Anyone that is a hardcore gamer knows about the Sega Dreamcast. I guess at this point we could have hardcore gamers that do not know Sega’s final console though. For them, the Sega Dreamcast was the final console by storied once console maker, Sega. The house that Sonic built at one time made consoles and fought against Nintendo tooth and nail. That was before they threw in the towel and went third party to work with their former competitors, such as Sony and their PlayStation and Nintendo with their consoles. Oh man, what a time to be a gamer when the Dreamcast launched. So much was in the air. Unfortunately, for Sega, that pleasant smell on the wind was death coming for their console.
The Sega Dreamcast launched on September 9th, 1999. Whether intentional or not, Square Enix just happened to release Final Fantasy VIII that day on the Sony PlayStation console (the first one), at least in North America.
While I could not afford a Dreamcast at launch, I was able to grab one before it was announced as “dead”. It was a painful moment when I read that news though. Sadly, it was the final console I grabbed before it was either dead or the next generation was released.
For many of us, the Sega Dreamcast was simply otherworldly. If you did not live it, you may never know that feeling of hearing that GD-Rom grind and how it made us feel.
The Polymega is a multiplatform console of sorts. It started life as an FPGA focused machine (emulator that worked to recreate EVERY instruction of the emulated hardware). It is not apparently becoming an emulation box, not much better than your PC.
Still, the Polymega has the use of original media as a selling point. Out of the box, the base model can play several CD-Rom based platforms from the Sony PlayStation to the Sega Saturn and TurboGrafx-16. Expansion modules allow for use of cartridges for the TurboGrafx-16, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis, among other platforms.
According to Mega Visions, we could potentially see Sega Dreamcast added to the Polymega lineup. They point out a snippet from an interview with Bryan Bernal, integral person involved with the Polymega.
This snippet mentions how they might be able to bring Sega Dreamcast games to the Polymega. Considering the Dreamcast used GD-Roms, and those are not readable by normal CD or DVD drives, a work around must be created.
Seemingly, they will use the original hardware to read the game disc then use the Polymega to play the game. Not exactly an ideal situation but it is better than nothing. I mean, you do still have your Sega Dreamcast, right?
If not, check eBay or Amazon for a deal on one while you can get them cheap.
