Remembering the Dreamcast

[+swlovinist]

Twelveyears ago put a smile upon my face. Ihad a new job as an assistant manager at a local Gamestop, watching unfold oneof the most energetic console launches in North America. The launch of the Sega Dreamcast on 9-9-99 gameme faith that Sega was finally going to deliver to gamers a sleek anddependable system that was cuttingedge. All of the promises were hyped bythe media, on top of promises of launching at a mere $199.99.

 

The systemlaunch ended up being a slam dunk success. The Lauch day consisted of approximately 18 titles(our personal storewas missing a couple). Soul Calibur wasthe highlight of the launch, boasting amazing graphics and rich gameplay. I ended up picking up a system shortly afterlaunch with Soul Calibur. Soul Caliburwas one of my favorite games to play, putting in several hundred hours andrekindling my interest in Sega products. Over the next two years the system became a staple in my gameplaying…offering dozens of quality titles that were excellent.

 

I thinkthat reflecting backupon the system and what it offered was value, diversity,and a fresh new direction for console gaming. The system was my first foray into online console gaming and playingover the internet with others. Gamessuch as Phantasy Star Online and NFL 2K1 provided proof that consoles couldprovide solid online gaming experiences. Those two games alone provided endless entertainment for me and myroommates at the time. Phantasy StarOnline alone for provided over a thousand hours of gametime.

 

Startingearly on with the system, I meagerly picked up a title every month or when Icould. I usually waited for sales,bought used, and was patient. From acollecting standpoint the system was fun to collect and seek out titles overthe years. As this is being written, Iwill be wrapping up my UScollection of 252 complete titles. Theconquest for me spanned over a decade of time, searching half the US, andcountess hunting at flea marts, thrift shops, and game shows(PRGE, CGE, NWCGE,SRGE, and Cowlitz Gamers for Kids to name a few).

 

Let this bea time to remember a wonderful system and what it offered gamers around theworld. For me, the Dreamcast is stillthinking….

 

http://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj28/swlovinist/Dreamcast%20Collection%20US/

 

 

[Austin]

Well said.. The Dreamcast was the first system I bought on launch day and it was easily my most-played system for the next two years until Sega pulled the plug on it. Even after, I still played it frequently, especially with some imports keeping it alive so to say, like the then-new release of Ikaruga. Needless to say, it is a system that I am very fond of and it holds a very special place to me.

 

Nice collection, by the way! I'm personally trying to score every US title on the system as well. As of now, I'm up to about 100 CIB titles or so, give or take a few due to counting some of the imports I have.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Austin

[jaybird3rd]

I remember the Dreamcast launch very well, although I couldn't afford to buy the system until just after it was discontinued. I picked up a console directly from Sega's online store, along with a handful of games, and I managed to get good deals on a keyboard and mouse through various closeout sales around the same time. I can't claim to have an exhaustive collection, but it's a system I still have fun with (when I have time). It's actually the most recent game console that I own; the next-oldest are the Jaguar and an original PlayStation, and all the others in my collection are pre-crash systems.

[Numan]

I passed on the Dreamcast and ended up receiving it as a gift. My recollection is the media was favorable to it, I specifically remember Shenmue and Jet Grind Radio getting alot of positive publicity. It was later when these games were on discount that I saw what I was missing out on. My Shenmue 2 Import is one of my favorite pieces of my collection.

[StoneAgeGamer]

There are a few times when I was really wowed when playing a game. Playing Shenmue was one of them. Never before had there been a game so detailed. I don't always care too much about graphics, but this game blew me away. I know Shenmue is a pretty polarizing game, but to me it exemplified about what was good about Sega before they left the hardware business. They took huge risks on games that may not always have mainstream appeal. This maybe was part of their downfall in the end, but its one thing that always put Sega ahead of Nintendo in my book. I love Nintendo, but they pretty much stick to the status quo when it comes to their games. Only Sega would release a typing game on a console that turned out to be a really good game.

[atarian63]

imported mine from japan 6 months early, got the system,and house of the dead 2 & gun for $600, never was sorry about it. Great system!

[STICH666]

I only have 3 memories of the Dreamcast during it's lifetime.

 

1. I remember seeing the "It's thinking" commercials all the time. Mainly this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFW20H46BJU

 

2. I once played Crazy Taxi at my friend's house around 2001 and loved it.

 

3. I kept seeing kiosks in Target and wondering what the hole was for in the controller.

[akator]

The Dreamcast is one of my all-time favorite systems. If I had to get rid of everything, it would be one of the last systems to go.

Edited September 9, 2011 by akator

[pce_collector]

I found that there were lots of good games for the Dreamcast. From arcade titles like Crazy Taxi to RPGs like Grandia II, there was a lot to like about the Dreamcast. I introduced several people to the Dreamcast and they all bought one one shortly thereafter. Of course, Sega pulled the plug and the rest is history.

[DemonoidTentacle]

I never had a Dreamcast on release, I never even had any interest. The console wars of the 90's still burned in my belly. But six years ago a coworker came to work one day with two bags in his arms.

"What you got there?" I asked, not interested, just being polite.

I hear him reply "I'm trying to sell this Dreamcast thing."

My ears twitched, and he instantly saw that I was all of a sudden interested in what he was saying. One Dreamcast, two controllers, one VMU and a bit over 200 "backups" of games.

That night was my first experience with Dreamcast, it's still one of my constant set up consoles.

[+Cafeman]

I was pretty excited about the 9-9-99 Dreamcast launch. I took off 2 days from work, bought the system and played NFL2k and Sonic Adventure those 2 days plus the weekend. Played it online (Daytona USA mostly), that was a new experience.

 

I have a CD wallet full of DC games I've collected over the years. Most memorable were the SEGA coin-op conversions - VF3tb, Sega Rally 2, Daytona USA, Crazy Taxi, Bass Fishing w/fishing controller. But also Shenmue and Shenmue 2, wow I played those 2 games a lot - so much to explore. Also played a bunch of Marvel VS Capcom 2 and Street Fighter 3rd strike, and the Gigawing / mars matrix shmups.

 

You can buy a Dreamcast w/controller and a VMU for $30 or so these days. I still pick up the lesser games now & then on the cheap, just to try them out - the most recent ones I found for like $6 each were Suzuki Alstare Racing, Star Wars Demolition, and .. I forgot what the other one was! I hate my brain!

 

Anyway, to this day the DC (just like the Genesis) easily has ton of worthwhile games that haven't aged badly at all.

[Reaperman]

I was more excited about the DC launch than any other console launch. It was great timing, and DC brought a significant and needed jump in performance to the table. I also took some time off of work to savor the experience. I think I still have the launch day t-shirt somewhere.

 

Soul Calibur and Airforce Delta were my favorite of the launch titles. Gamestop got a bum shipment of Airforce delta that wouldn't boot, and I exchanged it 3 times (checking the last swap *at the store*) before just taking my money back, and going with a local chain with a better shipment. None of the later airforce delta games seem to capture the magic of that first one.

 

Dreamcast was a great system, and it didn't feel good when Sega seemed to leave the market before PS2 really even became competitive. Looking back on it, history (and me) will side with the PS2, but at the time it made so little sense. I think DC was the last system with a strong focus on arcade ports, which perhaps explains why it has such a draw for the retro community. Dreamcast arcade ports also had a nice habit of expanding on the arcade originals, often inserting almost unnecessary levels of replay value.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Reaperman

[stinkoman]

Dreamcast was solid.I got a new one that october for 132 plus shipping from I think it was called buyrite.com and I had to get sonic adventure and marvel vs capcom for christmas.I loved power stone and always wanted virtual on with the controler.

[Chuplayer]

Dreamcast was a great system, and it didn't feel good when Sega seemed to leave the market before PS2 really even became competitive. Looking back on it, history (and me) will side with the PS2, but at the time it made so little sense.

Right before they pulled the plug, the DC was outselling the PS2. I never understood why they would pull the plug when they were winning.

 

Dreamcast was solid.I got a new one that october for 132 plus shipping from I think it was called buyrite.com

You actually received stuff from BuyRite? I always heard horror stories about that place.

 

I didn't have any DC memories to make on 9/9/99, but I did play hookey from school that day to play my Genesis. I played Sonic 3 and Knuckles all the way through. I got my DC for Christmas in 1999, though, and it became my most played console well through 2004. That system just kept on giving well after it was over. I remember playing the heck out of the Propeller Arena leak in 2004. Good times.

[pixelated]

I wish I had a Dreamcast back in the day. I didn't buy mine until about a year ago. I had played it extensively at my friend's house circa 2000-2001. I remember playing only Soul Calibur, Tokyo Extreme Racing 2 and Phantasy Star Online. So, I've had pretty limit exposure to it. But then, after about 1995, around the time the SNES, my favorite console, began to be replaced with 3D systems, I kinda stopped gaming for a long while. Sometimes I'd go to the arcade at the mall and beat the crap outta my friend at Soul Calibur, and every now and then I might play a small portion of SNES games, but by and large, I kinda didn't game much at all until early 2000 when I bought a PS1 and shortly after, an N64. If I had been gaming more, I might've picked up a DC. Oh well!

Edited September 11, 2011 by pixelated

[Mendon]

As I read every story I came across about the upcoming release of DC, I was totally impressed with everything about the system.... well, except that the name was being changed from Katana to Dreamcast.

 

As I continued to read about the Japanese release of the system and all of the games, I couldn't take the wait for 9-9-99 anymore and decided to buy an import DC along with D2, RE: Code Veronica, Blue Stinger (hmmmm... some kind of game pattern here methinks), and Godzilla. I even ordered some of the Godzilla VMU packages that came with statues of the monsters.

 

My son's started laughing at me as I play Veronica with a guide that explained the Japanese text to me..... but they soon stopped laughing and begged me to let them play the game themselves.

 

Gawd, I loved that import DC and when 9-9-99 rolled around, I was the first in line at my local GameStop (I shopped with them at that point) and picked up a system along with Ready To Rumble, Sonic, Hydro Thunder, and Power Stone. I had hours and hours and hours of fun with Crazy Taxi, 18 Wheeler, Record of Lodoss War, Jet Grind Radio, Quake, Alien Front Online, Bass Fishing, Tech Romancer, and so many more.

 

The Saturn and Dreamcast are still my favorite systems of all the systems I've owned. To me, Sega was always willing to think outside of the norm and release game types that hadn't been tried before. Whether it was Nights with its 3D pad or Seaman with its microphone or Shenmue with it deep, deep story or online gaming or including a web browser with its systems or using a keyboard to kill the Dead... Sega was always innovative and stretching the limits of gaming experiences.

 

My Dreamcast is still always hooked up and ready for action. In fact, I think I'm going to go play some Star War's Demolition right now!

 

 

Mendon

[Rex Dart]

My Dreamcast is still always hooked up and ready for action. In fact, I think I'm going to go play some Star War's Demolition right now!

 

 

Mendon

 

Oh God no, play Tech Romancer instead!

 

 

Mendon

[the.golden.ax]

Still one of my favorite systems, despite the rocky start for me. When I got my first unit home, I got the bios swirl, then black. The thing was dead, and no video would come up. Lost the register slip on the way in to exchange it (blew away as it sat wedged in to the top of the box). Eventually once I had a DC it was console heaven.

 

AX

[DemonoidTentacle]

Damn, I'm gonna give mine a raz today! A bit of Code Veronica followed by my current save of Grandia 2.

[Algus]

The thing I remember most: Trying to find one that works.

 

...I'm still looking.

 

However, the last one I bought did have a Soul Caliber tucked away in the drive, so that was a bonus. Shenmue, some day I will play you.

[+wood_jl]

As someone else alluded above, this is one of the ONLY systems I bought at launch.

 

I was a die-hard Saturn fan (although I had/have/like PS1 too) and it propelled my Saturn (Sega) enthusiasm to see the successor so awesome. It's really a shame the system didn't last longer, because the already-excellent games would have just kept getting better.

 

 

I really hated the name "Dreamcast" though, I thought it was really silly, although of course I got used to it. The name "Katana" was so cool-sounding, I thought they were going to run with something like that, until the "Dreamcast" name was announced. "Dreamcast" sounds like a little girls' accessory for her "Hello Kitty" stuffed animal playset.

 

I also thought the controller was a little bit too big (too much plastic) and the cord was coming out the wrong end of the controller. However, they were still comfortable and worked well, unlike some controllers in the history of consoles.

 

With many of the "hit" games (Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Crazy Taxi, Sega GT, etc...) making it to other systems (and being sold in pawn shop for $5) and Soul Calibur II and III on other systems, I don't play mine much anymore, but I drag it out once in a while and relive 1999.

 

edit: "Black Belt" was the other name for the other candidate system, and would have sounded much cooler, too.

Edited September 19, 2011 by wood_jl

[DemonoidTentacle]

The thing I remember most: Trying to find one that works. ...I'm still looking. However, the last one I bought did have a Soul Caliber tucked away in the drive, so that was a bonus. Shenmue, some day I will play you.

 

What problems do you tend to have with the Dreamcasts?

 

 

As someone else alluded above, this is one of the ONLY systems I bought at launch. I was a die-hard Saturn fan (although I had/have/like PS1 too) and it propelled my Saturn (Sega) enthusiasm to see the successor so awesome. It's really a shame the system didn't last longer, because the already-excellent games would have just kept getting better. I really hated the name "Dreamcast" though, I thought it was really silly, although of course I got used to it. The name "Katana" was so cool-sounding, I thought they were going to run with something like that, until the "Dreamcast" name was announced. "Dreamcast" sounds like a little girls' accessory for her "Hello Kitty" stuffed animal playset. I also thought the controller was a little bit too big (too much plastic) and the cord was coming out the wrong end of the controller. However, they were still comfortable and worked well, unlike some controllers in the history of consoles. With many of the "hit" games (Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Crazy Taxi, Sega GT, etc...) making it to other systems (and being sold in pawn shop for $5) and Soul Calibur II and III on other systems, I don't play mine much anymore, but I drag it out once in a while and relive 1999. edit: "Black Belt" was the other name for the other candidate system, and would have sounded much cooler, too.

 

There WAS a Hello Kitty Dreamcast...

 

 

 

Also, I've been giving mine a damn workout. Capcom vs SNK 2!

Edited September 19, 2011 by DemonoidTentacle

[Algus]

The thing I remember most: Trying to find one that works. ...I'm still looking. However, the last one I bought did have a Soul Caliber tucked away in the drive, so that was a bonus. Shenmue, some day I will play you.

 

What problems do you tend to have with the Dreamcasts?

 

I haven't been able to find one that had a laser that didn't give me trouble yet.

[Austin]

Fortunately I have not yet owned a Dreamcast that gave me read problems, but I have heard about issues with them.

[Hydro Thunder]

It's hard to say for 100% certain, but the DC may be my favorite console of all time. I tried to get one at midnight at the local Wal-Mart (the only place in my area that was open at midnight), but I and about 10 other game nerds were disappointed that none of the people working there could figure out how to go to the back and find and bring out a Dreamcast for us. So I got mine from a local shop at 10am.

 

It launched with SO many games. And coming on the heels of the Saturn (which launched with 2 games, I believe? Maybe 5?), the N64 (three or four?) and the Playstation (4 launch titles), it seemed like it was going to rule everything forever. Especially given that most of the 18 or so launch games were _really good_, in stark contrast to the Playstation 2's launch games (ugh!). Soul Calibur, Power Stone, House of the Dead 2, Virtua Fighter 3, so many goodies.

 

I have always really hated the VMU's, though. Terrible idea. And the main menu was so ugly and Pastel-y, really very Hello Kitty when it comes down to it; I wished that they'd have kept the main menu like that on the Saturn, as well as giving some built-in memory. But they were trying to copy the bits of the Playstation that I liked the least; can't blame them for trying I guess.

 

I've got a "Guide to Dreamcast Games" book made by either Brady or Prima that is kind of amusing and sad, in that it specifies Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance as a "coming soon" title. That game would've kicked so much patoot on DC... still does on Xbox, but would've been a great feather in the DC's cap.

 

I think it really failed due to a few things. One would be awful marketing; their weird ads were nowhere near as good as even the weird "Sega!" Genesis ads, or the strange Saturn ads. They didn't play up the sports enough when it could've taken that market handily with the 2k series. Two would be their focus on the arcade games (which I love to pieces) at the expense of the sports games (never got EA on board either) and the opposite end of the spectrum, the RPG games. Sure, PSO and Skies of Arcadia are great, but people need more than that, and those were both late in the cycle. But that's just me taking guesses; who's to say if anything would have allowed them to stay afloat amidst the crazy marketing and hype juggernaut that was the PS2 ("It's so powerful it'll move eighty million more polygons than Dreamcast! It's so powerful it could be used by terrorists to manipulate nuclear missile launches!"). But it would've been nice if they'd have put up a smarter, better fight and stayed with the DC for longer.

 

 

Oh, and also.......

Why they never released DC versions of Golden Axe 4, Panzer Dragoon Saga 2, Shining Force 4, Streets of Rage 3, Nights 2....seems like easy money and great potential to me. I know they were all about letting their developers choose what they wanted to do, and that's all fine and good, but hire a GOOD team with supervision of the good grandmasters like Yuji Naka and get some of these games made. I love weird games like Jet Grind Radio, Typing of the Dead and Space Channel 5, but to sell the system to people who remember their Genesis fondly, give them titles they recognize.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Curious Sofa