From classic scooters and teddy bears to Furbies and Cabbage Patch Kids, this Good Housekeeping list documents the hottest of hot toys that were hot in their day. And unlike People Magazine's 80s special, they've gone and given Nintendo and Sega their rightful props as hot toys.

While I can't name anybody who'd be glad to get a jar of Play-Doh this year, I can think of a lot of people who would be thrilled to see a Sega Dreamcast or an original Nintendo Entertainment System under their X-mas tree this year. Sadly, none of them are kids.

What classic entertainment system would you want under your tree this year?

The Best Toys of All Time [Good Housekeeping by Yahoo! Shopping]

Announced on the Dreamcast's 10th anniversary, Rush Rush Rally Racing is a top-down racer that, in all fairness, looks rather primitive. Primitive as it is, it is still a new game you can purchase that will play in your Dreamcast, and now you can spend a little more to get a little more. You'll have to wait a little longer for the Deluxe edition, due out in November while the regular version drops this month, but you get a soundtrack CD, full color manual, deleted scenes, and stickers for your trouble. Stickers!

Folks who have already ordered the game from http://www.redspotgames.com/shop are able to change their order to the Deluxe edition via internet magic. The premium package will run you 27,95 EUR / US$ 42.00 / 27,00 GBP.

It's called Rush Rush Rally Racing. Don't expect Metro Street Racer; this looks more like Mega Drive Street Racer. OK, that's a bit mean. Sorry. After all, when a new Dreamcast game is released, we should be thankful somebody is still going to the effort, and concentrate on that, rather than the game's looks.

It's $22, will be available on Amazon, and you can even pre-order the game on the publisher's site. It'll be out next month.

New Dreamcast Game Coming This October! [Bitmob]

Blogs Peter Moore, "I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the Dreamcast and it's online network laid the ground for what we all take for granted today - online game play, linking innumerable gamers from around the world to play, compete and collaborate, as well as enabling new content to be delivered in addition to that which was delivered on the disc."

The Dreamcast certainly pioneered home console gaming as we know it today, but ultimately was killed off by the ubiquitous Sony PlayStation 2.

Moore talks about the Dreamcast in greater depth on his EA Sports blog, so do check it out. Oh, he also throws SEGA Japan under the bus when he clears up a misconception regarding the console's demise:

The decision was made, from Japan, to pull the plug and begin the transition to becoming a multi-platform third party developer and publisher. We at SOA, while disappointed, were in full agreement that this was the only real course of action, and it was with a heavy heart that I hosted the conference call on January 31st, 2001, announcing that Sega was ceasing manufacturing of the Dreamcast console. The call on the decision was made by SOJ. The conference call to announce the decision was conducted by SOA.

9/9/99 – Ten Years After - Peter Moore Blog [Peter Moore Blog via Eurogamer] [Pic]

The rating says "multiplatform," which further vagues up whatever Sega's plans are here. That Gaming Site, which saw the listing earlier today, figures it could be a new control scheme on the Wii, an XBLA release, or part of some new compilation.

Sonic Adventure DX debuted on the Dreamcast in 1998; the Director's Cut was the version brought to GameCube and PC in 2003.

Sonic Adventure DX to be Remade Again? [That Gaming Site]

The head of Sega West, Mike Hayes, told me Wednesday that, despite the pride Sega has in the Dreamcast, it has no formal celebration to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its launch in September.

"Generally we won't be doing anything that's official," he said. The main reason is that Sega has reinvented itself as a software company. And it's important for us to focus on the other platforms that are alive and current."

"Informally, because there are people in the company who were involved in the Dreamcast launch, there will be celebrations," he said, "But as a company, publicly, that's going to be something we're going to be pretty low key about for obvious reasons. We're effectively a different company."

Hayes said that Sega has reinvented itself as a software company, which makes it more fitting to focus on other company's hardware. "It's not to disrespect the excellent system the Dreamcast was," he said, "Or the innovations that were done on it, which I think were probably a few years ahead of time in terms of the online application. I just think we as a company are multi-format and we want to talk about our first-party platform partners rather than when we were a first-party."

Dreamcast hardware may not the focus of any official Sega efforts, but Dreamcast software still has a future. Sega has aggressively distributed much of its older back catalog of games as digital downloads on home consoles, PC and portable machines. The Dreamcast line-up, comprised of bigger games, less easily brought to current platforms, is not going to be neglected, Hayes said. "I can't give you any details. Suffice to say, there's a lot of technical issues, a lot of licensing issues. But we are very keen to bring [them] to players in the way we've done with Genesis games. We want to do it, but it's hard work to get there. Hopefully we can build on that quite soon."

You don't technically even need color, like these old-school pals. (There is a little bit of red, in the logos; and some color elsewhere.)

Unfortunately, no papercraft game pads are included with these two designs, put up by Cubeecraft.

Papercraft NES and Dreamcast Cost Less, Play Just as Many Cutting Edge Games [Endgadget]

1989 Press release announcing executive hiring at Sega of America...

Based in South San Francisco, Sega of America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sega Enterprises Ltd./Japan, recognized as a global leader in the high-technology entertainment game industry.

Sega's worldwide activities involve the conception, creation and sale of consumer electronics and entertainment products, including coin-operated arcade games and home video hardware, software and electronic toys, and the operation of arcade centers.

1990 Press release announcing Thomas Kalinski becoming president of Sega of America
(Note: Some of these descriptions are for the Japanese home company; others for the American subsidiary)...

Sega Enterprises Ltd./Japan is a 39-year-old worldwide leader in high-tech electronic entertainment systems and toys. Sega, a public company listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is one of the fastest-growing companies in Japan.

1995 Press release announcing Sega's intent to not just support the Genesis and the Saturn, but to start a company called Sega Soft that would "focus on developing content for multimedia PCs and the Internet"...

Sega Enterprises Ltd., is a nearly $ 4 billion company recognized as the industry leader in interactive digital entertainment media and is the only company that offers interactive entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. Sega of America's World Wide Web site is located at http://www.segaoa.com.

2000 Press release announcing the debut of the Dreamcast game Sonic Shuffle
(Note: Sega's getting more verbose, but it's awkward to see that that company dollar value they cited five years prior has shrunk so much. But check out their better URL. The company would be a third-party developer within a year.)...

Sega of America is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Sega Corporation responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega videogame systems and videogames in the Americas. Sega Corporation is a nearly $2.5 billion company recognized as the industry leader in interactive digital entertainment media, offering interactive entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. Sega of America's World Wide Web site is located at www.sega.com.

2005 Press release announcing the development of Full Auto and Condemned: Criminal Origins for the Xbox 360...

SEGA of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America's Web site is located at www.sega.com/usa.

2009 Press release announcing the release of Let's Tap
(Note: I'm sure people are busy at Sega, but did nothing change in four years? There's nothing new to say about the company?)...

SEGA of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America's Web site is located at www.sega.com/us.

I could now ask you readers how you would describe Sega, but that might be asking for trouble.

Remarkably, the writer of last week's piece on "the highest arcade in the world," (7,000 feet above sea level) is having some luck finding the young man who whooped his ass at Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the PSOne back in 1999. Lee Bradley says that, after his piece ran on Bitmob, someone wrote to say he would ship a Dreamcast and some games over to the parlor in Darjeeling, India.

Apparently the reader failed to notice this travelogue was about an experience 10 years ago. Undeterred, Bradley set off to locate the kid and/or the parlor. After a call to the hotel he'd stayed in, and an appeal on the comments section of a Darjeeling newspaper's site, Bradley's gotten so far as to narrow the parlor's site down to one of three locations. He's asked a local man to visit them and take some pictures of each so he can verify which is correct.

He's waiting to hear back. More on this as it develops.

Also by the way, "highest arcade in the world" has a nice ring to it, but at 7,000 feet, I'm sure there are some game rooms at ski areas, past or present, that could top that. But I bet they don't serve the kind of tea you can get at this place.

The Search for Arcade Boy [Bitmob]

I don't know where they got them, or how many they have. I just know that geek superstore ThinkGeek.com is now selling new Dreamcast consoles complete in their boxes for $99. I also know that I am desperately trying to keep myself from purchasing one, so if you all could help them sell out before I am tempted to replace the one I already have, that would be great. *hits checkout* Too late.

The price might be a bit higher than you can find elsewhere, but 2-day shipping is less than $10, so it balances out a bit.

And if older consoles aren't your thing, be sure to check out the USB Nintendo Entertainment System controller they've got in stock, offering all the joy of an NES controller with the convenience of USB.

Original Sega Dreamcast Console [ThinkGeek.com]

Not only does it give you a Dreamcast that's practically all screen, but it can run on batteries (with 3-3.5 hours of game time) and gives you a sexy, ejecting CD drive as well.

Oh, and it has AV out, so if you like, you can use it as a normal Dreamcast and plug it into your TV. If that doesn't make it the perfect Sega home console in your misty, Sega-loving eyes, well, your standards are too high.

Mod of the Week [Fusion Mods, thanks John!]

"So I started taking shit apart," he says, and seeing the monitor fit in nicely the Dreamcast was the next logical step. It wasn't a piece of cake, but he pulled it off.

"A lot of work went into this, like getting the original power button to work for the new monitor and adding a power switch for the DC, then adding a sound amp to power the iMac's speakers ... getting it all together was a bitch. It was all pretty fun to do, and it plays just great!"

You can get a look at it in this video:

How Frick'n Cool is This? [CGCC.ca via Engadget]

We're well aware of your interest in rehashing classic Sega Master System and Genesis titles, but we never thought you'd actually get around to capitalizing on the Dreamcast library. Sure, brand new trademarks for Rez make sense, but 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker? You can't possibly be planning on providing us with a sequel to that right?

If you're going to keep re-upping trademark claims on titles like Cosmic Smash alongside non-blockbusters like ChuChu Rocket, Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram, Sonic Shuffle, and Jet Grind Radio we're just going to keep becoming more suspicious about your intentions.

I wonder if those rumors we'd heard about a slate of Dreamcast titles coming to PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade are true. Seems like the only place one could sell a copy of 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker these days. Or maybe calling the iPhone the new Dreamcast was a heavily loaded hint.

Or perhaps it's all nothing...

Naka, now at Sega funded start up Prope, tells Kikizo "until the very final moments, I was really against Sega leaving the hardware business." Partially because Sonic Team was on the cusp of releasing the original Phantasy Star Online, but also because he felt the Dreamcast's networking capabilities was something Sega should further exploit.

"In a way I feel that, had that decision not been made, Sega would have gone bankrupt - so maybe it was a good business decision," Naka explains "But at the same time, I also feel like, what the hell - we should have given it a go, and we should have taken that risk."

Sadly, many of recall what went down. Sega dumped the Dreamcast. Yuji Naka dumped Sega to form Prope and develop titles like Let's Tap. And we get a little teary every time we turn on the best console Sega ever produced.

Naka also tells Kikizo that Prope's corporate color scheme — as well as the founder's tie and socks — was directly lifted from the Dreamcast's palette. Fanboy!

He's Back: Yuji Naka Prope Interview [Kikizo]

The piece does a nice job of laying everything out and even correcting a few misconceptions. There are also bonus lists of the best Dreamcast titles and the best DC cult classics.

And your favorite DC title is...?

Dreamcast: A Forensic Retrospective [Eurogamer]

According to the individual who supplied these pages to game site UK:R, "I have deleted the recipient's name for privacy, but it's a genuine fax."

So, yeah, go on, read and remember: THIS IS SERIOUS.

INTERNAL SEGA COMMUNICATIONS - SOUL CALIBUR PANTS-COLOUR CHEAT CONFUSION MADE GOOD [UK:R]

On December 22, SEGA U.S. re-registered the ChuChu trademark — one of many DC titles to get their TMs renewed. According to game site Siliconera, this year SEGA has re-registered trademarks for following Dreamcast games: Sonic Shuffle, Cosmic Smash, Jet Grind Radio and Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram.

Sure, this might just be SEGA protecting these trademarks, or it might be SEGA working on updates of these titles. Who knows? SEGA does, that's who.

Seriously Sega, What’s With All These Dreamcast Trademarks? [Siliconera]

The Japanese version of the Sega Dreamcast launched with a rather paltry four forgettable games: Godzilla Generations, Virtua Fighter 3tb, PenPen TRiIceLon and July. Sonic Adventure, originally planned to hit at launch, was delayed. Other titles that came shortly after, like Incoming and Seventh Cross, didn't help matters.

Given the line-up, the Japanese launch was somewhat of a dud, far from the early success of its North American counterpart which hit almost a year later on September 9, 1999. When Sony announced the PlayStation 2, less than six months after the Japanese Dreamcast launch, it ended the console war — at least in terms of perception — before it had a chance to begin.

The Dreamcast still managed to deliver some of the best software of the generation, with titles like Power Stone, Soul Calibur, Jet Grind Radio, Phantasy Star Online, Typing of the Dead and Samba de Amigo still fondly remembered.

My first hands on time with the Dreamcast came when I rented an imported console, along with Blue Stinger and The House of the Dead 2, for a Sega filled weekend. Fortunately, those two titles didn't dissuade me from picking up a North American console at the midnight launch.

Please feel free to share your fondest Dreamcast memories and pour out a bit of your virtual forty for this enduring casualty of the console war.

Tokyo PC shop Tsukumo has gutted the Dreamcast console and stuffed it with all sorts of stuff: a compact Sony NEC Blu-Ray BD-5500A drive, HDMI output, a Western Digital 160GB hard drive, and a MINIX 780G-SP128MB motherboard. The controller plugs have been turned into Flashdrive-friendly USB ports. It runs on Windows XP Professional.

Total cost to create this PC in a DC shell? Approximately a cool thousand bucks. It's on display at Tsukumo's main Tokyo retail stop. This same shop previously turned a SEGA Saturn into a computer as well.

「ドリームキャストPC」登場、来週展示予定サターンPCよりも性能向上、Blu-rayも搭載 [Akiba PC Hotline! via Canned Dogs]