9/9/99
The day the Dreamcast launched was amazing.18 launch titles. Spectacular.
I can't remember where I picked up the system, because DQ Plot Advisor and NASA Expert John Harwood had left Electronics Boutique by then. Maybe Fry's. Regardless, I picked up Sonic Adventure, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and NFL 2K and headed home.
Unlike the launch titles of most systems, these games had style. Style is hard to define, but easy to sense, and I couldn't believe how much fun the launch titles were. Plus the system itself had style. It just looked cool.
Then there was NFL 2K, which was so much better than the equivalent Madden title that EA must have been embarrassed. It wasn't long after that, when NFL 2K5 came out and was better than Madden in every conceivable way, that EA was so embarrassed they bought an exclusive license because they couldn't compete.
The Dreamcast also had the VGA cable, which displayed games in glorious 640x480 resolution. The console always seemed forward-thinking and ahead of its time.
The legacy of the Saturn, though, weighed Sega down, and the PS2 was much better supported by developers. Sony had untold dollars to spend on marketing, and Sega didn't.
A crime, really, that the Dreamcast didn't survive. While it did survive, though, it was glorious.
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