https://media.gamestop.com/i/gamestop/10122932/Sega-Dreamcast-System?$zoom$


For anybody that grew up in the Late 90s & Early 00s, I'm sure you vividly remember the equal sense of popularity and mysterious essence of what was the Sega Dreamcast. Released in Japan on November 27, 1998, Europe on October 14, 1999, Australia on November 30, 1999, and most notably in North America on the fated day of September 9, 1999, the Dreamcast was Sega's 'last hurrah' in console gaming. After dominating (arguably) in the Late 80s/Early 90s with its Sega MegaDrive/Genesis, the company struggled in the mid-late 90s as Nintendo's SNES popularity was starting to build up steam with its advance 'FX' technology in some of its most popular games at the time like Star Fox, Doom, and the original Donkey Kong Country Trilogy (1994-1996), which helped SNES to start to overtake the Genesis in popularity during the mid 90s. Not to mention the raving success of the original Sony Playstation in the mid-late 90s, and (the slightly less popular) Nintendo 64. Sega's crazy peripherals in the mid 90s for the Genesis/MegaDrive, such as the Sega CD and the Sega 32X, failed to garner any substantive traction in the industry and changed the perception of Sega from a "'Radical' alternative to Nintendo", to "a company of failed gimmicks".


https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F459293212%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale


The failure and (quite frankly) pre-mature demise of the Sega Saturn didn't help much in Sega's deteriorating reputation. Overall, Sega needed a 'Hail Mary', a 'last second three-pointer', a 'last digit home run' for the company to remain competitive in the 21st century. Ultimately..... the company failed to live up to the challenge.


6jlsTlmj_eI


However, despite the fact that the console's lifespan was prematurely short, that didn't mean that the system couldn't deliver on great games.

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/142905833403_/BIG-Lot-of-43-Sega-Dreamcast-Games.jpg

We could go over this all day, but some of the most iconic titles on the system being Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure's 1&2, Phantasy Star Online, Resident Evil Code Veronica, the start of the 2K sports games (2K Football being a notably popular entry), Shenmue 1&2, etc. etc.

https://vgboxart.com/boxes/GCN/41377-sonic-adventure-2-battle.jpg

Some of these games may look familiar to some whom never owned a Dreamcast, as a lot of these games were ported to other 6th generation hardware when Sega became a Third-Party developer (the Nintendo GameCube and the original Microsoft Xbox being the notable examples, as many considered those consoles to be the 'spiritual successors' to the Sega Dreamcast and it's legacy). Overall, while I personally never owned a Dreamcast for myself, I do have a lot of nostalgia plating this lil' guy at my older cousin's house back in like 2001-2002, unbeknownst to me at the time that the console would had just been discontinued. Games such as Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure, not to mention watching my cousin and his friends get very competitive with the 2K sports games (cause let's face it, 6 y/o me would've probably gotten my ass beaten ;D), just bring back nothing but great memories. These years represented my early gaming years, and in many ways taught me 'the ropes' of sorts of video game mechanics.

rN0vEa8Y4J49jo8jdvWrBA

The system, looking back, was massively underrated. It was also so ahead of its time, it's not even funny. Like online multiplayer, granted via 56K dial-up, was so revolutionary at the time. It had so many new/modern aesthetics (such as with the cool VMUs and the little mini-games you could play on there), but it still had tons of retro aesthetics that were still pretty cool (it was one of the last consoles to measure graphical capabilities through 'bits' as an example). Such as badass system, as much as I loved the PS2 growing up, I genuinely believe if the PS2, say, released a year later (in Late 2001, rather than Late 2000) the Dreamcast could've had much more of a fighting chance. In all honesty, most people that bought a PS2 in Late 2000 and much of 2001 for the readably easy and affordable DVD access that the system provided.


It didn't really start to garner steam until some epic releases came out for the system in Late 2001 such as Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, and the original Jak & Daxter. So theoretically, Sony could've potentially just held off till Late 2001 to release the system, and just continue to use 2000 and much of 2001 to massively hype up the system, but that would've still allowed the Dreamcast to compete well into the 6th generation.


Anyways what are your guy's thoughts? Do any of you also have any nostalgic memories of the Sega Dreamcast :D?

FYI, I may make a RetroJunk article on this topic, in case any of you are interested

I still have mine. I was born in 1997 and at the time my next door neighbor worked at a place in silicone valley that was sponsored through sega. They had like 10 of them and gave me one for Christmas in 2000 when I was 3. I started playing Sonic adventure and Crazy Taxi like crazy when I was like 4-7. I had Dead or Alive as well. I have the controllers and the console in my basement. If you like I can post them.

I still have mine. I was born in 1997 and at the time my next door neighbor worked at a place in silicone valley that was sponsored through sega. They had like 10 of them and gave me one for Christmas in 2000 when I was 3. I started playing Sonic adventure and Crazy Taxi like crazy when I was like 4-7. I had Dead or Alive as well. I have the controllers and the console in my basement. If you like I can post them.


Thats awesome! Damn, living right next door to someone whom worked at Sega at the time sounds pretty insane :o. Yeah, if you have any pics, please share ;).

I actually saw that date as nightmare fuel due to older computers using "9999" as a STOP command that many believed could cause major disruptions. I actually was less scared about Y2K itself, given that went off without a hitch.

Probably my fondest memory of the Dreamcast was playing NFL 2K1 as the Baltimore Ravens and winning the Super Bowl on it weeks before the real team did. I first heard about this project in the summer of 1998 which mentioned Sega's last hope to make a comeback. This was when Saturn had run its course and the Genesis was becoming old school, and its a shame that its time in the spotlight was short-lived. But Sega still lives on as a developer, just like it did back in the days of arcades.

Happy anniversary to Sega, and I still have not played on one.

I actually saw that date as nightmare fuel due to older computers using "9999" as a STOP command that many believed could cause major disruptions. I actually was less scared about Y2K itself, given that went off without a hitch.

Probably my fondest memory of the Dreamcast was playing NFL 2K1 as the Baltimore Ravens and winning the Super Bowl on it weeks before the real team did. I first heard about this project in the summer of 1998 which mentioned Sega's last hope to make a comeback. This was when Saturn had run its course and the Genesis was becoming old school, and its a shame that its time in the spotlight was short-lived. But Sega still lives on as a developer, just like it did back in the days of arcades.


That's awesome, yeah it would've been cool being about your age (whom my older cousin happens to be as well) during the hype of the Dreamcast. I didn't know about the potential '9999' glitch :o. Yeah, logically if that didn't bring technological armageddon, then one could've rest easily till January 1st, 2000 knowing that 'Y2K' was likely not going to happen. It's crazy to think about how there was an equal sense of genuine fear and knee guttering excitement for 'the year 2000' back in the late 90s.

Are you still a Baltimore Ravens fan?


Happy anniversary to Sega, and I still have not played on one.


Then whats stopping you now ;). You can easily find some good Dreamcasts out there, in good condition no less, for relatively cheaper than other retro consoles. You'd have to go to the right places (flea markets, garage sales, etc).

Then whats stopping you now ;). You can easily find some good Dreamcasts out there, in good condition no less, for relatively cheaper than other retro consoles. You'd have to go to the right places (flea markets, garage sales, etc).
My fingers are not that nimble anymore.

I didn't get to play much of the Dreamcast in the 90s because I never owned one but my friend did. I was caught up with the PS1/N64 at the time. I might eventually pick one up from Ebay because it has a few games that I want to play mainly Sonic Adventure 1&2.

It's still my all time favorite console. A real travesty what happened to it. Like already mentioned, it was years ahead of its time.

The Saturn fiasco never should've happened. That left a bitter taste in people's mouth.

NFL2K1
Quake 3
Unreal
Women's tennis

My favorites.

Also loved surfing the web on it.