I had an entire binder of pirated Dreamcast games back when this came out. I can't remember if I actually owned a genuine copy of a game (it was too easy to run pirated game discs).
I have good memories of the console though.
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2024
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Haha I also had a giant binder full of pirated games. The other thing I remember about it was how loud it was reading the discs
We all had binders of pirated Dreamcast games...
I think I'm starting to see why it died.
Louder on pirated games than official ones IIRC. The laser worked harder to read them.
Didn't the pirates find out that they could copy the games onto regular CDs using some backdoor from the format of Karaoke CDs? You just need that famous loader CD to swap discs.
I've heard the pirates soon optimised the layout of the data on their versions so that there was less strain of the drive.
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So did many! It was so easy!
"Dreamcast" is probably the single best gaming console name of all time, too.
Retro Sega systems stand out with their cool, mystical/sci-fi sounding names: Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast.
They were unique and felt like they were telling customers that we'd be in awe when using their consoles.
(Master System and Sega CD were pretty boring though)
Most other big systems' names seem so utilitarian and uninspired:
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GameCube and Xbox are little boxy devices on your shelf that play games.
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The Nintendo Switch can switch between handheld and docked.
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All the PlayStations are stations that you play games on.
Yawn
Even in the 70s and 80s they were coming up with cooler names for consoles, like the Magnavox Odyssey and the Intellivision. Atari named a bunch of their consoles after big cats, though they didn't live up to their names. At least there was some imagination.
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Mega drive would have sounded cool when it came out, though it’s perhaps the most dated sounding name of the bunch.
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Sega was already in dire financial straits after the Saturn, so they panicked during the Dreamcast and ended the console’s life cycle very early making developers abandon it within just a couple years.
I’m not sure if there’s anything they could have done differently to be honest. Sony pushed them over the edge with the price war during the Saturn, which was very inefficiently built in comparison making their production costs way higher than that of their competitors. If I remember correctly they were losing about $100 per unit before PSX did its first (very early) $50 price drop and they had to keep up, so that became -$150/ea before the console was even a year old. It was disastrous.
They released 32x, Sega Genesis, then Sega Saturn so freaking close to each other that really left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
Dreamcast came out with Sonic, Shenmue, Power Stone and then the most perfect version of Marvel Vs Capcom 2 and started to become attractive.
Then everyone discovered how to pirate Dreamcast games. Like it was so stupidly easy. People in my campus started giving copied Dreamcast games away.
No one is saying Dreamcast didn’t have a great library. The problem was Sega was on the brink of financial ruin when it launched and it simply didn’t move units due to its price point, awkward timing between consoles, and as you said prior saturation with their consoles.
It was actually the opposite problem... they sold plenty of hardware. But they lost money on every sale and didn't make it back on software purchases as was the plan.
In fact, the Dreamcast had sold more than the Xbox and Gamecube combined for the first several years of their lifespan.
There was also the playstation 2 releasing about 6 months after the dreamcast, with dvd capabilities, when dvd players were expensive as fuck. People were using them as a DVD player. Basically the same reason the playstation 3 sold decently at all in it's first years.
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Sega was too early with several innovations like online game downloads, which meant they weren't profitable enough. Technically however they were ages ahead of the competition who later gladly absorbed their knowledge.
The Sega Saturn is a prime example of how that was not the case. They brute forced it and it cost a fortune as a result. Sony essentially matched it with generic parts for cheaper and developed it in a shorter amount of time along side them, the Saturn build did not directly inform its development.
Edit: in one of the books I read on this subject - I think it was either Replay or Console Wars, there is a great account of how when the Saturn dropped somy was very nervous because it was out well before the PlayStation was released. They immediately grabbed one and disassembled it, only to discover the monstrosity under the hood that made them feel very secure in their decisions. The two dedicated chips getting 3D to work right out the gate drove the cost up immensely. They knew they didn’t need to beat Sega to market because they were bleeding cash at an unbelievable rate. The game sales would never cover that.
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Wii U too. Two consoles with a whole extra screen on your controller. Brilliant and cool features. Misunderstood or poorly timed?
Misunderstood for sure, I think. The Wii U suffered from what was probably the worst marketing campaign of any game console, ever. I didn't even know it was a new console and not yet-another-Wii-addon until halfway through it's life cycle and I think that was a pretty common misunderstanding.
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The way I felt about the Wii U was probably similar to how adults felt about the Dreamcast back then.
It seemed really cool, but it didn't feel worth the money while there were other great consoles already. I was still getting a ton of use out of my original Wii.
I liked this console more than everything else that was around at that time. I still have one, too... I just don't have the AV or power cables for it. 😩
Best graphics, very unique games for the library even though it didn't live very long at all, free online multiplayer, the VMU was just dope as shit being able to play games directly on it (not good games but as a kid that didn't matter lol), first system to do the speaker in the controller (technically it was on the VMU but the VMU plugged into the controller and provided sounds as well as a screen for certain menus functions)..
On the vmu, you could pick your plays on football games. So your cheating friend couldn't see what you were doing.
Sure beats the other method where I also don't know what I'm picking lol
And all because the PS2 could play DVDs and the Dreamcast couldn't. Fucking DVDs. As ridiculous as that sounds today, people went apeshit over DVD playback capabilities back in the early 2000s.
But to be fair I also think Sega was their own worst enemy. In the 90s alone they released the Sega CD, 32X, the Saturn and the Dreamcast. Not to mention the Genesis 3 and CDX as well. If they would have slowed their roll and stopped cannibalizing their own sales, they might have done alright. The addon idea could have worked out better if done right. Hindsight is 20/20, so if they had a crystal ball they should have done something like this, and they'd still be making consoles today:
- Delay the Sega/Mega CD to allow themselves more time to rewrite the graphics ASIC to include 3D rendering capabilities.
- Cancel the 32X and Saturn; they were never even announced. The Sega CD is the next gen console.
- Sell it as an addon for $199, and cut the price of the base Genesis to $50. Release in 1994, along with bundle deals for $249 with an included game (for people who don't already own a Genesis), and proceed wipe the floor with Sony before they even get a chance to compete.
Sega was their own worst enemy
Arguably they still are today. Can't stop being a fan though!
But to be fair I also think Sega was their own worst enemy.
More true than you might realize. A lot of the missteps of the Sega CD/32X were from fights between Japan and US divisions. There was a push for the next console to be simply a Genesis/CD/32X melded together in one box.
Sony is also incredibly good at taking advantage of its competitors mistakes.
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This motherfucker right here had ONLINE PLAY. You could spin up Phantasy Star Online: Episode 1 & 2 and actually have other people join your game, drop duplicated items, and destroy your droprate. It was fucken sicc.
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I bought 2, my German Shepherd peed on the first one and killed it... RIP
Also PS Vita. It was better than anyone (even Sony) realized. And the few who DID like it obsessed with the memory cards and the actual insanely amazing console it is was forgotten and overlooked.
I still play mine today. And yes there are tons of great games on it beyond Persona, even though you wouldn't know it among the usual Vita fans.
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I remember being blown away by some of the games back then, and also disappointed that it wasn't a more popular console.
at some point "retro" consoles got popular on GameStops website and I invested in a Dreamcast, 3 controllers, and memory cards. it was all under around $80. so god damn worth it since I can just "find" games online for it. I didn't grow up with it but it's definitely been a fun console
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*cries softly into Seaman microphone
My Friend: Did you hear? Sega cancelled the Dreamcast.
Me: ...
Me: ... (still waiting for the punchline)
staying up way too late every night playing pso though
Dreamcast was a shit show.
I loved the games things and think it's the greatest system ever released with so many bangers under it's belt. It was Sega's arcade dna distilled into a console. And the home style games were amazing to boot. Jet Grind, Phantasy Star, Sonic Adventure. Plus all the Capcom love.
But I would have never bought one and gotten to experience it if it wasn't discontinued and clearance priced. I wish they gave it a second chance.
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Recently tried to get mine working (it's been stowed away for a while) but it's not reading discs at all anymore or even booting to the menu screen.
We used to have to do the turn it on it's side trick but I think it was just stuck in a dark dank basement for too long. Kinda want to rip it apart and try to fix but we shall see.
My college suitemates had one and I loved powerstone and others. First hand experience. Had an Xbox and PS2. Still didn't buy one of these.
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