Uses for a dreamcast

[Siamey]

What to do with a dreamcast? Besides playing games on it...

I've got an early model dreamcast with mouse and keyboard, plus 2 controllers, 3 VMUs and a thirdparty memory card with no screen(extra big i think).

Im too stupid to understand compiling a kernal of linux for building a dc router or something crazy like that. What can someone like me do with it? I don't have the broadband adapter for your info.

Most emus dont run at any sort of decent speed, and it can't read dvds... what can I do? I want to make use of the keyboard! augh! Are there any homebrew programs that dont involve playing mp3s or video cds etc?

Edit: Also, what to do with 4 old pcs and 2 saturns? ALSO does anyone know how to explain the ps2 independance exploit to someone as simpleminded as me? I don't know what these guides are talking about with building your own db files and shit.

Rats.. this should be in the tech newbie forum. sorry!

[herograw]

You can give them to me.

[jmr]

This page has a pretty large collection of DC Homebrew software, games, and emulators. Definitely worth checking out.

Most emus dont run at any sort of decent speed...

I don't exactly agree with that statement. Sure, the SNES and GBA emulators don't work that well, and N64 is pretty much impossible for the system, but with a bit of effort, you can get near-perfect PSX emulation with a lot of games. (Look for the hacked Bleemcast demos.) With a bit of searching, you can find a few NeoGeo games that run excellently as well. And of course, the NES, GBC, Sega Master System/Game Gear, Genesis/Mega Drive, Atari 2600, and nearly all of the older systems (including portions of MAME) are emulated nearly perfectly.

As for something to use with the keyboard/mouse... I don't have either of those accessories, so I can't recommend anything.

[Siamey]

Thanks man!

Well yea, snes runs like balls, and i havent got genesis to run properly either :/

Can you get other ps games to run other than tekken3/mgs/whatever the 3rd one that bleemcast did was?

[jmr]

i havent got genesis to run properly either :/

I've been using a modified version of GenesisPlusDC. It runs fullspeed on most games, but the sound could use some work. Here's a link to the sbi (sorry, that's all I can find right now), which you use with Selfboot Inducer.

Can you get other ps games to run other than tekken3/mgs/whatever the 3rd one that bleemcast did was?

Yeah, you can. Like I said, look for the hacked versions of the bleemcast bootdisk (I would give you a link, but it's legality is questionable). The compatibility is, well, not quite as good as I remember it, and apparently saving doesn't work with the hacked versions. For some reason, though, I remember it working pretty well with the games I tried...

In some cases, you can find PSX games that have been have been modified to selfboot and not require the bleemcast bootdisk. I found a version of Megaman X4 like this that works pretty well, save for a few small graphic glitches.

EDIT: As for the SNES issues, you can usually improve performance by using PAL roms with the latest DreamSNES. They run much better than their NTSC counterparts.

[Flare4War]

Practice up on your shot put?

[Shadow Wolf]

The Sega Dreamcast is famed the world over for it's astonishing success in the role of a paperweight. So are its controllers, incidentally.

[Raziellink]

The Sega Dreamcast is famed the world over for it's astonishing success in the role of being a excellent paperweight. So are its controllers, incidentally.

Fixed.

tencharwtfbbq

[Alpine Flame]

The Sega Dreamcast is famed the world over for it's astonishing success in the role of an office-standard epic paperweight. So are its controllers, incidentally.

Only if you have those gigantic memory unit in the controllers though. And if they're playing Chocobo's journey...

[Shadow Wolf]

LOL, office-standard epic paperweight made me think:

WTS [Dreamcast] x1 PST

One for all the WoW fans out there.

[Alpine Flame]

LOL, office-standard epic paperweight made me think:

WTS [Dreamcast] x1 PST

One for all the WoW fans out there.

Make sure it lowers intelligence stat, and raises the weight stat by a proportionate amount.

[Siamey]

HMMM well that's given me a lot to think about. Thanks dude

Hey whats the situation with copying games (provided you scale down the videos or some other resource since we don't all own gd-rom burners) is there ANY copy protection measure on it?

What are some actual good games that came out for it? I have sonic adventure and I love that (love meaning i love it relative to other dc games i have :/ slave zero BLAH)

What are some games worth buying... or something. Any good rpgs or fighters? was Sonic Adventure 2 good? any high quality racers? ANYTHING COOL!?!?! thanks

[The Legendary Zoltan]

Dude! Play Shenmue. That's a really good game. Also, somebody said that they couldn't emulate SNES games at a decent speed, but I had that SNES emulation thing on a Dreamcast I owned once and it worked great. So I'd recommend it. Also, Skies of Arcadia is pretty fun, I hear. There's also one of the best air shooters ever, Ikaruga, for Dreamcast. The Dreamcast has some kind of chip in it that's the same as a bunch of arcade machines and thus is capable of playing "arcade perfect" fighting games such as Mavel vs. Capcom or Street Fighter vs. X-men. I don't know which games specifically were released for it though, so you'd have to check. My best friend who happens to be a child genius says that it's possible to create a pretty impressive super computer if you have 16 Dreamcasts. Don't ask me how though. Hahaha.

[I-n-j-i-n]

I thought the Dreamcast had the final good games of consoles that Sega have put out. Ecco was great, Seaman was amazing and very inventive (thinking back, it was much more of a 'raise the critter' experience than Nintendogs or Tomogachi ever was), Sonic Adventure 2 felt like the last time the Sonic Team gave a damn about a console Sonic game, the last good Daytona USA game, the first Jet Set Radio game (the best one is still the Xbox version) and Visual Concepts games (the great team responsible for the 2K sports titles. Way better than EA sports games for the mostpart) was actually a Sega 2nd party and responsible for old classics like the World Series games. That and Sega had 4 or 5 really high profile 1st and 2nd parties until they were forced to dissolve.

Then there's the obvious classics like Phantasy Star Online and Shenmue episode 1 and 2.

Though the obvious rarity is the Virtua Fighter games which is basically fighting game perfection since the very first to VF5 now. No other fighting game can really even approach it in depth and balance.

I still wish Sega was competing Nintendo (or maybe now with Sony and Microsoft) head to head with 50/50 market share as to bring out Sega's most competitive, wild side. Sega really used to be a curveball company until the Dreamcast. Always wildly inventive, even to a fault so much so that it took down the company.

And as for fighting game suggestions, there is Power Stone 1 and 2 (still compares very well to Super Smash Bros games for me. Too bad the franchise never really continued since) and there is a huge line of 2D fighters including a lot of King of Fighters, a lot of Capcom fighting games including a lot of rare titles like Rival Schools and such. Also, I thought it still had the best version of Street Fighter 3 ever since the Dreamcast apparently is near identical in its hardware to a Capcom arcade cabinet.

[Alpine Flame]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe that it has a neo-geo type chip in it, letting it play a bunch of games from the arcade (samurai shodown, anyone?).

[AMT]

Jet Grind Radio! Play it. It doesn't have the most polished gameplay in the world, but it's still a ton of fun, and also one of the best looking Dreamcast games out there. Awesome soundtrack, awesome style, just all around really worth playing.

[Alpine Flame]

Jet Grind Radio! Play it. It doesn't have the most polished gameplay in the world, but it's still a ton of fun, and also one of the best looking Dreamcast games out there. Awesome soundtrack, awesome style, just all around really worth playing.

It is the Katamari Damacy of the Dreamcast.

[Katsurugi]

I don't know if you're into fighting games at all, but I own my dreamcast solely for it. There are a lot of gems other than fighting games. However, I got mine cheap and bundled with a bunch of games I liked. Here are some recommendations, though I don't own them all myself.

Chu Chu Rocket

Soul Calibur

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Capcom vs. SNK 2

Powerstone 2

Crazy Taxi 1 (or 2 but the first one was more fun)

Grandia 2

Giga Wing

Skies of Arcadia (Gamecube port has less random battles)

Ikaruga

Jet Set Radio

King of Fighters '99

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (for Tony Jay of course)

Tennis 2k2 (sequel to Virtua Tennis which was also good for its time)

[Alpine Flame]

I have more awesome games than any hume should rightfully own in one lifetime.

I hate you. With a fiery passion. Two hours to try to get MAME to run Soul Calibur. And no dice. And you just have it to play any time you want it. I dont hate you. I envy you. I envy you greatly.

[whatfruit]

I always felt sorry for the dreamcast i never owned one but a freind of mine did and they had some pretty amazing titles that were very unique. the ecco game on the dreamcast ruled one of the best underwater games. Marvel Vs Capcom on the dreamcast was the best fighter. Shenmue ruled now it looks dated and old the xbox verison was hideous. what was the beat em up on it the medieval one that was the last great beat um up i rember since nobody makes them anymore *sigh*.

[jmr]

HMMM well that's given me a lot to think about. Thanks dude

Hey whats the situation with copying games (provided you scale down the videos or some other resource since we don't all own gd-rom burners) is there ANY copy protection measure on it?

Yeah, the fact that they're GD-Roms, which can't be read in CD Drives. Now, if you have a coder's cable or a broadband adapter, you could probably rip the games using the dreamcast itself as a drive. In most cases, though, you would have to scale down the video or do some compression or something in order to fit it on a CD-R. Not to promote piracy or anything, but it's probably MUCH easier to download and burn versions that are already pre-compressed or modified.

As for game recommendations, here's what spends the most time in my DC (some of these have already been said, but whatever):

Ikaruga (Japan only, but worth it if you can find it.)

Soul Calibur

Grandia II (I've only started playing this one recently, but it's shaping up to be pretty good.)

ChuChu Rocket!

Crazy Taxi 2 (Very addictive. There are a lot of extras and unlockables, which is pretty sweet.)

Worms World Party (great for multiplayer.)

...the next few are non-commercial, so it's pointless to look for them in stores.

nxDoom (a homebrew port of the Doom engine. Requires the original Doom WADs, or, if you want, modded versions.)

NesterDC-Special Edition (What can I say, I really love NES games. This emu is probably the most compatible and the easiest to burn out of all of them; it comes with a builder program that automatically adds boxart and cart photos, manual scans, NSFs, and all of that to the disc.)

Also, be sure to search online for the Street Fighter 2 Turbo "ReMix" version, which has the in-game soundtrack replaced by Blood on the Asphalt.

[GlockMonkey]

Man, I'm glad I got my DC when I did. You should definitely try out The Typing of the Dead if you ever get the chance. Think House of the Dead 2, except all the zombies run at you holding little signs with words on 'em and once you type them out, the zombies blow up. Oh, and on the subject of blowing up, Bangai-O; yet another fine example of how nobody exaggerates action quite like Treasure does.