A day the snow turned to rain. a re-introduction.

[OatBob]

Ten years a member, and twenty years a Dreamcast fan, I have yet to properly introduce myself here. So kindly humor me with this re-introduction.

"A day the snow turned to rain."

January 4, 2005 was a cold day. I remember the weather as I walked to the pawn shop, over a mile from home. I had endured the first semester of university, but lost all confidence in the future. I met my goal of purchasing a Dreamcast and returning home. The surprise disc included was scratched, performing as poorly as expected. My first real encounter previously was at family thanksgiving, and sampling games was a true delight. It would be one more day to acquire functioning discs of my own.

From there it was great! For the first time in my life I could play a current-gen console. The up-all-night addiction to SoulCalibur, the sensual environments and costume collecting in Dead or Alive 2, and the rock and rumble of Power Stone with my bro... and that's only the introduction. I stumbled across some hits on my own such as Tokyo Extreme Racer, Seaman and Blue Stinger, and really was wow'ed by some recommendations by a friend... Shenmue, Rez, and Jet Grind Radio.

As time passed on, I was amused by how everyone considered it a "dead" console; meanwhile Milestone would continue to trickle out releases for a couple more years. As that stream waned, another opened with publisher RedSpotGames. Equally amusing was how dire the titles Under Defeat, Karous, and Last Hope sounded, of these ironic underdog releases for the not-so-dead console. Another novelty was using the browser online as late as 2007 as my family was slow to upgrade from dialup to broadband.

As time passed, I progressed into the indulgence of collecting for this console. I remember finding my first PAL case in the wild. Bringing home an 18-inch stack of strategy guides had me over-the-moon.... and then in the dark corners of the internet seeing the "unseen" and acquiring development discs and hardware. The whole scene around this "uncool" console is marvelous, and many collectors don't know what they're missing.

I desire to tell so much more of the joys the dream-box brings, but this has become a long read. See you all online!

~OatBob