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[televator]

Heh... suddenly I feel I've been talked out of it.

 

[fenners]

Heh... suddenly I feel I've been talked out of it.

Heh I didn't mean to It's a fun beat em up that stands out from the crowd of 2D sprite based ones on the console. Just was always an easy game to find that didn't attract a high price back in the first few years post-DC death. Didn't think it'd ever get that high in price!

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Weirdest shit happened, and I swear I'm not drunk or anything.

So I was drinking, but not drunk, and I was like "Hey, I should buy something."

So I go on Amazon and look up Grandia II. There were two new, sealed copies from third party sellers that were about $60. I refreshed the page like 5 minutes later, for whatever reason. I hit F5 out of habit. Sue me, motherfuckers. Anyway, the price dropped a few cents. I hit F5 a few minutes later. They dropped to about $56. I tried refreshing again... and both sellers had dropped their prices to about $17.

Tha fuck?

Now, I may be drunk, but I know a deal when I see one. So I ordered both. With a little luck, at least one of them will be as described (both had high feedback ratings, for what that's worth.)

And if they both turn out to be new and sealed, as expected, I wouldn't mind selling the second copy to someone here for cost.

 

[Persona7]

Weirdest shit happened, and I swear I'm not drunk or anything.

So I was drinking, but not drunk, and I was like "Hey, I should buy something."

So I go on Amazon and look up Grandia II. There were two new, sealed copies from third party sellers that were about $60. I refreshed the page like 5 minutes later, for whatever reason. I hit F5 out of habit. Sue me, motherfuckers. Anyway, the price dropped a few cents. I hit F5 a few minutes later. They dropped to about $56. I tried refreshing again... and both sellers had dropped their prices to about $17.

Tha fuck?

Now, I may be drunk, but I know a deal when I see one. So I ordered both. With a little luck, at least one of them will be as described (both had high feedback ratings, for what that's worth.)

And if they both turn out to be new and sealed, as expected, I wouldn't mind selling the second copy to someone here for cost.

I don't know if it is still common now but some sellers use a program to scan the list and then it drops their price a few cents below it so they can have the cheapest price. Sounds like someone messed up.

 

[IrishNinja]

note to self: mash F5 at amazon listings more often

might be time to finally play Grandia 2, haha...never did get around to 1 in the day, hearing people say it's up there with Lunar makes me think i missed out

 

[sixteen-bit]

Cool deal. I hope the sellers come through!

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I don't know if it is still common now but some sellers use a program to scan the list and then it drops their price a few cents below it so they can have the cheapest price. Sounds like someone messed up.

I figure that must be what it was, because the prices the two sellers had dropped consistently to be within a few cents of each other. Obviously, if there were people at the helm and they weren't drunk (like I totally wasn't), they wouldn't both have been like "alright asshole, you're going to sell it for $17? I will win this retro game pissing match!"

Edit: Anyway, at least one of the sellers has shipped already.

Edit Edit: And the second one shipped.

 

[IrishNinja]

^hopefully you get US versions & everything pans out, man!

how expensive/had is it to region mod a DC? i know i should just burn/find another of those reindeer discs or whatever but i get lazy.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

^hopefully you get US versions & everything pans out, man!

how expensive/had is it to region mod a DC? i know i should just burn/find another of those reindeer discs or whatever but i get lazy.

Pretty sure that you'd have to solder any Dreamcast mod chip in, but it's not a particularly difficult installation. Certainly nowhere near the level of a PS2, for example. I used the Action Replay CDX demo for years, and - let's be real - swap discs suck. They're annoying as hell. Mod chip is the way to go.

Although, after a decade of using that CDX demo, the disc finally broke. I was actually sad. So many good memories, playing Shenmue II and Under Defeat and... uh... Virtua Cop 2 :-/

 

[cantona222]

I bought the Dreamcast for the first time last year. I played & beat Shenmue. The controls are awkward, but the overall experience was great.
What other games do you recommend to buy & play.

 

[NR1]

I bought the Dreamcast for the first time last year. I played & beat Shenmue. The controls are awkward, but the overall experience was great.
What other games do you recommend to buy & play.

Crazy Taxi
Jet Set Radio
Power Stone 1&2
Sega Swirl
Sega Bass Fishing
And many others, but this should get you started.

 

[danwarb]

Ryo Hazuki, one of the few game characters to acknowledge the steps on stairs.

 

[IrishNinja]

man, i wish power stone 2 was cheaper...is that one import friendly? I imagine it is, not sure how much i'd save that way.

also i recall having & digging Sega Swirl as well....was that on a demo disc or Smash Pack or what?

edit: also is it true you can catch a broadband adapter for cheap on yahoo japan? man ive been wanting one of those

 

[KDash31987]

also i recall having & digging Sega Swirl as well....was that on a demo disc or Smash Pack or what?

Demo discs, Smash Pack, browser discs (I think?)...they stuffed that into everything. Hah.

 

[Persona7]

SEGA Swirl is so fun. Doesn't that game communicate by email? That means multiplayer should still work.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I don't get how to play Sega Swirl. My friend and I played that game randomly about a year or two ago. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but my friend won every time, and now he thinks he's better than me at something. This cannot stand.

 

[Ms. Tea]

I figure that must be what it was, because the prices the two sellers had dropped consistently to be within a few cents of each other. Obviously, if there were people at the helm and they weren't drunk (like I totally wasn't), they wouldn't both have been like "alright asshole, you're going to sell it for $17? I will win this retro game pissing match!"

Of course, it can happen the other way too... http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358

 

[Dougald]

So I actually own 5 Dreamcasts (2 from the wife, 2 from me and one JP unit). They've been living in the loft for the last few years and we finally set them up this weekend. I've also got some BNIB controllers, but I'm saving the experience of opening those for another 20 years or so..

The odd thing is, all the PAL units (haven't tried the Japanese one) seem to have problems to a varying degree - either not booting the game, or occasionally rebooting with a "checking disc". Any common problems that can cause this, apart from possibly a dirty lens? It's weird that they are all having the problem as at least 2 of the units worked perfectly when they went into storage.

The good side is that the games all seem to be there. I'm still only missing Power Stone 2 (went missing sometime in the last 14 years), Daytona USA, and a PAL Samba De Amigo before I can consider that I own every title on the system that I want to.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

So I actually own 5 Dreamcasts (2 from the wife, 2 from me and one JP unit). They've been living in the loft for the last few years and we finally set them up this weekend. I've also got some BNIB controllers, but I'm saving the experience of opening those for another 20 years or so..

The odd thing is, all the PAL units (haven't tried the Japanese one) seem to have problems to a varying degree - either not booting the game, or occasionally rebooting with a "checking disc". Any common problems that can cause this, apart from possibly a dirty lens? It's weird that they are all having the problem as at least 2 of the units worked perfectly when they went into storage.

The good side is that the games all seem to be there. I'm still only missing Power Stone 2 (went missing sometime in the last 14 years), Daytona USA, and a PAL Samba De Amigo before I can consider that I own every title on the system that I want to.

The lid might not be fully closing. There's a switch inside the console that can be pushed apart over time and cause random reboots because the console thinks the lid is open.

IIRC, the fix for this might be different between PAL and NTSC systems; as in you might have to bend a part one way for one version and the opposite way for the other. I might be confusing that with a different issue though. Google will probably yield relevant info on this.

 

[IrishNinja]

hmm. so yeah any concerns for importing the rising capcom stuff - power stone 2, project justice, SF III etc? i imagine cannon spike is expensive in any region.

and yeah, if anyone knows about broadband adapters on yahoo japan auctions lemme know!

 

[Mengy]

I missed out on Tech Romancer. It seems like something I would dig.

I had always assumed the JP version used licensed mecha while the American one replaced them with generic stand-ins, but that doesn't seem to be the case. They were always original mechs based on mecha anime tropes.

I have Tech Romancer, it's one of my favorite games for the DC honestly. It was not only a really great mech fighter but the story mode was implemented wonderfully. If you like mechs, anime, and fighting games, then Tech Romancer is your dream come true.

Hell, my brother, who isn't really a gamer, bought a DC and this game for himself after we ended up playing it until 4 AM one night, over a decade ago.

 

[Friggz]

Question: How was Record of Lodoss War? I know it was pretty similar to Diablo, but did it put its own unique spin on that formula, and is it still worth playing?

That's another one of those games I really wanted but never bothered to actually buy. Sigh.

i havent played record of lodoss war since probably 2002, but my experience with it was a positive one, its an absolute dungeon crawler and the game is cheap at times (enemies can chain knock you down, which effectively makes you restart from the last save...so save a lot!) the story is solid, the soundtrack is pretty cool, and its pretty long (50hours or so), if you can find a copy on the cheap id recommend it.

that being said, i recently got a mint copy of canon spike for 40 bucks from a fellow gaffer. anyone play this one?

 

[The Bankslammer]

hmm. so yeah any concerns for importing the rising capcom stuff - power stone 2, project justice, SF III etc? i imagine cannon spike is expensive in any region.

and yeah, if anyone knows about broadband adapters on yahoo japan auctions lemme know!

Importing Power Stone 2 should be no problem (cheaper + you get rad Bengus art instead of shitty Ryoma render), Project Justice has a whole bonus board game mode in the import version but I don't think you'll get much mileage out of that without Japanese knowledge (the main game should be plenty import-friendly) and I see no reason why SF3 would pose any issues either unless you really can't handle not being able to read the Super Art select. I can hardly think of any fighting games I wouldn't call import friendly, really (as long as you don't care about story dialog I guess). If anything, import versions are more frequently superior due to cut content from localized versions. And I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of relatively expensive Capcom DC games are cheaper imported.

also I spent a fair deal of cash on Tech Romancer last year but still haven't actually played it yet I should go do that

 

[KDash31987]

that being said, i recently got a mint copy of canon spike for 40 bucks from a fellow gaffer. anyone play this one?

I've had it since it came out. I think it's a pretty cool shooter. It has a top-view camera, lots of neat Capcom references, and hilarious boss names. I play it every once in a while. It's fun.
It's really hard on anything besides the lower difficulties, and super easy on the lowest.

I like to use Mega Man and Cammy the most. Charlie and B.B. Hood/Bulleta are also playable.

I think I might go play it in a bit...

 

[Friggz]

I've had it since it came out. I think it's a pretty cool shooter. It has a top-view camera, lots of neat Capcom references, and hilarious boss names. I play it every once in a while. It's fun.
It's really hard on anything besides the lower difficulties, and super easy on the lowest.

I like to use Mega Man and Cammy the most. Charlie and B.B. Hood/Bulleta are also playable.

I think I might go play it in a bit...

yeah, i bought it at release and sold it a few years later. i dont remember much of the game other than megaman having the best special attack in the game.

as you said, i think im going to play the game shortly.

 

[fenners]

Does anyone have a source on those crummy PAL cases over in North America? I need a bunch of them, not necessarily like new or in great conditions, just enough to put some UK games back into after ditching the cases a few moves ago...

 

[IrishNinja]

do RE2 & 3 have any changes on DC, besides graphic superiority?

also, meant to look up if Virtua Tennis 2 came out here (stateside), since i never see it these days

 

[fenners]

also, meant to look up if Virtua Tennis 2 came out here (stateside), since i never see it these days

It did. Was called Tennis2k2 instead of just Virtua Tennis 2.

 

[IrishNinja]

It did. Was called Tennis2k2 instead of just Virtua Tennis 2.

oh! what an odd decision...was it better than 1? now i'm all messed up

 

[kunonabi]

do RE2 & 3 have any changes on DC, besides graphic superiority?

also, meant to look up if Virtua Tennis 2 came out here (stateside), since i never see it these days

re2 has the pc extras, higher quality cut scenes, nightmare diificulty, vmu status info, jump pack support, and the extreme battle mode. pretty much the best version if you ask me.

re3 had some extra costumes but the button mapping is screwed up. avoid.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Been trying to get the Dreamcast VGA box working with an Elgato Game Capture HD. No luck at all. Thought putting it through a VGA to HDMI converter would do the trick, but while the passthrough is fine and works, the Elgato don't want none of that.

Don't want to try another £30 dongle for going the Vga to Component route instead and seeing if that works, if the only solution is £200 transcoder boxes I obviously can't be arsed with.

Anyone with experience on trying to videocapture that sweet VGA?

 

[Mengy]

It did. Was called Tennis2k2 instead of just Virtua Tennis 2.

oh! what an odd decision...was it better than 1? now i'm all messed up

I have both Virtua Tennis and Tennis2K2, and I remember liking Virtua Tennis more, although I don't remember why. It's been too long since I played either one of them. I know that Virtua Tennis 4 is on Steam and I've always been hesitant to buy that too, because I remember liking 1 more than 2.

Having NullDC on my PC is so damn convenient, been playing a lot of TXR2 lately and the DC is back in the closet. Maybe I'll rip my Virtua Tennis and T2K2 next to see how they work in NullDC. I'm wondering now why I did like 1 more than 2, lol. I could rip Tech Romancer too while I have it hooked up...

 

[sixteen-bit]

It did. Was called Tennis2k2 instead of just Virtua Tennis 2.

And it was released as Virtua Tennis World Tour on PSP, too!

I liked Power Smash 2/Vitua Tennis 2/Tennis 2K2 more than Virtua Tennis 1. They were similar games but in 2 the Career mode let you create a character and there were both men and women players instead of just men. As a result you could do mixed doubles as well.

 

[oneida]

The VT series has suuuch good music.

 

[sechsterangriff]

Been trying to get the Dreamcast VGA box working with an Elgato Game Capture HD. No luck at all. Thought putting it through a VGA to HDMI converter would do the trick, but while the passthrough is fine and works, the Elgato don't want none of that.

Don't want to try another £30 dongle for going the Vga to Component route instead and seeing if that works, if the only solution is £200 transcoder boxes I obviously can't be arsed with.

Anyone with experience on trying to videocapture that sweet VGA?

NVM: I read that as "El Dorado Gate". I'm tired lol

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

re2 has the pc extras, higher quality cut scenes, nightmare diificulty, vmu status info, jump pack support, and the extreme battle mode. pretty much the best version if you ask me.

re3 had some extra costumes but the button mapping is screwed up. avoid.

Button mapping is screwed up? Doesn't it give you a few different options?



Oh, and on Virtua Tennis... I always wanted to buy one of those games. Did the series decline after it left the Dreamcast? I remember hearing not so great things about VT4.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Been trying to get the Dreamcast VGA box working with an Elgato Game Capture HD. No luck at all. Thought putting it through a VGA to HDMI converter would do the trick, but while the passthrough is fine and works, the Elgato don't want none of that.

Don't want to try another £30 dongle for going the Vga to Component route instead and seeing if that works, if the only solution is £200 transcoder boxes I obviously can't be arsed with.

Anyone with experience on trying to videocapture that sweet VGA?

The Elgato is probably having a hard time coping with resolution discrepancies. NTSC 480p is 720x480 but VGA is 640x480.

The Startech PEXHDCAP and Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 take VGA with no issues, but I dunno if you're willing to buy a different capture card.

 

[Pie and Beans]

The Elgato is probably having a hard time coping with resolution discrepancies. NTSC 480p is 720x480 but VGA is 640x480.

The Startech PEXHDCAP and Micomsoft XCAPTURE-1 take VGA with no issues, but I dunno if you're willing to buy a different capture card.

Sifting through the entire internet, I did see you talking about the XCAPTURE, but Micomsoft is an enthusiast level a little beyond my wealth, especially when theres a whole set of new-gen consoles I don't own one of yet.

I've seen some peeps have recorded straight from a VGA going into an Avermedia C127 which is £75-£99 so a bit more of an approachable number, but just not sure about the investment. My VGA box probably isn't even that good either considering its a cheapy ebay one rather than the "proper" ones I've seen people tout. Cheers for the response though. Pity I can't get the Elgato to man up.

 

[Slermy]

Oh, and on Virtua Tennis... I always wanted to buy one of those games. Did the series decline after it left the Dreamcast? I remember hearing not so great things about VT4.

The others are okay. 2k2 was the high point for me, but I still enjoyed the others. I was very disappointed that the motion controls for 4 were phoned in though.

 

[IrishNinja]

stupid question time yayyyy

^ive got the above VGA box, hooked into an HDMI converter (for now, waiting on Kenzai), then hooked into my mini - which means Bangai-O does not work. as i understand it, if i hook an s-vid cable in (audio's already going since VGA doesn't carry that, natch), theoretically my system should recognize that & display over s-vid for that title, gonna try it in a bit. question is: pretty much every other game i have supports VGA, or at least doesn't mind it. are these things really good for detecting signals, or should i only plug in said s-vid cable for said title? cause if so, i'm tagging that fucking cable GODDAMMIT, TREASURE

 

[megashock5]

^ speaking of which, I have the VGA box but my new TV doesn't have a VGA input.

Is there any easy way to tell which VGA/HDMI adaptors work for Dreamcast?

From what I can tell, it needs to be an actual converter box as opposed to just a cable. Anything beyond that to be aware of?

 

[IrishNinja]

yeah, i have this one & it works just fine, it's just not ideal...it looks great but i hear a bit've the signal is degraded, also im low on AC slots & really would prefer to just hook it directly into my mini (via SCART), which the guy who makes the Hanzo @ assemblergames is telling me he'll have such a device (Kenzai) ready to sell about next week or so...if that works out, ill be offloading said HDMI converter here soon!

 

[KDash31987]

Button mapping is screwed up? Doesn't it give you a few different options?

Yup, six different options. I just checked. Since it's (Jill) Valentine's Day, I decided to play Resident Evil 3. Hah.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the default controls, though pressing X to accept and A to cancel in menus might be confusing for a moment at first.

 

[AlwaysPlaying]

I would have to say that given the time and the love i have for some of the few games that came out for this system, its my fav system. I loved every second of every game I owned for it

 

[woodypop]

This weekend I'm hosting the fourth in a series of friendly retro gaming tournaments with a bunch of my buddies. And this one happens to be on the Dreamcast! On the docket are:

Capcom vs. SNK 2
Marvel vs. Capcom
Power Stone 2
Dead or Alive 2
Confidential Mission
The Typing of the Dead
Zombie Revenge
Mars Matrix

I think everything's VGA compatible, and we won't be using lightguns for Confidential Mission--I'm too lazy to hook it up to the CRT. =P

I try to choose a variety of games that have at least 2-player multiplayer, and that are fairly easy to pick-up-and-play, since not everyone has experience with all of the games. Competitors form teams of two. Mars Matrix, Zombie Revenge, The Typing of the Dead, and Confidential Mission are high-score challenges wherein each team plays co-op for a combined score. Marvel vs. Capcom, Power Stone 2, and Dead or Alive 2 have simultaneous 4-player modes, so we can actually pit teams against one another head-to-head. And we can force team-vs-team play on CvS2 by splitting up the characters on each side.

Each game is considered a round in the tournament, and points are awarded for each round based on placement. At the end, points are tallied and a winning team is declared. No prizes have been instituted yet, though we've considered having a buy-in to create a pot. But the main priority is to have fun playing retro games on the actual hardware.

 

[SirUltimos]

I've always wanted to play an Olympic game so when I found the Sydney 2000 game for the Dreamcast I went ahead and bought. I figured for 2 bucks I could do a lot worse.

That makes my Dreamcast collection 21 games strong. I haven't played it yet but I'm comfortable calling it the worst game I have for the system.

 

[IrishNinja]

aw man, Woody - that's an awesome lineup! sounds like a great time man - i was so bummed a year or so back when a local arcade didn't get enough people to sign up for a Halloween Typing of the Dead contest, too.

 

[Lynd7]

Hey guys. Just wanted to ask a question.

I just bought an American system, I live in Australia though. Can someone point me to a good power converter?

Thanks a lot.

 

[AlwaysPlaying]

I have loved this system since it came out. I just bought one after having sold my original one back in the day. I Compiled the list of games I will be acquiring. If anyone has any tips or experience with the secondary game market that I should know about, please feel free to tell me. I would love any suggestions as well. Thanks.

Games:
Jet Grind Radio
Toy Commander
Chu Chu Rocket
Skies of Arcadia
Shenmue
Sonica Adventure 1&2
Crazy Taxi
Trickstyle
Rush 2049
Star Wars: Episode 1 racer.

 

[kunonabi]

Yup, six different options. I just checked. Since it's (Jill) Valentine's Day, I decided to play Resident Evil 3. Hah.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the default controls, though pressing X to accept and A to cancel in menus might be confusing for a moment at first.

unless I missed it none of the settings make it possible to have run on on the X button