Catch yourself some B.A.S.S.

B.A.S.S.

Beneath a Steel Sky...


For those of you that do not know this name it might be a moot point. However for some "hardcore adventure gamers" you already know and love this post-apocalopticaenseitiy work.

-It's available free...

-On the awesome DC Evolution website...

-For the muther-f'ing DREAMCAST...

-FULL GAME PLAY...

-Full saving function...

-And you can use the dreamcast mouse and keyboard...

How the hell have I waited this long to play the damn thing and to blog about? I really don't know. I personally think it's an awesome game. And believe me it's worth getting the files and burning a CD-R just to watch the intro to this game...

A quick rundown of the game places you in an Australian post-apocalyptical outback wasteland after a helicopter crash. Since Mel Gibson is nowhere to be seen in this game you are adopted into a tribe of desert dwellers and learn to live in your new harsh environment. Then *stuff* happens and you start the game armed only with the powers of POINT and CLICK.

Let me stress again that some people might not like this game. However, it's a small download, it's a classic, the game has rabid fans and again it's worth the download just to see the intro. (HINT: Limited animation comic book scenes.)

The graphics are not all that grand in scale but the style is great and I still used my new VGA box to play it.

The sound is good in this game...But the voices in the CD version of the game had me actually laughing. Not because they were bad or anything, the voices are actually quite good for a retro game! But if you are a gaming fan listen to some of the character audio for the first scene after the intro. The "bad guy goon" voice is just so awesomely retro, I just could not stand it.

Gameplay? I LOVED the Quest for Glory series. I mean REALLY LOVED that series. So yeah, my personal perspective might be off on this...needless to say I liked it.

So yeah, even for the short comic book style intro you might want to sacrifice a CD-R and some bandwidth to get this.

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS...

OK you got two options here:

1. EASY

There is the Nero file here if you have a Nero burning program.


http://www.dcevolution.net/game_bass.php


Download the file Nero (81.3 Megs) and try burning it.

2. A bit more involved

The more complicated way of doing this is getting the plain files from the DC evo site (4.4 Megs)


And then get the CD or floppy version of BASS from the ScummVM site. Since the CD version comes with voices I highly suggest that.


http://www.scummvm.org/downloads.php (Scroll down to the "Extras" menu)


Beneath a Steel Sky, Freeware CD Version


The DC Evo site says to only put the Sky.dsk and Sky.dnr files from the CD file in the plain files folder. However I also downloaded the extra file and put that in as well.

Beneath a Steel Sky, SKY.CPT - required to run the game with a post-0.7.* ScummVM


I do not know if this will cause problems or not but it seems to work fine.


Download bootdreams and install it.


http://consolevision.com/members/dchelp/index.php?download=BootDreams_101b.exe


Finally make a .CDI of the folder with Bootdreams. Then put a blank 700 Meg CD-R into your disk burner and use Bootdreams again to burn the .CDI file you just created.


Put it in yer dreamcast and enjoy...

So to summarize...


Get plain files folder:


http://www.dcevolution.net/cgi-bin/download.pl?file=ScummVMBASSforDCplainfiles.zip


BASS CD file:


Beneath a Steel Sky, Freeware CD Version (67M)


BASS CD fix file (optional because I do not know if this is required or not)


Beneath a Steel Sky, SKY.CPT - required to run the game with a post-0.7.* ScummVM


UNZIP EVERYTHING


Put the CD files and the fix file into the folder containing the Plain files.


Get bootdreams


http://consolevision.com/members/dchelp/index.php?download=BootDreams_101b.exe


Use Bootdreams to make a .cdi then burn it.

Boom. You got a classic game on an awesome system.

Now use that Dreamcast mouse for something other than FPS!!!! (Don't worry the game still works well with a standard dreamcast controller.)


BIG THANKS to DC Evolution and the people at ScummVM for putting this up.

I am the most bad ass guy ever to throw a spear at a kangaroo...

*This paragraph is not about Retro games*


I called the entire episode of LOST last night. I came into the living room about 7 minutes late but I still managed to guess the ENTIRE plot of the episode, including the ending within a minute of watching it. I read a lot and I am pretty sure that that whole episode was based on a short story I read once or something since I CALLED it. The fake death, the betrayal, the ending, EVERYTHING. So yeah, now I have bragging rights on that.


*We now return you to your regular retro programming*

Some random Dreamcast pics.

I found these on a random search!

Dream_Points

A dreamcast clock?????

Sonic loves the wailings of drunken businessmen.

Sonic loves the Karaoke. Who knew?

Silver
The weirdest? A Toyota model Dreamcast!



WTF?

A bunch of old video game commericals.

The first time I noticed video game commercials was when they started advertising for FF7. However, they had been making the damn things for a LONG time now.

When I was looking over old Kotaku articles I noticed this beauty of a list.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clips-a-brief-history-of-console-tv-ads-224170.php

Notice how the Philips CDi commercial was better than the Saturn one.

Also a favorite was the 1993 Atari Jaguar Commercial for Alien VD Predator (last commercial in the video clip) Holy crap that was pretty damn violent and freaky...



So take a look at how advertising companies who know nothing about video games have screwed up video game ads throughout the ages!

Cool Dreamcast podcast.

Press start has a really nice podcast up talking all about the dreamcast.

Download it here...

http://pressstartpodcast.com/?p=19

Included are topics like the startup beep and how the Dreamcast Keyboard and Mouse destroyed the standard controller in FPS games like Unreal T.

Oh my god...

No words to describe this...



http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/category/zelda/

I think this is about the Treamcast...

I like me a good dolphin

Classic Game Room reviews ECCO THE DOLPHIN...

WTF?

Seriously, wtf?



My next video better turn out better than this.

A sad dreamcast tribute

A nice little dreamcast tribute featuring some stills of various games.

Cool Soul Calibur Video.

This is pretty good...

HeLL-CaLiBuR
Uploaded by Buta_Gaz

And why am I still posting other peoples videos and not my own?

Because last weekend I was too hung over thats why! And I was cleaning my NES this week \/. So yeah. I am going to have some time today and over the weekend to edit some stuff though.

I also got contact info for the cable station for info about a public access show.

Ragh!

Fixin' the old NES.

First off yes, I have an NES. In fact I happen to have 2. I love my SMS for sure and I love using the genesis controller in it to play Phantasy Star. But for cripes sake! I bought and NES at a garage sale for $5 and another for $9 at a salvation army. It's a fun little system to screw around with dammit! So get off my back!

I am still a Sega fan at heart. In fact I was still using my Dreamcast to play NES games because my real NES was not working properly at all. (The other NES has Zelda in in and I do not want to take out the game.) However, the flashing blue screens were driving me crazy so I decided to try to fix the actual system.

SO I found this guide...
http://www.classicgaming.com/features/articles/nesrepair/

I am not one to bitch about electronics but the f'ing screws that they use to put that thing together suck major ass.

Anyways I go through the whole thing and even spray it with some contact cleaner/protector from work. I carefully clean off all the contacts and even re-clean all my games. (Lotsa dirty Q-tips)

Result?

Blue Screen flash...ARGH!!!!!!

But with some minor jiggling to the left and right MOST of the games I have work fine (Even the VERY beat up Link game). Much better than the system was before. I think the the games that do not work properly are broken or too badly tarnished to clean without cleaning solvent.

Final thought on the classic gaming article? I don't know. My NES was from 1985 and it was BEAT UP and stored in a damp place. That guide might work on a NES that has been treated better but in my case it was only partially successful. But better a partial success than nothing working at all right? If you have multiple NES systems try it. It's easy enough if you can install RAM into a computer.

GAMES THAT I PLAYED YESTERDAY ON MY SOMEWHAT RESTORED NES\

Of all the games that I played Link was the most surprizing since I did not have high hopes for it. It turns out to be a pretty good game though!

Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) is still a fun RPG IMHO. I just like the simple setup and the cool little enemies you face off against.

Punch out is still a classic. I played Ready to Rumble a bit afterword and I have to say I really liked Punch Out better. And remember people I BEAT Mike Tyson in that game!

Double Dragon 2 is MUCH easier than the PC version that I played on my 386 computer back in the day. I HATED that PC game because of the buggy nature. NES version is cooler. Little touches like the fight on the helicopter where you and your enemies can get sucked out the door are cool. Controls are a bit weird.

Needless to say I have to get one of the dual SNES/NES players they are selling out there. My SNES still has a weird graphics problem that cannot be fixed.

The most awesome video I have seen in awhile.

It's the ORIGINAL CAST from "Karate Kid". Holy shit...

AWESOME...



WOW.

COBRA KAI!!!!!!!!! LIVE OR DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have gots to get me some o' this.

I have two keyboards...

http://kotaku.com/gaming/dreamcast/clip-kill-the-undead-by-typing-245445.php

Blast from the past.

Well my friend Ralph Suarez has created a new site for his video projects. (Some of which I wrote and appeared in) It looks great! http://www.warmmilkpro.com/

It really motivated me to get some shit done.

Thats it! I am getting some video stuff done this weekend!

He also uploaded some of his projects on google video. Warm Milk 2 was one of my favorites. You don't even need to watch War Milk 1! You might not like all the inside jokes but it's still a good video on it's own. I appear about three times in this movie as two characters. The shaved headed goon of the moviemaker Vince and as "archie" a character that I protrayed in many college movies and TV shows. I like the Archie spot the best. Watch the movie! It's pretty cool to look back on the days of college angst.



Also I wrote a couple of skits for this episode of Disorderly Conduct: "The Racist" and "Dark Romance of the Vampyre".

Disorderly Conduct Ep2 - The Stash Bash
Uploaded by RalphyS

New survey!

New survey is up at Sega!

Again there are some game series from the Dreamcast and Saturn!

Show your love for the House of the Dead!

Or whatever is your favorite...

Alien Syndrome? wtf? Is that the SMS game that won't work with a Genesis controller? Was there another version of that game? Why the hell is THAT on there?

I guess that Sega is going to keep on giving out these polls to get some fan feedback about what games to release onto the virtual console, so keep checking the main site to see if there is a new one up and keep on picking your favorites!

Craigslist...The new way to find Dreamcast stuff?

Well as you all know there are two kinds of people out there. Those that know how awesome the dreamcast is and those that do not.

So we all know that on ebay there are two kinds of people selling stuff. Those that want to get as much money as possible and those that just want to get rid of their dreamcast stuff (Heretics! Savages!).

But when someone just wants to get rid of their stuff about a half a dozen dreamcast fans sniff out the sales and drive the bidding price higher (Sometimes higher than the people trying to make a profit) There are exceptions but that is the general rule...

So. You are gonna get screwed over by a collector who has more money to spend than you or a shifty dealer who wants to wring as much cash out of you that they can.

But I have found a new way...The craiglist way...

Buy searching your town and surrounding area you might be able to find some GOLDEN DREAMCAST DEALS!

In my case I quickly found three different ads up for dreamcast stuff that caught my eye. The people all wanted to get rid of their old dreamcast stuff and didn't want much money for it.

Not that this is perfect mind you. Alot of scammers and people just trying to make money are there as well (as well as some people selling burned games) However you can usually avoid these jerks.

Also there is an increased chance that someone will try to screw you over by selling damaged stuff or simply not taking your money.

However, compared to the pox ridden money whore that Ebay has turned into craigslist seemed like a milk skinned virgin to me. Of course like all honest women craiglist will eventually fall from grace...and some say it already has started...

For example one of the people I made an offer to was VERY rude to me when I told him how much I was willing to pay for his dreamcast and games he didn't bother to name.

QUICK NOTE: If you have an auction where you only make a vague reference to what you are selling you shouldn't be rude to someone who offers you a low amount. This guy did NOT state what games were in his collection. So why would he be pissed that someone offered a low price? He said to make an offer!!! Most people like me would assume that he was simply trying to get rid of the stuff (like others were). But from his response he was just a snake trying to rip people off or an asshole. (Or just too goddamn stupid to list what he was selling) [or a stupid asshole, whatever]

It's the same as when people say that they "don't know if the item works" or it is "not tested". If they have that in the item description then the item is broke. There might be a slim chance that they really do not know if the item works so someone might place a really low bid on it. If the seller gets as pissy as this guy did it usually means they are fishing for people with too much money on their hands.

So as in ALL cases in life there ARE people trying to rip you off and there WILL be stupid people.

Currently I think it is easier to tell them apart on Craigslist than Ebay.

But that is no excuse for you not to take a quick look at craigslist to see if anyone has any dreamcast goodness they want to get rid of.

In a mere 15 mintues of searching I found some willing to sell this:

Dreamcast - all cables
2 controllers
Blue VMU
Soul Calibur
Crazy taxi 2
Sonic Adv
Sonic Shuffle
(Another game that Ican't for the life of me remember)
Demo disk
Web browser 2

and a

VGA BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything in MINT condition. And I mean no external case marks. Inserts still in the disk. Ads and contests still in case. MINT!

How much?

$30.

How far away from my job did I have to drive?

6 minutes.

No freaking joke.

I also found 2 other great deals which I will share with you soon.

Craigslist.

Perhaps it's time you looked up "dreamcast" in your area?

************************************
Soul Calibur on VGA box...
so beautiful...
they should...
have sent...
a poet...
************************************

Sphere.

http://www.jigsaw.x0.com/sphere_e/index.html
[sphere]

Holy crap. Once you start this I dare you to try to stop...

Point and click at it's very best.

My biggest pet peeve? The fucking rabbit doesn't look like a duck. And the duck doesn't look like a rabbit. THE DAMN DUCK LOOKS LIKE A RABBIT. IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A DUCK!


I only beat this game at the cost of a large portion of my sanity. Be warned...

*Spoilers*

The frog is the key...

Never leave anything lying around.

Look in every corner.

Pots can get dirty. You need a nice damp bit of something to clean that off.

For your health look carefully at green leafy vegatables.

The scale is only useful if you complete it and tip it upside down.

This is just AWESOME.

FF VII ripped off!

This made me laugh. I love Final fantasy 7 and I have not finished it yet. I really have to soon.

It looks like this Korean pop star's video was ripped right from the movei Advent Children.



On another note I actually HAVE a 2 DVD copy of advent children that I have never watched. I guess I really want to finish off FF7 before I watch it. I bought it for like 5 dollars from a closing rental store so yeah.

I have watched cutscenes from both the movie and the game though. In fact in college I pretty much watched my roomate play through the whole game.

...This week when I have some free time I really need to get out my new PS1 and take up the challenge.

...but I have so many new dreamcast toys!!!! Oh the agony of being a collector...too many games to play...

Beats of Rage!!!!!!!!!

I am currently waiting for some dreamcast stuff that I found online. (Not ebay) I will post a full article on this later.

So while I was bored last night I explored some of the cool beats of rage mods that I found on the DC evolution site.

Beats of Rage is a homebrew fighting video game that is pretty exactly like Streets of Rage. The awesome people who made this program made it very easy to edit, so there are a TON of different versions out there.

Here are some of my favs.

Hatchet Ninja - Beats of Rage collection 2 - By far the best music and characters. Featuring a story that was so bad it was good! The collection also contains 8 other Beat em up homebrews.
http://www.dcevolution.net/collection_borvol2.php

Crisis Evil 1+2
Not as fun as the regular RE games: this beat 'em up makes you depend on the > > *punch* moves to allow you to use ranged weapons. Still awesome custom enemies from all the RE games! Nice difference in what character you use. Jill has an easier ranger weapon to use while Chris can beat the crap outta zombies close range and finish them with a shotgun blast.
http://www.dcevolution.net/game_crisisevil.php

Battle toads. I never thought I would like this game...But it actually changes the game up enough to make it cool! Nice animations and cartoony graphics. Wildly different levels with some platforming levels thrown in. Plus Weapons! And the guy from the Comic Zone video game (I didn't want to play as a Battletoad). Nice air combo option.
http://www.dcevolution.net/game_battletoads.php

One of the few 4 player beat of rages mods! Gotta pick the streetfighter version to get the four player option. Final Fight last round is great!
http://www.dcevolution.net/game_finalfight.php

ALL these mods have cool menus that let you choose NTSC (N. America) OR PAL (Europe) versions of all the games. So even the blokes on the other end o' the pond can play them.

To use these mods get the .cdi (diskjuggler image) from the right of the menu on the evolution site.

Then download bootdreams:
http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index.php/Main/BootDreams

Put a blank 800 meg CDR in your burner drive.

Run bootdreams and click on the burn .cdi option. Find the BoR .cdi file that you downloaded from the evolution site. Bootdreams should do the rest.

Let the CD cool off a second and try it out in your dreamcast. I VERY rarely had a CD burned in this manner not work when doing this.

Since these games are free I think they are well worth the price of a CD-R.

More reviews soon!

Still no meaningfull content yet...

I have been trying to plan my next video project but it has been hard going. Work is still sucking because of the virus on all the older NT systems we use for most of our media programs.

I do have some good ideas though and hopefully I can edit something soon.

Also I am now posting my Saturn related stuff up at the Saturn Junkyard. Check it out >>>

Until I get anothe video or review up here is one of my favorite classic webcomics dealing with the dreamast!

From the awesome people at Penny-Arcade.

No...wait THIS is my favorite comics from Penny-Arcade.

SEGA fans check this out!

HOLY Kotaku article batman!

http://kotaku.com/gaming/sega/sega-fanboys-go-vote-for-franchise-revival-242146.php

Sega is actually running a site that lets fans vote on what games should go on to the Wii.

Choices are limited to

NiGHTS
Streets of Rage
Samba de Amigo
Virtua Cop
Flicky

Right now NiGHTS is winning...

But Samba de Amigo should get a real chance! Please vote for your favorite at this site!

As a Saturn fan and a Dreamcast lover I cannot tell you who I voted for...(Except it involves a monkey and maracas!)

The poll is on SEGA's main site...

http://www.sega.com/home.php

Virus

So yeah at work for the last couple of days a virus attack has destroyed some of the software I use on a daily basis to edit the local news cutins. Most of my equipment and computers has been effected.

So now instead of editing on a digital system I have been reduced to editing on a level of non linear editing with digital elements.

Basically I have no more code to enter into the computer and I have to arrange all elements of the newscast, videos, graphics, camera shots, sound, EVERYTHING in manually.

It's a rough equivalent of editing using rocks.

Imagine entering the code VO4 into the computer when the system is working and the result is the ending video for the local news runs. Now without the program I have to select the correct tape and computer file for the ending. Manually rack the tape to the correct timecode, manually set the freaking thing at the end of the news rundown and set it so it runs for the correct amount of time. It's so goddamn time consuming! And this is all eventually aired live so if I forget one little detail it's all on air for everyone to see.

And I am the only person in the goddamn control room. Back in the day there was literally a dozen people in the control room all helping to put on the news. Nowdays with digital tech, it's watered down to one. Me.

Normally I love this job. However this little experience has taught me that reliance on all the digital editing tricks and software that I use has made me somewhat weak in other areas of media.

So if I am alittle light on the blogging this weak please forgive me.

Berserk is Beat!

Yes I finished "Sword of the Beserk" yesterday!



All in all I really have very little to say about this game that you haven't already heard. Good graphics. Controls are stiff. Cutting enemies apart is cool.





A few things though.

Why the hell does the normal mode only unlock boss fighting? I really don't feel like playing the whole game on easy to get the minigame that can be unlocked! I will one day of course, just not right now.

I think the game is fun as hell...then someone decided to "change things up" and put in a few weird sequences were you are running down a hallway jumping over stuff and avoiding plants that hurt you if you touch them. I don't want to give anything away but if you trip up, even a alittle bit, you WILL DIE. And the game doesn't allow you to save right before that. Run out of continues and tough shit...You have to go through a pretty tough battle before you can try again. BS! Many games have challenging areas that make you feel good when you beat them...Others have VERY annoying areas that suck because of bad controll or field of view. This one is more annoying than challenging.

You gotta keep an eye on the rage meter. When you are in rage mode you do more damage and take very little. No use wasting health if you go into a rage and destroy everything around you without taking to much damage.

You have the option of using a handbow or the seven foot dragonslayer sword as your primary weapon. If you choose the sword you can also use some ranged weapons that you have in limited quantities. Throwing knives, spiked bombs and handcannon rounds. You can get more ammo after beating bosses, starting the game over at a save point or smashing crates, knives are umlimited ammo. Spiked bombs are good for throwing behind you when running or sticking to certain enemies. The handcannon just DESTROYS monsters with a well aimed blast but has limited ammo. The knives that you throw seem useless most of the time. However, some of the weaker enemies can be hurt with knives and they are useful to test out the defense of the boss monsters. Why waste a bomb or the precious handcannon to work out the timing of when a monster will be weak to an attack? I actually used this method on the final boss and ended up beating the thing with a well timed handcannon shot after using knives to find out when the boss's denfenses were down.

Some enemies and bosses are weak to the running jumping sword attack. Just jumping will only give you a basic jumping attack. Time it out a bit more and you will get a much better attack.

The toughest fight was midway through the game. That always bugs me. Maybe it was just my playing style but the final bosses were weak compated to an earlier one. You will know what I am talking about if you ever play the game.

The story goes along with the anime so sometimes there was stuff going on that confused the hell out of me. Who the hell was that guy? Does Guts mark activate anytime some gets sacrificed??? WTF?

However playing this game is not about story. It's about cutting monsters in half with a 7 foot sword. Get used to the weird controls and have some fun.

Overall this game was fun. I like the graphics in the game. The gameplay was good but the controls seem a bit shoddy at times. It was TOO SHORT. Not enough gameplay.

Worth about $10 USD used.

7.5/10

I am going to blog today...maybe.

Well after this weekends 22.5 hour work fest I got sit down and relax down cellar!

And I played some dreamcast!

Yes I played UFC - A fun game until some jerk gets you to the ground with some cheap wrestling move and ground and pounds you...just like in the real UFC. Let them use their knees on the ground so wrestlers can't be so damn cheap all the time! Dammit... Still worth all the $.99 I paid for it.

I also played Crimson OX! And guess what FC? My North American version lightgun works gun fine. No using the arrow keys with a cursor for me! The graphics suck compared to HotD 2 but overall it's a much better game than I remembered. Maybe FC can get an N. American lightgun sometime and get the full experience. I actually got much farther into the game this time.

Then I beat the crap outta Sword of the Berserk! Finally that game is done. full review soon.

After that I stated up Record of Lodoss War again and I was suprised how cool it was. The item creation thing is a bit more confusing than I remember but overall it was alot more fun than I had recalled. More fun than the original diablo since enemies actually reappear allowing you to gain exp and money easier. I am a bit bored with the combat by now though...Give me a damn spell or ranged weapon already! The game might get better though.

The real dreamcast wouldn't be this whiney...

So...tired...should have brought dreamcast....

Dear Blog:

Why the hell did I accept this extra shift after working at my second job? Is it really worth the overtime...?

Well I am on the last stretch of the marathon work day....

My day started at 6:30 AM Sat And now it's 2:33 AM Sun. I have one more hour of work and 45 mins of driving to go. Holy shit. I am WIPED. WHY did I agree to work this extra shit???

So if there are words spelled wrong or shit that doesn't make sense...sorry.

On a positive note it seems that my blog was mentioned in the DCemulation forums so it seems that people are reading this blog. (just not posting any comments...)

I also got the email saying that I have officially been invited to write for the Saturn Junkyard. So will have to do a review for some stuff for then.

But I am really too damned tired to think about that right now. I just need to stay awake.

But here is some random stuff I found on my flash memory stick.

I recently forgot to trim my beard a couple of weeks ago and I was able to support a medium sized screwdriver from it...














After I trimmed up.

Also I have been using HP lightscribe CD-Rs for some of my emulator/homebrew stuff.

The gold labels looks kinda cool...but it's just not the same as full color.

Take a look.



Image before I tried to burn it.

After Lightscribe burning.

Most cool homebrew stuff comes with it's own labels that can easily be used with the lightscribe program.



So tired....


Yet I can't get too sleepy or else I am going to be in for a dangerous ride home. 3:45 AM is the time of night that all the drunks are out on the road. I literally have driven by accidents caused by drunk drivers before on my route many times so I will have to be double careful tonight.

Luckily I happen to have some Diet Mountain Dew to help me keep awake during the drive home...

More on Monday.

Overtime.

Yeah so I am at work right now covering a night shift at the TV station. I have to stay here until 3:30 AM. Since it is a weekend there is almost NOTHING for me to do... ....but hell overtime is overtime!

So look forward to some random bloggin'!

Star Trek is playing on our channel right now...Holy Crap. Khann!!!!!!!

I was going to bring my Dreamcast into work but at the last minute I decided against it. Turns out that was mistake...dreamcast is ALWAYS a good idea...

Anyways. Gagaman mentioned screw attack on the Dreamcast Junkyard so I am checking out some videos. They make me want to create some videos of my own.

Check this one out...it starts off annoying and unfunny...but just wait until these guys start playing Mario FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.

http://www.screwattack.com/Flash%20HTML/AVG/2/2b.html
"So this is going to be our tip of the week" "Avoid everything in Mario World"

Muauahahahahahhaha!

*edit* I did have this video embedded but it was screwing up my blogger so I just linked it. Resizing videos and shit to make sure they don't mess with my blogger format is too much work to do when I am this tired...

Dreamcast Road trip!

Yeah so yesterday I decided to take the 2 hour round trip down to Syracuse to scope out some Dreamcast stuff. It was interesting.

First off I went to Hiawatha video near the Carousel Mall. I wasn't expecting much since I tried to call ahead to see what they had about 20 times the day before I went. I was dissapointed. Not because of a lack of video games though.

First off from the outside the place looked like a crack house. When you go inside you realise that it might actually BE a crack house. I half expected there to be a sign that said "please do not go into the back room because we are selling drugs and illegal handguns there" or maybe "windows are for pussies" (There were no windows in the place)

Dusty rooms filled hapzardly with shelves of movies and video games. Which would be totally awesome but they are all OUTRAGEOUSLY PRICED. And while there was ALOT of stuff almost none of it was rare or in any kind of good condition.

And the dreamcast stuff was lacking and high priced.
A $1.99 (amazon Price) 3rd party controller in box for 14.99???? A shitty looking dreamcast for $100.00?

So I did buy one dreamcast game (The others were all common games being sold for like $20) Industry Spy. It looked cool and I had never seen it before. Please do not ask what I paid for it. Too much. Thats all I am saying.

I tried to use my skills to talk down the price but the (manager?) old biker looking dude would have none of it. Normally I can easily talk down the price for ANYTHING but that was one grizzled old leather clad shitheel who did not want to haggle. He obvousely wanted to get back to buying stolen electronics from crackheads and didn't have the time for the likes of me. (He also managed to limit his side of the conversion to like five words)

All in all I got the feeling that the store was probably just a front. The extraordinary high priced and the multiple computers running in a side room led me to believe that that this store is nothing but a front to sell stolen stuff online (or other shit in the back room). Plus the other "customers" looked like a lineup off the sexual offender registry.

Needless to say I will not be going back there. If you are ever in Syracuse, save yourself some trouble and do not go there. (Unless you want to unload some hot Merch)



The NEXT place I visited was much better. The Game Craze store on Erie Blvd in Syracuse made my trip. NICE store. All the stuff is well organized into glass cases. Very nice. LOTS of stuff for ALL video games systems. A TON of imports and hard to find stuff. The even had a Wonderswan hand held (partially broken)!

Number one I got a good copy of the game Dragon Riders that I had been looking for. Not too bad $7. They had some controllers and stuff but I was looking to increase my game collection.

Then I looked at the middle of the room and saw what I love the most...bargain bins...Three large bargain bins full of stuff! The clerk told me that there might be some dreamcast stuff in there. There was a Ton of stuff in the bins. Mostly ps1 and ps2 and random stuff but there was a ton of random stuff as well.

So I did some diving and found some treasure! Most of the games in there had no case or instructions. Some of them were previous rentals. (one even had the dreaded "blockbuster sticker" more on that later in the blog)

So most of the games were a bit banged up and most had no cases and no instructions. But I found out that they all worked later on.


Bomberman -5.99
Resident Evil 3 - 5.99
Jet Grind Radio -2.99
House of the Dead 2 -2.99
Tony Hawk 2 - 2.99
Trickstyle -2.99
Soulfighter -2.99
Tomb Raider LR -2.99
UFC -.99

Nice haul for a road trip!

I already had copies of JGR, HotD2, RE3, TH2 and TR-LR. However the low prices and the good conditions of the actual disks made me want to get them just to have play copies. What happens down the road if some of my stuff gets stolen or broken?

Over all Bomberman is the best of this haul!

The opening in Bomberman is friggin' sweet! I had completly forgotten how fun Bomberman 1 was when I played it on an Emulator in high school, this version actually doesn't seem to stray far from the orginal concept. The single player is fun and I can't wait to challenge some other players.

Like I said before one of these games came with the "blockbuster sticker". This is a sticker that many rental places use to put their logo on a video game AND to sometimes attach a small strip of metal that activates alarms if it is stolen. This sticker fits right onto the label and is a pain in the ass when you buy second hand alot like me.

First off they look bad. Second they can actually unbalance the game disk if the MORON who put the metal strip on puts too far from the center of the disk. This makes the disk shudder, shake and rattle. Expecially in the dreamcast! Third it's almost impossible to take them off an older disk...Try to do it and you will pretty much RUIN the disk by ripping off the top layer of reflective coating..

The game that I got (Tomb Raider LR) looked good but some idiot blockbuster employee had put the security strip WAY too far out on the edge and the game sounded like it was going to break my dreamcast when I put it in.

So to fix this problem I used a few pieces of electric tape on the opposite side of the disk from the strip to balance the disk. It took two tries but now the Tomb Raider disk runs like a dream on my Dreamcast and doesn't make any rattling noise when it spins. This may seem like a pain to do but really wht else can you do? If someone knows a way to get those labels off old disks please let me know.

So all in all a good day!

I have to save up for another trip soon and hopefully they might have some more stuff in. (Or the manager at Game Craze will be in and I can haggle).

Peace out.

Dreamcast videos.

I have no clue...really I don't know what the hell this video is about.



If you had a dreameye IN BOX would you open it!?!??!?!?! I dunno. It might have been opened before.