Sega Week

How to mod a Dreamcast VMU into an adorable retro emulator

Modders give the Visual Memory Unit a second life as a portable that plays classic games on Atari, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and more.

Sega's Dreamcast died young, but its groundbreaking technologies paved the way for modern gaming. It was the first console with 128-bits. The first console with online gaming (Phantasy Star Online anyone?). And its memory cards, known as Visual Memory Units or VMUs, were basically tiny Game Boys.

Saiga GeneCast

Just look at it. Don't tell me its square LCD display, D-pad, and A + B buttons don't resemble a Game Boy. Unlike the PlayStation's memory cards, the VMU plugged into the Dreamcast's controller. Chonky? Yes. But so friggin' rad.

Tap