-Sections-
You have arrived at the Hardware section of the DC Zone. This is the section for all of those programming nutcases that like to disect these amazing next-generation consoles. What I am trying to say is this: If you aren't very programming literate, this section will probably be a little hard for you to understand. Eventhough you may not be very literate in programming or computers, it is a little interesting to see just what goes on in that crazy Dreamcast system.
If you've got that feeling of: "Oh god! Another freaking video game console...why buy any more of these expensive machines if something better keeps coming out!" Well you may have a good point, but since the times are changing, so are the system's upgrading plans. See, with the excellent source such as the internet, these next generation consoles can now be simply upgraded over the net!! Yes that's right. That's where that nice little 56k modem comes into play! Your Dreamcast, PSX 2, or whatever you got, may be the last console you ever buy!! Now does that make you feel better about your $200 Dream Machine?
The Dreamcast and its Peripherals:
- Four controller ports that can send and receive information
- Controllers that can accept up to two accessories at one time (VMU, Jump Pack, etc.)
- 12x CD-ROM drive for faster data loading
- 56k Modem
- A serial port for additional expandability
- GD-ROM software format, which gives developers nearly twice as much storage space as CD-ROMS.
Specs: (Source: DCM Magazine)
- Model Name: HKT-3000 (game unit)
- Voltage: AC100V +/-10%, 50/60 Hz
- Power Consumption: Approx. 22W
- Measurements: Approx. (W) 190mm X (D) 195.8mm X (H) 75.5mm
- Weight: 1.5 kg.
- CPU: Hitachi SH-4-RISC CPU with 128-Bit graphic engine built-in (operating frequency: 200 MHz 360 MIPS/1.4 GFLOPS)
- Graphic Engine: Power VR2 DC (capable of drawing more than 3 million polygons per second)
- Sound Engine: Super Intelligent Sound Processor with 32-Bit RISC CPU built-in (64 channel PCM/ADPCM)
- OS: Customized cersion of Microsoft Windows CE
- Memory: Main-16 MB, Texture-8 MB, Sound-2MB
- Modem: 56 kbps (removable) bundled with system
- Media: GD-ROM- New specification high-density memory medium (capacity approx. 1GB)
- GD-ROM drive: 12x maximum speed (when running in Constant Angular Velocity mode-CAV)
- Maximum simultaneous color output: Approx. 16.77 million colors
- Screen display functions: Bump mapping (creates bumps), Fog (fog effects), Alpha-blending (transparency effects), Mip Mapping (automatically switches texture to correspond to distance from polygon), Tri-Linear Filtering (weighs the mean of the bi-linear filtering parallel effect so that it can be used as a texture), Anti-aliasing (a filter that smoothes rough outlines), Environment Mapping (pastes textures from surrounding environment onto objects), Specular Effects (adds luster and shrine to objects)