Dreamcast game’s long-lost DLC unlocked with developers’ help

Floigan Bros. was still in development for the Dreamcast when the console was discontinued in March 2001. It launched about four months later. Thanks to the Dreamcast's online innovations, it was among the first console games taking advantage of downloadable content availability.

For Floigan Bros. that would have manifested in a 12-month schedule of goodies that included outfits for the main character, in-game trinkets, and even a new minigame. In fact, Floigan Bros. was also one of the first games to deploy the detested concept of on-disc DLC, which would be unlocked at the proper launch time (that said, the DLC was free).

Now, thanks to the efforts of the original developers, all of the DLC is available for those who still have the game.

The DLC was to be unlocked by a save file downloaded to the Dreamcast's signature Visual Memory Unit. Seventeen years later, some Visual Concepts developers helped manipulate the save file for the January DLC, the only one archived online after the game and console ended, to unlock all of the rest. The original developers said that much of the content was never unlocked during Floigan Bros. original lifespan.

Dreamcast Live has all of the details, including what was to be published for each month, and how to get at it for those who still have a Dreamcast.