Not my article, just thought I'd point this out to everyone. It's on Retrojunk and is a pretty good read.
It's hard to believe that on 9-9-09 it will have been 10 years since one of the greatest and most under-appreciated consoles was released. I'm glad I found one last year, a few months ago on an episode of Yahoo's Playback, it turns out the DC is much sought after these days.
And wait... wha? What's THIS? A new Dreamcast?
Nah, it was just a rumor. Though it would be a nice surprise: a 10th anniversary edition with DVD playback, USB support, and HD compatibility. That's just my mind thinking though.
Random Fact: Dreamcast games are STILL being made today by homebrew game makers. Since the Dreamcast was built using Windows CE, it's always been easy for people to create games, burn them to discs, and play them on a Dreamcast. All DC game releases these days are done through the internet, most require payment while a few are free to download and share. For a look at one of these games that is in development, head over to Hypertension by TDG Mods.
Speaking of rumors, there was another swirling around the toilet bowl of the internet that SEGA was planning on releasing a new handheld, aptly titled the Hedgehog. (If you read the entire article, you'll find out that the mock-up is nothing more than an April Fool's prank.) As nice as the drawings and such may look, I think we're all doing okay with our third versions of Nintendo DS' and PSP Go! and whatever else hunks of junk we can fit into our ever-sagging pants. *tightens belt*
Random fact: One of the most popular games on the Dreamcast, Half-Life/Blue Shift, was never released. Announced in 2000, the game was initially developed as an add-on for a Sega Dreamcast port of Half-Life; however, the port was canceled and Blue Shift was instead released for Windows. The unfinished source code for the game can be found on multiple websites and can be downloaded, burned to a blank CD, and played.
I can't help but think of what might have been if the SEGA had enjoyed success from the DC:
We would probably be on the dawn of the release of the Dreamcast 3, or a clever name chosen for the new console.
Sonic would have never been sodomized (for lack of a better word) by Sonic Team, he'd be doing just fine and still breaking the sound barrier on his home console. Unfortunately we would still have to deal with that annoying voice of his.
Being the inventors they were, maybe we would be using motion controls on their console instead of Nintendo's.
2K Sports, SEGA's in-house sports game development team, would be a major competitor against EA, Electronic Arts. (Additionally, Peter Moore, former president of SEGA USA, would have never become president of EA Sports.)
Random fact: The Dreamcast was the first console to feature Downloadable Content, or DLC. When connected to the internet via the console's interchangeable dial-up or high speed modem, the player could "download" items for use in games. Although it was just an unlock code that opened up a new race track or song, it was still pretty innovative.
The Dreamcast was SEGA's final attempt to get something right. After the previous console releases, add-ons, and consoles under development (which cause a snafu, which in turn caused developers to turn away, which caused SEGA to lose money), the DC truly was a Dream for gamers. It had the perfect line between the hardcore and the casual.
On 9-9-09, dust off your DC, play some Soul Calibur. If you don't have one: ebay.
Keep Playing.
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