The Sega Dreamcast Turns 9

It struck this morning – after being awoken at 3:37 AM by a crying child, and this on a night when we’d stayed up late painting a room Aubergine – that it was 9/9, September Ninth.

Stranger still, through my sleepy haze I recalled this as being the ninth anniversary of the launch of the Sega Dreamcast on 9.9.99, or so the ads said (YouTube user lostnthefuture has a great collection of the spots, like this one).

I can clearly recall renting a Dreamcast from Blockbuster and taking it to my in-laws house. Jenn and I were recently married (you’ll recall my ninth anniversary recap post) and it seemed like a fun way to spend the day – playing video games instead of looking for gainful employment. Besides, those were the days before the children and the home and the kids.

The salad days.

That day, though, was the Sonic day as we played a ton of Sonic Adventure and a good deal of NFL 2k. Randy Moss was a golden god in that game. Makes we want to play actually.

Not long after that day my in-laws purchased a Dreamcast which I believe they still own. It used to sit in their bedroom on an overturned metal bin, implemented as a makeshift heatsink. Good times.

Anyhow, since the Dreamcast was billed as “It’s Thinking” I figured I’d post briefly about my thoughts, just thinking out loud, about the ninth anniversary of 9.9.99.

Seems I’m not the only one:

RetroJunk
Kotaku

For the whole sordid history of the ill-fated but still very cool system, check out parts one and two of the G4 show Icon on the subject.

And remember: It’s Thinking!

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