Geek Item Of The Week - 04/22/09

 

The Sega Dreamcast

 

Oh wow.  ThinkGeek has really outdone themselves this time.  No, this is not a joke or an April Fool's prank.  They are selling brand new, still in the box, Sega Dreamcast  systems for only $99.

 

I absolutely loved the Sega Dreamcast when it came out.  It had a number of really fun games, and the graphics were (at the time) mindblowing.  Even today I'd say that they're still pretty good.  The graphics on the Wii aren't any better than the Dreamcast's.  This was the first of the "Next Gen" systems that came out, and it sadly got overshadowed by the PS2 which came out a little while later.

 

If you've never played a Dreamcast before, but you love fun, arcade style games, then this really is something you should look into.  Unfortunately, ThinkGeek isn't selling any games for the system but if you can easily find games for super cheap online.  Here are some of my personal recommendations for things you should pick up for the system.

 



 

Chu Chu Rocket - Hands down my favorite Dreamcast game ever.  Chu Chu rocket is a multiplayer game in which you have to place directional arrows down on a tile floor to direct the flow of mice as they wander around.  You're trying to get the mice to go into your rocket ship.  Once you've accumulated enough mice, the rocket blasts off and you win.  However, there are cats wandering around too, and you have to use the arrow tiles to stop the cats from killing the mice at the same time as you're trying to direct the mice.  And in multiplayer games, other players are fighting you for control of the mice, and they're sending the cats your way on purpose.  The action gets really hectic too.  Be warned.

 



 

Walt Disney Magical Racing Tour - Admittedly, this is just a clone of Mario Kart.  What makes it great though is that you are playing disney characters as they race through courses that are actually Disneyland rides!  Tracks include such well known rides as Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and more.  If you're at all a fan of Disneyland, or even if you just really like Mario Kart, you'll love this game.

 



 

Powerstone - One of the original launch titles with the system, Powerstone is a 3D fighting game that doesn't suck balls.  The gameplay is easy to pick up, the controls are responsive and fun, the graphics are great, and the overall gaming experience is great (especially when fighting a friend).

 



 

The Typing of the Dead - Typing of the Dead is an incredibly interesting variation of the original rail based shooting game House of the Dead.  In this version, instead of using an infrared gun that you point at the screen to kill zombies, you are instead armed only with a keyboard, which you plug into the system.  When the zombies attack you, words flash onto the screen.  Your job is to type the word as fast as possible (and you have to spell it correctly).  If you are a quick typer, you kill the zombies.  If you don't type fast enough, the zombies will feast on your flesh. 

 



 

Shenmue - For RPG fans, this is the game you want.  Here's part of the product description from Amazon.

 

The story itself is ripped straight from a chopsocky flick: you portray the young hero Ryo Hazuki, whose father (a kung fu sensei, naturally) is killed before his very eyes by a mysterious and frightening villain. Ryo must uncover the identity of the killer and fight his way through the city in an effort to avenge this wrongful death.

 

Shenmue's Yokusuka might be short on space--in total, it represents maybe a square mile--but the detail is overwhelming. You can interact with nearly every person or object that you see; 300 citizens go about their daily routines, and whom you encounter is as much determined by where you are as when you are there.