What an interesting time for this announcement to come out. Earlier today I was actually considering taking out my old Dreamcast console and playing some games. I still consider the Dreamcast to be one of my favorite consoles, and I am happy to see some of these games get a 2nd chance. A lot of the games were ports of actual arcade games, so it they should fit in nicely with the rest of the titles on PSN and XBLA.
The first two titles, Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi, will be coming sometime this fall to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Dreamcast. They are certainly not off to a bad start, but there are a number of other games that I hope we see eventually. Ikaruga, Rez, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are already available on XBLA, so the other titles that I hope make it are: Jet Grind Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Power Stone 1 & 2, Armada, StarLancer, Resident Evil Code: Veronica, San Francisco Rush 2049, and Shenmue.
The games are not just straight ports either. They are getting various enhancements such as higher resolution visuals, surround sound, and achievements/trophies. It looks like I might not need to break out the old Dreamcast after all.
“The Dreamcast is fondly remembered by a large community of dedicated fans as a console that was ahead of its time in terms of graphics, quality and online gaming” said Haruki Satomi, VP of Digital Business at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe. “There are few things that are more requested from us than making Dreamcast classics available for download in today’s digital market place. We’re very excited to begin offering gamers our beloved Dreamcast titles again on the current console systems.”