Ain't no party like a Dreamcast party...

I was gonna terminate my relationship with the Dreamcast Junkyard when my last post was removed... I really was! I was hurt people... I thought that my last video post was funny! Other contributors however, thought otherwise... Still, each to his own, I guess... If you want to check out what that was look here... Be warned though, if you're easily offended by strong language, poor video blogging, or sad mofos expressing their love for the Dreamcast, you might not want to click on the link...

Still! Its time for me to re-establish myself on the DCJY, if necessary for one last time... The subject? Great DC games to play with friends if you're throwing a Dreamcast Party... OK! After my last (uncensored) post, I came up with a few great games to play when you've got friends round... Thanks to the comments of my colleagues, I've come up with a few more

Virtua Athlete 2K: This is a great 4 player game! Button mashing is the order of the day, as your chosen player competes in a number of Olympic events! Whether it's hammer throwing, long jump, hurdles or the javelin, make sure your timing is right and your hitting those butons at precisely the right moment... Otherwise you're doomed to have your opponent laughing as they trump you for that points bonus at the end of the round... Highly playable, whatever your video game experience, and a great multi-player title... Let's move on shall we?

Powerstone 1 &2: OK! One of Capcom's finest! This anime inspired title, actually generated its own cartoon over the Pacific, in the land of the Rising Sun... OK we're looking at a hectic weapon based fighter, that matches frantic gameplay with crazy power ups and allows you to take your opponents to the cleaners with a wicked combo whilst you're strengthened by Power Rangers style machismo... Top Banana!

Sega World Wide Soccer (Euro Edition): The pinnacle of Dreamcast football games... Yes this was perhaps the BEST football game on the Dreamcast. Sort your friends and yourselves into some kind of Euro or International League and you'll be playing all night! It's at its best when you go to extra time and penalties. A truly wonderous title, perhaps one for the boys, but who knows? Maybe there are some ladies out there that could prove me very wrong, and give my Sheffield Wednesday squad a good spanking...

Dead Or Alive 2: There's nothing like a good ol' beat 'em up to level the playing field, and perhaps, after Soul Calibur, this is the Dreamcast's finest! Luscious graphics and a sublime arena destroying title, Dead Or Alive is a wondrous fighter! Pick your pugilist and stand back as this the mayhem unfolds! Happy days!

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Afro Thunder? Michael Jackson? Take your pick and slug it out till the final round till your protagonist is ready to stay sniffing canvas! This game lets you battle it out until you're ready to whap you're opponent out of the ring! And what a satisfying moment that is!! A great game that's as solidly Dreamcast as any other title you could think of!

Crazy Taxi 1 & 2: "OK! It's time to make some crazy money!" The Offspring will serenade you, as you're pitted against the clock, to squeeze as much cash as you can from the queuing punters that are lined up to make your fair! Crash and smash your way to the assigned destination in the minimum time... Sublime!

House Of The Dead 2: Light Guns at the ready as you battle your way against a horde of zombies to let the "Dogs Of The AMS" defeat the ever omnipotent Goldman. Two player

action never felt this good! And you can always access two player Zombie Revenge if you're struggling with HOTD2....

Typing Of The Dead: Light Guns letting you down? Then crack out your DC keyboards for a cleverer and funnier version of the affore mentioned title! This'll see you using your keyboard skills and typing dexterity to defeat the zombie hoarde!

Shenmue 2 (Duck Race) : A hidden gem within the best title ever for the Dreamcast, this mini-game sees you pitting your adopted fowl against other birds of Hong Kongs gambling community... Pick your duck, pledge some money and watch as the action unfolds...

I hope this post gets the response I'd hoped for... If it doesn't then this is my swan song from the DCJY!

And once again... "Goodnight children, wherever you are..."

It doesn't get much more hardcore than this.

You've seen the Dreamcast as art, you've seen the Dreamcast as a PC, you've seen the Dreamcast as an amp, but have you seen a Dreamcast guitar before?

Well retro gamer artist Flooky over at the Destructoid blogs has built exactly that, in her own words her "dream guitar". It combines the console and a controller, with the volume and tone dials replacing the open and power buttons. She even burnt herself in the week long process from the soldering! Now that's dedication! Here's a close up:

We knew the Dreamcast rocked, but this one really can rock!
(Thanks to DCEmu Forums for picking up on this!)

UPDATE: Destructoid have interviewed Flooky about her Dreamcast Guitar, which you can read HERE. It appaers that the Dreamcast was broken, so she simply breathed new life into it! There's also more photos of it there.

X-Box Live Arcade woefully behind the Dreamcast in terms of awesomeness

Well it appears that the X-box is trying to play catch up with the Dreamcast.

They now offer a version of Marthon:Durandal on X-box Live Arcade.

Joystiq Article

Xbox Marathon Website

Quote form the X-box wesbite.

"This title is only available to Xbox 360™ owners with an Xbox LIVE Silver or Gold membership, through download from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace."

Technically that is true. To get the faster upgraded version with a few add-ons you have to have the X-box 360.

But if you want play THE WHOLE TRILOGY (including the original version of Durandal!) all you need is a Dreamcast, a CD-R and a decent internet connection!

Download it at the DC Evolution website.

That's right. First the Wii and now the Xbox 360. The new gen just keeps on ripping off the Dreamcast...

Yes the DC Evolution website has had THE WHOLE TRILOGY up for awhile. Of course there are some drawbacks (the most painful being that you can't save).

But still. Three original games versus one remake.

Simple math people

3>1

Dreamcast > Xbox live Arcade

The Undead Console leaves another victim in it's wake...

Live the Dream people...

All hail the Undead Console!

All hail the Dreamcast!

Blowing up the Dreamcast Controller Board.

This is a public service message to all the Dreamcast fans out there.

I have heard from many different sources that crappy third party controllers can easily blow out ports on your Dreamcast.

What I found out yesterday was that even an official Dreamcast controller can do this. A first party Dreamcast controller I had recently bought was faulty and blew out the F1 resistor in the controller board. That means that NONE of the controller ports will work.

Here is the culprit. I bought it from a thrift shop the other day.



I suppose it's live by thrift shops, die by the thrift shops. But there are two ways to look at buying Dreamcast stuff from pawn shops, Salvation army, "boot sales", garage sales...ect.

A. - Most people won't resell or donate electronics that they know are faulty.

B. - Most people are jerks or too stupid to know that the stuff they are selling is faulty.

For me it's a moot point. I only paid like $10 for the Dreamcast I blew up because I got it at a garage sale. I could have paid more for stuff from Ebay, but are electronics purchased like that really safer? It's debatable.

Anyways you can buy a new resistor to replace the one the faulty controller blew out. It takes a bit of time and RISK to your Dreamcast. Some people have had better luck than others.

Here is a nice little guide from the Devcast site:

http://devcast.dcemulation.com/mods/repair/repair.php

And here is a little blurb from the Dreamcast Scene Site.

http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index.php/Main/Controlboardrepair

There is also a less safe but easier way

I do not suggest that anyone tries this. You can hurt/kill yourself if you don't know anything about electronics (I was supposed to unplug it?!!?!?) and you can easily damage your Dreamcast beyond all repair. It involves using a bit of wire to directly connect the legs of the busted F1 resistor.

I am mainly putting this up so people get a little better picture of what the F1 fuse looks like.

Basically the Dreamcast is very easy to crack open. You just need a regular Phillips head screwdriver.

Take out the 4 screws then flip it over to remove the top.

You then can see all the bits that make the Dreamcast magical!

Anyways there is the damn F1 resistor that blows out if you use a crap controller

(or an official controller that's faulty)

My crappy fix actually seemed to work. However, this Dreamcast might now be the largest fire hazard in my house. Plus if you ever use a faulty controller in that Dreamcast it might just blow out the whole thing...





So it's a bit hard to fix this if you are not used to it. Buying a new resistor isn't expensive but you will need a soldering iron to get the old one out and replace it.

It might be a better idea to simply buy a replacement controller board or even a new Dreamcast.

In conclusion beware of trying out new controllers! If you happen to have two Dreamcasts don't use the nicer one to test out controllers for the first time. And yes, even official Dreamcast controllers can ruin your controller ports.

All in all I suppose that it's a good lesson to learn. Even the Dreamcast can fail (though it's pretty damn simple to try and fix it).

Fideo Friday: Caleb's Collection!

Still not much to report when it comes to interesting Dreamcast videos on-line recently. However, this week we have two videos from us to show you! The first is Caleb showing off his Dreamcast Collection, which he posted at his blog last week! It's bloody funny, I might add.

Collection video_podcast
Uploaded by Blandco

As this video clearly shows: Caleb has a life and has his games dumped in boxes while I spend far too much time keeping mine all presentable and shite, because I'm a sad git! At least we have one thing in common: we both have len's caps that won't stay still and wiggle at the bottom of the screen a lot!

E3 2007 reveals new Dreamcast game!

Remember how EA decided not to develop games for the Dreamcast all those years ago? Well, now after all this time they have finally seen the errors of their ways and decided to bring a game over to it. Yes, in 2007! This game is..

The Simpson's Game! Out of boredom I was watching a bunch of trailers of new game trailers being shown at this years E3 event when, at the end of this trailer for the game, EA revealed their cleverest plan ever! These guys are the biggest in the industry for one reason: they port their games to everything, only now they are taking this to the extreme! Just take a look at this amazing announcement! It makes perfect sense because the Dreamcast never had a Simpson's game either!

Finally EA have seen the potential in the undead console! This is surely a confirmation that Sega will be re-releasing the Dreamcast at an RRP of £99 with 100 games built in and a new VMU that can play Game Gear games! You heard it here folks! We knew you were up to something really Sega, all these crap games you've been making the last few years were just a cover up for your major plans to rule the industry once again! As if life couldn't be any sweeter, my 2nd all-time favourite system ever, the Amiga, is getting a comeback too! My life is complete!

New Freeware Dreamcast Game - Neverball

A new Dreamcast port "Neverball" is being released in it's alpha version.

It looks and feels alot like Monkeyball so if you like those types of games it might be worth a CD-R. Here's a video of someone getting beat down while playing. It takes nerves of steel to play this game...



Here is the download link from the DCEmu website. Please note this game is still in it's preliminary stage so expect some bugs. It's in .CDI format so you will need Discjuggler, Alcohol 120 or Bootdreams to burn it.
http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67260

As a bonus video here is a look at the PS controller converter. It takes note that the PS Guncon, fishing controller and twin stick will not work on the Dreamcast even with the converter. I just thought this video was interesting. Some day I will have to invest some cash in a PS2/DC converter for the dance mat.

Dream Machine

Word peeps. Apologies, yet again it seems, for my blatant lack of posting activity here at the nerve centre of Dreamcast related horse shit: The Dreamcast Junkyard. This, for the most part is down to my rather infuriating internet connection set up. If ever there was a more screen-punchingly annoying way of getting online than with a laptop that constantly refuses to acknowledge usb devices and a mobile phone on a network that rarely gives more than 2 bars of signal, then I'd like to hear about it. So - word of advice: Don't buy an Acer laptop; and don't get a mobile on the Three network, however nice their adverts may look, and however enticing their tariffs may seem. And if Three are reading, allow me to say this: FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING CUNTS.

Anyhow, moving on to more relevant subjects - last night, whilst chillin' in ma crib with ma bitches and ma hoes and suppin' a Bud (sat on my own watching TV whilst the incessant rain smashed relentlessly across the shaking window panes), I spotted a Dreamcast on TV! Not an actual console mind, but a pad and a TV displaying a game of NFL 2K.

Now, at this juncture, I realise that by sharing this with you my rating on the Geek With No Life Or Friends-o-meter has probably just gone through the roof and into the underside of an orbiting satellite...but I think it's a cunning spot from yours truly. So where was this Dreamcast hiding? Well, last night saw the premiere of Vin Diesel 'action epic' A Man Apart on Channel 4. And very entertaining it was too. However, in two seperate scenes, one of Mr Diesel's pals (an obese, cake-loving gentleman, ironically monikered 'Sexy') can be seen playing said NFL game with a lovely white pad in his hands. The pad? Why, it's a DC one...

Beat that!! Spotted a DC in a movie? Let us know! I'm so excited I've just pissed and shat myself, but in the name of textual entertainment I'm going to sit here and wallow in my own faecal matter, because I've got something else to share with you all...

Have a look at this picture:

Note: The number plate has been blanked out to prevent any psychos checking my address
with the DVLA and stalking me. Not that it wouldn't be an honour to be stalked, you understand...

Yep, this is my car. Looks no different from any other piece of shit, rust-bucket Nissan Sunny right? WRONG, BITCH!!!

In an example of 'modding' not seen outside of that other Vin Diesel mess 'The Fast And The Furious,' I have turned my motor into the envy of the Dreamcast-loving world:

The Dream-Mobile (TM)!

Check out the bonnet:

Another note: Sonic's stuck on with Blue Tack. I'm not stupid enough to use Bostik. Although...

Check out the back windscreen:

Check out the pedals:

As you can probably tell, it's an automatic. Good job I learnt to drive playing Sega Rally 2 then, eh?

Now, if I drive around whilst wearing my UK Resistance T-Shirt, Dreamcast Jacket and Dreamcast swimming shorts I'm guaranteed to get loads of fine-ass birds begging for my phone number right?!

Who's laughing now eh?! EH?! Oh.

New DCJ Video: VMU Wonders

There really hasn't been too many interesting videos of note popping up on Youtube recently, so I skipped Fideo Friday again this week. To make up for it, I've put together a new video of my own for the Dreamcast Junkyard Youtube. Remember that VMU Wonders article I wrote a while back? This is very much a compliment to that, featuring clips of dozens of VMU games, including instructions on how to get your hands on them all.

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like Its 1999...

Whilst browsing the Planet Dreamcast Forum (which I do on a worryingly regular basis), the subject of 'Dreamcast parties' came up. Now for me a party usually involves me drinking copious amounts of alcohol, until I...

a.) Throw up
b.) Get naked
c.) Soil myself (or a combination of all three...)

So as you can imagine I don't get invited out much! However, it would seem that more sober minded types actually invite large groups of friends round then crank up the old Dreamcast.

So, what games could be played at a Dreamcast party? Let's have a look at some party friendly games shall we? (Oh and I'm not suggesting you play these games sober, Fuck no!)

Samba De Amigo: OK! The obvious choice, perhaps. Before the Wii came out, the Dreamcast had taken rhythm based games to a new level. Using a pair of motion sensor maracas and a grinning, on screen dancing monkey, players could shake along to a number of tunes including the Chumbawumba classic "Tub Thumping" or my own favourite, the theme from Rocky. A series of coloured dots fly out from the middle of the screen toward points at the right or left of the screen, based at the top, bottom or middle. The object of the game involves shaking the maracas in sync with the dots and occasionally striking a pose, which matches that of an, on screen, maraca holding, stick man.


Largely heralded as an innovative and definitive Dreamcast game, Samba De Amigo saw a brief re-emergence on the PS2 as part of the Sega Superstars package. And our very own Gagaman(n) has brought a lot of traffic to the 'Yard, by postulating that this could be a perfect game for re-release on the Wii.


Watching your mates wiggling their maracas after a few shandies is very funny! For a comprehensive analysis of this particular title look here... And if you want to have a go yourself, you can buy the game and some third party maracas here...


Space Channel 5: Who could resist the gorgeous Ulala, roving reporter for the orbiting Space Channel 5? And news just in, the planet has been invaded by a fleet of funky (but evil) aliens who are hypnotising and kidnapping its inhabitants, through the medium of dance!Another rhythm game, Space Channel 5 demands you mash buttons and the D pad in the right sequence, as Ulala dances. Ulala shouts out instructions that you have to follow... ("Up, down, up, down, shoot, shoot, shoot!") The pace starts off slow, but as you progress through the levels of the game, the sequence of instructions gets more complicated and frantic.



The real party element comes from trying to remember these sequences whilst your brain becomes slowly more sozzled. The graphics and stylisation of this game are fabulous, but the music is what makes it for me. A soundtrack that could perhaps be described as "Retro-Futuristic Lounge music", plays throughout the game. If you successfully follow Ulala's directions you rescue people, if not, the aliens capture them and the music begins to distort out of tune and tempo... absolutely brilliant! Play through the levels and Michael Jackson turns up as Space Michael, but don't let that put you off...

Soul Calibur: This classic weapon based fighter has oft been celebrated on these hallowed pages, so no need to describe its game-play (See Fideo Friday). Suffice to say, that anyone can pick it up and play like an ass kicking ninja on steroids. And your friends will be so blown away by the graphics that you'll have an immediate conversation starter, about how seriously fucking great the Dreamcast is and how it never should have been beaten in the last gen console wars, by an over-hyped black DVD player from those corporate whores at Sony (Ahem!)

Chu Chu Rocket!: Four controllers, a cacophony of colours and a load of manic mice. Chu Chu Rocket! was developed by Sonic Team as the first Online game for the Dreamcast.

"ChuChu Rocket!'s multiplayer mode revolves around up to four players placing arrows on the level at once, trying to direct mice into their own rockets and cats into other players' rockets. Each player can only have three arrows on-screen at a time and cannot place them on other players' arrows or their own arrows. Although a simple concept, this quickly becomes frantic with the relentless speed of the mice and four players fighting over them." (Says Wikipedia)

What's great about this particular title, is that it's quality, but also the cheapest Dreamcast game you can buy... You'll usually be able to snag it for 99p at Gamestation. I think Sega gave it away with the Dreamcast, but as I was too stupid to get one back then you'll have to confirm that for me...

Who Want's To Be A Millionaire?: If you've seen the show, you'll know what this is, a general knowledge multiple choice quiz, where the player (up to four) can gamble ever increasing amounts of cash as questions get harder... Drinking and quizzes go great together, and it's particularly gratifying to see your mates crash and burn at £500,000 by making a cocky assertion when they could have used a life-line.
Speaking of the lifelines, "Ask the audience" gives you a graph showing the most likely answer, "50:50" cuts the multiple choice answers down from four to two. But the "phone a friend" life line is the funniest part of the game. Eidos picked the most rediculous voice actors ever to pose as your fictional chums, and their voices and accents are unintentionally hilarious. The 'dramatic' pauses intended to build up tension are a pain in the arse though, and the voice of host Chris Tarrant, can really get on your tits after a bit...


Loony Tunes Space Race: I could have chosen Wacky Races, Disney's Magical Racing or South Park Rally for this post, as all three games are based on the Mario Kart model of weapons based racing.


The thing that makes this particular game a little bit better than the rest, however, is that rather than driving a vehicle you fly a rocket! This gives the game a feeling of Wipeout, as you defy gravity around the circuit... In four player mode the game becomes hilarious as you use picked up "Acme Brand" weapons to sabotage your mate's progress. I've played this a few times with friends and its a riot if you've knocked a couple of beers back (are you noticing a recurrent theme here??)


This is just a sample of games that are party friendly... I'm sure you know loads more!

Oh! And as I've mentioned before, the Dreamcast can DJ at your party with its MP3 peripheral and a stereo hook up. Top banana!

LCD + VGA = WOW

No Fideo Friday this week, after that onslaught of Youtube videos this week I feel we could do with a break! Instead, here's a new article!

VGA is the tecchy name for that big blue cable you plug into your computer monitor, because everything electric needs an annoying three letter abbreviation. Remember when I told you guys about the VGA converter box I bought and tried out on my PC monitor, while also trying the Dreamcast out online for the first time in years? Well, now TV's are starting to put VGA ports in the back of them too, which means you can plug your PC up to it, but also...with the help of the converter box, your Dreamcast. Oh, and I've just so happened to blow a lump of money on a new shiny LCD TV to replace my bulky old telly, going from a 21 inch screen to a whopping 32! In case your wondering, I've paid for half of it and will be paying the rest off eventually! It swamps my desk!

Just a word of warning: not all VGA ports in telly's are the same, and I learned this the hard way when I bought one, and the Dreamcast VGA box would not work through it, so I had to take that telly back and get another one, which was a whole lot of hassle and cost me another £50. ADVICE! Don't buy a telly from a electronics specialist like Euronics, because you'll have trouble taking it back, buy it somewhere like Argos instead, because they're easy to exchange with and give you no hassle. Also, if you can, find someone who owns the telly you're considering buying to test your VGA box on before buying! One thing I discovered is Hitachi TV's are good to go, and Samsung ones are not.

The best way I could think of comparing the picture quality would be with photos. Note: colours will look a little off because they're photos, not direct feed shots. First off, here's how it look though the standard aerial port that comes provided with the console:

The quality can all depend on how well your TV receives the aerial, but this is about a good as I can get it.

This is the same shot via an RGB, using the VGA box. This is the same as what you get with a Scart cable, which you can buy separately. It's a lot nicer, with brighter colours and more detail, and looks perfectly fine..

..but this is how it looks with the VGA PC Input. The sharpness ramps up big time and you can see every pixel.
Another advantage of VGA input is that it resizes everything for you, so you don't need to keep switching between 4:3 and 16:9 when a game looks too stretched or squashed. Games feel fresh and new, like you're playing them for the first time again. Even the sound is better! As Racketboy well said on his site many times "once you go VGA, you'll never go back"!

There's only one disadvantage of this device, and that is that not all games will run using it. On the back of most Dreamcast games you'll find a "VGA Compatible" symbol, and if that is not there, than popping in the disc will bring up a message telling you you can't run it through that cable. This isn't always the case, though, sometimes the publishers just forget to place the symbol on the box. Judging from my collection, roughly one in ten games will not use it. The following didn't work for me:

Bangai-O
Bust a Move 4 *
Capcom Vs SNK
DDR 2nd Mix/ Club Edition
Gunbird 2 *
King of Fighters Dream Match 99
Last Blade 2
Pen Pen
Plasma Sword
Psychic Force 2019
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Marvel Vs Capcom *
Spawn in the Demon's Hand *

(EDIT: The games that have * next to them do in fact work, if you use a boot disc! Thanks for the tip Denymetanol!)

It seems to depend on th the region of the game as well. According to the folks at DCforums, The American version of Skies of Arcadia works, but the British one doesn't. This is why the VGA box also has a RGB port on the side, and a switch that will let you switch between PC input and second best possible picture quality that will be compatible with any game.


On the plus side, though, you can also use emulators and homebrew games through this thing, so Mega Drive and Playstation games are going to look better than they ever did on the original consoles. For example, here's a shot of the classic Aladdin game in glorious PC quality:
And even closer, so you can see the lovely pixels! The only other way you could get this game to look this good would be through an emulator on your PC. In summary: this is the closest you're gonna get to playing Dreamcast games in HD, and really brings out the best of the system's graphics. It's beautiful, I tells ya.