NBrid

The Dreamcast was an inspiration to many console gamers today, but why was it so loved? It's online capabilities were fun, easy to use, and most importantly, free. Well, they were free for a while.

Think back.  Not a terribly long way, think about that day.  That magical day when Sega released their final console, the Dreamcast.  9/9/99 is, to many, one of the most important dates in console gaming history; and justifiably so.

The Dreamcast was a revolutionary machine.  It was the first home console to come with a built in modem, and was powerful enough to deliver many graphically delicious titles, some of which could contend with the games of today.  With a handful of very fun online games, it brought online competition to a wider audience.  For the first time, console gamers experienced the thrill of playing football with their brother who moved across the country, or having a quick race with someone they didn't even know from The Carribean.

The gaming was fun, there's no denying that.  But it sure wasn't perfect.  The problems of lagging servers and low quality ISPs sometimes kept people out of the fun, and numerous games were susceptable to being 'hacked' by the GameShark cheat device.  This led to many gamers being cheated out of wins, and more often, the entire fun of the game.

But even through all of this, people still continued to log on and play.  Big titles like ID Software's Quake 3 Arena and Sonic Team's Phantasy Star Online brought fans of the series' into the mix, and it became clear that online console gaming had arrived, and it was here to stay.  But with powerful next-gen consoles just around the corner, how long would it stay with Sega?

Well, Sega was it for a while.  It's thriving community brought about many gaming clans, and other various organizations such as the very website you are viewing right now.  Yeah, that's right, NBrid was the spawn of Sega's IRC server.  You can read all about it here.  The same ideals  that founded many gaming groups on Seganet carry on today on the PS2 and XBox.  Many old DC clans, as they've come to be known, are still around today and have diversified to not only support gaming on consoles, but also on PC.

However, many would say that, once again, Sega itself had spelled out it's own consoles demise.  The next wave of online games had a little something extra with them, aside from updated rosters and better interfaces.  Many required Seganet membership to play, which meant monthly fees.  Monthly fees that many weren't willing to pay.

It was predicted for a while that the Dreamcast, like Sega's Saturn before it, would live a short life.  In 2001, after months of speculation, Sega officially announced that it would halt production of the console, and pulled itself from the hardware market.  Sega still lives on today, however, and provides software, including sequels to games that once lived on it's own consoles, for the other companies in today's market.

While the time we were able to spend with the "little grey box that almost could" may have been short, there's no denying that it's impact was large.  As we look forward to the future of gaming, with undoubtedly even more consoles, promising more power in online gaming coming into the fray, we must not forget the console that started it all.

Sega Dreamcast, I salute you.

For more information on the Dreamcast and Sega's Legacy of Gaming, visit Sega.