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Why was dreamcast such a failure?

E

earthscore

Gawd
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
542
What do you think? Was it the inferior graphics? The amazingly high price? Or possibly the really messed up controller?
 
Poor advertising, they really didn't start till way after the systems launch and after the PS2 was announced. Also the games on it were very hardcore centered, many were arcade ports rather then bringing great original console based titles that the PSX and N64 were known for.

I mean look at its fighting and RPG lineup, pretty pathetic... for platformers it had mainly sonic... but arcade type games it excelled.
 
I got a dreamcast with two controllers, Rush 2049 and some other shit games at a garage sale for $20. Best $20 bucks on a console ever. I wasted so much time playing rush in the dorms with my roomates i nearly flunked out of school.
 
One of the main reasons was because of the past failures of Sega. SegaCD, 32X, and the Saturn. No one trusted Sega anymore.

/me hugs Genesis. What a console that was.

Anyway, I own a Dreamcast and I don't regret buying it. It had a lot of great games on it, although as Mangus pointed out, a lot of them were arcrade type games.
 
I really liked the sega, it was a pretty cool system with the first usage one Mortal Combat series games.(i think it was) And for some reason, whenever i think sega i think sonic :p
 
another reason why it went under was because everyone was bootlegging the games like hell..

those games were easy to pirate
 
It also didn't have the support of some key third party publishers, like Electronic Arts.

I bought a Dreamcast on 9/9/99, and I love the system. I still play it from time to time. I own about 16 games for it. The only problem is, with my system, I couldn't play certain newer games for the system, and Sega wanted $70 to fix it. Otherwise I would have MORE games for it. My first guess was that there was a firmware upgrade that I didn't have and needed. I had to return Skies of Arcadia because it wouldn't play, and Phantasy Star Online wouldn't play either.

The main thing I loved about the Dreamcast was the modem. I loved playing games online. Especially the NFL2K* series. Yes, there was some lag at times, but mostly it went great. And since I was able to play Phantasy Star online with a friend's system, I absolutely spent a lot of hours on there... lol

Ahhh, maybe that's why I like my newly acquired Xbox so much. Xbox live and Ninja Gaiden, Project Gotham Racing 2, NCAA Football 2005, etc and so on.
 
Ludic said:
The main thing I loved about the Dreamcast was the modem.
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Haha I remember that. My friend had a long phone line going down the hall and into the DC. He'd just use the DC instead of using an actual computer to browse the web.

My favorite DC game was Marvel Vs Capcom 1 and 2. So when MvC2 came out for PS2, I bought it.

Seaman was quite an original concept too. Perhaps too original.
 
valkyre said:
One of the main reasons was because of the past failures of Sega. SegaCD, 32X, and the Saturn. No one trusted Sega anymore.

/me hugs Genesis and general chaos . What a console that was.
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that and after the genesis, saga of america just couldnt' get people to make games for them, their selection wasn't all that great, but they did have some great games.

i fixed your thing above to ;)
 
Partially because it cost the same as the PSX while offering less games (remember at the time, the RPG craze had finally hit, and Final Fantasy VIII's release was timed with the Dreamcast's), partially because most of its big-name games were available on the PSX already, partially the controller, and partially because it couldn't overcome anticipation of the PS2.
 
|MaguS| said:
I mean look at its fighting and RPG lineup, pretty pathetic... for platformers it had mainly sonic... but arcade type games it excelled.
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Huh? It had many great fighters that were on the Dreamcast only - Soul Calibur still holds up as one of the best fighting games made, EVER.
 
The DC had the best lineup of fighting games. I've got friends that still play their DCs, and have a metric shitload of imported fighters, the titles of which I can't remember, though I remember one of them has a black man named Butt. I'll never forget that.

The failure, as has been noted, is on account of Sega screwing things up as they always do. Poor marketing, poor advertisement, and they had a history of rushing things out the door just to be the first to market. Anyone actually own a Saturn? Didn't think so.
 
Poor advertising and massive hype over the PS2 since the PS was so popular.
 
I think it was mainly lack of advertising and third party support. The graphics of the system were at least equal or better compared to the PS2 at launch (anyone that saw Silent Scope on both the PS2 and my DC agreed that the DC was better). The three categories it was strong in were Fighter, Shooters, and Sports games, so maybe it catered to the hardcore gamer too much as well.
 
valkyre said:
One of the main reasons was because of the past failures of Sega. SegaCD, 32X, and the Saturn. No one trusted Sega anymore.

/me hugs Genesis. What a console that was.

Anyway, I own a Dreamcast and I don't regret buying it. It had a lot of great games on it, although as Mangus pointed out, a lot of them were arcrade type games.
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agreed, sega's track record is horendous. the dreamcast may have been a great system with good games but it was too little too late. sega screwed over their fanbase with their crappy consoles
 
I gotta agree with Rancid, piracy was so easy on it.

Not that I condone it or anything.

Plus, it was missing a few key publishers, and it seemed like the public and industry were really taking a wait-and-see approach with it. Problem was, once they waited, PS2 was upon us.
 
I'd say piracy killed it more then anything. You didn't even need a mod chip to play backups.
 
I'll argue that the system wasn't even really a failure. It wasn't as sucessful as it could have been (in large part to Sony's massive PS2 hype campaign) but they still sold a fuckton of consoles and moved a lot of games. I think the biggest problem the DC had was that people -thought- nobody was buying them.

As for piracy, considering that you couldn't really copy the games without specialize hardware to make the original rip, forcing most people to get them online and broadband wasn't that prevalent until the system was already being phased out, it didn't really make any significant impact until after the system was EOLed
 
ameoba said:
I'll argue that the system wasn't even really a failure. It wasn't as sucessful as it could have been (in large part to Sony's massive PS2 hype campaign) but they still sold a fuckton of consoles and moved a lot of games. I think the biggest problem the DC had was that people -thought- nobody was buying them.
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True, the DC did allow a platform for Sega sports to refine their game before moving on to the XBox and PS2. Unfortunately EA put a stop to that with this damn NFL deal.
 
IcedEmotion said:
True, the DC did allow a platform for Sega sports to refine their game before moving on to the XBox and PS2. Unfortunately EA put a stop to that with this damn NFL deal.
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Yea EA has something against Sega imo. They were part the reason for why the DC failed. They absolutely refused to develop or publish any games for the DC. And now they did this NFL thing just as the NFL2k series was starting to get ready to take off Maddens fat head. Very sad ;(
 
|MaguS| said:
Poor advertising, they really didn't start till way after the systems launch and after the PS2 was announced. Also the games on it were very hardcore centered, many were arcade ports rather then bringing great original console based titles that the PSX and N64 were known for.

I mean look at its fighting and RPG lineup, pretty pathetic... for platformers it had mainly sonic... but arcade type games it excelled.
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You kidding come on man. The PSX at the time was just rehashing out sequels of older games. The N64 didnt have a single game to its name outside of 1st party games (partly why they lost that "console war" if you remember).

DC had some of the best fighting games EVER! Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Soul Calibur, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Power Stone 1 and 2, the list literaly goes on (SNK games). No RPG's? Skies of Arcadia and Shenmue ring a bell? I mean when the PS2 came out the only rpg it had for awhole year was...shoot what was the name of that game I had it to (it was ok, hold on ill look it up...its Dark something), Dark Cloud! For an entire year basically that was the only rpg that the PS2 had and that game was medicore at best.

Platformers it had a few actually but I guess thats all it had...a few. The thing was only around for what like 2yrs? The lack of support from 3rd partie companies and the fact that it got killed off during its golden year were some key factors in why it died off. The PS2 hype I suppose contributed a bit to
 
For one, the basic problem was, as said, the previous mistakes that hurt Sega big time. They figured that they couldn't recoop this failure with another system launch, which they knew they'd have to do if they were going to compete with the PS2.

The price? Um... the Dreamcast's price was surprisingly low. It started at 200, then dropped to 150 right away. Instantly games were around 50 to 40 dollars, which is normal for dreamcast games. Don't you remember when N64 launched? Killer Instinct Gold was over 80 dollars... FOR A GAME! This sysem was moderately priced for what it was, a damn fine system.

But the problem that Sega ran into, that Nintendo is running into now, is the lack of 3rd party support for a variety of games. They didn't have EA sports, and such to produce some other kinds of games. RPG's were far inbetween... (Although Grandia and Skies of Arcadia were freakin' awesome), and many of the games almost seemed similar. (Big motha trucker, and Crazy Taxi 1-3)

Don't get me wrong, I freakin' loved this system. There were so many fun times... and I still rule at Crazy Taxi. Highest still among my friends with 32,000. Woot.
 
Here's a site that goes into all of Sega's console's, and their success/failures.

SegaBase

The Dreamcast pages seem unfinished, but still offer lots of great info.

I still play my DC more than my Xbox. Racing games being my favorite, there were a lot for the DC. I only wish they still made and supported it. Also, I like the controller.

PS, I also own a Saturn, but never got any games other than the three it came with. Now it lives in a box in my closet.
 
I miss my DC. That was the only console I've ever had where I'd put in LONG gaming sessions. These newer consoles only seem to be able to entertain me for an hour before I wanna find somethin else to do.
 
Anyone remeber shenmue, god that was a great game. It was really unstructered but with a cool plot line behind it. It was the first game to really give you a free roaming enviroment.
 
SaberDicer said:
Anyone remeber shenmue, god that was a great game. It was really unstructered but with a cool plot line behind it. It was the first game to really give you a free roaming enviroment.
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Yeah that was a fun game. I think you had to unlock the 100 person challenge where you have to fight 3 bosses as well. Could never beat that...played it for hours. Then take the money and go collect those little toys from the vending machines. Oh and the forklift racing lol. Good times.
 
|MaguS| said:
Poor advertising, they really didn't start till way after the systems launch and after the PS2 was announced. Also the games on it were very hardcore centered, many were arcade ports rather then bringing great original console based titles that the PSX and N64 were known for.

I mean look at its fighting and RPG lineup, pretty pathetic... for platformers it had mainly sonic... but arcade type games it excelled.
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That's pretty much dead-on.

Sega's management was truly half-assed. They made mistake after mistake in regards to the Saturn and Dreamcast. People remembered getting screwed when it came to the Sega Saturn, which already put them at a disadvantage when they launched the Dreamcast. The few that did support the Dreamcast were quickly outnumbered by the hype-generating fanbots of Sony.

The only stand-out RPG for the Dreamcast that comes to mind is Skies of Arcadia. It was truly spectacular, but one RPG just isn't enough (There were others in the form of Grandia 2, but honestly...nothing special). Third parties just didn't have any interest in supporting the system with rumors of the PS2 already getting heavy circulation.

The Dreamcast did a lot of things right. The launch lineup was unbelievable. Online play as a standard was another first for consoles (It happened on a limited basis earlier, but wasn't nearly as widespread). Web-browsing features were built in as well, and while they were generic, they were there. Quality software was there; it just wasn't for the casual gamers.
 
earthscore said:
What do you think? Was it the inferior graphics? The amazingly high price? Or possibly the really messed up controller?
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Inferior graphics? I believe the graphics were ahead of its time.
 
inotocracy said:
Inferior graphics? I believe the graphics were ahead of its time.
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oh, really? I've only used it a couple times, but i heard the graphics were bad. What kind of games did it play? cd type games or huge ones like n64 and super nintendo
 
earthscore said:
oh, really? I've only used it a couple times, but i heard the graphics were bad. What kind of games did it play? cd type games or huge ones like n64 and super nintendo
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DVDs or CDs, and the graphics were actually quite nice.
 
The Dreamcast was far aheads of it's time graphically. In 1998 (The Japanese DC launch), there was nothing on the market that looked nearly as good as Sonic Adventure.

Since when has a console launch at $200 been "amazingly high"?
 
DemonDiablo said:
Yea EA has something against Sega imo
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That "something" is competition. The second Sega went third-party, they became one of the largest game publishers in existence. Everyone talks about how EA is a monopoly--it's not, and you can bet Larry Probst lost a lot of sleep when Sega started releasing games for the PS2.
 
Terpfen said:
That "something" is competition. The second Sega went third-party, they became one of the largest game publishers in existence. Everyone talks about how EA is a monopoly--it's not, and you can bet Larry Probst lost a lot of sleep when Sega started releasing games for the PS2.
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That really doesnt make much sense. Your making 3rd party games now so Im going to make more money by not making games for your console instead of actually making games for your console which will...well make me money.

That just doesnt quite add up to well from a money making stand point, not to mention that SEGA went 3rd party after DC died out not before.
 
Terpfen said:
That "something" is competition. The second Sega went third-party, they became one of the largest game publishers in existence. Everyone talks about how EA is a monopoly--it's not, and you can bet Larry Probst lost a lot of sleep when Sega started releasing games for the PS2.
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If EA isn't a monopoly, explain how I can find a non-EA published NFL game over the next 3 years?
 
IcedEmotion said:
If EA isn't a monopoly, explain how I can find a non-EA published NFL game over the next 3 years?
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QFT

EA is like the biggest game making franchise in the industry by far I believe (correct me if im wrong on this one). Their hands are in just about every type of game genre there is. Like no other game company can do this and actually make money outta it. They got the fps, rts, rpg, racing, nfl, nba, EVERYTHING.

Trying to say EA isnt a huge gaming monopoly is about as futile as when Microsoft was trying to claim that they werent a huge monopoly.
 
twyztyr said:
..................Anyone actually own a Saturn? Didn't think so.
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Yep, me! It kept me entertained for a while.

I just picked up a dreamcast and a heap of gear the other day off ebay and plan to build an arcade cab to put it in, the guys at http://www.arcadecontrols.org/ love the dreamcast for this reason. re-wire the controllers to arcade controls and you've got a pretty hefty fighting cab at least! Capcom - Marvel vs , Capcom 2 , Capcom - Project Justice (Rival Schools 2) , Capcom - Street Fighter 3rd Strike , Capcom - Tech Romancer , Virtua Fighter 3 , Capcom - Vampire Chronicles , Capcom vs SNK, Capcom vs SNK 2 , Guilty Gear X , Mortal Kombat Gold (not the best but oh well) Powerstone 1 & 2 , all the SNK one and of course the allmighty Soul Calibur....... Didn't someone say it was a very good console for fighting games?
 
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