Well, one other entire 12 months has come and gone, and we’re all a bit older and a bit wiser. All a bit bit extra wrinkly and decrepit. All a bit extra wizened and damaged. All a bit extra…I believe you get the concept. Anyway, as has turn into one thing of a customized right here at The Dreamcast Junkyard, we thought it will be completely radical (dude) to spherical up the vast majority of the content material we have posted right here during the last 12 months; so you do not have to navigate the archive utilizing that unweildy little sidebar factor.

Huge thanks should go to all of the individuals who have continued to create content material that we report on, and naturally to those that have agreed to visitor on our podcast. Thanks additionally to the crew members who write the options, the information posts and the opinions; and naturally thanks to you – our readers – who proceed to go to the Junkyard 12 months in, 12 months out.

For your studying pleasure, offered under in a digestable record are some highlights from 2022. Not every little thing we have printed is included, however for those who’re studying this on the desktop model of the weblog you may discover the aforementioned unweildy little sidebar archive simply down there on the fitting, from which yow will discover every little thing from not simply 2022, however from the final 18 years of The Dreamcast Junkyard…

Shadow Gangs

Reviews

• Ghoul Grind: Night of the Necromancer – Mike solid a important eye over Woog Worx’s attention-grabbing retro-styled, auto-scrolling, Halloween-themed platform journey, and was significantly impressed with simply how properly executed the entire affair was.
• Postal – Lozz suited up and dove in to Dan Redfield and WAVE Game Studios’ Dreamcast improbable launch of Running With Scissors’ blood-soaked 90s shooter, and was fairly impressed with what he noticed. Twin Stick controls and full DLC included on the disc had been explicit highlights.

Yeah Yeah Beebiss II

• Yeah Yeah Beebiss II – In 2022 the Dreamcast performed host to a port of a sequel to a recreation that by no means truly existed. That port was the straightforward but pleasing Yeah Yeah Beebiss II and Tom discovered that whereas the sport was fairly primary in design, it was additionally fairly a enjoyable little title.
• Shadow Gangs – Showcasing simply how numerous the vary of recent Dreamcast releases had been in 2022, Lozz took a have a look at the visually spectacular aspect scrolling brawler Shadow Gangs. While the aesthetics had been a spotlight, the sport’s issue stage was seen as a slight detrimental.

Virtua Sriker 2 ver 2000.1

Retrospectives

• Virtua Striker 2 – When is a soccer recreation not a soccer recreation? When it is Virtua Striker 2 in fact! Tom took to the pitch in Sega’s arcade soccer fest to see if Virtua Striker 2 holds up.
• The Flashback sequence on Dreamcast – The Dreamcast has now recieved formally sanctioned ports of each Flashback and sequel Fade to Black. We joined Conrad B. Hart to see how properly these ports fared on the Dreamcast.
• Nettou Golf – Kev switched off Giant Killers, donned his most hideous {golfing} apparel and interrupted an excellent stroll when he investigated Nettou Golf, an NTSC-J title which he discovered to be surprisingly good enjoyable.

Maximum Speed

• 90 Minutes: Sega Championship Football – 90 Minutes represents one of the vital turgid footballing experiences one can discover on Dreamcast; nevertheless the NTSC-J model (titled J.League Spectacle Soccer) is likely one of the easiest to grace a GD-ROM drive. How so? Find out in Tom’s retrospective!
• Maximum Speed – The Atomiswave performed host to a variety of attention-grabbing video games that had been by no means ported to different platforms, and Maximum Speed is one such title. A form of Daytona-lite that options inventory and open wheel autos, and a few of the most annoying sound results you are ever prone to hear.

Flyer for Premier Eleven

Features and News

• The Hunt for Premier Eleven – Premier Eleven is usually seen as the best soccer recreation the Dreamcast by no means obtained. By ‘typically,’ we imply ‘by us.’ This elusive Atomiswave title does exist in very restricted numbers out within the wild, however to date it stays undumped. Join us on this most whirlwindy of investigations.
• Brave Little Abacus – Lewis went down the rabbit gap of discovering why this celebrated band used a Dreamcast throughout their stay exhibits, and even managed to bag an interview with Brave Little Abacus frontman Adam Demirjian, who defined the reasoning behind it, in addition to his common admiration for the console.
• Dreamcast translation initiatives – The Dreamcast English translation scene seems to be going from energy to energy, and so our resident translations specialist Lewis introduced us information on initiatives involving such NTSC-J titles as Radirgy, Chaos Field, Panzer Front, Puyo Puyo~n, Cool Cool Toon and RUN=DIM as Black Soul.

RUN=DIM as Black Soul

• The Dreamcast indie scene enters a ‘Golden Age’ – Lozz took a deep dive into the indie scene on the Dreamcast, as increasingly video games are launched and new publishers enter the Dreamarena (sorry).
• Where are they now? – ODM’s ‘100+ New Games’ – The Official UK Dreamcast Magazine famously printed a ‘100+ New Games’ characteristic within the July 2000 situation, and so Andrew determined to delve into the historical past books to search out out what occurred to all of them. Did all of those video games materialise…or was all of it simply pie within the sky?
• VM2 ‘next-gen VMU’ from Chris Daioglou – Serial Dreamcast peripheral upgrader Chris Daioglou returned in 2022 with a imaginative and prescient for a next-gen VMU. Titled VM2, the venture was launched on Indiegogo and smashed its funding purpose. Read about it right here.

RIP Mr Yukawa

• A farewell to Hidekazu Yukawa – News of former SEGA Japan Managing Director Hidekazu Yukawa’s passing was reported in June 2022, after the good man died in June 2021 aged 78. Here, Lewis respectfully paid tribute to his legacy, and detailed each time Mr Yukawa appeared in a Dreamcast recreation. Rest in peace Mr Yukawa, gone however not forgotten.
• Gauntlet Giveaway! – Midway’s Gauntlet Legends supplied a reasonably candy deal to anybody who purchased the sport – ship in proof of buy and obtain a set of pewter miniatures based mostly on characters from the sport. Through a sequence of weird occasions, Tom ended up with a set of those miniatures and here is what he considered them.
• The ‘All About Dreamcast’ VCD – Lozz managed to bag himself a replica of a Chinese-language VCD offered in Hong Kong and Taiwan titled ‘All About Dreamcast,’ and being the dutiful digital preservationist that he’s, then went and ripped it and uploaded the contents to YouTube.

SEGA Spud Dive

• Is video of the Sega Spud Dive misplaced media? – The Sega Spud Dive was a publicity stunt that concerned individuals swimming by vats of mashed potatoes to win Dreamcast associated prizes, and we have lined it a number of occasions right here. However, there does not look like any video of the occasions…which is odd contemplating the quite a few movie crews in attendance.
• Remute Generations – A music CD with unique Dreamcast performance and visuals created by Duranik? Yes please! Here, Tom took a glance (and a hear) to Remute’s newest launch – Generations.
• Title Defense: Dreamcast’s misplaced boxing sim – Title Defense was supposed to be a extra simulation-based various to Ready 2 Rumble, however sadly it was by no means launched. That did not cease the sport being featured fairly often in magazines of the period. Tom took a have a look at what might have been, had Climax not shelved this intriguing title earlier than it might muster a protection. See what I did there?

[lock-on] Volume 003

• [lock-on] Volume 003 Dreamcast particular – [lock-on] Volume 003 supplied a veritable smorgasbord of Dreamcast content material, a few of which was created by the very individuals who write the guff on this weblog. Once the disclosure was out of the way in which, Tom took a glance between the pages and supplied an entirely unbiased opinion.
• Dee Dee Planet playable on-line – Dee Dee Planet was a pseudo sequel to ChuChu Rocket! that might provide on-line gaming to Dreamcast house owners. Sadly, it was by no means launched. That was till the Dreamcast neighborhood obtained maintain of it, launched it and added on-line performance in 2022. Most spectacular.
• Dreamcast Mini: Hopes and Prospects – The promise of a ‘Dreamcast Mini’ has been doing the rounds on-line for years, however how wouldn’t it work, actually? Would Sega even have the ability to flip a revenue from such an costly endevour? Lozz threw warning to the wind and supplied his ideas.

RIP Bernie Stolar

• Show Report: Nottingham Video Games Expo – The Junkyard Crew took a uncommon journey out into the actual world to participate in NottsVGE, the place we met some trade legends, drank some beer, performed some video games and customarily had a completely good time.
• TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection lands on Dreamcast – Dreamcast coding legend Ian Micheal determined that he wasn’t overly impressed with Konami’s determination to skip the Dreamcast when it got here ot releasing TNMT: The Cowabunga Collection. So he went forward and created his personal model…which is arguably higher than Konami’s. So there.
• Bernie Stolar sadly passes away – The late Bernie Stolar is credited as being the daddy of the Dreamcast, and it was with nice disappointment that we discovered of his passing in June 2022, aged 75. In this reasonably sombre information replace, we paid our respects to the gaming trade big. Rest in peace Bernie Stolar, who will eternally be remembered because the pressure behind the creation of the Dreamcast.

Dreamcast Gold Ingot from RetrOldTech

• There’s gold in them there Dreamcasts! –  Lewis took a have a look at the tongue-in-cheek providing of a gold bar made out of reclaimed valuable metals out of Dreamcast consoles. Clearly a prank novelty merchandise from RetrOldTech, however one we could not assist however applaud for its downright weirdness.
• Dashy no Blast demo launched – Talented indie developer Voxel stunned us all with the discharge of playable Halloween-themed demo Dashy no Blast in October 2022. Playing like a greater model of Cannon Spike, this promising demo hit all the fitting notes.
• Cuphead on the Dreamcast?! – Developer Aionmagan created this reasonably nifty proof of idea Cuphead demo for the Dreamcast again in June. While it is rather restricted in scope (it is mainly one display screen), it proved that the Dreamcast might address Studio MDHR’s superb animations, if nothing else.

Dreamcast magazines for preservation

• Dreamcast Magazines: Appreciation and Preservation – Lozz offered this reasonably properly researched enchantment for Dreamcast journal preservation, looking on the numerous periodicals that catered for the platform and asking for Dreamcast house owners to plunder their attics and cabinets for lacking points.
• RetroAchievements provides Dreamcast assist – Ross popped up after a prolonged hiatus to report on RetroAchievements including Dreamcast video games to its database of supported titles. For these uninitiated, RetroAchievements mainly provides trophies to video games from all method of basic programs, so having Dreamcast added was a reasonably large deal.
• Using AI artwork to create Dreamcast pictures from hell – On a very boring day again in May, Tom determined to see what would occur if he prompted an AI picture generator with phrases like ‘Dreamcast’ and ‘Jet Set Radio.’ This article was the outcome. You’re welcome.

Sonic Adventure

• Sonic Adventureland: A Roller Coaster of Love – Brian purchased a ticket and took a trip by Sonic Adventure’s quite a few curler coaster themed Action Stages, reminiscing about a few of the actual life theme parks he’d additionally visited alongside the way in which.
• SEGA Powered situation 5 – Issue 5 of SEGA Powered journal was pretty heavy on the  Dreamcast content material, and naturally we thought it will be good to have a flick by its pages right here on the Junkyard.
• Hermes: Limited Edition – Lewis lastly managed to snag a replica of the wonderful indie title Hermes, and it was a replica of the reasonably good restricted version which got here bundled with a particular Hermes-branded VMU.
• Spring News Round-up – Loads of Dreamcast information occurred throughout the month of April, and Lewis was readily available to doc the creation of a Dreamcast bedding set, the discharge of a Mega Duck emulator and a bunch of recent indie video games.

Interviews

• Driving Strikers – Jaz tracked down and chatted with Luke ‘Kazade’ Benstead to debate the idea behind the upcoming online-enabled Rocket League type title for Dreamcast, Driving Strikers.
• Video Game History Foundation – wasn’t actually certain the place to place this one so I settled on together with it right here. Tom and Brian joined Frank Cifaldi and Kelsey Lewin from the Video Game History Foundation’s History Hour podcast to debate the US and European launches of the Dreamcast, and likewise the historical past of this very weblog.

DreamPod episodes

If you are an everyday listener to our podcast, you then’ll know that we sometimes have particular company on the present to debate their very own historical past with the Dreamcast. Below are a few of the highlights from the previous 12 months, nevertheless all of our common ‘information’ episodes will also be discovered at Buzzsprout right here.

• In DreamPod 103, we welcomed author, producer and director Jorg Tittel, who beforehand wrote for the Official US Dreamcast Magazine. In this broad ranging chat, Jorg mentioned how he obtained concerned in writing for the journal, and the way his friendship with the late Shinya Nishigaki resulted in a cameo look in Illbleed.
• DreamPod 106 noticed us welcome WAVE Game Studios’ Daniel Crocker and & SEGA Powered editor Dean Mortlock. In this episode we chatted about how WAVE Game Studios was fashioned and the way they’ve taken the Dreamcast scene by storm; and we additionally mentioned Dean’s historical past in journal publishing, from his time at SEGA Power by to his newest enterprise SEGA Powered.
• Shenmue Dojo had been our honoured company on DreamPod 108, with James Brown and Matt Oliver becoming a member of us to debate all issues Shenmue. From the origins of Shenmue Dojo, to the discharge of Shenmue World, ideas on the cancellation of the Shenmue animated sequence, and even a Shenmue quiz, for those who’re a fan of Ys Net’s magnum opus, this episode shall be proper up your road.
• DreamPod 109 was tinged with each disappointment and pleasure, as whereas it was a characteristically pleasing romp by the 12 months 2002 with the crew from Dreamcast Years, it additionally marked the final episode of the DCY Podcast (properly, except you backed the bodily minidisc launch of the particular closing, closing episode as a part of the Dreamcast:Year Two e book).
• Our company for DreamPod 111 had been Dan ‘The Mega’ Driver and James ‘The Segaholic’ McGhie, who collectively are referred to as The SEGAGuys. In this episode, we chatted about Dan and James’ entry into the world of Sega, their very own podcast and YouTube channel, hypothetical Dreamcast sequels and naturally there was a Sega-themed quiz.
• In DreamPod 112 we had been fortunate sufficient to be joined by former SEGA Europe advertising director Giles Thomas, who spoke to us about how he was handed the duty of launching the Dreamcast in Europe. From his time at MTV and VH1 music channels to becoming a member of Sega and overseeing the advertising marketing campaign throughout the continent, Giles supplied us a goldmine of attention-grabbing tales from the early days of the Dreamcast. 

“Cupcake anybody?”

Videos

• Giant Killers sequence – I felt it was solely proper to incorporate this right here merely as a result of sheer quantity of affection Kev (pictured above, replete together with his stash of cupcakes) has poured into this sequence. Yes, if you end up craving to look at a middle-aged man from Northamptonshire play by season after arduous season of Dreamcast soccer administration sim Giant Killers, then you might be in for a deal with. Head over to our YouTube channel and feast your eyes and ears on Kev’s superlative sequence. Don’t trouble taking a look at any of the opposite current stuff because it’s just about all embedded within the articles featured above. I simply wished to offer Kev some recognition for this labour of affection. And point out his cupcakes once more.

What’s subsequent?

Naturally, we will not predict the longer term. However what we are able to do is decide to persevering with the identical stage of barely obsessive protection of any and all noteworthy Dreamcast associated information happenings, and a gradual stream of recent podcast episodes, information, opinions and options over the following 12 months. Everything we produce right here is completed purely for a love of the subject, none of us do that as an everyday job – we’re merely a rag tag band of  hobbyists (if that is the fitting time period). If you’d wish to assist us although, you are able to do so by visiting our ‘Buy me a Coffee’ web page right here.

You can even proceed to observe us on Twitter, be a part of our Facebook group, be a part of our Discord, subscribe on YouTube or just go away us a pleasant (or horrible) assessment over on Apple Podcasts (or wherever chances are you’ll get your podcasts). It all helps and is massively appreciated. Here’s to a different nice 12 months of Dreamcast associated goodness.