Sega Dreamcast Turns 10

[naum]

http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/09/09/1540259/Sega-Dreamcast-Turns-10?from=rss

"It's been 10 years since 9/9/1999, when the Dreamcast launched on American shores. The hardware was ahead of its time; online capability, web browser, a visual memory unit, and a controller that anticipated the much-loved Xbox 360 controller. The games were amazing:  Jet Set Radio (the first popular 3d cell-shaded game on a console),  Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (still the apotheosis of 2-d fighting; just try finding a copy on ebay),  Soul Calibur (still looks good compared to the recent Xbox/PS3 versions),  NFL 2K (came out of nowhere, and was so good that it shook EA into spending tens of millions of dollars to seal up exclusivity for NFL rights), and many others. No doubt some of the reasons for the Dreamcast's demise lay with Sega, whose dubious hardware decisions (ahem, 32x) finally caught up to them, in the form of ambivalence from both developers and gamers, just as the console-making world was shifting to the multinationals with big pockets who were willing to spend it on pricey hardware design (or could absorb the cost of faulty hardware design). It was also one of the first consoles widely used for homebrew. In honor of the 10th anniversary, a new game is being released for the Dreamcast, called Rush Rush Rally Racing. The Dreamcast is dead! Long live the Dreamcast!"

I loved my Dreamcast, I might have to pull it out of the closet and hook it up again…

[Yegolev]

It's one of the few consoles I never had.

[Koyasha]

Heh, that's interesting.  And yeah, that was an awesome little console, except for the retarded cable placing on the controller, forcing you to waste ~8 inches of cable routing it under the controller and forward again.

[murdoc]

My Dreamcast is still hooked up to my TV. I <3 my Dreamcast so very very much.

[Mrbloodworth]

Fucking awesome game, if you didn't play it you missed out.

There was some other game I played on Dreamcast as well, I dont recall the title but it was a rather low key game where you played as some young Asian boy and basically lived out your life....sorta. I do recall it has some basic fighting, and some collectible figurines. I think there was a second one I never played.

[jakonovski]

Giant Bomb is doing quick looks on DC games of olde. It's awesome, for real.

[Kail]

There was some other game I played on Dreamcast as well, I dont recall the title but it was a rather low key game where you played as some young Asian boy and basically lived out your life....sorta. I do recall it has some basic fighting, and some collectible figurines. I think there was a second one I never played.

Shenmue, maybe?

I totally loved the DC.  There were a bunch of quirky, weird games on the thing; Jet Grind Radio, Ooga Booga, Power Stone, Tech Romancer, Ecco...  Had a ton of fun with this console.

[Azazel]

Completely coincidently I put my Dreamcast away in a cupboard yesterday (9/9) to make room for the PS3 I'll probably buy later this year. To be fair though, it wasn't even connected to the TV or power anymore and hadn't been turned on in  ..8 months? A couple of years? dunno.  A long time.

[Fabricated]

I played the shit out of Jet Grind Radio, Skies of Arcadia, and PSO 1/2 but nothing else really.

[Azazel]

I liked the Street Fighter games and other Capcom 2-D fighters, along with Power Stone 1 and 2, Soul Calibur. I think there was a decent version of Daytona as well, definately enjoyed Sega Rally in the day as well.

When I get into the new place (with more space), I'd like to set it up again for those games. How it works out, only time will tell though.

[Shrike]

Best little box no one ever bought.

I still have mine, but haven't fiddled with it in a couple of years. Might have to bust out Record of the Lodoss War again.

[Segoris]

NFL 2K (came out of nowhere, and was so good that it shook EA into spending tens of millions of dollars to seal up exclusivity for NFL rights)

It still hurts every single time I read this.

[Mrbloodworth]

Shenmue, maybe?

Yes, that was it thank you. Great game.

[jth]

I bought a DC from an auction site last friday, had been thinking of buying one for a while, and the prices around here have been going up so it was time. I also bought some games for it from eBay:

Headhunter
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
MDK2
Omikron: The Nomad Soul
Rayman 2
Record of Lodoss War
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Re-Volt (which is my all-time favourite racing game on PC)
Shadow Man
Shenmue 1
Shenmue 2
Silver
Starlancer

I don't usually like fighting games that much, but the videos of Ooga Booga and Power Stone posted above looked fun enough, so I might consider buying those too in the future. I'll probably skip Skies of Arcadia since I already have the Gamecube remake.

All of the above stuff should start arriving in the mail in the next few days 

[schild]

Wow. That list of games really spans the spectrum. Try this:

http://wiki.f13.net/index.php/Recommendations:_Dreamcast

[Fabricated]

Spoilers: Code Veronica really sucks and so does Silver

[Kail]

I don't usually like fighting games that much, but the videos of Ooga Booga and Power Stone posted above looked fun enough, so I might consider buying those too in the future.

I'd skip Ooga booga, honestly.  It was fun for me back in the day, but it's a multiplayer game at heart, and I would be amazed if there's anyone online to play against, assuming it even still works.


Omikron I have on the PC, and really didn't like it that much.  Was it ported badly or something?

[jth]

Omikron I have on the PC, and really didn't like it that much.  Was it ported badly or something?

The Dreamcast version seems to have gotten much worse scores in various reviews, but I remember liking the PC version when I played it ages ago so I bought this one for mostly nostalgic reasons. I never finished it on PC though, ran out of patience with some extremely frustrating gunfight part, so I'll probably give it another try on DC.

I checked the recommendations page and most of those games (the ones I didn't already get) are probably not for me. Cannon Spike looked interesting though, also Alien Front Online but I wonder if that one is worth getting for single player only?

[Azazel]

It's kinda surprising that Capcom hasn't resurrected Power Stone for the 360 or PS3 (or both). That was a damned fun little pair of games.

[Triforcer]

Skies of Arcadia was the awesome.  I will admit I like my Gamecube version "slightly" better, since they amped down the frequency of the monster encounters that happened on the Dreamcast version once ever 2 seconds.  If you have a Wii, pick this up somewhere. 

[Ashamanchill]

There was a racing game where you raced power boats that I fucking loved. The environments were so much fun. Also, there was some clumy tourist boat thrown in as an effect, that somehow would keep the pace with these rocket propelled boats and then some. My buddy and I would race just to try to beat this thing (I think we did once.) I wish I could remember the name of that game.

[jth]

There was a racing game where you raced power boats that I fucking loved. The environments were so much fun. Also, there was some clumy tourist boat thrown in as an effect, that somehow would keep the pace with these rocket propelled boats and then some. My buddy and I would race just to try to beat this thing (I think we did once.) I wish I could remember the name of that game.

IGN seems to have reviews of at least two boat racers: Surf Rocket Racer,  Hydro Thunder. Maybe one of those?

[Ashamanchill]

Hydro Thunder!!!! You sir, are a scholar, and a gentleman.

[Quinton]

Ikaruga

[Mrbloodworth]

Omikron I have on the PC, and really didn't like it that much.  Was it ported badly or something?

The Dreamcast version seems to have gotten much worse scores in various reviews, but I remember liking the PC version when I played it ages ago so I bought this one for mostly nostalgic reasons. I never finished it on PC though, ran out of patience with some extremely frustrating gunfight part, so I'll probably give it another try on DC.

I have no idea, i thought it was completely awesome for the time it was released. it had so many features packed into one game it blew my mind, such an open world, such great art and atmosphere, and a great story. Extremely compelling features, maybe not individually, but the whole package was awesome for the time-frame.

[jth]

Hydro Thunder!!!! You sir, are a scholar, and a gentleman.

Thanks a lot, I bought it and it has been a lot of fun :) The easy and medium tracks were easy, but the hard ones are giving me a challenge :)

While testing the games I bought, I ran into a problem wirh "Headhunter"... when I start it, it gives me three options: "Load Game", "Leila" and "Options". According to manual there should be a "New Game" also, but I can't get it to appear. Google doesn't seem to help either. Is is some copy protection that is misfiring or wtf?

[jth]

While testing the games I bought, I ran into a problem wirh "Headhunter"... when I start it, it gives me three options: "Load Game", "Leila" and "Options". According to manual there should be a "New Game" also, but I can't get it to appear. Google doesn't seem to help either. Is is some copy protection that is misfiring or wtf?

Oh, ignore me, I'm an idiot. I had disc2 in drive.

[Lucas]

It's one of the few consoles I never had.

It's the only console I ever purchased.

Loved it (especially because of the holy triad: Virtua Tennis/Shenmue/Soul Calibur) before, for whatever reason, it fried itself and stopped loading discs :P