Has the Nintendo’s Wii U become Sega’s Dreamcast?

So, EA have confirmed that they currently have no titles in development for Wii U. Sound familiar? It will to those who went out and purchased a Sega Dreamcast back at the turn of the century. After the poor sales of the Sega Saturn and an exclusivity deal that Sega weren’t keen on, EA decided on a wait and see approach to the Dreamcast – obviously, they waited and didn’t see much.

[Bumpmapping]

Yes.
@Skarlett I agree. @SOD_Delta that would be def be a better comparison.

[SOD_Delta]

This headline dishonors Dreamcast. Should be more like "Has the Wii-U become the new Virtual Boy?" Then the answer would be yes.

[ChickeyCantor]

Virtual boy didn't even come near a million units sold.

It's more comparable to the Dreamcast because it got trumped by the PS2 ( eventhough we don't know how this will end for Nintendo ). In that regard the Ps4/720 might trump the WiiU. [MIGHT]

Dreamcast still got support after many years. Of course it got some great games. It just wasn't a financial success that was all.

[BosSSyndrome]

The Virtual Boy was discontinued at this point...

[rick1woller]

geesh some of you people know hardly anything about nintendo and wii u.

[Ashunderfire86]

Yup Plus Dreamcast had way too much ports from the others systems like PS1 and N64. The ports on Dreamcast were nothing new just hi-res that it lol!!!! Plus the Wii U looking to be the same thing too. The Wii U show of came out 2006, then release next gen Nintendo 2012. It would of been called Nintendo Revolution(One can only dream), the game system as the greatest comeback since the Super NES. Nintendo would still control the market even if the system was just $300 - $350 compare to the other game systems.

[BeZdaBest]

no for the simple fact that the last 3 system(3ds..wii..ds) leading up to the wiiu were all suscesses in one way or another.sega on the other hand yeaaa...

come people we know this stop trolling

[Ol_G]

people know it but they like to bash Nintendo any chance they get kinda sad really

[dedicatedtogamers]

Let me point something out that most idiots (even so-called gaming journalists) don't acknowledge.

The Dreamcast sold 10 million in the less-than-two years it was on the market. After that, it was quite literally scrubbed from store shelves in favor of the PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox.

In 6 years time, the Gamecube sold 22 million. In 5 years time, the Xbox sold 24 million.

If the Dreamcast had been on the market for longer, it may have very well matched or surpassed its competitors, but of course we'll never know.

I realize that "this gen's Dreamcast" is a meme for "this gen's horribly selling but beloved console", but that's a bad comparison. Learn your gaming history, kids.

[BeZdaBest]

as in the real world history goes to the victor..and sony has brainwashed there fans into forgetting its own history.. like the simple fact that NINTENDO was one of the main creators of the PLAYSTATION BRAND..because sony as a company didnt want to get involved in gaming back then

but its okay i know whats really going on..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[grailly]

Sony didn't brainwash anybody, lol. gaming companies never talk about their history unless it's to talk about their legacy. there is no brainwashing here, just being a normal company.

and nintendo didn't create playstation at all, they screwed over sony which then decided to get money back on their investment.

[Blaze929]

dont disrespect the Dreamcast like that. Comparing it to Wii U, i cant even!

[OmegaSlayer]

The Dreamcast was amazing. Period.
WiiU is crap.

[PigPen]

You saying that is suppose to make hate Nintendo.

[rick1woller]

crap!, its better than you though

[supermonkey007]

You can't say its crap if you don't own one. The Wii U is actually a good console, needs more support though..

[OmegaSlayer]

I don't own a dog but still I recognize the animal when I see it.

[Shnazzyone]

Nope, because the precursor to making an dreamcast is to make a system with an minimum of 3 expensive, failed, hardware add ons confusing your game market, an sega saturn, then an dreamcast may be made. If you want to count motion plus, The wii wheel, and wii fit (though those were successful and except for wii fit, cheap), then the most possibility is, wii U is a sega saturn. Though clearly 3ds will never be the sega Game gear, which is also needed for an dreamcast to be made.

[Qrphe]

If anything, IF ANYTHING, it'd be more like a Sega Saturn but definitely not a Dreamcast.

[PigPen]

They way the most of you all talk about the Dreamcast, it should of been successful.

[hakesterman]

It would of been, but technology was changing so fast back then that systems were comming and going like yesterdays news. Sony stold the show by stealing all the Developers, it was kind of sad because the dreamcast was actually better than the Ps1.

[just-joe]

Chances are half the people saying it, didn't get the system until it was too late.

[Neonridr]

In a years time we will all be laughing at the authors of these articles. Just like all the doom and gloom articles saying how the Wii would never be able to compete vs the PS3/360..

[BeZdaBest]

i personally will be lauging at the fanboyz who have wasted time making
this" nintendo hate crusade"

[_QQ_]

oh well,they will be the ones missing out, they are just mad because Nintendo dominated last gen leaving Sony and Ms looking for change on the street.

[Trunkz]

If anything Nintendo has shown us is that they can turn things around, recently with the 3DS. People doomed the Vita, Doomed the 3DS, and their doing fine.

[Dj7FairyTail]

vita never been doomed by critcs

[Sam Fisher]

No the vita has never, but it does feel like it with all the support that it has. I only have 4 games and thats about it… indie games are a waste of time, why the hell would i spend money on mini games when there are other sources better suited for that like iphone or android, i bought vita with the initial thought that i could play home console quality games portable, and some achieved this, but its only a small amount, literally you can count them all with 2 hands...

[blackbirdi]

no way its like sega saturn !!

[SmokingMonkey]

No, because Nintendo has the 3DS.

[Jihaad_cpt]

This isn't about Nintendo as a company or about the 3DS, it's about the WiiU. Comprehension skills sorely lacking

[r40k213]

No, WiiU is not the new Dreamcast. A large part of why Dreamcast failed was because it had almost no copy protection. A lot of people never bought any games because the first models ran games burnt on CD-R's without needing any modding at all.

[Picnic]

That would explain lower games sales but it should have resulted in even greater console sales if nothing else was involved!

10 million in 2 years (average 5 million per year) is probably a fairly decent amount. The Nintendo 64 managed little better of an average per year figure if you divide overall sales (33 million) by years on sale (6 essentially) giving an N64 average of 5.5 million consoles sold per year.

It probably wasn't not having enough console buyers that killed the Dreamcast. It was not selling enough games to make it worth its while for games studios.

So, yes, piracy may have helped killed the Dreamcast . The PS1 could brush off the piracy problem more easily because it will have been cheaper to make both the console and the games. The Dreamcast's console units sold was not the failure.

[Zodiac]

The Wii U has sold about 1/3 of the what the Dreamcast sold in its entire lifespan. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is not the Dreamcast.

[nick309]

The wii u sales will start climbing when the sonic games, zelda games and new mario games like smash bros will start coming out, its a good system for exclusives, screw third party support... Just get the next xbox and ps4 for third party.

[hakesterman]

Sorry, That won't save them.

[MasterCornholio]

"Just get the next xbox and ps4 for third party."

You do know that Nintendo are not the only ones who make first party games. Both the XBOX and the Playstation brand have some great franchises like Halo, Gears of War, Forza, Grant Turismo, Infamous, God of War and Killzone.

So if you want Sony first party games, Microsoft first party games or 3rd party than the PS4 (for Sony games) and the 720 (for Microsoft games) are the way to go.

Just face it not everyone is a fan of Mario and Zelda which is something you will have to accept.

@Nintendofans in general

You guys keep saying wait till this or that game comes out and the Wii U will be a hit. Looks like you guys are already used to playing the waiting game with Nintendo because they never release must have games on a monthly basis.

[nick309]

I have a 360,wii u, 3ds,ps3,ps vita ,. And ill buy the next xbox and ps4, so i know about exclusives thats the reason i own all of those.

[iliimaster]

come on man nintendo can't fail with the catalog they have and i love me some dreamcast i would love in the future to own one sealed brand new on my wall mounted man that was a system

[BosSSyndrome]

No. It hasn't. Period.

[nigelp520]

NOPE Sega Dreamcast Launched with Great games and never looked back. Every month good games came out. Dreamcast has an amazing ratio of good games to bad games

[SonyPS4]

Wii U is here to stay. Wait until a 3D Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros, Metroid, or Pikmin 3 to release. More Nintendo fans will be ready to purchase their system. Until then, everyone that wanted New Super Mario Bros U already has it, thus there isn't much reason to purchase a Wii U if you already have not.

[whoyouwit04]

Sadly it seems so. But I really hope they bounce back

[r21]

If you think bout it, both consoles have screens on their controller and both also have sonic exclusives :O

[BosSSyndrome]

Noooo. Dreamcast has a HOLE in the controller.

[meganick]

The Wii U is not going to fail and be discontinued. In all likelihood, it will sell a respectable number of units throughout it's lifespan, and Nintendo will make healthy profits from first party games. It won't sell like the Wii, but it won't fail either. People are just kicking it right now while it's down. But once more first party heavy hitters come out, sales of the Wii U will dramatically increase.

[JRH7783]

Unless you can burn every game with a simple dvd burner and make copies then the Wii U is nothing like the Dreamcast.

[ShaunCameron]

No, because its predecessor wasn't the Saturn.

[mrbojingles]

Considering it already sold half of what the DC sold in barely six months, has better third party support from Ubisoft/Capcom/Namco/Sega (ironically) and Nintendo has $10 billion in cash whereas Sega was in massive debt as they launched the DC, no.

This comparison needs to stop ASAP. Oh, wow both didn't get EA games. Similarities stop there for the most part.

[Garbanjo001]

Well I see your point, but the WiiU is suffering big because they chose not to enter the same ring with the big guys. PS and Xbox knock them out, and no matter how hard you swing the wii controller, it punches the same. There are a lot of Nintendo games I would still play, however something died when they made the Wii, and I love the console. There wasn't the standard controller, there wasn't the best titles coming out, it just turned into a Mario circus and that was it.

There hasn't been a really original title from Nintendo in a long time, and by original I mean the same shit we have already seen. They went with a simpler design for the console, marked the games original with "motion playability" and took out the relaxation from a gaming console. I agree, Nintendo is trying to get people off the couch, and without the Wii popping up Move or Kinect wouldn't have followed.

Nintendo did what it did because it wanted to take a percentage of gamers, and that percentage isn't enough to give up their PS (4's?) or their Xbox. That's where they lost respect, and it's also where they lost the ability to compete. I love Nintendo, but it's dying. They need a game changer, and a little gusto to stand with the big guys in the next round, which won't happen until the NEXT nextgen console comes out. Sadly.

[mrbojingles]

Ok cool dude but I don't understand how any of what you said relates to the Wii U being comparable to the DC.

[Garbanjo001]

It doesn't I suppose. I was just stating that there is a trend happening, DC wanted to make a great console, did, lost a lot of credit when EA went out, went belly up and went under in the market. I love the DC, didn't get to play it much, but still played some when I could on my buddies back when. Basically, I'm a nintendo fan, and seeing articles like this reinforces my belief that Nintendo is going to be a failed console maker in the near future. Believe me, I would've loved to see sega in the top spot and not so much Nintendo.

[PigPen]

Change the title, the Wii U is still selling. And if you're asking will it become the Sega Dreamcast, that will be premature.

[hakesterman]

I could sell more DreamCasts today at a booth at the Mall then Nintendo can with the Wii U Right now.

[ZeekQuattro]

I don't get it aren't jokes supposed to have some kind of punch line? Please edit and try harder.

[vork77]

the Nintendo dreamcast

[Ck1x]

Well since they are getting Sonic games exclusive might as well throw in Shenmue also huh? ;)
That would make you Sony fans explode!

[vork77]

i am not just a sony fan im a nintendo fan also and pc fan

[TheMutator]

no Dreamcast has games lol!!!

[just-joe]

No.

[Kos-Mos]

Are people getting used to half assed games like cod, gow, gears, me, killzone, halo, skyrim, gta? Is that why they want Nintendo to release the big games early? Because they have no interest in well developed games with depth?

[supermonkey007]

Wii U has not even been out for a year yet and people are already dooming and glooming it. Sure the Wii U had a rough start but things will turn around, look at the 3DS. Journalists were saying it was a fail and it will lose to the vita and now look at the 3DS. Once the new sonic games and mario kart come out. IT WILL BE FINE. stop with these retarded articles.

[YoungPlex]

You know, I remember when the 3DS was being considered the Virtual boy like it was yesterday and all these doom and gloom articles kept popping up left and right. A few exclusives and a small price-drop later and now the 3DS is thriving in a once thought to be doomed dedicated handheld market. Shows how much people truly underestimate Nintendo and their business decisions. I don't agree with a lot of crap that they do but I would NEVER count them out of the race! All they need are a few exclusives like Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101, X, and of course the Mario's, Zelda's and Metroids, along with a price-drop, and they'll be just fine wait and see......

[mcstorm]

Its just another day and another lets try and slag of the WiiU. The same thing will happened when the PS4 and next xbox come out to.

The WiiU will be fine just like the 3DS is.

[WitWolfy]

One thing is for sure.. The time I start up my Wii U again dust will air out of like a leaf blower.

[R00bot]

No. Well, not yet. We'll have to wait and see.
I don't think it will fail, but it won't come anywhere near close to the wii's sales and it probably won't win the generation. Not a failure, so to speak, but not a great success, either. I don't know. It'll probably depend on Nintendo's E3 showings (E3 had better be pretty damn great for them).

[hollabox]

Next Dreamcast I would have to say no. Dreamcast had an steady stream of games through out its life cycle, very good games that sold decent considering the cheaper development budgets. Dreamcast hardware was in an similar case like the Wii U with much more powerful hardware coming out in the next two years, but the hardware was cheap to the consumer. Wii U on the other hand has gone a month plus without releasing any new titles, the hardware is expensive comparatively to current gen platform, and Nintendo did have EA support at launch. But unlike Sega Nintendo has money to last it until the next console cycle which probably be 2-4 years for Nintendo.

The software drought will probably continue until this fall. Even with E3 around the corner, most of the games announced at E3 are not released until the Fall or next year. Games sales in the summer fall flat so I wouldn't expect too many titles to be released in the next 3-4 months or so continuing the software drought. So I don't really see this getting better for Nintendo anytime soon.

[hollabox]

I don't get the 1 disagree with my statement, there's nothing about my statement that isn't true. Dreamcast had an steady stream of games, its hardware while better than the PS1 and N64 was dwarfed by the Xbox, PS2, and Game Cube, the system was cheap and Sega didn't have enough money to support the system with true Next Gen consoles coming. The Wii U on the other hand is expensive considering the hardware, had EA titles released, and lack games after lunch, only difference both consoles were/are being over shadowed by more powerful hardware on the horizon.

[ARESWARLORD]

I have both and play both. I would say the Vita is like the Dreamcast. The Wii U is more like the N64 not a lot of games but they will be good. The Dreamcast was more hardcore and adventure oriented. A under dog that was ahead of its time. The truly hardcore know what I am talking about because they owned a Dreamcast and still do. Everyone else just likes to blow hot air

[DivineAssault]

i liked my dreamcast! Alot more than wii u anyway but its still early in its life

[AdvanceWarsSgt]

With 38K sold ENTIRELY for the month of April in the US, I'd say its quickly becoming a Gamecube (a system that significantly dropped off in terms of sales after its initial release).

In fact, the Wii U is tracking worse than the GC at its 6-month point, so its looking to be even worse than the GC.

[Triggytrolls]

I had a dreamcast before I got a ps2. I loved playing sega bass with the rod XD

[Whymii]

this isn't news, it's olds. The same crap was written a few weeks ago. The similarities are only superficial at best. Nintendo is in an entirely different position than Sega was in back then. All this doom and gloom does no-one credit and makes gamers look like a bunch of whinnng self-centred children.