It’s August 2022 and the Dreamcast renaissance reveals no indicators of really fizzling out. All sorts of proficient and artistic people from internationally clearly haven’t had their fill of the little white dream machine simply but, and a plethora of tasks proceed to be introduced left, proper and centre. But how are you supposed to maintain tabs on this whirlwind of exercise? Don’t you are concerned, the Junkyard is right here to report on all the most recent from the Dreamcast cosmos. Buckle up for a bumper information round-up freshly sourced from our community of extremely knowledgeable sleuths.

Move apart ‘Dream Information’ the DCJY News Round-up is the one sport on the town now.

 Four new indie releases, Jeremy? That’s insane

In the current previous DCJY writers have salivated over the likelihood that the indie launch schedule of 2022 and 2023 would grow to be ram packed. Of course, those that are slightly longer within the tooth could know that introduced indie video games sadly don’t at all times make it by to completion or can fall into cycles of delays, however thankfully this has not been a problem in current months, with 4 new titles touchdown to date this summer time.

Shadow Gangs, the hotly anticipated Shinobi-esque side-scrolling beat em’ up, dropped in June. The Dreamcast launch was lastly made doable by a Kickstarter marketing campaign that met its funding objective in March, after which the builders JKM Corp conspired with Wave Game Studios to quickly end up the bodily launch. Those who need to know extra ought to check-out the writer’s web site, the handful of critiques which have rapidly surfaced (The Dreamcast Junkyard, RetroReligion, Games Freezer), or have a gander on the numerous gameplay movies out there on the likes of Youtube and Twitch.

Two additional releases rapidly adopted Shadow Gangs in June. Hailing from sunny Spain, Nape Games made their maiden voyage into Dreamcast territory with the discharge of Ploid and Renkum Souls Adventure. Both are pitched as action-adventure 2D platformers, every with their very own distinctive tales that seem to link-up with worlds which have already been built-up over the course of Nape Games prior releases. Relatively little has been reported on the Dreamcast releases of those two titles to date – maybe as a result of the preliminary print-runs have been fairly restricted. The publishers have hinted that a re-print might be on the playing cards sooner or later although, so you’ll want to preserve these eyes peeled.

The last new indie launch of the summer time season, Mawthorne, shares a standard thread with the Nape Games duo in that it was additionally primarily developed for the NES. Where it differs although, other than being a completely new IP, is in its simultaneous launch on the Dreamcast and the NES. No ready round right here – the Dreamcast sure MIL-CDs shipped out alongside the cartridges in July. Details on this ‘metroidvania platform-adventure’ sport could be discovered over on its Kickstarter web page. Fingers crossed a re-print of the Dreamcast model will probably be coming down the road for many who missed out on the Kickstarter. As with the Nape Games duo, I can’t touch upon the standard of this launch, as I haven’t obtained my grubby mits on it, however confidently critiques will begin to floor quickly.

More indie releases on the horizon

Of course, there are shedloads of indie releases and re-releases on the horizon too. Read on for a rapid-fire rundown of the forthcoming video games: 

• 240p Test Suite – $24.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by Artemio, revealed by VGNYSoft. “A homebrew software suite for video game consoles developed to help in the evaluation of capture cards, upscalers, upscan converters, line doublers and of course TV processing of 240p video and scaled signals.”
• Andros Dunos II – €34.90, due Q3 2022. Developed by Picorinne tender, revealed by JoshProd. A brand new side-scrolling shmup that’s an formally licensed sequel to Visco’s 1992 Neo Geo sport.  
• Big2Small – $39.99, launch date unknown. A cutesy puzzle journey sport, developed and revealed by RetroRoomGames, due for launch on the Game Boy, N64 and Dreamcast. Pre-sales have been stay because the finish of May.
• Driving Strikers – £???, growth on account of be completed by This autumn 2022. Driving Strikers does what it says on the tin. You drive about in a automotive hanging a ball into objectives. Good, old school, no-nonsense soccer with vehicles, similar to your ancestors performed. Of course, the sport will even mark a HUGE milestone upon launch as will probably be the primary indie Dreamcast sport to function on-line play. The developer Kazade has indicated that he hopes to wrap the sport’s growth up earlier than the top of 2022 and has additionally confirmed he intends for a bodily product to be produced, though a writer has not but been confirmed. Get hyped for full lobbies from day one.  
• Flight of the Amazon Queen – $24.99, due TBA 2022. Developed and revealed by RetroSurge. This Dreamcast port of a basic point-and-click sport has been on the playing cards for fairly a while now. Postponements have occurred previously, so we wouldn’t be shocked if the sport doesn’t attain completion this 12 months. Fingers crossed the small print start to be firmed up quickly. 
• Hermes (re-release) – $29.99/$59.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by RetroGuru, revealed by VGNYSoft. Many will already be acquainted with this little leap n’ run sport, on condition that it was initially launched on the Dreamcast in 2017. Aside from new field artwork, this re-release is most notable for the Limited Edition package deal which contains a customized inexperienced VMU. 
• Metal Canary – £???, launch date unknown. A promising vertical shmup developed by Titan Game Studios and Frost Byte Games, first revealed in June 2021. It appears possible {that a} playable demo will probably be made out there by year-end. Follow the Metal Canary Twitter account for gameplay footage and growth updates. 
• Non-Casual Encounter – £???, due This autumn 2022. Developed by SEGASaturno Productions, Non-Casual Encounter would be the first graphic novel indie sport to be launched on the Dreamcast. The prologue (demo) launched in December of final 12 months was properly acquired, regardless of being very quick. 
• Xenocider (re-release) – $39.99, due Q3 2022. Developed by Retro Sumus, revealed by VGNYSoft. The spectacular 3D rail shooter will get a re-release focused at North American audiences with new field paintings. 

Basically then, there are extra forthcoming Dreamcast releases than you’ll know what to do with. Let me inform you one thing, the Dreamcast hasn’t even begun to peak. And when it does peak, you may know. Because it’s gonna peak so laborious that everyone in Philadelphia’s gonna really feel it. 

Mods, {hardware} and different tinkerings

A slew of bulletins about newly invented modifications, improved {hardware}, and every kind of different productive tinkerings have been coming in thick and quick this summer time. While you’ve been touring Skeggie’s penny arcades and ice-cream vans in your summer time hols’, others have clearly been laborious at work…

Scrivani has been busy guaranteeing homeowners of the elusive Broadband Adapter can get slightly extra worth out of their peripheral. If you’ve one, get it out of that dusty field and get on-line!

Following on from his 2021 invention of a way that allowed Broadband Adapter customers to inform others of the video games they’re enjoying by way of DreamcastNow, Scrivani has just lately produced a information on the way to use a DreamPi (I.E. a Raspberry Pi configured to allow on-line play by way of a simulated dial-up connection) as a WiFi to ethernet repeater. In lay phrases, this configuration facilitates using the Broadband Adapter over WiFi. So, no extra journey hazards from an ethernet cable snaking down the steps to your router. Admittedly using this performance is prone to be restricted, however in case you are one of many privileged few who make lively use of a Broadband Adapter, then it’s best to positively test it out.

Capcom vs. SNK 2 was notable for permitting cross-platform play by Dreamcast and PS2 gamers on the KDDI service.

Sticking with the web theme however shifting onto floor that will have a wider attraction, on the finish of May, Dreamcast Talk person ‘dude22072’ revealed that that they had undertaken some severe efforts to reverse engineer the web capabilities of the suite of Dreamcast video games which have been previously playable on-line by way of the KDDI service in Japan. The KDDI service was what enabled a big chunk of Capcom video games – together with the likes of Heavy Metal Geomatrix, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and Spawn: In the Demon’s Hand – to be performed on-line. Given the variety of video games concerned, that is vital progress by way of the continuing on-line revival of the Dreamcast. To be clear, the web features of those video games haven’t really been restored but, and there’s no assure that they ever will probably be, however a giant step ahead has nonetheless been made (severe sufficient for the web restoration of those video games to now be thought of work in progress on the Dreamcast Live web site).

No ‘beeeeeep’ sound from a useless battery? How can the VM2 miss this important function!?

Those who don’t play their Dreamcast on-line (sacrilege!), don’t concern, as there’s some information that will curiosity you too. Chris Daioglou has launched an replace on the development of the creation of the ‘VM2’, a modernised Visual Memory Unit with a complete host of upgrades, together with a chargeable battery, an improved display screen and a MicroSD card slot. A funding marketing campaign for the VM2 is because of launch by way of Indiegogo on the first of September, so you will not want to attend an excessive amount of longer to half along with your hard-earned money. Earlier this month, 8BitMods additionally publicly said their intention to provide their very own VMU however have stored quiet about exactly what this may entail, on condition that they’re solely of their preliminary levels of growth. 

Last however not least

During its tragically quick official lifespan, numerous video games have been reported to be in growth for the Dreamcast which by no means really noticed the sunshine of day. Some of the titles that have been all however full, similar to Half Life and Propellor Arena are well-known, and leaked playable variations have been out there for years. However, there are others that stay shrouded in thriller. Thankfully, recently pcwzrd13 has put his detective abilities into motion, monitoring down and talking with the builders who would have labored on these unreleased Dreamcast video games, thereby setting the report straight on what was genuinely within the works and what was merely salacious gossip. He posted an in depth checklist of preliminary findings on the Dreamcast-Talk boards in May, together with some quotes straight from the builders, and has been updating this occasionally since then. 

The mock-up cowl design for Mike Phelan’s exhaustively complete forthcoming information.

Early on in August, the Junkyard’s personal Mike Phelan introduced he had lastly reached a cut-off level for his forthcoming tome ‘The A-Z of Dreamcast Games’, confirming that the tally of video games which it would cowl is a whopping 703. Hopefully this implies we will cease lusting over the images of the mock-up version and have the true deal in our palms earlier than the 12 months is out. Furthermore, due to the selfless efforts of those that proceed to reliably pump out translations – similar to Cool Cool Toon which a group together with Derek Pascarella has just lately begun work on – a rising chunk of the Japan unique titles coated by the ebook are playable by English-language audiences. 

So, that’s all for now people. New indie releases, revived on-line video games on the horizon, beefed-up VMUs, translations, and hefty books with as many pages as an old style Argos catalogue. What extra might you need?

OK, OK, one final snippet of stories, in case you should insist. If you’d like to satisfy the Junkyard’s very-own Lewis and Tom, in particular person, then ensure you head to the Nottingham Video Games Expo on the seventeenth and 18th of December. Autographed headshots will probably be out there however please you’ll want to kind an orderly queue.