This is the slow period. Unlike the movie industry when the summer is filled with blockbusters to watch, even if it’s mostly just over-budgeted spectacles, the gaming industry is the complete opposite. I mean with the exception of Madden, there really isn’t anything else that is piquing my interest.

And we are still quite far away from the gaming flood that takes place in October. Sure there will be some good games that will trickle out until then, but it’s still slow.

Of course during this time period it gets me thinking back to playing the classic systems. Usually when this happens I am playing the games of the 16-bit era; the classics on the Super Nintendo and the Genesis. Those are two systems that I will always go back to, as well as the original NES.

However, over the previous year I have been missing one system more in particular. A system that brought me much joy back in 2000, made even more significant when I went to my first ever E3, and a system that I still believe has a spiritual successor in the Xbox 360.

Of course, I’m talking about the Dreamcast.

A lot of my earlier readers will remember my fondness towards the Dreamcast, which was a very powerful system for its time. It was the first gaming system to truly provide an entertaining online multiplayer experience, at a blazing 56K speed! Many nights have I spent on my phone playing Phantasy Star Online, which I consider the only good MMO I have ever played (and yes I did play the snoozefest that is World of Warcraft!)

Even strange niche games such as Typing of the Dead, a spinoff of House of the Dead 2 which replaces guns with keyboards provided something unique that I came to expect from the Dreamcast.

And then there was Shenmue. While other people I knew (mostly Final Fantasy VIII fanboys) whined about the game’s interrogation style narrative, I was allured by the game’s environment and the fact I could go anywhere or do anything I wanted in it. It was sandbox gameplay before the GTA series made it the norm. So 2000 was a great year.

But we all know what happened the year after. Sega left the hardware business, and as a result, left the Dreamcast faithful out to dry. They even went as far as taking their final swan song, Shenmue II, out of North American hands. I never forgave them for that.

In fact when that happened, I traded in my Dreamcast.

But now, 10 years later I realized how much I missed the Dreamcast and wondered if I’d ever get another one. I checked eBay recently and noticed the prices were still out of my range. Even at MAGFest I found a vendor that was selling one for $50, which I sadly didn’t have at the time. I never thought I’d get another one again…

Until a coworker sold me his for only $20! Without a doubt it’s the best $20 I ever spent. I now also have a ton of games that I missed playing.

Since I got the second chance at the Dreamcast last week, I have been playing it nonstop, remembering how great a game system it once was, and even though I am unable to play online (as I don’t have a land based phone line any more,) it still makes me long for the good old days of 2000 and enjoying a great console whose life span ended way before it should have, thanks to Sony!

But still there are two games that I still need to get in order to make my Dreamcast collection perfect. One of them of course is the previously mentioned Shenmue, but there was another title I longed to play again, even after suffering through its inferior Xbox sequel…Jet Grind Radio.

Currently Playing: Too many to count (Dreamcast)

Waiting For: Metroid Other M (Wii)