Peter Moore Looks Back At Dreamcast

So where's that Dreamcast 2 announcement that everyone wanted today Sega?

n00b_pwner

I imported my DC the first chance I got with two hori sticks and two DDR pads (with club Mix). Still have fond memories of beating Shenmue without knowing really any Japanese. The hours I spent playing Dance Dance Revolution: Club Mix, Virtua Fighter 3, Soul Calibur, any SNK fighting game released for it, Shotokuu Battle 1 &2, House of the Dead 2 (DUAL GLOCKS!), Typing of the Dead, Cool Cool Toon, Space Channel 5 1& pf 2, Virtual On...

I.. I think I'm actually crying...

WFROSE

@pandafresh: I'm thinking about having one myself. I connected my Dreamcast to the TV again for the first time in about 5 years a couple of weeks ago. I just need to find my Powerstone 2, Soul Calibur, and Virtua Tennis and I am good to go :)

@puffa469: While I believe that did have quite a large part in it, unfortunately, I believe that this is only part of the story as well.

My suspicions of Sega's inner mental state are the following:
- Sega saw that piracy was beginning to hit the Dreamcast hard, with direct-boot CD copies of popular titles. (Whether or not that piracy actually got to a significant enough level to hurt software sales, I'm not sure.)
- When Sega released the Dreamcast that fixed the direct-boot hole, they noticed that Dreamcast sales also dropped. However, this likely had little to do with the Dreamcast, and more to do with gamers buying the flavor of the week (which was PS2 by that point).
- Sega saw this slump in sales brought on by PS2's launch as the writing on the wall that no one wanted a Dreamcast if they couldn't pirate its games, and decided it would be best to let it die.

Of course, this is purely my own speculation. The alternate theory was that Microsoft backstabbed Sega somehow, forcing them to get out of the way so that it could join the fray with Xbox.

Long live Shenmue

I'm really curious to what Sega would have come up with for this current gen of gaming. They had a lot of potential.

Invisible-Echidna

[img41.imageshack.us]

@pandafresh: now alol you need is some mates. ;)

kearneybobs

@noslackjaw: damn, that was an awesome starting three. I imported my first dreamcast, and got with it cool boarders and berserk.

Dreamcast, *sniff* I miss you, man!

@Kevf: I remember unwrapping it on Christmas morning. Grandia II, Shenmue, and Phantasy Star. Great fun, lots of memories.

noslackjaw

anyone else having a Dreamcast party today? i got powerstone 2, MvC2, and Samba de Amigo lined up so far.

pandafresh

PS2 didn't kill the dreamcast.

Dreamcast was killed by the:

- SegaCD
- Sega 32X
- Sega CDX
- Sega Nomad
- Sega Saturn

After years of pissing off retailers and consumers with multiple simultaneous consoles, Sega finally got it right with the Dreamcast. However, it was too little, too late.

The Dreamcast was a victim of Sega's years of horrible mismanagement. It never had a chance, no matter how good it was.

If Sega had released the PS2 at that time, it would have failed.

You're so awesome Dreamcast, Happy Anniversary :)

Goodnight, sweet prince. Today, we toast your memory.

For me still the greatest console ever :)

Kevf

@Weather: Awww I love this picture! :)

@Antiterra: Didn't EA also refuse to support the Dreamcast as well? EA was huge back then. If they decided not to release Madden on a console, that could have hurt it's chances real bad. In The United States at least.

fronsac

@Invisible-Echidna: More shoddily marketed hardware most likely. Still, I miss the days...

I'm glad I was around to experience the Dreamcast during its short life. Its hard to explain why it was so special to someone who didn't experience it... but to me, there's been nothing like it since. Kind of like a first love :)

@pandafresh: Chu Chu Rocket. Gotta have some Chu Chu Rocket. Oh, and some pot. :P

@puffa469: Thank you! Enough with the "PS2 killed the Dreamcast" bullshit already. I know it makes for good flame bait, but come on!

It's not like Sega was this hugely successful company who was suddenly destroyed by the mothership PS2's dastardly attack. The Dreamcast failed, yet it sold better than the Saturn - that should tell you something.

The DC came to market a year before the PS2, two years before the Cube and Xbox.
A one-year head start was enough for Microsoft to build a substantial userbase for the 360 (even in Europe, where the original Xbox had only sold 5 or 6 million, IIRC).
If Sega didn't manage to do the same thing, it certainly wasn't the PS2's fault.
Years of poor decisions killed the Dreamcast more surely than any competitor ever could have, by making sure that Sega's dedicated fanbase had been well and truly decimated by then.

The Dreamcast years were the best time to be a gamer. Console gaming went down a darker, less interesting path when the Dreamcast couldn't overcome Sega's past mistakes, opening the door for Microsoft and allowing Sony to put us in the mess that we're in today.

[www.wanderingpandacomics.com]

@Lucasreis:

Sega made alot of missteps leading up to the creation of DC but it was easy to blame the PS2 because it came out later with the Ultima Weapon known fondly as the DVD player.

But DC's death was certainly helped internally and for a while SEGA's inside people kept mucking up.

If they did make a DC2, it would have to be like the Eye of God collapsing in on itself to woo us back. Literally.

Rachel Fogg

You know what amuses me? Even though arcades are almost, or, practically dead in Brazil and in almost all of western countries, I found an incredible arcade place called Hotzone, on a mall here in São Paulo. And they have a lot of 2000-ish arcade machines I didn´t know.

The last time I was there I started counting and the number of Sega arcade machines surpassed Taito, Namco and all the others by a large mile. And most of them were incredible. I ask myself... if Sega still has money to invest on these wonderful arcades, why don´t they get back to the hardware business? I was like a kid at a candy store seeing all of those japanese Sega arcade machines... I love you Sega.

@Lucasreis:

And I'll take that over nothing...

Rachel Fogg

What? That's crazy; Sure the Dreamcast was killed in PART by the PlayStation 2, but lets not forget that pirated copies of their software took away too much of their profit also. Add in a dash of poor marketing and you have a dead system. But I still have mine! :D

@fronsac: Yes, EA gave Sega a fat finger to the DC from what I recall. I think that helped in it's downfall. As you said, Madden and any other sports were big enough draws at the time. Granted, Sega did their own thing but people wanted the name.

@puffa469: A very true comment, unbiased and true. This is intelligent thinking. We all loved the Dreamcast but ultimately Sega´s bad decisions were the real DC killers.

The game I miss most? SEAMAN, loved my little man eggs.. wait, man tadpoles.. wait, man fish!.... wait, man frogs??? Dammit stop eating one another!!! 0_o

Remember the good times with a round of SC with the bro.

We have House of the Dead and Jet Set Radio...I think we have Capcom versus SNK around the house somewhere....

Dreamcast,

You continue to bring us memories of the good ole days before the video comparisons and DLC. Today, we remember you for laying the groundwork to the future of gaming and even though your lifespan was cut short. Your platform graced us with some of the greatest and loved titles.

And for that, dear Dreamcast...I salute and thank you.

:plays some Queen:

Rachel Fogg

Oh Dreamcast, how I loved thee. It should have been you venturing into the generation of HD gaming instead of Microsoft. Sony, Sega, and Nintendo. Those were the good old days.

You are gone but not forgotten old friend.

@n00b_pwner: Hey, at least Sonic 2DHD was announced :D

@kmg90: They look pretty much the same, even 10 years ago. I think Sessler's voice is a bit higher pitched though...

@puffa469: I think you nailed it on the head perfectly. I've experienced the Genesis (1988) during it's prime, and it was a beast at the time. Sega CD was promising, but it's games were abysmal at best (night trap anyone?). After all these years Sega hasn't been a solid console since the Genesis. Finally, the Dreamcast comes along, but did the consumer have anymore faith in sega consoles?

I still don´t have a Dreamcast. I won´t pass 2009 to 2010 without having one, I´m probably going to buy one this saturday. Still, happy birthday Dreamcast, while you don´t have any new games, you´re not dead, you´re still alive and kicking. I still don´t have you but I´ll play my Saturn today in respect to you!!

Dreamcast has great games and it was neat. Let's remember it with warmth shall we! :)

But it's funny how people are so pissed off for PS2 for killing Dreamcast. That is pretty ridiculous in my opinion... DC was one DVD-drive and revised controller away for being perfect next gen console.

PS2 had those and top of that it was more powerful and it had huge games behind it. Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 maybe biggest amongst them.

@Commenter 2415A5Q-66A: ...what mess?

all I can say is what is going on in that picture!?

Also

here is some old archival footage [www.gametrailers.com]

Its got a young Jeff Gerstmann, Peter Moore and Adam Sessler

@bondspy: No DVD support either.

icedrake523

@KaneRobot: EA isn't as bad as they used to be. Activision has taken their place.

icedrake523

@SacGamer: There are so many factors to the 'mess', it would take a dissertation to properly explain. But just a few examples off the top of my head:

- Sony, the market leader, launched the PS3 at $599, pricing out the majority of gamers for years until the price finally got down to a more reasonable $299. "Gamers will want to get a second job to buy a PS3"

- Strict 'standards' for which games are acceptable for their console (early PS1 era: no 2D games. PS3 era: Cave games aren't good enough)

- An unfriendly, uninviting identity to the PS brand

- Game consoles aren't just for games anymore- it started with DVD player, then Blu-Ray and the game console as a mini-PC

- Sega and the Dreamcast was synergistic with the arcades (Naomi), PS2 was the home console that was hammering shut the coffin

- Consoles used to be about fun, now look at the design of the PS3 (or even the PS2) compared to the DC- industrial, cold

@pandafresh: I will be playing Phantasy star online, yea , online, you can still play, server are in sonic birthay mode since the weekend.

@puffa469: If you want to blame anybody for the 'PS2' talk, blame SEGA themselves, because I watched an episode of, I believe it was called 'Sonic TV' on Winamp, and the SEGA reps were saying just that: the PS2 was the reason - because '[it became the cheapest DVD player in the Japanese market upon release]'.

Bergerac

@Weather: I don't think this guys meet the dreamcast, but their fathers did, in fact the middle guy father killed the dreamcast.

It took a long time for me to stop hating Peter Moore with a vengeance after Sega canned the Dreamcast. The dude finally starts winning me over after several years of representing Microsoft...then he leaves and goes to EA. Oh well.

Will be firing up the DC for the first time in years today, for sure. Fire Pro Wrestling D, Jet Grind Radio, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Marvel vs. Capcom 2...hello old friends.

KaneRobot

@fronsac: Except that the Dreamcast had the (far superior, at the time) NFL 2k series instead.

@n00b_pwner: Better yet.. where is Shenmu 3

dgchatterbox

@lordofsword: the online side of pc gaming never reached as many people as the console online has today.

@gigoran: Since when has Nintendo ventured into the generation of HD gaming?

Ryan Meehan

@lordofsword: in the console world, yeah, it kind of doesn't.

Ryan Meehan

@Commenter 2415A5Q-66A: All I have to say is... You got hurt when Sega stopped manufacturing and supporting Dreamcast. But since you loved the console and company (for a reason), you could not accept that instead of Sony being evil manipulative company, Sega was the one making the mistakes.

I have enjoyed gaming since C64, NES and Gameboy and I have to say that Playstation years have been one of the best during history of videogames. Sony has never had "Strict standards" for games - just look at those hundreds of horrible games for PS1 and PS2. "My Fantastic Pony Riding" anyone?

Stop being hurt, find yourself a BC compatible PS3 and play thru some PS2 classics already. There are amazing adventures there, gamer like you will enjoy!

@Commenter 2415A5Q-66A: Thats gotta be the biggest load of fanboy nonsense I've read in some time.

"An unfriendly, uninviting identity to the PS brand"

Awwwwwww, is teh big psthwee logo scary awwwwww

uchennaokafor

@Antiterra: amen.

sega's dumb console decisions and piracy killed the DC. people need to get over it. sony didnt kill anyone's console.

@puffa469: This is very much a half-truth. Sega's track record may have caused some consumers to think twice about buying a Dreamcast, but that didn't stop them from selling a record 225,132 units on the first day in the US.

In Japan the Saturn was far from a blemish. The console was incredibly popular there.

Yes piracy hurt the Dreamcast, but it was a small portion of the market who knew how to do it.

Yes some people were scared off by the name Sega, but this would have been more out of loyalty to Sony.

But most importantly people believed what Sony told them about the PlayStation 2. They believed that the PS2 would be capable of rendering Toy Story in real-time. They believed that the console was so powerful it had to be kept out of the wrong hands lest it be used to guide missiles. There was an incredible amount of hype behind Sony's console, enough to make people wait and pass on a Dreamcast. Sony made promises about the PS2 that it couldn't keep but they were enough to drive the final nail into the Dreamcast's coffin.

"I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the Dreamcast and it's online network laid the ground for what we all take for granted today...."

It's almost as if the PC never existed.

lordofsword

I love my DC. It is not wet.

@Antiterra: I partly agree but also looking at the other competitors the N64 and gamecube had good games but the PS consoles just dominated the market. Xbox, game cube, N64 and Dreamcast all had little success and it was probably due to Sony being so popular at the time. I had an original Xbox and I love what MS is doing but it's not like the 360 is 10x better than the xbox. It was clearly a Sony heavy industry until recently so very hard for anyone to break in. It's possible the 360 only had such huge success because it was known to have Xbox live which Sony hadn't had a good online service till PS3. Wii obviously aimed for an entirely new demographic while catering to the old too which allowed it to expand quickly. It's not like I'm saying PS2 killed the dreamcast but it couldn't have helped at all. Sony ruled the console market in it's first two iterations and now the price is going down on the PS3 it looks like there going to put MS to 3rd.

My first sega console was a dreamcast so I'm not one of those dedicated Sega fanbase but the dreamcast was good enough to attract me when no other Sega console did so I think for me personally it didn't deserve to die and I do see Sony's dominance as a heavy contributor to that.

xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx

@KaneRobot: Aw, man. Fire Pro D, another game I didn't get a chance to play.

I wanted to get my hands on that and Giant Gram 2000 so badly. (GG2000 because some of the game mechanics they had sounded really cool)

"The decision was made, from Japan, to pull the plug and begin the transition to becoming a multi-platform third party developer and publisher."

That'a B.S. It was ultimately Moore's decision to kill off the DC in the states, which ultimately caused support in Japan to flounder. There were hundreds of games being produced for DC in Japan which never lived to see the light of day stateside due to the system dying off so soon (in the states). Moore just doesn't want to be despised as the fall-guy and be held accountable for his screw-ups.

Moore killed the DC, killed the Xbox and will slowly, but surely, kill off EA's sport division. The guy has bad karma.

Ben9

On 9/9/1999 I skipped class to buy my shinny $199.99 Dreamcast. Its a great system still.

@shouryuuken: they're both gaming systems. PC gamers have been playing together for years and as internet access became more common, it made total sense to include it as standard in a console, whereas PC users could just buy a £5 network card if they wanted access. if the Dreamcast hadn't done it, someone else would have.
Plus, he doesn't say anything about consoles, just that the Dreamcast revolutionised the industry by letting people play together and download DLC.

@WatershipDown: not even Halo or CodMW has or ever will match the likes of WoW or CS.

lordofsword

why do you continually remind us that the PS2 won the console race? I KNOW. I still didn't buy a ps2 for 8 years... and then it was because it was $50

gr1f1th

@elmorepow: If you've been gaming that long, and I have too, you should have some perspective on this and recognize my points are legitimate ("Sony has never had "Strict standards" for games"... I don't think you understand what I'm even talking about there).

I'm criticising. Can I do that without an assumption that I look at things in strictly black and white terms? What gamer doesn't appreciate the fact that there were great, amazing games on the PS consoles. Good grief, are you actually assuming I boycott Sony, that I haven't played games on the PS consoles?

@lordofsword: pretty sure were talking about consoles here. That's like there being a blog talking about pc platformers and commander keen being talked about as an inspiration for other games, and then someone saying"its as if mario never existed."

Marios a console game, while the pc isn't a console.

@shufflemoomin: Everyone had a DVD player by the time the Wii was released...

There's a whole lot of hate directed at Peter Moore without much cause.

"Oh, he killed the Dreamcast!"

Except he was president of SOA, not SOJ. SOJ is headquarters, meaning they have final say. There is no fighting the Japanese branch of a Japanese company.

Rocketknight

@agies: I also wanted to add that Sony tried the same hype game with Blu-Ray and the cell... but this time it blew up in their face. Thier competitors got smart. Hell, I remember reading about how people thought the 360 might get "dreamcasted" because it was out earlier and was supposedly weaker like the Dreamcast. People thought Sony's hype might stop them from buying. Luckily MS lined up some good games and the Xbox was viewed the same as the 32x and Sega CD.

davincij

@agies: I do remember the hype. It was crazy how Sony hyped up the PS2. I do remember reading articles about whether or not people should wait for the PS2 and it's amazing Emotion Engine. Also the DVD player. To the people who argue against this, the Dreamcast WAS killed by Sony Hype, EA not putting games on it, and Sega's history of past game machines that flopped or under delivered. It was ALL of them. The ratio for each? I dunno. Nobody knows...

davincij

@puffa469: Good list. And don't forget that EA didn't support it. At the time that was a pretty big deal. No Madden :( But I loved 2K Football.

davincij

@Lucasreis: But the console wasnt detailed :P

BasedOnLuck

@Ben9: Don't forget that Sega was so broke that the president of the company was using his own money to keep it afloat. That might have had something to do with pulling the plug.

davincij

@elmorepow: And VGA support out of the box with a cheap cable. Neither PS2 or Xbox could boast that.

shufflemoomin

@Weather: Awww this picture is adorable

BasedOnLuck

@icedrake523: Hasn't hurt the Wii.

shufflemoomin

@SupaPhly: aw crap, I realised now that I put the wrong image

@gr1f1th: There was a race? From what I saw, it was more of a massacre.

@gigoran: Dreamcast did venture into HD gaming. It was the first console to do so in fact. The VGA cables you need to make use of that ability are fairly rare though...

xcalibr

@BasedOnLuck: I would much prefer to have it on a Dreamcast too. But knowing Sega, it would be even cooler if the new console had a new name, like they always did.

@WatershipDown: uh? what? have you looked at the numbers for how many people play pc games? there are more people playing pc games online across the world. yes there are tens of millions of console gamers playing online, but console games have nowhere near the numbers of PC games played online.

Jabberslops

@gr1f1th: You missed out my friend. I had a Dreamcast and then a PS2 and loved them both. Consoles are just plastic and metal at the end of the day; GAMING is my hobby not brand loyalty.

@Lucasreis: It would be hard for Sega. A lot of their top talent went to other companies. Also, they would have to come up with something along the lines of the Wii because Microsoft and Sony started off the console generation with 2 of the really high-end GPUs at the time (though not high-end now). A company like Sega would have a hard time competing in the graphics area.

Like a lot of other arcade machine makers, they are using systems derived from PCs or other consoles. Sega's, in fact, runs Windows embedded.

Shin-san

@shouryuuken: Which would be hard because I think Commander Keen originated as a clone of Mario 3.

Shin-san

@Lucasreis: Because Sega was always the best when it came to arcade gaming, but on home consoles they did progressively worse, financially speaking, with each new console they put in the market. If they hadn't ceased to product the Dreamcast hardware, they would've most likely gone completely bankrupt, and then, Sega wouldn't exist today.

gurfinki

Ten years later my bitter tears still flowin T_T
Ten years later my wounds are still bleedin T_T
Ten years later my hearts a still believin T_T
Ten years later my Dreamcast is still thinkin T_T
9.9.99 I will never forget T_T

NoahSteam

@bondspy: The PS2 definitely was a part, but it was also how game developers felt when Sega released the Dreamcast without preparing third parties. Microsoft got away with the Xbox 360 because they prepared them, plus Sony's original release date of the PS3 was planned to be within a month of the 360.

Shin-san

@Antiterra: My inner fanboy was killed when I noticed that the Saturn couldn't do transparency and the Playstation could.

When the DC came along, I was already deep in the Sony camp, and was intrigued, but not willing to spend the cash for what I thought would be another let-down. I was wrong, of course, but I know I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

@[www.sega-parts.com] and grab one. They even do repairs and the whole nine.

RawSteelUT

@DNinja: Virtua Tennis was always a point of contention between my friends. I remember a vicious match between two friends that went up to deuce 20 and ended in fisticuffs.

@Rocketknight: Unfortunately, fighting between the branches is what led Sega to this point. Had Peter Moore been around during the transition from Genesis to Saturn, we might be in a different spot today.

RawSteelUT

Too far ahead of it's time. Good night, sweet prince.

RIP 9/9/99 - 1/31/01

@WatershipDown: Ultima Online and Everquest were already out and had decent followings by the time the DC came out, and that's just MMOs. Before that there was the first two Quakes, and Mechwarrior 2.

We all know that somewhere at an alternate dimension. The Sega Dreamcast2 is being released, the dream lives on elsewhere. Lucky people.

9-9-09.....*sigh* If only T_T

hazelnut

dreamcast was an awesome system with great games and i feel partly responsible for its demise by buying pirated games for 5 bucks from a shoddy used game store rather than supporting sega.

CyDetrakD

@sazzrah: Yes well, if we all had that kind of disposable income, console wars wouldn't exist.

But rooting for SEGA in that generation's race was like putting your money and love behind the crowd favorite, only to find out as the gun goes off that the crowd favorite has a bum leg. And also that it's not really the crowd favorite, they just thought he was a cool guy.

@elmorepow: Hate to say it, but yes, there was severe restrictions for the PS2 in regards to what could be released, at least for SCEA (the American Sony branch). A lot of games that used pixel graphics got turned down until very late in the system's lifespan, amongst other games that were judged to be "too foreign".

There was even an entire article in the Official Playstation magazine stating that this was some how a "good thing" opposed to SCEJ's open door policies.

wirebrain

@Jabberslops: It doesn't matter, the PC is not a gaming console. It is a personal computer capable of playing games, some of which are also available on consoles. By your logic, you'd have to include the iPhone as a gaming console, and we'd be getting ridiculous.

I define gaming consoles as machines built with the intention of playing games, possibly among other "extras". Such as the PS3: built to play games, but also does videos, music, etc. But it was made with the intention of being used to primarily play games. If you particularly happened to use it for some other purpose, it's still a gaming console, but you'd be choosing to neglect it's main feature, and would just be satisfied using the "extras".

PC's were not built for the purpose of playing games, they were built for the purpose of being able to play games, watch videos, browse the web, edit documents, etc, kind of like the PS3 if you wanted to make the argument, but the difference is those features weigh-in equally (or are mean to be seen as such), whereas consoles like the PS3, for yet another example, were meant to have its features weighed differently according to its usage (which in this case is to play games primarily).

Gaming consoles are not PCs, just as PCs are not gaming consoles, although they share similarities. An oven is not a microwave oven, although they share some similarities, such as heating up food. But they are not the same. Walk into a store asking for an oven, you will not be directed to microwave ovens. Walk into a store asking for a microwave, you will not be directed to a traditional oven. Walk into a store asking where the consoles are. You will not be directed to computers. Walk into a store asking where the computers are. You will not be directed to where the consoles are.

After them killing off the Genesis and after buying the biggest P.O.S. in the Saturn, I was glad to see Sega go under with the Dreamcast.

yodaddy

Ironic that he is now working for EA Sports, the division that (IMO) had the biggest hand in "killing" the dreamcast's chances by not creating a Madden for it.
Not that NFL2K was not a great game, but at that time Madden was THE game to have. For a lot of people, if they could not play Madden on the system, they were not going to buy the system.

@Grand_Marquis: That's kind of an unfair analogy. As I saw it, everyone was sure that the PS2 was going to be just as awesome as the PS1 with all the fantastic games it came with. Here comes the DC, and while it looks neat, everyone remembered the Saturn. It didn't help that publishers also did as well, putting the system into a catch 22.

People were SO sure the PS2 was going to win a year before the system's release, they withheld on the DC. Their reward? A system sold by a company who engineered product shortages with a game line up that you could have played on any other system. Nothing good came out on the PS2 until mid 2001.

wirebrain

@davincij:

Well said. Certainly all these factors played a part in the demise of the dreamcast.

I would place the majority of the blame on Sega themselves, and not Sony or piracy, but it's all conjecture at this point.

In fact, I would argue that piracy should increase system sales. One friend goes to another 'OMG buy a Dreamcast you can get all teh gamez for free!' How many times did that conversation take place in 1999-2001?

Piracy may dent software sales, but should increase hardware sales.

Peter Moore seems like a really nice guy. I worked at SOA and he always came across like he generally wanted everyone to be as enthusiastic as he was about sega and the deamcast. God, I miss those days.

Illist

Dreamcast,

You still hold, to this day, some of the greatest gaming memories I have. Your willingness to bet on the underdog developers, to generate unprecedented gameplay and inventive use of the UMD and internet, have cemented your place in my heart.

Thank you, for Jet Grind Radio, for Sonic Adventure, for Skies of Arcadia, for Shenmue, for Soul Calibur, for Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 & 2, for Seaman, for Rez, for everything.

Max Carlaftes

@Ben9: You do know SEGA Japan has the final say. They aren't going to let SOA run the SEGA company into the ground. Just because games were being made for the DC doesn't mean it was selling enough to turn a profit.

DwarfP

@Rocketknight: Pretty sure the hate belongs with SEGA as a company in general. The system was a commercial failure because of poor decisions on both sides of the Pacific (and Atlantic). Peter Moore doesn't deserve ALL of the blame, but anyone involved with the decision-making over the market strategy of the system deserves SOME of the blame.

The PS2 was a GREAT system but honestly by 2001 the DC had been riding the tsunami of failure that SEGA started with the Sega CD in 1993(?). The arrival of the PS2 was simply the final hammer blow to the final nail in a coffin that was already being lowered into the plot.

@kearneybobs: i got a few people coming over. the rest of em don't remember the dreamcast haha.

pandafresh

@Stymie99: Madden and the rest of EA Sports games. Madden wasn't/isn't anything in Europe compared to the popularity of the FIFA series and, especially in North Europe, the NHL series.

@bondspy: I don't think that piracy really had much to do with the DC's ultimate demise. Sure, it didn't help, but it wasn't commonly known how easy it was to use downloaded images until about mid-2000, when a bootlegged copy of a demo version of Pro Action Replay (it had appeared in a British magazine) first appeared on the 'Net.

Shortly after that homebrew and emulator sites started to pop up, using the (soon banned) DC Utopia boot disc. I was able to use my DC Game Shark to boot (original) DC Japanese games that a used store used to carry around here. By the time Sega eliminated the DC's ability to read Mil-CD format discs, the writing was already on the wall. As Moore said, the decision was made in January of 2001, IMO not soon enough to see what piracy was doing to actual sales.

I think the biggest reason for the DC's demise was because, when I go back and see some of the reviews of the DC at launch, they usually were like, "Yes, the DC is a remarkable piece of hardware, but WAIT till the PS2 arrives."

That, plus EA's active campaign against Sega really did damage to the DC in the long run. I even remember Vic Ireland, still pissed because of his dealings with Bernie Stolar, often insulted Sega and it's games IN THE rec.games.video.sega NG (people were upset there because while he was telling them that Lunar SSS Saturn was still being worked on, they were actually working on a PSX version instead); I remember when anticipation there was high for Shen Mue he simply referred to it as Dragon's Lair (because of the quicktime events), and telling them he would have done Grandia 2, but he didn't think it was worth the money Game Arts wanted for it.

But I digress.

I just think that the biggest damage to the DC came from the biased asses who initially did the reviews.

I fired up my old Dreamcast and played some Phantasy Star Online.

Man I missed my Heaven Punisher.

Altima NEO

@icedrake523: Which at the time would have added about 200 dollars to the price and rendered the DC un-sellable.

@yodaddy: What was wrong with the Saturn? I've had mine since January of 1997, and it still plays great. And it's 2D fighters constantly kicked the PSX 2D fighters' ass.

And it was no slouch in the 3D department either, judging by NiGHTs, the original DoA, Quake, Sega Rally, Virtua Fighter 2, and a plethora of others.

Just because Sega screwed up by putting it out early and not having enough games out at launch didn't make it a bad machine per se.

@T-DoggIsTheLick: Exactly, I guess that is my main point / theory:
No Madden, No Fifa, no NBA Live killed the DC, just put the pillow over it's face and silently, slowly killed it.

@Altima NEO:
So did I !!

Miss the Dreamcast

cippycup

@brass2themax: Though arcade cabinets nowadays are PCs

Shin-san

@Stymie99: which is retarded cause i find nfl 2k1 more fun then madden 09...

I think they made a mistake canceling it. PS2 was a monster juggernaut, but ultimately it took a year or two to really produce any great games. The PS2 launch was overrated as hell, but eventually the system covered all the bases and more... at least that you could expect. One day I hope to be able to download and play any game LEGALLY any time that I want on one console/PC/whatever.

AlucardsQuest