Article: The Sega Dreamcast Celebrates its 10th Anniversary Today!

[Tomeeboy]

Ten years ago today, the Sega Dreamcast began making its way from store shelves to hundreds of thousands of homes across the United States. In the Dreamcast's short lifespan, it helped pave the way for console gaming as we know it today. The first console to include a built-in modem and support for online gaming, the Dreamcast was ahead of its time and spawned some of the most enjoyable, innovative, and memorable games (and accessories) of its generation.


http://www.pso-world.com/images/news/090909/dreamcast.jpgOf those games, Phantasy Star Online is one we can likely all relate to, and is arguably one of the most iconic games of that time (perhaps of all-time?). It's more than safe to say that the Dreamcast played a large role in the evolution of the Phantasy Star franchise, and an even bigger role in the creation of the site you're visiting right now. So, with that in mind, let's all wish the Dreamcast a happy 10th, dust off our old friend, and load up our favorite games to enjoy once more!


Have a Dreamcast story to share? Want to talk about your favorite games of yesteryear or link the Dreamcast to features and standards of modern day gaming? Feel free to hit up the comments section, or visit the forums (http://www.pso-world.com/index_forum.php)!


For a little fun and an even greater dose of nostalgia, here's the original trailer for Phantasy Star Online, available now on the INTERNET:



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[ADR3NALINE xi]

I miss the dreamcast =/
*Edit* Just realized. PLAY THIS FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT!..
guess they didn't expect to shut PSO down >_>

[foamcup]

If my DC controller wasn't busted, I'd go play PSO right now.

[Lord Hammerheart]

I heart PSO.

[Chuck_Norris]

I love how over the top the announcer is. "ONE THOUSAND BEATS A DAY!" Whatever that meant back before anyone played it.

[AnnabellaRenee87]

Good God I Feel OLD
I remember sitting in 7th grade on this day wanting to go to the game store and pick up my Dreamcast.
I had saved up all summer to get it.
and in 2001 my world was crushed.

[Eder]

Long live the Dreamcast, modern gaming would not be the same without it

[Freeze]

I remember logging on for the first time, it was an amazing experience that I'm glad I was part of. Good times and great games.

[Dhylec]

I got the DC just to play mostly PSO v2. It was one of the best games back then.

[Zimbabwe]

This IS bigger than the Beatles.

[Tetsaru]

This was the SHIT back in the day. Why the FUCK doesn't Sega advertise or make games like this anymore!?
I swear, PSP2 and "Project Needlemouse" better be DAMNED good...

[DreXxiN]

Such a fantastic system. This was truly legendary, and I will never have a higher ranked system in my hierarchy of gaming than this one. =P

[Gen2000]

Damn that trailer was intense. "The door to the future. The door to freedom.".
I almost shed a tear thinking back on when I first got this game and the wonderful times I had on it.

[Axel3792]

If you look up PSO in the encyclopedia, the only word under it is a giant, bold-faced "AWESOME."
Serious.

[Finalzone]

My Dreamcast is still in good shape. I also have the original PSO and may plan to add PSO v2 for collection. Notice the big details on city on trailer, something that was left out in the final version.

[W0LB0T]

Oh Dreamcast, you where so awesome. When you died, so did Sega.

[SupaHype]

My favorite system of all time. well probably ties with Sega Genesis. I remember playing this game for 8 hours straight overnight. Never before had i done that. Im going to buy a dreamcast game off ebay to celebrate... :^D

[Control]

version 2 was for newbs who paid monthly. look where that got us. nothing but bad games and they still shut down the psobb server and didnt get rid of that 3rd party one. they said the server would be up forever and it should have been. they could have had a hunter's license for all pso games.

[ZeroXmp]

Phantasy Star Online was my first game on dreamcast.

[Zimbabwe]

lol that has nothing to do with what Control just said.

[Akaimizu]

The Dreamcast, at the time, did feel like a system of the future. Much care was put forth in the creation of that system. A lot of foresight, too. It was host to some of my favorite original releases of my time. Including Skies of Arcadia. I nabbed PSO as soon as it was available in Japan. Bought it again in english. I even have the twin sticks for that, because I became a Virtual On OT nut. (Actually, twin sticks, two dreamcasts, two copies of VOOT, and a dreamcast-to-dreamcast link cable). There's plenty more stuff I could talk about, but that would be too long. Happy 10th.

[Akaimizu]

Oh. And as an extra aside. I just watched the video. I totally forgot about beats!!! When it said 1000 beats a day, the nostalgia meter just went off. I remember even arranging time to meet with certain folks based on the beats since that time was the same all over the world.

[bupjo]

dreamcast oh how i love thee. im freakin' old!! cant believe that was 10 yrs ago. wow! i imported so many games from japan on this system. pop in a gameshark, remove, and put in the import game and as was well. soul calibur was my first game. played phantasy star online for the first time over a friend's house--the music stuck with me more than anything...i love the music in PSO. i now and then play PSO on gamecube. b4 they discountinued dreamcast, i bought another one just in case the first one burned out. still have 'em both and they run just fine. JET SET RADIO (import), OUTTRIGGER, MARS MATRIX, CAPCOM VS SNK (one and two both imports) and many, many more... DREAMCAST, you will always remain my all-time favorite system.

[Dragwind]

Ahh, good ol' days. I still get a shiver down my spine from watching this.

[SStrikerR]

Man, i wanna see those weapon animations some more. Looked like there was more variety before the final release. *laughs at everybody but hucaseal having the same dagger animation*

[Yusaku_Kudou]

Talk about blast from the past, Tomeeboy!!!!!!

[Robert_Garcia]

The Dreamcast brings back memories.
When I had my DC, I had a small, but fairly diverse libarary: Sonic Adventure, Jet Grind Radio, King of Fighters: Evo, Crazy Taxi. However, I was missing an RPG. I heard about PSO from various magazines, so I decided to check it out. I bought the game and spent over 400+ hours on PSO v2 (Unfortunately offline). I don't regret it. I still have and play my DC to this very day.

[C0ldChaos]

Oh pso v2 i long to play it once again with my uber rares still on my vmu.. Ive been trying to get on the schthack server for pso v2 dreamcast but its such a mission im unable to play yet but i wont give up i dont care if i only get to play with 10 people! You need a EU pso v2 version for the server and yea mines US.. dam HL check, just sega screwin us over again.

[C0ldChaos]

lol i know the feeling it just makes you wanna relive the time period all over again..so hard to believe how long ago this was...

[C0ldChaos]

yea arranging clan meetings with the beat system lmao...oh man how much fun this game was and revolutionary its system was. Kids these days will never be able to know what this game really was, you just cant compare anything to this.. Certaintly NOT psu lol.. such fail in that game it really is sad i put so much time into it. quiting psu was one of my better descions in life.

[C0ldChaos]

I payed for V2 online not because i was a noob but because i supported sega's innovative gaming experience.. How was i supposed to know they would be filled with greed and not care about there fan base community. After the dreamcast "died" which is a somewhat a false statement because i still play it til this day so it is not dead to me but after sega gave up on the dreamcast they really destroyed there exclusive titles.. Lets sell out sonic and make games to milk our fan base! Real nice sega...

[Robert_Garcia]

Why not play BB and start from scratch again?

[C0ldChaos]

I already tried BB and eh i got to 172 on my force with uber rares from the last xmas event that got me rich but it just got old quick. I really want to play with my dreamcast and having my old weaps also makes it way fun! plus when you die you drop your weap and money which adds a funny twist to gameplay lol

[bobmanjr2]

Hah, memories. Who would have thought that "THE INTERNET" would be used in like 70% of games today? That is the power of the dreamcast folks, RIP my brother. I will remember the fun times I had playing PSO and Resident Evil Code Varonica :,S I miss you already....

[Mike]

And we'd then have been stuck at level 100 in very hard mode forever.

[Mike]

Want to get your beats on? Swatch still keeps track of it here: http://www.swatch.com/zz_en/internettime.html . Not that I know anyone who uses it any more. A few of the social boards I was on back in the DC PSO days used beats to arrange parties, shebangs, gettogethers, luncheons, and box socials. If I ever get back on PSU, I'll use beat time :p

[Desi Arnaz]

good time good times.... T_T

[Noyo]

Is it free and how do i get PSObb? and i loved the dreamcast, when i was like 10 i started playing PSO i was so inlove with it brought tears to my eyes when they shutted the server down and the dreamcast died, ill never forgot those days, of fun <3

[Fossil]

Possibly the dumbest commercial I have ever seen for a video game.

[SStrikerR]

It's been a decade since then, what did you expect?

[Larian]

That had to be the cheesiest trailer I ever say...I guess I must have blacked that out from my mind back then!! I lol'd...A lot! And enjoyed every minute of it!! <3 =D

[C0ldChaos]

Yea back then this was like whoa! now its like wha? lol

[C0ldChaos]

Type "Schthack" on google and go to the site. You can play Pso through there private server. Oh and yea its free.

[BWS-1]

10 years... This made me feel old.. xD

[lostinseganet]

The times of Dreamcast was a happier time in gaming back when games were regularly 49.99. It truly was Sega at its best. Damn I miss it soo much. We're getting old guys..all of us (^u^)

[Veras1400]

The PSO world is fantastic its real real cool but now the game not a suprise for a public

[60Hz]

Man that takes me back! I want to buy it all over again!
RELAX NOW - WORRY NOT!

[60Hz]

SEGA main two problems are that their dev was way ahead of their time and their marketing was way behind (they never did tv ads in the states for this game!)...
Happy belated 10th!

[gelasius1]

this is the goofiest commercial ever this has got to be a joke

[MasterGunz2345]

Just the day when I found the cables to my dreamcast, the next day, it stops working :(. This happened like a month ago, and I had this Dreamcast for years.
R.I.P to my Dreamcast till I can get a new 1.