A Rare Shenmue Prototype Appears!

It's one of those posts about something cool that's popped up on eBay! Huzzah! This is quite cool though: a prototype copy of Shenmue, complete with a smorgasbord of hastily labelled VMUs that were apparently used for demoing sections of the game to the press back in those halcyon days of the late 1990s. Indeed, the seller goes on to detail the exact circumstances in which these labelled VMUs would be used:

This is the exact bundle my husband used when he demoed to the press, including save files from multiple points in the game so that he could easily show the various scenes. This was given to him as a gift upon completion of the Shenmue project.

We don't know who her husband is, but damn this is a nice leaving gift. Edit: this has been confirmed as belonging to Mike Rhinehart, the lead tester of the NTSC-U version of Shenmue. I know for a fact that I can't afford this bundle (which also includes a System Disc), but it'll be interesting to see what the lot eventually goes for. Here's the link to the auction. Oh, and the gallery is below...


Thanks to Gameboyle for the heads up. Be sure to check out his Gameboy-tastic YouTube channel!

Pier Solar Collector's Edition Gallery

Pier Solar has finally shipped and the general consensus is that it's a fine game, and that Watermelon has done a really good job with the packaging and variations on PAL, NTSC-U and NTSC-J Dreamcast boxes. The ultimate variant of Pier Solar appears to be the Collector's Edition, and fellow Dreamcast collector and blogger Blue Swirl has supplied me with some images of the packaging, extras and guide book that come as part of this lovely set. The gallery is below, but here's what Blue Swirl had to say about the Collector's Edition:

I recently received the Collector's Edition of Pier Solar for Dreamcast and thought you might like some photos.

I went with the PAL variation, it came wrapped in custom gold wrapping paper (an early Christmas present!) and it's really nicely done with gold ink on the game cover, inlay and manual. They also authentically recreated the PAL Dreamcast cases too - hopefully the plastic hinges are a little stronger though!

There are some pictures of the guide too, which comes bound in a faux leather cover embossed with the logo. I have to say they do go to some extremes for an indie developer, it's very professionally done.

We have to agree that it does look very nice, especially the guide book. Pier Solar is out now and available to buy from Watermelon's website and you can visit Blue Swirl's Dreamcast blog here. Also, be sure to check out Caleb's Pier Solar first look video here.

A Quick Look At Arabian Nights: Prince of Persia

I loved Flashback. It was such an epic game. The rotoscoped animation of Conrad B. Hart, the cinematics, the fantastic storyline and pacing of the adventure. You really felt like you were playing a role in the greatest sci-fi caper ever told; you literally had the fate of mankind in your frail, meat-based human hands. I initially experienced Flashback on the Mega Drive (and later the Jaguar and 3DO) and once I'd finished it, I looked into other games that were similar in scope and design and eventually my quest lead me to buy an earlier title from the bountiful table of Delphine Software and US Gold: Another World.

I'm not going to lie in an attempt to look like some learned and well-versed gaming expert: I thought Another World was shite. Even though it was lauded by the press, I couldn't even get past the first couple of screens with that big black dog and those stupid snaggle-toothed slug things nipping at my ankles. Ultimately, Another World (or Out of This World if you're American) was tossed aside after about an hour of trial and error (and random outbursts of rage at the TV screen if I remember rightly). Before you start foaming on your yellowing, crumb-filled Amiga keyboard know this: I have since played it as an adult and fully appreciate the game now; but back then in my youthful 'fresh from Flashback' comedown period, I thought it was an impenetrable mess. A good looking mess with excellent cut scenes, but a mess all the same. I can only apologise for such adolescent idiocy.

Unknown Tantalus Shooter Revealed

This is the latest in our series of unreleased games reveals, and to be honest we're not really sure what to call it. The game - if you can call it such - is contained on a GD with the word 'Tantalus' scribbled across it with permanent marker. That's it. No name, no version, no date. For those who don't know, Tanatalus is a developer that did several ports for the Saturn including Manx TT Superbike, Krazy Ivan and both WipEout and WipEout 2097. They also supported the Dreamcast, with the most notable game being Looney Tunes Space Race, the cell-shaded kart racer.

According to Wikipedia, Tantalus are also working on The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for the Wii U, which is cool. However, this post is about a game lost to the mists of time. A four player split screen demo with no name but a hell of a lot of Nazi imagery and more questions than answers. Is it the multiplayer component for a lost Dreamcast version of Return To Castle Wolfenstein? This sounds likely, but the video below will hopefully jog some memories...

Update: the CEO of Tantalus has revealed the story behind this demo!

Nice work guys! As far as we remember, this is a tech demo we produced, and presumably sent around to a few publishers. As much as anything, it was probably to showcase the fact that our Dreamcast tech supported four-player split-screen multiplayer. It never became an actual game.

Fantastic to see it though, we love a blast from the past.

Cheers,
Tom Crago
CEO - Tantalus

The mystery is solved...thanks Tom! 

The World's Smallest Dreamcast?

OK, so you've probably seen the Yujin Sega History Collection Dreamcast that comes in a plastic egg like something out of a Dobuita toy machine, but we're confident we've found an even smaller example of Sega's lovely white system. Behold:
This is available from Etsy seller Bricksanity for the equally minuscule price of £1.99, is based on a Lego brick, and is a pretty darn cool novelty item - even more so if you collect Lego. One of these Dreamcast bricks would look amazing in any Lego house, and it comes complete with a controller, VMU, mains plug and RGB Scart cable. Sadly this, much like the fabled cake in Portal, is a lie. In actual fact you only get a controller (of sorts):

This is in no way official, but it's pretty awesome. I wonder if Sega Europe will order the seller to cease and desist...surely not!

Cease & Desist

If you managed to snag a Collectors Guide, you'll be pleased to know that it itself is now a collectable. That's because Sega's legal department has asked The Dreamcast Junkyard to cease sale of the guide as it isn't an official product, and naturally we will honour the request. For transparency, here's the email:

Dear Sirs,

We are pleased that you support the SEGA video game console Dreamcast and we note your creation of the Dreamcast Junkyard Ultimate Collectors Guide Book. This is however an unofficial title which is not authorised nor endorsed by SEGA and for that reason, we ask that you kindly cease sale of this book on your website and/or any other online channels as soon as possible. 

Please can you confirm that you have removed the book by emailing the Legal Dept.

As you will understand, in order to protect the brands within our group companies, we are only able to allow the creation of and promotion of authorised products and platforms.

We thank you for your understanding.

Yours faithfully

Legal Department

SEGA Europe Ltd.

For and on behalf of SEGA Holdings Co., Ltd.

Fair enough. It's not an official product and Sega have every right to request this. After all, they own the Dreamcast copyright and all that jazz. I have replied asking if there's anything we can do to make the book available again, so we'll see what they say. In truth, the upcoming Pix'N Love Dreamcast publication has probably had something to do with this...but c'est la vie! Once again, there is no love lost here (from our side anyway!).

Thanks to everyone who bought one and keep dreaming!

Japanese Dreamcast Promotion Disk

What with all the writing and playing of Dreamcast games lately, I'm developing gnarled claws where my hands should be. I blame that infernal controller with it's guillotine edges. No matter how much lard I rub into my palms, I just can't rid myself of the cramp and so I decided to make a lovely video for your delectation, rather than spend ages hammering out guff on my internet-enabled steampunk typewriter, while simultaneously listening to whale song playing on an 8 track. Hipster? You don't know the half of it squire. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago a chap named James sent me a rather spiffing selection of Dreamcast demos from the shores of Japan, and in amongst said collection was a GD labelled simply as a Dreamcast Promotion Disk. It also has 'not for sale' printed on it, and this piqued my interest. In all honesty, it's probably just a disk for use in shop-based demo pods and the like, but I thought it was worth investigating further. Cast your eyes downward, hit play and all will be revealed!

As ever, if you know more about this disk than I, please share the knowledge in the comments. Edit: it turns out the demo is from the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine, which I kind of suspected seeing as the logo for said periodical popped up at one point in the video. Still, an interesting item nonetheless as all of the other demos from that magazine are numbered and have a completely different look to them. More on those coming very soon!