Dreamcast Microphone
From Sega Retro
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| Dreamcast Microphone | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Made for: Sega Dreamcast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dreamcast Microphone, known as the Dreamcast Mic Device (ドリームキャスト マイクデバイス) in Japan, is a microphone peripheral for the Sega Dreamcast. Taking up a VMU slot, the microphone was developed for use with Seaman, though became compatible with other games during late 2000 and 2001.
Contents
Hardware
While the Dreamcast Microphone was in some ways innovative for a video game console (even though it is usually the later Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that are credited for bringing online voice chat to the mainstream), the device was not sold in large volumes, owing to the fact that outside of Japan, Sega did not release it as a stand-alone unit. In North America it was bundled exclusively with Seaman and Alien Front Online, while in Europe it was only available through the retail version of Planet Ring (which, perhaps awkwardly, was released as a free extra in the UK's Official Dreamcast Magazine without the microphone, leaving a distinct possibility of users having two copies of the game).
The US was originally set to receive a "Dreamcall" programme in January, where Dreamcast owners could use the microphone to make phone calls to each other for free (and to non-Dreamcast numbers for 2-9 cents per minute)[6] but no such feature ever materialised.
The European situation is made more awkward in that Planet Ring was itself a low budget, limited-run game with little marketing exposure. This meant the limited voice chat features introduced with Dreamkey Version 2.0 were effectively exclusive to owners of Planet Ring.
Compatibility
- Alien Front Online (2001)
- Battle Beaster (2001)
- Christmas Seaman: Omoi o Tsutaeru Mou Hitotsu no Houhou (1999)
- Death Crimson 2: Meranito no Saidan (1999)
- Dream Passport 3 (2000)
- Dream Passport Premier (2001)
- Dreamkey Version 2.0 (2001)
- Heisei Mahjong Sou (2000)
- Jahmong (2000)
- Kiteretsu Boy's Gangagan (2000)
- Marionette Handler 2 (2000)
- Mr. Driller (2000)
- O.to.i.Re: Dreamcast Sequencer (1999)
- Planet Ring (2000)
- Sakura Momoko Gekijou: Coji Coji (2000)
- Seaman (1999)
- Seaman: Kindan no Pet: 2001 Nen Taiouban (2000)
Had Propeller Arena been released, this too would also have been compatible with the accessory.
Localised names
| Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| English | Dreamcast Microphone | Dreamcast Microphone |
| Japanese | ドリームキャスト マイクデバイス | Dreamcast Mic Device |
Magazine articles
- Main article: Dreamcast Microphone/Magazine articles.
Gallery
Official photographs
Physical scans
| Dreamcast, JP |
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 Cover
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| Dreamcast, US |
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 Manual |
References
- ↑ https://sega.jp/history/hard/dreamcast/devices.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-03-02 04:53)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://groups.google.com/g/uk.games.video.dreamcast/c/17WnYMY2qO8/m/1W9_8BknDEoJ
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/uk.games.video.dreamcast/c/CdAABSSHcRg/m/g8gmejCHQXsJ
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://groups.google.com/g/uk.games.video.dreamcast/c/MrTbtIoRuX8/m/sDm_aPlQtjQJ
- ↑ Dreamcast Magazine, "No. 18" (UK; 2001-01-25), page 19
- ↑ GamePro, "February 2001" (US; 2001-0x-xx), page 28