marks.
Game: (pre mouse) 5/10 (post mouse) 7/10, Control: 9/10


I also tried the set up with some games that, even though don't
have the icon on the back of the box, made sense that they may be compatible - these were Rainbow Six, Slave Zero, Worms Armageddon and Red Dog. Alas they were having none of it. Not even Soul Calibur works, a game famous for being compatible with the fishing rod! Pah.

There is a downside to all this though. While the mouse and keyboard is good if your console is on a desk - and lets be honest, who's is? (unless you're hooked up to a monitor via VGA) - it's pretty awkward trying to get stuff for it to sit on. As you can see from my pic, I had to arrange a sort of orchestra of chairs to play in any reasonable state of semi-comfort. Furthermore - because you have to use 3 ports (mouse, keyboard, joypad with VMU plugged in), any chance of split screen is out of the window...although you'd need to be playing in the Banquet Hall at the Palace of Versailles to have enough room for you, the controls and a some mates.

Finally - on this evidence alone, Quake 3 Arena WILL be making an appearance in the next 24 hours. Verdict to come.

The Games

At this point, here are the games that have found their way to the Junkyard. In no particular order they are:

Worms Armageddon, Rresident Evil: Code Veronica, Carrier, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Hidden & Dangerous, V-Rally 2, Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX, NHL 2K, Dead or Alive 2, Slave Zero, F1 World Grand Prix, Soul Fighter, Sega Rally 2, Virtua Fighter 3tb, Soul Calibur, Hydro Thunder, Virtua Striker 2, Re-Volt, Sword of the Berserk, Sonic Adventure, Soldier of Fortune, Sega GT, House of the Dead 2, Uefa Dream Soccer, Metropolis Street Racer