Kotaku
My fellow Kotakuites, I'd like to take a break from the usual news and posts about random gaming weirdness and spend a little time reminiscing. I want us all to take a few minutes and appreciate our Dreamcasts. Today marks the seventh year anniversary of the North American launch of the little white devil, a beautifully compact monster that spawned some of the best games of the generation. So go to the closet, unhook that unsightly Xbox from your composite inputs, and lets have a classic Sega gaming freakout.
I've still got mine hooked up to my living room television, a copy of Samba de Amigo nestled within, a pair of official electronic maracas no more than six feet away from the console.
Tonight I'll be firing up some games I haven't played in years: Phantasy Star Online, Ikaruga, Cosmic Smash, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Bangai-O and Zero Gunner 2. (Yes, I'll be staying in this Saturday night, unfortunately.) Maybe I'll see if I can work in some Jet Grind Radio, but that might be pushing it.
I'll tell you what I remember most about my Dreamcast after the jump, and I invite you to chime in with your thoughts on the best console of the very late 90's.
My first Dreamcast (aka Katana) memory was seeing screenshots of the awful Godzilla Generations and that bizarre disembodied head floating around a (at the time) mindblowingly rendered city. As a long time Sega fan, I was already hooked.
The next outstanding teary-eyed moment was my first hands-on experience. My friend Corey and I rented a Japanese console, as well as copies of Power Stone, House of the Dead 2 and Blue Stinger. After enjoying some 3D brawling and zombie shooting—not to mention the recreational pharmaceuticals and ensuing Taco Bell feast—we laughed ourselves silly by the travesty that was Blue Stinger. Good times.
Sega's September 9 launch was also my first experience with midnight mania. Already having taken the next day off from work (I was REALLY psyched) I left my live-in girlfriend to her rest while I ventured to the mall, to queue up with my fellow nerds. After waiting in line for 90 minutes, I walked out with my console, Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, Power Stone and Hydro Thunder. Sadly, I was too tired to actually play the damn thing when I got home, but dedicated most of my day locked on to the giant Dreamcast controller.
I've had many parties and some impromptu band sleep overs that almost always resulted in someone asking to fire up the Samba de Amigo party machine. Hell, we even had drunken sessions with Typing of the Dead.
I remember getting "hit on" for the first time in an online game by a bunch of dudes in Phantasy Star Online, as my adorable HUnewearl Mika pranced about the station, looking for free gear. Men. So predictable.
Oh, I suppose I could go on and on about my time with my Seaman, my first import game purchase ever in Ikaruga, spending $80 on maracas when I was barely making rent, playing NFL2K1 online and loving it, buying all those great Capcom fighting games and rarely playing them, blowing my Shenmue per diem on capsule toys, but we'd be here all night.
Let us know in the comments just how much you love your Dreamcast, or, when you Dreamcast noob slackers are finally going to go out and pick one up and restore your gaming cred. Ikaruga, here I come!
