Ted Dedon

Sega has always been a company that has stayed true to their fans. They've made some risky decisions financially, but they've always managed to provide for their key market base. Sega's systems have and always will be the market for the true hardcore gamer. I don't mean that in a way where the 'hardcore' gamer is better than any other kind, because usually it's just the opposite. What I mean is that generally on Sega's systems you'll find the largest library of niche titles or what some people like to call 'cult classics'. Sega isn't the only system to cater to this audience, Nintendo does too, but generally Sega always took it a step farther and that's probably why they're no longer making hardware in the industry any more.

What I'm here to do is to explain to all of you why the Sega Dreamcast is arguably the best home console of all time.

Most gamers out there have a love-it or hate-it relationship with the Dreamcast. If you don't like Sega's typical games then it's likely you didn't like the Dreamcast in the slightest. Odds are, though, if you like arcade-like games, the Dreamcast is probably one of your favorite systems ever made. Here's the deal: the Dreamcast is basically a home arcade system. Almost every major title on the system, excluding a few, spawns off an arcade derivative of some sort. Obviously we have our Sonic the Hedgehog's, Jet Grind Radio's, and Skies of Arcadia types out there that are completely original franchises that aren't in arcades, but outside of those and a select few, what else was there'

Sonic Adventure was the frontrunner of the launch titles in September of 1999, but it was quickly overshadowed by one game in particular: Soul Calibur. I'm sure you've all heard of it. Actually, you've probably even played it before. Upon release it was unanimously heralded as the most perfect 3D fighting game ever made. Soul Calibur's publisher and developer never really dreamed of how well it would be received when it finally made it stateside at the Dreamcast's launch; actually, no one really believed it. Soul Calibur got perfect scores from almost every major critic out there and was believed to be one of the best games of all time. So think of it like this: after being out one day, the system already had one of the best games ever made.

Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure weren't the only games in the Dreamcast launch keeping up the quality control. We also saw the start of the next big sports lineup that same day. Sega and Visual Concepts - a small sports developer owned by Sega - brought us one of the most realistic NFL games ever made at that point. It was simply called NFL2k, and it was here to kick some Madden NFL ass. With the new Minnesota Vikings' star Randy Moss on the cover they were really trying to push the game as the next Madden out there. NFL2k, along with its basketball counterpart NBA2k, were pushing Visual Concepts as one of the next major developers out there. Basically, they became Sega's Rareware for the Dreamcast.

But of course, we've talked about most of the Dreamcast's launch, right' We've talked about Soul Calibur, NFL2k, and NBA2k, but we've barely talked about Sonic Adventure! This was the equivalent of Super Mario 64 for the Dreamcast. Sega's long-time mascot took his first step into the 3D world, and it worked. This wasn't just a fluke; Sega beefed up the gameplay and technical side to make one of the best graphical platformers out there at the time.

September 9th, 1999 was a great day for gamers around the world. Sega had made their comeback after the devastating Saturn from the 32/64 bit generation of before. Critics were happy, gamers were happy, everyone was happy; Sega was back! The Dreamcast, upon its release, had one of the best opening sales records for any console at that point in time, although it was later crushed by the Playstation 2 in 2000. That was the problem: the Playstation 2. Could the Dreamcast hold its own against what was to become the next goliath in the game industry'