The online retro gaming community has been sharing memories of SEGA’s latest console as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
On September 9, 1999, the SEGA Dreamcast was officially released in North America. Although it failed to win the battle against Sony’s mighty PlayStation, the Dreamcast has since gained a cult following that considers the ill-fated console to be “too ahead of its time.”
Former SEGA of America president Peter Moore has reflected on his memories of the Dreamcast launch on Twitter/X, including in an excerpt from his upcoming autobiography where he said of the launch: “It was clear that this was Sega’s chance to transcend all the bad publicity surrounding the demise of the Saturn. In addition to the launch of the Dreamcast, we also boasted an unprecedented lineup of games.”
Fans responded to the post by sharing their own memories of the console. Some showed off vintage photos of their Dreamcast, while others revealed the consoles they had kept in their collection, including some rare variants like the Hello Kitty edition.
Fans like Twinwar responded to the tweet with their own memories, saying, “Still, it’s one of my favorite consoles of all time. I still remember the first time I fired up Phantasy Star Online. It was one of those moments where I was amazed to be playing online with other people and an RPG. And then, of course, my all-time favorite game on the Dreamcast. Shenmue. What a revolutionary game!”
Others came late to the Dreamcast scene, like Watfen64, but quickly learned to appreciate its finer qualities, as they explained on Twitter: “I only got a DC last year, but my experience with it immediately revealed to me how revolutionary the console was at the time.”
Despite its untimely end, the SEGA Dreamcast lives on in people’s hearts. We still hope that a Dreamcast Mini will see the light of day one day.
In the meantime, maybe we can enjoy a Nintendo Wii that fits on a keychain, or a NES cartridge transformed into a working console.
