A custom-painted Dreamcast that supposedly features the system's 'best games' but forgoes ChuChu Rocket! and Space Channel 5? Hmmm...

Granted, it's kind of hard to fault artist Oskunk for focusing on other Dreamcast "classics" like Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and Shenmue while conjuring up his latest creation--although I'm sure some folks would do just that in regard to his decision to feature Sonic Adventure.

(I can't join them because I've never played any version of Sonic Adventure. In fact, I don't think I've played any Sonic the Hedgehog game past ... the third Genesis game?)

At the very least, I think a fifth character--Space Channel 5's magenta-coifed Ulala--should have been added to this custom-painted Dreamcast's lid, especially since it would've injected some much-needed femininity into the proceedings.



(Switching out Jet Set Radio's Beat for Gum would've done the trick, too, but I fully understand and appreciate that the former is far more likely to be that game's "mascot" than the latter.)

Even in its current, Space Channel 5-free state, though, this concoction is pretty darn sweet, don't you think?

If you'd like to take a closer look at the console or its similarly colorful controllers, by the way, I'd suggest heading over to custom-art.blogspot.com at your earliest convenience.

See also: previous Oskunk-centric posts

Happy belated birthday, Dreamcast!

I know I'm a few days late with this, but it's been quite a week in my household--work stuff (blarg)--and as a result neither my heart nor my brain have quite been in the blogging game, if you get my drift.

Regardless, I'll be damned if I'm going to let the 14th anniversary of the Dreamcast's North American release go by without a (belated) mention.

(No worries if math isn't your forte--the info above means the Dreamcast hit store shelves in this region on Sept. 9, 1999.)

Although I'm sure I seem like a Nintendo fanboy from time to time, the reality is that I'm an equal opportunity gamer. As much as I've loved my Nintendo-made consoles and handhelds over the years, I've loved my NEC- and Sony- and, yes, Sega-made systems just as much.

In fact, I count the Dreamcast and its predecessor (the Sega Saturn) among my all-time favorite consoles--no small feat when you consider the Famicom, PC Engine, PlayStation, PS2 and Super Famicom are their main sources of competition.

I was completely obsessed with the Dreamcast before it was released, by the way. I think that was due, in part, to the fact that its design reminded me a bit of the original PC Engine (still the best console design of all time, in my humble opinion).



It also was due to the console's promise of perfect arcade ports (see: Crazy Taxi, The House of the Dead 2, Power Stone and Virtua Tennis) and arcade-like originals (Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure and Space Channel 5, among many, many others).

Anyway, I bought one at launch--using the money I'd made from selling my Japanese Sega Saturn and games (doh!)--and loved the hell out of it until I briefly stopped gaming a few years later.

Thankfully, I didn't get rid of any of my Dreamcast titles during that college-induced gaming drought. (I did lose or sell my Dreamcast system, though--or maybe my older brother claimed it? I wish I could remember.)

I still regularly pull out those games--ChuChu Rocket!, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, Space Channel 5 and Virtua Tennis, especially--and play them on the (second) Dreamcast I acquired a couple of years ago, actually--and I even add a new title or two to my collection every once in a while.

Do any of you have similarly fond memories of Sega's final console? Also, so you still play any of its games? If so, which ones? Let me and other Dreamcast fans know all about them in the comments section below.

See also: 'Happy belated 30th birthday, Nintendo Famicom and Sega SG-1000!'

10 video games that made my life gayer (#8): Crazy Taxi

It used to be the Holy Grail of every gamer I knew: the "arcade perfect" console game. Well, Sega's Crazy Taxi was the game that made me feel I had finally found that legendary chalice.

Was it a rather superficial affair, with a limited amount of replay value? Sure, you could argue that. Of course, it was addictive as all get-out, too, which helped draw things out a bit.

The point of this post isn't to make a case for Crazy Taxi being one of the greatest games ever made, though--hell, I don't even necessarily think it's a great game. It is a great port of an arcade game, though, and that was more than enough for me back in the day.

See also: all of the previous '10 video games that made my life gayer' posts