Dreamcast VMU on Sega Dreamcast | Teen Ink

Dreamcast VMU on Sega Dreamcast

February 7, 2016
By The8bitkid GOLD, Bakersfield, California
The8bitkid GOLD, Bakersfield, California
11 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -Steve Jobs


Gaming was started as a simple activity, but it soon became huge, with it having effects on our culture. Ever since then more things to try and innovate games. That’s why I want to start reviewing not just games, but their accessories as well. i’m saying things like controllers, headsets, and even consoles to help others get the best experience out of their gaming, whether they like classics, or enjoy the new age of gaming. So to start, I’m reviewing the Dreamcast VMU.


What is it?
The Dreamcast VMU stands for Virtual memory unit, and it’s basically a memory card with a screen. They came in a variety of colors. The ones I have are basic white, blue, red, green, and yellow. You inserted them into your controller to save your game but there was something that made it special. The VMU has a screen, a D-pad, and two buttons. They were used to play minigames that you download from your game. Two games that support this is Sonic Adventure, and Power stone.


Is it worth getting?
The screen is simply just an lcd screen, but if you want the most out of your games I’d recommend it. In my review of Sonic Adventure, I said you could play chao adventure if you had the VMU, but I didn’t go into much detail about it, so i’ll explain it to show the VMU’s capabilities. in Chao Adventure you help the Chao you sent from the game to the VMU by helping what decision it should make in the game. basically, it’s a less annoying tamagotchi that you don’t have to help constantly. If you connect one VMU to another, it can go on a Chao Date, and if it’s successful, you’ll get an egg when you return it to an egg. it’s a neat accessory, but not a lot of games have VMU support. it’s worth it for Sonic adventure and other games that support it, but don’t expect to have a ton of minigames. it does have a slot you can use for keychains though, so when you go to school you can say “hey i’m old school” which I do like. The dreamcast VMU gets a 7/10. But before you go, here’s an interesting fact: the first Playstation tried to copy the dreamcast by making its own VMU that would do the same thing, but it failed to sell.  


The author's comments:

There's a ton of video game acessories everywhere, and someone needs to help others know if getting it is actually worth it. The scoring system is the same: 7-10 is good to amazing, 6-1 is bad to horrible.


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on Feb. 12 2016 at 9:11 pm
The8bitkid GOLD, Bakersfield, California
11 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> -Steve Jobs

For Those of you who are interested in this retro product, DON'T buy the memory card listed at the top. It looks like the site confused the VMU for an average memory card for the Dreamcast. When you click the link, Scroll down to "Customers who bought this item also bought..." And look for the words Visual Memory Unit or VMU. Once you find the color you want, Purchase it. Some VMU's are more rare than others, so some will cost more. If you're not sure if it's a VMU, look at the pictures to see if it has a small LCD Screen and buttons. The product The site shows does have more memory, But does not have the functionality of a VMU. Be careful when shopping for retro games. Hope This helps.