Oh, wow! :D Aww; that sucks.. :( I would think that most people gamers would have at least heard of the series (I relatively hear about it as much as I do of the Soul Calibur series, which seems to be somewhat popular).. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to actually play the series yet (which really bugs me; it seems like a solid fighter/fighting game) - back when it was mostly in print, the Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine covered Dead or Alive 4 and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 a bit extensively, so those 2 games kind of acted as a gateway to expose me to a little more of the series.
I really love the character designs and backgrounds and outfits featured in the series - Hitomi (probably my #1 {<3}), Kokoro, Kasumi, Christie, and Ryu Hayabusa (although he's technically from Ninja Gaiden, similar to Momiji's guest spot?) are some of my favorite DOA characters. :) I also like how the series gets linked to other series from time to time (primarily with Ninja Gaiden, along with the Metroid connections from Dead or Alive: Dimensions and the Virtua Fighter guest spots for Dead or Alive 5)..
But yeah, I'm hoping to actually try out the series some day (Dimensions would probably be the closest iteration I'd get to play). I'm not sure how the series has fared since Tomonobu Itagaki left Team Ninja and Tecmo, though - DOA5 has apparently gotten a few revamps..? ~_~
(sorry for the lengthy VM! XD)