Remembering the Dreamcast, reminds me of my brother.
If it wasn't for a friend of mine who over MSN reminded me that this week was the Dreamcast's Launch anniversary, I probably would have completely forgotten. After all, this week of September is a strange week. With all the documentaries playing on various channels about the tragic events of 9/11 (CBC Docs), the TV shows returning for their fall season, and just general happenings at work, and in life I've been too busy to think about the Dreamcast.
Every year this seems to be the case, but with previous years I was lucky enough to have my brother around to remind me of the Dreamcast's anniversary through email, a phone call, or txt message. What I would give to receive either of those messages from my bro. Instead his number sits on my cellphone uncalled, my email box left with a few of his last messages to me, preserved. I remember there were times where I'd be so preoccupied with stuff that I'd purposely ignore his messages, for which I regret doing, now that he's gone. It just sucks to not be able to hit the reply button to open a conversation with someone who was once here, and is no longer among us.
He was a huge fan of the Dreamcast, the games, and it's multitude of online multi-player support. And though he was adamantly opposed to the idea of calling himself a "Dreamcast Fanboy," he was practically that, a fanboy of the Dreamcast. With good reason since he saw the potential in the console, it's accessories, and it's capabilities. When the Dreamcast fizzled out, he was no doubt disappointed, but found a new love with the XBOX 360. This blog post pretty much sums up the similarities between the two, and why he grew to love the 360.
I remember each console launch with my brother was like a mission to the store, and we'd hangout in the lineup, and leave proudly carrying the console back home. Setting up the system was also a careful and meticulous process, as he wanted the first time to turn on the console to be an amazing experience. Though when we turned on the Atari Jaguar for the first time, it was meh, while the Sega Saturn was effin' CRAZY! (He grew out of that phase after the Dreamcast though.)
Of course he bypassed the Sony PS1, and PS2, for games like Soul Calibur, Rez, Shenmue and Shenmue 2, Samba de Amigo, Virtua Fighter 3, on the DC which were some of his favorites, and when the Broadband Adapter came out Phantasy Star Online ver.1 and ver.2, Quake III, Alien Front Online, Unreal Tournament 2004, Chu Chu Rocket, opened his eyes to the next level in online console gaming after the Sega Saturn.
Being the older of sibling of 3, my brother always wanted us to be a team, and through gaming we would really test ourselves to see how cohesive a team we were. Whether slaughtering enemies in PSO, or fragging bitches in Quake III Arena, we always had each others back, even though I'd sometimes be the rebel sometimes and break off from the team to do my own thing. Hehe. He was the leader and called all the shots.
Yes, the Dreamcast was heavily played by myself and my siblings, and it offered many awesome games and good times. I'll always remember my brother when thinking of the Dreamcast. It's impossible to separate the two.
R.I.P. Dreamcast, and R.I.P. Bro.
No comments:
Post a Comment