BeefJack - The Dreamcast: The Console That Wouldn't Stay Down Part One

BeefJack writes: "Sega's last console is my favourite piece of gaming hardware ever created, ever. If there's one thing I live by it's that the Dreamcast didn't fail, we failed the Dreamcast. Now it'd be easy to go into why this machine is awesome and rant about how tragic it was in 2001 when the console was discontinued on western shores, but that's not what this is about."

[Godmars290]

The console hardheaded gamers wont let die.

Honestly, you don't see people moaning over the freaking 2600 like this.

[Cyrus365]

The Dreamcast is like what PS3 is today, it's ahead of its time. Not saying PS3 is a failure, far from it, but if PS3 had an untimely death, you can surely bet there'd be 100's of articles like this, talking about it's great games today, or in the future.

[Godmars290]

No, there'd be 360 fanboys dancing on the PS3's grave.

For whatever reason, the Western game industry, most of the US, hates the PS3 like they like the Dreamcast.

[mrwiggles]

I don't know. The thing about the Dreamcast that makes it so special is that it was almost comparable to current gen with Multiplayer gaming. If you loved arcade gaming, such as your Street Fighters, and Soul Cals this was a great console for you.

I remember you could play SF Alpha on it, and you could train your character on the memory stick as it had an LCD screen. Genius. You could play two memory sticks together too by sticking them together.

Amazing console, for those that remember.

[Syronicus]

What was it that made you say the DC was ahead of its time? It was a CD based game using Windows CE for an OS ruining Dial-Up for net connection and had a controller that used only a single thumb stick. Yeah the VMU was cool but a gimmick nonetheless and the internet was ok. Quake III Arena was fun for a spell but PSO was dismal at best. I loved the DC but it was their lack of innovation that helped usher it off the market.

[mrwiggles]

Syronicus - I think it's important to remember that this was the first console to promote online gaming which is pretty 'ballsy' and innovative at the time especially if we look at the other mainstream consoles released around that time, and the quality of internet connection back then.

Single thumbstick wasn't ideal but, I always think the Dreamcast has been pitched as a Home Arcade machine. It pretty much has the same specs of the old Arcade boards for Street Fighter Alpha 1,2,3, etc, but with a little less ram http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... - (some info on CPS2).

I would say the DreamCast fell down because it hedged it's bets on Arcade gaming being popular in the west. But Arcades are not quite the same thing here as in Japan. In Japan gaming is accepted as a family friendly place to be. In the west it was it was a great place to rob young kids for money. Remember Sega World Anyone?

[Marquis_de_Sade]

Godmars, the PS3 isn't actually hated in America, or anywhere, judging by how many of its games receive global praise, it's just something paranoid, tin foil hat wearing gamers like you keep banging on about the moment you hear anything slightly negative.

[Syronicus]

I respectfully disagree and here is why. You mention that the DC was based on the Arcade approach but need to be reminded that in 1999, arcades were all but extinct and that even today, arcades are primarily Japan and nowhere else. That being said, it was not forward thinking of Sega to incorporate this strategy as it harmed them more than helped. In the end, they were beat down by Sony and their "home gaming" console that took all the good of arcades and left the bad elsewhere. As for online gaming, that was not enough to help Sega out of the "CD" hole they dug for themselves. They should have waited a year and gone with DVD and added that second thumb stick. That alone would have helped sell a few more consoles, I guarantee it.

[Tony P]

"Yeah the VMU was cool but a gimmick nonetheless and the internet was ok."

It's not so trivial. In the real world, Sega pushed online in a way no one else would. Browsing from your console, MMO-ish games, downloading addons, and minigames... DC did this for consoles before it was popular. That at least sets a good precedent. And for all PS2 did to innovate, I feel they botched the "online console" part until Xbox had already recaptured interest with Live. If Sega had handled DC better, consoles would have hit the online gaming boom earlier at least. That's pretty significant.

[Cajun Chicken]

It's done an 'Amiga'.

[W S K]

oh boy....
i could tell you storys (but then i wouldn´t be finished until tomorrow)
Great great memories and an awesome piece of gaming history in my opinion.

[TheMART]

Just bought some Dreamcasts and additional stuff on Ebay after my own DC died and had a black screen years ago.

http://forums.n4g.com/tm.as...

SOme pictures in the forum of the stuff I bought. And yes its a great machine. in its short lifecycle it had 15 games on or over a 9 out of 10 average (check Metacritic) on a 150 listed there, while the PS3 has 16 over 9 out of 10 average on about 400 games listed. While the DC titles are much more original and in the PS3 list there is a lot of multiplatform stuff in those over 9 out of 10 games.

Not only that, the first console to include online gaming although it was on a 56k6 modem, plus the additional stuff it had, its just a great system period. And it having CD's... Well it was launched 2 years before the PS2, so thats logical, DVD wasn't there yet.

The haters now just don't understand that, many of those here started gaming on a PS2 or even PS3 and are just 12 years old and just born when the Dreamcast launched.

[mrwiggles]

@ Syronicus - That and they didn't have EA making them games...

[n4gno]

"Sega's last console is my favourite piece of gaming hardware ever created, ever"

Was ! not "is", ps3 is sooo better and complete, and only after 3 years have many more great games than dreamcast (i'm also an icaruga lovers)

(themart, you are a joke, no matter what the subject, your fanboxtism is too heavy)