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A lot of my gaming friends on the interwebs seem to totally adore the Sega Dreamcast. And to an extent, I've always understood why. I mean, it was short-lived, but it was certainly an exciting period in gaming. It was a console that embraced new things like online gameplay and strange accessories. It was also a dream machine for arcade gamers, with 2D fighters, shmups and racing games galore. But more interestingly it was home to some seriously strange experiments. Games like Seaman, Space Channel 5 and Shenmue. But something kept me away for a long time. It was nothing personal against the Dreamcast, I just didn't feel like I needed another console to collect for.

That being said, I've always kept an eye on Dreamcast news. I always found it an interesting and respectable console. And then something weird happened. I found myself with a considerable amount of retro-store game credit, and nothing in particular to spend it on. And then somebody offered to trade me a Dreamcast for an Xbox which I had saved from a yard sale, but let collect dust for several months. I knew this was it. This was time for me to finally bite the bullet and explore the Dreamcast world proper rather than just read about it.





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But wait! Let's travel back in time for a second. The year was 2000. I was eighteen years old, just out of high school and living with a roommate. I hadn't really played video games much in the previous three or four years. But he brought with him his Sega Dreamcast. A console I knew little about. You see, I lost interest in Sega right around the time the Saturn hit and I realized my Sega CD launch model (remember how expensive that thing was?) was going the way of the dinosaur. My most recent gaming obsession had been the PlayStation. But I had left that console behind. I had figured games were for kids, and I was an adult now (ha!).

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My roommates name was TJ. He and I would go to class during the day, work retail at night, and then come and play Dreamcast until the wee hours of the morning. Those were the days! Hooray for underage drinking and sharing cigarettes indoors. You see, I was a non-gamer so I thought. But he introduced me to this new game called Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. I was sucked back into the world of gaming.

Me and TJ only ended up living together for about a semester. A family emergency had sent him back home. When he moved out I knew I needed to get myself a new console. But I opted for a PlayStation 2. You see, I could get one where I worked for 20% off. And I already owned some PlayStation games. Not to mention it meant I'd now have a DVD player that people were so hyped up about. I suppose I could have considered a Dreamcast of my own, but why would I have? No DVD support; no backwards compatibility for games I already owned; and a controller I was less than fond of. Plus THPS2 was available on PS1. In truth I don't remember us ever touching another Dreamcast game, even though he had a grocery bag full of them.


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But over the years I paid close attention to the DC scene. The fact that games continued to surface in Japan through 2007 is amazing to me. And as a huge shmup fan, I'm excited to try all the ones that weren't ported to consoles that I already own. But most importantly I love the large homebrew scene. Not only is it amazing to me that enthusiasts keep pumping out new games, but there's also the fact that I need to cut back a bit on game-buying for a while. Which means that the thought of free, legal, new games to experience is super exciting.

So now I'm ready to explore. My Dreamcast should arrive this week. And using store credit I've also secured an Agetec Arcade stick, an extra controller, several VMU's along with Gunbird 2, Sega Swirl (via the Web Browser 2.0), Daytona USA, Shenmue, Evil Dead: Hail to the King and a PAL boxset online game that came with a microphone. The mic is in anticipation of stumbling upon Seaman at a reasonable price. Top priority for me is also hunting down Typing of the Dead along with a couple of keyboards. I also need a nice stack of CD-R's so I can check out mounds of homebrew I've drooled over for the past couple of years.

But of course, let's open the flood-gates for your suggestions. Many of you that have kept up with my blog know my general taste, so...?

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