Moore: Dreamcast paved way for Live, PSN

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 September, 2009

Plus thoughts on EA, console's downfall.

EA Sports boss Peter Moore has said he reckons the Dreamcast - 10 years old in the US today - paved the way for modern console internet services.

Writing in a blog looking back on his time at SEGA ("I trust my employers here at EA will allow me the indulgence of reminiscence and nostalgia"), Moore talked about the famously-lovely dead console's strengths and its demise from his perspective as boss of SEGA of America in 1999.

"I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the Dreamcast and its online network laid the ground for what we all take for granted today - online gameplay, linking innumerable gamers from around the world to play, compete and collaborate, as well as enabling new content to be delivered in addition to that which was delivered on the disc," he wrote, as a group of PC gamers chewing terrain and hitpoints suddenly froze mid-mouthful and gazed in his direction.

Moore also addressed the issue of EA's culpability in the console's demise. "Over the years," he noted, "I have been asked many times whether EA's decision not to develop and publish games for the Dreamcast was a major contributing factor in its early demise.

"That we will never know. But it is hard to argue with EA's rationale at the time and the ultimate outcome - get in position for the impending arrival of the PlayStation 2, deploying all resources against the newest version of Sony's already wildly successful video game platform. You can't argue with the results."

Moore also said that the console's 18 launch titles on 9th September 1999 was "probably three or four too many" and finished by clarifying that the decision to cease Dreamcast manufacture was taken by SEGA of Japan, not SEGA of America. He just had the unenviable job of announcing it.

The poor old Dreamcast. On the other hand, hurrah for the Dreamcast! Best eBay purchase you'll ever make, and you can read why in our Dreamcast forensic retrospective, top 12 Dreamcast games and Dreamcast Cult Classics features from last year's 10th anniversary of the Japanese launch.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • paul_haine #1 2 years ago

    Ack, I read that as Dreamcast games coming to Live, PSN at first.

  • Bazfrag #2 2 years ago

    lol so did i! Bah!

    Did the dc actually have a network? The only game that worked for me was Phantasy Star. Quake on a 28k dialup was unplayable. Even chu chu rocket had crippling lag.

    10/10 for the idea, 2/10 for executing the idea before broadband made console online viable.
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 08:09

  • the_dudefather #3 2 years ago

    Remember when Sonic adventure invented free DLC for consoles? That downloadable shoe challenge was bloody hard

    The ability to download other people's chao was pretty cool too (which the only way I could get those damn emblems)

  • MiniAmin #4 2 years ago

    Poor old Dreamcast. I miss you everyday. I'll never forget the Soul Caliber/ Crazy Taxi / Powerstone /Jet Set Radio / Skies of Arcadia / Shenmue / Sonic Adventure / Marvel vs Capcom 2 / VMU / Chu Chu Rocket / Virtua Tennis 2 goodness you gave me.

  • bad09 #5 2 years ago

    10 years old and I still play it \o/

    Was using Chankcast for a long while on PC as mine crapped out, but after the EG retrosprective a while back I picked another one up on Ebay (a few people did that day someone said sales of DC's on Ebay went up that very day!). Still looks tasty today graphically, I just wish I could play HOTD2! (BLOODY LCD TV!!!!!!!)

    Such a wonderful box of gaming gold. Arcade perfect gaming in your home. It truly is a crime that SEGA pulled out after such a swan song. To be honest that for me was the peak. Sure since there have been highs, the GTA's, the 360 launch to name a couple but gaming has never really been that fun for me since DC TBH.

    Gotta agree with Pete though I always see 360 as the spiritual successor to DC, I think it was intented to, even the controller is simlliar! Pete and MS were tugging DC fans heart strings, smart bastards! :)

    / hug his DC

    EDIT: Oh BTW, booze+18wheeler+DC wheel = f**king awesome win!!!

    / keeps on trucking
    Edited by 3 at 09/09/09 @ 08:22

  • HermitArcader #6 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Markusdragon #7 2 years ago

    Looking back, it's crazy just how many AAA games were on the Dreamcast in it's short lifetime, and yet it still failed! No sodding justice.

  • Retroid #8 2 years ago

    Poor Dreamcast. How I loved thee.

    It's worth pointing out that PlanetRing did the 'shared word to wander around in, chat with other users, play simple games' etc. thing LONG before Home ever came along. The DC really was WAY ahead of its time.

  • HermitArcader #9 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • smurphs #10 2 years ago

    msr. tickety tick tick tick. mmmmm.

  • Killdare #11 2 years ago

    Ah, the Dreamcast is probably the console I have the fondest memories of (perhaps vying with the PSX/WipeOut combo). Its games felt fresh and different and the online experience was a remarkable achievement. Ah, such a long time ago.

  • Slipstream #12 2 years ago

    So now we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Dreamcast he feels terrible about the consoles demise? Wasn't he like, bragging about how he killed it last year? Yet now he feels bad that all he merely had to do was announce its end? Ugh whatever...

    Dreamcast was ahead of its time indeed, appearing when internet was pe-per-minute, not exactly the best time to win the masses, but Sega had the right idea, even with games having DLC, and unique content that could be used only by the Dreamcast, as well as a brave and beautiful attempt into the world of MMORPG with Phantasy Star Online.

    Excellent console!

    ...oh btw Mr Moore, you can get an instant redemption if you make Shenmue III happen.

  • Darren #13 2 years ago

    Like many, I too have very fond recollections of the Dreamcast... SoulCalibur, Sonic Adventure, SEGA Rally 2, Chu-Chu Rocket, Shenmue/Shenmue II, Powerstone 2, Jet Set Radio, Virtua Tennis 2, Grandia II, Skies of Arcadia, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and many, many more great titles. Bliss.

    Despite being the shortest lived of the consoles I've owned, it was the most memorable and in many ways ahead of its time (VMUs, controller triggers, online gameplay, internet browser, VGA monitor support, etc.). It was also a great games machine, superior even to the PS2 in its early years (not surprising considering what a bitch Sony's machine was to code for). I remember being so disappointed at the PS2 conversion of Dead or Alive 2 for example, the DC version trounced it visually IMO and ran in VGA on my PC monitor.

    The DC was a very underrated and undersupported machine, and, yes, I do think EA contributed to its eventual downfall by refusing to support it.

  • Trinod #14 2 years ago

    and to think mine sits around gathering dust... and me being so poor too... really should get round to selling it for tupence hapenny

  • username #15 2 years ago

    I preordered mine from the Cribbs Causeway Virgin in Bristol and then took the day off work, bought a crate of beer and lined up outside at 9am to collect it.
    Well, I say "lined up" but actually I was the only person there apart from the Virgin staff and a cleaner.

    I found my VGA adapter and plugged it into a monitor along with the arcade stick for a few games of Soul Calibur recently. It still looks amazing all these years later :)

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #16 2 years ago

    "But it is hard to argue with EA's rationale at the time and the ultimate outcome - get in position for the impending arrival of the PlayStation 2, deploying all resources against the newest version of Sony's already wildly successful video game platform."

    Piss off. So EA were a multiformat software house before the DC and they were a multiformat software house after the DC, but they NEEDED to throw all resources at the PS2 that was still a year away from launching.

    As far as I'm aware the DC is the only large library system they never released any software for. Cunts.

  • wittynic #17 2 years ago

    I'd love power stone jet set radio and crazy taxi remakes for the 360.

  • Pastici #18 2 years ago

    To be fair, the the PS1 cases weren't much better.

  • ardamillo #19 2 years ago

    I remember being awestruck and then addicted to PSO. A sweet first taste of online co-op.

  • flippet #20 2 years ago

    @Anthony...I completely disagree - did you even read the Eurogamer retrospective? ...not that that is even particularly extensive, but there were so many good and great non-arcadey games on the DC that your comment simply has no credibility.

    Purely off the top of my (admittedly DC fanboy) head: Shenmue 1&2; Grandia II; Skies of Arcadia; Res Evil 2, Nemesis & CV; Alone in the Dark; Phantasy Star online; Sonic Adv 1&2; Jet Grind; couple of Tomb Raiders; Rez; Seaman; Outtrigger; Ooga Booga; Starlancer; Le Mans 24 hour; Worms; Space Chan 5.

    Many PC ports incl Hidden & Dangerous, MDK2, Rainbow6, Rogue Spear, Unreal Tourney, Soldier of Fortune, Quake3, Half Life (unreleased), Railroad Tycoon

    Ok so not all of these were AAA but none of the listed are too shabby either - and remember the DC had a (tragically) short life. As for the "much superior" PS2, for pretty much the lifespan of the DC it was anything but - with DC ports on PS2 being particularly awful in comparison. Ok so later in life the PS2 matured... but who's to say there wasn't more life in the DC's capability if given time to develop.

    Sorry, /rant

    Yes, the cases were a pain.

    Edit:typos
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 11:38

  • Retroid #21 2 years ago

    @Vertical Stand: No, I think they really were ahead of their time in what they were trying to do with it. Take a look at Planet Ring which I mentioned earlier:

    Given away free on the cover of a magazine

    Hooking up and playing simple games - which included voicechat - with either random strangers or friends ^___^

  • septimus #22 2 years ago

    I love the Dreamcast, but lets be honest it was the PC that drove online play.

  • davisorle #23 2 years ago

    Dreamcast was so much better than PS1 in so many ways... Just look at Shenmue and specially R.E. Code Veronica and youlll know. The rest played Veronica on their PS2 i tihnk ( if im wrong im sorry about that :) ) so many years after. Had some pretty amazing tittles but I dont and never will get, why they didnt support the console yet they were so willing to support the PS1 which had no net etc at all? So weird..

    I really wish Sega will get back in the industry with a console. Not only for the fact that something good would come out of it but also cause the more competition the cheaper and more stuff we end up getting. Plus they all bust their asses off to offer more srervices and ivolve and update them to keep up.

  • Bander #24 2 years ago

    "But it is hard to argue with EA's rationale at the time and the ultimate outcome - get in position for the impending arrival of the PlayStation 2, deploying all resources against the newest version of Sony's already wildly successful video game platform."

    As I recall, the official reasons EA gave were that online gaming wasn't in place from day 1, and EA didn't want to develop on the PowerVR graphics chip because they didn't think there was any future in the architecture (even though it was supported by Direct X).

    Then they put their full support behind the PS2, a machine that had no modem and took even longer to host any online games, and with a graphics chip so alien that it never had a successor, and nothing can emulate it.

    Meanwhile, PowerVR has become very important to mobile phone gaming and is getting stronger all the time.

    There's no doubt that EA's rationale involved something they won't admit to anytime soon. Sure, the PS2 was always expected to be the biggest seller, but Sega were in that position before, against the SNES, and EA's games were the equaliser back then.

  • Genji #25 2 years ago

    Dreamcast is not dead. Dreamcast will never die. It lives on!

    /gazes lovingly at Dreamcast

  • Xerx3s #26 2 years ago

    "would have eventually been killed off by the much superior PS2."

    The ps2 was only superior in money and marketing. Nothing else to it.

  • N.A.T.O #27 2 years ago

    I never got EA's antipathy to the DC at the time. They assumed it would fail, so ignored it. Wankers. Had they supported it, it may have survived and made money for those bloodsuckers. If there had been Fifa's, Maddens etc the DC would have continued in the west , of that I am sure. I'm sure there is a Chicken/ egg metaphor in there somewhere.

  • ARG #28 2 years ago

    Metropolis Street Racer. Kudos. Oh what memories.
    The DC had a higher rate of 90% + rated games than the PS2 at the same time. Can't remember where i read that but as i had both and numerous magazines i remember having a look at the reviews.
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/09 @ 18:02

  • ARG #29 2 years ago

    NFL 2K1 on import using the Action replay demo disc from the DCUK magazine. Online play aswell.

  • Bander #30 2 years ago

    [link url=http://www.gamasutra.com /view/feature/4128/the_rise_and_fall_of_the_dreamcast.php?pa ge=4
    ]http://ww w.gamasutra.com/view/feature/41...[/link]

    "'We want to be the only sports brand on Dreamcast,'" Stolar recalled Probst saying. "'We want the exclusive rights to be the only sports brand on Dreamcast.'"

    This surprised Stolar, whose strategic planning included Visual Concepts as a key element in making Dreamcast a success.

    Stolar countered. "I said, 'Larry, I'll tell you what. As a third party, I'll agree to that. But I'm not going to agree to that for first party. I bought Visual Concepts for $10 million. So you can compete with Visual Concepts. We'll have Visual Concepts sports titles and we'll have EA sports titles, and that will be it.'"

    Probst didn't budge.

    "No, I don't even want to compete with Visual Concepts," Probst told Stolar, who replied, "'Forget it then, end of story.' That's what it was all about, right there."

  • kungfool #31 2 years ago

    Sega came so close to putting DVD playback in Dreamcast but decided to focus on online instead. Frankly, Phantasy Star Online aside... Bad call.

  • Ghettomurph #32 2 years ago

    I love my Dreamcast, it still sits under my telly in the front room next to the 360 and that white brick the missus turns on every six months or so (Wii).

    Plus, the fact that it can play *cough* pirate *cough* games with no modifications is pretty sweet as well. Trying to find an original game with the box in good condition is quite hard work!

  • IronCladChicken #33 2 years ago

    @Xerx3s
    & the HUGE casual gamer user base