So I pulled out my Dreamcast...

[HeroOfTimeGCN]

...and now I remember why it is the best console ever made. Titles like Sonic Adventure, Ikaruga, Marvel VS Capcom 2, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Virtua Tennis, NFL 2k1, Capcom VS SNK 2, Chu Chu Rocket, and so many many more amazing titles make me wonder why it failed.

It had such a promising future if developers had just waited it out and given Sega the benefit of a doubt...

[D3adcell]

If developers just waited it out they would have lost alot of money. The reason it failed was because sega marketed it poorly.

I still play my dreamcast but most of the games were ported over to other consoles.

I do wish it did better though. I really like my dreamcast.

[Hisham]

^Also coupled with the fact that the Sega brand was really weak in NA because of the Sega CD/32X and the Saturn.

I have 2 dreamcasts, and a plethora of games, but no working controls, so I don't see myself hooking it up any time soon.

[Applefiend]

Well the games that would have been made for Dreamcast were made for other systems you see.

Yes, could could have played Jet Set Radio Future, Super Monkey Ball, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Virtua Figher 4 on your Dreamcast exclusive instead of on XBox,PS2 and GC.

But really, what was lost?

When I think of lost Sega products I think of Shen Mue 2 on XBox having huge success and a brand new Shen Mue 3 built just for XBox coming out. But the dreamcast hardware dieing early is zero loss at all. Do you miss modems and VMU units that much?

[TheGreenElf]

Pulling it out now and playing most of the DC's best games...well, most all can be played in better versions on the last-gen consoles...and games like Sonic Adventure get too much credit for being good. That was the start of Sonic's slow death.

[Blaksmoke]

The Dreamcast definetley had some very good and very unique games, but it also had the worst controller of all time, and I will stand by that till the day I die.

[Gaul]

I was in love with the sega saturn when i was but a lad. Vectorman ftw

[HPK]

Eh, the Dreamcast was doomed from the start. Marketing was bad, weak audience in Japan (developers were upset that they pulled the plug on the Saturn, which was doing well over there). Not to mention it was very costly to make. It was only $200 for a few months, but it was quickly dropped to $100...even though they weren't pulling in enough money at $200 anyway.

But you know what? It was an awesome system for its time.

[Applefiend]

Completely in retrospect I think N64 had a worse controller than Dreamcast.

"I hold a trident with a stick in the middle to play my games, I am a norse god! hahahaha!"

At the time we thought it was all great of course. Really painful controller to hold, and ten years on I still can't work out how you're supposed to hold it, grip the middle prong or hold it on the outside, either way it hurts.

[Too Slow]

I don't think Sonic Adventure started the death. I believe it started with Sonic Heroes when they REALLY messed up the formula. I remember when I first saw a dreamcast being played, I was FLOORED by it.

[masonite]

^the biggest problem was when you had to switch between the prongs - you couldn't just slide your hand across, you had to let go, pull your hand under, over or around the prong, grab it again, and find the buttons...z button was useful though.

/offtopic

never really took that much interest in dreamcast, i think it was doomed from the start. partly because it came out so early, and partly because it had decent but under-utilised features.

Ahead of its time in every sense....

[IEatFriedPikmin]

dreamcast was alright... there were some good games, but it definitely was not the best console ever.

[Blaksmoke]

I was in love with the sega saturn when i was but a lad. Vectorman ftw

Vectorman is one of my most favorite games of all time...but it was for Genesis.

^the biggest problem was when you had to switch between the prongs - you couldn't just slide your hand across, you had to let go, pull your hand under, over or around the prong, grab it again, and find the buttons...z button was useful though.

I can't think of a single game where you'd have to do that, and I've played more N64 games than games for any other console by far.

[TheGreenElf]

Completely in retrospect I think N64 had a worse controller than Dreamcast.

"I hold a trident with a stick in the middle to play my games, I am a norse god! hahahaha!"

At the time we thought it was all great of course. Really painful controller to hold, and ten years on I still can't work out how you're supposed to hold it, grip the middle prong or hold it on the outside, either way it hurts.

I still feel that was the best controller. It was not only very comfortable to me, but also really accommodated endless control types. Ever tried playing goldeneye with the Analog stick and D-Pad sides? You could.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

timing is everything. they brought out the dreamcast to compete with the psone and n64. Then, oh shit, ps2 vastly outclasses it (not right away but the public perception was there until the games caught up to it), and after that it was just a matter of time.

[Applefiend]

For me comfort is everything. You can't sit up all night playing games if your mits ache after 90 minutes. It's why I prefer DS over PSP, PSP just hurts.

[masonite]

Vectorman is one of my most favorite games of all time...but it was for Genesis.



I can't think of a single game where you'd have to do that, and I've played more N64 games than games for any other console by far.

Really? no game ever used d-pad and analogue stick? and weren't start/select buttons near the left prong? i cant remember, its been a while since i played it, but i remember switching for certain games, be it for camera angles, etc...

[TheGreenElf]

Really? no game ever used d-pad and analogue stick? and weren't start/select buttons near the left prong? i cant remember, its been a while since i played it, but i remember switching for certain games, be it for camera angles, etc...

Not unless you wanted that control method and picked it yourself. And there wasn't a select button, while the Start button was directly in the middle.

[masonite]

Not unless you wanted that control method and picked it yourself. And there wasn't a select button, while the Start button was directly in the middle.

ah thats right.....so what was the use of the left prong if it was never used?!?

[jaxmkii]

...and now I remember why it is the best console ever made. Titles like Sonic Adventure, Ikaruga, Marvel VS Capcom 2, Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Virtua Tennis, NFL 2k1, Capcom VS SNK 2, Chu Chu Rocket, and so many many more amazing titles make me wonder why it failed.

It had such a promising future if developers had just waited it out and given Sega the benefit of a doubt...

lack of next gen storage?...

[Hisham]

GDroms held 1.2 gigs of space, about the size of a Gamecube minidisk (correct me if I'm wrong, but it was 1.4 gigs, I think), so I don't think that was the problem with it.

It was the timing in which it was released.

[Blaksmoke]

ah thats right.....so what was the use of the left prong if it was never used?!?

You had to use it to play certain games. With the old AKI/THQ wrestling games (which are still by far the best 3-D wrestling games ever made), you used the D-pad for every control expect for boosting your fighting spirit, which was done by tapping the control stick in any direction. Very natural scheme.