The Dreamcast, Sega’s last combatant in the console wars, was a beautiful failure – a forward-thinking machine arguably scuppered by company infighting and mismanagement, public fatigue after a spate of expensive Sega hardware releases, or simply being a year or two before its time.
Just one area where it pushed the boundaries was its controller – a hulking great lump with space for Jump Packs (or Rumble Paks, in Nintendo parlance) and VMUs or Visual Memory Units – a memory card with a built-in LCD screen offering a limited second screen experience long before Nintendo went down that road.
While hardly perfect, it was an iconic interface and Microsoft took inspiration from it when designing the face button configuration of its Xbox pad; needless to say, Sega's final video game controller continues to get retro enthusiast’s juices flowing to this day.
If you're one of those people, then you might be interested in the recently-launched Kickstarter campaign from Retro Fighters which looks to bring back the pad and correct some of the faults in its design, bringing it more in line with modern controllers while offering full compatibility with VMUs and accessories.
Alterations to the original design include some additional shoulder buttons, a better D-pad and the cord exiting the pad from the top instead of the bottom.
The company has previously produced accessories, including an updated N64 controller which smashed its target goal. The Next Gen Sega Dreamcast Controller has followed suit, sitting at a whopping 459% of its funding goal at the time of writing, with 27 days still remaining.
Stretch goals include some additional colour options, so there’s plenty of time to check out the campaign if you still boot up the ol’ Dreamcast on a regular basis.
Reckon you’ll pick up one of these or is this a blasphemous affront to the perfection of the Dreamcast pad? Let us know below…
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 82
Hahahahaha...
Yes please. Only wish it was wireless.
Will this work on the Switch?
The Dreamcast controller gets a lot of stick but I’m guessing it’s by people who have never used it , it’s great for driving games but not good for fighters but I have the superb official arcade stick for that the controllers biggest omission is a second analog stick
I often wonder what the state of the console wars would be like now if SEGA were still in the game - I'd like to think they'd be going toe to toe with Nintendo for innovative design choices and new ways to play. That VMU was a genius idea.
This just reminds me how much I loved the Dreamcast... probably my favorite console ever and I've played lots on them for the past 30 years.
I'm pretty certain retro-bit are releasing new official Dreamcast controllers soon so I don't really see the point in this. I know next month I'm getting new Megadrive and Saturn controllers from them
@CurryPowderKeg79 absolutely. all the DC ports to PS2 were garbage. Lost quality in graphics and even sound. PS2 should've delivered better and it didn't. Grandia 2 is a great example. To me personal Dreamcast was just amazing
@CurryPowderKeg79
"And the Dreamcast was way better than PS2 when it came to hardware specs"
But not better than PS2 in term of Softwares.
PS2 is my Arcade Heaven for DDR, Para Para Paradise, Street Fighter, Bishi Bashi Special 2 (PS1), K-1, etc. 🤓
@Alucard83 I still use my Dreamcast often and through vga it looks stunning when dc games got ported to ps2 they always looked fuzzy only the GameCube really did them justice
@Anti-Matter Capcoms output on the Dreamcast was amazing I think you will find miles better versions of street fighter on the dc also games like cannon spike are pure arcade heaven
@CurryPowderKeg79
And PS2 Slim is the BEST Sony machine in term of aesthetic in my opinion. 🤓
I love the design of PS2 Slim. 😍
Petite looking yet simple and elegant. 😘
Mmmuah... from me.
I loved the Dreamcast & played hours of Phantasy Star Online (which would make a perfect Switch game). I never really had an issue with the Dreamcast controller.
Personally, I wish they'd address the battery life of the VMU & possibly incorporate a redesigned VMU into the controller.
@Anti-Matter @Gs69 Comparisons of Dreamcast & PS2 software output are a little unfair considering how much longer the PS2 lasted in the market. In the short time the Dreamcast was around it had some amazing killer apps like Powerstone, PSO, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio and more.
Arguably, the PS2 benefitted greatly from the passing of the Dreamcast both in third party output increase & Sega moving into their platform.
Edit: Thinking about it, Sony really was gifted by the more established companies bad practices. The Playstation exists due to Nintendo's entitled attitude at the time & Sega gave up & packed away their console making more room for them to expand.
@DanteSolablood yeah you are right but the Dreamcast was basically a Naomi arcade machine in a consumer friendly box and I really disagree about arcade ports being better in the ps2s early days maybe over time yes but Capcom were a big supporter of the dc and some of their games were outstanding
Yeah....but....I liked the DC but that’s despite the Controller, not because of it.
@Gs69 @Alucard83
I think, to be fair, thats more down to shoddy coding than the hardware. It’s hard to believe the system that ran Gran Turismo 4 and God of War 2 couldn’t cope with Crazy Taxi and Grandia 2.
I had a blast with Macross M3 on my Dreamcast. That was the first system I bought from my first taxable job, and the first and only game I’ve ever imported. It took 6 weeks to come. You could even unlock the YF-19 and YF-21 in the game. It was amazing to me as a fan of Macross Plus.
@electrolite77 I see your point but that’s what annoys me about the Dreamcast it never got it’s later generation games so we will never know what level it could have been taken to have you seen sturmwind I recently got a copy and it’s stunning but basically it’s a homebrew games imagine what proper devs could have done with it
@Gs69 think it’s mainly the d-pad that’s it’s main flaw. It’s kinda small and sharp. Should have just copied the Saturn’s one as that’s amazing. Also the cord coming out the bottom is a bit awkward
@Mr_Pepperami yeah the d pad is bad and I think the cord coming from the bottom was something to do with vmu needing to be plugged in at the top bad design choices basically and the Saturn controller is possibly one of the best ever especially for fighting games
"Visual Memory Units – a memory card with a built-in LCD screen offering a limited second screen experience long before Nintendo went down that road."
Nintendo did the dual screen thing back in '82 on Game & Watch, just a few years before Dreamcast made it's debut.
@kepsux but it wasn't both portable and connect to another system to help make play calling with privacy as your opponent couldn't look at your screen in football games to decide what you were doing. Though I get your point.
Didn't know there was a market for old console controllers. Felt I was better off with steam retro games honestly.
@Alucard83 @CurryPowderKeg79 it just wasn't though. I love my Dreamcast but the PS2 was more powerful in several key areas such as the CPU, double the ram and the amount of polygons it could push out. The Dreamcast was better for texture quality and filtering plus lighting and anti aliasing to give an overall better looking image. It was designed largely as an arcade style machine but unfortunately games were moving towards larger 3D worlds which the Dreamcast simply wasn't very good at, hence why the likes of Shenmue and Sonic Adventure are broken up into relatively small areas. Back then ports in general weren't always very good as each console had drastically different hardware with many bespoke chipsets
@CurryPowderKeg79 It was comparable to the PS2 in some areas but the PS2 beat it in others.
The DC could output 480p, had VGA support and decent mipmaps, which meant image quality would often be sharper, especially through VGA but the PS2 had more RAM, a more powerful CPU/GPU, better colour depth, DVD for storage (granted some games could still release on 2 discs like Gamecube, others like San Andreas would be impossible).
The DC was still a great console, I still play mine but the PS2 was technically better. The PS2 was however, definitely NOT "100x more powerful" like the media and Sony tried to have us believe back before the console released. Even the amount of Polygons Sony announced that the PS2 could do was misleading - DC was said to do around 3 million if memory serves but these were actual realworld scenarios for games. Sony announced 50 or 70 million but that was only if they were flat, untextured polygons. Technically not lying but misleading and you know what the media's like.
Never owned a Dreamcast (or any Sega system) although I do remember playing 2k sports, fishing, Reasy to Rumble (?) boxing and Shenmue at a friends often. I never understood the purpose of the VMU. What could you actually do with it?
@Gs69 I actually got used to using it for fighters! Because the DC had a solid selection on that front. But yeah, it's not the best for the genre.
@Kisame83 yeah the d pad can be a bit sharp but it’s certainly not unusable
I always really liked the DC controller, it was a funny shape but it didn't take long to get used to. The analogue stick on the DC controller was fantastic, excellent sensitivity, no dead-zones and very smooth and easy movement.
I still think the DC has the best every analogue triggers, the ones on the GC were just sort of giant spongy buttons and Sony's attempts have all been terrible. Microsoft got it very close with the Xbox 360 though.
While this controller looks interesting, I've got a custom wireless one made by some guy on eBay who mods original controllers to be wireless. It's got a rechargeable battery and has built in VMU memory (you can still plug in a regular VMU to act as a screen).
Someone should do a Kickstarter for a VMU that doesn't beep when the battery is flat....
There were totally things Dreamcast did that I thought were very interesting. But most of the ideas got used again by other companies on other devices. Online console multiplayer, a screen on the controller, etc... But I prefer Sega as a 3rd party. They make better games than they do hardware.
@AlexOlney No worries mate, you can get an OEM wireless Dreamcast controller for just the low, low price $170 + shipping... over at dreammods.net
Despite the stupid price, I've been on the fence a couple times over the last couple years, but I just can't bring myself to spend that on a controller.
@CurryPowderKeg79 "And the Dreamcast was way better than PS2 when it came to hardware specs". Thats not true at all. DC had impressive graphics for its time (specially Soul Calibur) but it was not as strong as PS2 or Gamecube. (DC release date was November 1998, PS2 came out March of 2000).
PS2 was very hard to code for and thats why DC ports were terrible. But yeah DC wouldn't handle God of War 2 or GT4 or Persona 4
PlayStation 2 could render up to 16 or even 20 million polygons per second, compared to up to 6 million for the Dreamcast
Now this joystick looks cool but with no second analogue stick its not very practical
@Supadav03 Mini-games that could often serve to benefit the core game on the DC itself. Examples include Chao Adventure for Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, you could send your Chao over, level up when not at your DC and then send it back, stronger to help earn more emblems. Nintendo would incorporate this idea in the GC with the GC and GBA connectivity, though often it requires you to connect two separate games together.
It also had some neat additions like being able to view your health on RE:CV but you get the point.
Great controller and great console, I am a Dreamcast collector. Anyway... Sega should keep eyes and hears open... Becouse imho a Dreamcast 2 would be very welcome and successful.
@CurryPowderKeg79 I loved the DC but that when it came to specs the PS2 destroyed the DC. The PS2 was a fillrate monster, capable of drawing more pixels then the Xbox and GC, and far more than the DC. The DC was more of a half way house technically between the PS1 and the PS2.
@ramu-chan multiplatform games always looked better on both the Xbox and GameCube look at resi 4 on ps2 and compare to the GameCube it’s like night and day
@CurryPowderKeg79 I got super lucky at a yard sale and was able to get one with 20 games for 20$ last summer and 5 of those games worth 50$ or more lol.
One of my favorite controllers. We'll see if it turns out right.
@CurryPowderKeg79 I thank Joker Jesus every day!
Nice idea, but personally I'd rather see a Dreamcast controller modded up for modern consoles - throw a second analogue stick on there, L1/R1 shoulder buttons and wireless connectivity, slim it down and replace the VMU with a programmable display and I'll buy a whole set of 'em for my Switch/PS4/PC. Loved this controller back in the day though and nice to see it get some love.
Though I love their products how many times will Retro Fighters be asking for money to make these until they became a real investing company?
"and the cord exiting the pad from the top instead of the bottom."
Been playing my dreamcast a lot recently and this is as annoying now as it was then.
@Gs69 Agreed, that's why I have a Saturn to Dreamcast converter that allows me to play the Dreamcast fighting games with my Saturn controller. The Dreamcast arcade stick was surprisingly good though and great value for money.
A great console.
Loved playing Crazy Taxi with that controller.
@BionicDodo where did you get the converter from that’s cool it would save me carrying my arcade stick to my mates bit bulky . I have seen a hori pad that looks like a Saturn pad but it’s silly money and the vmu sticks really far out of the top
@Gs69 It's called a Total Control 3. I probably got it off eBay, although they look pretty pricey these days.
@BionicDodo Pricey and Dreamcast go hand in hand these days I will look out for one though the Saturn controller is definitely one of the most comfortable especially for fighting games
@Jokerwolf you hit the jackpot there man.
@Franklin i love playing fighters with the controller, not sure why many didn't love the design, i also like the cable location where it was on the original controller, other controllers who had a different design the cable always get in the way, the DC was unique that it didn't have that fault, i guess each to their own.
"Microsoft took inspiration from"
Well, considering they paid Sega to help them design it...I should hope they did! Everyone always forgets X-BOX was Sega's actual last console....it wasn't an in-house MS job, but Sega was contracted to work on its design. It didn't say Sega on the lid, but it was largely Sega inside (which is great, Sega had one extra chance to colossally fail in Japan again... )
@Gs69 It's a great bit of kit. Only supports a single controller but also has a connector for a VMU and a pause button too. Even has a switch for Saturn Twin Stick use.
@BionicDodo nice you know I’ve had a Dreamcast from day 1 here in Uk and never heard of that but I’m definitely interested thanks for mentioning it
@BionicDodo can you play virtual on with twin sticks on dc
Looks like a great controller. Definitely keeping my eye on this one, and might buy, depending on the cost.
@dimi Seeing as the Dreamcast controller never had a second stick, that's totally irrelevant. Most, if not all games, were built to use the controller that came with the console, so adding custom controls could be possible, but is hardly necessary.
@ramu-chan Well, the PS2 may have been a "fillrate monster", but other than having the largest software library, it wasn't better than the other two consoles, from a hardware point of view, so that's nonsense. The Xbox was by far the most powerful console, with the GameCube only slightly behind it, and that even trumped the Xbox in some areas, such as transparencies and lighting effects. The PS2 was quite a step lower than those two.
@NEStalgia Of course, the Microsoft/Sega connection was already there, seeing as Microsoft designed/leased/released their Windows CE platform for the Dreamcast, so paid or not, it would seem that because of that already existing connection, they probably agreed to work together again, and that would of course give Microsoft a nice deal to get all the Sega games, such as the Dreamcast conversions and the Dreamcast game sequels that appeared on the OG Xbox.
Since Capcom refuses to re-release the Capcom vs SNK games (my reason to keep my Dreamcast hooked up), I might have to get one of these, as my only issue with the Dreamcast is the d-pad is a little uncomfortable for fighting games. Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea this existed.
@huyi I know, Soul Calibur, Bangai-O, Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, and a few others complete in their jewel cases with the booklets in near mint. Also it is the model one Dreamcast so it plays burnt games/homebrew with no mod required!
@Gs69 Don't have the twin sticks, so never tried, I'm afraid.
@Jokerwolf 0_0 double jackpot! best get on with burning those discs.... not sure if any of my dreamcast's drives still work, they are so old and yellow now.
@huyi Well there is an SD slot replacement mod for the dreamcast drive so if I get it RBG modded I may do that too so I can have the entire library in one place!
@Jokerwolf that is crazy mad, although a bit of a pain if you don't know how to solder at all, at least that will save your disc drive in the long run.
@nab1 why do they refuse? what did they say?
@Alucard83 I don't know why, maybe licensing with SNK? They re-released a lot of other great fighters in newer consoles like Darkstalkers, Marvel vs Capcom, SF3, but for some reason Capcom vs SNK is relegated to Dreamcast, and its sequel to PS2, Xbox and GCN. And it's a shame because IMO it's one of their best games ever.
I'd pay full retail price for them.
@nab1 Capcom vs SNK 2 is also on the Dreamcast I have it and it’s superb
@huyi I know, it is also a bit pricey of a solution right now too, but in a few years it should be more affordable.
@Jokerwolf well going off how much a modded region free sega saturn goes for these days idk about that lol this is why it's far easier to go the emulation route imo.
we can still keep our dreamcasts as precious relics though.
@RazumikhinPG no, its a dreamcast controller. I dont know why youd want it on switch anyway, the $20 wired ones would be better for switch.
Can't imagine a controller without dual analogue sticks. People obviously want one though. Looks a bit chunky for my liking.
@celestian1998 well this is a Nintendo focused website, so was thinking maybe this was related to Nintendo in some way.
How did I not hear about the n64 one? Are they still available cause for $20 a piece I’d probably buy four if they ended up being any good.
As for the Dreamcast I think I have 6 controllers for it unless I gave two extras to my brother. And I’ve always liked them well enough. Opening one up back in the day and seeing zero potentiometers under the joystick blew my mind back in the day too.
It would have been nice for them to include a second joystick on these new ones for first person games like Half Life that let you move with the face buttons and aim with the stick. I think they’d need a way to switch functions between the dpad and buttons but the analog could just mirror the functions of the first one like people who crammed a second slide pad into their PSP.
Wait a second. Half-Life was never on the Dreamcast...🤔
🤫
Long before Nintendo went down that road?
Before 1982? You're joking, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_%26_Watch_games
Maybe rename the site to Not-Quite-Nintendo-Life. XD
Totally unneeded, the original DC controller is already one of the best feeling controllers ever made. It's DPad is perfect for fighters.
@Gs69 It's [removed] amazing for any fighters that don't have a 6 button control scheme, for MvC2 and SNK games it's perfection.
I love the original controller but this one looks interesting too.
@sultanofslack Please mind your language!
@Alucard83 The PS2 lacked the large amount of VRAM the DC had, it made utilizing large textures and soft shadows nearly impossible for the console.
@Octane What language? I didn't use any words that aren't found in any standard English dictionary...
@sultanofslack Profanity isn't allowed. Please read the Community Rules.
I used to have to repair my Dreamcast triggers with superglue regularly back in the day...did anyone else have the same problem? maybe I was just too aggressive when playing racing games, but I'd be in the middle of a race then snap! Trigger gone....
We need chu chu rocket for switch
@Anti-Matter there is DDR on Dreamcast
@Aozz101x
I know. 🤓
There was a DDR game on Dreamcast, but only until DDR 2nd Mix.
And DDR 2nd Mix also on PS1. (Named DDR 2nd Remix)
From what i saw from the video, DDR 2nd Mix Dreamcast had some DDR 3rd Mix songs with DDR 2nd Mix interface and still with FLAT arrow (No Vivid arrow).
Ouch...!
Btw, on PS1 if you have DDR 3rd Mix, you can play DDR 1st , 2nd and Club Mix with DDR 3rd Mix interface and Vivid / Note Arrow by using option Disc Change on DDR 3rd Mix PS1.
And one more thing.....
I already have DDR 3rd Mix PS1 so ALL the songs on DDR 2nd Mix Dreamcast also available on DDR 1st, 2nd and Club Mix PS1.
I also have DDR EXTREME PS2 Japan with more than 110 songs, including some songs from DDR 1st, 2nd and Club Mix. 😛
Here are some videos.
DDR 3rd Mix PS1
DDR 2nd Mix with DDR 3rd Mix interface
DDR 1st Mix with DDR 3rd Mix interface
DDR 2nd Mix song play in DDR 3rd Mix interface
DDR 1st Mix song play on DDR 3rd Mix interface
DDR EXTREME PS2 Japan song list
DDR Party Collection PS2 Japan with some songs from DDR 1st and 2nd Mix
So...
DDR on PS1 & PS2 has More Appetite than DDR on Dreamcast. 😛
Bonus.
Anti-Matter on Challenge difficulty (Level 18) from DDR A Arcade, played by GOD of DDR player, DDR-KOJI
Shut up and take.my money!
@eSocrates Sounds like you've played the leaked build too. I have a disc copy of it, it makes for an interesting comparison to the officially released PS2 version.
I wish they'd have released Half-Life officially for the DC anyway. I doubt the game would run any better than the leaked build, if the reports are anything to go by but it's still playable. Also, you could use the DC M+K with it too, which is nice.
Tap here to load 82 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...