The Sega Dreamcast was definitely a breeding ground for creativity, and left a lasting impact on the console gaming landscape, especially with regards to online gaming. Some of the most innovative games ever made were brought about during Sega’s last hurrah, such as Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online, and bonafied gaming cult classic, Shenmue.
However, it wasn’t just Sega’s development teams who were pushing boundaries and bending genres on “the little system that could.” Many third parties were putting out incredible, imaginative titles for the Dreamcast as well, and one such party was the tiny development studio Love-de-lic.
In the year 2000, publishing giant ASCII released the studio’s third and final software offering, L. O. L., or Lack of Love, which was a joint collaboration with world-renowned music composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Last Emperor). Love-de-lic’s head, Kenichi Nishi, met Sakamoto through a mutual friend, and after several personal meetings, the idea for Lack of Love was conceived.
The resulting game is a breathtaking work and a triumph in the argument of “games as art.” Accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack provided by Sakamoto, Lack of Love is, in my opinion, one of the Dreamcast’s best offerings that defies most gaming conventions with its uniquely non-linear and cryptic gameplay.
Episode three of Import Gaming FTW! is all about L. O. L., and will hopefully convince anyone who hasn’t taken the Dreamcast importing plunge to do so immediately! With this third episode, I think I began to take video-making a little more seriously and started to improve my editing skills…still pretty rough, though! Anyway, enjoy!