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20 years ago today, the Sega Dreamcast released in North America


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Why did the Dreamcast fail? Sega's marketing veteran looks back

 

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The Dreamcast was more than dev-friendly, though — it was also casual-friendly, going completely away from the hardcore gamer-oriented trend they established with the 16-bit Genesis and 32-bit Saturn. "We did our best to make the console approachable to a mass audience," Takezaki said, "from the system's design and coloring to the name itself. As a result, we went with a compact, simple design with a warm color scheme, something completely different in look from older Sega systems. I think it was the console that we took the most complete marketing approach with."

 

So why did the system fail? "In essence, it was a pure matter of cost," replied Takezaki. "It was because we were forced into a discount war when we were already losing money on system sales. Sony [whose PlayStation 2 came out March 2000 in Japan] was part of the team that developed the DVD standard, and they could develop a system around that completely internally with their own chips. Sega, meanwhile, was buying everything from outside companies, so it was at a distinct cost disadvantage. We couldn't easily cut costs on manufacturing, the software wasn't selling the numbers it used to, and then we were forced to discount the system."

 

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 "It's one of those things where the more consoles you sell, the more you lose, so we had to cover that with software sales," Takezaki explained. "But those sales weren't going up, and at the same time, we were busy trying to bring the idea of online gaming to users with the system."

 

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A lot of people in the industry have commented that Sega perhaps pulled the trigger a few years too early with the Dreamcast and its online-centric design. Takezaki doesn't think so. "I think it was the right choice to aim for a net-centric strategy at that time," he said. "However, we went through with it even though our break-even was far too high for it to work. The idea of accessing the net for free at that time was simply fantastic, and we were the ones footing the bill, so in a weird way, Sega was the company paying out the most money for its users at the time."

 

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1 hour ago, Amazatron said:

I don’t think anything will surpass the amazement I had from a console delivering arcade-quality visuals then the Dreamcast.

 

Soul Caliber, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, NFL 2K, Power Stone

I remember the first time I saw NFL 2K... I was AMAZED, True story, my Stepfather bought a Dreamcast for the house when he was out of town and left it in the overhead compartment of the plane when he got back home... he should have never told us :p Fortunately he bought us another one a couple of weeks later. Despite it's ultimate failure, The Dreamcast remains one of my favorite systems ever and I still have mine. It's hooked up in my bedroom right now. I remember me, my brother and a friend of mine literally played Phantasy Star Online for 12 ours straight once and we were all in different states. That was one of my first experiences with online console gaming.

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I miss the sound it made when it was reading a disk, like it was either going to transform in to a sentient robot, or just explode.

 

I don't miss the carpal tunnel controller.

 

I DO miss the good version of Crazy Taxi, the good version of RE Code Veronica, the good version of Marvel vs Capcom 2, and the good version of Grandia II. It's a shame that these games all got inferior PS2 ports and those were the ones that got archived and re-released over the years. RE Code Veronica X is such a shit port, and it's the one we've been stuck with. 

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1 hour ago, Amazatron said:

I don’t think anything will surpass the amazement I had from a console delivering arcade-quality visuals then the Dreamcast.

 

Soul Caliber, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, NFL 2K, Power Stone

 

I think I was more blown away with seeing Mario 64 for the first time. Dreamcast is 2nd on my list in being blown away, doe.

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3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

Yeah but who could actually afford one of those? I knew a guy who had a Neo Geo CD system (The load times on that were insane) but I didn't know ANYONE who had a Neo Geo cart system. The Carts were 200 bucks apiece :o

 

I had a friend in my neighborhood that always claimed to have a Neo Geo, but we never got to actually see/play it. He claimed it was because it was so expensive and his brother wouldn't let anyone use it without him around. I'm still under the impression that he was full of shit.

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11 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

Yeah but who could actually afford one of those? I knew a guy who had a Neo Geo CD system (The load times on that were insane) but I didn't know ANYONE who had a Neo Geo cart system. The Carts were 200 bucks apiece :o

 

 

Yeah you had to be rich to have one of those. I remember wanting one because you were getting arcade perfect ports of their games, but no one was convincing their parents to drop that kind of money on video games for them as kids. Plus while I enjoyed SNK arcade games, they weren't so amazing I needed $200 perfect ports of them. 

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I don't even think they were ports.. wasn't the reason the thing was so expensive was because it was literally the same arcade board as in the cabinets? The only difference was instead of ROMs (remember, the Neo Geo arcades always had like, 5 or 6 games on them) being loaded onto the board, they were sold as individual cartridges?

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I remember getting my first real job that year at Tim Horton's and placing my pre-order in for the system at Future Shop. I believe I only did the system, another controller, vmu, 2 rumble packs and House of the Dead 2. Then placing my order for the 2 light guns at EB Games because FS didn’t have then in their system. (Guns were still like 2 weeks after the system release) I was so happy being driven from school to the store to pick everything up. Then I saw Sonic and Soul Caliber and bought them too. Close to $600Cnd later but I was so happy because I bought them with my own money. Then I got home and saw the stereo cable and not a RFU adapter was included, but my dads tv had stereo connections. Then I got called into work on my day off and called away from my system but sent my mom over to Blockbuster Video to see if they carried an RFU adapter for my bedrooms 13” mono tube tv. They did and had a hell of a time playing my games that week and bringing my skeptic “Sega sucks” friends over to play and they too enjoyed the hell of the system. I still have it but I need my stereo/power cable to play for the first time on my projector. Would be awesome if the light guns worked on it but I don’t they do

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2 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I don't even think they were ports.. wasn't the reason the thing was so expensive was because it was literally the same arcade board as in the cabinets? The only difference was instead of ROMs (remember, the Neo Geo arcades always had like, 5 or 6 games on them) being loaded onto the board, they were sold as individual cartridges?

 

Yup exactly right.

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My friend sold me his Dreamcast for next to nothing a few years after release and damn was playing House Of The Dead 2 at home with a light gun fun as fuck...

 

I never "got into" the system though and only had maybe two or three games before I sold it, kind of a waste now that I think about it. 

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Yup, Dreamcast was/is awesome! Loved that system - played Soul Calibur almost non-stop on that thing. It was in constant rotation with me and my college roommates. Loved Skies of Arcadia on it, and couldn't get enough of San Fransisco RUSH: 2049. I also loved how easy it was to play import games on Dreamcast as well. So cool. So many hidden gems on the system, even now. Anyone out there play Toy CommanderFloigan Bros.Wild Metal? Good stuff. 

 

Capcom was a champ on the ol' DC. It was so awesome to be able to play Street Fighter III  at home. Nowadays the only version we get is Third Strike - which admittedly is the best version, but...I dunno. I'm nostalgic for the OG version. That sketchy/rough art style and the trippy background change when doing Super Moves...why'd they change that?!

 

SEGA had a rough time in the hardware business, and while its a bit sad to see them only produce software now...at least they went out with a bang.

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1 hour ago, Rodimus said:

I’m with you there going back I like the 2D power house that is the Sega Saturn more than the Dreamcast. I still with both keep discovering fun games on both. 

You know, I don't even think I've ever played a game on Dreamcast and we've owned it for years. It just doesn't gold any nostalgia for me since I didn't have one back then. Husband loves it, though. 

 

I just like the 2D games on Saturn and there are a ton of excellent imports. 

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5 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I miss the sound it made when it was reading a disk, like it was either going to transform in to a sentient robot, or just explode.

 

don't miss the carpal tunnel controller. 

 

I DO miss the good version of Crazy Taxi, the good version of RE Code Veronica, the good version of Marvel vs Capcom 2, and the good version of Grandia II. It's a shame that these games all got inferior PS2 ports and those were the ones that got archived and re-released over the years. RE Code Veronica X is such a shit port, and it's the one we've been stuck with. 

A family member bought me Quake 3 for the Dreamcast, and man that game would kill your thumbs. I don't remember if you could customize the controller settings it had. I just know when I played, the a/b/x/y buttons controlled movement, like run forward/back/left/right and the left stick was to aim. Your right thumb constantly holding down a hard plastic button and quickly switching between the face buttons was killer. I swear i eventually got a callous on my thumb print at the time. 

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