News Catch Up May/June 2022

Phew ! It’s been a busy few months for the Dreamcast! With plenty of new release buzz and also developments happening in the background so let’s get started with some particularly exciting stuff, there’s also been translation projects and new VMU mods going on too!

First of all is the existence of an early screen of Cuphead – this much loved retro cartoon inspired side scrolling game which has the player shooting from his finger at the various beautifully animated enemies whilst memorising the attack patterns. The graphics were gorgeous for the modern consoles but nobody could foresee the game running on the Dreamcast’s hardware, but that is exactly what has happened – albeit in only a limited nature thus far. You’re able to download the progress of this to play on a real DC console, it’ll be interesting to see if this will continue into a full-blown release with the blessing of the original developers or whether just a proof of concept type scenario, anyway, you can keep a tab on the progress of this promising project over at Dreamcast-talk.com. Thanks to ‘Aionmagan’ and all involved in bringing this to the console.

grab a download from Github : https://github.com/Aionmagan/Cuphead_Dreamcast

Next up is the release date for Shadow Gangs! Can you believe that we are nearing the release for this wonderful side scroller action game? Well, in recent days Wave Game Studios have Tweeted saying the game will be released on July 2nd 2022. We are very excited to give this one a try. If you are buying from the USA, VGNYsoft has got you sorted 🙂 Order your copy here :

https://www.vgnysoft.com/product-page/shadow-gangs-dreamcast

https://www.wavegamestudios.com/shop/shadow-gangs

Speaking of VGNYSoft, they appear to be stocking all of the major Wave Game Studios releases for the Dreamcast so far, with slightly different artwork, these games will set you back $39.99, consisting of Postal, Shadow Gangs, Xenocider and Intrepid Izzy as well as some of the more recent Josh Prod games and a spattering of unique stuff like a limited edition release of RetroGuru’s Hermes which originally released in Europe a few years back and was available at Dragonboxshop. This edition however, comes with a custom green VMU and updated box art, this one is bound to sell out quickly so grab it here where you can also find 240p Suite Tester, a recently released calibration tool which is handy for setting up you Dreamcast to suit your display and capture settings. Pre-order these great games from the link :

https://www.vgnysoft.com/sega-dreamcast

Next up is The Textorcist. Okay, okay. This isn’t technically ‘new’ but if you ordered the game originally when it launched, you were no doubt aware of the game breaking bugs that plagued the game. Gamefairy were working to get a revised disc out which irradiated these problems which has now been released. I haven’t gone back into the game to check to see if the issues have been resolved, but at the very least, looking around the Internet, I have seen some positivity. If you haven’t claimed your replacement disc yet, head over to GameFairy’s website to claim yours. Conversely, if you haven’t purchased the game yet, it’s still available and will have the updated disc.

The Textorcist Dreamcast Limited to 666

Here’s another Wave Game Studios one for you. We’ve been given a hint as to what we can expect moving forward from these guys. As you may know, Wave teased a further spattering of releases for the Dreamcast this year. We already know that Postal has launched as of June 2nd and Shadow Gangs follows on July 2nd but next up is a tournament game for four players, perhaps a re-issue of Alice Dreams Tournament perhaps? Following that will be” a game where you must navigate increasingly more difficult obstacles with near flawless precision”. This could be anything really, but strangely SQRXZ sticks in my mind, but that game is already freeware unless it’s packaged with it’s sequels perhaps but let’s keep in mind that it’s probably something very different! Lastly is “a game where you must match gems to progress to the next level”, there’s been a few games like this that were meant to grace the Dreamcast over the years and a few that had actually been released so it’ll be interesting to see what comes our way, we do know that at least one of these games hasn’t been on the Dreamcast before and was/is a PC title. It would be nice to see Twist It finally make an appearance though!

This last one is particularly huge in my eyes. Regarding the Polymega. The company behind the modular retro gaming console which already allows for Saturn and Megadrive commercial game playback on it’s device have recently stated that they are actively working on getting Dreamcast compatibility! This would be very good news for the independent scene for the console, as we know, each year, more and more Dreamcast consoles die off or have their GD Rom drive replaced for an ODE unit which leads to shrinking sales of physical discs which of course would impact decisions to develop for the console, with the Polymega able to replicate the experience of playing the Dreamcast and it’s discs (even if it’s just the CD-Rom based content) we could see the door continue to be open for both gamers and developers to craft new experiences without the fear of a rapid shrinking market. Of course, GD discs are quite unique and this is most likely to cause Playmaji a headache but something is better than nothing, with all releases for the console in recent years being on CD discs, perhaps a happy medium could be reached here. Currently the team are looking at ways of trying to use the original Dreamcast unit in some way however, it would be awesome to see something totally new.

That’s all for now!

Dreamcast Demo Disc To Be Offered With Sega Powered Magazine.

It’s been a pretty active time for the Dreamcast in these last 12 months with plenty of games getting released and projects getting announced, it would stand to reason that the more that is happening, the more awareness is being spread.

With this in mind, Sega Powered Magazine which is set to have issue 5 released in June of this year has decided to team up with Wave Game Studios to offer up a demo disc to be given with the magazine. Some of you maybe too young to remember the days before small sections of game to test being available on a cover disc with your favourite magazine, this method gave way to console online marketplaces started mostly by the Xbox 360, where you could assess a demo without leaving your sofa.

There’s a certain charm to demo discs though, we remember all the official magazines in the day having a cover disc, including our very own Dreamcast. Here in the UK, the last of which would have been the July/August 2001 issue of Official Dreamcast Magazine (ODM) which would also be the last issue of that magazine too. It’s a great idea then, that after all these years, Sega Powered will feature a cover disc as there hasn’t been a better year of varied support for the Dreamcast since 2001 and we can’t wait to see what will make the disc, no doubt these will be Wave Games Studio’s current line up of games so expect Intrepid Izzy, Yeah Yeah Beebiss and Flea, but perhaps a surprise too, Postal also releases around the time that the magazine will release so maybe this game will feature too.

You can order Sega Powered Magazine Issue 5 from here when it launches in June : https://www.segapowered.com/shop

Head on over to Twitter to follow the conversation :

https://twitter.com/segapowered_mag

Close Up Look At Intrepid Izzy – PAL Limited Edition Plus Wave Game Studios News!

Here’s a turn up for the books that you may have missed. Intrepid Izzy, the Senile Team produced platform game released in 2021 has just recently been treated to an ultra limited release by Wave Game Studios. 25 copies of the game were released for around £49 sporting the full PAL blue case retail treatment, featuring all the markers you’d expect from software releases ‘back in the day’ the quality and love that has gone into making this is absolutely incredible, we’ve put together a video showing the ins and outs of the package, but you’re probably wondering why we’re talking about this in the past tense when, in actual fact, these sold out quite some time ago…. Well, it would seem that Wave Game Studios are continuing to explore the PAL style market, 100 copies of their June release of Postal will ship in PAL blue cases, if you’re quick and someone backs out of buying one, you may just be able to snag one of the last stragglers directly on their website . However, there are still the American, Japanese and slim Euro case designs available of this title as well as a few flavours of Izzy too!

Moving forward though, Wave Game Studios are looking into perhaps offering PAL artwork in the correct dimensions for the original cases which gives the option to the buyer of evicting a common game from it’s case and housing one of their releases instead. We think this is a great idea and having the choice can only be good for the market in general.

On a similar note, Wave Game Studios also Tweeted in recent days about having 12 projects being prepared for release within the next 12 months or so, it sure is a great time to be a Dreamcast owner, isn’t it!

News Catch Up February 2022

Let’s take a little look at some of the happenings on the Dreamcast that you may have missed this month.

First up is Wave Game Studios, these guys have struck a deal with Senile Team and Lowtek Games to distribute some of the back-catalogue of Dreamcast games from yesteryear (well, a couple of years ago..) . Flea! is available for £24.99 which looks to be the same version that was available on Etsy some time ago but is actually a new pressing that not only comes on a proper pressed CD this time ( the initial 200 run was CD-R) but also some little addition features have been added. Grab it here.

Next up is Intrepid Izzy. This impressive platformer has been out and about for some time now, but Wave have released a special limited PAL packaged version that comes with the music CD in addition to the game disc. There’s only 25 of these available and it’ll be shipped out in March 2022 with a £49.99 price point from this link – don’t miss out folks! You can also order the original style release packaging as well as a Rush Rush Rally Racing Reloaded variant too.

Moving away from Senile Team but staying with Wave Games Studio, there’s a totally new game available from these guys retailing at only £19.99. Yeah Yeah Beebiss II is a game from John Riggs that features a very retro aesthetic, channeling 1990’s platforming across 10 levels complete with boss encounters, it all looks pretty wild and can be ordered here.

Good news for those who are awaiting Shadow Gangs, the Kickstarter has been relaunched again for the third and presumably final time, thankfully the goal has been reduced to a far more manageable £25,000 which is a far cry from the over £100,000 that was chucked around in the second round. There’s still plenty of those mighty fine £65 PAL editions left so do your bit and order one, make this game a reality – a lot of work has gone into the Dreamcast port and perhaps Shadow Gangs II would appear one day if this one is funded. Head over here to take a look : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jkmcorp/shadow-gangs-dreamcast-version

Last up is Flight of the Amazon Queen, the classic point and click adventure game which The Bit Station are carrying over on their website and is being handled by Retro Surge. According to the placeholder page which features tentative artwork, the game should be launching next month for the Dreamcast for $24.99, very reasonable all said and done. Let’s hope this one doesn’t skip it’s launch again like it has in the past. Order yourself a copy here.

What’s Happening In The World Of Dreamcast. (June 2021)

Lots of stuff has been happening in the Dreamcast community lately, sometimes it can be a little hard to keep track of things and as such, we’ve come up with this list of some of the noteworthy events that have recently happened. 

Texorcist shipping to customers! 

That’s right, Gamefairy’s first foray into the 128-Bit Sega world is starting to arrive with buyers now, if you’re not familiar with this game, check out our handy link to see what the fuss is all about. Well worth keeping in mind that with copies still available of both the limited 666 edition and the standard, so show your support and snag yourself one, hopefully with continued support for the game, Gamefairy will consider future DC releases.  Order it here. 

The Textorcist Dreamcast Standard Print

Castlevania Resurrection released

Following on from the possibility that Castlevania Resurrection was to be released publicly, it turns out that this has now happened. Originally the game was to be funded via an online sale but was swiftly pulled from sale with fear that this game would not surface into public domain, thankfully this was unfounded and you can now download the game to try it for yourself. Keep in mind that this was very much work in progress and is nowhere near a fully playable game sadly. But still, props to all those involved in getting this thing out there. 

 

Dee Dee Planet Found! 

Perhaps you’ve never heard of this game, but back in 2001, Sega were gearing up to release another online game concept in the name of Dee Dee Planet, this particular game was almost ready to be released and was scrapped by Sega very close to the release due to a game bug which was discovered in the game, the rumour for a while was that this game was actually pressed and sat in a warehouse but this is largely unfounded in a ‘welcome to the Internet’ type of way. Dee Dee Planet We’ve got PCWZRD13 for making this release possible, the owner of the original GD-R however is unknown, but thanks goes their way for letting this one be explored by the DC community. Hideous music aside, this game looked to be a whole host of fun and one of those quirky titles that would have been fondly remembered in the console’s library. 

 

Intrepid Izzy Sent To Pressing Factory

In exciting Senile Team news, Intrepid Izzy is near the finish line! The game has been sent to the pressing factory ready to be produced and by the look of the game disc, it’s looking really great. The outer covers have the Japanese style Dreamcast logos which means the game won’t look out of place in your collections. As an added bonus for Kickstarter backers, US and PAL style designs will also be included! We are sort of hoping that the PAL design can be adapted to fit a retail Euro case, that would be a great little touch.