Despite its short lifespan, the Dreamcast is widely hailed as being ahead of its time. It is still held in high regard for pioneering online console gaming - being the first console to include a built-in modem and Internet support.

 Ten years ago North American gamers greeted the Dreamcast with plenty of love, riding on one of the best console launch lineups ever. Games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and Power Stone helped sell consoles in the US. While the hardware was a nice upgrade to current consoles on the market, the GAMES will always be what is remembered about the Dreamcast. It had a little of everything to go around. Here's a couple of my favorites.

Sports gamers probably remember that the 2K sports series debuted on the Dreamcast. Visual Concepts pioneered it's popular NFL 2K series on Sega's little white box as an alternative to Madden when EA decided not to publish on the Dreamcast. This was the beginning of the 2K, Madden rivalry that spilled over after the Dreamcast's demise. NFL 2K5 is still widely considered the best football simulation game to date and it's releases on PS2 and Xbox in 2004 led to EA buying out the NFL license to halt the competition. Just ask Parris how he feels about this move.

Another game that comes to mind when you think of the Dreamcast is Shenmue. Releasing in November of 2000, Shenmue's emphasis on open-world gameplay, "real time" progress, and QTE emphasis can be seen echoed in future game releases like Grand Theft Auto 3, God of War, and Indigo Prophecy. Let's not talk about Ninja Blade. We'll let that one slide.

Sony's launch of the much-hyped PlayStation 2 marked the beginning of the end for the Dreamcast. On January 31, 2001, Sega announced that it was ending production of Dreamcast hardware by March of that year although the 50 to 60 titles still in production would be published. The last North American release was NHL 2K2, which was released in February 2002. With the company announcing no plans to develop a next-generation successor to Dreamcast, this was Sega's last foray into the home console business.

So this week we honor the legacy of a fallen comrade, cut short in his prime. We could just go youtube some guy playing Soul Calibur with the fishing rod controller but that would be too easy. Leave your best memories of the Dreamcast in the comments. Show him you cared.