Atomiswave! The Arcade Dreamcast Hiding in Plain Sight

[@shadicpro21]

The Dev Kits of the Atomswave that developers like SNK and DreamFactory used when making games for the system were actually Dreamcast dev kits with slight modifications which I think is fascinating.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes the Dreamcast / Atomiswave / NAOMI dev kits were all super similar. Always wanted one but not at the prices they ask for now

[@startyde]

Love your videos as always. Naomi was the truly last amazing era of Arcade gaming and I think back in it fondly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It was the end of an era. Basically almost all PCs in a box after that minus the Triforce / Xbox arcade board stuff

[@jniland8770]

Another amazing video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, your collection, and most of all your passion. That you take your time to present everything clearly and let us soak it all in feels like an act of tremendous generosity. Thank you, truly

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Happy to do it :)

[@asdf42432]

Man, I sure love me some Atomiswave videos. Of all the arcade gear I’ve collected over the years it’s the Atomiswave and PGM that still get regular play time. Both are super underrated systems with some absolute bangers. Side note, I’d love to see a video on the PGM3, only one game, but a 10/10 if you’re a KoV fan.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

PGM is probably the biggest hidden gem platform of them all

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

I'm taking this as my sign to finally get that Dreamshell to play all the games that got ported. Kof Neowave might just be 2002 but the Music and stages are amazing

[@beingsupersonic7499]

As this video proves, the Atomiswave was an amazing piece of kit with an incredible library🤘🏻Luckily a lot made it to Dreamcast/PS2, a shame that some remained unported😢Hokuto No Ken/FOTNS rocks!

[@viewerguy10]

I like the cadence in your videos

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you like it

[@CorenTheBrave]

I have an Atomiswave myself! I picked it up because I'm a fan of the Hokuto no Ken fighting game on it, and the PS2 version is not the preferred version for tournaments as the PS2 actually runs the game better than the Atomiswave! The lack of slowdown, a couple of bug fixes, and a couple of minor adjustments to some characters are a big deal. The atomiswave itself is a wonderful bit of kit though, I love how it's practically pre-consolized and really easy to cart around for tournaments. It's nice and compact and combines the best parts of the JAMMA and JVS eras.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes it’s about as close to a console as an arcade board can get really. Super modular and easy to set up

[@plaztik767]

Wow great one here! Always a fan of this hardware.. Fist, rumble fish,metal slug, guilty gear, Dolphin 🐬 Great titles here. And a smart move with the safe tear down option. ( a Dreamcast)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Such a classic library for a library that isn’t huge

[@adonian]

have you gotten your hands on an EXA arcade board? Your explanation and exploration of these systems is always super informative.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No. The price to what they offer has not interested me

[@adonian]

@@VideoGameEsoterica If I win the lottery tonight I'll get ya one 👍👍 wish me luck.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

🤣👍

[@Charlie-Cat.]

Still planning to purchase a consolised version of the Atomswave VGE. They have so many good games to play on it that I was meaning to do so for the longest time. 8^) Anthony..

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Metric ton of good games

[@rockhyde7775]

Fist of the North Star (the fighting game) is awesome. Glad to have it on my PS2. I’m not the biggest fan of the anime/manga but man that game is easily the best in its own lineup of games.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve never seen the anime. Just played the game. Which is not weird for me

[@summerlaverdure]

awesome video! i wonder why they jumped to this, cheaper than the naomi i guess? but this is cool to see thank you for making this!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes def cheaper than NAOMI

[@joesaiditstrue]

So you just need the atomiswave base unit and then just buy the individual game SSD carts?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yep. And a cabinet or supergun

[@madson-web]

I played a lot on naomi arcades at time, but fewer games. I actually like KOF XI. That version of Geese is just amazing. Beautiful artwork overall and nice gameplay. A better adjusted 2003 I'd say.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

XI is fun for sure. There really isn’t a bad KOF game. Just some better than others

[@simon41978]

Hokuto No Ken is a masterpiece. My GDEMU crashes on the third fight. I'll try the PS2 version when I get my modded PS2 (Retrogem install).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s happened to me as well sadly

[@sega_kid4288]

Here’s a testament of my stupidity. Wanted a Naomi cab because I love Capcom vs Snk. Found a Guilty Gear X cab and bought it. It was not Naomi it was Atomiswave. Still have the cab and a few carts. I was able to sell the Guilty Gear cart for a lot because apparently it’s rare. Use that money to buy an Original SF2 cab so I go 2 cabs for the price of one but I never got that Naomi cab. Moral of the story do your research I didn’t even know Atomiswave was a thing and I literally paid for it lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha it happens. Especially when you start out collecting

[@madson-web]

What an elegant system! I wonder what happens if you plug that gameboard in place of a gdrom drive on a real Dreamcast. Are they eletrically compatible?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ooh I really don’t know. Good question

[@analogueblacksheep5726]

If Atomiswave games can be ported to the Dreamcast, I wonder if you could do the reverse and port Dreamcast to Atomiswave?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Would be much harder due to storage space on disc Vs cart

[@riesenbuhai]

thanks ! flue t information!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@Vvewa]

A little sample of a alternate reality if the Dreamcast lasted longer and we got the ports as releases.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d rather live in that reality 😂

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

In that Alternate reality Tekken Tag and 4 were Dreamcast exclusive as well

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Another fun reality

[@May2ndchannel]

The atomiswave had some of the best fighting games

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some classics for sure

[@BubblegumCrash332]

Is it literally the same board as in a Dreamcast or is it a custom board ?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Custom

[@Gorilla_Jones]

How many games in total came out?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

34 I believe if you count prototypes that never came out officially. 28 I believe if you don’t

[@METR0lD]

I'm going to ride the Atomiswave to success! ⚛🌊 Love Dolphin Blue!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

An absolute classic. Best game to feature dolphins. Not the best game to feature blue. That was Daytona

[@METR0lD]

But Wave Race 64 has dolphins!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I said what I said

[@METR0lD]

You wound me good sir. You wound me. 💔

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d even put Ecco over Wave Race. More dolphin focused

[@TheGamesPlayr]

Don't think I've ever played Atomiswave although I do have a bunch of A4 promo stuff for Atomiswave games and machines, I scanned and uploaded them a couple of years ago to the internet archive. Actually they are the only arcade related things I own excluding consoles games.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can play them all now on Dreamcast so no reason not to try :)

[@MarkCurtis-u6o]

Some decent ports to PS2 were released, too. Fist of the North Star and Neo Battle Colliseum

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It was a decently ported library thankfully

[@TheGamesPlayr]

@@MarkCurtis-u6o oh cool, sure I seen them back in the day but wouldn't have realised they were ports so will have to look out for them.

[@SNKev411]

What’s good bro it’s been a while. I’ve been studying for an exam. I have to take next month however, I hope you will let people know who is selling the multi cart the atomiswave I really want to get one of these

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I was wondering whered you’d been. You better pass that exam! I want a 100

[@SNKev411]

Yeah man I have to it's the only way I can get into the nursing program I took it once and I didn't do so well so I have to concentrate more on the exam this time 😅 but ill make sure I'll pass it 👊🏻

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@SNKev411 I’ve got a friend in Chicago doing an accelerated nursing program now. Like full time for almost two years no breaks. Seems intense

[@djgokou]

Home to the best basketball fighter of all time

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol huh?

[@Jerome-C]

A simple GDemu on Dreamcast and you play all Atomiswave on HDMI TV :) .... no soldering at all

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very true

[@crossover-Incorporated]

No wonder why they could port Atomiswave games on actual Dreamcast hardware so easily. ^^

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Exactly. Outside of the storage medium it was the same hardware

[@MarkCurtis-u6o]

It was actually some technical wizardry to make it work. Not saying it wasn't straight forward, but it was pretty creative.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh yes it’s not easy but it’s possible

[@djgokou]

KOF XI is the best. Only tag team KOF in the series.

[@jeffnussbaum716]

KOF2003 is tag as well.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very true. It’s such an interesting entry. Fun and it’s ON Neo Geo but it feels totally NOT like a Neo Geo game somehow too

[@djgokou]

MODE

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Eh?

[@djgokou]

@@VideoGameEsoterica can play atomiswave games without pause issues like gd-rom or gdemu

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ahh I see

[@SiincereARC]

All I'm going to say is this....Samurai Showdown VI

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some people hate it. I quite enjoy it. Divisive entry

[@SiincereARC]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I loved it on the PS2 but I'd love to play it in it's intended format. That as well as neo battle coliseum (yea I'm the one weirdo who does).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I can’t say I love Coliseum. But NeoWave is great on Atomiswave. The ports were downright ugly

[@SiincereARC]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I liked that it was something that felt a bit different. After the first 4 years of KOF, it started to feel a little stale. After 97-99, there doesn't seem to be much to really enjoy (although I did enjoy KOFXII).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes they at least tried at a new formula

[@Ragesauce]

FIRST!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

And only so far. No Atomiswave love

[@ColaGuts]

Every Atomiswave SNK game had the ugliest looking health bars and UI imaginable.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I didn’t mind them personally

[@jmssun]

Elden Ring DLC is out!! Why are you still making videos!? 😂 Go and play the 3D Symphony Of The Night we all deserve !!! 🎉🎉🎉

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I am not good at Elden Ring. It embarrasses me every time I play

[@DrNoBrazil]

Mr Obvious "so much fun, I have a PVM" is back. What is next ? The Triforce is a NGC on steroids or the Chihiro is just a Xbox with more RAM? Jesus... Someone is waking up more than 20 years too late.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

And you wake up thinking about me 😉

[@CK-bv3qb]

You sound bitter.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

He very much is. But he amuses me. I get to make fun of him every comment

[@saadalareqi1569]

Your sound is not clear and you talk too fast

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just how I talk

[@saadalareqi1569]

@VideoGameEsoterica too fast 😆 and I think your mic I'd not clear

[@princesspeach5308]

Sound was perfect for me.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It is for everyone lol