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Retro-GAF unite!
- Thread starter IrishNinja
- Start date
Wow, this looks great!
GDEmu rules, definitely recommended. The DC itself is as flaky as ever, tho: mine had power connectivity issues manifest right before my GDEmu came in and needed some toying with.
Great, I'll order one as soon as he reopens preorders. They'Re currently closed (I would have gotten a Phoebe and a GDEmu)
davidwhangchoi
Member
With Peltz now at his place marathoning metal slug X, metal slug 3 on his MVS. Will post a pic later =)
7DollarHagane
Banned
Had a great time at Midwest gaming classic. Lots of drinks and fun. Bought shinobi legions for a good price. A lot of other Saturn stuff.
Laws00
Member
UNPOPULAR OPINION that might get me killed
I love mine to hell. I have stories about the damn thing. I just feel like i've seen/played everything that there is to have on the thing. A fun system with some damn good games but it's been there done that for me.
The Sega Dreamcast is over rated.
I love mine to hell. I have stories about the damn thing. I just feel like i've seen/played everything that there is to have on the thing. A fun system with some damn good games but it's been there done that for me.
oh damn, almost forgot:
One thing to note is that by default it doesn't have a UI. The physical button on the device cycles through the disc images and you'll have to check yourself which is "loaded" via something like the Dreamcast dashboard audio player or whatever. The device is reliable and fast and compatible with all sorts of file formats, but being that its purpose is solely to emulate the disc drive, it's a bit too basic for actually selecting between a lot of games.
...that said, there's unaffiliated software to help manage your SD card and build a menu application that sits in disc image index 0. Once you have this in place, the whole thing becomes amazingly convenient: turn on DC, see a game menu, pick a game, game boots, and you can even soft-reset back to the game selection menu.
Unfortunately this stuff was largely hosted on assemblergames, which is down for the moment, so lmk if you can't find the files (I currently use "SD Card Maker for GDEMU v1.05")
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
man, David and Peltz got a serious bromance. I'm jelly 
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
My SNES just arrived, so good.
Spot on here. +1
The Phoebe and Rhea seemingly aren't supprted as well as the GDEMU but you can use the same SD card maker app to setup the game selection menu for your Saturn games.
Obtaining quality roms can OFTEN be problematic, especially for Saturn, but at least its easy to dump your own games...unlike the Dreamcast.
Installation is super easy for both of the optical drive emulators, moreso for GDEMU. I'd highly recommend obtaining 3D printed plastic inserts which fill the voids left by replacing your original optical drives with these products.
Make sure you are ordering the correct part/model for your Saturn (Pheobe/Rhea with correct ribbon connector) and that your Dreamcast is compatible (VA1 model IF I recall correctly).
Overall I'd highly recommend these products. Any problems I have run into have turned out to be an issue with the ROM(s) or a configuration mistake on my part. Don't bother enabling the increased read speed options as they opften cause games to fail. Also, make sure you take the cost of SD cards into account as large libraries can be costly to store on that media.
7DollarHagane
Banned
I agree? I don't own one currently because I never used it. I'm not that interested in most of the library and that I do want is ported elsewhere or has sequels that are better....
Also I think the Dreamcast controller is one of the worst post NES controllers of all time.
I have a V-Saturn and I'm afraid to open it and check which version of the 21 ribbon disc drive I have. I'll do it once the phoebe is back in stock though (or he takes new orders in).
I have the full Dreamcast and Saturn Truerip sets, they should be close to perfect for GDEmu and Phoebe (by full, I mean of the games I own on both devices.. which is quite a bit).
I have several SD Cards anyway, it's easier to swap 3-4 32 gb cards for my collections than to disc juggle anyway.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Here's my pickups from the convention. I've been playing shinobi legions tonight and really impressed with it. In 1995 it might have been disliked because it was 2d but it's fun now. The one complaint I have is the way the camera scrolls around too quickly and too rapidly. Turning left or right can be pretty disorienting. And when you jump in vertically scrolling stages the view jumps upwards too.
It's library has a ton of hidden gems. And good new games got released in Japan for years after it was discontinued. Definitely, it's a GOAT contender if you're a fan of shmups.
off-world interceptor extreme unironically rules.
I'm a huge fan of shmups but it is on the bottom of the list for that category. Maybe a half dozen titles and even most of those have better ports elsewhere. Leaves like three or four that are left...Border Down, Mars Matrix, Zero Gunner 2.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Yup. I heard about it on giant bomb I think. Cheap and fun. That's the goal.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Nah, the ports of Dreamcast shmups were, pretty much across the board, second rate. Ain't no way I'm swapping DC Ikaruga for the 360 version. Even less way I'm swapping Under Defeat for that HD wannabe.
The GC version of Ikaruga is ace
Aw. Noted. Well I like them all universally more on the 360. Flexibility for bigger screen playback (hard to beat a tate 55" HDTV) and better sticks available. I'm not too attached to any of the DC shooters where I would know the differences anyways. Ikaruga has never been my jam anyways. For me, the DC is a Border Down machine.
In fact, was playing Under Defeat Triple last night after a half year and was loving it. On the floor like I love. I was not aware folks had issues with the port. I have it on DC but always opt for the new version.
D.Lo
Member
I rate my Sega systems in a different order to most.
I really love the mid 80s and mid-late 90s Sega, I think they are the two periods when their games were best because their arcade teams led the design charge, even on console. In the 80s it was Space Harrier/Wonder Boy/After Burner/Alex Kidd/Shinobi - so much variety, kickass graphics and music, endless replay value.
The 90s vibe they had going with Panzer Dragoon/Burning Rangers/Sega Rally/Crazy Taxi/Space Channel/Jet Set Radio etc - love it. Splatoon is the game 90s Sega forgot to make.
That said, Saturn and Dreamcast are also amazing Capcom (and to a lesser extent SNK) boxes, and Saturn is easily the #1 shooter and probably fighters console ever made. So Saturn wins.
- Saturn
- Dreamcast
- Mark III/MS
- Mega Drive
- SG1000
- Mega CD
- 32X
I really love the mid 80s and mid-late 90s Sega, I think they are the two periods when their games were best because their arcade teams led the design charge, even on console. In the 80s it was Space Harrier/Wonder Boy/After Burner/Alex Kidd/Shinobi - so much variety, kickass graphics and music, endless replay value.
The 90s vibe they had going with Panzer Dragoon/Burning Rangers/Sega Rally/Crazy Taxi/Space Channel/Jet Set Radio etc - love it. Splatoon is the game 90s Sega forgot to make.
That said, Saturn and Dreamcast are also amazing Capcom (and to a lesser extent SNK) boxes, and Saturn is easily the #1 shooter and probably fighters console ever made. So Saturn wins.
davidwhangchoi
Member
Peltz is awesome dude to game with =)man, David and Peltz got a serious bromance. I'm jelly
oh nice stuff! Virtua On! love that game =)Here's my pickups from the convention. I've been playing shinobi legions tonight and really impressed with it. In 1995 it might have been disliked because it was 2d but it's fun now. The one complaint I have is the way the camera scrolls around too quickly and too rapidly. Turning left or right can be pretty disorienting. And when you jump in vertically scrolling stages the view jumps upwards too.
here's Peltz rocking Metal Slug 3 on the PVM and the credit counter record for MVS.Yo... Dave and I played videogames for like... 6 hours today. We was like:
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
I finally got around to watching it.
Yo, that place is legit. Bonus points for the dude using a Melty Blood song at the end of the video.
Jim_Cacher
Member
Oh boy, I just found two extremely cheap sealed(!) copies of Xenosaga I,II DS in a local shop. I will keep one of them, shall I sell the other one?
Edit: add pic. Not US dollar
Edit: add pic. Not US dollar
IrishNinja
Member
D Lo did you really just put genny at # 4? come see me after class
we had our chance, chacs
also this reminds me why me & cj_iwakura (or Mzo) need to take more screenshots
i mean
you're basically saying you feel you've fully explored the library of a system that barely got 2 something years of life here
its more that we ended up with so very many gems in that small window & the lamenting of what might've been had we been given a full gen
man, David and Peltz got a serious bromance. I'm jelly
we had our chance, chacs
also this reminds me why me & cj_iwakura (or Mzo) need to take more screenshots
i mean
you're basically saying you feel you've fully explored the library of a system that barely got 2 something years of life here
its more that we ended up with so very many gems in that small window & the lamenting of what might've been had we been given a full gen
Laws00
Member
True i can't knock it for only being around for 2 years. It just a cool system that didn't reach its potential.
blast processed
Member
Surprised to see that Megadrive at #4.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
We did, we did. Actually, I was just down in Florida like a week ago. But I'm always up in West Palm Beach, and Miami is a pain in the ass to get to from there
I agree with this. Also Dreamcast was impressive for it's library considering it's short life span.
IrishNinja
Member
We did, we did. Actually, I was just down in Florida like a week ago. But I'm always up in West Palm Beach, and Miami is a pain in the ass to get to from there
i'd meet you halfway sometime if i didn't put all my truck repair $ into saturn games
Ikaruga is best on Steam, I think. I'm not sold that the Xbox 360/Nesica/Steam chaining makes for a worse game than the Naomi/Dreamcast/Gamecube versions, and the game's art holds up wonderfully in HD.
Anyway, I like the Dreamcast library. There are a few different ways to judge libraries, but looking at the releases from a contemporary lense and assuming that you didn't have easy access to all the arcade games Dreamcast got home ports of, it was a pretty incredible system through its lifespan. From a 2017 "what can it offer me" perspective it has lost a bit of luster due to better versions of some of its exclusives being available elsewhere and many of its 2D arcade game ports being surpassed by PC emulation, but it's still the best home for many 3D arcade games outside of their original Naomi releases.
Anyway, I like the Dreamcast library. There are a few different ways to judge libraries, but looking at the releases from a contemporary lense and assuming that you didn't have easy access to all the arcade games Dreamcast got home ports of, it was a pretty incredible system through its lifespan. From a 2017 "what can it offer me" perspective it has lost a bit of luster due to better versions of some of its exclusives being available elsewhere and many of its 2D arcade game ports being surpassed by PC emulation, but it's still the best home for many 3D arcade games outside of their original Naomi releases.
IrishNinja
Member
not sure i agree about steam's ikaruga (& i definitely don't with the somewhat popular notion that many of the DC's greats have been ported, there's tons that stay on that system sadly) but i will absolutely never get this argument, personally.
i like emulation, but
a) there's always a tradeoff
b) couldn't you make this argument for the saturn's library/etc? that scene's emulation has gotten far better a few years back, like i know we're a niche crowd but i imagine the % of us who have the means & desire to play them off original hardware is even more niche.
I was only talking of the shmups. The entire DC catalog is a beast. Add in Naomi...and things all the way up to late releases like Rythym Tengoku arcade and it far surpasses the other Sega systems. DC will always be my favorite Sega system for Sega titles for the perfect arcade ports.Saturn is amazing but only because all the third-party games and shmup releases. Just my opinion, of course.
I don't ever emulate anything unless it is an official emulation. Just a personal preference. Playing anything on a PC is a personal turnoff. Though, I'm entering a final chapter in my life and most likely will turn increasingly to roms played back on original hardware as look to decrease. It seems like this is the best compromise..
Agreed 100%.
"There's always a tradeoff" is true in the sense that nothing is utterly perfect and emulators will have varying degrees of under-the-hood inaccuracies, but those differences are often smaller than the ones you'll find in ports and the sentiment that real hardware gives you a better experience is something I stress less and less these days.
As modern displays advance the biggest barriers against having a good emulation-based experience get chipped away: respectable colors via OLED, higher resolutions that can actually alleviate scaling artifacts and allow for more faithful reproduction of CRT behavior, and variable refresh rates that utterly eliminate emulation's timing problems (and probably lead to a less laggy experience than, say, someone using a Framemeister with the real hardware on their HDTV) are huge. And that's just assuming flat-panel usage! There are ways to get MAME to spit out perfect on-the-fly resolutions to a CRT, but that's obviously a much smaller crowd.
But in this case, I was specifically talking about 2D games that were ported to the Dreamcast and the experience of playing those ports versus emulating their original arcade releases. Looking at, say, the CPS ports and the MVS ports that the Dreamcast received, I'd say that most people with a pretty standard PC setup can get a better experience out of emulation than these ports. Better image quality with far more flexible display options, wider controller support, no load times, and ultimately an experience more in line with the AES/MVS/CPS than the Dreamcast provides. I've never been one to care much about home version extras, though.
sixteen-bit
Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
While really nice, they're in no way worth even close to price they demand (if you can even find them). I would look at other controllers honestly.
Shin Johnpv
Member
I'm going to cross post this here, Anyone happen to know the current state of the 7800 rgb mod project?
Hori Fighting Commander 4