need some dreamcast info/opinions

[bigle]

i'm looking into picking up a dreamcast and sifting through the old posts is starting to make my head spin so i figured i'd post a few questions here in one place for my sanity.

1.  do i need a special s-video cable or can i recycle a standard one from my box of parts? (i'm pretty sure its the former but figured i'd ask)

2.  are the sega controllers better than the aftermarket ones (both for gameplay and eventually for hacking)?  if not, is there a consensus best controller?  if not, are there ones that i should avoid?

3.  there appear to be 3 light guns (sega, mad catz, and starfire).  is there a best one or is it just a matter of opinion?

4.  i found the concept 4 wheel and pedals (see pic below) for under 10 bucks.  is this a good wheel (overall and for the price)?  if not, what wheel should i look at getting?

5.  any good places to pick up a dreamcast and accessories on the cheap (other than ebay)?

6.  i know there are a bunch of best game lists but if you felt like listing you're top couple in platform, puzzle, driving, light gun, and sports i'd appreciate it so i could have all the info in one place.  if not, i've already checked out the other threads so no need to go digging up the links.

thanks in advance 

[bigle]

oops, forgot the picture of the steering wheel

[Dave_K.]

You aren't very clear in stating what your objective is...hooking this up to a control panel, arcade cabinet, TV, arcade monitor,

1. have no idea what you talking about here.  You will need a special DC av/cable with svideo (or DC VGA box with svideo terminal).

2.Stay away from Astro pads.  Madcatz are easy to hack (check the Console FAQ on the site here for an example).  Original sega pads are easy to hack too but you may have to do some scraping on the button contacts.

3.Stay awa from starfire lightgun.

4.I have the concept4.  Its not that great.  But then again all the DC wheels suck.  Its more a problem with the games supporting wheels...they just are not responsive as a PC wheel.  So I don't recommend getting one or playing with one at all for DC (no matter which model).  But $10 is fine if you are curious.

5.Go to a local gamestop.  Most DC games are not around $2.50 each.

6.enough said on this topic.  I suggest seaching google for Naomi games and then see which ones got DC ports.  Those are best.

[Chemixtry]

All the arcade ports are excellent. I found that ebay had the best deals for hardware if you are patient. You can 15 games at ebgames for $50:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/deptpage.asp?typ=p&web_dept=Dreamcast&banna=dreamcast

My favorites: Marvel vs Capcom 2, Capcom vs Snk 1&2 , Looney tunes space race, sega smash pack, HOD II, Crazy Taxi. I have close to 150 games for the dreamcast and I have to say there are very few bad games in the dreamcast lineup.

[bigle]

You aren't very clear in stating what your objective is...hooking this up to a control panel, arcade cabinet, TV, arcade monitor,

1. have no idea what you talking about here.  You will need a special DC av/cable with svideo (or DC VGA box with svideo terminal).


4.I have the concept4.  Its not that great.  But then again all the DC wheels suck.  Its more a problem with the games supporting wheels...they just are not responsive as a PC wheel.  So I don't recommend getting one or playing with one at all for DC (no matter which model).  But $10 is fine if you are curious.

sorry i wasn't clear.  i came across a good deal on a dreamcast system and a lot of people on these boards seem to love them so i decided to get it.  it hasn't arrived yet which is why i asked #1 since i couldn't figure out if it needed a special s-vid cable (which you said it does) or if i could just use one like from a dvd player. 

i plan on hooking it up to my tv innitially but want to keep my options open as far as putting it in a cab later.

its disappointing to hear that the driving games don't work well but since i don't have a pc wheel (i just have a laptop and not a gaming pc) i'll probably give it a try since its pretty cheap.

i don't know if i've got a local gamestop but i'll check into that and into the eb games deal.

thanks

[pmc]

Gamestop and EB near me are both basically out of DC stuff. Couple of controllers and VMUs left. That's about it.

If you are into shooters, definitely seek out some of the DC vertical shooters. There are 4 or 5 of them that are really amazing to see (especially with VGA).

-pmc

[TalkingOctopus]

Gamestop and EB near me are both basically out of DC stuff. Couple of controllers and VMUs left. That's about it.

If you are into shooters, definitely seek out some of the DC vertical shooters. There are 4 or 5 of them that are really amazing to see (especially with VGA).

-pmc

The ones near me have absolutely nothing too.

[RitchieTheBrit]

DC LIVES!

Seriously, this has been touted as the last and greatest gamers console for good reason.  Since getting another one (I sold my original to buy an XBox!) the games have been getting a good dusting down, and to be honest, I've got three games for the XBox recently, and havent actually played on them (I'm talking a half hour muck around) since re-discovering the DC!

Lightguns - Generally the guns for the DC were alright, not as accurate as a GCon gun (although I'm sure that they made a GCon?  Anybody?), but for the best accuracy, go for the Sega gun, that the most accurate and reliable, but for looks, (and the accuracy isn't too bad!) I managed to get a Cybergun Desert Eagle!  Talk about the perfect cab gun!  Send me your email and I'll post you a pic.  They're quite hard to get, but I picked mine up off eBay.

[bigle]

yeah the gamestops by me don't have anything left either. 


couldn't find anything on a gcon gun for the dreamcast.  did come across a picture of the cybergun desert eagle and it does look pretty sweet.

[Dave_K.]

yeah the gamestops by me don't have anything left either.

Gamestop usually pools all their legacy console stuff to a central store in your county.  Ask the sales person where they send their legacy trade-in's.  You can also use the website to search for games using your zipcode (and probably fine the store).

[caffinefiend]

skies of arcadia is great

btw... you can burn cds for dc of homebrew games... people still program for the dc  it is the last great console

skies of arcadia... marvel capcom 2, ect ect ect capcom snk...

most naomi games are arcade styled and not worth it though. look for the rare gems like powerstone 2

[geomartin]

I had every Sega system and they usually got the gaming right, they have generally failed in the advertising and timing of their products though.  I loved all the fighters that were available for the Saturn.  Too bad they limited the number of fighters on the Dreamcast. 

Geo

[TalkingOctopus]

I had every Sega system and they usually got the gaming right, they have generally failed in the advertising and timing of their products though.