Same I'm missing about 27 PAL games but I'm not paying £80 for MoHo. You talk about new releases but the system was discontinued back in 2001, so what new games or hardware is there?
Yeah, MoHo is one game I don’t own either and by all accounts it certainly isn’t worth what people are asking for it. The Dreamcast is going through something of a renaissance at present. To the layman it’s a dead system, but in 2015 we have already had several new titles. Ghost Blade from Hucast (a shmup), Volgarr The Viking (a 2D platformer) and Fruit’Y (a puzzle game) have already been released this year, and two new Kickstarters have been successfully funded in the last week (Saber Rider and Alice Dreams Tournament). Further to this, SLaVE - a 3D first person shooter is due to release soon. In the next year, even more high profile indie releases are expected. On the hardware front, a new wireless Bluetooth controller, the DreamConn, has just been released. It’s an exciting time for a supposedly ‘dead’ system!
It seems more alive then some of the current systems on the market with all those games just this year and coming. Why do you think that is, my theory has been that because it was SEGA's last system were keeping it alive, what's your thoughts?
Yeah, nostalgia has something to do with it - most certainly. People seem to have a desire to cling onto the past don’t you think? Also, ‘retro gaming’ is undergoing something of a revival at the moment. To that end, the Dreamcast is really the last system that is relatively easy to develop and publish for. The console’s ability to play CD-Rs makes it a perfect platform for small indie teams, and the fact that it is still a relatively powerful and versatile format makes it ideal for start-ups who maybe couldn’t put a game out on Vita, PS4 or XB1 for financial reasons. It’s a perfect test ground in my opinion. There’s still a market for modern retro games, if that makes sense - and the Dreamcast is the format for this.
Now we know more about you and the site, why the Dreamcast to collect for, what makes it so great?
Hmm. Well, when I started collecting Dreamcast stuff it was really cheap. It was a failure and the PS2, Xbox and GameCube had already established themselves. the Dreamcast was dead in 2005 and I recall spotting a brand new, boxed one for £40 in a shop so I snapped it up. After that I just kept buying boxed and mint games. Back then it was easy to find stuff in corners of games shops for a few pounds. Now though, the DC has gained cult status - some of which is not really deserved. Don’t get me wrong, I love the system but mainly for the same reason I love the Atari Jaguar - it represents so much unrealised potential. The later games really show what the Dreamcast could do and it’s relatively short lifespan only gives a small glimpse of what could have been if major developers had supported it for longer. I guess it’s the ‘what if’ that makes it so special to me. That, and it was the first system that really wowed me visually. It filled the void that the N64 promised but didn’t deliver, if that makes sense.
The Jaguar isn't a system you hear the word love attached to, but I get what you mean about the Dreamcast it was the first system I went online with, played user made content along with other things systems now do. Were here to celebrate the consoles and it's 16th birthday, the main thing about any system is games, what are your sort of top 5 or the top games that show off the system to maybe someone that haven't played or owned the system?
That’s a tough question Chris haha! There are so many great games on the Dreamcast that trying to think of five will be hard, but here goes.
You’d probably be expecting me to wax lyrical about the standard Dreamcast fail safes like Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and Soul Calibur, but my tastes go a little deeper than that. While they are stunning games, there are others worthy of attention. Sturmwind is a corking unofficial shooter for the Dreamcast from Duranik. It has an amazing soundtrack and brilliant visuals and plays like a dream. It also started life on the Jaguar, weirdly. The next game I would recommend is Rush 2049. It’s the sequel to that N64 stalwart Rush 2, and even though 2049 also appeared on Nintendo’s system the Dreamcast version is leaps and bounds ahead in terms of visuals. Next, I would say that Bangai-O is worth a look, again it was on the N64 too, but the Dreamcast version is completely reworked. Starlancer is a ridiculously classy space opera with an engaging storyline and genre-defining controls and visuals too. Finally, I would have to say that Metropolis Street Racer is one game that should be a standard entry into every Dreamcast-owner’s library. This is the game that gave birth to PGR - everyone should investigate Bizarre Creations’ superb prequel.