So... I was sitting there wondering what I was gonna do with myself a few weeks ago, and I realized that it'd probably be a wise decision to stop going to the arcade so much. I spend too much money playing Capcom vs. SNK for that particular pastime to be of any real benefit to me, other than the obvious notion that it lets me brag about the unecessarily large amount of time I've spent yelling at, or being yelled at, by black people with different gang colors on their heads, or hanging out of their pockets. An obvious, and quite agreeable solution was to get my own copy of Capcom vs. SNK, for use from the privacy of my dorm room.

Needless to say, I've been jonesing for a Dreamcast for a while, and due to the fact that Capcom hasn't had the mercy to mitigate my situation by releasing any of the newer Street Fighter games on the Playstation (or even the PS2, they had to go make SFEX3, like weirdos), as well as the blatant and satisfyingly delicious quality of multiple Dreamcast titles (Shenmue, PSO, All their arcade ports), I had to change my plans of waiting on a PS2 (it still doesn't have any games on it that I really want) into a more easily enacted tactic that involved some mail ordering, work at the library, and the bitter, bitter anguish that comes from the repetitious failure to accomplish a simple task.

I wanted my Dreamcast, but I thought I'd save myself the trouble of getting a car ride from somebody to a video game store, and order one online. This was easy enough, and a few forms later, I was waiting for my Dreamcast (I can get to the Virgin Records store without a car to get video games, but they don't sell systems there). So I waited... I didn't realize that 2 day delivery on a product from Lamestop.com meant that I'd wait 5 days for it to process and another 3 days for it to ship, which totally sucked ass. I mean, when I want it now, I should be able to get it, now. But such was not the case. I should've gone with Outpost instead, what with their $100+ free overnight delivery and all... Anyway, I get the Dreamcast a full week after I'd originally expected it; I'm foaming at the mouth like a Tulane guest on Mardi Gras day. I tear apart the packaging, throwing bubble wrap and styrofoam everywhere. I start plugging things in, my console experience taking control of my hands as my movements become so fluid and automatic that I don't even look at the colors on the AV cables as I jam them in the back of my TV, the power cord goes into the strip on my floor without so much as my eyes touching the thing, and I start plugging them into the back of my Dreamcast, held by my left arm and my left leg as I sit there, crouch - hey! What the fuck? The power cord doesn't fit... What the hell did those motherfuckers send me? Certainly this wasn't the gaming machine that I'd bargained for! The Dreamcast's power cord hole had two rounded ends, and the power cord they'd sent me had one squared off end, like you'd find packaged with a small stereo. There was also no modem. I assumed that the used DC that I'd bought had been passed off by someone who'd bought a really old model, I didn't know... but the power cord... the power cord... I was desperate, and I had to do something about this situation... I'd have used a knife, or scissors, or something had I been at home, but I'm in college with no tools and I had no way around what I did next... I chewed the power adapter that fit into the Dreamcast into the shape of the hole in the back of the machine with my teeth.

I was shocked that I'd managed this, but I succeeded in getting the Dreamcast's power on. I threw in my copy of Shenmue and turned it on, awaiting my fix with a renewed patience brought about by impending satisfaction. Of course, with such a wonderful feeling in my tummy, I couldn't have possibly gotten out of this situation without a bruise or two. The game didn't load. I checked the CD, it looked okay, and I proceeded to put a music CD in, to test the validity of my theory. My CD skipped around like an elementary school girl pumped full of amphetamines and LSD and I lowered my head with the painful realization that, yes, my hardware was fucked. Before I left I tried Shenmue one more time, and then I got on the horn (the "horn" being AIM) to Templeton, and begged for a ride to the Babbages that I so desperately needed to get to. Well, I boxed the DC, but it was a few more days before I could actually get a ride over to the place, and when I did, I got to learn that they didn't have any used DCs at Babbages to trade me for (they have to, because Gamestop owns their asses). Well, I had to pay the extra 30 bucks, but I got mine, and I took it home with me.

Of course, my escapades with the previous broken down DC (Babbages told me that this wasn't the first Dreamcast they'd received from someone who'd bought theirs from Gamestop, so watch out!) hadn't prevented me from committing one of the worst errors I could possibly have made... [Beltane|A certain Blackrage staff membe once walked out of a Funcoland with the first disc to Metal Gear solid by accident. I walked out of Babbages without the first disc to Shenmue by accident.

I got back to my room and plugged everything in, grabbed Shenmue out and popped the case to realize this. The hilarity of the situation quite escaped me at this moment, and I beat my fists into the floor like a whiny pussy who can't accept his fate. Then I went to Blockbuster and rented it, thinking that if I could beat the first disc, I could re-buy Shenmue later.

And I did. I also bought SoulCalibur yesterday, and unlocked everything the game had to offer (sans special title screens) last night.

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