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Sega Dreamcast - Appreciation and Emulation Thread

IrishNinja

Member
^maybe, i'll definitely check in the options! didn't see that in either of the Crazy Taxis so far though, bummer.

on the upside: Rez & Mars Matrix worked great, i'll try more out later & hope for the best!
 

baphomet

Member
Ive been eyeing those sticks for quite awhile myself. Eventually ill have to break down and pay what people are asking for them unfortunately.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
So, GAF, I've finally picked up one (PAL).....

...What games should I pick up for it? The guy gave me Sonic Adventure 2, Virtua Striker 2000.1, and a Dreamon (#2) demo disc. Tried them, didn't like them. Not a great fan of those 3rd person action/adventure games (terrible camera angles! didn't realise how awesome fixed isometric is until I started doing the headless chicken in Sonic Adventure 2/Rayman 2 demo). Not particularly attracted to beat-em-ups either, or racing/sports games (yeah, I know that's a lot of the DC portfolio).

Yeah, that limits a lot of the Dreamcast library. But here's a few:

Elemental Gimmick Gear
Gigawing 2
Mars Matrix
Puyo Puyo Fever
Samba de Amigo
Stupid Invaders

I'm not listing ones like Skies of Arcadia, Ikaruga and Rez, because they've been updated on more recent systems, and no longer are reference material. I've been told that Samba has been updated as well on the Wii, but I haven't played it yet, and I think that the Dreamcast's video output is better than the Wii.
 
Yeah, that limits a lot of the Dreamcast library. But here's a few:

Elemental Gimmick Gear
Gigawing 2
Mars Matrix
Puyo Puyo Fever
Samba de Amigo
Stupid Invaders

I'm not listing ones like Skies of Arcadia, Ikaruga and Rez, because they've been updated on more recent systems, and no longer are reference material. I've been told that Samba has been updated as well on the Wii, but I haven't played it yet, and I think that the Dreamcast's video output is better than the Wii.

He could just find a boot loader to play imports. Works fine on my DC.
 

Leynos

Member
Anyone have any experience with the Gameshark and Codebreaker? One better than the other, or have more codes?

Also, my three-year old is having a blast playing Q*Bert on the Dreamcast, and asks to play nightly. I'm doing my best to raise her right, and be sure that she grows up playing with actual controllers.
 

Teknoman

Member
Speaking of Shenmue, if i'm using a boot disc, would I have any problems playing the PAL version of Shenmue 2? Also would I be able to import my NA Shenmue 1 data to that version of Shenmue 2?
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Speaking of Shenmue, if i'm using a boot disc, would I have any problems playing the PAL version of Shenmue 2? Also would I be able to import my NA Shenmue 1 data to that version of Shenmue 2?
You can play it fine, but you have to jump through some hoops to convert save data.
 

IrishNinja

Member
yeah as i recall i didn't even need a boot disc! the save file thing...i tried a bit but ended up passing & just using the default stuff, shit was tricky indeed.

also: what's the best way to get a good boot disc again? my old one was for my JP DC and now that that's gone, i can't play this What is Shenmue:? demo without one
 

Teknoman

Member
You can play it fine, but you have to jump through some hoops to convert save data.

yeah as i recall i didn't even need a boot disc! the save file thing...i tried a bit but ended up passing & just using the default stuff, shit was tricky indeed.

also: what's the best way to get a good boot disc again? my old one was for my JP DC and now that that's gone, i can't play this What is Shenmue:? demo without one

Hmm...well at least it can be played. As for import boot discs, I ended up rolling with that Cheat N codes volume 1 disc as recommended by... I think it was Yes Boss? Works perfectly...unless you're talkin about something else.

EDIT: Should've known people were going to charge high prices for Shenmue 2 DC. Guess i'll come back to that later.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
I snagged Shenmue 2 PAL for a grand total of $0. One of my friends worked at a local EB and somehow that store ended up in a situation in which they took in Shenmue 2 for trade only to be told that they couldn't sell imports. Eventually found its way into my hands, free of charge.

That matches Saturn Bomberman (won one of ten free copies given out in Sega's promotional contest) for best deal I ever got on a video game.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Lost my Dreamcast of 10 years due to a freak accident. :( It fell off my shelf and won't power on . It's still in one piece, but the right side is dented.

Maybe it could be something simple, but I'm not sure. Already looking into a replacement on Craigslist.
 

Teknoman

Member
I snagged Shenmue 2 PAL for a grand total of $0. One of my friends worked at a local EB and somehow that store ended up in a situation in which they took in Shenmue 2 for trade only to be told that they couldn't sell imports. Eventually found its way into my hands, free of charge.

That matches Saturn Bomberman (won one of ten free copies given out in Sega's promotional contest) for best deal I ever got on a video game.

Yeah im definitely waiting to get a better deal, especially since I havent played the first game yet.

EDIT: So...Seaman. Does the game actually understand what you say at all? I used to think that it did as a kid, but now i'm not so sure...
 

televator

Member
Might ask in the RGB thread:

Sooooo I just got a new god tier Plasma TV that embarrasses my old Plasma. There was a couple of sacrifices though. There's no S-Video and no VGA input. S video I can live without. I'll more than likely bite the bullet on getting an RGB modded N64 and never have to deal with either S-video or composite.

Do any of you guys know of a box that will do a proper conversion of VGA to either component or HDMI that won't break the bank? Yeah I know Adam Koralik (spelling) did a review of one that was a scaler, but I'm not sure I can trust his average joe judgement on that.
 

user237

Member
I purchased one of the serial port memory card adapters and was able to get all my games off my DC onto my computer. Well except one, I think it was scratched. The process was way easier that I thought it would be. I totally recommend the SD adapter for anyone wanting to dump their own games.

I was also able to get my saves off my VMUs and move them to the computer. Still working on how to get NullDC to import those saves into a format it can use.
 

Ewing33hi

Banned
How is dreamcast emulation doing on the mac side of things? I'm running mavericks on a 5 or 6 year old macbook pro, should I even bother trying out any dreamcast emulators?
 

SKINNER!

Banned
Caught up with my Dreamcast during the holidays. Nothing beats getting hooked on Crazy Taxi 2 and Power Stone 2. Gonna replay Shenmue now. Really should invest in an AV cable instead of relying on the crappy RF one.
 

SpotAnime

Member
This thread is making me nostalgic, so I hooked up my DC via VGA in hopes of playing Shenmue 2. I found out my TV doesn't support the DC's VGA resolution (I have the LG 55LW6500), but fortunately I have a Monoprice component-to-HDMI upscaler that also supports VGA inputs.

Years ago I was able to convert my Shenmue 1 save file from my VMU via serial cable and some hex editing, so with some upcoming time off of work I'm looking forward to going back to this.

I have nullDC on my PC hooked up to my TV, and thought about going this route now that it seems Shenmue 2 emulation is nearly perfect. Might go this route if my noisy DC bothers me too much.
 
Would you re-sell them?

Well, I wore the small for like 10 seconds but I wore the medium for a day before I decided it fit weird. I could wash it, but I don't know if anyone would buy a worn-and-washed shirt. Since I won't wear either, though, I would totally sell them if someone was okay with those two facts. :p
 

GuitarAnthony

Neo Member
I'm happy to say my original from Sept. 99 is still kicking away (only beaten out by my original '94 Sega Saturn and incomprehensibly my 1982 Colecovision. All three have thousands of play hours on them so it's just dumb luck I guess)
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
So I've been thinking for some time now about buying an aftermarket SVGA adapter for my DC as using the yellow video RCA jack does not yield great results on my HDTV, although I still play it like that. However, this past weekend I decided to take a stab at DC emulation. Installed NullDC and then hooked up my DC to my PC via the good old BBA that I bought for PSO so very long ago, and after a bit of reading and configuring stuff I managed to actually create a CDI image of my Crazy Taxi.

You see, this whole ordeal got started Friday night when I was playing some Jet Set Radio on my PC via Steam. I've been slowly playing through the game yet again and it looks really great on my PC, much better than it looks on my DC on the HDTV via the yellow RCA jack. Well I got the urge to play some good old Crazy Taxi, so I broke out the DC and hooked it up and played it some but it really looks kinda crappy and low res on my HDTV even blurry. I decided to see if it was marked down on Steam for the Winter Sale and sure enough Crazy Taxi on Steam is $5 right now. I almost bought it, until I read that the Steam version lacks the Offspring soundtrack. That sucks balls, but then I also read that the steering isn't even analog! Even when using an Xbox gamepad with the analog stick, the Steam version of Crazy Taxi steers via digital inputs. I won't even pay $5 for that trainwreck of a port.

And thus, I made the decision to give NullDC a go.

And surprisngly, it worked very well! Crazy Taxi looks fantastic on my 24" LCD, and plays good as ever. I think I'm going to slowly start copying all of my Dreamcast games to my hard drive, I may need to buy a new HD though just to fit them all, lol. But the kicker was when I hooked my PC up to my 61" HDTV and played Crazy Taxi in glorious hi-res splendor. And I haven't even messed around with any SweetFX stuff yet or any other optimizations. Soul Calibur is definitely next, followed by Sega GT and then Skies of Arcadia. Might as well do this while my DC's disc drive still works, as it has thousands of hours on it already and I know it won't last forever.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
check out what i just picked up for $75 cashmoney

C6l72Vt.jpg
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
guy said he bought it from a funcoland right before they closed and has barely been used since.

l4JBxLT.jpg


CGfFBf8.jpg



i've been eyeing up another dreamcast recently but was always rationalizing by saying it won't look good on my TV and my DC games look better ran through an emulator to my TV. then i see this thing pop up. Just unbelievable. It's gonna be a tough sell to my girlfriend but does a guy with a fukkin dreamcast booth even have time for girlfriends?
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Wtf WOW that is amazing! Curious how you got your find - online listing like ebay, craigslist, etc, or through a friend?

Guy is a local. Met him through a friend. When I laid eyes on this thing I was floored. Told me he wanted to get rid of it but didn't know what an appropriate price was. Just happened to have $75 on me. My gf is gonna think it's an eyesore lol. Might resell it eventually but I'm too smitten right now.


What would you even do with a Dreamcast kiosk?


What would I do without a dreamcast kiosk?

Really though eventually I'll probably just take the dc out and hook it up to my TV.
 

kunonabi

Member
guy said he bought it from a funcoland right before they closed and has barely been used since.

l4JBxLT.jpg


CGfFBf8.jpg



i've been eyeing up another dreamcast recently but was always rationalizing by saying it won't look good on my TV and my DC games look better ran through an emulator to my TV. then i see this thing pop up. Just unbelievable. It's gonna be a tough sell to my girlfriend but does a guy with a fukkin dreamcast booth even have time for girlfriends?

Not really but it doesn't hurt to try and live the dream.
 

Wereroku

Member
So I finally got around to picking up a few Dreamcast games to try out. I recently got Grandia 2 which is a wonderful game that I played at my friends house years ago. Also picked up Evolution 1 and 2 because I felt like some weird rpgs would be fun. I am thinking about getting Time Stalker but it has almost no reviews or descriptions on it. The little I can find makes it sound a bit like Baroque anyone have this? Also any other good rpgs besides Skies of Arcadia which I am tempted to own even if I would never play it since the gamecube version is better.

Sadly you can just about count the good Dreamcast RPGs on one hand, but the ones it does have are really great.

Record of Lodoss War is a gem.
I was afraid of that since it had such a short lifespan but it has a lot of other genres that I enjoy as well. Also I will look in record of lodoss war I usually avoid the anime ones because I have never really had good luck with them but it sounds like it is not really related to the franchise at all.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
So I finally got around to picking up a few Dreamcast games to try out. I recently got Grandia 2 which is a wonderful game that I played at my friends house years ago. Also picked up Evolution 1 and 2 because I felt like some weird rpgs would be fun. I am thinking about getting Time Stalker but it has almost no reviews or descriptions on it. The little I can find makes it sound a bit like Baroque anyone have this? Also any other good rpgs besides Skies of Arcadia which I am tempted to own even if I would never play it since the gamecube version is better.

Sadly you can just about count the good Dreamcast RPGs on one hand, but the ones it does have are really great.

Record of Lodoss War is a gem.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
So I finally got around to picking up a few Dreamcast games to try out. I recently got Grandia 2 which is a wonderful game that I played at my friends house years ago. Also picked up Evolution 1 and 2 because I felt like some weird rpgs would be fun. I am thinking about getting Time Stalker but it has almost no reviews or descriptions on it. The little I can find makes it sound a bit like Baroque anyone have this? Also any other good rpgs besides Skies of Arcadia which I am tempted to own even if I would never play it since the gamecube version is better.

Record of Lodoss War is pretty great.
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
I was afraid of that since it had such a short lifespan but it has a lot of other genres that I enjoy as well. Also I will look in record of lodoss war I usually avoid the anime ones because I have never really had good luck with them but it sounds like it is not really related to the franchise at all.

It's a diablo clone with an awesome soundtrack and cool loot system. Nothing anime about it.
 

Komo

Banned
Seriously happy to finally be posting in this thread, haha. I managed to score a
Dreamcast a week ago and I've been hooked on it ever since. It's my first time ever
touching any SEGA hardware. (SEGA never did particularly well in Australia)

Luckily turned out to be a Model 1 so I've already started fooling around with it
and importing some games. I'm still all giddy that I'm able to do this with it:
EvNPUty.jpg

Man, where has this console been all my life?

Also, has anyone ever played the Tokyo Xtreme Racer / Shutokou Battle series?
Tokyo_Xtreme_Racer_Coverart.jpg

Seriously a hidden gem of a series, often overlooked because of its name that screams 'budget racer title.'
I found a sealed copy on ebay for $20 including P&H and 100%'d it just last night, hah.
I'd recommend anybody who loves arcade racers to pick this up for their DC. It's like crack, yo.

Classic CGR covered it back in the day with a pretty sweet review
 

notworksafe

Member
check out what i just picked up for $75 cashmoney

C6l72Vt.jpg

Okay that is badass!

As far as my own, got it hooked up to a Kraylix cab, great way to play CVS2 :D

dcIFyWe.jpg


@Azurex: I love me some Tokyo Xtreme Racer, such a good series. There were two PS2 entries in the series that were very fun as well.
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Also, has anyone ever played the Tokyo Xtreme Racer / Shutokou Battle series?
Tokyo_Xtreme_Racer_Coverart.jpg

Seriously a hidden gem of a series, often overlooked because of its name that screams 'budget racer title.'
I found a sealed copy on ebay for $20 including P&H and 100%'d it just last night, hah.
I'd recommend anybody who loves arcade racers to pick this up for their DC. It's like crack, yo.

Classic CGR covered it back in the day with a pretty sweet review

TXR 1 & 2 were two of my most played Dreamcast games. I still play them now and then. Really awesome racers with a novel idea that I'm still surprised to this day that no one else has copied from. Incredible racing games mixed with RPG elements and car collecting / upgrading.
 
I have TXR Zero on PS2, which was sort of a remix of the first two DC titles.

IIRC The NSXes were the best cars on the DC game but on the PS2 ones it was all about the Nissan GTRs.

They also came out with one on the X360 but it had a bad framerate and awful reviews. I never tried it.
 
Can anyone give me a quick run down on what I need to get VGA going with my dreamcast? Is it a physical modification I have to make? A cable?
 
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