Officially, the Dreamcast died an ugly death at the hands of the PlayStation 2. The system didn't have the support of EA. Sega couldn't compete with Sony on marketing, the inclusion of a DVD drive, and the backwards compatibility included with the PlayStation 2. The end result is that Sega became what it is now: a software company.

That's the official story, at least.

Sega never picked up enough steam to put Sony down, but it did have enough power to kick the giant in the teeth.

In the minds of gamers, the Dreamcast was an unqualified success. The system had much better 2D capabilities than the PlayStation 2, making fighting games and shooters on the system a joy to play. It included a modem, and later an optional—if hard-to-find—broadband accessory; the system came with a Web browser and a telephone cable in the box so users could go online the second they opened the system. The system included four, count 'em, four controller ports. You could buy a VGA adaptor to play games on screens that supported 480p long before high definition televisions were common.

The Dreamcast launched on September 9, 1999, exactly ten years ago. Today's Sega bears almost no resemblance to the company it was back then. Sonic Adventure brought the hedgehog into the 3D world gracefully, and even introduced some friends without becoming cloyingly cutesy (although some may argue that point). The Dreamcast took risks, with the virtual life title Seaman captivating, if confounding, audiences in both the US and Japan. You spoke to the unattractive titular character through an included microphone, and he spoke back. Was it fun? Maybe not, and that seemed almost the point.

On the Dreamcast, developers and publishers were brave and forward-thinking.

You can find echoes of the Dreamcast's games in what we play today. Rez was never formally released in the United States on the Dreamcast, although the trippy mixture of music and shooting would inform and inspire games like Everyday Shooter, Amplitude and Frequency. And of course developer Q? Entertainment would go on to create one of the PSP's earliest killers apps, Lumines.

While EA never supported the system, it barely mattered. Sega and Visual Concepts released the impossibly high-quality NFL2KX series, as well as NHL2KX titles. For many of us, these titles were more impressive than the EA competition, and continued to be fan favorites until EA's Football monopoly forced the NFL2K series out of the running. If you didn't care about football or hockey, the Virtua Tennis series brought a deep but accessible tennis experience to consoles, and the four controller ports allowed you to invite friends over for a nice set of doubles.

Power Stone was another game that used the four controller ports to great effect, giving us a four-way brawler that still impresses with frantic action and strong character design. Other titles have tried to recreate Capcom's fan favorite, but few have come close. It's worth pointing out that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 is based on the Dreamcast code of the game. There are multiple games, across multiple genres that are still considered definitive on Sega's white console.

Sega never picked up enough steam to put Sony down, but it did have enough power to kick the giant in the teeth. The Dreamcast launched at a lower price point than the PlayStation 2, and delivered more features. The launch lineup of games included enough classics to choke a horse: if you weren't blown away by the graphics and features of Soul Calibur on 9-9-99 when you took home your system then there was a hole in your soul. Hydro Thunder looked great on the system. NFL2K made us forget about EA's snub. Sonic Adventure was the rare 3D Sonic title that wasn't terrible. House of the Dead 2 looked arcade-perfect.

Think of how many Dreamcast games that launched on that day that are still considered classics, and then take a look at the PlayStation 2 launch library. Sony launched with mediocre games, two controller ports, no online features, and games that didn't look as good as what we were used to from the less-expensive Dreamcast.

Sony had done a wonderful job taking out the Dreamcast's knees with a high level of hype and promises that were impossible to keep, but at the end of the day the PlayStation 2 had Madden, it worked with your existing PlayStation One library, and it had a DVD player built-in, a rarity in the year 2000. At this point gamers also realized how simple it was to pirate Dreamcast games, meaning that with a little bit of know-how you didn't need to buy another game.

The writing was on the wall, and in 2001 Sega ceased production of the system. Soon afterward, the company began developing games for competing consoles. The Dreamcast barely made it through half a generation, but the system remains one of the most beloved and collected pieces of hardware ever released. The games, especially those 2D shooters and fighting titles, are now collector's items, fetching a high price on the secondary market. The faithful have held onto their visual memory units, their fishing controllers, and their lightguns and keyboards.

In many ways, the PlayStation 2 brought gaming to the mainstream, and Sony's system was home to its own share of wonderful games. For those of us who waited in line ten years ago, however, the Dreamcast was one of the last great systems for the hardcore gamer. Dreamcast developers and publishers gave us offbeat titles, began working in genres that are only now maturing, and fed our love for the quirky, the quality, and the unexpected. It brought the arcade into our homes. It made online gaming work on consoles. It was non-threatening and approachable way before the Wii made this the generation of casual and family gaming.

Gaming owes worlds to the Sega's system, and today is the day for us to pay our respects. Get your Dreamcast out of the closet, plug in some controllers, and enjoy. And always remember: it's thinking.

Dreams remembered: a look back

While making a definitive list of the best games for the Dreamcast is a daunting task, let's take a moment to remember just a few of the games that gave the system part of its distinctive charm.

Soul Calibur

The graphics don't look like much today, but you have to remember when the Dreamcast launched with Soul Calibur we were still happily playing our PlayStation One systems. Sony's first stab at the PlayStation was advanced for its time, but it was also released at the beginning of the 3D revolution; Soul Calibur was the first time many gamers had seen mature, attractive 3D graphics in a fighting game.

The weapons-based combat was attractive, fast, and easy to play for button mashers while maintaining some depth for the hardcore. The series has since had its ups and downs, but Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast is a game that almost everyone who played it remembers fondly.