The Sega Dreamcast is a 128-bit console. It's the successor of the Sega Saturn. It has an NEC processor that takes GD-Roms. These CDs can hold up to 1 GB of storage. The Dreamcast is notable for its selection of games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and NFL 2k.

History

Sega later got some relief where Sony was only able to sell half their inventory of PS2s. Since the PS2's inventory was so weak, Sega decided to take action and try to move mass quantities of units. Unfortunately, this plan backfired as well.

In March 2001, Peter Moore (the head of SoA at the time) announced that the Dreamcast hadn't been meeting expectations. The sales had been sadly lagging and their warehouses were filled with unsold Dreamcasts and games. Sega decided to sell off the remaining number of consoles at a vastly discounted price and cut their losses. This announcement came with the final nail in the Dreamcast coffin, they announced the Dreamcasts was no longer in production and that Sega was switching from a hardware manufacturer to a software manufacturer. The entire gaming community was astonished and saddened by the final announcement about the Dreamcast.

Even though the Sega Dreamcast failed and only sold 10.6 million units during its lifetime, the Dreamcast will always be remembered by fans as being one of the greatest systems of all time.

Hardware

Back in 1998, the Dreamcast was an advance console for its time. It was the first 128-bit console to be released. The console has 4 controller slots and a 56k modem built into the console for Seganet. You could buy a Broadband modem for a faster connection for only $50.

There were many different ways to play the Dreamcast. You were able to play it on your TV via A/V chords with an optional S-Video chord, RGB chords, and an RF connector (all were sold seperately). You could even play on your computer screen via VGA box sold seperately.

This console runs GD-Roms which could hold up to 1 GB of space. It also uses VMU memory cards that could hold up to 128 KB of space. These VMUs connect to your Dreamcast controller and have an LCD screen that shows pictures relating to the game that you're playing. For some games, you're able to play minigames relating to the games that are saved onto the VMU whereever they go, making it a handheld console as well.

The Dreamcast had a lot of accessories. Here's a list of them:

VMU Memory Cards
Rumble Packs
VGA Adapter (to play the Dreamcast on your computer screnn in 480p)
Mouse and keyboard
fishing rods (for fishing games)
microphones (for games like Seamen)
lightguns
arcade sticks
Camera
karaoke
Maracas (for Samba de Amigo)
Train controls (for a Japanese train simulator)

There was supposed to be a MP3 player, DVD player, and Zip players, but they were canceled due to the Dreamcast dying.

Games

The Dreamcast was well known for its variety of games. Unline the Playstation 2 that barely had anything to play at launch, the Dreamcast had a huge launch lineup of good games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and NFL 2K. Over the next 2 years of the Dreamcast's life, they would have over 300 games in it's lineup. What the Dreamcast was known for was having a great selection of arcade ports, ranging from some of Sega's classics (like Crazy Taxi and Samba de Amigo), to fighting games (like Marvel vs. Capcom). They even had some innovative ones as well. For example; the first game to ever use Cel-shading was Jet Grind Radio (or Jet Set Radio), a skateboarding game where you go around putting graffiti on everything in the city. They even had ports of PC games (like Quake III and Unreal Tournament) that was like the PC game with online and all. 

Online

The Dreamcast was the first console to have full online play from their first party. SegaNet was an online gaming community where people can play each other. You can play a game of football with each other with NFL 2K1. You could play a round of Deathmatch in Unreal Tournament. Although the launch of SegaNet was successful, the sales of Dreamcasts dropped. By July 2001, the service ended, and everyone was forced to switch to Earthlink. This was bad because there was a deal going on that if you sign up for two years, you'll get a $180 rebate. Since it didn't last two years (only 10 months) the deal was null and void.

Legacy

Even though the Dreamcast is dead, the legacy of the console lives on. Due to the Dreamcast failing, Sega had to drop from the console race and stick to making games for other consoles. Most of those games, early on, were ports of Dreamcast games. The two Sonic Adventure games were ported over to the Nintendo Gamecube, which was shocking at the time because everyone knew that Nintendo and Sega were sworn enemies, and now they were partners. The Gamecube even got Phantasy Star Online, being one of the only Gamecube games to support online play. 

Sony, the people who made Sega go bankrupt, got Virtual Fighter 4 for the PS2. Peter Moore, SoA's president at the time, left Sega to join Microsoft and help with their new console, the Xbox. Due to him being a part of Sega, he got Sega to make games on the Xbox. They got some exclusive games like Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Shenmue II. Sega's still making games for the new consoles, the WII, 360, and PS3.