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Sega Drops Dreamcast Price To $50
kerskine writes: "Just read this article on CNET that says Sega has just dropped the price of the Dreamcast console to US$49.95. Given past articles on Slashdot on all sorts of fun Dreamcast projects, now's the chance to get one. Why not get two (in case you break one)?" See also this article on getting Linux to run on Dreamcast, and NetBSD is another option to explore. 8ight points out even more interesting Dreamcast information.
The SNES is a 16 bit machine... no chance of running linux, unless they use the ELKS project, or MINIX.
The article mentions that there is a "broadband adapter" that you can get for this--it's an ethernet port. Now if you could get it to work with two of them (I have no idea how the hardware works), then you could use this as a firewall/router. Since it's running on a CD, you don't have to worry about someone modifying files on it if they manage to hack in (which is unlikely, as the script kiddies wouldn't be up to modifying the x86-based Linux hacks to deal with the dreamcast, even if you didn't fix the known vulnerabilities). Of course, not having a hard drive also means limited logging.
Anyway, something to think about.
Here's my project for December: turning my Dreamcast into a sweet arcade cabinet. Build a wooden frame or buy an empty one and use your dreamcast + cheap TV for an excellent combo. I'm estimating the whole project will come in under $300 bucks.
I've seen MAME projects which use PCs and other gear, but this is the best value. You can burn a MAME emulator along with some roms on a bootable disc, you could buy Atari's Greatest Hits for 20... or if you like modern games, there are lots of arcade-straightforward titles like Crazy Taxi, Dead or Alive 2, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 that make great pickupandplay games for a few minutes.
Just because the system didn't make it in the market, don't write it off; the potential for hacking, modding, or simply playing quality games is high. And by the end of the year I'll have a standup version of Crazy Taxi to play...
I started shopping for the DC games I always planned to get, but...
Soul Calibur - Discontinued
House of the Dead 2 - Discontinued
Hydro Thunder - Discontinued
Ready to Rumble - Discontinued
The list goes on and on, and it seems like the only games I can still buy in the original shrink wrap are the ones that nobody really wanted. I guess the only thing left to run is Cheap Linux Console.
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
Here you can find information on a new N64 emulator for the DC. The fun is just beginning for this console.
Let me tell you about my Dreamcast: I use it to play games for NES, SNES, Sega Master System, MAME, Colecovision, Gameboy, and other systems, all of which are emulated (some near-perfectly) on the Dreamcast. An N64 emulator is reportedly in the works, too, as is an Apple ][ emulator, and more. I have run Linux on it successfully (although I wish I had a hard drive). I can also use it as an MP3 player, and using the newest VCD player I get full-motion, full-screen playback of VCDs on my TV (some earlier attempts were choppy, but the new player is great). I can use it as a web browser (if I want to see what the web is like on TV for some odd reason), or to send e-mail. Right now, I have it set up for my roommate to use for her e-mail so she doesn't need to "borrow" my computer. All that use out of it, and that's without even looking at the large library of Dreamcast Games. For 50 bucks, this thing is a steal.
With a price this low for a decent console, making portable units is a very economical hack. We might be seeing this very soon over at Ben Heckendorn's Atari 2600 Portables Site, although his next confirmed project is a Gamecube portable.
If you were going to make your own, the best thing to do, seeing that you say the expansion connector is basically PCI (any pictures?) would be to make a card with a PCI-PCI bridge, and then run your own PCI bus outside the Dreamcast with say 4 PCI slots on it, for you to plug in various NICs, Audigies, and other fun things (no, not an IDE RAID card!)
The AC above me got it right. SEGA released the DC in Japan during the midst of its worst recession since post-WW2. However, the American launch was big (sold more in one day than the Saturn sold the entire time it was being produced.)
As close as I can estimate from looking at some press releases, the DC moved at least 5 million in the US, 2 million in Europe.
It has a large library of games, not as big as the Playstation, but it has a much better crap:good ratio. Games are cheap new or used ($20-$30 range for most).
Doing useful stuff with Linux requires the Broadband adapter or "DC Coder's Cable" (modified serial cable). Both are available from lik-sang.com
The homebrew community continues to make impressive contributions. check boob.co.uk for more info.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
I just read an insert from best buy thats selling them for 50 bucks. and I'm sure I've seen them at EB. I'm just concerned about getting the thernet adapter. I figure i could use one for my folks. hook up the dremcast as a terminal to my machine so they can read their email which is all they do. And since my mom has really poor eyesight (diabetics stick to your diet you don't want to know what its like in advanced stages) i can hook this up to a larger screen tv thats cheaper than a nice monitor. ooh this is nifty.
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Sega, please, please, please, open source your DreamCast dev. tools and hardware specs. This could be a very cool machine if others could build clones and create their own 'native platform' games. What have you got to lose?
Any ideas or news how to get a sound output working to run xmms (mp3's) on it? That would be fun. Any ideas or tips to run this as a fully functional mp3 player I would love to hear.
hit google's cache
let's see if THAT works...
Username taken, please choose another one.
I have never seen a dreamcast in action other than those demo units you see in some stores, so I'm not sure if what i'm about to say will be as wrong as that email from kabul Katz told us about
Can I buy a dreamcast, a keyboard, connect it to the internet and have it run a browser? if this is so, this is the cheapest way to setup an internet cafe, and since I live in a third world country, I can actually see this being an option for inernet access on very poor regions, where telephone service is available, but computers are out of the question.
anyone knows about this? I think I might be willing to donate several if this is viable.
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
The console is $49.95, but the ARCADE STICK is still $59.95? Come on! Always wanted one, but it's just not worth it for the price.
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00001ZV
I got a phone call today telling me that they were only 20.00 at target. Aparrently it has been so since sunday. Good luck finding one though...
Having looked around at all the stuff the Dreamcast can do.. play mp3s, VCDs, go on the net, the games.. these seem a snap at $50 and I want one.
In the UK, however, they cost $150. Even the ones for sale on eBay UK are like $100. Too much. $50 is an ideal price, and I even looked at the import duty on them from the US.. 2.2% + 17.5%.. even with that it'd still be under $90 for a brand new one.. but Amazon won't ship electical items to the UK!
So what do we do in the UK? Pay three times more for everything, like normal? Seems like it. Any ideas?
mogorific carpentry experiments