This is the thread where you talk me into/out of getting a DREAMCAST

Get it.

Definately you should get one. For a console with so few titles (just over 200?) there's a lot of great games.

Get one. They are joy.

I've also seriously been dreaming about picking up a dreamcast lately. It's totally foolish in the sense that I already have piles of games that I want to play, that I don't have the time to play (I mean, probably at least a years worth), but...

Me too, but the Dreamcast really seems like such a niche system that it'd be great just to bust out for casual games from time to time... Does anybody have one hooked up to an HDTV? How shitty does it look? Very?

I think the DC actually has native 640x480 VGA output (as opposed to it being converted from another signal), so it probably looks decent on an HDTV scaled up, though not as nice as modern systems, of course. Doesn't work on all games, but most, I think.

But fuck man. If you are REMOTELY interested in fighters you should buy one. The original Soul Calibur. SFIII. Darkstalkers, MvC2. CvSNK 2. Garou, Last Blade 2, all the KOFs. Project MOTHERFUCKING Justice! Not to mention great stuff like the original Chu Chu Rocket, Power Stone 1/2, Bangai-O, Cannon Spike, Zombie Revenge, Dynamite Cop, and my personal favorite Jet Set Radio.

On the downside, some of the system's great titles have already been/are getting ported/upgraded on other consoles, like the SF games, GGX, Virtua Tennis, Typing of the Dead (yes this is awesome), Space Channel 5 Parts 1 and 2, Rez and Ikaruga. Other stuff that was great at the time has since become outdated (Shenmue, Sword of the Berzerk).

Plus, you know, you can pirate every single game with an unmodded console. (Unless you get one made after a certain date, but that's pretty unlikely, the vast majority of DCs can play burned CD-Rs). Though I will say because of this (re: Jeff) you probably don't want to jump into the DC if you already have a lot on your plate, unless you are REALLY into shmups or fighters.

GET IT

Sonic Adventure 1 is pretty good too, all things considered. Not perfect but still excellent. Don't base your experience of this game on the shit GC port.

Antexit - I went over to my brother's house today and made him pull his Dreamcast out of the closet. We hooked it up to his HDTV (not a super big one, but a nice 720p one), we tried out a few games, and honestly, it didn't look bad at all. I wouldn't let picture quality deter you - I think it looked just as good on his HDTV as playing it on a standard def set - maybe a little cleaner?

seriously, fucking get it.

Just for Jet Grind Radio/Crazy Taxi/MDK 2/insert your fave rpg here.

If you're not American it's Jet Set Radio. This caused endless confusion at the time.

Get it. Sonic 1 is good; so's Rez.

Jeff, thanks so much for doing that! This board is so awesome. Everybody else too. I'm looking on eBay, but I have a line on one from Craigs that's I'd rather do if I can. I'm gonna do this. And when I do we need to start talking about this system big time.

Also, Nhex, what are the good shmups besides Ikagura? I used to LOVE shmups, though only in arcades never console, and feel there's still a place in my brain for the nerdo music of bullet algorhythms. I'm still waiting for the XBLA port, but maybe I'll just skip it and kick it DC.

Funny thing, it seems half the good shooters came out after the DC "died", and I never even played them. But I've heard good things about Border Down, Psyvariar, Shikigami no Shiro II, etc.

Hard to go wrong with stuff like Mars Matrix, Giga Wing, Bangai-O (I know I said this already and it's not REALLY a vertical shooter, but fruit and crazy explosions = win), and Twinkle Star Sprites is wonderful if you are willing to just go along with its 8-year-old girl fantasy hyper-cute setting -- one of only two games I know of that features head-to-head shmup competition, Tetris-style.

I played some Mars Matrix over the weekend, and quite enjoyed it. Hard as hell!

This guy makes it look easy though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v-N4rFkoBw

here at s3ga there are dreamcasts everywhere!

also what dc titles do you guys think could be reborn??

Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Rez

I just bought a Dreamcast!

It's a shame they never got the little tamagotchi memory thing working to its potential

antexit - have you bought a Dreamcast yet?

Sometime in the new year is my hope. I'm too broke now and my inconsiderate friends and family didn't think of looking on ILX and discovering my Hannukah wish.

How is it, Jeff? Are you happy with it? Do you have it hooked up to an HDTV? And do you need a boot disk to play "backups" or can you just pop them in?

It's nice, but I haven't yet played it too much yet (too much other stuff going on). The controllers are funky - they're similiar to the gamecube controller - just kind of big and weird, but not bad, exactly. The box itself reminds me a bit of the wii - it even sounds the same - kind of loud when you put in a disc. And has a similiar soothing menu system.

I do have it hooked up to a lcd hdtv and most of the games I've tried look fine - pretty sharp & monitor like. The graphics on the games I have tend to be clear, instead of blurry with effects, which probably helps. Of course, you'll have black bars on the sides of the screen, but that has never bugged me too much. Jet Grind Radio looked especially good. I like the more cartoony style of the fighting games I picked up too (Soul Calibur & Virtua Fighter 3tb). Bangai-O has more dated graphics, probably looked dated the day it came out, but is a fun play. I'm still waiting for Shenmue to arrive (hopefully today!)

I don't think you need a special disc to play your back-ups. From what I've read you just copy the files to a cd and put it in and it'll play fine. So far I've just been buying the games I want tho - as you can find 'em pretty cheap (and often still unopened)

Also, you can run linux/BSD on this thing and have a nice little webserver, should you like.

The controllers are funky - they're similiar to the gamecube controller - just kind of big and weird, but not bad, exactly.

I don't like the way the analogue stick rotates.

aaaaand I got one.

belated thumbs up

cant believe someone finally bought that dreamcast i had on craigslist

not a gamer but san francisco rush 2049 is the most fun anyone can have with a console and a controller in hand, so get that

Get it.

― Autumn Almanac, Monday, 17 December 2007 00:59 (3 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Can't believe I said this.

Sonic Adventure 1 is pretty good too, all things considered. Not perfect but still excellent.

― Autumn Almanac, Monday, 17 December 2007 09:56 (3 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

What the hell was wrong with me??