Dreamcast: the system that won't die [update 1]

by Kyle Orland { Jan 8th 2007 at 11:00AM }

Remember way back in January 2001 when Sega quit the hardware race and put their last system, the Dreamcast, out to pasture? Apparently no one told Japan, because now, six years later, they're still coming out with new games for the system over in the land of the rising sun.

Sega Nerds has some details on three ~~top-down~~ shooters being released for the Dreamcast in the next few months: Last Hope, Trigger Heart Excelica and Karous. Casual importers should be particularly interested in the region-free Last Hope, which can be played on any Dreamcast without modification. Retro importers can pre-order all three games from Play-asia.

Between these official releases for the Dreamcast, recent homebrew releases for the Genesis and Atari 2600 and the increasing prevalence of top-loading Famiclones, we may be entering a new era of support for classic consoles. As long as someone out there is willing to play, the market will find them. I know I'm personally clamoring for some new 3DO games.

[Update: Fixed a link and the characterization as "top down" shooters. Thanks Brandon]

[Thanks Keldon]

Tags: dead, Dreamcast, Genesis, homebrew, Japan, retro, sega, shmup

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DrHockey @ Jan 8th 2007 11:11AM

Dreamcast was really a fantastic system - I thought it better than PS2. It was ahead of it's time but got crushed by the Sony juggernaut.

Crazy Taxi and Soul Caliber... good times. *sniff*

Dill @ Jan 8th 2007 11:22AM

Rush Rush Rally Racing is also being released this year :)
Screenshots: http://www.senileteam.com/r4shots.php

Alecks @ Jan 8th 2007 11:26AM

Maybe some people finally realized the power of the Dreamcast. :] I was sega fanboy before turned sony fanboy. :D

shanoboy @ Jan 8th 2007 11:32AM

I've been thinking of buying one for a while just cause the games are so cheap and great. The Rhino games store in my town has TONS of dreamcast stuff for almost nothing. I better run out and get my gear before gamestop takes them over and does away with the used classic games and systems. Anyone ever find out if that buyout was for real or not?

dl @ Jan 8th 2007 11:34AM

Still got my Dreamcast hooked up to my HDTV over VGA cable and it look much sharper than PlayStation 2 using Component cable and PlayStation 3 using HDMI when I'm comparing DOA 2 for both console.

sheppy @ Jan 8th 2007 11:45AM

Dill, don't know if you're on the dev team for that game or not, buit let me offer you some advice.

Noise Filter on Photoshop does NOT a good texture make. When I look at your textures and see gaussian, monochromatic noise everywhere, you need to take that shit back to the drawing board. Also, cars need more variety.

Darkness @ Jan 8th 2007 11:47AM

I still have my Dreamcast hooked up and every now and again revisit NHL 2k1 as that game was so awesome. If I could find a broadband adapter, I would actually use it more often.

Chessasaur @ Jan 8th 2007 1:42PM

It was a great system, but I do wish they had made the controller a bit more comfortable to hold. The handles should have angled out instead of in.

Nick Mercer @ Jan 8th 2007 2:17PM

I have had my Dreamcast since 9/9/99 on launch day and don't think there has been a day (outside of moving) that it's been unhooked. I love the system and I always have loved it. Great games (minus a few stinkers; blue stinger? lol), great system (sega.net was amazing at the time), and everything was so ahead of it's time (any one see anything else like PSO out during that time?).

It was hackers and people wanting free games + improper marketing that really killed the system. It's sad the 1) the Dreamcast died and 2) that Sega has let everything that is Sonic go downhill :(

-Nick

zer06ame @ Jan 8th 2007 2:51PM

I loved Dreamcast and it sucks that it had to die off. I remember waiting in line launch for a ps2 being all hyped from what Sony said about it (I was in 8th grade during the launch of ps2) and after I got one I was like, "..." I was so mad my Dreamcast had better graphics and games than it, after waiting forever to get one. Since then, I've always wanted Sony to fail, but that's not to say I still end up buying their products.

Burnt Meatloaf @ Jan 8th 2007 3:37PM

Dreamcast games are among the few things I'd like to see on VirtualConsole/XBoxLive/PSN.

Huzzah!! @ Jan 8th 2007 4:21PM

I almost bought a dreamcast when they were 50 bucks at the end of 2001. I kind of wish I had. Ah well, here's to hoping they'll be on Wii 2's virtual console. :)

Sturat @ Jan 8th 2007 4:40PM

Last Hope is not a top-down shooter and it is not an official release.

dsub @ Jan 8th 2007 5:01PM

I still have a dreamcast running in my arcade cabinet. I use it to run all the great arcade fighters that are available for dreamcast, like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Soul Caliber, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, etc. Many of these games can also be found on the PS1, PS2, or XBOX, but they are far more expensive. The dremcast counterparts run just as good, look just as good, and can be found for much much cheaper.

For instance, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 sells for around $50 still or XBOX or PS2. For dreamcast it can easily be found on eBay for under $20. With dremcasts selling for $20 for a console, I can buy a dreamcast console and the game for less than the game alone for XBOX or PS2.

Mike @ Jan 8th 2007 6:10PM

"recent homebrew releases for the Genesis"

Technically Beggar Prince isn't a homebrew release. It's a release of a translation of a commercial game that was never released in English. Still pretty neat though.

There was an actual commercial homebrew release for the Sega CD a while back, Mighty Mighty Missile (a chu chu rocket clone). See the following link for details:
http://www.gooddealgames.com/Publishing_SegaCD_MightyMightyMissile.html

matt @ Jan 8th 2007 8:44PM

The VMU was one of the best accessories ever. I miss my Chao...

shirizaki @ Jan 8th 2007 9:02PM

Nay, there's other ways to get the DC online, by routing it though your computer. But you'll find no one online: last I checked there was a private Unreal and PSO server in Europe, but that was it. And the broadband adapter nly worked on PSO, Unreal, and one other game anyway.

The games are cheap, plus if you're savvy enough you can go and download all the DC games you want, since the boot code was found aorund 2000 so most recent game ip scan be simply burnt to CD-R and played without mod chips or boot discs.