The Dreamcast legacy

The Dreamcast is a bit of an odd beast. Coming on the heels of the unpopular Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast was meant to be a simple console built with off-the-shelf parts. The PlayStation 2 was already tough competition, and ultimately the Dreamcast fell out of the public eye as the Nintendo 64 was released with incredible fanfare. In some sense, it's a footnote in console history.

But despite not achieving the success that Sega hoped for, the Dreamcast has formed a small cult following, because as we know, nothing builds a cult-like following like an untimely demise. Since its release, it has gained a reputation for being ahead of its time. It was the first console to include a modem for network play and an easy storage solution for transferring game data between consoles via the VMUs that docked in the controllers. It had innovative and classic games such as Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online, and Shenmue. Microsoft even released a version of Windows CE with DirectX allowing developers to port PC games to the console quickly.

We see our fair share of console hacks here on Hackaday, but what is the ultimate legacy of the Dreamcast? How did it come to be? What happened to it, and why did so much of Sega's hopes ride on it?

I missed out on the Dreamcast, but I've always been deeply fascinated by it, and on many an occasion I've come close to pulling the trigger on eBay. What always holds me back is the knowledge that most likely I'll buy it, mess around with it for a few days, and then rarely look at it again. To any Dreamcast owners among our readership - would any of you say the Dreamcast and its most prominent titles are still worth it in 2021?