The Sega Dreamcast, 10 years on

[Kaiser]

09/09/1999

Ten Years on and it's still thinking...

It may be hard to believe but yes our last beloved Sega console is ten years old today. The very console our website was founded on has now reached an age where it can almost be considered retro. It is certainly quite the milestone for any device and looking back the DC still holds a special place in many people's hearts. The console pushed many new and amazing features that are considered console gaming staples in today's age of super-powered, large, badly manufactured monoliths. It was the first home console to successfully push gamers into the wonderfully geeky (and at times punishing/frustrating) arena of online play. God bless that little 56k modem that could! The DC also managed to have hundreds of great titles published for it in it's relatively short life-time, and I must say that the console still has one of the best good game to bad game ratios of any system I have ever played. The DC library is also one of the most balanced and appealing libraries of any console to date. It had everything from pick up and play arcade ports and deep RPG's to masterful fighting games and action packed shooters. This wide appeal is a stark contrast to today's consoles which seem to cater to a specific demographics and perform horribly outside it (the users of PS3's are much different people then those playing the Wii).

The real draw however for us Homebrew lovers extended beyond the console's official software and accessories. The console has a gigantic library of homebrew games, emulators and apps and spurned the expansion of a small niche that homebrew was on consoles to the giant community it is today. You can find hundreds of programs here on DCemu and if you have forgotten about your beautiful white box hiding under your bed or in your closet I highly recommend playing around with some homebrew you may have missed in the past or may have come out since you put her away. Take a look!

I confidently believe if it wasn't for the popularity and the mainstream attention that DC homebrew got we wouldn't have nowhere near the content and sense of community we have now in the console homebrew scene. Though the popularity of homebrew rises and falls, and the coverage of DCemu has spread, changed, and evolved over the years let's all take a moment and revisit our old friend that started it all for us here at DCemu.

[ojdon]

Happy 10th Birthday, Dreamcast!

[Darksaviour69]

Happy (American) Birthday DC

[Cast128dreams]

Omg i will start crying!!!!.....10 years like yesterday.

[SmashinGit]

I can't believe its 10 years?? Seems only like yesterday I was unboxing it and setting it up. I still have it under my tv in the cabinet, just can't dream of unplugging it and placing it in the loft with my Snes and N64.

[inlovewithi]

Wow, I cannot believe it's been 10 years. 9-9-99, I remember MTV promoting the MTV Movie Awards with the constant 9-9-99. All 9s. Chris Rock hosting it, and promoting it on Conan O'Brien, and his Will Smith wins more than the Yankees joke.

The Dreamcast is what I considered my graphical peak, meaning that no system is ever going to wow me, graphically the way it did. It's all relative. Sure it looks like crap now, compared to current consoles, but as technology improves a person probably needs more than 5 years of technology improvement to get the same type of reaction that a person got from going from the NES, to the SNES, Playstation, Dreamcast.

[Eviltaco64]

I remember wanting to go to FuncoLand to play the all-new Sonic Adventure for my birthday in '99.

Damn, 10 years already. :P

[paul3100]

Yes happy 10th birthday dc, i never had one when they were first out but purchased one at the whiterose centre (leeds) when they were going cheep at game!

since then iv had a dc on and off till i picked up my latest for a few £££$$$ and well worth every penny , i only have a few original games for it but a mass of (backups) which is ok i guess in thie day and age and is easy done on the dc

cheers dreamcast , paul

[yakumo]

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

Ehrm, I meant: Happy Birthday to you!!!

[sakarin]

Happy Birthday DreamCast
I'll always remember you!

Also check this out.