Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

How do. Thought it was about time for my bi-annual post here at the 'Yard. To be fair, I've been fairly busy trying to nail Liara in Mass Effect 3 for the last few weeks, so you can appreciate that I've had stuff to be getting on with...but since I've now sealed the deal and the thrill of the chase has evaporated, I thought I'd donate a few minutes to the DCJY and the ongoing fight to keep the Dreamcast firmly implanted in the psyche of, well, the inhabitants of the multiverse.

In my absence, I've been dipping in and out of our old ally eBay and purchased a whole slew of new games and will be casting judgement on them right here, over then next few weeks (hopefully...!). In the meantime though, I thought I'd share with you one of the more interesting and unusual DC-related items I've recently inducted into the 'Yard.

Now, I don't know if any of the other members of the team have a) got one of these; or b) mentioned it in a past post, but if they have - apologies. It's just that I don't recall anyone showcasing this:

[Image] An egg. [Image] The contents of the egg. Which came first? [Image] Size comparison. [Image][Image]
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Yep - it's a miniature 'Sega History Collection' Dreamcast console...and it's awesome. It's part of series of miniatures that I imagine were only released in Japan (isn't all the cool shit Japan-only?!), and it comes in a little plastic egg. Pop it open and you're treated to a superbly detailed mini console, complete with perfectly modelled joypad, VMUs (with lids that come off!), and a GD-Rom (Space Channel 5 in this case - I'm not sure if they differed or they all had the same game). The level of intricacy is staggering - right down to the opening console lid and removable modem. And as it's an early NTSC model, it's even got the liquid cooling system inside.

So yeah - it's the ultimate in Dreamcast geekery (well, besides that jacket I've still got stuffed in a cupboard somewhere. Oh, and the Dreamcast towel I STILL use in the gym - note to self: wash it), and it's quite a unique item. Nice.

I've also stumbled upon a fairly brilliant DC-related thingy this week. It's a mobile phone 'app' available on the Google Play store called 'DreamCollection,' and it's basically a kind of database of DC games that allows you to tick off the games that you own. It's such a simple idea, but really cool - and it's free! Perfect for tightwads like yours truly who also happen to be obsessive about Dreamcast. It's a bit like Pokemon. But with Dreamcast games. That you can't fight against each other...so not really like Pokemon at all. But I wouldn't know that because I've never played a Pokemon game. Not once. Even though my avatar image is a character from Pokemon. Fuck it: here's a really shitty picture I tried to take of my mobile's screen for illustrative purposes:

[Image] Huawei. Not quite a retina display, but does the job. You can't really see much, but it's quite well put together and features little pictures of the games' covers and allows you to select whether you have a complete version of a game, or just the disk, booklet or case. The only minor issue for us PAL Dreamcasters is that it's geared towards US collectors...but it's still a pretty nice addition to the Android Market (and I think it's available for iPhone too). Go here for further info.

Right, I'm off to see Liara in her quarters.

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Err. On second thoughts...maybe Garrus instead.