Dreamcast
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Amazon recommends Dreamcast
Two new next-gen systems will make their debut next month, and gamer Ben Murray finds Amazon recommending that he purchase ... a Dreamcast Visual Memory Unit (VMU). Plus he can pick this baby up for about six bucks US. Obviously Ben has purchased some Dreamcast gear through the site at some point in the past, but it strikes us as a bit odd that they are recommending this (and a Dreamcast vibration pack as well). Maybe Amazon decided to share a little retro love in the gaming arena. We pulled up our own Amazon page, half expecting that it would tell us we should be buying an Atari 2600 paddle controller instead of the Nintendo Wii. Our own Toys & Games recommendations page suggested we pick up a Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera and the Cars Mack Truck Bachelor Pad Playset (what the hell have we been buying?!) but, alas, no Colecovisions or Pong sets. The closest we got to any sort of throwback gaming was the Designer's World TV Game -- "Can you turn rags to riches? Find out when you enter the world of high fashion on your own TV (not included)!" Ooh, fashion gaming on our own (not included) TV!? Somebody pinch us.
Lost rarities -- the hard to find gems of console gaming
Developers spend a lot of time and money trying to sell as many copies of their games as possible, but sometimes different reasons cause a game to be produced in extremely limited quantities. A developer may have gone out of business, the publisher pulled the plug early, or the game might have featured topless women on the NES. Whatever the reason, when a game squeaks out the door in low numbers it means one thing to people: highly collectible.Racketboy has compiled a list of the 20 most noteworthy "Holy Grails" of console gaming. These are the most sought games for systems ranging from the Nintendo Virtual Boy, to the Turbo Grafx, to the Atari 5200. The list topper is a Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition cartridge; only 26 units were produced, and it is valued at over $10,000.Time to start searching those bargain bins, checking eBay, and chewing out mom for throwing away your old games.
Dreamcast at TGS: a relic from the past
Located across from the From Software lineup, the Sega Dreamcast's presence at this year's Tokyo Game Show was rather weak. Amounting to just one box from years past, this lonely Dreamcast box can do nothing but watch children play PS2 games from across the walkway.Don't fret, Dreamcast, we still remember you. The last time Dreamcast officially had a TGS viewing was 2001 (we believe; correct us if we're wrong), when it announced Shenmue 2 wouldn't be released in the US.[Update 1: forgot the "2" in Shenmue 2.]
The Sega Dreamcast watch does not play Crazy Taxi
Yeah, yeah, we know how you all love the Sega Dreamcast, and we feel kinda bad about the time we teased you with news of a fresh production run only to dash your hopes with the cold, harsh reality of refurbs. Well as a small gesture of penance, we're proud to present you with this one-time, friends-only offer to purchase your very own Dreamcast wristwatch -- but before you get too excited, you should know that this watch does not actually play any games, and will simply hang on your wrist as a constant reminder of the console you hold so dear. Available from Play-Asia starting on September 29th (though pre-ordering has already begun), this stylish timepiece can be had for the low low price of only $129.90; if you're interested, though, you better act fast -- unlike the gaming system which they resemble, these are limited-edition and expected to fly off the proverbial shelves.
New PSP video game magazine released
The guys over at DCEmu UK have just released their first PSP-formatted, multi-platform video game magazine. The magazine, which is the successor to PSPWeekly, focuses on the PSP NeoFlash Summer Coding Competition, but it also touches on Dreamcast and Nintendo Wii news.If you're interested in the NeoFlash competition, you'll want to check out this issue because it is chock full of great information and screens of submitted games.I gotta say, the first issue doesn't look too shabby. Personally, I'm not really big into the homebrew scene, so that doesn't interest me greatly, but I'm always on the look out for fresh Dreamcast content.Direct download(Via DCEmu UK)
Amazon supports retro gaming
Jason spotted this gem over on Amazon's "browse by system" link. It's great that they're still supporting systems that could be considered retro (Mario Kart 64 anyone? No? How about Crazy Taxi for your DC?), although excluding modern platforms like the DS and the Xbox 360 may not be in their best interest. Maybe they should start up an operation in Senegal? We hear that retro is really popular over there.
Top 10 custom-built consoles
TechEBlog has assembled a list of the "Top 10 Strangest Custom Gaming Systems." It should come as no surprise that more than one of their selections was created by console hacker-extraordinaire Ben Heckendorn. In addition to variants of popular consoles like the NES and Genesis, the list includes portable versions of famous flops like Atari's Jaguar, and Sega's Genesis add-on, the SegaCD. We're hoping these aren't ranked in order 'cause that portable Colecovision totally houses that NESPlusSega monolith![Via VH1's new game blog, Game Break]
10 new Dreamcast games on the way
With all of this Dreamcast news, we might have to follow IGN's lead and dedicate a category to the console that introduced us to 128-bit video gaming (and signaled the end of Sega's hardware biz). GOAT Store Publishing has announced they are currently working on ten new games for the Dreamcast, covering various genres. Company co-founder Dan Loosen will reveal more details of each project this weekend at the Midwest Gaming Classic, where attendees will be able to play demos of some of the titles in development. To learn more about GOAT Store and their classic gaming aspirations, check out Dan's interview with Die-Hard Gamer from a few years back.[via GamersReports]
Kenji Eno working on a Wii title?
From Yellow To Orange, a Japanese gaming studio, has recently just jumped aboard the Wii bandwagon and is supposedly working on content for Nintendo's next-generation console. The company's president and CEO, Kenji Eno, worked on the Dreamcast launch title D2. While there is no official word on whether he is actually working on a game for the Wii, he was at E3 and upon being approached by Gamasutra, made some vague comments committing to the system."[...] making a brand new game. It will be for a console with a new control device." After citing that to the site, he apparently then began to wave his arms about as if using the Wiimote.
Games that pushed the limits, parts 2 and 3
Racketboy has returned, as promised, with the second and third installments of his look at games that pushed the limits. We're not talking about games that pushed the limits of decency, like Sega's Night Trap, or the limits of human patience, like any version of last year's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but pushed the technical limits of their respective platforms.The platforms in part two are (arguably) the redheaded stepchildren of console gaming. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're not considered to be successes. Atari's Jaguar (and the super-popular Jaguar CD add-on), the ill-fated 3DO, Sega's x-citing 32X add-on, and Sega's "sneak-attack" Saturn. Part three includes big boys like Sony's party-crashing PlayStation, the cartridge'd Nintendo 64, and the Dreamcast, the console that history has--and will--remember kindly.Part four will cover portable gaming and--based on the release schedule of the earlier installments--should be up any day now.
Out with the old rumors, in with the new
Just after these things were all taken care of, here we go again with more completely unsubstantiated rumors. Found on a gaming forum (always a reliable source of information) the post goes on to say that an old "college roommate" hooked him up with some key details to the future of the Xbox 360. They are: "Sometime around november 2006, MS is launching a complete media service on the marketplace. This will range from 99 cent songs, to 3.99 streaming movies." "AT next E3, MS will announce a parternship with Blizzard that will bring World of Warcraft exclusively to 360." "Halo 3 will be out before X'mas 2006. Exact words were Quarter 4 of 2006." " There will be over 50 Sega dremcast games on the xbox live arcade within 2 years. Launched a handfull at a time, he said the first game will be Bonks adverture, which should be out in September 2006." In a word: bullspit. The horrible grammar and spelling are enough to clue you in to the fact that this couldn't have been written by a college graduate (at least not an English-speaking one). Second big clue is that the seminal platformer, Bonk's Adventure, was not only not a Dreamcast game, but it wasn't even a Sega Genesis game. It was a Turbo-Grafx title! Some simple Google-action should have cleared that up. Regardless of the veracity of the claims, do you think Microsoft should be exploring these options? I think WoW on the 360 would definitely be a killer-app. [Thanks, The_Solidshadow]
