On the more personal side of things, I still have a Dreamcast hooked up in my own house. It’s on the smaller HD television in my bedroom, so if I feel like putting in a few rounds of Power Stone or banishing aliens with the power of music in Space Channel 5, then it’s right there within arm’s reach. It’s a wonderful little system, and it’s a shame that used copies of games have disappeared from major retailers like GameStop; all of your Dreamcast purchases have to be in small, non-chain game stores where the prices can occasionally be a bit too high for my liking, or online, where you aren’t sure what kind of condition the disc or case is in (while this isn’t always a problem, it can be sometimes–don’t think I’ve forgotten, Mr. I Like to Lie About the Condition of Sonic Adventure 2 on Ebay).
My favorite Dreamcast title was most likely Phantasy Star Online–once the Dreamcast was shuttered, and the title was re-released on the GameCube with an additional episode, I jumped on that as well. I’m something of a Phantasy Star nut, and I loved the way they handled the rebirth of the series, even if it wasn’t a turn-based, story-based RPG like its predecessors. Besides that, I’ve already discussed many of the titles I have a soft spot for, like Space Channel 5, Power Stone, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. One of my favorite games of this year is a sequel to a Dreamcast title (House of the Dead: Overkill), and you can count me among those calling for a follow-up to Skies of Arcadia–the world needs more sky pirates, Sega. That’s science, and you can’t argue with science. At least, not when it means I get more sky pirates, anyways.
I always hope that Sega, after learning from the mistakes they made during their hardware production in the 90s, would someday re-enter the console market. It’s probably not a viable dream, given how difficult it is for just three consoles to succeed, and I’m not sure Sega produces enough games anymore to be able to sustain their own console–there’s just one third-party software company around I think would be capable, and it’s a stretch even for them. Maybe it’s for the best though, that they stay as a software company–that way, more gamers can enjoy Sega-developed things like Valkyria Chronicles and Phantasy Star, while Sega also gets to publish other company’s software, like Condemned, Bayonetta, and MadWorld. Despite this, it’s one of those things you like to kind of daydream about as you relive your childhood and the days where the Dreamcast was the coolest system around–even if that time period was much shorter than the system deserved.
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