03/21/02 : Code-named Katana, the Sega Dreamcast was released in the fall of 1999. The new Sega system was ahead of its time; the first system to provide a built-in modem and 128-bit graphics. Popular Science magazine hailed the Dreamcast as one of the most important and innovative products of 1999. It launched with about 20 titles, one year before the PS2. Yet in the fickle market of console gaming the Dreamcast came and went within a period of two years. After four years of losses Sega had no choice but to stop production of the console at the end of March 2001.

Even though Dreamcast is out of production, it's hardly a dead platform. The beauty of Dreamcast is that a lot of the details were released about the hardware, and it can use multiple operating systems. Sega has its own proprietary OS, Windows CE will run on it, and there are now three Open Source operating systems which will run on it: Linux, NetBSD, and a fledgling game-oriented OS called Kallisti!OS. It's similar to an IBM PC in that so much is known about the internals of the system that people will be able to extract, write new games and dream up new uses for the little box.

If you own one, the Dreamcast currently has a library of over 200 titles, more than enough to fill your time with, and about 10-15 of those titles alone are worth owning a Dreamcast for. Another good reason to own the DC is for $50 dollars (current cost of a DC) and a dial up account you can surf the net, manage email, and do basic chat. The version of the Sega Browser that comes with the DC is Version 2.0. It works, somewhat. No Java, and its Flash support is limited often causing lock-ups. Version 3, just released in October, includes updated Javascript support, a little more friendly towards 4 Flash movies.

Sega makes a keyboard and mouse that is still available, if you don't have a keyboard, you have to use the Dreamcast controller and the onscreen keyboard. It's slow going and requires patience, but you can make do. It's like using the remote you get with a WebTV to type with. If you really want to surf get a keyboard.

For those that use the Dreamcast to access the Internet there is a limited amount of content formatted to fit a television screen, that's where YELLOW.001 comes in. We're an independent, electronic publishing group that doesn't take things too seriously. Defiantly not in it for the money, this is fun stuff, where dreams are made. Stay tuned.