The Birth, Life & Death of Dreamcast

[extrarice]

Subtitle: "Why won't anyone love me?"

The only redeeming program (in my opinion) on G4TV is Icons. They actually RESEARCH and have interviews with heavy hitters in the game industry. Enjoy, then, this little history of the Dreamcast (20+change minutes long).

[Demonic Weasel]

Ah the DC... I really loved that thing for what it was. It had only two major problems and those were 1 not enough RPG's, 2 Sega could somehow afford to launch it, but they couldn't afford to stand behind the Saturn and translate some pages of Japanese text that could've potentially saved the system?

Yeah.

[j_factor]

I think it was a mistake for Sega to discontinue DC. Not only was it hasty, but the system was finally doing well, at least in the US. Its sales weren't so good elsewhere, but I think things would've turned around in Japan (in fact they sorta did; Sega re-started DC production after the fact due to high demand). Perhaps Europe was a lost cause, but a system needn't be successful in all markets.

But not only do I think they canceled DC unnecessarily, I think it was a bad business move that has seriously affected their business negatively. In 2000, Sega was the #6 publisher of videogames in the US -- #6 across all formats, on Dreamcast games alone. In the past few years, Sega hasn't even been in the top 10, and they publish on all systems.

[Joe Redifer]

That's saying a lot right there. I agree with J Factor. I was PISSED when they decided to can the US Shenmue 2 and instead give it to the Xbox (I ended up buying the Euro version like everyone else).

[Obviously]

This is another one that I saw on G4, it was pretty good.

If it means anything, two more Dreamcast games were made this year. Radilgy and Under Defeat.

[Melf]

Travis, a friend of mine, did an excellent write up of Under Defeat for our sister site GotNext (which I also write for ). It sounds like a great little shmup that I'm going to have to pick up before it disappears completely.

I agree about the DC dying prematurely, but you have to remember that Sega just didn't have the cash resources to continue it. This, of course, was the direct result of them being complete dumbasses since 1994. Poetic justice then, that SOJ's shit attitude was what eventually ran them out of the hardware business once and for all.

Sega is now such a pale shadow of what it once was.

[Elusive]

Sega is now such a pale shadow of what it once was.

...and that's where I :rolleyes:'d. In case you hadn't noticed, they're the world's second-largest videogaming company, behind the EA Empire.

As for the Dreamcast: what killed it was how easy it was to download a game via your 1MEGABIT BROADBAND CONNECTION onto your 1 GIGAHERTZ PROCESSOR computer and burn it to CD-R at 28X. (lol 2000 is funay). When you're losing £40-odd every time someone downloaded a game, you can't win. You just can't survive.

Sadly, Sony kept pulling lie after lie and ruined everything with the PS2.

I still maintain that the DC was the last proper 'videogame' console. The only console to hit its peak and remain consitent in terms of quality from launch date.

OH GOD I MISS IT AAAAARGH

[Melf]

...and that's where I :rolleyes:'d. In case you hadn't noticed, they're the world's second-largest videogaming company, behind the EA Empire.

This has nothing to do with quality though. Look at their 3rd party releases and tell me they've been as consistent as when they were hardware developers. About the only great releases they've had since 2001 have been Panzer Dragoon Orta, JSRF, and OutRun 2. Everything else has been decidedly lackluster.

[j_factor]

Hey now, Virtua Cop 3 is the shiznit.

[Joe Redifer]

Super Monkey Ball is one of my favorite games ever to exist.

[Melf]

Hey now, Virtua Cop 3 is the shiznit.

I meant on consoles.

...and yeah, I'll give you SMB....the first one.

[j_factor]

Well Super Monkey Ball came out in 2001, and you said "since 2001", which I took to mean not counting games released that year. Otherwise I gotta mention Shenmue II, Headhunter, Crazy Taxi 2, etc. etc.

And aside from 2001, I just thought of Space Channel 5 Part 2, REZ, Virtua Fighter 4, and a couple others.

But nitpicking aside, I do agree with your overall sentiment. :P

[16bitter]

Well Super Monkey Ball came out in 2001, and you said "since 2001", which I took to mean not counting games released that year. Otherwise I gotta mention Shenmue II, Headhunter, Crazy Taxi 2, etc. etc.

And aside from 2001, I just thought of Space Channel 5 Part 2, REZ, Virtua Fighter 4, and a couple others.

But nitpicking aside, I do agree with your overall sentiment. :P

F-Zero GX for the win.

Best Nintendo game this gen is a Sega game.

[16bitter]

I still don't own a PS2. Somewhere inside I know it's connected to Sega fanboy bitterness.

Can't help it. From the time the PS2 was released I've felt underwhelmed as compared to what it was promised to be through all the hype -- and what led to the DC's demise to a decent degree.

Remember the end of 2000? PS2 comes in with one of the suckiest launch lineups in history (as far as the 'big' players, I'm tempted to flat out call it THE worst) whereas the Dreamcast is loaded with awesome software for the holiday season. What happens? The PS2 is the hottest item since the N64 or Tickle Me Elmo -- only with the added benefit of eBay now being far bigger -- selling out everywhere, while the DC and games like Jet Grind or Shenmue rot on store shelves unnoticed.

I fucking hate all the sheep. What the hell was the PS2 other than a logo back then? The thing was vaporware arguably a year into its Western existence -- even the maligned and aforementioned N64 had a killer app from the very start.

Still, it all leads back to the Saturn. That machine and Sega's handling of it along with all its other generational pieces of hardware during that time is what truly destroyed the DC's chances from the beginning -- they gave Sony a market they never would have owned if not for the competition's gross incompetence, and bankrupted themselves so badly that the Dreamcast would have had to own all markets outright for it to be considered "successful" enough for its continued existence to have been viable.

Wasn't gonna happen. As far as pulling out too early in America, when hasn't Sega screwed us over in that way? Every. Damn. Time.

That's a great way to treat the same customer base that gave you your greatest success, isn't it? Matches up with Sega's generally appalling record in regards to business practices.

Oh. And why are all our instruction manuals printed with low-grade black and white paper? Fuckers.

If this post is schizophrenic, it's only because that's the nature of any and all Sega fans after years of devotion to the maddening, oft genius, group that falls under that moniker. Horrible and wonderful. Brilliant and moronic. So very often simultaneously.

[Joe Redifer]

F-Zero GX for the win.

Best Nintendo game this gen is a Sega game.

I agree 100.001%