The Sega Dreamcast and It's Successor
For many months after getting my Xbox back at launch, I had a sticker over the logo on the disc tray that read "Sega Dreamcast 2". Most of my friends thought it was just a joke, but it was more than that. It was an observation. Owning every Sega console since the Master System, yes EVERY, I am what you may call a huge Sega "fanboy". Service Games was always a company that could "do no wrong", in my mind. Sure, I enjoyed the NES and N64, but my heart was with Sonic, not Mario. I played Genesis while most of my friends played SNES. I played the Saturn while most played the Playstation. Hell, I even had a 32X CD system. All of these were my babies.
Then the day came. September 9th, 1999; A.K.A. 9.9.99. I came home from school excited, ready for my mom to come home and take me to pick up my Dreamcast at Kaybee Toys. When I got it back home, I popped in the Sonic Adventure disc, and sat there amazed. Sure, Super Mario 64 was awesome when I first played it, but this was a whole new level. Sonic Adventure was a fast-paced, 128-bit graphical extravaganza. And, no, it wasn't just the graphics that blew me away, the gameplay was great. Though it didn't last long, the Dreamcast is probably my favorite system of all time. With great games like Sonic, the innovative Seaman, and the Shenmue series, there weren't many dull moments. Since I'd missed out on most previous titles in the series, I had to play Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Though I had the import version, I knew the basic menu setup and the dialogue was in English, so I soon beat that game, enjoying it thoroughly.
Then, it happened. Sony's hype machine had kept many from buying the Dreamcast, in favor of the POS2. If that wasn't enough of a blow to Sega, an internet group by the name of Echelon began releasing self-booting game images through Usenet and IRC. Piracy, Sony, and the lack of developers willing to work with the hardware had led to the end of the Dreamcast. The main problem this caused for me was that the sequel to Shenmue was NOT to be released in the United States. I badly wanted to finish the series, and, after reading up a bit on the subject, learned about a new system from Microsoft that would become the new home of the series. I was thrilled, but what else would this console have to offer? Would it be as good as the Sega systems I'd loved in the past? Only time would tell. Oh, and about Shenmue II, I actually downloaded the European version of the game and completed it before the Xbox launch.
The Xbox's launch day came in November of 2001, and there I was with the console and no games. I rushed out to Blockbuster and picked up Project Gotham Racing and Halo, two of the best looking games I could find in the small lineup. Halo was alright, but I really didn't get very far into it. PGR offered hours of fun, and was a great follow-up to the fun I'd had with Test Drive 6 on the DC. However, neither of these games offered the fun I so desperately wanted from gaming. I purchased and rented many games over the next year, none of which were too interesting. I'd almost given up hope by 2003 until I found it. I had recently moved to cable internet and heard about Xbox LIVE. I had some money saved up, and headed to Funcoland for the LIVE starter kit and a game I'd been reading about...Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Now, Halo was the last FPS I'd played, and was quite let down by it, but GR completely changed my outlook on the genre. This military shooter took hours of my time, made me stay up all night to play online...causing me to nearly fall asleep during college classes...and made me love online gaming. Now, this wasn't my first online gaming experience; that honor was taken by Quake III Arena on the Dreamcast. However, I met many great people on Ghost Recon that I still play with today; of course we've moved on through other games since, but it's still pretty much the same group.
You may be asking yourself, "what is your point?". Well, I had intended to discuss the similarities of the Dreamcast and the Xbox, my two favorite console gaming systems of all time. Sadly, I got a bit sidetracked. Give me a break, it's 9 AM and I haven't slept. Anyway, on to the similarities. The controllers are very much alike; i.e. button layout, triggers, and left side stick and d-pad placement. Both systems use a Windows OS to operate. Both set the mark for online gaming right out of the box. Both were overlooked by many and underrated by most.
Now...I think it's off to sleep. Just thought I needed to make an entry. Sorry for all the reminiscing, but the thoughts just kept coming.
For many months after getting my Xbox back at launch, I had a sticker over the logo on the disc tray that read "Sega Dreamcast 2". Most of my friends thought it was just a joke, but it was more than that. It was an observation. Owning every Sega console since the Master System, yes EVERY, I am what you may call a huge Sega "fanboy". Service Games was always a company that could "do no wrong", in my mind. Sure, I enjoyed the NES and N64, but my heart was with Sonic, not Mario. I played Genesis while most of my friends played SNES. I played the Saturn while most played the Playstation. Hell, I even had a 32X CD system. All of these were my babies.
Then the day came. September 9th, 1999; A.K.A. 9.9.99. I came home from school excited, ready for my mom to come home and take me to pick up my Dreamcast at Kaybee Toys. When I got it back home, I popped in the Sonic Adventure disc, and sat there amazed. Sure, Super Mario 64 was awesome when I first played it, but this was a whole new level. Sonic Adventure was a fast-paced, 128-bit graphical extravaganza. And, no, it wasn't just the graphics that blew me away, the gameplay was great. Though it didn't last long, the Dreamcast is probably my favorite system of all time. With great games like Sonic, the innovative Seaman, and the Shenmue series, there weren't many dull moments. Since I'd missed out on most previous titles in the series, I had to play Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Though I had the import version, I knew the basic menu setup and the dialogue was in English, so I soon beat that game, enjoying it thoroughly.
Then, it happened. Sony's hype machine had kept many from buying the Dreamcast, in favor of the POS2. If that wasn't enough of a blow to Sega, an internet group by the name of Echelon began releasing self-booting game images through Usenet and IRC. Piracy, Sony, and the lack of developers willing to work with the hardware had led to the end of the Dreamcast. The main problem this caused for me was that the sequel to Shenmue was NOT to be released in the United States. I badly wanted to finish the series, and, after reading up a bit on the subject, learned about a new system from Microsoft that would become the new home of the series. I was thrilled, but what else would this console have to offer? Would it be as good as the Sega systems I'd loved in the past? Only time would tell. Oh, and about Shenmue II, I actually downloaded the European version of the game and completed it before the Xbox launch.
The Xbox's launch day came in November of 2001, and there I was with the console and no games. I rushed out to Blockbuster and picked up Project Gotham Racing and Halo, two of the best looking games I could find in the small lineup. Halo was alright, but I really didn't get very far into it. PGR offered hours of fun, and was a great follow-up to the fun I'd had with Test Drive 6 on the DC. However, neither of these games offered the fun I so desperately wanted from gaming. I purchased and rented many games over the next year, none of which were too interesting. I'd almost given up hope by 2003 until I found it. I had recently moved to cable internet and heard about Xbox LIVE. I had some money saved up, and headed to Funcoland for the LIVE starter kit and a game I'd been reading about...Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Now, Halo was the last FPS I'd played, and was quite let down by it, but GR completely changed my outlook on the genre. This military shooter took hours of my time, made me stay up all night to play online...causing me to nearly fall asleep during college classes...and made me love online gaming. Now, this wasn't my first online gaming experience; that honor was taken by Quake III Arena on the Dreamcast. However, I met many great people on Ghost Recon that I still play with today; of course we've moved on through other games since, but it's still pretty much the same group.
You may be asking yourself, "what is your point?". Well, I had intended to discuss the similarities of the Dreamcast and the Xbox, my two favorite console gaming systems of all time. Sadly, I got a bit sidetracked. Give me a break, it's 9 AM and I haven't slept. Anyway, on to the similarities. The controllers are very much alike; i.e. button layout, triggers, and left side stick and d-pad placement. Both systems use a Windows OS to operate. Both set the mark for online gaming right out of the box. Both were overlooked by many and underrated by most.
Now...I think it's off to sleep. Just thought I needed to make an entry. Sorry for all the reminiscing, but the thoughts just kept coming.
posted by Gnome at 6:33 AM
1 Comments:
This is very important for all Sega fans. Look up, sega SH5-100S. This will give you a peek at a Sega system that is new and unseen by many. If you can read in Spanish, then all info wil be clear.
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