25th anniversary of 9/9/99: US release of Sega Dreamcast and Final Fantasy VIII

It's been 25 years since 9/9/99. That was the day when Sega released the Dreamcast in the US. And on the very same day, Sony released Final Fantasy VIII in the US.

What are your gaming memories of 9/9/99?

Dreamcast launch line-up on 9/9/99:

• AeroWings
• AirForce Delta
• Blue Stinger
• CART Flag to Flag
• Expendable
• The House of the Dead 2
• Hydro Thunder
• Monaco Grand Prix
• Mortal Kombat Gold
• NFL 2K
• NFL Blitz 2000
• Pen Pen TriIcelon
• Power Stone
• Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
• Sonic Adventure
• Soul Calibur
• TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat
• Tokyo Xtreme Racer
• TrickStyle

I'm pretty sure I was playing Half Life then, funnily enough I'm still playing Half Life now.

About the Dreamcast: it's kinda weird but when I look up "best games on dreamcast" it always focusses on the exclusives, of which Dreamcast had a rather weak amount, but for me the strength often lies in the great ports that it had. It often had the best version of third party games (as other consoles were weaker at the time)

For a console it also got a lot (and I really mean a lot) of FPS ports from PC. But I heard it had that weird control style? Where the right side of the controller was used to move around and the left side of the controller/analogue stick was used to aim?

Anyone have experience with playign FPS on Dreamcast and how did that feel?

Added the Dreamcast launch line-up.

I still have my Dreamcast to this day. It saddens me that it failed and that Sega no longer makes consoles anymore.

I remember playing Rainbow Six on dreamcast over and over. Also Sonic adventure. Ah man...those were the days. I thought the future of gaming was going to be so amazing. LOL

I was playing House of the Dead 2 with some mates just last month, and that game is still a blast!

Happy 25th anniversary Dreamcast. Shame how it turned out. Was a pretty solid system and great for fighting games. Loved playing those Capcom fighters on it. The launch games that I enjoyed on it were:

- House of the Dead 2

- SoulCalibur

- Sonic Adventure

Also happy 25th to Final Fantasy VIII. Really enjoyed that game.

The dreamcast truly shined with Arcade ports. It was a major strength and I wish Sega leaned into it more, but games were starting to venture into narrative/action adventure territory. Which Sega was struggling with, outside a few games like Shenmue.

HydroThunder

San Francisco Rush

Star Wars Episode 1 Racer

Marvel vs Capcom

Crazy Taxi

And so many more arcade ports, that were better than the ps1, n64, and even PS2 versions.

Recall the day very well. Such fond memories. :D

Top five games released on 9/9/99:

• The House of the Dead 2
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Power Stone
• Sonic Adventure
• Soul Calibur

Buy a mini-Dreamcast and esp Saturn, since alot of the games never actually played.

True, some of the best arcade games you could play for hours. But it seems like the AAA industry is less and less about 'having good old fun'

And more into the narrative/telling a story. I yearn for some more of those classic arcade games.

Still remember getting my dreamcast in Christmas 99 with ready 2 rumble, sonic adventure and mortal Kombat gold. Great memories.

I didn't get my Dreamcast on 9/9/99, but seeing Sonic Adventure, NFL 2K, and SEGA Bass Shipping gameplay wowed the shit out of me, so when I eventually found one in February, I had to have it. The demo disc it came with was awesome too, which had games like Power Stone, House of the Dead II, CART Flag to Flag, etc.

Hate to say it, but I paid the Dreamcast little mind when it launched. Only played a Saturn once at a cousin's house, and wrote Sega off when if failed to catch on.

But by 2021 they were dirt cheap and had amassed a library too good to ignore. I had a part time job, and was living at home while going to community college, so lots of disposable income to spend. My life was go to school in the morning, go to work in the afternoon, go to game shops looking for deals in the evening, play video games at night. Good times.

Same. I didn't pay any attention to the Dreamcast until it was a dead console. It was some time in early 2001 when I first saw Shenmue at a cousin's house and was blown away by how it looked better than anything on my PS2 at the time. By that point, the Dreamcast was being sold at bargain bin prices, so I picked one up for cheap and had a blast with the Dreamcast.

Still got 2 Dreamcasts and 90 odd games. Still the Best system to ever release (that and the Mega Drive) and still play it to this day.

I was playing Powerstone 2, Tony Hawks Skateboarding and Sega GT a coupe of weeks back.

I used to play that game a lot in the arcades back then. Great times. I also have that game for the Dreamcast as well. It's my favorite game in the House of the Dead series.

I could not imagine that it has been a quarter of a century since the release of the Dreamcast in the U.S. A generation of people have not been born when it was released and would have not know about it until they are old enough and years after it was discontinued.

Gaming has changed greatly since the Dreamcast's release.

Sorry it took me this long to actually say anything about the Dreamcast.

Granted, my Dad went to Toys 'R' Us and bought me the Dreamcast in that year/date without knowing if I wanted it for Christmas. I got Sonic Adventure as he knew I was a Sonic guy, the best Christmas gift since the SNES as it was my first console. The games I still have are:

• Sonic Adventure/2
• Crazy Taxi (only played the sequel from BlockBusters)
• Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes (I'm disappointed this game is so overlooked and most of all, it was ahead of its time for a good Gundam strategy game that was part of the One-Year War)
• Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
• Hydro Thunder (also got it for PC)
• House of the Dead
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica (Code Veronica was the RE game that I got back into the series after RE2 at the time, so Code Veronica has a special place in my RE heart)
• Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (Never play the sequel but a little fun fact: Michael Jackson was a fan of the first game, so developers were so honored and flattered that they gave him a chance to be in the sequel and he voiced his own character in Round 2. I also heard he invited all the neighborhood kids to play it at his ranch. Back when times were so simple)

Happy birthday to the legendary Dreamcast. Just wish Sega could have done more for the console but they overspend too much stuff that it bankrupted them to oblivion.

I used to frequently play House of the Dead 2 and 3 in arcades. My favourite in the series was HOTD3, but HOTD2 was a close second. Typing of the Dead is also pretty damn good and very unique.