Sega's marvelous Dreamcast system launched ten years ago today and EA Sports boss Peter Moore, who headed Sega of America at the time, has posted a nice retrospective on his blog.

Although EA's refusal to develop for the DC was likely a major factor in its abbreviated life, Moore is diplomatic on this issue:

Over the years, I have been asked many times whether EA's decision not to develop and publish games for the Dreamcast was a major contributing factor in its early demise. That we will never know. But it is hard to argue with EA's rationale at the time and the ultimate outcome - get in position for the impending arrival of the Playstation 2, deploying all resources against the newest version of Sony's already wildly successful video game platform...

Moore also points out that the DC, which shipped with a built-in modem, was the first console truly enabled for online gaming:

With the Dreamcast's online capabilities, we coined a phrase "We're taking gamers where gaming is going"...  As rudimentary as those first dial-up game play experiences were, we proved that it could be done, and that gamers were clamoring for competition that extended past whomever was sat next to you on the couch at the time...

 

Many saw the Dreamcast as a spectacular failure... If measured by longevity and the ultimate financial outcome, they were right. But the Dreamcast had a profound and lasting impact on the world of video games...

If you build it, they will come...

Oops - wrong Iowa attraction reference.

But in Ottumwa, Iowa yesterday some 3,500 people turned out to show support for the building of a proposed Video Game Hall of Fame. Among those is attendance were Congressman David Loebsack (D) and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge (D), according to Kotaku. Judge read a proclamation from Gov. Chet Culver (D) which deemed Ottumwa as the "Video Game Capital of the World."

Chris Hoeksema, a member of the committee exploring the idea of building the Hall of Fame, was stunned by the turnout:

It's really been amazing. We were not expecting this much outpouring of support from the community and the state. And the entire world, really. We've had donations from overseas and some people flew in from the United Kingdom to attend. It's been an amazing amount of support.

A Radio Iowa report adds that the Hall of Fame project enjoys backing from city, county and state government officials. Ottumwa Mayor Dale Uehling, among the Hall's supporters, commented on some of the nuts-and-bolts issues which must be addressed:

We're very hopeful that we can become the video gaming capitol of the world... We need to get a comprehensive study done on exactly what is needed... Part of this will depend on what is the attraction going to be? We visualize that we would have international competition here as a part of this so we need something that's going to have some capacity.

Give the creator of this YouTube vid an A for effort as he stretches to pull in patriotic elements to what amounts to video reviews of a pair of NES titles:

• Xenophobe

• Golgo 13

With the Independence Day weekend upon us here in the United States, we note that News4U has posted its list of 5 Patriotic Video Game Moments.

The list is interesting and contains some games that will surprise you. The five patriotic scenes named come from:

• Freedom Fighters
• Animal Crossing
• Fallout 3
• Super Off-Road
• Bad Dudes

From the Bad Dudes (NES) description:

After rescuing the prez [GP: Bush #1], he says the most American thing the developers could think of: “Hey dudes, thanks for rescuing me. Let’s go for a burger…Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” You’re then treated to a scene with the president eating a burger in front of the White House. Apparently it was decided to beef up security after the ninja incident, since there is a wall of Secret Service agents behind both of you as well. Oh, and of course Old Glory is showing her colors the whole time the credits roll.

Check out the video clip at left to see the Bad Dudes ending.

Having finished Team of Rivals, a study of Abraham Lincoln's politicial genius, blogger Nate Janewit of Tech Industry Guerilla notes with despair that a Spielberg/Peter Jackson film adaptation may be in the works.

Expecting that the movie won't do justice to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Janewit, a program manager in Microsoft's Bing team, goes on to speculate about what a subsequent video game version of Team of Rivals might be like:

[CUE DEEP-VOICED ANNOUNCER AND IMAGES OF EXPLOSIONS]

ANNOUNCER: From the studios that brought you The Sims and Madden 2009 comes…LINCOLN!

[IMAGE OF LINCOLN SITTING IN A CHAIR THINKING]

ANNOUNCER: Balance the conservative and radical elements of your party…

[IMAGE OF LINCOLN WITH HAND IN THE AIR SURROUNDED BY CROWDS]

ANNOUNCER: Placate the masses with your oratorical skill…

[IMAGE OF SALMON CHASE, PLOTTING AGAINST YOU AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY]

ANNOUNCER: Navigate the dangerous waters of political intrigue within your own Cabinet!

I can already picture the crowds of enthusiastic gamers lining up or preordering weeks in advance. For some reason, real history just isn’t as interesting as video games.

Does watching Muppets commit acts of wanton violence lead to aggressive behavior?

Maybe someone could do a study on that.

In the meantime, check out these old black-and-white TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee. SuperPunch explains:

In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a Washington, D.C. coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee... From 1957 to 1961, Henson made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee...

 

The ads starred the cheerful Wilkins, who liked Wilkins Coffee, and the grumpy Wontkins, who hated it. Wilkins would often do serious harm to Wontkins in the ads -- blowing him up, stabbing him with a knife, and smashing him with a club, among many other violent acts...

in October 1958, the company offered vinyl puppets... The offer on the [coffee] can said, "Hey Kids! I'm Wilkins -- he's Wontkins -- you see us on TV!" Obviously, Wilkins Coffee and Henson knew that the Muppet characters had kid appeal, although this doesn't seem to have had any effect on the use of violence and terror in the ads.

Coffee... now there's something that makes me aggressive!

Via: BoingBoing

In a bit of political commentary, George W. Bush - looking very much like a chimp - has turned up on a fanciful cartridge for Nintendo's Famicon

Kotaku notes that the former President's cartridge is one of 58 contained in retro game shop Meteor's 2009 Famicase exhibit.

I thought I knew my classic games pretty well, but somehow I'm drawing a blank on this particular Atari 2600 cartridge.

In fact, Technabob has uncovered an entire series of parody 2600 carts. Most aren't political, but they are definitely worth a look - and a laugh.

Via: Examiner.com