Printable View
I was thinking of picking one up from Amazon....they sell them supposedly new for $88....i know you can find them cheap used but i'll pay premium for one thats new.....i heard about the drive problems and just wondered if they are prone to breaking down....
Also, has anyone bought one of these new ones from Amazon? Im skeptical that an 11 year old system can be readily available new in box but since Amazon is selling it directly, ill give them the benefit of the doubt.......
Opinions?
Ouch, they don't last very long, due to a cache issue, but while they are working, they are great(buying used DCs is a complete crap shoot).
I wouldn't pay much more then 20$ for a used DC, but if you can get a new one for 88$, that would be a pretty good purchase.
However you may want to keep in mind, a lot of the better games have been ported over to the PS2(especially if your main genre is fighters, buying a DC would be a complete waste of money).
If the box looks like this, then it's a refurbished Dreamcast:
http://www.magisterrex.com/prodimage...ystem-h450.png
Any other official look, and you're safe.
Dreamcast's can be a bit on the temperamental side, but the two main problems I hear about can be fixed very easily, the most common problem is the system randomly resetting which can be solved by simply bending some pins to the power supply.
Nonsence, maybe 35% of the best Dreamcast games were ported to PS2 at most, and many of the ones which were ported are inferior on PS2 anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoltor
Dreamcasts are fairly sturdy, although some are prone to Disc Read Errors, much like early PS2s.
Still, a very reliable system.
Agreed....some of the dc ps2 ports suck.....i primarily want it for the great arcade titles.....i used to have an arcade cabinet with a DC in it a few years ago......i want to make another....im looking at powerstone, sega bass fishing, hotd, and a few others.....
I have never had a problem with my dreamcast. It has seen heavy play since '99. And I use some cd-r's. They are definetly not a waste of money. It gets more use still than my 360 or Wii.
:rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by Thenewguy
Name me 3, hotshot.
The DC has AA which is cool... too bad it's resale prices are a fucking joke and the Library is meh.
Dead Or Alive 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Crazy Taxi are superior on the Dreamcast then on the Playstation 2.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
Hey cool, that's my DC box! :D What's wrong with a refurbished Dreamcast?Quote:
Originally Posted by QuickSciFi
i second that.Quote:
Originally Posted by nissling
Uhm... I bought a Smash Pack DC on the DAY it came out back in 2001 and it had that BOX when you removed the smash pack slip cover. Also, they where sold new with that box back in the day, so you may very well may end up with a real deal new one like that.
They are the least reliable Sega console, but pretty reliable overall.
Dreamcast games are a LOT cheaper than games on the Saturn. So tell me what games are pretty expensive. There are some that can be pricy, but it's not too hard to find them cheap but some times you may have to buy the farm.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
DC is highly reliable, but can suffer from the infamous fuse on the controller PCB. If you use 3rd party controllers, especially used ones, be careful as they can blow this fuse. If that happens the games will load fine, but the system will not recognize any controller button inputs in the slightest. The fuse is actually quite easy to replace, just mainly a nuisance. FYI.
Lol. Nothing, I hope. But the original poster mentioned he was going for a Brand New DC from Amazon for $88. Thus far, those are the only one's they're selling (and everywhere else) for that price. To me, Brand New means Brand New;).Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
Like I said, there's nothing wrong with a refurbished Dreamcast (if all you want is a playable game console). Down here, however, DCs are a dime a dozen ($10 with all the hook-ups and one controller, minimum, to be exact). :D So yeah, I'd still recommend a used $10 Dreamcast over a refurbished $88 one ;).
Because of AA? I played DOA 2 on a DC back in the day... and the version I have on the PS2 feels and plays exactly the same minus the AA.Quote:
Originally Posted by nissling
I can live without the AA and the stupid DC controller. The RE game plays and looks great on the PS2 so ??? to what it's like on the DC and honestly couldn't give two shits. The Crazy Taxi game is 'meh' for me and won't ever find it's way into my collection so...
I don't shop at Flea Markets. From the little amount of searching I did a couple months back when I thought about getting a DC (before I went hardcore with the PS2 that is, which easily nullified any ideas about collecting for the DC), games for the DC were on average $15-40 on Ebay, so I laughed... then did some more reading and saw that the 'few' DC games I in fact wanted had been ported to the PS2 so I was set.Quote:
Originally Posted by David J.
If I was a pirate and did nothing but burn games, then I can see the DC being a great choice, but meh... that's not my cup.
I am on my 3rd Dreamcast. The first one was a joint buy and I gave it to the other party involved when I moved out. Only the second one failed, and I may have been able to fix it. It suffered from the random reset issue and bending the power supply pins didn't fix it. I ended up selling it to someone as parts. The one I own now started the random reset issue last year but I was able to fix it. It wasn't the pins everyone talks about, however, it was the lid switch that is held down by the GDrom door. It can fill up with dust and crap, making contact a bit iffy. A simple cleaning with some tape to pull the junk out of it made it good as new.
Most Dreamcasts will not hold clock memory or settings any longer. Sega used a special battery that was soldered to the board just behind the controller ports. The battery looks like a CR2032, but it is not. There is no way to replace it other than rigging it with some other kind of rechargeable battery.
The controller ports do have a weak fuse but blowing it is easily avoidable. The most common cause is unplugging and plugging in VMUs from the controller while in play. Make sure you completely power the system down before removing or adding a VMU to the controller.
The best Dreamcast models were manufactured around the end of the summer of 2000. These models have a very solid GDrom drive and can play burned discs (if you choose to) and can disc swap with special discs to play imports. These systems should last a long time as they were made near the end of the Dreamcast's life and Sega had worked out most of the bugs by then.
I trust that amazon wouldnt be selling refurbished dreamcasts as new.....besides being illegal, my experience with 3+ years of heavy buying from them, they are pretty trustworthy.....
I don't shop at flea markets, and like fuck I know where any ones are here locally. Hell, when did I mention them? OK, I know where one is, but I'm not going to that part of my neck of the woods if I can help it because I get mad angry if I go there, and even then I doubt it had any game stuff. Plus it is too far away. I've maybe gotten two games in my entire life at a flea market back in New York, and even then it was nothing remarkable or rare plus I don't even remember what games they where or if I own them. Finally, any fleamarket i've been too has been way overpriced for even common sports games. Or anything at all. $50 for a broken Saturn with Toshiden Remix? No thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
That's your problem - eBay. Don't rely so much on ebay, but you can get good deals if you have patience! I've gotten some great deals over the years, and some shitty deals. I've been collecting since 2001. It balances out, but you have to have a lot of patience. Yeah I'm spoiled because I have a local store (with an online presence) near my house that sells classic and older games along with new ones.
I also have a Play 'N Trade near by that has some good DC games and decent prices but nothing I want because I own everything there I'd want. But I've gone weeks and months without finding anything that I don't own or want, or been able to buy anything at all. Plus be patient, I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can do in the meantime than try and amass a collection fast.
But hey, if what you wanted on the DC is on the PS2 and it's cheaper and easier to find, and you get just as much enjoyment (I can't comment on which version might be superior) - more power to ya!
I just don't want the DC to get the stigma that it is as expensive as Saturn. OK, Capcoms games are expensive as hell on the DC for the most part, but patience is a virtue.
Three?!?!? BwahahahahahQuote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
OK, I'll attempt the difficult challenge of naming three games ported from Dreamcast to PS2 which were inferior.
Dead or Alive - PS2 has lower screen resolution, it has more jaggies, it has worse lighting effects.
Headhunter - PS2 is missing effects (such as dynamic shadowing)
MDK II - worse lighting and shadow effects, pussyfied difficulty.
Fur Fighters - degraded texture quality, worse draw distance, unmaneageable controls (PS2 has got pretty nice voice acting though, as well as negligible amounts of cell shading, but overall this is a DC whitewash as the PS2 version simply doesn't play that well)
Crazy Taxi - More pop up, jaggies, buggier
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 - Slower load times, inferior sound, more slowdown, combos don't work the same.
Soldier of Fortune, Unreal Tournament, and Quake III Arena are PC ports, but still the PS2 versions have worse resolution and texture work than the Dreamcast versions did, Quake III and Unreal were also missing online deathmatch which the Dreamcast versions had, Quake III was also missing mouse support on PS2, and Unreal Tournament on Dreamcast had double the amount of levels.
There's a whole load of others which I'm not sure about, such as Ecco which I've heard has worse lighting, but I think they changed the gameplay to make it easier or something, but generally everything ported from Dreamcast to PS2 has worse graphics and is buggier.
I've never found DC games to be expensive, I mean I haven't looked on ebay recently but back when I was buying them everything was dirt cheap.
I've owned the same DC I got for Christmas a year or two after the launch, I've got a 2nd one but the original still works.
Yeah Dreamcast games are most often pretty cheap, Oldschool has a habit of making things up as he goes along sometimes.Quote:
Originally Posted by JRedmond3
Crazy Taxi ps2 was horrible....Plus, just like emulation, there is something to be said about playing Sega games on a Sega machine.....
Damn you Sega....why did you have to leave us?
DC is fantastic console that you obviously know next to nothing about.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
Sadly it wasn't around for long, while PS2 was the most successful console of all time and supported for an entire decade. So nowadays it obviously has the better library in practically all genres (except maybe shmups).
But when it was released, PS2 surpassed Dreamcast in sales not because Dreamcast had bad hardware or bad games.
PS2 was an affordable DVD player (at a time when DVD players did cost thousands of dollars!), and also fully PS1 compatible, which at that time was of the very height of its success. It was compatible with both PS1 accessories and PS1 games and offered component video and a perspective correction filter.
And let's not forget that Sony lied about the PS2's specs. It was supposed to do 1080p, and it was supposed to handle hundreds of millions of polygons, etc. Sony's specs indicated that it was several times more powerful than Dreamcast. But it wasn't. There actually are a number of categories where Dreamcast is equally powerful or even better than PS2. But that didn't change the fact that people bought PS2s instead of Dreamcasts.
And although Sega discontinued Dreamcast support in January 2001 and ported most later Dreamcast games to PS2, practically all of these games are still superior on Dreamcast thanks to its VGA output.
But yeah, I don't think you need a Dreamcast to be a happy gamer.
It does help though. ;)
Especially if you're a Sega fan. :)
Fuse issue is as easy fix as MCD fuse problem
Rechargeable battery dying out is a nuisance though... I still have not given my DC something more powerful instead, but luckily you only lose date and time, not your saves :P
Sometimes the CD lid switch gets loose or wears out...
....and there's a chance that the spindle/seeking motors drive chip dies... I have yet to find source for replacements, but the death of the chip can be prevented by having few ohm resistors in series with motors... you can easily kill that chip by forcibly stopping the disc for around 5 seconds while the disc is supposed to spin...
Like Thenewguy said, "PS2 has lower screen resolution, it has more jaggies, it has worse lighting effects."Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
I don't think it plays as good on the Ps2 as on the Dreamcast at all, something is missing. Although I cannot really tell what.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
But that game is known as an arcade classic and the version on the Dreamcast was excellent, however once it was ported over to the Ps2 everything was messed up. No matter if you like the game or not, the Dc-version is still many times superior then the port on the Ps2.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
DOA 2 - the Texture quality and Effects in general look identical to what I played on the DC when I was a teenager. The only thing I've noticed on the PS2 version is the lack of AA. (fail)Quote:
Originally Posted by Thenewguy
Headhunter - I wouldn't know... never played it on a DC, looks badass on my PS2 so... (fail)
MDKII - never heard of it (fail)
Fur Fighters - never heard of it (fail)
Crazy Taxi - never going to be in my collection (fail)
MvC 2 - loads fast as hell on my PS2, sounds amazing, and I noticed 'zero' slowdown so no idea wtf you're talking about (fail)
"Soldier of Fortune, Unreal Tournament, and Quake III Arena"
Why would you bring up PC games on a Console:daze: That's a joke right? I don't play PC games on a console... that's retarded.
Your rundown on the games you listed don't jive with what I've seen, so I'm going to have to give you a failing grade. Nice try though. Have a great day. ;)
Well, I did. Not only was the selection 'meh' for the DC, but the price on top of that was enough to turn me off the same day I thought about collecting for it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JRedmond3
Open your mouth and you shall receive...Quote:
Originally Posted by Thenewguy
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_BIN=1...=p3286.c0.m301
Oh wow, that's nice... I wish I could have paid $70 for my MvC 2 instead of the $20 I paid for a Mint copy for my PS2.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=dre...286.m270.l1313
Lol... jesus christ... I picked that up for $3 at Gamestop in Mint Condition. I wish I'd paid $30 for it on DC...um... yeah.
Anymore feet you want shoved in that loud mouth of yours... just let me know, I'll be happy to oblige you. :o
:owned:
I wish there were a bunch of killer games for it... reasonably priced... I'd pick one up most likely. It's a great looking system for sure. The controllers are whack though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Christuserloeser
And? A classic for those who like it... means nothing to someone like me who would never play because imo it sucks. I don't concern myself with games that suck.Quote:
Originally Posted by nissling
So you think he fails by saying whats inferior with the Playstation 2-port just beacause you haven't played the games or the original versions of the games?Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
OldSchool, your "evidence" is flawed.
You picked two games that are semi-rare on the Dreamcast as proof and then blasted thenewguy because you haven't heard of some of the games he posted! (fail!!!]
And games for the DC are cheap, most can be picked up for below $10 - I suggest you check Amazon/Ebay better next time!
I got my Dreamcast used back in 2004.... and bought a backup used system in 2006... I still haven't touched my backup system yet.... The one I got in 2004 is still going strong... Actually now that I have my 37" LCD TV, Dreamcast VGA Cable, and 5.1 surround sound system, and new 6' extension cables for the controllers... I'm playing more Dreamcast than ever!!! Daytona USA looks beautiful!!
Dreamcast has a lot of amazing titles which never made a North American release, mostly shooters and the like which were also available on the Naomi hardware. This is also why the Dreamcast has such a distinct look and feel, one which it's successors such as the PS2 seem to have a difficult time replicating. Though Dreamcast games ported to PS2 were generally good, there IS in fact a somewhat noticeable difference; but I don't think it is worth shunning the PS2 over in that regard.
The Dreamcast does in fact have a fantastic library of games, but many of them you may need to either import, or burn. It's a terrific substitution for anyone who is a fan of the Naomi hardware, as many of the games are almost identical (and in fact, many actual Naomi titles were GD-Rom specific also.) If you are going to get down with the Cast, you owe it to yourself to not simply buy locally. If you do that, you are indeed limiting yourself, as the library of games available here is not nearly as good as the import scene.
Lol all this from me just originally saying, depending what games you want for the DC, it might be a waste of money to buy a DC for such games, because a lot of the better DC games were ported to the PS2(or something to that effect).
Wow, just wow, I guess I need to be very careful as to what I say on these forums lol.
I got a Japanese DC in 98 about the time Sonic Adventure came out, and it started having some odd issues a few years back. I think this has more to do with the ghetto ass disc swap region mod that I had installed on it (we didn't have boot discs in Dec 99) than actual reliability though. I bought an American DC torwards the end of the system's life span for like $30 and it works perfectly fine to this day. I need to play it some more, considering it's one of my favorite ever systems, I never seem to plug it in.
Well, there are:Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christuserloeser
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christuserloeser
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christuserloeser
I disagree, but:Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
Quote:
Originally Posted by 17daysolderthannes
I'd be willing to bet that my PS2 library of close to 200 could NEVER be purchased for the low amount that I spent on them for the DC at the same price.... and I bet most of my PS2 library isn't even available on the DC.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Jackal
I blasted him because the majority of the games that he mentioned won't ever make their way into my collection. I mainly went at him because minus AA, I don't see a difference.
Considering most people have the same argument, "you have to grab games from the Japanese Library to get anything worth playing" and considering the Over Seas games are overpriced, your comment holds zero weight. Considering I'll NEVER mess with Japanese games, the whole "DC games are cheap" argument gets no where with moi.
http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.htm...286.m270.l1313Quote:
Originally Posted by OldSchool
When it sells in an auction as opposed to BIN it's usually a comparable price to the PS2 version.
That's awesome!Quote:
Originally Posted by mrbigreddog
Exactly, people that don't know how to use ebay, should stay away, because they spread false info on the net.Quote:
Originally Posted by JRedmond3
BIN/ebay "stores" are almost always at rip off prices(this is why amazon sucks when buying anything out of print), never base the going rate on BIN prices.
Ebay has a few shady techniques they use which is all backed up by their terms and conditions agreement. I have lost a few dollars from them due to my own neglect in ensuring I was doing things the right way on my end, with no available recourse on my part. I have also watched as they backed up some of the biggest scammers in history, without lifting a damn finger because of the massive fees they were pulling in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoltor
The best way to buy is from known users, privately. I have made some of my best deals here and on the Neo Geo forums.
I got my dreamcast second hand (many years ago now!) and never had any problems with it, but I guess different people experience different things. Its definitely worth a try, one of the most under-rated consoles of all time, its ace, go for it!!