Miscellaneous G™’s obsession with the SEGA DreamcastTomorrow (9 September 2005) marks the sixth anniversary of the DreamCast’s release. is…well, a little unsettling. The number of Dreamcast consoles he has owned (and given away) over the years is certainly unusual, but fails to provide a true picture of the depth of his unhealthy fascination. Such insight can only be gained by examining the various games and peripherals he has acquired for the consoleThis isn’t limited to the Dreamcast, by any means. He also owns the PlayStation 2 EyeToy and Taiko drum controllers. One might go so far as to suggest he has a game console peripheral fetish..

Exhibit A: The Typing of The Dead
Required peripheral: Dreamcast keyboard. Nothing terribly special here, just your average computer keyboard, except this one plugs into the Dreamcast… and is used to kill zombies. That’s right, between snippets of the worst voiceacting ever, the players are assaulted by legions of the undead, who can only be defeated by quickly typing words, phrases and sentences that hover near their rancid, decaying, shambling bodiesFor the first time in recorded history, Laura actually joined in the videogaming last night. She kicked some serious zombie ass with her mad touch-typing skillz.. The game is a port of The House of the Dead 2, an arcade shooter that’s been converted for use with the keyboard. On the screen, the heroes each have a Dreamcast (powered by a giant battery) strapped to their back and a keyboard hanging from a harness around their necks. They type and zombies die. Again.

Exhibit B: Samba de Amigo
Recommended peripheral: Dreamcast maracas. I’m not kidding. It’s a pair of maracas that plugs into the console. A sensor on the floor detects the height and lateral position of each maraca. As a song plays, visual cues show the player when and where to shake their maracas while a cube-headed monkey and his butterfly girlfriend shake their tailfeathers in the background. The animated characters cheer if your timing and positioning are accurate and jeer if they are not. Unfortunately, the sensor was a bit flaky last night, which led to a good deal of frustration.

Exhibit C: Samba de Amigo 2 (Electric Boogaloo)
Recommended peripheral: Dreamcast maracas, of course. The sequel wasn’t even released in the United States. Miscellaneous G™ has the Japanese version. See what I mean? Unhealthy.