Page O' Crap

The Dreamcast+ Project

I've always been a Sega fanboy. My first console was a Genesis. My second console was the 32x. I had a Nomad that I played more than my Gameboy. Sonic was just cooler than Mario. I couldn't afford a Saturn, but I kept up with all the news and game releases and read all the magazine articles that I could.

The first time I heard of the Dreamcast was when I was browsing the magazine rack at a grocery store. "The Official Dreamcast Magazine." It had Sonic on the cover. I read every single word of that magazine. I wore it out. The Dreamcast was so futuristic. The first 128bit console. Built-in 56k modem. VGA graphics. The memory cards were their own mini game system (called the "VMU"). It's own "GD-ROM" disc format. 

I wanted one desperately, it was all I could talk about. I planned on saving my money up to buy one myself, because I didn't think my family could afford one as a Christmas gift for me. Imagine my surprise when I opened one on Christmas morning. To this day, still the best Christmas gift that I ever got. I played it all day, everyday. I was a volunteer firefighter at the time and would bring it along on my duty shifts.

In 2001, Sega went game publisher-only and the Dreamcast was discontinued. I still played it all the time and proselytized Sega to anyone that would listen. Eventually I got an Xbox (Sony was dead to me) and half my library was Sega games. As the years went on, the Dreamcast got packed up to make room for newer game consoles. I would still pull it out occasionally to play a few rounds of Crazy Taxi or Sonic Adventure, but it would get packed up again after a few days.

Over the years, I would dip in and out oof the Dreamcast scene. Keeping up with homebrew games, new mods, side projects and lore. I knew there were these new things called "optical drive emulators" that would replace the GD-ROM drive with a board that would let you load game backups from SD cards. In mid 2023, I became aware of the "VM2" project by Chris at Dreamware Enterprises. It was a modern VMU  with a backlit scree, rechargeable battery, USB-C charging, and would store game saves on a micro SD card allowing for virtually unlimited storage. I hopped on the Indiegogo and preordered one.

While I waited for the VM2 to be produced, I discovered that there were all kinds of new developments in the DC Scene that would allow for a more "modern" update for the Dreamcast. I knew what I had to do. The Dreamcast+ Project was born.

I was going to go all out with the latest hardware mods.

But the biggest improvement was the "optical drive emulator." GD-EMU was one of the originals but is no longer produced by the original company and are only available now as mass-produced Chinese knockoffs. These knockoffs limit you to the firmware the unit ships with, so no way to upgrade if a newer firmware is released without buying a whole new board. The GD-EMU was also limited to just using SD cards for storage of game backups. I eventually chose the TerraOnion MODE as my ODE. It takes micro SD cards, USB flash drives or SATA SSDs/Hard drives. I installed my MODE with a 1TB PNY SSD and a 3D printed mount designed by LaserBear Industries with some modifications by myself.

And, as you can probably tell from the photos here, I replaced the stock white shell with a custom-modified opaque black 3rd party shell. I always wanted a black Dreamcast to match my other Sega systems, but I hated the "Sega Sports" logo that was branded on the only black model that was released in North America.

I also began procuring all of the accessories that I was never able to find or afford as a teenager.

 *= the keyboard and mouse that I got were part of a Japan-only bundle called the "Internet Starter Pack" which also included a copy of the DC Web Browser, a round plastic mousepad and a booklet entitled "The Internet for Housewives".

The next step would be to get it back online. I installed a copy of the DreamPi software onto a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ single board computer, connected a Lenovo RD02-D400 USB 56k modem and a hand-built line voltage inducer. I ended up not liking the look of my hand-built LVI, so I sent my modem in to the very kind and helpful pcwzrd13 at DreamcastLive to be modified with a USB bus powered internal LVI.

Additionally, I installed Ben Ryves's "De-Dead Zone" mod board into the Rally Wheel controller to virtually erase the notoriously large dead zone on this otherwise excellent steering wheel controller.

I purchased a BeharBros "Hanzo" VGA box to replace the Nyko model that I originally had that broke over the years. The VGA 480P signal is passed through a Kaico OSSC where the signal is converted into a higher-resolution format that can be displayed on my 55" 4K TV.

The A/V passthrough cable that comes with the SEGAKARA can only pass an SD composite signal from the Dreamcast to the TV. Inspired by something that Scrivani on the Dreamcast-Talk forums said, I looked into it and found that the SEGAKARA unit was capable of passing any A/V signal through, it was only limited by the included cable. I then built a custom cable using 2 BeharBros spare DC Mini DIN cables and a female to female Mini DIN adapter, making the SEGAKARA fully capable of using my VGA box instead of using a second A/V cable.

And for now, it's finished. I have a complete NTSC-U library as well as select NTSC-J and PAL region games and an assortment of homebrew games and software, all ready to go at a moments notice, built right in to my Dreamcast. If I went back in time and told 16 year old me what my Dreamcast would eventually evolve into, I would have flipped out. Eventually I want to get one of Dreamware's Dreamconn+ wireless controllers and the 8BitMod's VMUPro once that is released.

I'd like to give a shout-out to a few people that have made my experience doing all of this better as well as their tireless efforts to make sure the Dreamcast remains the greatest console of all time!

Unagi is eel, Ben Ryves, pcwzrd13, Scrivani, Chris at Dreamware, drez01, Derek Pascarella, r/dreamcast, the Dreamcast-Talk forums and many more.

For completeness sake, I'll include a list of other Dreamcast accessories that I own.