Dreamcast Collecting - Is It Worth It? 2024

[@travisbowmanmusic]

What's your favorite part of your Dreamcast collection?

[@robert5235]

Got the Dreamcast with the GDEMU and SD cards. I also got the green goblin arcade stick microphone for seaman the steering wheel the fishing rod and 11 vmu's plus the maracas for Samba de amigo

[@miguelpanty]

The dreamcast was the first console i completed the full set for back in 2013. I love this console. Top 5 for sure.

[@luckyrockmore2796]

I got the full set thanks to the gdemu 🤣

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

I collect, but I only play on the GDEMU. I don't want to wear out my disc drive and damage the discs I bought.

[@Karateka1973]

I wasn't able to buy the Dreamcast when it was out, but I bought one two years ago. I have all the games I actually wanted to get during the console's original run. I have all the NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB2K games and I play those instead of the current Madden and NBA 2K games. I have all the RPGs, fighting games and racing games. My Dreamcast plays Japenes games, and I speak/read enough Japanese to follow the text enough to get gist of what's on the screen. My youngest son loves retro-games and says they're more fun than the current Gen games. We're now focused on buying more games for our Genesis, Saturn and PS2.

[@Stuart267]

*I've got the Dreamcast with Gdemu installed, but I can't resist collecting the games. There was a time when I had a HUGE collection back in 2001 my parents got me the console for Christmas 1999. I regret to say I neglected them when the laser burned out on my console so I packed the console & the near 100 games into a cardboard box & dumped them in a leaky shed. Years later I was clearing it out & obviously I found them all ruined. Cut to nearly 25 years later I have started to collect those games again, amassing a decent 87 games in a relatively short amount of time, but you are right the prices are climbing for some of the heaviest hitters.*

[@dee4doa]

I bought a new and sealed Tomb Raider Chronicles and I played it on my Dreamcast but about 20 mins into the game it kept freezing, looked at the disc and I read that it could be disc rot, even when it's been sealed and looks/is completely new the discs are literally rotting away slowly. Another thing I want a GDEMU is for the noise, wow is the GD-Drive LOUD! 😂

[@Husalah5150]

you could use google lense( think thats what its called) to translate the manual in real time(text will show up in english on screen as you look at the manual)

[@stephendrown3808]

I'm going for a complete dreamcast collection. I am not buying anything online only from game stores , flea markets and garage sales. It is very tough to find any dreamcast in the wild these days. But I'm having fun with the hunt

[@merfdog07]

I had a Dreamcast when I was a teenager. We lost it all in a move. I'm now 40years old and want to start collecting it. I totally agree with valuing something more when you paid out. What RPGs would you recommend? Love the video keep making more like this!

[@travisbowmanmusic]

Shenmue is a must play, Grandia II is also good. Those are around $50 each. Record of Lodoss War is getting up there, but it's a Dreamcast exclusive and one of my favorites. If you dig Diablo or any dungeon crawler, you'll see value in that game.

[@MikeRox83]

I'm 40 too, I started re-collecting having been forced to sell up in 2012. I won't lie in 2024 I'd say not to bother with original discs, had GDEmu been a thing when I first started rebuying I wouldn't have bothered going for the full set again. My honest opinion in 2024 is forget the og discs, put that money into a DC Digital modded console with GDEmu instead. All the games with the best video output you can get.

[@Bigwave3K]

I collected for the Dreamcast for a short time and just couldn’t find any games I enjoyed that I could justify buying I got rid of it but my fav games to play were crazy taxi and virtua tennis

[@travisbowmanmusic]

It's really one of the best consoles of all time IMHO. Both of those games are great.

[@zad0k91]

Most of the games are really boring if you don't have a friend or two to play with

[@filipmartinez1162]

OUTTRIGGER also plays amazingly with the twinstick. I wanted to try Quake 3 with it but I don't have a Dreamcast anymore.

[@CeejYo64]

Retro console and game collecting is an addiction to say the least. It starts off with one console a few games some cool controllers here and there and then you go down a deep rabbit hole of watching KZbin videos of other people’s collections and finding nostalgic games you have or didn’t get to play as a child. It’s worth it if you can afford it and have your bills and priorities all in order. I say this from experience. Last year I bought a n64 Dreamcast ps2 Nintendo Wii and spent thousands of hard earned dollars chasing my childhood but all it did was collect dust cause I only played the games for a few minutes then get bored and think to myself damn these graphics suck, or damn why did I waste my money on this I could have spent it on something else more purposeful! Don’t get me wrong it felt fun for like 5-10 minutes then I was on to the next game console controller or accessory to buy. It doesn’t end. These are just my opinions and you can take it with a grain of salt. If it brings you happiness that’s okay but if you’re going into debt chasing happiness don’t bother. I sold off my retro console collection and I don’t regret it. Less clutter and less money spent on the hobby. Watching videos of retro games and playing my ps5 and switch gives me plenty of fun also looking forward to buying the new marvel vs capcom collection! I went through the same process with pokemon cards. I got addicted to singles slabs booster box collecting etc. I sold off 90% of my collection and kept my original 100% completed vintage binders an ES booster box sealed my moonbreon psa 10 my Blaine’s card psa 8 my Coro mew psa 8 and my LC reverse holo zard psa 7 and a handful of raw singles I love, to me that’s good enough. If I didn’t decide to stop collecting I’m sure I would have spent a lot more money. Anyways guys like I said take what I say with a grain of salt these are just my honest and raw truths and opinions.

[@mat7540]

you did hold your zombie revenge disc up to a light correct? cause it sounds more like disc rot, i can't imagine a disc not playing for such a small scratch

[@abrahamsanchez8464]

I would have one with new capacitors and reading discs and one with the sd card emulation, dreamcast had the best versions of a lot of ps1 classics like resident evil 2 and Spiderman, and marvel vs capcom 1... I would suggest getting the retrofighters controller, the OG controller seemed too uncomfortable for me cause I have big hands, hehe... the sega DC its still awesome but I would suggest if anyone wants to start now, really think about how much money are you willing to put out with... I started collecting for DC in 2002 so I got most of the games I wanted for really cheap but I see it daunting to start today

[@HolidaySins]

I hope it's worth it, I've dropped 2k in 2 months on sealed Dreamcast games. Mainly because it's my favorite system and it seems like it doesn't have super expensive stuff like the other systems, I can afford the top stuff

[@travisbowmanmusic]

That's a lot of money!

[@HolidaySins]

@travisbowmanmusic I got a skies of arcadia vga 85+, street fighter 3rd Strike, star wars racer cgc 9.4, dragon riders chronicles of pern, wacky races. And a few non dreamcast games that took it to almost 2k

[@travisbowmanmusic]

Hey at least you get it, sometimes people don't understand wanting to own an original and on original hardware.

[@TheBardOfTheRedHand]

ARKANSAS?! HOT DANG MY MAN. I don't live in the area anymore but I was up in Conway for years. Just moved to Birmingham, AL in 2023. One thing I miss is how good AR's used gaming market was with GameXchange, GamePoint, and other smaller shops around. Very weird how Central AR developed a strong used gaming market. I mean it was popping even when we were kids in the 90s. I bought many a fairly rare game at GameXchange off Rodney Parham. Plus Hasting always had stock of low print games that you couldn't find in Wal-Mart or even a GameStop. My old house in Conway was right on the corner of Donaghey and Meadowlake. I could see GamePoint from my front door! I miss having such a good store so close.

[@AkeruzHacks]

better had a scratch cd with lil dot xD subscribed!

[@michaelbarnett8878]

I've had a few games that look perfect but won't play or even boot. I ended up having to buy them again witch is expensive when the games are near $100 a game. Now I have all these discs that don't work. Im going to try them in another Dreamcast some day.

[@travisbowmanmusic]

This is an issue that will likely keep persisting, unfortunately. Too many variables. Bad lasers, disc drives that will probably need new capacitors in the next few years, and deep scratches on the discs. I've had a complete recap on my GD-ROM drive, and some scratched discs will play, others that are seemingly flawless have issues.... This is still super old tech that we're dealing with. I would recommend buying games from somewhere that has a good return policy. Mercari has been really good about that.

[@EXTRATERRESTRIALTHR33]

IF CANT BUY IT FOR A HEAVY PRICE/ DREAMCAST REPRODUCTION IS THE WAY I HAVE MARVEL VS CAPCOM 1 FOR DREAMCAST REPRODUCTION COME WITH EVERYTHING LOOKS AND PLAY EXACTLY LIKE THE RETAIL VERSION

[@travisbowmanmusic]

SIR, please don't yell! :O

[@flumphflumph6021]

Yes but: - The prices for Physical games are insane most of the time so you'll likely be getting a GDEMU. - Most Dreamcasts are starting to experience capacitor leakage now so you should send the one you acquired to get some maintenance, GDEMU (with Capacitor Modification) and the Noctua fan mod. - Please consider supporting the Indie scene even if you are going to rip/convert the games. Piracy may of been what killed the Dreamcast but it's also what enabled the Indie scene to exist without having to mod the console. Don't let Piracy be the end of that second wind as well. Note: Dreamcast Emulation is still very problematic. Your best bet is still to go with a Version 1 Dreamcast.

[@travisbowmanmusic]

I agree with all of that, but I'm not so sure about emulation being problematic. ReDream is a great emulator and as of late 2024, only 1.46% of the library is unsupported. That's 14 games out of nearly a thousand.

[@Fressica_Rabbit]

I had one and I played KOF (King of Fighters on it. I remember the cut scene and being blow away by it! 💜 I played that and some affordable game game I bought at Walmart, and I remember beating that game, and the only scene I remember was a fight scene in a restaurant kitchen! 😅 What GDMU route? I know I could google it, but whats the fun in that?

[@travisbowmanmusic]

The GDEMU is a replacement for the disc drive. Instead of using discs, you can play all of your games off of an SD card. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYS0o3-sgK9llac

[@Fressica_Rabbit]

@@travisbowmanmusic ohhh! Thank you

[@7shocker]

Whats the point? The entire dreamcast library can be had on the interwebs. Just about any android device can emulate at 60fps... Minus a few games that are not emulation compatible. Saw prices for games recently... Insane. I had a suped up DC several years back. Akura hdmi box, SD gd rom, had the guts re-soldered, a raspberry pi 56k to lan adapter to play online games like quake III etc. In the end, it's all just nostalgia. Library is full of pick up and play arcade style games that get boring quick. No real depth in any direction, couple outlier games and post mortem releases even.. but going back and paying top dollar to play these games is a waste of time and money imo.

[@travisbowmanmusic]

Ahh yes, the "emulation is better" comment. You asked what the point was and then answered your own question. People like different things and like to spend their own money in any way that they want. It's perfectly fine to not agree.

[@thejfg7741]

I’m of a similar opinion to you. Each to their own, but growing up in the 80’s - the excitement of computers and consoles and the constant development. Going from 8 bit home computers to 8 bit consoles then 16 bit and so on. I don’t get the joy of owning old consoles. And as you say, you can emulate these games easy enough.

[@almeidachannel7121]

Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! And Love Retro Dreamcast Games !

[@nathanthompson8728]

This video has put me off getting one 😂

[@travisbowmanmusic]

Nooo man! Don't deprive yourself of a great system that is the Dreamcast. The GDEMU is an optical drive emulator that's easy to install and allows you to play every Dreamcast game on original hardware. It's super cheap if you're patient with shipping. I highly suggest looking into it.

[@samamir8765]

After getting the marvel Vs capcom 2 arcade 1 up I found out the Dreamcast PlayStation 2 original Xbox didn’t get the arcade version go buy the arcade 1 up and enjoy the arcade version

[@redmoon9111]

can you adjust the laser

[@travisbowmanmusic]

You can, but it's highly recommended that you don't unless you know what you're doing. There is so much risk of damaging the laser even further, and then you'll have a dead disc drive.

[@miguelpanty]

Its not your games. Its your dreamcast. The dreamcast lens is one if the worst. I have certain games that play on my OG dreamcast and others on my sports Edition.

[@arstedus]

This is it exactly! I have a full N/a set and I need 3 dreamcasts in order to play them all

[@miguelpanty]

@@arstedus Yeah it weird. I even have some unreleased repros and they work on different consoles. At first all of them worked on my sports edition but then some started to not work and only worked on my OG console.

[@travisbowmanmusic]

Like I stated in the video, I highly recommend getting your GD-ROM capacitors replaced. I had similar issues with a few Dreamcasts not reading games, and now I have zero issues at all with games that are in good condition.

[@mat7540]

it doesn't feel wrong to emulate games lol

[@davidmacias1270]

Dreamcast!!!🔥