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Let's talk launches: Sega Dreamcast (September 9, 1999)

jobrro

jobrro

Member
My most anticipated launch ever. Everything about it seemed amazing from the screenshots, to the VMU in and out of the controller, modem.

Launch day in Australia was a mess. No Sega games and no official accessories.

Was wanting Sonic Adventure but since only third party games were available for the first (and no demo disc for a week or two) week got TrickStyle first.

Enjoyed TrickStyle but it was no Sonic.

Even when I got Sonic I played for a month non stop with no VMU, thus no saving. The night I got the VMU was my first ever all nighter, completed the game with Super Sonic.

Ended up getting quite a few of the launch games eventually. From the OP I got

Sonic Adventure
Toy Commander
Virtua Fighter 3tb
Blue Stringer
Power Stone
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Soulcalibur
AeroWings

Got Blue Stinger for $2 at a fire sale though and didn't get far, besides that I played A LOT of each of them and loved them all.
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
My DC launch day haul was Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, NFL 2K, Power Stone, and TrickStyle.

And, just for good measure, Final Fantasy VIII. It was a pretty cool day.
 
Petrae

Petrae

Member
I went all in on the Dreamcast launch. I bought the console, an extra controller, three VMUs, AirForce Delta, Sonic Adventure, Hydro Thunder, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, NFL Blitz 99, NFL 2K, and SoulCalibur.

It was well over $700 worth of stuff, which I paid for with trade-ins and cash. Then I turned around and traded it all in towards a new PS2 less than a year and a half later, when news broke that SEGA was giving Dreamcast the Old Yeller treatment. I'm still bitter about that 16+ years later.
 
T

Theslammer

Member
Bioshocker said:
I didn't get the Dreamcast at launch, couldn't afford one. But I only had to wait a few months after the European launch before I bought it. I remember the price: 2595 SEK, which is about 260 euros today (or probably more due to inflation). It was very affordable, and I loved the heck out of it instantly. Thanks to great games like Crazy Taxi, Sega Rally 2, Sonic Adventure, and Dead or Alive 2 I was thrilled with my purchase and felt that I was experiencing the future of gaming. How could this machine possibly fail?[/B]

Shenmue I-II
Phantasy Star Online
Jet Set Radio
Soul Calibur
Samba de Amigo
House of the Dead II
Metropolis Street Racer (which would become Project Gotham Racing)
ChuChu Rocket
Sega Rally 2
Dead or Alive 2
Click to expand...

Was your avatar already a Dreamcast controller? Now I wanna know. =P

butman said:
This. Is not the Gamecube.
Click to expand...

I mean, as far as sales go, DC was definitely a failure considering Sega got out of the console business. As far as games, it had a pretty good line-up for the amount of time it was available, but I'd struggle to make an argument that its library was better than the GC's or that it was less of a failure sales-wise than the GC.

Not even a knock on either system.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
I still have my Dreamcast, two controllers and VMU units.

Toy Commander was brilliant.

A sandbox living room/bedroom/kitchen with kids toys as your vehicles.
 
Unknown?

Unknown?

Member
In its two years only the PS2 surpassed it in software imo and that's because it had so much more time to amass a larger library. Xbox couldn't touch it, not even close, but GC wasn't very far behind.
 
jobrro

jobrro

Member
Netherscourge said:
I still have my Dreamcast, two controllers and VMU units.

Toy Commander was brilliant.

A sandbox living room/bedroom/kitchen with kids toys as your vehicles.
Click to expand...

Yes. The theme coupled with the somewhat balanced land vs. air and the in match upgrades/vehicle swaps which to me was very novel at the time it was very compelling. Played so much versus with a friend.

Single player was fun too.
 
E

evilromero

Member
Great launch line-up and post-launch support.

I actually went during lunch my senior year of HS to pick it up with Soul Calibur, that Capcom 3D arena brawler, and Sonic. All got a ton of playtime.

Just wish they had included a second analog stick on the controller. And put the cord on the top (I know, VMU).
 
S

Skulldead

Member
I remember I've bought the console for freaking cheap (100 CAN) , before it was announce that it was stopping production just to play the future Castlevania game that was announce.... Sad this day never happen....

But i freaking love that console for Phantasy Star online and Grandia 2. I remember I've played a shit load of Power stone, one of my favorite fighting game.
 
M

Moofers

Member
Back then, local rental stores were still a thing. Mine had actually imported a Dreamcast earlier in the summer of 99 and I spent about a week playing the hell out of PowerStone and Sonic Adventure. I was in love. I knew that as soon as the system came out in the US I had to have it. I still remember riding my bike home with the JP Dreamcast in my backpack, excited to test out these games I had been reading about in EGM and Next Generation. It was a sunny day with blue skies (how appropriate!) and it felt like I had gained access to a part of the gaming industry that only insiders were privy to.

On launch day, I bought my Dreamcast along with a VMU, Sonic Adventure, and PowerStone from Media Play (remember those?). What a time to be alive. It was the first system I ever bought with my own money. About a week later, I happened to be in Media Play again and they had this big wall of TVs that were all connected to work like one big TV. On it they had Soul Calibur playing on the Dreamcast. The voices, the music, and the graphics grabbed my attention in such a way that I couldn't leave the store without a copy. Once I was home, I got hooked on Soul Calibur really hard. That game was a revolution. It remains one of my favorite games of all time.

The Dreamcast would continue to be one of the best damn systems I ever owned. It had a brief run but there were so many memorable games that came out for it in that short time. Plus, it was my first real taste of online play with Quake III Arena, which was something I was obsessed with. It was also the system of choice for fighting game fans at the time, so I got pretty deep in to Marvel vs Capcom 2 and purchased a MAS Arcade fight stick and would practice at home a few nights a week before heading off to the arcade on weekends looking for competition.

God how I miss those days. 1999-2000 was an amazing time in videogames and just to be alive as a young adult in general.
 
C

crpav

Member
I loved the Dreamcast for what it was and a time when things as a gamer were better and easier for me. Was a freshman in college. I believe it launched the same day as Final Fantasy * because I remember picking up my "pre order" for FF8 and they were unboxing the Dreamcast and asked if I was interested. I said nah I'm good.

I do recall the advertising in Gamepro and it got my attention and then I finally broke down and "needed" one a few weeks after launch. I asked my mom if she could get it for me and I woudl pay her back the next week. It was the last one anywhere in stock at Kmart. I said it was needed for college as it does more than game and has some computer functionality. I now feel bad looking back and doing that. I did of course pay my parents back.

I got my enjoyment of the system from NFL 2K, 2K1, NBA 2K, 2K1, World Series Baseball, Grandia 2, Skies of Arcadia, Resident Evil Code Veronica, Phantasy Star Online and others. Later got Shenmue and loved that but never got Soul Caliber.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
This was far and away the most memorable console launch I've experienced. That was due to the fact that it was the first time I was old enough to buy a new console immediately at launch.

I consumed all things Dreamcast prior to launch, though wasn't able to import a system, and had very high expectations. I played a lot of the system before it launched thanks to demo units - a friend worked at a local game shop and I would just go up there and play Dreamcast for a while leading up until launch. There were also those Hollywood Video promotional systems out there though I had no need to rent it since I was already set on getting it.

Once launch rolled around, I remember going to school that morning unable to concentrate. I was reading Sega Blast City in the computer lab on the morning of its launch trying to keep up with the happenings. The first scare came from the reports of bad discs and reading errors which turned out to be very real. A lot of bad discs were floating around at launch. Midway shipped new copies later that month with Hot New stickers on them even to denote that they were fixed.

I picked up my system right after school at a local shop along with copies of Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur and Blue Stinger. Grabbed a VMU as well, of course.

Went home and popped in Soul Calibur first and was simply floored by it. Spent a lot of time playing through those games and had a great time.
 
G

GitarooMan

Member
This is my favorite launch. Just game after game, going to the store and seeing tons of awesome stuff. Sonic, Soul Calibur, NFL 2K, Powerstone, Tokyo Xtreme, etc. It was fucking insane.
 
Bioshocker

Bioshocker

Member
Theslammer said:
Was your avatar already a Dreamcast controller? Now I wanna know. =P
Click to expand...

LOL. I didn't even think about it that way. To me the controller represents the console I love, although the controller itself is one of its weak spots. I think the logo was already taken here on GAF, so I chose the controller instead.
 
M

moltonasty

Member
Best launch lineup of all time as far as I'm concerned. Soul Calibur was just unreal at the time, and the depth of genres they had on display for Day 1 was insane.
 
mindatlarge

mindatlarge

Member
Got it at launch and had a ball with it. Ended up getting a VGA adapter for it eventually which blew my mind at the time.

From the games posted in the OP, still have my originals for:

Power Stone
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
Sonic Adventure
Soulcalibur
The House of the Dead 2 (I lost the gun, unfortunately)
Tokyo Xtreme Racer
Hydro Thunder
NFL 2K
 
NOLA_Gaffer

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
Dreamcast is only second to Wii U on my "favorite consoles list".

Such an insane library, especially considering it only had roughly a two and a half year run in the US.
 
CD'S BAR

CD'S BAR

Member
Timeless console design (but the controllers, not so much), and still the best console logo and bootup screen to date. Great name, great marketing ("It's thinking").

Gone too soon.
 
T

Theslammer

Member
Bioshocker said:
LOL. I didn't even think about it that way. To me the controller represents the console I love, although the controller itself is one of its weak spots. I think the logo was already taken here on GAF, so I chose the controller instead.
Click to expand...

Haha, all right, gotcha. I wondered if you changed your avatar because this was a reminder that you really loved the system. xD~~

Bioshocker said:
This is love. I remember playing a lot of PSO too, the phone bills at my parents' house were ... uncomfortable.
Click to expand...

That reminds me: back in the day, and continuing into the later PS2 days, online seemed so, I dunno, distant to me. Like I knew it existed, but since I had no modem for my PS2 since it wasn't built into the system already, and since many Dreamcast games didn't have online modes simply because it was early in the online days, it didn't seem like this big things.

Now, even big single-player games like Last of Us have multiplayer modes, some of them being quite good!
 
GlassBurrito

GlassBurrito

Member
The Dreamcast is very special to me. It was the first purchase I ever made using my own earned money (mowed neighborhood lawns all summer). I saved it up and put the preorder down at Funcoland when I saw Soul Calibur for the first time, I remembered back to 1995 when I first played Soul Edge at a Tilt arcade at the mall and it knocked my socks off. I immediately recognized that this was the Dreamcast's Soul Blade and I had to have it.

It did not disappoint. It is easily one of my favorite games.

The other games i got shortly after launch were

• Sonic Adventure
• Hydro-Thunder

It was a pretty damn good start,

I then proceeded to subscribe to Dreamcast magazine and got monthly demo discs trying out all the upcoming games. I ended up buying Rayman 2 because of the demo being so great and same for the 2 minute Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 demo, played that so many times. It was amazing to see so many great games come bursting out the gate.
I found so many good times with the arcade action the system offered and was miles ahead of anything else at its release.

In total I played

Cosmic Smash
Chu Chu Rocket
Confidential Mission
Crazy Taxi 1/2
Dead or Alive 2
Headhunter
Incoming
Jet Grind Radio
Dynamite Cop
Seaman
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue
Zombies Revenge
Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future
NHL 2K/2K2
Neversoft's Spiderman
San Francisco Rush 2049
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
Mortal Kombat Gold
Ready 2 Rumble Round 2
4 Wheel Thunder (I miss Midway dearly)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Looney Tunes: Space Race
Princ of Persia: Arabian Nights
Fur Fighters
Mars Matrix
MDK2
Outtrigger
Red Dog
Maken X
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Shadow Man
Surf Rockret Racers (its like Wave Race)
Samba De Amigo
Sega Swirl (its one of the best puzzle games Sega has ever made)
Silent Scope
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Super Magnetic Neo
Sword of the Berserk: Gut's Rage
Tokyo Xtreme Racer 1/2
Vitrua Cop 2
Virtua Tennis/ Tennis 2k2
Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense
WWF Royal Rumble
Wetrix+

and that is not even mentioning all the amazing fighters on the DC.

Then there is Shenmue. Its Sega's most ambitious project and part of what eventually sank the system but damn it all Sega went out with a bang in the (North American) console space with what amounts to their Legend of Zelda (Landstalker and Beyond Oasis aside) in terms of being the game that has had the most Impact on video games as a whole. The ripples of it are still felt in open worlds and quick time events today. Though some think of these as annoyances, when implemented well they can make cinematic segments make a stronger connection then the alternatives of being broken up into strictly taking control away then giving it back after the cutscene finishes or being in full control when story event occur and mashing away on the controller at npc's delivering dialogue as you bash their face in while they are non reactive thoroughly breaking the immersion. I really do love this game and I can go on and on about how this is the greatest martial arts epic to have ever been conceived but the Dreamcast is more than just Shenmue.

as for the controller, Analog Triggers becoming standard was huge especially for racing fans. The standard controller would eventually cramp my hand so I ended up purchasing the first ever controller with built in rumble on both handles of the controller (much like how Xbox and PS4 have adopted) with the Pelican Dream Shock. It also featured a concave analog stick compared to the standard bumpy convex stick and full remapping of buttons. its one of the best 3rd Party controllers I've ever used.
Pelican_DreamShock_Purple.jpg


Sorry in advance for the novel.
 
C

cclittle

Neo Member
It wasn't until Sony announced Shenmue III that I could forgive them for killing the DC via the PS2.

And as several others have said- Toy Commander is amazing and still a genuinely fun splitscreen game.
 
S

Spaced Harrier

Member
The Goat, never to be beaten.

I think It got pushed to October here shortly before launch, but 9/9/99 still rings in my head.

I was so excited by it.
My brother got one, he must have been... 23.

He picked up, the console, Sonic Adventure, Power Stone, a second Joypad Rumble packs VMU and Keyboard.

Power Stone was great fun, and Sonic, oh man that intro, the FMVs of robotnik's, sorry, Eggman's Ship looked so good.

A Friend of his, had house of the Dead, and the light-gun, and soul Calibur.

I got Crazy Taxi and Code Veronica.

It was just amazing game after amazing game.

The one thing I really Remember is the bright Colours and clarity of the picture.
The PS2 could never match it's sharpness. and the amount of games playing n 60HZ

People forget what what bad 50Hz ports felt like. This thing, it showed us how games were ment to be.
 
J

JustAnotherOtaku

Member
No system launch has surpassed the excitement I had for the Dreamcast when it was launching in Japan. And this was coming from someone who was completely PS1-obsessed. It felt like the future, even moreso to me than the PS2.

Not the best, but still probably my favourite console ever.
 
S

steveovig

Member
Looking at those line-ups has reminded me how decent the launch was. Out of the all the consoles I bought at launch (N64, DC, Vita, Wii-U, and Switch), I have the fondest memories of this one. I remember buying a bunch of rare SNES games from a Blockbuster sale and trading them to Funcoland for my pre-order. Looking back on it though, I wish I had kept stuff like Megaman X3! I had Ready 2 Rumble, Sonic, and NFL2K. I remember playing NFL2K at the X-Mas gathering and my uncle thought a real football game was on. Also, I still actually have my pre-order Funco shirt.
 
K

KageMaru

Member
While the gameplay lacked polish, I remember Trickstyle looking absolutely amazing at launch. Outside of Soul Calibur, it's probably the launch game that impressed me the most. For some reason I remember thinking it had an Unreal Engine look at the time. Put more time into that game than I probably should have but I wanted to see what the next track looked like.
 
T

Tain

Member
KageMaru said:
While the gameplay lacked polish, I remember Trickstyle looking absolutely amazing at launch. Outside of Soul Calibur, it's probably the launch game that impressed me the most. For some reason I remember thinking it had an Unreal Engine look at the time. Put more time into that game than I probably should have but I wanted to see what the next track looked like.
Click to expand...

TrickStyle has a very Euro/PC look. Lots of colored lighting and light corona sprites, like Unreal Tournament.

The aesthetic is a bit jarring today but it was definitely visually notable at the time.
 
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