link love 091109: DC anniversary edition

I was a latecomer.

By the time I bought my first Dreamcast, the system had already lived and died, games were only available on the internet and in dusty stacks on the used software endcaps of dedicated video game shops, and the console itself could be purchased for thirty bucks easily.

I was looking for something new, a change of pace from the titles I had been recently playing. I don’t know why I’d gone with the original Xbox over the PlayStation 2… No actually, that’s not true, I do remember. Halo. You see, I’ve been a Bungie fan since way back in the day â€” played the hell out of Marathon, and Myth is one of my all-time favorite series â€” and I was one of those folks watching with wary trepidation when it was announced that Microsoft (Microsoft!) would be purchasing the studio.

Anyways, so I had an original Xbox, I was tired of XTREME games about dudes shooting dudes, and I wanted something different and interesting. After a bit of shopping, I came home with a Dreamcast, two controllers, and used copies of Seaman (with microphone), and Grandia II.

And so, a very special link love.

History and Introspection…

9.9.99, A Dreamcast Memorial from 1UP.

Gamasutra Feature: The Rise and Fall of the Dreamcast.

Peter Moore, on the Dreamcast: 9/9/99 Ten Years After.

From Ars, The Swirl That Shook Gaming.

Still want more? Bitmob has been thinking about the Dreamcast all week.

Highlights of the library…

Destructoid celebrates 10 years of Dreamcast: the games.

The Sega Dreamcast Shmups Library, revised edition, at Racketboy.

A Decade of Dreams, a bunch of Dreamcast Quick Looks from Giant Bomb.

And the ultimate software retrospective of the week: THE DREAMCAST TOP 100.

They still make games for this thing?

Gaming on the Dreamcast is not dead. In fact, new titles continue to be developed and released every year, primarily by German publisher redspotgames. Here are some of the newest…

Announced this week, Rush Rush Rally Racing.

Yuan Work’s supercute Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles.

Dux and Last Hope, two shmups designed by NG:DEV.TEAM’s RenÃ© Hellwig.

Divers 2000 series CX-1 Dreamcast

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Here’s the Divers 2000 series CX-1 Dreamcast, a rare all-in-one console unit developed by Fuji, intended as a video communications and gaming device for the consumer and hospitality markets. Released just one year before production of the entire Dreamcast platform ceased, the CX-1 was unique, short-lived, and expensive, selling for over four times the 19,900Â¥ price of the standard Dreamcast console at the time.

Highly sought after by collectors, the Morolian-iMac hybrids are generally difficult to find, although several years ago, Rklok, a reseller in the Netherlands, managed to acquire a fair number of new-in-box units and he’s been trickling them out ever since, so they aren’t quite as rare outside of Japan as they once were. Expect to pay around $600-800 (hey, less than original retail!) for a boxed and complete Divers.

If you’re patient, and don’t mind either incomplete or slightly abused merchandise, the occasional deal can be had; it just may take a year or two of waiting before it happens.

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Locals! Things happening locally!

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October is looking to be a fine month for geeks. Let’s go to these.

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Natural History Auction
Featuring the Tyrannosaurus rex “Samson”
Saturday, October 3rd
Preview: September 18 – October 3
The Venetian, Las Vegas

One of the largest known Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever discovered will be offered on Saturday, October 3rd during Bonhams & Butterfields Natural History auction to be held at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The auction will contain approximately 50 lots of fossils with the centerpiece of the sale focusing on the expertly mounted female T. rex, expected to bring millions of dollars.

Preview the auction catalog.

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An Evening with Max Brooks:Surviving the Zombie Wars
Author: Max Brooks
Friday, October 16th, 7:00 p.m.

Clark County Library
1401 E. Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Max Brooks, considered by many to be one of the world’s foremost zombie preparedness experts, will take the stage at the Clark County Library to explain the keys to success against the hordes of the undead that may be stalking you right now.