Why do people want Dreamcasts so much?? Can they be hacked...

[2PacMan]

I read on here all the time people wanting Dreamcasts and stuff.  I don' t know why....is it just for the games, or can these be hacked like an Xbox and used for emulation?

Just wondering, i found a store around here that is selling a Dreamcast + one controller for 20 bucks.  I want a hacked XBox and put all kinds of atari and nintendo games on it, can this be done on a dreamcast too??

[AlanS17]

You can directly transfer ISO images so it's easy to copy game discs. Plus there's no boot protection so you can load emulators and stuff straight from discs. You don't even need to pop it open to hack it.

On top of all of that, it has an impressive game library that includes many arcade games that didn't come out for many (or any) other consoles.

Still wondering why? 

[dogg0]

nintend emulator works perfect  dont know about atari though, mame is slow and so is supernes, genesis is pretty good though, also gameboy is good

[Bloinkxp]

Dreamcast also (via a dongle) displays VGA.  This dongle can be hacked to Jamma pretty easy.  Heck the games are cheap and there are a lot of great Arcade Ports.  My DC has about 70 games.  Most of them I got bulk from ebay for about 3-5 bucks a pop.

Check into it.  The system was underated.

[SirPoonga]

Also with the VGA box you can display dreamcast on 15hz monitors (ie arcade monitors).

Also there are alot of good arcade ports for the dreamcast, including gun games.

And how easy it is to copy the games helps with its popularity too.

And there are the emulators.
http://www.dcemulation.com/

I wonder if you could get chancast to run nester...  emulation running emulation...

[2PacMan]

So I could put Nesticle and like 100's of NES roms on a dreamcast without needing any kind of special mod chips or hacks??  Can i put it on the hard drive, or do i need to just put Nesticle plus all the roms on a CD burnable disc and run the disc to play the games??

I have no interest in getting the system to play the Dreamcast games or hooking it up to a VGA, i already built a MAME arcade machine i'm using, so it'd mainly just be for NES, ZNES and atari emulation if possible, what do you guys think??  Or should i just save my money and mod an Xbox instead?

[Goz]

Don't forget that there are still new Dreamcast games coming out of Japan. There are even talks of ports from Atomiswave to Dreamcast coming soon (hardware is very similar). A good number of NAOMI games have been ported to Dreamcast as well.


-Goz

[dogg0]

goz, i like the new pic-

if you are determined to play SNES, I would use an xbox, dreamsnes has too much slowdown in most games. But there is no HDD involved, just put the roms and the emulators on cd, pop it in, and enjoy. check the console section for someone who hacked a dc inside a nes for the sole purpose of playing nes.

[Havok]

Plus the Dreamcast games are really good. I have a bunch of games from Japan, and I love them!

Gozur - nice bacon avatar...

[AceTKK]

If you're into fighting games it's my contention that Soul Calibur for the DC is the best of all time. Ever.

-Ace-

[ultramagnus]

you can burn dreamcast games? damn, never knew, where are you guys gettin all those lil cds?

[Goz]

Dreamcast technically is a GDROM drive.

The CD's you burn onto are full size CD's.

-Goz

[Q*Bert_OP]

It's like a Naomi system for the home...

[SirPoonga]

you can burn dreamcast games? damn, never knew, where are you guys gettin all those lil cds?

If we told you, we'd have to kill you.  Well, at least send this thread to post hell, per the rules.

FYI, the NES emulators do support lightgun, I believe.

[spiffyshoes]

Say speaking of dreamcast and mame.  Does any one know how to convert current mame roms for use on MAMED?  I presuem I'd need to use ClrMame but it seems complicated and I don't know what I'm doing.

[Lilwolf]

Don't forget the price... super cheap.

GREAT games for it.  high percent of the games are arcade style because of the naomi and also the target audience.  So expect perfect ports of SFA3, guilty gear, crazy taxi... lists go on and on.  HOTD2!

[JB]

I wonder if you could get chancast to run nester...  emulation running emulation...

And run Chankast in a PC emulator on a Mac!

So I could put Nesticle and like 100's of NES roms on a dreamcast without needing any kind of special mod chips or hacks??

NESticle is dead. And buried. And rotted away. Leave the bones buried.

ANYWAYS... you need a emu compiled specifically for the Dreamcast. Like NESterDC.

Can i put it on the hard drive,

Sure. Can't run it on the DC that way, though, as there's no hard drive in the DC, nor support for an external one.

 

or do i need to just put Nesticle plus all the roms on a CD burnable disc and run the disc to play the games??

Again, NESticle is dead, burried, rotted away, and not DC compatible.

But yes. Burn a NES emulator FOR THE DREAMCAST and a bunch of ROM images onto a CD-R and drop it int he DC. If you did everything right, VOILA! NES.

I have no interest in getting the system to play the Dreamcast games

Why not? There's some awesome DC titles.

so it'd mainly just be for NES, ZNES and atari emulation if possible,

There is no ZNES.

[krick]

three words...

"chu chu rocket"

[countchocula8]

dont forget about the 'shmups!!!111
i also like it b/c of the fighting games, namely marvel vs capsom2, streetfighter3, and capcom vs. snk2

[knuttz]

IMHO DC > PS2

[babydickonboard]

one word....
ikaragu

its set up on DC just like it was at the arcades....credits....option to turn monitor to vertical/horizontal....+ more...all nice arcade touches.

this makes me want to make a DC cabnet.....

[Minwah]

Power Stone

[elvis]

(Very likely non-complete) Dreamcast Games library:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dreamcast_games

For me, these are 99% of the modern-ish arcade games that I want to play.  Many of these are not in MAME (and there's a good chance many of them won't be for close to a decade - if MAME even lasts that long).

And as mentioned, being the little brother of the Naomi system, many of the Naomi games have near-perfect ports to Dreamcast, which is a plus if you're a diehard purist (some of the Capcom games ported to PlayStation are just bloody dreadful!).

This had to be one of the most underappreciated consoles in the west.  Sega certainly could have done some much better marketing outside of Japan.  It's almost as if they wanted it to be their swan song before bowing out of hardware sales to go 100% software/games.

[romperwomb]

This had to be one of the most underappreciated consoles in the west.  Sega certainly could have done some much better marketing outside of Japan.  It's almost as if they wanted it to be their swan song before bowing out of hardware sales to go 100% software/games.

Wish Sega had run this as an Ad..   

[SirPoonga]

three words...

"chu chu rocket"

Three more words
samba de amigo

also
dynamite cop
confidential mission and house of the dead2 gun games
nba hoopz
the bombermans
revolt
virtual athlete
virtual tennis
soul caliber
ikaruga
rez
many many more

All of which make great games for your arcade cabinet

[Minwah]

OT question...do US Dreamcasts run @ 60Hz fixed?  My UK one runs at 50Hz, but some games have the option to run @ 60Hz.  The irritating thing is that when at 50Hz, I have to adjust my v-hold as my screen's setup for ~60Hz...

[Lilwolf]

I thought it was based on the game.

I have a few that can do both.. and it sucks because its wrong on soul caliber until you change a setting.. but you can't really tell on my arcade monitor.  you just have to remember to go right then button... and it all fixes itself.

[Minwah]

I thought it was based on the game.

I have a few that can do both.. and it sucks because its wrong on soul caliber until you change a setting.. but you can't really tell on my arcade monitor.  you just have to remember to go right then button... and it all fixes itself.

OK thanks, must be the same on all regions.  All DC games startup by default at 50hz to my knowlegde, and you have to set them to 60 (Soul Calibur is the same for me).

[Truecade]

I think someone posted this in the for sale section, but I'll post it here as well.  I saw this on Fatwallet a couple days ago.

EB games is selling pre-played Dreamcast systems for $19.99 shipped.

Go to http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/195512.asp and use the coupon 'SAVER' for free shipping. 

I just got two of these.  I plan to make a dedicated Soul Caliber Dreamcabinet and use the other one for my living room.  I haven't bought a console system since the Sega Genesis, so its only fitting that my jump back into the console arena is with Sega.  I wish I had enough money for an extra 27" arcade monitor since the DC suppports VGA.   

[MrTroy]

Wait so there's a chance Rumble Fish 2 will end up on Dreamcast...... GHEEEEE!

[quarterback]

I think someone posted this in the for sale section, but I'll post it here as well.

[elvis]

OT question...do US Dreamcasts run @ 60Hz fixed?  My UK one runs at 50Hz, but some games have the option to run @ 60Hz.  The irritating thing is that when at 50Hz, I have to adjust my v-hold as my screen's setup for ~60Hz...

This has already been sort-of answered, but yes, US and Japanese Dreamcasts boot at 60Hz.

You UK laddies get the 17% slower and squashed-screen 50Hz consoles like we do in Australia.  Blame our crappy power input and legacy hardware for that.

Although I'm glad that more and more consoles are being released now that give you the option at boot time to run at 60Hz.  Considering that almost every new TV on the market can do PAL/NTSC/SECAM, it's good that consoles makers realised we too would like to play games fullscreen/full-speed.

[Level42]

You UK laddies get the 17% slower and squashed-screen 50Hz consoles like we do in Australia.  Blame our crappy power input and legacy hardware for that.

Uhm, crappy power ??

Actualy, the US and Japan guys have the legacy hardware, not the Europeans and Australians.....PAL is way superior over NTSC....

[Stingray]

I use my DC almost exclusively for NES emulation. It's much easier than fiddling with my NES toaster, the games all run super smooth.

-S

[Level42]

How's Atari 8-bit emulation (800XL etc) ?

[brained]

Dreamcast rulez...
u forgot some gun games:

virtua cop 2
Death Crimson 2
Death Crimson OX

also shenmue 1 and 2
and a couple of good rpg's

IKARUGA is the best

BTW I got my dreamcast from ebay for 11 bux

[Level42]

OK I want one, but they only ship to the US. Anyone willing to forward it to me, I can pay through Paypal.

[SteveJ34]

OK I want one, but they only ship to the US. Anyone willing to forward it to me, I can pay through Paypal.

Where you at?

[Seven7]

Wow, everyones forgotten one of segas most inovative games ever.  Cyber troopers-virtual on Ontario trangram.  Aka virtual on 2.  (makes me wish i had a twin stick.)  Hmm, anyone wanna sell a dreamcast twin stick cheap?

-Seven7-

[Level42]

OK I want one, but they only ship to the US. Anyone willing to forward it to me, I can pay through Paypal.

Where you at?

The Netherlands, Europe

[creatine28]

Just bought a DC from EB games.  Didnt see much info on it, what all does the EB games deal inlcude?  Do I get 1 controller and the plugs needed to hook it up?

[Level42]

OWwwwwwww nooooo !! You guys picked them all up before me

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/195512.asp shows:

The product you requested is currently not available. It may be out of stock, no longer available or we may be performing site maintenance, making it temporarily not available. If you think you reached this page in error, please try again later or contact us and let us know.

Hope they get some more....

[JB]

You UK laddies get the 17% slower and squashed-screen 50Hz consoles like we do in Australia.  Blame our crappy power input and legacy hardware for that.

Uhm, crappy power ??

TV refresh rates were originally set by the AC frequency, due to interfence problems.
Hence, your CRAPPY 50Hz power means you get CRAPPY 50Hz TV that flickers.

Actualy, the US and Japan guys have the legacy hardware, not the Europeans and Australians.....PAL is way superior over NTSC....

Ummm... both standards are pathetically outdated legacy.
It doesn't really matter if PAL is from the 60s and NTSC is from the 50s, as both were designed for technology limitations that haven't existed for decades.

Your 38-year-old TV standard is why games run slow and everything flickers.



Though as far as a fair comparison goes...
NTSC has a massively superior color range(particularly in green, which the human eye is most sensitive to and NTSC has a full twice the range in), while PAL has somewhat better resolution and (if I recall)luma range.

Admittedly, the stabilzation of the chroma signal in PAL is nice, but it's only an issue for broadcast situations.


I personally don't watch enough TV to care about hue fluctuations in sub-par reception.


Were it not for the 50Hz refresh, I'd call the 2 systems equals.
As-is... I'll take the flicker-free 60Hz display that most video games were designed for and you can keep your resolution diffrence.

[CJK]

Dreamcast = ReVolt!!!!

LOVE that game. Played it many, many nights in Iceland on deployment with the Navy...

-- Chris

[Level42]

JB:

Not going into it too much (off topic) but: PAL and NTSC were both designed for broadcasting there was nothing else in those days, so chroma stabilization is the main feauture that made PAL superior for all the years it has been used....NTSC was not called Never The Same Color (twice) for nothing.....

I agree 60 Hz gives a little less flicker, but its not something the desingers chose to use, they too were bound by the mains frequency used in their home market, and that frequency was chosen long before TVs were invented.

O well, we've now all got 100HZ tv's (or LCD's) so the flicker is no problem anymore...and with all digital format abound...who cares

But I'm glad all arcade monitors use 60 Hz   Now on with the DC subjevt please 

[JB]

JB:

Not going into it too much (off topic) but: PAL and NTSC were both designed for broadcasting there was nothing else in those days, so chroma stabilization is the main feauture that made PAL superior for all the years it has been used....NTSC was not called Never The Same Color (twice) for nothing.....

I AM aware of that. And grant that PAL is superior for broadcast television for that reason.

Though as I said, it seems to not be a problem anymore.
As near as I can tell, on the stronger signals of modern TV stations it isn't much of an issue.



The commonly-cited reason for PAL's superiority, though, is the increased resolution. Which is one of a variety of reasons to pick a given TV technology.

Given a common refresh rate(as with certain South American nations that use 60Hz PAL), both standards are roughly equal, IMO.

I agree 60 Hz gives a little less flicker, but its not something the desingers chose to use, they too were bound by the mains frequency used in their home market, and that frequency was chosen long before TVs were invented.

They were bound by the AC frequency at the time. Such restrictions haven't been a concern for years. 
Hence why it's a legacy standard.

O well, we've now all got 100HZ tv's (or LCD's) so the flicker is no problem anymore...and with all digital format abound...who cares

Me. More frames a second, and I don't pay extra for scan doublers in my TVs. 

But I'm glad all arcade monitors use 60 Hz  

Yes. At least ONE market has maintained worldwide consistency.

Now on with the DC subjevt please 

Aww, but I LIKE debating TV standards.

[Goz]

I have an overclocked Dreamcast on the way and already have 2 others. So I'll be selling one soon as well as some hacked control pads, VGA adapters, and maybe some guns (I'll post it in B/S/T later this week). Also my local Game Crazy, EBGames, and GameStop all have Dreamcasts in stock for $20 if anyone seriously needs one and can't find one; let me know. Also you can find some nice bundles on eBay and Craigslist if you are looking for a few games off the bat.

-Goz

[SirPoonga]

So what's the purpose of na overclocked dreamcasT?

[Goz]

So what's the purpose of na overclocked dreamcasT?

Some of the shmups like Gunbird 2 get a severe lag when the screen is full. This addresses that issue.

[Seven7]

how in the world do you overclock a dreamcast?  Expecally without frying something!?  ON a PC its not that big a deal, but a dc?  All i have to say is wow.

-Seven7-

[Goz]

Basically there's a clock generator IC on the mainboard that creates a 33mhz signal which feeds into the SH-4 CPU (this uses a multiplier of 6). You need to carefully lift a certain pin of this IC from the main board, and feed your own compatible clock signal.

Anyways it's boosts the clock from 200Mhz to 243Mhz and illiminates any lag (so I'm told).

-Goz

[monkeybomb]

Gozur-Have you tried the SNES emulator on the overclocked dreamcast?  It doesn't play smooth enough for me as it is.

[pointdablame]

Where did you get the overclocked DC goz?  I'm intrigued.

[Goz]

Gozur-Have you tried the SNES emulator on the overclocked dreamcast?  It doesn't play smooth enough for me as it is.

The overclocked Dc is on its way. I wont have it for another day or so. I'll make sure to check it out and let you know how it goz.

-Goz

[Goz]

Where did you get the overclocked DC goz?  I'm intrigued.

I had been searching high and low as i had hear rumors. Then I saw one posted for trade on the shmups board. I'm pretty sure that I am getting mine from is the overclocker. I'll see if I can dig up more info.

-Goz

[Level42]

Yeah !!! They're back in stock !!!

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/195512.asp

I think I should also buy these:

An extra original controller and a memory card. Both very cheap, pre-used....

[SirPoonga]

Yeah !!! They're back in stock !!!

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/195512.asp

I think I should also buy these:

An extra original controller and a memory card. Both very cheap, pre-used....

What is pre-played???  That would mean they haven't been played yet.

[Stingray]

I'm also interested in your overclocked DC, Goz. Please post more info when you have it.

-S

[Level42]

Yeah !!! They're back in stock !!!

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/195512.asp

I think I should also buy these:

An extra original controller and a memory card. Both very cheap, pre-used....

What is pre-played???  That would mean they haven't been played yet.

Haha, yeah, I actualy think its a nicer word for 2nd hand, but indeed, in the sense you say: pre=before so before played (or used)

[elvis]

What is pre-played???  That would mean they haven't been played yet.

In English, yes.  But you have to understand English is one of the few languages that does everything the wrong way around, as well as adding or removing terms and still making grammatically sentences.

As per the latin roots, "pre-played" would mean "played in the past".  Not "before being played" as you suggest.

Ask anyone who has English as a second or even third language: it's a very difficult language to learn thanks to the large number of exceptions, and huge number of different allowable combinations of words with double-meanings.

ON TOPIC:

I'm also keen to hear about the DC overclocking, also for schmup smoothness.  Looking forward to the posts when they arrive!

[creatine28]

Just found this link


http://devcast.dcemulation.com/mods/overclock/overclock.php

[nickbuol]

So where does everyone put the Dreamcast in their cabinet?

I bought my DC back before they stopped making them for like $150, accessories started going cheap, so I have just about everything made for the thing and over 200 games.  I would love to encorporate it into my new cabinet that I am building, but since it is a top load console, I don't know where I could cleanly install it and have it still be easy to access.  No coin door on my cabinet, otherwise I thought about making a roll out shelf that slid out the coin door when open.  I might have room in my control panel, but I would have to test a few things out there and I am not quite done with that part.

Just looking for creative ideas.

[Level42]

What is pre-played???  That would mean they haven't been played yet.

In English, yes.  But you have to understand English is one of the few languages that does everything the wrong way around, as well as adding or removing terms and still making grammatically sentences.

As per the latin roots, "pre-played" would mean "played in the past".  Not "before being played" as you suggest.

Ask anyone who has English as a second or even third language: it's a very difficult language to learn thanks to the large number of exceptions, and huge number of different allowable combinations of words with double-meanings.

ON TOPIC:

I'm also keen to hear about the DC overclocking, also for schmup smoothness.  Looking forward to the posts when they arrive!

Haha, so I was succesful in hiding the fact that my native language is not English, thanks for the compliment 
I'm Dutch, and believe me, that's a much stranger lanuage, although not as strange as German and French 
I think English is pretty easy really, but that maybe because we grow up with everything subtitled on TV, good practice

Back to the topic: Indeed, hadn't thought about where to put it, coin door is a good idea. But I have a feeling that the DC will be next to my TV for some time first

[nickbuol]

Well, I made the decision tonight to put the Dreamcast inside my control panel.  With my 4 player design, it fits nicely.  I drilled 4 holes for the controller ports on the left and right ends of the back of the control panel (won't see them under normal conditions), and I am letting the glue dry that is holding the controller extension cables in place.  That way, I will just have to plug in my favorite DC controls to the back of the control panel and keep things nice and clean looking.

I did have to drill (using a medium hole cutter attachment) an opening in the back center of the control panel.  Everything else is USB for the MAME stuff and I have a 4 port USB hub, that doesn't require power, inside the control panel and have a 6 foot USB cable so that I have 1 connection to the PC, but now with the DC going inside, I needed a hole big enough to get power in and video/audio out of the DC.  I will need to use a RCA style extension cable for the video, and I will have to use an audio converter to go from the RCA right and left audio to "headphone" style and then run a splitter from my powered speakers so that it can take inputs from the DC or the PC.  Should be good.

I am going out of town for the weekend, so I won't be back to the project until Monday night when I plan to finish covering the sides (left, right, front, and back) of my control panel, and then get the control panel base mounted on to the cabinet.  Then comes the fun wiring job, and then attaching the top to the control panel base.  My goal is to be done with that by the end of next week and then next weekend get MAME tested and running.  Somewhere in there I need to get the speakers mounted (holes are already cut), the marquee light mounted, and the artwork on.  I will finish up with getting the PC power on/off button moved to on the cabinet itself, and if I feel really gutsy, take the TV remote apart and set up a button for that too to turn it on/off.  Once all of that is done, I will put the front glass in place (haven't ordered it yet, but don't want it laying around just asking to be broken), and THEN I will finally get around to getting the Dreamcast fired up. 

I've come so far, and yet have so far to go....