Sean Robinson

Haven't played the DS version, but I have played the PS version. I hope that this 3D re-imaging is just as good or better.

Okay, as someone who is closely connected to both the official and unofficial Dreamcast scene, I am going to clear some things.

First, the Dreamcast was launched in 1999 and supported until 2001 officially. So the last SEGA-sanctioned U.S. release was five years ago.

Second, SEGA is well aware of and in occasional contact with those of the GOAT Store. Then again, the GOAT Store and GOAT Publishing have numerous contacts throughout the video game industry. Let's just say that many are aware of what GOAT is doing, and silently approve.

Third, more games is good news no matter which system we are talking about. Just because someone likes a system you do not is no reason to take a vendetta against them. I may not have a Turbo Duo, but I am happy whenever I hear of a quality release for that system.

Fourth, the Dreamcast is not for everyone. Disregarding hardware, the system is aimed mainly at those who like arcade titles and experimentation. So if your "cup of tea" is fighting games, shooters, racers, and off-the-wall things like man-fish and maraca shaking, the Dreamcast can be Heaven. If you are more of an RPG, RTS, and FPS person, there are Dreamcast games for you but they can be found in greater quantities elsewhere.

Fifth, GOAT Publishing has to-date released four commercial games: Feet of Fury, Inhabitants, Maqiupai, and Cool Herders. In order they are a competitive dance game, a strategy puzzle game, a fast-paced majhong solitaire game, and a Chu Chu Rocket and Bomberman combination. They are all fine commercial-quality releases, and I am proud to own copies of each (including two copies of Feet of Fury, one signed).

Sixth, GOAT sells hundreds of copies of each game. Now while a good number of these games go to North America, the majority sell to Asia, where even in Japan there is still strong demand for Dreamcast software. In less developed Asia countries, the Dreamcast is still new and desirable for the young people, so the games sell especially well over there. As evidence, Play Asia and Lik Sang both sell the GOAT games and are large suppliers of them.

Seventh, the developers and GOAT do make good innovations with their games. Maqiupai pioneered their offline-online ranking system. Network adapters are not in great abundance for the Dreamcast (as analogue modems were more popular at the time of the Dreamcast's creation) so the developers created a code-generation algorithm that contains the name, high score, and number of the board from the game in a special code. When a player gets a high score, she can take the code and enter it into the Maqiupai ranking system. The code shall then be deciphered and the high score added to the world-wide ranking system. This is certainly a creative way to go around a problem, and even those with Internet access available for their Dreamcasts can use the Web browsers to enter their scores.

Eighth, if these newer independent commercial Dreamcast games were not selling well GOAT would not have published four games by now, let alone announcing an additional ten for release over the next eighteen months.

So I would say between IGN relaunching its Dreamcast section and further re-reviewing all 240+ games for the system, and GOAT selling its titles internationally to a hungry and awaiting market, the Dreamcast is still thinking and ready for another round.