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Portable DC??
luvless - Sep 30, 2001

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  luvless Sep 30, 2001
welp.. i love my DC.. and would like to be able to pack it around like the new ps-1's..

i don't know how feasable this is.. due to hardware/ size and cost limitations.. so no promises..

but i'd like to know..

1) would you be interested in one??

2) what format would you like it in.. something resembling the CDX, PS1 w/screen, or an actual handheld??

3) what features could you live without (3rd and 4th controller ports.. modem.. rumble pack support etc)

4) what features can't you live without (vmu support)

5) what you'd spend on it

6) would you buy online/retail..

7) would you preorder and wait up to 6 months for unit to be mfr'd and shipped

i've recently met someone with a few good contacts from sega in the genesis days.. who may know someone (JVC or former employees etc) who wouldbe interested in doing this..

thanx in advance!!

-me

 opiumeater Oct 1, 2001
The circuits are too large to make a handheld, cause I have already tryed. Other than making a handheld, it wouldnt be useful to make it smaller.

 MasterAkumaMatata Oct 1, 2001

  
	
	

		
		

			Quote: from opiumeater on 2:21 am on Oct. 1, 2001



The circuits are too large to make a handheld, cause I have already tryed. Other than making a handheld, it wouldnt be useful to make it smaller.

You have???

 luvless Oct 1, 2001
opiumeater..

as far as the circuits being too large.. have you seen what became of the genesis in the 3rd revision??

additionally removing some extra bits like the 3rd and 4th controller port, the modem port and the associated unneeded circuits that go with them will save space..

i'm talking about a re-design of the dc into a portable..

like the gen/segacd into a cdx.. or like a playstation into a ps1 with screen and battery.. or possibly turning it into an oversize game gear with a discman lid on the back..

so i think it could be done..

not as a DIY or homebrew project.. but as a full fledged consumer product..

 Service Games Oct 1, 2001
I would need to see pics of a proto somthing before I would pre-order somthing like that.

And if I where to pre-order it would have to be with a reputable company.

As far as what id like to see in somthing like this?

Small unit like CDX, with optional detachable combo LCD/controler.

Same av port so I can hook it up just like a regular DC to my tv or monitor.

Lithium laptop type batteries.

Dont care about the 2/3/4 controler ports.

Perhaps a single controler port with optional multi tap type device.

Built in bba would be kinda cool but im sure that would just add to size/price. Ive never used the modem on my DC. However some people may be turned off by not having the modem.

Gotta have a way to use a vmu either off a controler or a port on the unit itself.

Jump pack I dont think is needed, just waste the batts. Although if there where a controler port I geuss it would have to be supported.

(Edited by Service Games at 10:39 am on Oct. 1, 2001)

 opiumeater Oct 1, 2001
Well, you might be able to chop it down a bit. Make an external power supply and so on. But the GDROM laser is #### huge. But, here is an idea for you to learn off of. http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/index.htm... . Please dont email this guy asking 100000 questions, he is very busy.

 Shinshiro Oct 2, 2001
#### it could be done!!! but if a company (for example) wanted to make it then it would cost a crapload of money (i would estimate it at $300-400 US, and thats also considering that the industry always sells consoles at a loss!)

but it could be done, all it would take is tons of cash and resources to design it, and then you would need a large consumer base if it would ever get off the ground

but if this idea ever came into being then maybe sega could rebound and become a major player in the portable market, cuz after all who would buy a GBA after seeing a handheld dreamcast?? hehe

 Cynnamin Oct 2, 2001
People who think Sega sucks.

Which is 95% of the console gaming market.

*sniffle* We loved you, Sega.... why did you have to leave us??

 ViperA2001 Oct 2, 2001
yeah... I don't know why Sega had to be the one with the "very bad" reputation in the gaming market. I mean, anyone in the "real world" who says Sega Is Cool will be treated like a freak, telling him: "WHAT?!?!?!" I don't know, whatever Sega did to the MasterSystemGenesisSaturnDreamcastGameGear probably ticked them off... I keep defending Sega by: "look, in the arcades, haven't you noticed all the machines are all 'sega'? Daytona, Sega Rally, and lots of other GOOD stuff"

IMHO, Sega still lives in the arcades here in the Philippines... many people still flood the Daytona-8-players/SegaRally-2-players here... and others like Jurassic Park, shooters, etc etc....

 GreatSayamanGohan Oct 2, 2001
holy crap, that PSp thing looks utterly kick ass! Looks like i got a new project on my hands, wish me luck!

 opiumeater Oct 6, 2001
Yea people seem to think sega sucks. I have sold more NES systems then genesis ever. Anyone who asks me for a PSX, I make them buy a dreamcast, and they always love it. I dont see why people still buy a PSX for 99.99, when you can get a system that is about 20 times better for 79.99. Now, at circuit city, you can get a dreamcast with two sega controllers, one VMU and 3 of the 2k1 sports games for 99.99. Now why the #### are they not selling??? The dreamcast has 128 bit graphics, the psx has 32 bit. The dreamcast also has twice the video ram of the PS2. AND IT HAS A MODEM!!! Not to mention, kickass games.

 ExCyber Oct 7, 2001
The VRAM thing is difficult to compare fairly due to the differences in architecture, but I do think DC ends up with more VRAM usable for textures.

(Edited by ExCyber at 6:24 am on Oct. 7, 2001)

 Kommunisator Oct 7, 2001
ok, let´s not overestimate the DC. It´s no real 128bit console, same as the Jaguar was no real 64bit console and the PS2 isn´t 128bit either. 2 64bit processors don´t make a 128bit system, you know. The address bus from the graphics rasterizer on the PS2 and the CPU is capabale of handling a 512bit datastream or so I´ve heard, but that doesn´t make the PS2 a 512bit-system either.

So put those bit numbers aside and compare the graphics and the games side by side. I´d take a DC Crazy Taxi over the version for the Pixelstation2 anyday.

Back to portability: Hack away two connectors, the power supply unit and the modem and the unit gets fairly small. Now try powering it off batteries like this portable PSX thing and see how long it can last. Then decide if a portable DC is a possibility.

 Shinshiro Oct 7, 2001
if you wanna get tolerable battery life for a system you would have to redesign every last board and chip in the system so as to reduce the power consumption it would need to run, thats the key for a portable system, and thats usually what drives up the cost, making a chip and board etc. and then designing it so it uses half as much power (or even less if you want to run it on some AA batteries or something) while still running at full processor speed is one of the biggest challenges you would face

otherwise all you could do is just downscale the physical size of the system (like the PSone), but there aint much point in that, the DC system is already pretty small anyways (the gamecube will be the only next gen system that will be smaller then the DC, even though its also a LOT uglier hehe)

 Kommunisator Oct 7, 2001
nah, the GC isn´t smaller than the DC, maybe in footprint but it is way higher and the ugly handle at the back takes up a lot of space too. 1cm more in width and they could´ve used standard CDs/DVDs on that thing.

 Fabrizo Oct 7, 2001
Back to the topic of 95% of the gaming community hating sega. Here is something someone wrote about sega and its dreamcast haters that I found at a site recently:

There are people out there who have always wanted Sega to fail as a hardware company, for some bizarre reason. There's a lot of resentment towards Sega in fandom and, to a lesser extent, the fan press2. You'll hear the word "abandon" and its various declensions and synonyms tossed around a lot, as if the company were a negligent parent and the buyers of the console were Sega's adopted children. These are the obsessive fanboys who hold serious personal grudges against Sega for dropping support for the Saturn3 -- and keep in mind that Sega supported the Saturn long past any point of reasonable expectation of financial return4. With these people, I find the use of that word very telling for some reason. "DADDY LEFT US AND MOMMY NEVER LOVED ME AND NOW SEGA KILLED THE SATURN AND THE DREAMCAST, SEGA IS A BAD DADDY!!!"

Not quite.

Let's just get one thing straight right off the bat: Sega doesn't care about you. Not really. Peter Moore (COO and President, Sega of America) is a friendly guy and has been vocal in his support of the DC, but he's got kids of his own and doesn't have time, energy or desire to coddle the Mongol hordes of inadequately-socialized vidiots who view the game companies as surrogate parents. Sega is in serious financial trouble, the kind of trouble indicated by massive restructuring and employees watching their backs in fear like Joan Crawford's kids waiting for the wire hangers5. Any company that botches a situation like last Christmas needs to shed their hardware division like a malignant tumor. You couldn't get a Playstation 2 for blood or money and PS2 software was gathering dust on the shelves but there were Dreamcasts for half the price of the PS2 and a two hundred-title software library waiting in the wings...and they still couldn't move consoles. They couldn't move consoles with a full rebate with ISP subscription deal, the same kind of deal that moves PCs for $99 at Best Buy and Circuit City. They couldn't move consoles with games like Jet Grind Radio or Space Channel 5 -- both hip, super-stylish games -- or NFL2k1 and NBA2k1 -- the first sports games in console history that are playable online and offline, and would be #### good sports sims even without that substantial feature6. They couldn't move consoles with free cake and a blowjob from Eidos' (new! improved!! under eighteen!!!) Lara Croft model chick. Every console sold is a loss-leader for software, and Sega finally decided to cut their substantial losses and get out of the hardware business.

Good for them.

 Kamalot Oct 15, 2001
Back to the topic of a portable Dreamcast...

If there was a gaming unit not much buigger than a portable CD player that had a screen and played DC games, I would pick it up in a heartbeat. I'm seriously considering up a Sega Nomad so I can play old Roleplaying games snuggled next my girlfriend on the sofa.

 Despa Oct 28, 2001
sounds romantic

Kam: *taps buttons frantically*

gf: "Kam hun, aren't you neglecting something?"

Kam: "Oh yeah, forgot Magus had 25 hp left..!"

gf: "No, I was talking about me"

Kam: "..." *keeps tapping frantically*

gf: "Aren't you paying attention to me?"

Kam: "What?"

gf: "I'm leaving you."

Kam: "####, third one this week..."

 Mo Threat Oct 29, 2001
ha ha ha ha ha

Seriously funny shizznit.

On tha real tho' lotsa girls like games. My ex was addicted to CTR on PSX. She'd play for hours.

 Quadriflax Oct 30, 2001
No kidding, I think I got mine addicted to Super Puzzle Fighter. She gets mad when I beat her and I never hear the end of it when she beats me. But she can whomp my ass at Bubble Bobble so it all evens out I suppose

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