Why the Nintendo DS Would Be Perfect for Phantasy Star Online

When Sega released the Dreamcast back in 1999, it was the first console in history to debut with everything necessary to connect to the internet, short of an ISP, with every console bundled with a 56k modem on the expansion port. Obviously, this made history, given that it was the first. However, the online scene for the Dreamcast was riddled with software that merely 'tacked-on' the internet support, such as Sonic Adventure's "Internet" function which, if I am not mistaken, merely took the user to a Sega hosted Sonic Adventure website, and perhaps had online rankings. Not a breathtaking usage of internet capability, to say the least.

Then in 2000, Sega released, arguably the most popular online title for the Dreamcast, one whose online functionality was supported well after the Dreamcast was phased out, and is online even today in Europe and Asia(as well as on homebrew servers, but I digress...). This title made history as the first home console online RPG(though it feels a bit much to call it MMO...). This game was also ported to competing systems(after the fall of the Dreamcast), the Gamecube and the Xbox, and eventually to the PC. There is even a next-generation sequel being developed even now for the PC, PS2, and the Xbox 360. My friends, I speak, of course, of Phantasy Star Online.