This is a post for all the people who never got a chance to own a Dreamcast. You people missed out on something, but luck is a lady tonight, because you now have the chance to rectify this for less than a Benjamin.

There are Dreamcast systems in stock at Amazon. And they are $88.99. I don’t know if they invented some kind of time machine or what. It doesn’t matter. Do you know why?

There are Dreamcast systems in stock. You could be buying one right now.

(via Gizmodo)

In this week’s episode, Erich joins the ranks of disgruntled Xbox 360 owners, Tim contemplates a return to Halo, Adam rekindles his love affair with the PSP, and Symposium Ad Nauseum takes a vacation so the boys can pay tribute to a very special console.

Share your favorite Dreamcast memories, and sound off on Tim’s Xbox dilemma, in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

Has it been ten years already?   I remember when I scored Sega’s little white box in 1999 and proceeded to play the living crap out of Soul Calibur.  After that it was full-on Sega-support as I bought everything from Tech Romancer to Shenmue to 18 Wheeler ProTrucker.

Sure, it may not have been “thinking,” but taking a look at the software library, as well as the cutting edge things it brought to the console market (online play, controllers that were not made for human hands), it’s easy to see why gaming fans hold the console in high (ish) esteem.

I was a big fan and the PlayStation 2’s steamrolling of the box (buttressed by a nauseating media hype machine) led to a feeling of Sony resentment that just recently dissipated with Casino Royale.

Anywho, in honor of this important day, a list of some of my favorite games after the jump.

Soul Calibur–Well, duh.  Talk about a generational graphic leap.  Has any launch game so trumpeted a new console’s power than Namco’s masterpiece? The answer is no by the way.  This game still holds up today.

Jet Grind Radio–The kind of quirky game that the Dreamcast was known for, Smilebit’s action/psychedelic/rollerblade/graffiti simulator was giant fun, powered by dope cel-shaded graphics, a killer soundtrack and tight gameplay.

Power Stone 2–The first was a revelation, as Capcom introduced the concept of TRUE 3D fighting.  But the follow-up added four-player gameplay, near limitless item creation, bizarre, interactive stages and a dainty woman in a summer dress with a parasol who could crucify you.

Starlancer–This was nothing new to PC gamers, but Holy Cow did I have an epic good time with this space dogfight simulator.  Sweeping music, money controls, heatseeking missiles and a decent story.

Gunbird 2–And on the other end of the space dogfight simulator spectrum is this bat@#$% insane vertical shooter.  You could beat the game in ten minutes (not hyperbole), which was good because the “storylines” were so nuts for each character, you wanted to run through it to see them all.  The final boss–a giant stuffed animal that hands out pills, straight from my nightmares.

Quake 3 Arena–Unplayable today because of its antiquated control scheme, but my friends and I burned through a lot of this back in the day.  Fast, twitchy and rail gun-riffic, this console shooter proved a welcome next step from the multiplayer fragfest of Goldeneye.

Project Justice–Yet another quirky fighter from Capcom, Justice drew its character base from a high school.  Want to team up the gym teacher with the diving isntructor and the school paper photographer?  Go for it–and dominate!  Awesome special m0ves.

Mars Matrix–Another vertical scrolling shooter, but a very good one.  It was also near-impossible.

Dead or Alive 2–Another revelatory fighting game experience.  Tecmo’s jigglefest was user-friendly, especially with regards to the counter system and played like a dream.  Sequels somehow managed to make the female fighters more bosomy.

Typing of the Dead–No best-of Dreamcast list is compelte without this insane modification on the House of the Dead.  Instead of lgiht guns, you’re armed with a keyboards, foced to type words that flash on screen to thwart the oncoming zombie hordes.  Still present–the worst voice-acting ever crafted for a video game.

Recently, ThinkGeek came across a magical cache of unopened, new in box Dreamcast systems, and sold them to eager devotees for $99 a pop. They sold out in record time (but keep an eye on them, as they might get more). To mark this auspicious occasion, or to assist anyone who wanders into a used video game store and takes one of the little white consoles home for the first time, let’s run down some of the best video games for the system.

And yes, there are a lot of fighting games listed here. It was what the Dreamcast was good at, after all. Read on after the jump.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2

♫ I'M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIIIDE ♫

Street Fighter III: Third Strike

No Guile, but always flash kicks.

Hey mouse... say cheese.

Shenmue

Buying soda never seemed so... real?

Jet Grind Radio

DJ Professor K. 'Nuff said.

Soul Calibur

A battle of the ages, etc.

The Typing Of The Dead

Grammar has never been so scary.

Skies of Arcadia

Sky pirates!

Virtua Tennis

Real tennis has never been this fun.

No doubt there are dozens of other games fans of the Dreamcast hold in high regard. My honorable mention goes to Project Justice, because I really enjoyed this particular franchise, and I kind of wish it went further with North American audiences. So let us know in the comments what your favorite games for the Dreamcast were! Share the love!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have “gonna take you for a ride” stuck in my head. I need to go play MVC2.

* = from my mom who says we’re cool

There are a lot of forgettable things about the Damon Wayans ABC sitcom My Wife & Kids (which hits DVD for the first time this week), but who could forget the prominent placement of Sega’s ill-fated-yet-awesome Dreamcast in the Kyle household. …Really? That many of you?

Anyway, though the games they played were fake (Firesword III and Deathmarch 2000, anyone?), the Dreamcast was real. At least it was until Sega discontinued the console… the same month Wayans’ show debuted.

Coincidence?

“You’ll need to do better than that if you want to survive out there,” growled the typing professor. Built like an ex-football player, with ink-stained hands the size of small hams, he glowered down at Agent-in-training Steve Miller. “The way you misspelled ‘A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-A-T-I-V-E’ you’d be lucky to crawl away with both legs intact.” He harrumphed to himself and strode away angrily. Miller gulped and looked down at the keyboard hanging from his shoulders, attached to the heavy powerpack he wore on his back. “I hate target practice,” he thought glumly.

Ever since the zombies started their rampage across the city, Miller wanted desperately to do something more than the desk job he was stuck in at the precinct. It wasn’t something he liked to think about, but he guessed the rate at which the bureau was losing agents was a big part of his application being accepted. Now he was almost done with his training and, at nearly 120 words-per-minute, he felt ready for some action in the field.

It turned out he didn’t have long to wait. The Thursday after his run-in with the grizzled typing tutor, the call came. Grabbing his sunglasses and suitcoat, he ran out the door and down the hallway of the barracks. As he ran along he met Sarah Beacon, a pretty young agent he knew from his forensics and keyboard maintenance classes. “Hi Sarah,” he puffed as he slowed to match her pace. “Hello Steven,” she replied, managing to stifle a small laugh at his harried appearance. “I guess this is the big day for both of us. I wish we could ease into this, but I guess there’s no easing into fighting zombies.” “No,” Steve admitted, “I guess not.”

They rounded the corner together and came face to face with Agent Mitch Benson, a veteran whose partner had just last week perished at the hands of a pack of flying zombie imps. “Watch it,” he snarled. “Hey, sorry,” Steve mumbled sheepishly. “You two Miller and Beacon?” Benson asked. “Yes we are,” replied Sarah cooly, “I guess we’re your new partners.” Steve glanced over at her. He wished he felt as self-assured as she looked. “Then let’s go,” Mitch grunted. He turned on his heel and was halfway to the barracks doors and the waiting patrol car before Steve could muster up the courage to follow.

The city was a mess. Roving bands of the undead certainly weren’t a tidy bunch. They also weren’t interested in using things like doors. Holes the size of full-grown men had been smashed through plate glass store fronts and brick walls. Steve swallowed hard, having forgotten how strong zombies could be. He flexed his typing fingers and distractedly moved them to home row position. At least he was well-trained. He silently touchtyped a few of the longer phrases they’d been taught, hoping he wouldn’t have to use many of them on his first day of combat. WHAM! Suddenly the car lurched violently to the left. Steve barely saw the right side of the car crumple inward before his head slammed against the window and the world began to go gray…

Steve awoke and noticed immediately that he was in a dark, damp alley. He reached a hand to his face and felt for his sunglasses. They were gone and he felt a sticky substance he could only assume was blood. He reached down toward his chest and breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the hard plastic of his keyboard. He reached an achy arm to his back and flipped the switch on his power pack. There was a low hum as the pack powered on.

Almost before he could react, he heard them coming. There are few things that chill the blood the way a groaning zombie does. He leapt to his feet and stared down three zombies staggering toward him. Luckily they weren’t strong, and a quickly typed “C-C,” “M-E” and “K-2″ later, they lay motionless on the ground. He knew in his heart using a computer keyboard as a weapon was sort of dumb, but you can’t argue with success. Before he could congratulate himself too much, he heard a noise off to his left, like a muffled squeak. He turned quickly and saw Sarah, gagged and held fast by the ugliest hell-creature he had ever seen. Mitch was nowhere to be seen.

“Sssssooooo…” the beast gurgled, “You fancy yourself a slayer of demonssss.” Steve felt the perspiration breaking on his forehead but swore to himself he wouldn’t give his enemy the satisfaction of hearing the terror in his voice. “I took care of them and I can take care of you just as easily. Let her go.” The creature made a noise Steve could only assume was supposed to be a laugh. “You dare sssspeak to Granulon Destroyer of Souls like this? You are either very brave or very ssstupid. I would kill you mysssself, but the massssster has planssss for me… and for her. I leave you now… for my minionsssss.” Moving with more speed and agility than his size suggested possible, Granulon whirled and disappeared down the nearest manhole, still clutching Sarah, whose diminishing scream could be heard through the gag.

They descended on him almost at once. From the rooftops—from behind crumbling walls—out of garbage cans they came. He saw them coming and begain typing furiously. “L-E-T-T-U-C-E-P-R-A-Y” BLAM! One down. “D-I-S-C-O-Q-U-E-E-N” BLAM! Two down. Then the stronger ones moved in.

“J-U-M-P-Y-A-S-A-S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L” BLAM!

“G-O-L-F-I-S-S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N-H-O-L-E-S-T-O-O-L-O-N-G” BLAM!

“B-U-R-N-E-D-L-I-N-G-D-O-N-B-E-R-R-Y-P-A-N-C-A-K-E-S” click!

Wait! Does “Lingdonberry” have a “D”?

As Steve mashed the delete key they were on him, pulling at his pack. His sleeves. His arms. As he felt himself falling down the same manhole that had engulfed Sarah, he could think of only one word… a word he was certain he could spell: “H-E-L-P-!”