Dreamcast

Namco Bandai today announced their plans to bring the original Soul Calibur to Xbox Live Arcade. While the only upgrade of note is reworked, high-definition graphics, I’m picturing a shitload of ex-Dreamcast owners chomping at the bit for this game by the planned release in Summer 2008. The Dreamcast version earned a Metacritic rating of 98, making it one of the best console fighters ever.

To answer the inevitable question: there will be no online multiplayer mode added to the game which, to be honest, is perfectly fine by me. While I played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast until sunrise countless times with my housemate at the time, I have no interest in playing it online (I’m firmly in the “latency makes it a complete waste of [developers|my] time” group).

If you’re the kind of collector who seriously considered spending US $10,000 on that completely useless Dreamcast Zip Drive, or a normal person looking for a hobby with more of a social stigma than just playing video games, you probably should meet this lot. Sealed Game Heaven is an international forum for people who spend small fortunes collecting video games still in their original factory shrink-wrap.

Check out this collection of every Dreamcast game released in Japan, still in original shrink-wrap:

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I’ve seen some obscure collectibles in my time, but nothing beats this in terms of rarity, uselessness, or an obscene price of entry. Pictured is the only known prototype in existence of an Iomega Zip Drive for the Sega Dreamcast. It would have been quite useful for storing save games, had there ever been games released that supported the device, however as it stands, this device has all the functionality of a paperweight.

The icing on a truly absurd cake? The starting bid for the auction is USD $10,000. NB: Your significant other does NOT think this is a good investment.

eBay via DCEmu

Now here’s an HD remake I can really get excited about.

Originally released in 2001 on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, Rez quickly achieved cult status - if you can find a copy available these days, don’t be shocked to see it priced well above the original MSRP.

Of course, when collectors are shelling out USD $90 for second hand copies of a six year old game, it can’t be too long before the creators wise up, and get cracking on a HD port for the Xbox Live generation. Which has finally happened with Rez…and we’re getting a 5.1 surround sound remix of the music thrown in for good measure.

No pricing or release date have been announced, but even the most expensive Xbox Live Arcade title is likely to be a much better deal than the exorbitant prices eBay dealers are asking for the game.

For the uninitiated, Rez is essentially synaesthesia in virtual form - the brainchild of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, best known for his more recent work on music game Lumines, and realized by a dev team consisting of several members of the team who built another cult classic Panzer Dragoon. Although, gameplay videos speak far louder than words…so click through for gameplay video from the Dreamcast version.

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