I had previously mentioned that I was able to pick up a newly sealed Dreamcast from Thinkgeek last week. I wanted to share with you, fine readers, what you may have missed almost ten years ago.
I’ve finally unboxed the console and we get to see if it really was sealed new.
Clicky clicky on the images for larger versions.
First, Thinkgeek got the thing to me in two days. I believe they sold their entire inventory out in two hours. However, it looks like they might get some more in stock in May.
They’re a really great site to order from. I’ve used them quite a bit. I even won a photo contest once and won a $100 gift certificate there.
Smart Mass Thinking Putty is a hoot. I suggest the Atmosphere or Oil Slick colors.
For being ten years old, the box was in pretty good shape. There were no tears or dings in the cardboard. Both ends of the flaps had seal stickers on them. It looked like it had never been opened or tampered with. You can even see the serial number through the open window on the back of the box.
I commend the owners of the warehouse it sat in all this time. Speaking of time, this system by console standards is old. Certainly built before 9/11 and possibly before the year 2000. All the paperwork and stickers on the console were yellow with age. It also looked like it was probably not in an air-conditioned unit.
Everything inside was still sealed and twist tied. The controller, instructions, warranty card (heh), A/V cable, power cord, and super long phone line (Yes! I needed one for my satellite!) were all there.
It even included a demo disc for some launch titles: Sonic Adventure, Rayman 2, Tomb Raider, and I think a sports game.
This was a good sign because I wanted an earlier release of the system—one before SEGA started making it a little more difficult for players to have, uh, options of what to play.
Behold, here’s everything in all it’s glory.
Just like in 2000, I was bummed there’s no VMU. For those of you less than the age of ten, that is the Virtual Memory Unit. It actually was an ingenious little device that plugged into the controller to save your games. It had it’s own mini-screen and you can even play some rudimentary games on it. I don’t think it was ever used to it’s fullest potential. (Of course, was the console itself?) It’s good to know that you can still get VMU’s new online for $6-9.
Does it work? Heck yes, it does. The system has a battery that stores the date and time. It still works.
The console was made in November 1999. This puts it very early in the Dreamcast lifecycle. Excellent.
I no longer had any of my original games but the demo disc worked just fine.
I do still have my import copy of Ikaruga. It’s my favorite game for the system and the import is pretty rare. I’m glad I held on to it. I do regret getting rid of my VGA adapter though. (It was not to long ago either when we moved from the Chicago area to where we are now. Snap.) Anyway, after making a couple of coasters I was able to make a swappable boot disc that worked in order to play the game. It was wonderful.
I was actually surprised at how well the system scaled into widescreen and the picture quality in general. I would even say that the composite cable connection gave a better and crisper picture on my big screen than the Wii. (They use the same type of connection. It shows you how backwards the Wii is being almost ten years younger.)
The next thing for the console is to make an arcade cabinet for it and get some arcade joysticks and buttons. I’ll probably even see if I can get MAME working. Instant arcade.
The next step is to get a VMU and possibly another controller. I feel like a kid again.