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Sega Dreamcast - Appreciation and Emulation Thread

IrishNinja

Member
I love this game too! Sadly it got away from me at the time and the high price it commands now sucks! I'm always on the lookout for it at a reasonable price.

ah, for real? i was being cheap holding out for sub $20, didn't think it was nearly as bad as some others left on my list - space channel 5 part 2, yu suzuki game works, segagaga LE etc
 

Crynox

Neo Member
ah, for real? i was being cheap holding out for sub $20, didn't think it was nearly as bad as some others left on my list - space channel 5 part 2, yu suzuki game works, segagaga LE etc

Cheap ? Yup that's me :) Nah your right not one of the most expensive it's just that I bought all of my games at the time when they were cheap. Guess I should feel lucky to have most of what I want. Hate the inflated prices!
 

IrishNinja

Member
it looks like it! ill report back whenever i get this going, not sure if it'll be in time for 9/9 this year though

...gonna be so bummed i don't have my old PSO data though. had that cool darth maul bo/sword thing an an Opa-Opa mag!
 

Psxdad

Member
Anyone messed with Akura? Especially combined with framemiester... wondering how it compares to Toro plus framemiester.
 

steveovig

Member
I finally went and bought me a Dreamcast today for $45, along with Ferrari F355, and I love it so far. It's my third console, as my first one was stolen and the second died out on me a few years back. I also have several old games including Cannon Spike, Gunbird, and Shenmue.

My problem is my old Sony WEGA tv seems to be on the fritz and the picture screws up every 30 seconds or so. It looks great even with the RF input on the Sony but my only reasonable option is to plug it into my HDTV. It looks pretty muddled on that. What's my best option for hooking it up to my HDTV? I have a 2-hole Component Input but I can't seem to find any Dreamcast Component cables on ebay or Amazon, only VGA and Composite.

I know nothing about this stuff but I'm learning. Could I use a VGA cord with a VGA box and have it work fine?
 

alf717

Member
Can I play PSO this way?

If this is like the other hacked server method then you might not like it when they match you with PC players. =P I got into a group with two other PC players and every boss was dead before the DC was done loading the level. ^_^
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
So I dug out my Dreamcast stuff last night (Console, 4 controllers, something like 5 VMUs, 2 Jump Packs, 65-70 retail games) and I'm considering parting with it.

There's just no proper way to play it on a modern television and I've got so many other games and consoles still left to play.

It sucks but I'm gonna have to do some serious soul searching soon.
 
So I dug out my Dreamcast stuff last night (Console, 4 controllers, something like 5 VMUs, 2 Jump Packs, 65-70 retail games) and I'm considering parting with it.

There's just no proper way to play it on a modern television and I've got so many other games and consoles still left to play.

It sucks but I'm gonna have to do some serious soul searching soon.

[citation needed]
 

Peltz

Member
So I dug out my Dreamcast stuff last night (Console, 4 controllers, something like 5 VMUs, 2 Jump Packs, 65-70 retail games) and I'm considering parting with it.

There's just no proper way to play it on a modern television and I've got so many other games and consoles still left to play.

It sucks but I'm gonna have to do some serious soul searching soon.

If you don't want it, that's one thing, but there's definitely some great solutions out there for playing DC on an HD set.
 

Peltz

Member
I finally went and bought me a Dreamcast today for $45, along with Ferrari F355, and I love it so far. It's my third console, as my first one was stolen and the second died out on me a few years back. I also have several old games including Cannon Spike, Gunbird, and Shenmue.

My problem is my old Sony WEGA tv seems to be on the fritz and the picture screws up every 30 seconds or so. It looks great even with the RF input on the Sony but my only reasonable option is to plug it into my HDTV. It looks pretty muddled on that. What's my best option for hooking it up to my HDTV? I have a 2-hole Component Input but I can't seem to find any Dreamcast Component cables on ebay or Amazon, only VGA and Composite.

I know nothing about this stuff but I'm learning. Could I use a VGA cord with a VGA box and have it work fine?

Dreamcast Component cables are in development.

Personally, I would wait for those because they will absolutely be your best option. They also promise be capable of 480p which would be huge if your TV accepts it.

Another option would be to output via SCART then convert that to Component. It will be high quality and lag-free. Most importantly, many gamers do this and it's a tried and tested method that everyone agrees leads to great results. Please note, this will limit you to only 480i and 240p output. So if your goal is 480p, avoid this method.

Finally, (and this is something I do NOT recommend), you can try to convert from VGA to component. But this is dodgy and most converters that do this are not designed for gaming. You'll need to experiment with a lot of subpar converters out there and I recommend you simply don't go down that road. I've tried this many times and am always disappointed with the results. Plus Dreamcast outputs a very awkward 480p resolution that is never converted correctly by these adapters. They're made more for displaying PC's on HDTVs in an office like setting for powerpoints and such, and are not designed for gaming at all. And it shows.
 

KC-Slater

Member
There's just no proper way to play it on a modern television and I've got so many other games and consoles still left to play.

e4a829e2-502a-42d4-898f-f3169442026b-bestSizeAvailable.jpg
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned

$85 is a bit steep, but I guess it's a specialty product so the cost justifies the necessary R&D.

Though I feel like I've been waiting for that and HDRetroVision's component cables forever. Here's hoping the end product is decent.

But I may end up liquidating my collection anyway. As meaningful as the Dreamcast was for me, I'm trying to minimize my videogame collection. The eternal struggle continues.
 

steveovig

Member
Dreamcast Component cables are in development.

Personally, I would wait for those because they will absolutely be your best option. They also promise be capable of 480p which would be huge if your TV accepts it.

Another option would be to output via SCART then convert that to Component. It will be high quality and lag-free. Most importantly, many gamers do this and it's a tried and tested method that everyone agrees leads to great results. Please note, this will limit you to only 480i and 240p output. So if your goal is 480p, avoid this method.

Finally, (and this is something I do NOT recommend), you can try to convert from VGA to component. But this is dodgy and most converters that do this are not designed for gaming. You'll need to experiment with a lot of subpar converters out there and I recommend you simply don't go down that road. I've tried this many times and am always disappointed with the results. Plus Dreamcast outputs a very awkward 480p resolution that is never converted correctly by these adapters. They're made more for displaying PC's on HDTVs in an office like setting for powerpoints and such, and are not designed for gaming at all. And it shows.

A dude I talked to on Reddit recommended getting a VGA cord and a VGA-HDMI converter and doing it that way. I would also need some RCA adapter.
 

Coda

Member
I finally went and bought me a Dreamcast today for $45, along with Ferrari F355, and I love it so far. It's my third console, as my first one was stolen and the second died out on me a few years back. I also have several old games including Cannon Spike, Gunbird, and Shenmue.

My problem is my old Sony WEGA tv seems to be on the fritz and the picture screws up every 30 seconds or so. It looks great even with the RF input on the Sony but my only reasonable option is to plug it into my HDTV. It looks pretty muddled on that. What's my best option for hooking it up to my HDTV? I have a 2-hole Component Input but I can't seem to find any Dreamcast Component cables on ebay or Amazon, only VGA and Composite.

I know nothing about this stuff but I'm learning. Could I use a VGA cord with a VGA box and have it work fine?

It may not be an option for you but VGA and the Dreamcast is a match made in heaven. It's what I like to call HD Dreamcast, it really does look that crisp. If you have the ability to get a VGA monitor (LCD or CRT) of any kind and a VGA box or Hanzo box (which has a built in scanline generator), you will be blown away at how good your Dreamcast's visuals will look.
 
I use my akura directly connected to my TV. My TV doesn't have a very good upscaler but after playing with some image settings I actually like the image quality I'm getting. It's supposed to be using the same VGA signal but my TV seems to treat in a different way just because it's coming through HDMI. I may actually prefer this way over using a dedicated upscaler since I usually see a lot artifacts resulting from the upscaling in 3D games on YouTube. The scanline generator also helps.
The sound quality gets a huge boost compared to my old VGA box, no more hissing.
Still, it has the same limitations as a VGA box so I haven't get rid of my SCART cable yet.
 

leroidys

Member
I use my akura directly connected to my TV. My TV doesn't have a very good upscaler but after playing with some image settings I actually like the image quality I'm getting. It's supposed to be using the same VGA signal but my TV seems to treat in a different way just because it's coming through HDMI. I may actually prefer this way over using a dedicated upscaler since I usually see a lot artifacts resulting from the upscaling in 3D games on YouTube. The scanline generator also helps.
The sound quality gets a huge boost compared to my old VGA box, no more hissing.
Still, it has the same limitations as a VGA box so I haven't get rid of my SCART cable yet.
Thanks!
 

steveovig

Member
How is gamestop.com in terms of selling complete retro games? Do I have decent odds of getting complete stuff if I order from them?
 

IrishNinja

Member
How is gamestop.com in terms of selling complete retro games? Do I have decent odds of getting complete stuff if I order from them?

in my experience, it's a complete crapshot. i bought a handful of PS2 games a while back & got mostly discs, then like a sealed SOTC.
i'd only go in if you're okay with the strong likelihood that you're paying just for a disc or cart at that price, and then you're pleasantly surprised if there's anything there as well
 

Persona7

Banned
How is gamestop.com in terms of selling complete retro games? Do I have decent odds of getting complete stuff if I order from them?

I received some complete and disc only stuff. The bigger issue is the shitty disc condition. They run everything through resurfacing machines which grind and crack the plastic and data layer.
 

ZeroD

Member
Hey everyone. Was wondering if anyone could point me to a good vga hdmi adapter. Ever since I got my 4K TV I haven't been able to hook my dreamcast up to it.

Anyone have any recommendations, I bought an adapter a few months ago but it didn't work
 
Hey everyone. Was wondering if anyone could point me to a good vga hdmi adapter. Ever since I got my 4K TV I haven't been able to hook my dreamcast up to it.

Anyone have any recommendations, I bought an adapter a few months ago but it didn't work

Have you looked into the Akura?
 

ZeroD

Member
Have you looked into the Akura?

Thanks for pointing me towards this. They don't seem to be taking orders right now but I'll pick one up when they do.

Have you personally used one? Reading about it and watching some videos makes it sound incredibly useful
 

Chris_IWS

Member
Have had my Akura for a while now, but used the 3.5mm audio jack for the first time tonight. Has anybody else had any trouble with it? The sound coming through it is distorted.
 

leroidys

Member
What've you guys been playing on your Dreamcasts lately? Can't seem to stop playing SF3, but thinking I should finally crack Napple Tale, which I picked up over a year ago.
 

Persona7

Banned
I've been playing Maken X. Weird game but it is kind of interesting. I got a sealed copy for like $20. Napple Tale is one of those games I've wanted to try but never got around to it.
 

leroidys

Member
I've been playing Maken X. Weird game but it is kind of interesting. I got a sealed copy for like $20. Napple Tale is one of those games I've wanted to try but never got around to it.

Nice, how are you liking it? That's one that I've looked at picking up, but I only have a JPN DC right now and would probably enjoy it a lot more in English.
 

Persona7

Banned
Nice, how are you liking it? That's one that I've looked at picking up, but I only have a JPN DC right now and would probably enjoy it a lot more in English.

I like the combat but the lock on can be awkward. The narrative/voice acting leaves a bit to be desired but I like the combat enough to overlook that aspect. The soundtrack is also kind of bland but the game stands out visually and runs very well so far. Seems like a good addition to my library.
 

Chris_IWS

Member
Is it plugged in all the way? Otherwise it may be defective.

Yup, double-checked it at the time to make sure that wasn't the problem. It's not a terrible situation, tbh, just down to the monitor I'm using it with at the moment not having speakers. I'll move it back to my main setup again if I feel the urge for some DC lovin'.
 
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