As you may have noticed, the Dreamcast launches this week, and we've devoted a lot of the issue to it. This is for the simple reason that it's a remarkable machine, and a revolutionary piece of gaming technology.

Of course, it's not just Sega who can come up with groundbreaking designs and inventions. We all can - unfortunately, not all of them are quite as good as their latest console. The Gallery of Obscure Patents shows a whole range of genuine inventions that have been patented, from the Self Containing Enclosure for Protection from Killer Bees, to the Flushable Vehicle Spittoon, the Gravity Powered Shoe Air Conditioner, Ice Hole Fishing Plugs and the essential Hat Simulating Fried Egg.

Or there's the Fly Swatter With Sound Effects: "An improved fly swatter including a working end and a handle having a terminal end which is provided with a longitudinally extending cavity in which a sound circuit board is housed. Said sound circuit board emits sound effects and/or tunes when activated by an on-off switch. In the preferred embodiment shown, said sound circuit board has a primary circuit which produces one set of sound effects and/or tunes and a secondary circuit which is activated by an inertia switch when the fly swatter strikes an object, thereby emitting a second set of sound effects and/or tunes."

Musical fly swatters? How have we lived without these gadgets for so long? Check them out by clicking here, and be thankful for Sega's rather more sensible Dreamcast concept...