TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24
The Little Fella in your CD-ROM Drive
The Little Fella in your CD-ROM Drive
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It’s been almost a full month too late, but it’s better late than never.
Back on December 5th of 2024, I adopted a Dreamcast. Like most modern SEGA fans, I took the obvious path from “I like the Genesis, I’ll go here!”
I know a heck of a lot more now than I did back then. If I could go back, I’d tell myself quite a few things (namely to be patient), but I don’t necessarily regret heading down this path, as it’s the absolute most I’ve been engaged with the hobby of retro gaming in my whole life.
(A photo from the early weeks of owning the system. Says it’s from December 24th, 2024)
That first day back in 2024 was magic… and nonsense. I did the initial purchase of a console and two controllers. I had a single jump pack at the time, which would quickly expand to two. The shop I got the system from is one I frequent even after I moved, and I knew one of the guys working there very closely at the time. The place wasn’t as tightly managed as it is now, which definitely meant a more lacking quality control, but it also meant that the guy who sold me the system said he’d do me a solid with burning games. As long as I provided the discs, of course. Dubious? Perhaps, but I know that this forum doesn’t care ;)
I recall buying the system, having it IN MY BACKPACK (as seen in the photos) and taking it all the way to class, texting my closest friend “look what I just got!”. Frankly, I was being a total kid about the whole thing, which isn’t unexpected for my age but is indicative of the pains I would have going forward.
(SEGA Bass Fishing: my hero and beloved)
In those early days, struggle quickly hit. I learned fast about issues the Dreamcast has by default (limited save space, dangers with the controller board, etc.) but I also learned the very… very hard way that Dreamcast was a very different retro gaming beast than what I had dealt with before. Dreamcast games are uncommon and Dreamcast games are expensive. It was my first time experiencing a system where you truly had to hunt for games, where finding games AT ALL at a game store was a thrill all its own. I quickly had to forget owning the games I really wanted for the system (because other people told me I should), and I had to work with what I was given.
The savior in this time was SEGA Bass Fishing. I remember picking it up since it was $9 and was a first party SEGA game. What I got was one of the best games for the system hands down. I remember asking myself “oh god. Do I… LIKE a sports game? A fishing game???” I had a lot to soon learn about gamer pride and destroying perceptions I had picked up through other people. I loved this game, and the Dreamcast became my fishing console for a few months after that.
Another early banger was Chu Chu Rocket. Still the only sealed Dreamcast game I’ve ever seen or gotten (though the jewl case crumbled to bits when it hit the atmosphere, so I had to replace it). But what mattered far more was how it was just fun. And chaotic. And everybody I shared it with liked it. My friends, my family, my partner. They all absolutely adored it. That really stuck out to me, since it’s not a game people often praise or mention in the library.
These experiences taught me something I now deeply value: most games are worthy of praise and discussion. We don’t just need to talk about “the best of the best”. Yes, life is too short, but it’s also too short to make a fuss about not getting the exact thing we are told we want. There’s value in appreciating the undervalued, and trying new things. This would even soon expand into me trying a full blooded sports game for the Dreamcast in NBA 2K1, since it was at a local store for $3. You don’t see those kinds of bargains on any game anymore, let alone a Dreamcast game, so I chose to give it a home. What I got was a realization that all it took for me to enjoy a sports game was for me to care about the sport itself and also for the game to be well rounded. 2K1 was a true beast, and I’m proud to have it among my games.
(A photo of a suitcase I packed. Taken around the end of January)
Still, I did want certain games. For them, like SoulCalibur (seen above), I just had to be patient and smart with my cash. What WAS making things hard was the system’s major issues. Around this time I made a poor investment to try and “get big name games quick!” by buying reproductions of Jet Set Radio, the homebrew Capcom Fighting Collection, and the homebrew port of Dolphin Blue. I paid real, hard earned money… for what were essentially bootlegs. And not even good bootlegs! I hated them when they came because they made my console scream! They were just burned games, and not even that eloquently burned. I got scammed, and all because I couldn’t just be patient and content with the games I had.
While that was a tale of greed and stupidity, some things were less about that. Mere days into owning my system, I encountered issues with the console resetting itself. This became a pervasive issue, so I went to get it resoldered since I thought the issue was a broken solder joint. That didn’t fix it. I thought, perhaps, it was the disc drive. I opened my console up VERY CAREFULLY to adjust the laser slightly. That didn’t fix it. All these months later, I realize the issue is just that the power supply is old and jank. It needs a full replacement. This would have been a bitter pill to swallow earlier in 2025, but it’s a lot more easy to accept now. It’s a wonder what experience can do.
Not all this negative experience was bad though! I managed to get over my fear of opening up consoles thanks to this, and now I’m much more experienced with doing system maintenance. It also got me used to the idea of putting in actual elbow grease to get old tech working well.
(My current game collection, including all import, homebrew, and burned games I still own)
What I’ve said so far might sound fairly negative, and the truth is that I got way in over my head with this system. I came out the other side with a massive amount of respect for it and the hobby of retro gaming though. I’ve enjoyed many more games than the ones I covered, many ow which I intend to talk more about in the future. I could make a whole thread about how much I’ve been loving Shenmue. I could write a NOVEL about SEGA Marine Fishing. I could write a damn religious text about Sonic Adventure (counting the burned one, I own three copies of this game somehow). And I could definitely make an appreciation post, because having a little GD-rom of Third Strike is lowkey one of my most personally valuable gaming possessions. But I think I’ll just leave it here.
What remains for the future of this system in my hands? Well, I intend to get a new power supply for it to fix the issue of the aging one. I’m also deeply debating getting the Terra Onion Mode, selling my games to pay for it. If there’s one console I don’t mind killing it’s disc drive for, it’s the Dreamcast, since that drive causes far too many issues for even an optical media apologist like myself to look the other way. It’ll suck to lose the collection though, so that project is deep in the back burner. The power supply is the far more immediate priority.
In general though, this system taught me so much. I wouldn’t trade my time with it for the world. I’m absolutely inclined to spend as much time as I can with my console in the future, primarily as a Shenmue and fishing machine for the near future, but I’ll slowly tear away at my library piece by piece with time. For right now… I just want to savor the ride while it lasts.
Here’s to 2026, Dreamcast. And here’s to another great year of good ol’ gaming, RGT.
(An addendum: from owning the Dreamcast, I’ve learned patience, I’ve learned the true value of money in this hobby, I’ve learned the joy of the hunt, I’ve learned the joy of SEGA, I’ve learned the magic of importing, I’ve learned the horror of bad picture quality on a modern display, and I’ve learned the brutal honesty of people who’ve been through all this before
. Owning this one system has caused me to grow more with this hobby than I ever have before, so I have it to thank for molding me into the gamer I am right now.)
Back on December 5th of 2024, I adopted a Dreamcast. Like most modern SEGA fans, I took the obvious path from “I like the Genesis, I’ll go here!”
I know a heck of a lot more now than I did back then. If I could go back, I’d tell myself quite a few things (namely to be patient), but I don’t necessarily regret heading down this path, as it’s the absolute most I’ve been engaged with the hobby of retro gaming in my whole life.
(A photo from the early weeks of owning the system. Says it’s from December 24th, 2024)
That first day back in 2024 was magic… and nonsense. I did the initial purchase of a console and two controllers. I had a single jump pack at the time, which would quickly expand to two. The shop I got the system from is one I frequent even after I moved, and I knew one of the guys working there very closely at the time. The place wasn’t as tightly managed as it is now, which definitely meant a more lacking quality control, but it also meant that the guy who sold me the system said he’d do me a solid with burning games. As long as I provided the discs, of course. Dubious? Perhaps, but I know that this forum doesn’t care ;)
I recall buying the system, having it IN MY BACKPACK (as seen in the photos) and taking it all the way to class, texting my closest friend “look what I just got!”. Frankly, I was being a total kid about the whole thing, which isn’t unexpected for my age but is indicative of the pains I would have going forward.
(SEGA Bass Fishing: my hero and beloved)
In those early days, struggle quickly hit. I learned fast about issues the Dreamcast has by default (limited save space, dangers with the controller board, etc.) but I also learned the very… very hard way that Dreamcast was a very different retro gaming beast than what I had dealt with before. Dreamcast games are uncommon and Dreamcast games are expensive. It was my first time experiencing a system where you truly had to hunt for games, where finding games AT ALL at a game store was a thrill all its own. I quickly had to forget owning the games I really wanted for the system (because other people told me I should), and I had to work with what I was given.
The savior in this time was SEGA Bass Fishing. I remember picking it up since it was $9 and was a first party SEGA game. What I got was one of the best games for the system hands down. I remember asking myself “oh god. Do I… LIKE a sports game? A fishing game???” I had a lot to soon learn about gamer pride and destroying perceptions I had picked up through other people. I loved this game, and the Dreamcast became my fishing console for a few months after that.
Another early banger was Chu Chu Rocket. Still the only sealed Dreamcast game I’ve ever seen or gotten (though the jewl case crumbled to bits when it hit the atmosphere, so I had to replace it). But what mattered far more was how it was just fun. And chaotic. And everybody I shared it with liked it. My friends, my family, my partner. They all absolutely adored it. That really stuck out to me, since it’s not a game people often praise or mention in the library.
These experiences taught me something I now deeply value: most games are worthy of praise and discussion. We don’t just need to talk about “the best of the best”. Yes, life is too short, but it’s also too short to make a fuss about not getting the exact thing we are told we want. There’s value in appreciating the undervalued, and trying new things. This would even soon expand into me trying a full blooded sports game for the Dreamcast in NBA 2K1, since it was at a local store for $3. You don’t see those kinds of bargains on any game anymore, let alone a Dreamcast game, so I chose to give it a home. What I got was a realization that all it took for me to enjoy a sports game was for me to care about the sport itself and also for the game to be well rounded. 2K1 was a true beast, and I’m proud to have it among my games.
(A photo of a suitcase I packed. Taken around the end of January)
Still, I did want certain games. For them, like SoulCalibur (seen above), I just had to be patient and smart with my cash. What WAS making things hard was the system’s major issues. Around this time I made a poor investment to try and “get big name games quick!” by buying reproductions of Jet Set Radio, the homebrew Capcom Fighting Collection, and the homebrew port of Dolphin Blue. I paid real, hard earned money… for what were essentially bootlegs. And not even good bootlegs! I hated them when they came because they made my console scream! They were just burned games, and not even that eloquently burned. I got scammed, and all because I couldn’t just be patient and content with the games I had.
While that was a tale of greed and stupidity, some things were less about that. Mere days into owning my system, I encountered issues with the console resetting itself. This became a pervasive issue, so I went to get it resoldered since I thought the issue was a broken solder joint. That didn’t fix it. I thought, perhaps, it was the disc drive. I opened my console up VERY CAREFULLY to adjust the laser slightly. That didn’t fix it. All these months later, I realize the issue is just that the power supply is old and jank. It needs a full replacement. This would have been a bitter pill to swallow earlier in 2025, but it’s a lot more easy to accept now. It’s a wonder what experience can do.
Not all this negative experience was bad though! I managed to get over my fear of opening up consoles thanks to this, and now I’m much more experienced with doing system maintenance. It also got me used to the idea of putting in actual elbow grease to get old tech working well.
(My current game collection, including all import, homebrew, and burned games I still own)
What I’ve said so far might sound fairly negative, and the truth is that I got way in over my head with this system. I came out the other side with a massive amount of respect for it and the hobby of retro gaming though. I’ve enjoyed many more games than the ones I covered, many ow which I intend to talk more about in the future. I could make a whole thread about how much I’ve been loving Shenmue. I could write a NOVEL about SEGA Marine Fishing. I could write a damn religious text about Sonic Adventure (counting the burned one, I own three copies of this game somehow). And I could definitely make an appreciation post, because having a little GD-rom of Third Strike is lowkey one of my most personally valuable gaming possessions. But I think I’ll just leave it here.
What remains for the future of this system in my hands? Well, I intend to get a new power supply for it to fix the issue of the aging one. I’m also deeply debating getting the Terra Onion Mode, selling my games to pay for it. If there’s one console I don’t mind killing it’s disc drive for, it’s the Dreamcast, since that drive causes far too many issues for even an optical media apologist like myself to look the other way. It’ll suck to lose the collection though, so that project is deep in the back burner. The power supply is the far more immediate priority.
In general though, this system taught me so much. I wouldn’t trade my time with it for the world. I’m absolutely inclined to spend as much time as I can with my console in the future, primarily as a Shenmue and fishing machine for the near future, but I’ll slowly tear away at my library piece by piece with time. For right now… I just want to savor the ride while it lasts.
Here’s to 2026, Dreamcast. And here’s to another great year of good ol’ gaming, RGT.
Post automatically merged:
(An addendum: from owning the Dreamcast, I’ve learned patience, I’ve learned the true value of money in this hobby, I’ve learned the joy of the hunt, I’ve learned the joy of SEGA, I’ve learned the magic of importing, I’ve learned the horror of bad picture quality on a modern display, and I’ve learned the brutal honesty of people who’ve been through all this before
. Owning this one system has caused me to grow more with this hobby than I ever have before, so I have it to thank for molding me into the gamer I am right now.)
