A VMU? What’s that? Well once upon a time back in the late 90s, there was a game system know as the Sega Dreamcast and along with it came a device called a VMU (Visual Memory System or Virtual Memory Unit.) Now fast forward about 9 years later, the VMU is considered to be very unique. It’s the only memory card/unit ever (at least to date) to ever be considered a handheld console as well. The VMU has a built-in screen, speaker, 4 directional thumbpad, 2 action buttons, a sleep button and a mode button as well as to ports to connect to the Dreamcast controller. You think that’s cool? Check this out.

The VMU has three different modes: A memory mode, a game mode, and a time mode. The most interesting mode of all is the game mode. There are certain games for the Dreamcast that have mini-games that can be downloaded from the game to the VMU. You think that’s cool? It gets even better. The VMU can be hacked. You can increase the memory size and download rare games as well as homebrew games. Once you realize what is going on, you see the VMU is one the single most ingenious inventions on the planet. Want more info on the VMU?

VMU info:

• VMU Wikipedia Entry: this site also includes a list of all the Dreamcast games that have some sort of program that can be put on a VMU.
• Dream Explorer: a program that can increase the VMU memory.
• Ble Swirl: One of the single best sites for everything Dreamcast and VMU. You can get game saves,games,downloads,etc.