Unboxing a Dirty Japanese NTSC-J Sega Dreamcast

Kevin Dennehy let me have this parcel for an absolute song (he’d have given it away, but it was too cool to take for nothing). It had been kept in his garage storage, so everything is filthy, but underneath the dirt is a Japanese Sega Dreamcast with a pile of accessories. This was a super fast opening on a 30 degree day under hot lights, and the full clean-up comes later.

The accessories

It was very well packed. Kevin offered to clean everything first, but I told him not to bother as it’s all getting stripped down and bathed anyway. Out came:

A Dreamcast VMU, due a strip-down and a good wash.
A PlayStation 8MB memory card with MCBoot, for a little project.
A PS2 to Dreamcast controller adapter, complete with authentic Shropshire mud.
Two official Dreamcast light guns (not the fake ones).
A Dreamcast controller, which takes me back to my wife beating me at Soul Calibur.
An arcade stick with micro switches: the bit I really wanted.
One item I couldn’t identify.

Dirty Sega Dreamcast VMU unpacked from a parcel stored in a garage — A grubby VMU, due a bath

Official Sega Dreamcast light gun covered in dust from garage storage — An official Dreamcast light gun

Dreamcast arcade stick with micro switches from Kevin Dennehy's parcel — The arcade stick was the bit I really wanted

An object lesson for everyone: don’t keep your retro in the shed.

The reveal: an NTSC-J Dreamcast

Last out was the console itself, in better nick than my own Dreamcast and a bit dusty inside. The observant will spot the difference straight away: it’s Japanese. Being NTSC-J means I can run it at 60Hz, so no PAL slowdown.