The Sega Dreamcast turns 25 years old today (In North America)
The year is 1999. In that year, films such as Toy Story 2, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, Fight Club, and Pokémon: The First Movie came out in theaters. Shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, The Sopranos, Futurama, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and Ed, Edd, n’ Eddy premiered on TV. Songs such as “…Baby, One More Time” by Britney Spears, “Can I Get A…” by Jay-Z feat. Amil and Ja Rule, “No Scrubs” by TLC, “Butterfly” by Crazy Town, and, yes, “All Star” by Smash Mouth topped the charts. In Japan, anime such as Corrector Yui, Excel Saga, Medabots, and One Piece premiered on TV while Digimon Adventure premiered both in Japan and internationally. Video games like Super Smash Bros., Unreal Tournament, Final Fantasy VIII, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Persona 2: Innocent Sin came out while Sega launched arcade games like Crazy Taxi, Emergency Call Ambulance, Harley-Davidson pinball, and South Park pinball. (Sega Pinball‘s last two games before they were sold off to Stern Pinball this same year.) Sega had done something else even more significant on this day that very same year, though. (Anyone else feeling a little Déjà vu?) Sega launched the Dreamcast on the easiest date in video game history to remember: 9/9/99. Happy 25th Anniversary!
Throughout 1999, Sega had cranked the hype machine up to 11 for Dreamcast, setting this up to be Sega’s grand return to the console race following their many missteps with the Sega Saturn. On September 9th of that year, the Dreamcast would launch with an abundance of excellent games available right away, including Crazy Taxi, The House of the Dead 2, NFL 2K, Power Stone, Soul Caliber, Hydro Thunder, and, of course, Sonic Adventure, and that’s not even half of what gamers could choose from on day 1. In fact, because Sonic hadn’t made a big splash on the Saturn, Sonic Adventure was as much a return to glory for Sonic as the Dreamcast was for Sega. With such an incredible launch, Sega raked in almost $100 million USD in just that first day, insuring that no matter what happens after that, Sega rang in the new millennium in style. While the console did not last long commercially, even compared to the Saturn, it made such a lasting impression that it enjoys just as much of a lofty spot in gaming and pop culture history as the Genesis before it.
Join us after the break as we start thinking about this incredible legacy.
