Happy 16th Birthday, Dreamcast!

[Nz17]

9/9/99, that famous date, echos forward to the present. This year marks the Dreamcast's sweet 16, and it is still going strong with plenty of homebrew software and indie game releases.

It seems that Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, the 1980's TV cartoon, is getting a new game developed for the Dreamcast. Stretch goals include versions for SNES and TG-16. However, the Dreamcast one is guaranteed as long as the initial funding goal is accomplished. $49 nets the Dreamcast copy, $99 nets that and a soundtrack CD (among other things).

What was the last Dreamcast game you ordered/pre-ordered? What was the latest Dreamcast game you played? Any DC memories you want to share?

[Tanooki]

I don't remember the last game I ever bought, but the last ones I ever got I made for myself with real high quality copies down to the cases and booklets. Sega was in bad shape so we didn't get Propeller Arena. Sony decided to pull some shady heinous garbage and snuffed out Half Life Blue Shield which had gone gold, and an Aussie developer made a front end that would accept a legit set of PAK files from Quake CD and it even used the VMU for data/saving.

I made all three of those the same day and played the hell out of them for quite awhile and it was a real pleasure. They might be the last I played, at least as far as when I first owned the DC during it's retail run. I had one for a short while a few years down the line later and had bought up my old library in part but then had to let it go due to finance issues in the mid 00s and have never looked back other than Gamecube conversions of Skies of Arcadia and Crazy Taxi. It still will remain my favorite Sega system due to the high percentage of quality titles that just made them worth every retail penny upon release, the Genesis somewhat down the list after that.

It's nice they still make games, whoever they may be, for the thing. It just goes to show up damn stupid Sega was with their marketing, their budgeting, and their idiotic ideas in how to sell/pull/addon device up their existing systems that put them into that suicidal spiral nothing could stop. I really wish they would have been the third tier today instead of MS, things would be quite different I think.

[SegaGT]

It’s nice to see that some people still remember the Dreamcast. The DC is older than some of its fans now but most of the new generation never knew how extensive the collections could be.
About 10-12 years ago the collectors went nuts over it but most of those guys have since moved on and sold off their stuff
I myself have had over 100 Dreamcast units. No one could possibly have everything if you include those giveaway promo one off signed units, but chances are if you have a picture of a DC I have it.
If there is enough interest I might actually do a site with a unit for unit picture or video to show the “new generation” what the DC was about and all the crazy variations, factory dev stuff, and the differences between all the localized global releases of the hardware, even the Naomi hardware that supported DC controllers/VMU at the arcade.
Anyone ever see a Mexican DC, or a Chinese DC?
How about a DC kiosk unit with a touch screen to interact with “fish life”.
It actually looks a bit like the Dreamcast DVD mockup unit…

"What was the last Dreamcast game you ordered/pre-ordered?"

Sturmwind Deluxe LE with plush!!!

[Gamevet]

I've had my Dreamcast since 9-9-99. The last 3 titles that I've purchased for the console were Gunlord, 18-Wheeler: American Pro Trucker and Sturmwind LE.

[celerystalker]

Dreamcast was the first console I imported before the US release, along with a copy of Power Stone... how awesome is Piwer Stone?! A week or so later, I picked up Sonic Adventure and Blue Stinger (I also love Blue Stinger, but I've only played the Japanese version), then Espion-age-nts and Langrisser Milennium. Those graphics were astonishing at the time, and I still play most of those games.

I worked at a FuncoLand at the time of the US launch, and had been bringing in my system to the store to show people. When a demo copy of Ready 2 Rumble showed up, we all were quoting Afro Thunder constantly. I remember how crazy people were when I brought in my import Shenmue before the US version...

At the US launch, the game that took me off guard was NFL 2K. That game was the last football game to really wow me, and I love its balance of sim and arcade sensibilities.

The last game I bought for itbwas Gunlord. I bought just about all of the official posthumous shooters, but of the popular indie releases, I've only done Last Hope and Gunlord so far. For the better part of a damned decade I've checked in on Senile Team for Age of the Beast... they'll never finish that thing, the bastards.

[SegaGT]

..I also love Blue Stinger, but I've only played the Japanese version, I worked at a FuncoLand at the time of the US launch,..

The JP version was good to appreciate the artwork. There were times that the camera would pull back and the view was great. Unfortunately trying to cross pipes on the run road made it a greater challenge which is why some complained about the original camera. The French and German versions were also good. The PRon shop was deleted in some versions....

I still have a Funcoland Dreamcast card somewhere!

[Einzelherz]

I preordered it and forgot about doing so. Years later I found the receipt in my dresser.

[Nz17]

I myself have had over 100 Dreamcast units.

Holy cracker jacks, dude! And not just 100 standard white DC's, but all those unique official ones!

Sega was in bad shape so we didn't get Propeller Arena.

Actually SEGA's worries about the public's reaction after the 9/11 attacks to the possibility of crashing your planes into skyscrapers was to blame for the U.S. cancellation of Propeller Arena, not SEGA's financial status. Same situation for so many light gun games having all of their light gun support cut out of the code (or just not advertised on the games' boxes) after the Columbine shootings.

Sony decided to pull some shady heinous garbage and snuffed out Half Life Blue Shield

I believe that Half-Life: Blue Shift's situation was just another case of, "System cancelled? Cancel the project," like so many games which would have seen release late in the Dreamcast's life.

An Aussie developer made a front end that would accept a legit set of PAK files from Quake CD and it even used the VMU for data/saving.

Thanks to iD open-sourcing Quake's code-base.

Skies of Arcadia and Crazy Taxi

Excellent games both.

I really wish they would have been the third tier today instead of MS, things would be quite different I think.

I would much prefer the three tiers being Atari, SEGA, and Nintendo instead of SONY, MicroSoft, and Nintendo. It was better when every major company was purely a video game company and not a monolithic behemoth which spans across industries and nations.

[celerystalker]

I would much prefer the three tiers being Atari, SEGA, and Nintendo instead of SONY, MicroSoft, and Nintendo. It was better when every major company was purely a video game company and not a monolithic behemoth which spans across industries and nations.

I really agree with this sentiment. I don't care so much about the brands as much as their being game companies instead of technology companies. Many of the modern changes that many of us dislike with DRM, DLC, free to play models, etc. are born of the larger scope of monetizing properties that comes from being a multi-faceted tech conglomerate. Exploration of revenue streams takes more of their innovation in design than a company like Sega, whose innovation would have been applied in attempt to create unique game experiences to draw consumers to their platform. First-party development is all but lost outside of Nintendo, as a company like Microsoft sees (correctly, from a business perspective) that the profit is in paying outside publishers for exclusivity and making money from subscription services and licensing fees without taking on the risk of development, production, and advertising costs.

This has shaped third party development into to giant megacorps that groups like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft have become over time, and their approach to revenue streaming. There isn't an interest in creating brand loyalty so much as finding approaches to exploit the profitability of IPs. I don't think companies are wrong to seek profit, mind you, but what I'm getting at is that the culture of developing for these tech companies shifts the focus of design from the game itself to the best way to present and monetize games in the marketplace.

One of the bigger signs has been the shift in game presentation through other media such as magazines, TV, and the internet. In the last decade, the focus has moved away from the games themselves to the development process, industry perspective, and presenting designers and executives like rock stars. Game journalism up through the late '90s focused on the games, strategies, and the experience of playing. You had to get separate industry news sources to see terns like AAA title or see talk about mergers and acquisitions. Now, we all know who Tim Schaefer is, and what his face looks like. We read interviews with company executives about upcoming business strategies.

If it was just game companies, I'm sure some of these revenue streams still would have popped up, but I believe that the public perspective of the hobby would be pretty different. Less systems would have sold, and less money would have been made... but maybe more games I wanted to play would have came about, and I wouldn't have to know what Bobby Kotick's face looks like. To me, the Dreamcast was the last stand of that era.

[YoshiM]

I remember talking my now ex-brother-in-law into getting one as part of a "group purchase". He dove headlong into the PSX and was wanting a PS2. We all plunked down our cash and 16 years ago brought the little machine home along with Soul Calibur. We were all mesmerized by the opening sequence, not unlike me watching the start screen to Golden Axe on my Genesis I bought in 1990. The DC truly was ahead of it's time.

Nowadays, my launch DC doesn't see much use. It doesn't look all that grand on my HDTV and my future step kids don't really find much interest in it. Mario and PokéMon have their minds and souls.

[lendelin]

I got the DC very late, around 2003 when I already had a PS2 and a GC, and then I was surprised what I great gamelibrary it had. I bought all of the RPGs, but especially the great shmups and the best racing games. I'm still missing Gigawing 2 which I found back then already too pricey. (I'm a cheapskate when it comes to games) Usually I'd say around 10% of all console games of a system are worthwhile playing, but in the case of the DC it is much more. Of course I played Seaman, which is probably still today the strangest game I ever played.

I was surprised of the large amount of arcade and arcadey games with the respective atmosphere the DC had. In particular Capcom with ist great arcade roots could run fast and wild with the DC.

I play Dreamcast games as often as NES or SNES games -- just sometimes, the PS3, 360 and Wii get the most attention.

Nowadays when I play DC games, then it is Bangai-O or one of the grand shmups or Metropolis Street Racer. I think that still today Metropolis STreet Racer had the best atmosphere compared to the later games with the radio music. Sure, the graphics are not the best, nevertheless they are good (I have the DC on VGA) and the feeling of street racing and the controls are first class.

I still have to play EGG and Timestalkers which are on my long backlog list.

[Koa Zo]

My fond memory of the Dreamcast is that I didn't know it existed.

I had been an avid (obsessed) gamer since at least 1980.
At the end of the Genesis/CD/32x era I was completely fed up with Sega. I was also fed up with DieHard Gamefan and all the other magazines.
Through '95 into '96 I was cleaning up on clearance games like getting Phantasy Star IV for $20, Robo Aleste for $10, ect ...so I was still avidly playing games, but I just didn't pay attention to the games industry anymore.

At some point I played a demo kiosk of Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and I had previously glanced at a copy of Gamefan with a preview of Shining the Holy Ark. Working late one night graveyard shift at a gas station I was scanning the for sale ads in the local newspaper and saw someone selling a Saturn package with like 20 games and Stunner guns or $200. I grabbed that the next day, and that kept me plenty occupied for the next years (also picking up Saturn clearance games).

So then '98-'99 I was working and living on a ranch out in the hills above San Luis Obispo CA, it was really isolated (I played through many characters in Dragon Force!)
The summer of '99 I moved to Baltimore, I was busy there just working, skateboarding, partying, and playing In the Hunt and Dark Savior (remember that clearly as my house mate was psyched on In The Hunt) I hadn't payed any attention to gaming media for well over a year.

Come mid-September I moved back to my hometown and while talking with an old friend, he was excited to know what I thought of Dreamcast. I had no idea what he was talking about. I don't think he could believe it since I was the biggest gaming enthusiast in our circle. I was probably like "fuck Sega!"

Anyhow, over at this friend's house he had Sonic Adventure and Soul Caliber. A bunch of people were playing and really excited about the games (and the VMUs), I was just like these are dumb. (those games still present no interest to me)

At some point I was looking at a Dreamcast magazine at this friend's house and I saw a preview of Bangaio - that was it. I had to have a Dreamcast.

Sometime by late '99 I made an order from VideogameDepot for Strikers 1945 II, Bangaio, a clear black VMU, and a mod-chip.
I didn't actually buy a Dreamcast until the black Sega Sport model hit the stores. And I recall when buying that, the Electronics Boutique clerk was aggressively trying to sell me an extended warranty. So I was like "Ok, so if I mess-up while soldering in my mod-chip you guys will replace the console?" A girl working behind the counter asked the other guy like "What's he talking about?" and the first clerk got all indignant and was like "That's so he can play burned games! No it's not covered by the extended warranty!"

Shiit fool. No it was so I could play imports like Bangaio!

[Tanooki]

Actually SEGA's worries about the public's reaction after the 9/11 attacks to the possibility of crashing your planes into skyscrapers was to blame for the U.S. cancellation of Propeller Arena, not SEGA's financial status. Same situation for so many light gun games having all of their light gun support cut out of the code (or just not advertised on the games' boxes) after the Columbine shootings.

I believe that Half-Life: Blue Shift's situation was just another case of, "System cancelled? Cancel the project," like so many games which would have seen release late in the Dreamcast's life.


Thanks to iD open-sourcing Quake's code-base.


Excellent games both.

I would much prefer the three tiers being Atari, SEGA, and Nintendo instead of SONY, MicroSoft, and Nintendo. It was better when every major company was purely a video game company and not a monolithic behemoth which spans across industries and nations.

Well, Sega was run by cowards as was anyone catering to the crying pushy vocal minority of the US cancelling games like that, as there was no need and that's the real crime there (aside from the ones motivating the cancellation.)

As far as Half Life went, that one came out as a public story, but I had heard it earlier as for a time my brother worked for what would become Sega-Sammy which still had employees from the just Sega days. The game was finished, it was gold and set to get run, Sony because of the HUGE orgy at the time over anything Half Life put out this nice cash bribe to the publisher (as another developer did the porting) and had it murdered instead of having both a DC and PS2 release. The developer was insanely furious as they put like over a year of their lives into converting that entire game and the blue shift addon, and as a result as revenge they leaked the finished game online and told people 'have fun' basically since the DC was already broken wide open to piracy without a boot disk at the time. So feeding off that fury which I would have had too pissing a year of time to have a game bought out from under and wiped out, I felt entitled to it because I had even put money aside to buy it, so I downloaded it and played it completely. Maybe not the best reasoning as no one is entitled to something exactly, but screw Sony for that and the publisher who went along with it.

I know it was the open source deal, and I now recall it was Titanium Studios that did the grunt work for free. Skies and CT were and are great games, great in a way Sega hasn't been since that period which is a shame as it's like they forgot how to make stuff fun worth doing and keeping around. I have to admit I agree, swapping out Sony for Atari (given they were never incompetent as bad as they were) would be great. Game makers have different perspectives than monolith swiss army knife like companies like Sony and MS and things likely would have been far different. Probably still the systems would have had played movie discs and audio still, eventually adding the online, but I'm not so certain what else would have changed. One could hope no halfassery allowed through releasing beta test games to guinea pig paying suckers to then patch it after with a download on a HDD. When it was just a disc and a memory card or a cart, it had to work or you paid out your ass for a recall.

[SegaGT]

Holy cracker jacks, dude! And not just 100 standard white DC's, but all those unique official ones!

...I would much prefer the three tiers being Atari, SEGA, and Nintendo instead of SONY, MicroSoft, and Nintendo. It was better when every major company was purely a video game company and not a monolithic behemoth which spans across industries and nations.

Well, truth be told most of them are white, but they are all unique. I have an address checker (based on the first run JP hardware) for use By E***s UK. The ones like the Naka signed Marathon contest unit, European Blockbuster Rental unit, even the one that was given away before the US launch (first consumer DC stateside)with a letter signed by Peter Moore that explained that since it was given before the DC launched it did not have a modem... They are all standard white but still neat in their own way.

The collection also includes stuff some would not consider "true official" DC. I have the standard Treamcast, rare black Treamcast, and the widescreen Treamcast. Also Divers CX-1, The standalone retail Dreamcast Kiosk pod (not just the system inside). The Fish life system and other such stuff...

My goal was to eventually open a console gaming museum that covered 1972-2002. 30 years of console gaming from my (creator signed) 1972 Odyssey to my Panzer Dragoon Orta Xbox (999 units released in Japan in December of 2002).

The reason I quoted your statement about the three is because I don't care for the fact that gaming went to the big corps with deep pockets. No way tiny Sega could ever compete with the likes of Sony and Microsoft. I'm really surprised that Nintendo survived.

Alot of the older folks may remember that Sony was partnering With Nintendo then decided to make a go at it themselves and the PS was born.
Microsoft partnered with Sega for the Dreamcast (Windows CE logo on every DC made) then all the sudden DC dies and the Xbox appears...

I'm not bitter at Microsoft or Sony and own some of their stuff too, but I don't like what gaming has become.
This soulless, on demand license/rights and obsolescence garbage is not for me. When they decide to throw "the switch" your game (and money) is gone...

The consumer has spoken we want stuff now. Charge me for it, I'll play it on my Mapple TV then forget about it. With my short attention span you can charge me again for it when I buy a new device that made my last device obsolete in 6 months.

[Tron 2.0]

The only console i ever bought at it's launch.I remember playing it online allot to for pso and alien front online.The dreamcast,really brought the arcade experience for the home and it had really good conversions to boot.The last game i bought for it was gunlord,it's some thing even now there's a homebrew scene for the console still.

[o.pwuaioc]

The only console i ever bought at it's launch.I remember playing it online allot to for pso and alien front online.The dreamcast,really brought the arcade experience for the home and it had really good conversions to boot.The last game i bought for it was gunlord,it's some thing even now there's a homebrew scene for the console still.

GunLord is all right, but if you like shooters, check out Sturmwind. Definitely one of my favorite shooters on the Dreamcast.

[otaku]

I am a former die hard dreamcast fan/collector. Now I am just a fan replaying re-releases and listening to podcasts and surfing sites. I will get into it again at some point and maybe soon (I tell myself) anyway I once had all the releases and most accessories as of lets see this was back in like 2007 so its been awhile.

[Tron 2.0]

GunLord is all right, but if you like shooters, check out Sturmwind. Definitely one of my favorite shooters on the Dreamcast.

Yeah i've heard of sturmwind for the longest time i been meaning to buy a copy.

[SegaGT]

I am a former die hard dreamcast fan/collector... I will get into it again at some point .. I once had all the releases and most accessories ...

That's great if you get back into it! While there is nothing wrong with just enjoying games and re-releases, there is something special about having the historical stuff.

If you get back into buying up original hardware and software, beware. There are some people really trying to hype up and bloat prices to unreal numbers. Every time I go to the "bay", I see sellers trying to sell consoles for thousands of dollars. Completely insane prices for things that should sell for 10% of what they are asking.

The software is only slightly better. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but I see people say something is "graded" they pop it into a clear case, and all of the sudden its "worth" sooooooo much more than it really is. Just sounds like more people are dipping into the collectables market just for their cut of a profit, not for the enjoyment or preservation of the games...

[otaku]

thanks segagt. Yeah when I was collecting back in like 2007 I did some selling/trading but even if it was for profit it was just to sink it back into the hobby and I tried not to be too greedy as I was selling to fellow hobbyists I hope to get in again soon. Maybe very soon!