Dreamcast - Why did it go?

[Xilef]

The Sega Dreamcast.
Released 1999, Sega released the Dreamcast as their Saturn failed terribly.
The Dreamcast was the second major games console to feature online capability, the first was the Snes' Satellaview in Japan, Dreamcast even had MMORPG's and a web browser.
The Dreamcast was actually capable of emulating Play Station 2 games.
It had Sonic adventure 1 and 2, both incredible games.
So why the hell did such an incredible games console fail and cause Sega to pull out of the hardware market?
Was it because Sega had already lost too much money and could keep it up, or did the PS2 out sell it because of it's DVD playback being cheaper than an actual DVD player?
I think such a great games console shouldn't have just died like that. Sure, the Saturn deserved it, but the Dreamcast was amazing! It almost created modern online gaming, it designed the xbox controller, it had extension slots in the controller that the Wii remote now has, even one of the Dreamcast prototype controllers looked just like a Wii remote.

Then how did such a good console fail!

Spoiler: DCvXB

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d68/AwesomeSauce75/copycat.jpg[/img]
The resemblance, you can't say they dont look similar. Damn you consoles that put down the DC!

 

[FaaidDeOiad]

I still have mine, hasn't failed in my eyes yet!

I quote The Floigan Bros. on this one: http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/711/711290p1.html

It's time to face the harsh truth: The Dreamcast didn't fail; you failed the Dreamcast.

How? Glad you asked. Let's not beat around the bush. There's a reason the Dreamcast is no longer in production and it's a weight that all SEGA fans must bear. How do you know if you were responsible for the Dreamcast's fate? Take a look at our top ten reasons for failing the Dreamcast:

10. Thought a Bandicoot made for a damn fine mascot
9. Failed to install a GD-ROM drive in your new computer
8. Used maracas as egg beaters
7. Did not name your first born Sonic, Knuckles or Yu Suzuki
6. Thought Sega Swirl was some sort of foreign epidemic, like the bird flu
5. Believed the hype behind the "greatness" of dual analogue sticks
4. Never replaced the batteries in your VMU -- That "Beep" was the sound of you pulling the plug on SEGA's dreams
3. Refused to browse the web with SegaNet -- Not even for porn
2. Only bought one or two copies of each game
1. You just didn't want it enough

In all honesty though, the Dreamcast failed because the Saturn failed...people saw the success of Playstation and N64, and were willing to hold out for the updated systems (PS2 and Gamecube) rather than take chances with a company that produced really bad systems and add-ons in recent years (Sega CD anyone?)

And of course lets not forget about the brand-new X-Box!!

 

[gorechild]

My brother had one, not sure what he did with it, but in my eyes, it was a great system. (one reason, sega kicked ass with sonic)

 

[Cruelty]

i still got a dreamcast. Only because nobody will buy the fucker from me, though.

 

[Prexus]

There are two main reasons why Dreamcast failed.

A: No anti-piracy protection to speak of. It was too easy to pirate games, and as a result, 3rd party developers didn't want to make games for it because they wouldn't come off the shelves.

B: Ahead of it's time. Dreamcast was part of the GCN/PS2/XBox generation, believe it or not. Despite coming out 1.5-2years before PS2 (I think?)

 

[Zankoku no Yami]

I believe Sony screwed them over a bit. Right after their announcement of what the Dreamcast could do, Sony announced the PS2 which surpassed the Dreamcast in every area, or something, and this made people not want to buy it. I forget the details, but i heard that was one of the reasons, probably more too.

It was a shame though! I loved the Dreamcast... they had some really memerable games to me...

 

[Fomar0153]

The Dreamcast was the second major games console to feature online capability, the first was the Snes' Satellaview in Japan

Did the NES not exist in your world?
Just incase no one believes me about the NES being online here's some proof:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_accessories
Look in the list there's atleast two accessories for online stuff the Modem and TV-Net.
Also I think the SNES had online capabilities aswell but I can't be bothered to find proof for that aswell.

 

[Prexus]

TV-Net was awesome. There was a Zelda 'Game' Episode, where you downloaded an episode every week (or two weeks) and it was a dungeon that you could play in the Zelda 1 engine. They only aired two episodes, though I think.

Sega Genesis had online capabilities as well (Sega Channel FTW.) The Super Famicom did, but the Super Nintendo never did. There was no american peripheral.

 

[candle]

people also seem to forget that part of SEGA's downfall was the fact that they were still, producing games for the Master System, Genesis, Saturn, Game Gear when the Dreamcast came out.

 

[Dopples]

A lot of the good games were outweighed by the horrible, HORRIBLE sports games that flooded the system. Also, the PS2 pretty much fucked it over as well

 

[Buster]

The Sega Dreamcast.

Spoiler: DCvXB

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d68/AwesomeSauce75/copycat.jpg[/img]
The resemblance, you can't say they dont look similar. Damn you consoles that put down the DC!

Why are you comparing the Dreamcast controller with the S-Xbox controller?

http://img.shopping.com/cctool/PrdImg/i ... 196951.JPG[/IMG]
The original controller rips off the Dreamcast more effectively.

 

[Nin]

I'd take Sega over Xbox anyday. Let the PS4 deal with all the fancy DVD/Gaming/Bluray/hologram/hair drying/vaccum cleaning consoles and give us something else that is fun.

 

[Marcus]

The dreamcast failed because Sega sucks at marketing. Pure and simple. Not enough third party developers, not enough 1st party games, really terrible customer support... yeah. Go Sega.

 

[Loofah]

You know they still make a few dreamcast games, theres like 5 lol:D

 

[Fafnir]

It was dying already with a crappy library, and then Sony came along to put the final nail in the coffin.

Although it did help to up the anti, it just couldn't take it itself....

 

[KhaoticErase]

Skies of Arcadia didn't get the respect it deserved on the Dreamcast until it came out for the GameCube. Weird, huh? People probably avoided the Dreamcast due to Sega's past of crappy systems. Not saying I don't still love my Saturn and Genesis, but still.

 

[Cheeze]

I only played one game on DC And that was one of the sonic games. It looked awesome. I love the dream cast. That's one of the systems my grandma needs o.o;; she has all of em besides teh Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. We have a Wii thou. (Yeah..She even has the Atari 2600 [I think thats what it's called])

 

[Untra]

The dreamcast was extraordinary. I remember there were some awesome games for its time. Gametrailers.com voted it the Tenth best console ever created, calling it the little console that almost could

The reason why it failed was because Sega had failed.

Spoiler: Lets think for a moment...

It all truely began with the Atari 2600. While it lasted the end of the seventies nd the begining of the eighties, soon the Nintendo Entertainment System took over. It was a whole lot better then the 2600, although today the 2600 is a symbol of videogames humble beginings.

After the NES had the market dominated for a time, a little company named SEGA released their own system: the Sega Mastersystem. While it had only a few good games, it couldnt fully compare to the NES. Atari, the original creators of the classic 2600, had quietly made two other not-as-well known systems. The Atari 5200 which was nearly unplayable, and the Atari 7800, which was so quietly advertised it was virtually ignored by the public. Sega, Hoping to prove that it was truely greater then Nintendo (and Atari, although Nintendo and Sega were the main competitors in the eighties and ninties), created a second console in 1989 hoping to outdo themselves and the suspecting arriving SNES, (which would arrive two years later) Deeming it the Sega Genesis. The system was originally advertised to have properties such as "Blast Processing", and was given the motto "Genesis does what Nintendon't." While Sega Seemed to be making more games then Nintendo, Nintendo's games were often incredible and well done, while Sega's games were often not as great or as memorable. But when a good game from sega was made, it would often be on a same calibur, or higher, as a Nintendo gem.

After Nintendos release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, both companies found themselves in a race to have the first console to use CD's. Sega worked on this project alone, but Nintendo partnered up with Sony to create a SNES CD add-on. Nintendo soon droped the contract with Sony and partnered up with Philips. Eventually, Nintendo dropped the Add-On project altogether. Sony would then go on to make the Sony Playstation, while Philips would go on to make the Philips CDI. While the CDI was the only non-nintendo console to feature Nintendo characters (While nintendo was partnered with Philips, they had lent the company use to the Mario, Zelda, and other characters), the quality of the games it produced were of no standard to that of Nintendo.

Sega had won the race to develop the CD add-on, only to produce games for it that looked like bad movies with poor quality. Eventually Sega would fix this problem and produce a handful of incredible games for it, (Inculding Sonic CD, which today is considered by many the greatest Sonic game of all time, as well as the main reason to buy the Genesis add-on) In all, Sega had made a huge mistake making the CD add on, and sought to fix it by making 32 bit games. To play these games, however, it required a second piece of hardware which stacked on top of the cartridge slot. By now, it was safe to say the Genesis was on as much life support as Sega could give it. And assuming a person owned a Genesis, and had the Sega CD and the 32X attached to it, it really did look like something on life support.

Sega had later made a new console, called the Sega Saturn, and was also planning on making a fourth, called the Sega Neptune. The Neptune was really supposed to be a standalone 32X, but the project was soon dropped as to lack of funds. The Saturn, however, had a very small library of games, with only a few that were worth the purchase of the system. The saturn did have backward compatibility with Sega CD games, but with nintendo still going strong and with a library of games worth the $30 they cost, Sega knew it had one last chance to compete with Nintendo (Who was soon to produce the Nintendo 64) and Sony (Whose Playstation system had now made Sony's name ainto a big competetor.

This time, Sega knew where its system should be headed, and created the Sega Dreamcast. This time, instead of focusing on the system, it had focused on the games. The result would be extraordinary and detailed games with graphic and sound five years ahead of its time. Most all of whatever money Sega had left was put into the dreamcast. Or better said, its games.

Why did the Dreamcast fail? Its a mystery. Some say Segas bad reputation had made skeptics out of most gamers into buying the system. Others say Sega's burn of money on the console had depleted whatever cash reserves the company had in store. Maybe if the dreamcast had lasted a few more years it would have succeeded, but all said it would be two years later that Sega raised the white flag, and its staff was put to work to make games for nintendo.

-Untravaersil

 

[$t3v0]

I love my Dreamcast to bits!

I managed to get one almost the same month they came out. There was this really spoilt kid around my area that had it bought for him and he NEVER played on it! :| So i chucked him ?100 (at the time) and away i went.

Mine came with Soul Calibre 2 and that was enough to take my breathe away at the time. Like Prexus said, it was released at a really awkward time as it only had a year before the likes of the PS2 and others came out. But that was enough to make me keep my faith.

The dreamcast WAS very easy to chip. If I'm honest, I did mine by myself at the age of 13! And i have almost NO skills when it comes to electronics. I was just armed with a soldering iron and a step by step process.

Anyway, what keeps the dreamcast alive for me are the following games:

Zombie revenge - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Revenge
Powerstone - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerstone
Powerstone 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Stone_2
Virtua Tennis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtua_Tennis

Long live DC! Sega ... Come back :[

 

[Synthesize]

I love my Dreamcast to bits!

I managed to get one almost the same month they came out. There was this really spoilt kid around my area that had it bought for him and he NEVER played on it! :| So i chucked him ?100 (at the time) and away i went.

Mine came with Soul Calibre 2 and that was enough to take my breathe away at the time. Like Prexus said, it was released at a really awkward time as it only had a year before the likes of the PS2 and others came out. But that was enough to make me keep my faith.

The dreamcast WAS very easy to chip. If I'm honest, I did mine by myself at the age of 13! And i have almost NO skills when it comes to electronics. I was just armed with a soldering iron and a step by step process.

Anyway, what keeps the dreamcast alive for me are the following games:

Zombie revenge - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Revenge
Powerstone - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerstone
Powerstone 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Stone_2
Virtua Tennis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtua_Tennis

Long live DC! Sega ... Come back :[

You don't even need a chip to break the DCs Anti-piracy system, mainly because it is almost non-existent. Basically you burn and play.

Virtual Tennis does kick ass, I agree there ^-^

I agree with Prexus, without a decent anti-piracy system developers were not interested in the DC and the fact that Sega had made previous failed consoles another factor that was unattractive to the developers.