If pressed, I would be hard put to call to mind a console possessed of a more ardent or passionate following than the Dreamcast.  Its untimely ‘demise’, clearly a wound that time’s passage has done little to heal, is even now recalled with a mournful, almost reverent air; the occasional rumors of a possible successor, by the same token, never fail to raise gamers’ hopes to vertiginous heights, despite the crushing disappointment that inevitably trails in their wake.

But though it may be ‘gone’ (insofar as Sega no longer supports it), it is by no means forgotten – not by a long shot.

The good folks at ThinkGeek, evidently of the opinion that no gamer should be left behind, are selling brand new NTSC Dreamcasts for $99.99.  Included in the package are one controller, the requisite power and AV cables, an instruction manual that no one will read, a demo disc, and even a web browser to go with the blazing 56k modem; games (and the VMU, alas) must be purchased separately, though a cursory glance at Amazon’s inventory would seem to indicate that it’s a decent enough place to begin building your library.

That a virginal console might still be purchased – and that without difficulty – no fewer than eleven years after its launch speaks volumes to the dedication that it’s garnered, particularly if one considers that it technically ‘failed’ to keep pace with its competition.  For my part, my immediate, knee-jerk reaction to the news was a quick battery of financial calculations to determine how soon I could possibly afford one (quite heedless, naturally, of any and all practical considerations).  Unfortunately, ThinkGeek’s page for the system gives it already as ‘out of stock’ – silent testament, perhaps, to its popularity – although the status key reassures us that items so-listed are on order (from god-only-knows-where, in this case), and will likely be shipped within a week of order placement.

Wildly improbable though it may be, part of me can’t help but wish that Sega would sit up and take notice of gamers’ unswerving devotion to its last console, and step back in to support it.  Obviously, that’s not going to happen – it’s hard to imagine that they would find any meaningful profit in providing for a piece of hardware more than a decade old – but the sheer goodwill that such would engender would go a long way to atone for all the abuses to which they’ve subjected Sonic over the years.

UPDATE: Wow, just in the little time that it took me to write and post this, it seems, the Dreamcast’s status at ThinkGeek went from ‘out of stock’ to full-on ‘sold out’.  ‘Not forgotten’ indeed.

Alt Source: Joystiq