Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

Video game systems with CD players - weird, right? No?

I suppose not. In a world where most consoles can stream Netflix and cell phones are used to play games, non-game functions are increasingly a given in our beloved systems. However, I would bet at least a dollar (or a pound) that versus the hours and days spent actually playing games, my dear readers have spent mere minutes here:

[Image] A CD player? How quaint!
There's not much to say about the player itself. Even competing PlayStation had a similar feature, so it was not unique. However, a few years ago, I discovered a secret.



Well, I thought I had: hidden music tracks, on my very Dreamcast game disc! I remember playing some game in the player and finding (besides the usual warning) an oddly out-of-place piece of music. But I couldn't remember what it was, or even what game it was on. So I embarked on a survey of all my Dreamcast games. Despite my affinity for the system, my Dreamcast collection isn't that big, so it didn't take too long.

Boy was I disappointed. Most discs had just the usual warning, something like "This is a Dreamcast game disc. Do not play it in a regular CD player," or some such. Being American, I liked the variant that featured different languages, including an *exotic* British accent for the English one. Besides that, the differences were minimal. Different words. A male voice versus a female one. A few discs had a smattering of actual in-game tracks available for listening. My results below for easy comparison:

No Warning or Playable Tracks: 2 1-2 Warning Tracks: 14 Warnings, plus OST Sample: 5 Armada Generator Vol. 2 Looney Tunes Space Race Q*Bert Toy Commander Warnings, plus Cool Stuff: 2 Web Browser 2.0 MDK 2 I don't list the 14 games with only warnings, lest this article turn into a giant - pointless - list fest. Suffice it to say, most discs bore no fun secrets or hidden music. I was about to give up. Then, I got to the Web Browser and MDK 2.
Web Browser 2.0 was a surprise. I hadn't used it at all, but I didn't imagine that it, of all discs, would have a hidden track. But sure enough, the disc had a track of Spanish-esque guitar music on Track 04. It was rather nice. I'd post a link, but I couldn't find a video of it on YouTube...
MDK 2.0 made it all worth the while. Initially, it seemed like just another Warning and OST Sample having disc. 04 through 29 were just music. But 30, that was the best. I won't spoil it for you, but it's pretty amusing. (I haven't gotten very far into the game, so I don't know that it doesn't show up in normal gameplay.) But still:

Joke's on you BioWare. I got the game used, 15 years later!
Overall, my quest was unfulfilling. Maybe I found a few OSTs that I'll listen to later. Maybe I found one amusing track. For the Dreamcast, though, I'll stick with "Play" rather than "Music" for my soundtrack listening needs!

And now, this article is OVER. What is it?

Over.