when the nines roll over.
So, it's 9/9/09. I don't give a damn. There's nothing special about 9/9/09. But there was something very special about 9/9/99: the launch of the SEGA Dreamcast.
Hyperbole? I don't think so. Forget that the Dreamcast was an amazing system. Forget that it had the greatest launch titles in gaming history. Forget that it was the SEGA's last stand as a console developer. No, the thing that was special about the SEGA Dreamcast launch is that it was the first console launch that I was ever a part of.
I spent today in a daze, not wanting to work. Only my body was at work. My mind was at Gamefellas, ten years ago. A time of excitement. A time when I was still happy. A time when I loved getting up and going to work. A simpler time. I didn't have crushing credit card debt. I was in the first flush of love, even if I didn't know it yet. I had confidence in my abilities. I still felt like I was worth a damn. Yeah, 9/9/99 was pretty special.
I remember getting to work before the mall opened that day. I remember seeing people lined up in front of the store to get their Dreamcasts. I remember looking down below at the people waiting in line at Kay Bee. Seriously? Why would you want to buy your system at Kay Bee?
There was excitement in the air. You could reach out and touch it. I was all ready to open the doors to the flood of gamers anxious to get their new white boxes. I was wearing a white Dreamcast t-shirt. We had gotten them from Japan, and even though it said XL on the label, it was XL for a Japanese man. A fat man should never wear white. And his shirts should always be at least a size too big. So I had to wear a shirt over my shirt to hide my unsightly rolls. Still, I was pumped. I wasn't buying a system...I was going home with Final Fantasy VIII that night. But there's something special about a system launch. Even if I'm not excited about the system itself, I still turn into a giddy school girl when a new system releases.
I remember the day going by in a blur. It was Alex's first day on the job, and he was just supposed to help us with getting people's games together and observing. Fat chance of that: we needed every hand we could get. We had tons of systems, and it felt like we were moving from open to close. In hindsight, it was a good preview of the upcoming Hell Christmas.
The further I get from my time at Gamefellas, the harder it is for me to let go. Is that normal? Isn't it supposed to get easier as time goes by? Today, as I was subjected to the Christian Rock stylings of 102.3: The River, the rednecks treating me like crap, and the Mexicans pretending to understand me when they actually didn't understand a word, I felt a deep sense of longing. Gamefellas was my domain. It was a place where, for those glorious 8 years, I could forget how pathetically average I was. I was the best there was at what I did, and everyone knew it. I guess this is what it's like for big shot high school football players that went on to do nothing with their lives. They live in the past, remembering the glory days. All I have are the memories.
Memories, and pictures. I just wish there had been more pictures...my memory is fading already.
After the mayhem. You can tell we were tired. So tired, I had to take another photo.
Take two. Joe's expression is priceless.
And, just because, here's the group a few months later, after Hell Christmas.
Posts are coming. I have a lot to get off of my chest. But it's ten years after the Dreamcast launch. I had to do something special.
Hyperbole? I don't think so. Forget that the Dreamcast was an amazing system. Forget that it had the greatest launch titles in gaming history. Forget that it was the SEGA's last stand as a console developer. No, the thing that was special about the SEGA Dreamcast launch is that it was the first console launch that I was ever a part of.
I spent today in a daze, not wanting to work. Only my body was at work. My mind was at Gamefellas, ten years ago. A time of excitement. A time when I was still happy. A time when I loved getting up and going to work. A simpler time. I didn't have crushing credit card debt. I was in the first flush of love, even if I didn't know it yet. I had confidence in my abilities. I still felt like I was worth a damn. Yeah, 9/9/99 was pretty special.
I remember getting to work before the mall opened that day. I remember seeing people lined up in front of the store to get their Dreamcasts. I remember looking down below at the people waiting in line at Kay Bee. Seriously? Why would you want to buy your system at Kay Bee?
There was excitement in the air. You could reach out and touch it. I was all ready to open the doors to the flood of gamers anxious to get their new white boxes. I was wearing a white Dreamcast t-shirt. We had gotten them from Japan, and even though it said XL on the label, it was XL for a Japanese man. A fat man should never wear white. And his shirts should always be at least a size too big. So I had to wear a shirt over my shirt to hide my unsightly rolls. Still, I was pumped. I wasn't buying a system...I was going home with Final Fantasy VIII that night. But there's something special about a system launch. Even if I'm not excited about the system itself, I still turn into a giddy school girl when a new system releases.
I remember the day going by in a blur. It was Alex's first day on the job, and he was just supposed to help us with getting people's games together and observing. Fat chance of that: we needed every hand we could get. We had tons of systems, and it felt like we were moving from open to close. In hindsight, it was a good preview of the upcoming Hell Christmas.
The further I get from my time at Gamefellas, the harder it is for me to let go. Is that normal? Isn't it supposed to get easier as time goes by? Today, as I was subjected to the Christian Rock stylings of 102.3: The River, the rednecks treating me like crap, and the Mexicans pretending to understand me when they actually didn't understand a word, I felt a deep sense of longing. Gamefellas was my domain. It was a place where, for those glorious 8 years, I could forget how pathetically average I was. I was the best there was at what I did, and everyone knew it. I guess this is what it's like for big shot high school football players that went on to do nothing with their lives. They live in the past, remembering the glory days. All I have are the memories.
Memories, and pictures. I just wish there had been more pictures...my memory is fading already.
After the mayhem. You can tell we were tired. So tired, I had to take another photo.
Take two. Joe's expression is priceless.
And, just because, here's the group a few months later, after Hell Christmas.
Posts are coming. I have a lot to get off of my chest. But it's ten years after the Dreamcast launch. I had to do something special.