Dreamcast: A Forensic Retrospective Comments by Dan Whitehead

i LOVED my dreamcast and some of the games look great even today!!

Top machine....ruined by mainstream idiots :p

A great machine - F355, Shenmue, Power Stone and Jet Set Radio were just *wonderful* games.

"thankfully short-lived craze for FMV-based "interactive movies""

Sorry but it was awesome and a fucking shame that it was abandoned due to cost. Some of the most awesome games ever where fmv.

Sony had a HUGE impact on Dreamcast, nearly every gamer I knew was waiting. "You should get a dreamcast it's f**king wicked!" I'd say only to hear the reply "nah, I'm waiting for PS2 that's gonna be much better". So blind. Mind you it was those very people who helped keep my DC and SC running for practically 24 hours once (i'm not joking!), thank heaven for purified water cooling! :)

Dreamcast was the the best console ever for me. Coming from the joys of the PS1/Saturn era SEGA just seemed to hit the right buttons, not just in the software but the, accessories like guns and wheels that were designed to go with the console, the strange little gameboy-like memory cards, the internet - even though it was pretty unworkable for the time, the weird controllers that actually felt surprisingly natural (and the father of my favourite, the 360 controller I'd say).

It was actually a downer coming to the dull old PS2 from that, sure the greats came along on PS2 but gaming died a little for me after my DC died, and I've never really recovered - except for the initial joy of 360 launch, I was full of hope then but as it turned out the focus on certain genres this gen while others fall away and die (and how DLC is not exaclty what I was hoping for back then) is truly heartbreaking :(

Anyway nice read EG, I always remember it's good to be a gamer when DC is mentioned. Special mention to my babies.

MvC2
SF3 - 3rd Strike
SC
Crazy Taxi
Blue Stinger - I don't care what anyone says it was actually good
RE: CV - Ah, RESIDENT EVIL. Shame they never made any more in that series ;)
House Of The Dead 2 - possibly the best lightgun game ever made
Sword Of The Beserk
F355 - sweet...
EP1 Racer - best version
Sonic Adventure
Hidden And Dangerous
Oh and a little game called Shenmue

/ group hugs SEGA and all the DC fans

(If SEGA did go back into hardware I'd buy in a second!)

EDIT: Holy crap! How did I forget PS in my list of babies???!!!!

"In March 1999, realising that SEGA was about to leapfrog a hardware generation and get its next-gen machine on the shelves first, Sony had publicly unveiled PlayStation 2 - then still a year away from release. The prospect of the successor to the world-conquering PlayStation was enough to cut the already wobbly legs off the Dreamcast in Japan, with most gamers opting to wait for the sure-to-be-awesome PS2, with its mysterious "emotion engine" and games that would literally emerge from the screen and fellate you senseless."

Still works today.

The DC was an awesome machine with great games. Shamed mine has now died. Found my copy of bleemcast which let you run GT2 on it and how much better it looked to......

@ Xerx3s

It does work, TBH I reckon that why there is so much hate to Sony these days and they never deliver what they promise anyway..

Oh, and I forgot MSR! Real time lighting, watching the sun set in your game and out your window, wicked!

To call the DC one of the greatest consoles ever is nothing but nostalgia speaking.
I love it and its games, but its no better than often heavily criticized consoles like GC and N64.

Shenmue...sonic...great times :)

Oh no Sony, you're not off the hook! I will always despise you for what you did to my little Dreamcast.

"To call the DC one of the greatest consoles ever is nothing but nostalgia speaking.
I love it and its games, but its no better than often heavily criticized consoles like GC and N64. "

Come off it, I loved N64 and GC but they were not worthy of being in the same room as DC ;)

It had pretend HD if you had a vga box and a handy monitor which made SC in particular at the time mind blowing.

Now all thats left of one of the parents of gaming is a yearly release of yet another crap sonic!

VIVA LA DREAMCAST!! ahem.....sorry.

I disagree with the conclusion. You can grab the same given facts and equally well swing them in every other direction.

but really, bad09. if you look past the shimmer and the fact that the DC looks good (the hardware itself), the game library is in the same league as N64/GC/Xbox, and not even close to giants like ps2/Snes.

Personally I have no other way to judge a console than to look at its games library.

A console is only as good as its games and the Dreamcast had as many great games per overall games release on the console as any other. It had a great technical specification yet because the games became so easily pirated I'm sure this added to its demise. Personally, I can hold my head up and say I bought (and still have) all but one of the great games mentioned in the classic "dreamcast dozen" - still some of my favourite all-time games! Though I have to admit I also enjoyed playing Sonic and Rayman on the Dreamcast.

It wasn't Sony, EA or pirates who killed the DC, it was Sega. They loaded up a giant marketing blunderbuss and then blasted themselves in both feet, the bollocks, the guts, the nose (to spite their face) and finally the head. They pissed away almost their entire European budget on sponsoring Arsenal, who then proceeded to win diddly, while Sony wisely spent less cash on attaching their name to the entire Champions League rather than one also-ran competitor in it.

Sega then focused all their advertising on the fact that you could compete against "six billion players" using the DC's laughable 56K modem, casually glossing over the fact that the system was region-locked so you couldn't play against someone in Japan even if you COULD both get a decent connection, which you couldn't, and if there were any decent online games, which there weren't. The campaign was so stupid it even proved to be illegal, with the company forced by the courts to stop making the claim on the grounds that it was a palpable lie.

The DC needed to be pushed as the Sega Super Arcade 3000, concentrating on its strengths - fantastic, pixel-perfect conversions of all the most successful arcade games of the era, all enhanced and expanded for home use, and groundbreaking spectaculars like Shenmue. It needed TV ads full of stunning footage of Soul Calibur, not lots of arty bullshit that didn't show potential purchasers any games, at a time when the DC was visibly and massively superior to the competition (the PS1 and N64). In short, Sega needed to sell what they had, not what they imagined they might have five years later. The idiots.

y'up it is true sony did pretty much kill sega off.

but i always felt the 360 is the re-incarnation of the dreamcast,
back from the grave to kick sonys ass

- vey similar colour console boxes.
- very very similar colour schemes on the control pads.
- the same man Peter Moore behind both projets


its true
http://www.edge-online.com/news/peter-mo...

@ Rev. Stuart - spot on.

Ultimately Sony's plan to make people wait for the PS2 only worked because their marketing department was better at getting the message out than Sega's. I had 4 player sessions that lasted into the early hours on my DC with friends that were completely astounded by what the console could do. They simply envisaged it as being Sega's Playstation 1.5

I think it's also important to remember the damage that PS2 backwards compatibility did to the Dreamcast as well though. Useless feature or not it was one of the key factors in stopping the afore-mentioned PSX-owning friends from shelling out for the DC.

Yes Sega did make some weak decisions and the reputation from previous hardware/expensive add ons sticks. But for me going back to the time, PS2 did NOT really have great games from get go, they only got better as times goes on. DC never got chance to attract the attention from both gamers and devs as Sony's marketing dept were too excellent at selling their 'next gen' console with loads of emotive promises!

I mean Emotion Engine was heavily mentioned, referred to in every gaming magzines, forums and in games shops. I have had same experience of friends holding back from DC and said nah would be inferior than PS2 and best get the most powerful console in the world!

Resident Evil Code Veronica proved to me that the supposed superiority of PS2 over DC is not accurate! There were few others multi platform games that DC looked/performed better but yes the actual hardware was better on PS2 as bore out by the later games.

If wasnt for the hype machine I would have tought Sega would not pull out as early and that more games would have been available with more happy DC owners. DC is not still here but I still have enough excellent gaming pleasure from it.

Thank you DC, you will always be fondly remembered.

Rev. Stuart Campbell

I had Japanese version of the PSO games and played online with US and European gamers. PSO was worldwide and was brilliant online!

NFL 2K1 and 2K2 were superb online even with a 56k modem. I had no problem playing against people in the US. You could have your friend talking trash on the keyboard while you go for touchdowns! Pretty sure Quake III was not region locked online. Quake III or Unreal Tournament with Mouse and Keyboard controls was happy days. :)

Powerstone 2, SFIII: Third Strike, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Capcom vs SNK 2 were all online but you couldnt access the servers if you lived outside Japan. Even the PS2 versions all had the same problem for importers.

I remember how bad Sega Europe's marketing was. They wouldnt show off the very nice looking games. Shenmue, RE: Code Veronica, Soul Calibur for example should of been pushed hard but wasnt.

I remember Sega Europe advertising Tomb Raider on TV. It looked rubbish and was a bad PC port, the Dreamcast had better games at the the time and they decided to push Tomb Raider!!

Love my DC, own over 90 games. :)

Nice article, although I'm not sure about the comment that people love Dreamcast more than Saturn? I'd find it hard to choose between both of them- although I do regret selling my Saturn and its games just before the Dreamcast's launch. Wish I'd kept it also.

"but really, bad09. if you look past the shimmer and the fact that the DC looks good (the hardware itself), the game library is in the same league as N64/GC/Xbox, and not even close to giants like ps2/Snes. "

Comparing 2 years of games to 7+ years of games.


....

The Dreamcast was awesome, probably my favourite console. But the stupid masses (probably slightly scared by the Saturn) bought into Sonys hype and largely ignored it. Tools.

It had so many great games in pretty short life and the online functions worked pretty well too. The VMU's were slightly pointless but other than that I always thought it was a pertty complete system and deserved far more success than it got.

Did the Dreamcast really stiff at launch in Japan as Dan suggests?

It was the only way to play Virtua Fighter 3 at home, and at that point in time, that would've made the Dreamcast a hugely successful launch, surely?

Personally for me the DC was never a flop, I own more DC titles and actually completed more titles that i have for any other machine.

I agree with what someone said above, i had a PS1 which i enjoyed and was totally blown away when i got mt Dreamcase, Powerstone was just amazing as a uk launch title.. and as i remeber there was something like 20 titles available from launch too which was unheard of for the time. I then got a PS2 at launch and was totally underwhelmed and could not understand any off the hype surrounding the machine. For me the DC was leagues ahead in terms of gameplay shiny visuals..

Segas problem was that because the Sony PR engine had made out that the PS2 was going to be a gift from the gods, most people didnt even look at the DC.. for the people that never experienced a DC the PS2 was like a gift from the gods.

Additionally, at the time of the PS2 launch there were reports and unconfirmed rumours of underhand tactics by Sony marketing. Unwritten instructions were allegedly given to stores such as EB and Game advising them to relocate DC displays away from PS2 demo pods and generally ended up at the back of the store. this was all in return for a steady stock supply from distributers who took the "we dont have to sell to you" attitude..

Sega then focused all their advertising on the fact that you could compete against "six billion players" using the DC's laughable 56K modem, casually glossing over the fact that the system was region-locked so you couldn't play against someone in Japan even if you COULD both get a decent connection, which you couldn't, and if there were any decent online games, which there weren't.

Sorry, but you're wrong about that.

For a start, the Dreamcast had an even poorer modem in PAL territories, namely a 33.6k model. But that didn't stop online gaming on the Dreamcast being all but lag-free, even with a fast-paced game like Quake III Arena. In fact, I'd say I experienced less problems with lag via the Dreamcast's humble modem than I have in this generation with a 10Mb broadband connection.

The system did also have some great online games, not least of which Phantasy Star Online (and v2), which remains one of the best online games ever made IMO. The aforementioned Quake III was also fantastic fun, along with others like Chu Chu Rocket, Alien Front Online, Worms World Party, Starlancer and Toy Racer.

Sega made plenty of mistakes with the marketing side of things, but there was really nothing wrong at all with the Dreamcast's online gaming abilities, save for the fact that a lot of the best online titles were exclusive to North America or Japan.

I haven't even read this article yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

DREAMCAST 4 EVER (well, not quite forever, seeing as it died 10 years ago, but you know what I mean).

My lingering resentment is towards games journalists, I remember PCFormat saying this console was 'Dead in the Water' before Code Veronica was even out in the UK, how did they know that, I suppose they knew that studios were cancelling projects or something, others advised against the Dreamcast in favour of the upcoming PS2.

I have never understood why the Dreamcast attracts such adoration...with one big exception: Skies of Arcadia. When I look back over all the consoles I've owned, Arcadia is pretty much the only reason I'd think about the DC.

God bless the Dreamcast one of the best consoles i've ever owned. Sure it was a little noisy at times but there were so many good games on it. Sony should be ashamed abbout what they did to it but Sega should still be proud of what they created.

just a great console and some superb games,simple as that.

True, a lot have Dreamcast games have aged badly but for their time, compared to the alternatives they were so much more entertaining... just a shame joe public would rather watch epic cut scenes in games rather than actually play some pretty amazing arcade style titles.

The Dreamcast was probably the last machine where games were what they were supposed to be, just GAMES, not some emulation of the cinema or arty filled bollocks..

The words "end of an era" don't even begin to cover it.

You got that right. It just hasn't been the same since.

The Gamecube was ok, but this gen has been a bit of a let down for me. Most of the better games are PC or PC flavoured titles. Where are the console greats of old? Games like Crazy Taxi, Power Stone and Jet Set Radio*. Even Resident Evil has morphed into a dodgy third person shooter. It's all just a little too "Oh yeah, Woooo mutha fooka!" these days. Dare I say, a little too Western. We need more Eastern flavoured arcady craziness.

Then again, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm starting to get too old for this shit :(

*I picked Dreamcast titles since that's more relevant to the article. Obviously the true console greats are from the 2D golden age of consoles ;)

Xerx3s:
How is that important? It doesnt make the number of great games larger, doest it?

Also, the random Sony-hate among EG commenters baffles me. You act like they killed your dog or sumthing.

>"with most gamers opting to wait for the sure-to-be-awesome PS2, with its mysterious "emotion engine" and games that would literally emerge from the screen and fellate you senseless."

NNNNNNRRRRGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Now I remember why I hated sony so much.

YOU KILLED MY WHITE BABY.
Does that sound weird?

Anywho, it really was the sega hype that killed it. I mean, even with all the 3rd party support, would they have still won? Doubt it.
Most of the people that got the ps2 weren't even gamers during sega's dominance, introduced (or re-introduced) to the world of gaming by Sony. They had no ties with sega.

And the stupid emotion engine hype. Sony are such scums, they knew what they were doing. They even tried it again in this gen with the CELL.

/salutes Dreamcast

Nice to see some retro features on EG again. (y)

Rev's right.
SEGA were MENTAL to blow their budget on just sponsoring arsenal, and I'm a freakin gooner.

I thought the Dreamcast was excellent at the time. I queued up outside Virgin Mega Stores in central London to get one at the midnight launch. Base unit, plus extra controller and about 3 games came to about £500.

It had some great games, Powerstone, Soul Calibur, House of the Dead and that funny fishing game 'Super Bass Fishing' with a rod type controller, all great fun. I was gutted when it was dropped by Sega. That put me off console gaming for several years. I never bought into the PS2, even though I'd had a PS1 and, it was only the arrival of the Xbox and Xbox 360 that my my love of gaming has been renewed. Would love to see Powerstone on XBLA.

I still have my Dreamcast, admittedly boxed up safely with a load of games. I might even dig it out and see if the beast still works.

@ Bodybuilder

Did you even read that article?

NICE!

@onezeonx

'Top machine....ruined by poor marketing and poor use of online functions in games :p'

FIXED!

@ Scimarad

Yes you twat, yes I did.
However, just because the journalist came to one conclusion doesn't mean I have to either.
I also love the way you overlooked my posted agreeing with the rev that sega's marketing did all the killing.

Sorry, but I've just got so sick of the 'PS2 hype killed the DC' shit - Just give it a rest already...

:P

Great articles. Thanks EG.

The only bummer is that I can't get my DC to look too great on my LCD TV - even with my spiffing VGA box.

Happy days. The funny thing is, I never actually owned one until 2006, but when it was launched I can remember my mum talking about it around Christmas 1999, but she didn't buy it

@Rev. Stuart Campbell

EXACTLY. After being spammed with Chu Chu Rocket adverts trying to tell me that this was why I should spend £200 in the year 2000, I decided right then and there that I wasn't buying one.

Sega had already ruined my confidence in them after the Mega CD, 32X & Saturn, and I wasn't being burned by their stupidity again.

I wanted the Arcade games, with online play - plain and simple. Sega Rally 2 recieved awful reviews, and didn't support online. It continued from there. I wasn't impressed.

Sega killed themselves.

I would have KILLED for a proper Shining Force game on the DC!

Man I forgot SR2 cheers Ryze!

Why did it get bad reviews? I thought it was bloody brilliant!

@GamesConnoisseur

Gran Turismo 3
Grand Theft Auto III
Metal Gear Solid 2

These games were the absolute nail in the coffin for the Dreamcast. GTAIII made me impulse buy a PS2 for £240 with games in 2001. Sega simply did not have the marketing message to come close to beating the impact of Sony and these titles. I don't even remember there being any ads AT ALL for GTA III.

It sold itself.

GTA3 and the following GTA games cemented Sony's success against everyone, until it was no longer exclusive oddly....

Oh and Ryze, GT2 was PS1 ;)

"How is that important? It doesnt make the number of great games larger, doest it?"

Because the DC didn't have a lack of games. The ps2 just had more because it had a longer lifespan. In fact, it was the ps2 that was seriously lacking a solid lineup of good games during that time.

"Also, the random Sony-hate among EG commenters baffles me. You act like they killed your dog or sumthing."

Errrr... righhhhht.