Is your Dreamcast overheating? No, I'm serious, is it overheating that you can only play your favourite games for limited amount of time?
Well, Here are some solutions that might help you with your overheating problems:
Number 1) If you buy games, burnt/copied games especially, be extremely careful, they might have games that are burnt in a weird manner. Weird meaning the speed of burning is higher than the capability of the Dreamcast.
I actually bought a couple of games from this man in a flea market, i reported a problem to him that the games i got from him overheat my dreamcast, he didn't bother to pay attention to my problem, rather he paid attention to his money, i got greatly upset but at times you must forgive.
2)Cheapness of the CD. Yes, I think it does make an impact. The games that i bought from the flea market were cheap, extremely cheap. They can scratch up easily and wreck your laser, but that might be due to the speed of burning the games.
I bought a pack of FujiFilm discs, works perfectly when i burned the games but when comparing with my old games, the old games' discs were cheap, light and easily breakable, but business is business and make sure you don't get ripped off.
3) DO NOT PLACE YOUR DREAMCAST ON THE CARPET, IN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE SMOKE ETC! This can seriously affect your dreamcast and it can damage something inside.
Make sure you keep it in an open enough space so the air of the fan can ventilate out and air is not limited.
4) Clean your dreamcast. Yes, if there is alot of dust inside your Dreamcast due to not running it, you should clean it or at least blow some compressed air in the areas of the fan, this will eventually make a difference on decreasing your overheating problems.
For your overall overheating problems, some people still complain that it heats up a little bit when playing games, in my opinion, this is natural. When i was young, i used to own a PS1 and play it alot, it used to become hot but not as hot as its been overheated.
So if your systems overheats alot, it is not your system's fault most of the time, it is actually the game itself at most times. When i bought some games from one store, it overheated my system too much that i couldn't play those cds for too long but when playing other burned/copied, which were black cds, resisted and kept playing for hours and hours.
If you are someone who buys burnt games more than he downloads and copies, becareful and take care of your dreamcast.
I hope this helps and anyone is free [OF COURSE], to add anything else.
Maximus.