Holy crap - the Dreamcast will turn a decade old this year..

coltyhuxx

coltyhuxx

CAGiversary!
I can't believe it's been ten years. I still vividly remember seeing the Sonice demo in the stores. And I still fondly recall receiving this little game called Shenmue in the mail from this new site called the eBay.

I've owned nearly every system, going back to the 2600, but for some reason, I still have such a soft spot for the Dreamcast. I love my SNES, but there was just something different about the DC for me. It's launch felt... just huge.

How about it -- what are some of your fond DC memories?

Here's a little one of mine which I've told before years ago on CAG. I was playing Skies of Arcadia when my housemate ran across my field of view. Her leg snagged the controller cord and the DreamCast went FLYING violently off of the shelf. It should have, by all rights, exploded. Think of the what would be going through your head if someone picked up your 360 or your PS3 and threw it across the room. The lid popped open and the disc landed a few yards a way from the machine. I thought, "well, this is clearly game-over." With little confidence, I set it all back up, and aside from the power button needing some manual work, it worked flawlessly. And still does to this day. Such a hardy little unit -- never gave me any problems. And to think, ten years later, the red ring of death still haunts the 360.

You gotta love the below: the Dreamcast will "change the internet FOREVER!!" Lol.


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TIme flies by faster and faster.

I didn't get a launch DC (I never do), but this system was the first internet experience I had, first multiplayer online experience, first real FPS experience, is responsible for the origin of my name, and my first clan experience....

It really was a great system. I think if EA have supported it then it wouldn't have died so early (even with the failures of the Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn still festering). As long as Project Justice is never available anywhere else, and as long as Marvel vs. Capcom 2 has its best port on the DC, I'll always have a reason to fire it up.

Quake III Arena is still my best memory though. I made so many friends playing that game (still keep in contact with some). It was the first time I ever played against people from other countries. I loved hearing my dial-up connecting for a game. I remember playing against players from the UK and Australia and just enjoying chatting with them. I don't think people realize just how big Quake III was back in the day. It was the DC's Halo 3 or CoD. I eventually moved to the PC version of Quake III and would sitll play against my DC friends. That was a great feature. Man, I'm getting all nostalgic. :D
 
I had a Dreamcast early on, though for whatever reason I only ever picked up a handful of games for it. There are so many Dreamcast gems I wish I had had in my library. Still, in my view Soul Calibur justified the console's existence all by itself.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I had a Dreamcast early on, though for whatever reason I only ever picked up a handful of games for it. There are so many Dreamcast gems I wish I had had in my library. Still, in my view Soul Calibur justified the console's existence all by itself.[/quote]

SoulCalbur still looks great, even by today's standards.

Damn, Grandia 2 was a lot of fun too. The RPG's were few, but solid, on that system.
 
I still remember the day that Sega announced it would be $50, and I ran over to Funcoland with my brother to get one.
 
the DC is pretty ahead for online gaming. Still wish Chu chu rocket will get a port to XBLA and PSN.
 
I remember beating al the expert levels on chu chu. Took forever! Had tons of the best titles and hated sony for killing such a great system with all their hoopla. Would rather see chu chu 2 on wii though as the pointing mechanic would kill the other systems joystick input.
 
On a related note the gba version of chu chu rocket is phenomenal. It has literally hundreds, maybe even a couple thousand levels for the puzzle mode. They were all user submitted by owners of the dreamcast original. Endless thought provoking fun!
 
Is there a PDF of that issue of EGM floating around anywhere, or at least scans? I think that issue got ruined in a box of mags that got waterlogged...and I'm jonesing for some nostalgic press to read on the shitter...
 
[quote name='greyzieoriental']The sad thing is that the console probably still works, unlike the machines today.[/quote]


I'll give that to Sega. All my Sega machines (Genesis, Sega Cd, Saturn, Dreamcast) are reliable and still work today.

I just remembered I found my VGA Box this weekend. I think I am going to hook it up to my monitor tonight and get some Project Justice going. :D
 
I remember when my friend got his on launch day. That Friday night, we had a big party with another friend bringing his and we played them like mad.

I later "babysat" another friend's for quite a few months, as he had been moving around and was afraid it would get stolen/sold by roommates/family members. I played THE HELL out of Crazy Taxi 2, breaking all his records. He said he played for over two weeks every night trying to crack the lists, but was never even close.

Around that time, I tried to get on at Gamestop as they had 'em for $30 with a free $7.99 or lower game. Sadly, they were out of stock.

I've never seen one used for sale. :(
 
I imported the system months before it came to the states. I was playing Sonic when a bunch of friends came by to hang out. They weren't gamers like me so they had no clue what the Dreamcast was. They saw Sonic and were blown away. I remember we were all talking about how graphics couldn't get any better. lol

I wish the industry grabed me like it did 10 years ago. Everything was so new and exciting. Now I'm always so skeptical of things. I got very jaded over the last decade.
 
if you think about it the wii is similar to the dreamcast.
one of the reasons the dreamcast failed was that it was high in demand so stores demanded and got more consoles, then the PS2 came out, then stores were overstocked with DCs so they flopped.

The wii is in high in demand now, but Nintendo is limiting consoles.
I think that they were taking a lesson from the DC so demand won't be met, yet they'll still make money. Plus people will always want what they can't have.
 
[quote name='greyzieoriental']The sad thing is that the console probably still works, unlike the machines today.[/quote]
Mine still gets some use about once or twice a month with Soul Calibur and Vampire Chronicle...and the Agetec Arcade Stick.
 
[quote name='Nathan_Sama']if you think about it the wii is similar to the dreamcast.
one of the reasons the dreamcast failed was that it was high in demand so stores demanded and got more consoles, then the PS2 came out, then stores were overstocked with DCs so they flopped.

The wii is in high in demand now, but Nintendo is limiting consoles.
I think that they were taking a lesson from the DC so demand won't be met, yet they'll still make money. Plus people will always want what they can't have.[/quote]


Piracy killed the DC more than anything.
 
I remember that my older brother bought the black dreamcast (nfl 2k edition?) along with nfl 2k. I would annoy him by constantly being in his room playing with the console. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was AMAZING, and I'm not a fighting game fan, haha. Good memories.
 
I remember getting it for Christmas that year and NBA2k man it was a great game and console and still is today! It would be awesome if they made a new Dreamcast type machine!
 
I just hooked mine up last weekend, been playing sonic adventure 2, games still look great. I'am thinking now of making an arcade stick, ill just have to buy a second hand controller somewhere.

I remember it like yesterday, on christmas morning opening the one and only dreamcast, and then my brother opened his gamecube, which i hated. Only now i like to play gamecube, i hated it years ago thought it was for babies...
 
I wish I had kept mine. MvsC2 along with Powerstone 2 and RE Code Veronica were some of my fondest high school gaming memories.
 
Soul Calibur for the DC is still the best version of any fighting game ever. Seriously, subsequent Soul Caliburs were far inferior.
 
I still love the DC!! I just played a season of NHL 2k2. I love Soul Calibur and MK Gold on it. I have 2 of the white DC's and a black sports edition of it. Kick ass little system!

It's STILL thinking..........
 
I still play the thing regularly. The games on there were basically Sega and Capcom at their height (meaning they were awesome), and it was the last system before the whole "games as experiences" trend hit and fucked everything up.
 
While I don't have many memories of the DC's release, aside form subscribing to the DC magazine, it has really proven to be something of a 'good luck' system for me.

I didn't have too much intention of getting a Dreamcast, but a co-worker came across a copy of record of Lodoss War and asked me if I wanted it. I knew it was kinda rare and anime-related, so I said yes, I'll go buy the system if I can have it :D That night, my sister's BF gave me a copy of Power Stone that came into his work.

I went out the following weekend and got a DC at the flea market with 1 1st party controller for $30. I got a green VMU, opened but never used (with cap) from another booth for $6. I got a blue VMU (with cap) at a nearby Gamestop for $2, and 2 more 1st party controllers for $3, Along with Evolution 2 for $8. When I got home and undid the seal on on th game, Evolution 1 fell out- someone put them together before stickering the case shut.

Went back to work, and my co-worker brought me the Lodoss war copy- along with about 10 more titles, including a PAL version Shemue 2 and boot disc. Sis's BF brought be a brand-new Dreamcast keyboard a few weeks later. I got so much DC stuff for free/cheap those first few months...

I just had it going the other day- I got 2 more first party controllers for a total of 5 (4 grey, 1 blue). I noticed though, that if I don't play my DC pretty often the date resets. Is that normal? It's the only odd thing mine does.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']I noticed though, that if I don't play my DC pretty often the date resets. Is that normal? It's the only odd thing mine does.[/QUOTE]

That's normal. Oddly enough, the rechargeable battery inside the system doesn't stay topped up while the system's off but plugged in. It only gets charged when the system's on.

9/9/99. I remember it so well. I was playing hookey from school and wanted a DC so bad. I was playing S3&K on my Genesis instead that day. Good day.

12/25/99. Got a DC, MvC1, and WWF Attitude. Oh yeah :)

April 2000. Got DOA2. mmmm... hot chicks... and what's this? A good fighting game? I sunk about 200 hours into that game.

May and June 2000. Got Street Fighter Alpha 3. Then I stayed home and played hookey even more one day. It was some sort of outdoors activity at school, but I said "fuck that" and played World Tour mode all day long. It was sweet.

Oh man, too many good memories to list. It was the best time for video games.
 
Great system -- couldn't hold off the big PS2 and its DVD player. Still, I prefered the DC...but, for whatever reason Sega just couldn't get its A titles to be as fun as they had been in the past. VF, Daytona, Sega Rally, all were very good, but missing something, missing that Sega feel. Of course not having EA Sports on the system hurt, not having a DVD player hurt, and the GD disk issues early on at launch didn't help.
 
I discovered Piracy with the Dreamcast. I was a very bad person back in 2000 :(

I remember getting a VMU, and wearing it to school as a necklace on a silver thingy and when we had to clean the workshop room, I somehow got it stuck on a chair and started choking. They had to pry the VMU out from the chair.

Oh and the battery in that thing was a POS. But fond memories of porn surfing on it too :p
 
I was thinking of playing psu on it, i found a guide that lets you use a broadband port on your pc and bridges it to the dial up port so you can play online, id play if some would like join me.
 
Still love my Dreacast, although I never actually owned it during its hay day, I would always play it at my buddies house. After seeing the recent trend in video games (3-5 years back), I had to go and pick one up. Been loving it ever sense.
I am actually putting together a fan art book in anticipation for the 10 year anniversary, if anyone would like to contribute just let me know.
 
Best dreamcast moment. The moment my roomates and I put NFL 2k in the system in college. It was the most amazing game I had ever played. It was light years beyond any other football game at the time.
 
[quote name='LilPaintballer']I was thinking of playing psu on it, i found a guide that lets you use a broadband port on your pc and bridges it to the dial up port so you can play online, id play if some would like join me.[/QUOTE]
Can you link me to that site?
 
I bought my first one on launch day from Funcoland. I eventually had to buy another one because my first one stopped reading discs. I still have it along with games like Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, and Jet Set Radio. JSR was one of my favorite DC games, the xbox sequel wasn't nearly as good.
 
Reading this thread has brought me back, and kind of made me wish I'd never sold mine. My fondest game memories are definitely Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia II, and the original Phantasy Star Online.

May have to re-acquire a DC at some point, I think I still even have a few controllers packed away somewhere.
 
Still have DC I bought back in Jan 2000, still works today. I got a copy recently of Shenmue through Goozex last month, unfortunatly can't read the 1st disk. Currently awaiting a copy of 4 Wheel Thunder, if its anything like Hydro Thunder should be excellent. Best moments on the DC were 4 way battles in RUsh 2049.
 
I bough my first dreamcast last year and i play it more than xbox 360. I agree that Soul Calibur is the best fighting game and none of the remakes(XBLA,gamecube) would ever match the gameplay and graphics. I just bought Shenmue for $12 , i still have to see whats with all the hype about this game. If anyone has Marvel vs Capcom 2 burned or original for sale, i would buy it for $20 or
 
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I remember getting my DC towards the end of 2000. I remember being pissed that in Jan 2001 when they announced they were discontinuing it and started selling it for $99. But here are some of my memories of the system.

When I first got the system, I only had enough to get NFL2K, but didn't have a VMU. I didn't get a VMU until I found a 3rd party one on sale at Radio Shack for $20.00. A month later I got Crazy Taxi and to this day remember all the great times I had with the system, and being in complete AWE over the graphics. (Something I wouldn't experience again until I got my 360, but even then it wasn't the same.)

I remember getting Omikron and being blown away by the massive world that you got to play in. Also at the time I was playing Unreal Tournament for PC at a local LAN spot. When I heard UT was coming out for DC, I pre ordered right away. When I got UT, I also bought the official DC Mouse and KB, and got my first online console experience. I remember getting into my first online clan CFH and playing on a nightly basis.

I also remember during the summer there was a summer long UT tournament hosted by Sega. It was nuts seeing what would become standard in online gaming today.
 
[quote name='heartagram311']I remember getting my DC towards the end of 2000. I remember being pissed that in Jan 2001 when they announced they were discontinuing it and started selling it for $99.[/quote]

That's EXACTLY what happened to me - Christmas 2000, to be precise. DC was already big around my circle of HS friends at the time. We'd get together during our free time between classes, hook a DC up in our old biology teacher's lab, and play NFL2K, Powerstone 2, MvC, Crazy Taxi, and Tennis. This was also when I REALLY started using Amazon.com's "Wish List" function, and it was filled with all DC games. I had two controllers originally and the fishing rod (for Sega Marine Fishing - yeah, I was that guy). Eventually I ended up getting another controller. One of more interesting moments was playing Powerstone 2 with three other people AND the fishing rod. Perhaps not as effective, but infinitely more amusing...especially when I ended up beating most of my friends.

I never got into Shenmue - it's probably the only game in history, and there have been a few, that I just stopped playing and returned. It was probably a combination of not really getting into the "time management" aspect of it and not liking the controls, but I do sort of regret it. Eventually I'll probably get back into it since I still have my DC - and most likely will until it breaks.

Oh, and how about Seaman? "Played" it once...that was more than enough to completely corrupt part of my then-innocence.
 
I don't remember a thing from January 2001 until June 2001...think it has something to do with a little game called Phantasy Star Online.;)

I graduated from college in fall of 2000 after getting out of the military 2 years earlier. I was dejected to discover that my state wouldn't allow me to challenge the board to become a physical therapy assistant because they didn't recognize my Army schooling (I was a PTA in the Army for 6 years). That kinda blew my whole life's plan. So, while wallowing in what to do next, I found solace in PSO...and a little bit more!

You see, I played PSO like it was my job...probably much like most people play WoW today (which is way I stay far, far away from WoW). I'd start at 7 am, eat Hot Pockets and use the bathroom, knock off at 3 am. Lather, rinse, repeat. I was totally enthralled, and I loved every minute of it.

As usual in these types of games, you kinda of form your own little clicks. The main one I remember was a little black FOnewm with a fro named Halfbaked. He would say things like, "I got some skittles stuck in my fro!", and other humorous remarks. I would always find canes (as it was for HUcasts), so I would always give them to him. We played together all the time.

One day, after we trounced Dark Falz for the umpteenth time, we started shooting the shit. So I asked, what do you guys do for a living? I told them I was a new grad in between jobs. The other member of the party told H-Beezy, "Tell him, boss."

Halfbaked says he was then the VP of marketing for Infogrammes. Of course I didn't believe him. So he asked for my home mailing address, and I complied. Not 2 days later, I got a Fed Ex box FULL of Dreamcast games...all Infogramme titiles! Long story short, he also sent me passes for E3 that year, so I was able to go to the Greatest Show on Earth.

...and Mom always said playing games wouldn't get me anywhere.;)

PS - I dusted mine off today matter of fact and am enjoying some VOOT...trying to get warmed up before the XBLA port hits!:bouncy:
 
Oh yeah, I'm running my 'Cast on my 65" DLP with an upscaler from the VGA Box. It displays in widesceen and looks WONDERFUL.

Playing VOOT:

voot65.jpg
 
Wow that's cool Knox, were you using the old 56k or some Broadband?

For me the DC was all about a slew off great games, and then I found out how to play PAL games....Oh Shenmue II how you sucked my life away
 
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