Is PowerVR chip (used in Dreamcast) a good one?

[CU_AMiGA]

Ah the Dreamcast! Probably the greatest tragedy of video gaming. Why didn't this machine do better? It was much easier to program than, say, the PS2. Even though the DC was the less powerful, it was still good enough. Quake 3 was awesome. Has anyone tried any emulators for the Dreamcast, what are they like. Unfortunately, i didn't get chance to, my one broke, due to the "crashing problem". Did anyone else get this problem with their Dreamcast?

Cheers,

[CU_AMiGA]

Hi Plaz

Plaz wrote:
@ CU_Amiga

Has anyone tried any emulators for the Dreamcast, what are they like. Unfortunately, i didn't get chance to, my one broke, due to the "crashing problem". Did anyone else get this problem with their Dreamcast?

I still play my DC, what a great console.  I've had more fun with half-life on the DC than most any other game/platform. I think the PowerVR/Kyro could be a great choice. I've used an Atari 800 emulator to play one of my other classic favorites on the DC..... MULE.
Now that's retro. I've also run the Atari 2600 and Super Nintendo emulators, tons of fun.
Have you checked to see that the cooling fan is spinning well and doing it's job? A DC will shut down or reboot if it gets to hot. If your fan isn't working properly, pop it open clean, replace and/or oil that old fan and see if that help.

Plaz

I heard abour Half Life for Dreamcast, but never even knew it got released. Unfortunately, i got rid of my Dreamcast, as i couldn't solve the problem. Apparently, it was a common problem with the first batch of Dreamcasts (which was what i had).

You could fix it (but not permanantly) buy bending 6 prongs on the DC mobo forward so they would have better contact with the PSU psb thingy (i think, it was a long time since i done it). It would also do no harm in cleaning the prongs with a bit of WD40.

Running emulators on the DC is something i have always wanted to do but never got round to it. Having said that you can get DC now for around £20! :-) Also DC still seem to be selling well in Japan, outselling the xbox even. DC games still make the Japanese top 10 charts and Sega have started to make games again (Puyo Pop). Also classic games such as King Of Fighters 2003/03 are out on DC as well. Maybe the DC isn't dead yet! :-)