Up to 6 Billion Players - A Dreamcast Remembrance Thread - The Bear and Badger

MyNameIsKrisG

The good thing about being in the games industry in 2000 was that even though you couldn't personally afford a new console, the office was full of them.

When I was working on The Italian Job, we initially ripped off the rotating arrow sat nav functionality straight from Crazy Taxi. Then we realised it made our game too easy, so changed it so the arrow constantly points at the target, rather than directing you to it.

MSR was my main memory of actually playing the system for fun. That was a great great game.

Then the PS2 arrived and we ignored the DC. Much like the rest of the planet.

poprock

I think Davy makes a good point. Much of what was special about the Dreamcast was down to it having an arcade feel to it. Fun games. Quick games. Games of skill. Games you could pass the pad around and play with mates. And that experimental thing - bonkers games. There was a hard-to-define happiness to it all. Gaming on the Dreamcast had joy, somehow.

Fuck knows how Sega managed that.

And it never really hit the mainstream enough for the games library to start to bloat and fill with bland titles. The big hitters stood out and defined the feel of the console.

g.man

In honour of the Dreamcast, today I am playing Crazy Taxes…

It’s not as colourful as I remember it tbh.

Hodge360

Bit of The Offspring in the background G?

g.man

LivDiv

All KFC and Pizza Hut receipts.

g.man

Heh. Pretty much.

ZMM

The Dreamcast, for me, perfectly recreated the blue skies and palm trees feeling you would get when playing Sega Rally, Daytona, etc, in the arcades. You could almost smell the greasy plastic when firing it up.

equinox_code

DC had the most great-but-not-quite-amazing games. Actually the only two DC games i really loved were Soul Calibur and Virtua Tennis.

A couple of games i rather enjoyed but don't get much of a mention are Ready 2 Rumble and Toy Commander.

Diluted Dante

Ready 2 Rumble was great.

equinox_code

It was hilarious with mates.

Worst character balancing, though. Characters ranged from completely unbeatable to actually unplayable. Jimmy Blood being the most OP from the regular characters; it was almost impossible to lose as him. Fortunately we had a mate who was outstandingly shit at games, so only he was allowed to play as Jimmy, which levelled up the playing field nicely.

Kazuo

Christmas 2001: I'd begged my mum for an import Gamecube, the only console of that generation I had eyes for at the time and it wasn't going to be out in Europe until the following Summer. Instead my brother and I unwrapped a brand new Dreamcast along with Confidential Mission, Crazy Taxi, and Worms World Party. Thank God for that because while I still got a UK Gamecube first day (amazing to think that launched at £129, incredible value) I'd had my world opened up - literally in the case of its modem - thanks to Sega's janky wee box of tricks.

Enjoyed some of my fondest gaming memories at that period in my life. Favourites include the three above, Shenmue II (never played the original until its re-release years later but it didn't matter), Skies of Arcadia, Chu Chu Rocket, Jet Set Radio, Canon Spike, Phantasy Star Online, Sonic Adventure + 2, Rez, Space Channel 5... It was eventually joined under my wee bedroom CRT by the aforementioned Gamecube and a PS2, and was sadly the first of those to pack in given its well-documented laser issues. Bought an immediate replacement and never looked back. Almost everything about it screamed "character" and I loved it, from eye-widening first steps into online gaming and browsing thanks to its amazing keyboard peripheral (and the eye-watering phone bills that followed), to the daftness of the VMUs, its ridiculously unwieldy controller, and what surely must have been the world's most fragile game cases.

I picked up the Read Only Memory Dreamcast retrospective a few years ago, very highly recommended for anyone with fond memories of the console and the time.

Blue Swirl

Minnesänger wrote:

A Background into How The Dreamcast came to be in House Cinty

Finally, someone else who remembers Outtrigger.

poprock

I remember Outtrigger. I didn’t rate it though. Bought it, played it, traded it in.

afgavinstan

I have that ROM book as well. Highly recommended.

davyK

g.man wrote:

In honour of the Dreamcast, today I am playing Crazy Taxes… It’s not as colourful as I remember it tbh.

You won't be able to add up using that TV remote you know....

Diluted Dante

He'll have to find his glasses before he figures that out.

Hodge360

You speaking from experience there Davy??

Diluted Dante wrote:

He'll have to find his glasses before he figures that out.

They are pretty well camouflaged.

g.man

Can’t find the bloody things anywhere!

Unlikely

What's in the box? WHAT'S IN THE BOX??

Oh right, it says on the label.

Moot_Geeza

G.man's glasses could be in there but he'll never know.

LivDiv

Democrats with games.

LOCK HER UP!!

Unlikely

Well

equinox_code

Carlos Moya forever

afgavinstan

Tommy Haas loyal stand up

Blue Swirl

poprock wrote:

I remember Outtrigger. I didn’t rate it though. Bought it, played it, traded it in.

Ban request.

Hodge360

I think my time playing MSR covered the cost of all DC purchases. Used to play regularly til the early hours and I'm sure I've played all times of day in the three cities without touching the internal clock.

Moot_Geeza

Kudos m8

davyK

Blue Swirl wrote:

I remember Outtrigger. I didn’t rate it though. Bought it, played it, traded it in.

Ban request.

Not an FPS fan but I enjoyed Outtrigger. The smaller levels suited me. DC had keyboard + mouse control option too.

davyK

Me playing Gigawing on Dreamcast.....listen to that drive thrashing and the stick clicking.

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