Why didn't anyone make DC memory only device for those extra controller ports?

Dreamcast has 4 controller ports but mine has never seen more than 2 players. The other 2 ports were just filled with 2 controllers so I could have memory packs plugged in. The controller themselves are rather large, why hasn't anyone made a memory card only port that plugs into the controller ports? It would have been much smaller and likely cheaper than DC controllers.

Kind of moot point today since you can get an SD card reader that plugs into DC serial port and use SD card to hold data, allowing you to shuffle data around and need only 1 controller and 1 memory pack. Maybe if someone had a couple DC controllers that are semi-broken and can be bought for just a few dollars, one could hack the broken controller (assuming memory card ports are fine) and make them into a small box with memory card slots.

FWIW I have the official VMU in transparent red, yellow, green, blue, smoke, and in solid grey (transparent pink and solid black are the only official one I think I'm missing) and a pair of Sega 4x memory packs.

 

Probably because about half the DC games (it seems) only read info from port 1 anyways.

 

True but DC's built in manager (accessed by booting up DC with no disc) can access all 8 slots.

 

Probably due to lack of demand. Whilst I rarely get 4 player use out of my Sega Dreamcast, I regularly get at least 2 - 3 player action on the go. Besides, spare controllers and VMU/VMS are easy to come by.

 

More I learn about the DC

 

With 2 controllers you can plug in 4 memory cards, ain't that enough?

 

Wtf is wrong with you?

 

Four VMUs... All doing that BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP noise on startup.
Flat / missing battery this, flat / missing battery that.
I think four going off at once would likely shatter my ear drums. :friendly_wink:

 

Well if you had one of those total control things you could just plug a memory card into that without plugging in a controller

 

I don't follow.

 

More memory cards=always better!

 

The system was canceled midway through its life. It could have happened, but it didn't. Either-way you can pick up a vmu now for pocket change. Quit living in the past man:stupid:.

 

Is he talking about trying to get more ram card for the vmu port?

 

Open VMU, cut wire to speaker. Done it with all of mine, life is much nicer.

Anyway this is a pretty neat idea. Maybe build a proto board and take it to Kickstarter. If you can source original chips and IC's for very little and offer these new for cheap I think a fair few people would snap them up.

 

What are you complaining, just fill all 8 slots and trigger the zombie apocalypse. :smile-new:

 

I can't stop laughing LOL

 

This was never produced because no one ever thought that a person could be so lazy as to not want to just pull the VMU from the slot and replace it with another one... I've got a stack of VMU's and I just pop in the one with the data I want. Never had a problem with this method.

 

Why wouldn't you just get a memory card with multiple banks? Sega even had an official 4X memory card. I'm trying to figure out what the advantage would be to this...