The Dreamcast Junkyard DreamPod

This month on the DreamPod, Lozz and Lewis are joined by freelance video game writer Andrew Fisher to discuss his career and everything Dreamcast homebrew.

With decades of experience in video game journalism, Andrew's work spans publications such as Wireframe, ZZAP! 64, ZZAP! Amiga, Commodore Force, Commodore Format, Fusion, and of course, Retro Gamer magazine — where he pens his monthly column, "The Homebrewer’s Kit." With the Sega Dreamcast having become such a prolific console for independent development in recent years, it's only natural that our scene has crossed Andrew's radar. In fact, in issue 277 of Retro Gamer, this year's biggest Dreamcast projects featured prominently in Andrew’s column.

You can read Andrew's personal homebrew blog here: https://andrewrfisher.wixsite.com/retro-gamer-homebrew

The music in this episode is from Pizza Hotline and Shirobon's EP "Shadow Cell", which you can listen to on all good streaming platforms by clicking here.

Other links:

• Ordering a Dominos pizza on a Dreamcast
• The Typing of the Dead’s Weird and Wonderful Ports

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

The DreamPod is back, and this time it's a Dreamcast news round-up — our first since January! From Shenmue topping BAFTA's "most influential" list to a slew of new homebrew ports, indie releases, fan translations, online revivals, and fresh hardware, we have got a packed catch-up for anyone who’s missed the latest from our ever-busy scene!

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• BAFTA's "most influential video game of all time" list
• Vice City port released
• Wipeout ported
• Mario Kart 64 ported
• Starfox 64 port
• Mute Crimson DC
• Sovietborgs
• Shadow Gangs reissue (PixelHeart)
• Verdict Guilty Clash
• Chew Chew Mimic
• El Dorado Gate chapter 1 fan translation
• Speed Devils, Aero Dancing series, Outtrigger back online
• VMU Pro
• Dream Color Plus
• VM2 accessories
• Octopus Fight Stick
• Sega Lord X GoFundMe

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

When people think of the Sega Dreamcast, they picture flashy polygons, arcade-perfect ports, and Sega showing off the future of 3D gaming at the turn of the millennium. But tucked away in its library is a treasure trove of 2D experiences that were often overlooked in the rush to 3D.

But this is the "Anti-3D" episode, and so Tom, Lozz, Lewis, and Mike R are stepping away from polygon-counting to celebrate the Dreamcast’s flat-but-fantastic offerings. These games may not dazzle with cutting-edge visuals, but still deliver some of the deepest, most rewarding gameplay on the system.

Clunky 3D efforts aren't escaping alive in this one...

Featuring Music from Radirgy, Segagaga and Dee Dee Planet.

Get Pizza Hotline's Dreamcast-style Mix CD here!

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

Can you feel the sunshine? ☀️ Put on your sunscreen and get ready to bask in the warm glow of nostalgia — the DreamPod is back with a blazing hot summer special! In this sun-soaked episode, hosts Brian, Mike R, Lewis, Harvey, and special guest Dreamcast Enjoyer share their favourite summer gaming memories and celebrate some of Sega’s most iconic blue sky moments on the Dreamcast and beyond.

Check Out: 

- Dreamcast Enjoyer's YouTube channel

- Dreamcast Fishing Games: The Ultimate Guide

- Sovietborgs IndieGoGo Campaign

Sega Games Discussed: Virtua Tennis, Beach Spikers, Wild Riders, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Sega Bass Fishing, Sega Marine Fishing, OutRun 2, Rent-A-Hero No. 1, Persona 3, Persona 4, WaveRunner

Featuring music from: Sonic R, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Heroes, Persona 3 Portable, Sega Marine Fishing, OutRun 2, Rent-A-Hero No. 1, Persona 3 Reload

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

Start your engines and hit Tokyo's Shuto Expressway with the DreamPod crew in this brand new episode of the DreamPod! Hosts Brian, Harvey, and Mike R are joined by our friend —and YouTuber— Lemon to dive deep into Genki's cult-classic Dreamcast racing titles Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 — which were released as Tokyo Highway Challenge in Europe. 

We explore the unique RPG racing mechanics, stunning visuals and banging tunes that continue to make these games stand out in the Dreamcast's library — while also highlighting their role in introducing Western audiences to the world of underground street racing and tuner culture that would later explode in popularity because of games like Need for Speed: Underground and movies like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

We also take a sizeable detour to talk about Speed Devils — which recently had its online functionality restored — as well as Genki's 2025 modern-gen reboot of Tokyo Xtreme Racer.

Relevant links:

Lemon's YouTube channel

Speed Devils Online

Featuring music from: Tokyo Xtreme Racer 1 & 2 and Speed Devils

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

In this episode of the DreamPod, hosts Brian and Lewis are joined by a very special guest: Mike Arkin. With over three decades of experience in the video game industry, Mike has worked for the likes of Acclaim, Fox Interactive, and Activision. Most notably for us, he served as an executive producer at Crave Entertainment, the publisher behind some of the most unique and unforgettable titles on the Sega Dreamcast. Mike shares a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes stories from his time working on the releases of beloved Dreamcast titles like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, Super Magnetic Neo, Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm, StarLancer, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and everyone's favourite guilty pleasure, Razor Freestyle Scooter.

We also take some time to discuss Mike's current role as co-CEO of the newly reformed Argonaut Games, their new remaster of Croc, and whether we will ever see a re-release of their Dreamcast opus Red Dog.

All the Dreamcast games Mike is credited on:

• AeroWings
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer (Tokyo Highway Challenge in PAL regions)
• Draconus Cult of the Wyrm (Dragon’s Blood in PAL regions)
• Super Magnetic Neo
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2 (Tokyo Highway Challenge 2)
• StarLancer
• Sno-Cross Championship Racing
• Soldier of Fortune
• Razor Freestyle Scooter
• Ultimate Fighting Championship

Links: 

• Mike's credits list on MobyGames

Featuring music from: Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2, Super Magnetic Neo and Sno-Cross Championship Racing

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

A decade of DreamPod? Who would've thought? Well, apparently not us, because we completely missed the fact that April the 11th marked ten years since the introductory episode of this very podcast —episode 0— first went live! Thankfully, a kind listener on Twitter gave us a much-needed reminder of this major milestone.

To celebrate, Dreamcast Junkyard and DreamPod founder Tom Charnock joins Lewis for a special retrospective episode. They dive into the podcast’s humble beginnings, and reminisce about some of its greatest guests and funniest moments.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who has tuned into the DreamPod over the years, and for continuing to keep the Dreamcast dream alive!

Credit to a.k.a_sabby on YouTube for the Spongebob "Ten years later" edit.

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

We've all seen those lists floating around the internet that count down the greatest Dreamcast games (we've even got a few of our own!), but what were the titles that truly captured the attention of Dreamcast owners back in the day? Andrew, Tom, Kev, and Lewis dive into three sets of sales charts —from the UK, North America, and Japan— to find out which Dreamcast games consumers were spending their hard-earned cash on at the turn of the millennium.

Also listen past the outro music to enjoy a bloopers reel of what will go down amongst the DreamPod team as one of the most cursed episodes for technical issues.

Relevant links:

• UK 30 best-selling Dreamcast games
• USA 250 best-selling Dreamcast games
• Japan 50 best-selling Dreamcast games
• EGX 2024 Panel
• Potential answer to what the Sports Bundle was (thanks gamemaster555)

Featuring music from: 

Sonic Adventure, Virtua Tennis 2, Sega Rally 2, Sakura Wars 4 and Tee Off.

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

Lewis and Lozz are joined by Ross Kilgariff and Cypress, the organisers of the Dream Disc '24 Dreamcast game jam that took place at the tail end of last year. Also joining is friend of the show and Dream Disc '24 judge, Derek Pascarella.

The Dream Disc '24 game jam was created with the aim of uniting the talented developers of the Dreamcast homebrew scene behind the shared challenge of developing new software for the console in a short space of time. Each of the 24 software entries submitted to Dream Disc '24 is unique, with an eclectic mixture of gameplay, graphical styles, and game engines on offer. They are all available to download for free at the Dream Disc '24 itch.io page.

In this episode, we will be discussing the top ten entries (and some honourable mentions) as chosen by a panel of judges. These ten game will go on to be featured on a physical compilation disc from Orc Face Games, which people will be able to get in the near future, simply by paying the cost of shipping!

Relevant Links:

• Dream Disc '24 Itch.io page
• Showcase of all 24 software entries
• List of Winners
• Orc Face Games
• Psyop studios
• Simulant Discord

This episode features the following Pizza Hotline tracks:

• "Polygon Island"
• "Z-Buffer"
• "The Racers We've Lost"
• "Collision Detection"
• "Region Free"

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.

With Dreamcast homebrew development tools advancing at an astonishing rate, brand new fan-made ports for the Dreamcast truly are the star of the show in the first DreamPod of 2025. Join Jaz, Lewis, Lozz, Harvey and Tom as they discuss the most exciting new Dreamcast ports, some crazy unreleased ports of Shenmue to other systems, as well as the latest releases from the indie and fan translation scenes.

Topics:

• Dream Disc '24 entries
• Grand Theft Auto 3 port
• Doom 64 port
• Counter Strike online port
• Carmageddon
• Celeste Classic
• Prince of Persia
• Shinobi
• Shrek on VMU
• Space Channel 5 Part 2 new translation
• Puyo Puyo Da translation
• Segagaga Encore Recreation
• The Storied Sword
• Maldita Castilla
• Rizzo Island
• Shenmue PS2 and Xbox ports
• Shenmue on Saturn

Featuring music from: Jet Set Radio, Black Matrix AD (thanks to Dreamcast Enjoyer for the audio rip!), Shenmue, Sonic Adventure and Phantasy Star Online.

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest release "Hot-N-Ready Remixes" on all major music platforms by clicking here.