IGN Dreamcast Relaunch

Now this is an odd development, but it got me to go to IGN's site for the first time in ages so they must know something. IGN has relaunched dreamcast.ign.com, and apparently their plan is to re-review every single DC game.

History would have you believe the Dreamcast went quietly into the night several years later. We say, f@#$ history.

As Sega fans, we just can't let the system die. The Dreamcast tallied roughly 250 games released in the U.S. We're going to play every last one of them and provide you with new impressions, screens and videos. How have Sega's classic games held up over the past few years and, more importantly, which are still worth playing? One by one, we'll examine the entire DC library to answer those questions. It's going to kick ass.

So sit back and enjoy the sweet beep of your dead VMU battery. Even though your friends and family may believe the Dreamcast is dead, rest assured, it's thinking..

I'm sooo jealous. I've read rumours that playing burned games on a DC will wear it out, so I'm actually trying to stick to playing the 15 or so games I actually bought for the thing. Maybe I'll go trolling on eBay for more one of these days. Or perhaps start harding the systems as well.

There was something weird about the DC, this aura of knowing humour. .like the nerdy kid in high school who grew up and became comfortable with himself and stopped trying to please everyone around him and just did his own thing.

I have to say I've been a little disappointed with Sega's incarnation as a 3rd party software maker. Sure they've done some good versions of their franchise games, but they just haven't gone out on a limb and let Yu Suzuki or Yuji Naka (creators of Virtua Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively) just run with some weird idea they might have.

Maybe the economics of churning out games just doesn't allow you to devote a whole team of developers and artists to something that doesn't have a projected proft automatically attached to it, where if you're making games for your own console, there might be some esoteric value in showing what your creation is capable of, and exploring new ideas a little more.

Why does Soul Calibur, a DC launch title from 1999 still look as good as games that come out today? And people were suckered into thinking the Playstation 2 would be some kind of revolution in console graphics. I guess people were just really hurting for a sub-par DVD player and the next Tekken sequel.

The excitement surrounding the Nintendo wii is, I think, not all to do with the fancy controller. I think there's some excitement to see passion and creativity have a chance to win over corporate committee-driven design and marketing. I just wish Sega could bring what it had back then to the table and help Nintendo mop up the floor with the interlopers.

And now, since I'm alone in my parents place taking care of pets while they are in Mexico, I think I'm going to go hook up lil whitey to their big 40" TV and play me some Metropolis Street Racer or maybe go wander around the village in Shenmue for a while.