Dreamcast what ifs

[tokyochojin]

And i think piracy had little effect on the system tbfh.

[MikeRox]

hmmm, the games started getting axed once Utopia was released though and I believe software sales were good up until utopias release (which was the day before Dead or Alive 2's Japanese release)

I do think Half Life's release would have sold alot of systems (I know there were 6 people in my class (of 20) at 6th form alone were going to buy a DC for that game alone but as it never came out they never bought one. And the news of it's demise broke in January just as alot of people were becoming disillusioned with the PS2 lineup, however announcing the DC was being canned meant it wasn't a worthwhile purchase for the future as far as most people were concerned. We'll never know how much of a difference they'd have made, but if Segas financial position (and marketing) were a bit better, it could have been a completely different story.

DC is still my fave console of all time though, Summer 2000 - Summer 2001 was the best gaming release schedule any console has had ever for me. The great games just didn't stop coming, and it always felt fresh. I've found gaming a little stale since then.

[tokyochojin]

I remember Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis being console sellers in my class. Shame they didn't get Virtua Tennis out in time for Wimbledon. God only knows why, anyway that's SEGA.



Btw, speaking of commercials the Japanese ones rock. Although alittle crazy by Western standards (as all JP adverts seem to be) they are constantly ripping the piss out of the old SEGA chairman. Great stuff, and something I think only SEGA would do!

[dj898]

one of promo disc I have contains number of Japan CM for DC and they are very funny and quite politically incorrect.
I dunno how I can rip them to PC but every time I see the SegaBass CM it cracks me up...

[Leon Retro]

Back in summer/autumn 99 I had decided to buy a pal DC at launch. All my mates were still in to the PS1 and N64 and then Driver hit the market and everyone and their dog wanted the game; it overshadowed everything. This one game was so fresh and exciting that it reinvigorated the PS1 market and put any thoughts of the next-gen out of most peoples minds.

The Dreamcast came-out at the wrong time and for the first year only had only one truely amazing AAA title Soul Calibur. This wasn't enough for the casual gamers, and the fact that Sega or Namco didn't hype it at all really added insult to injury.

The machine went on the provide 2years of pleasure to the fans, but it was always seen as a non-entity by most people. The PS2 had been revealed at the end of 99 and it promised the world; people believed the hype and were happy to wait.

I love the DC... it's a brilliant machine with a collection of fantastic games that really show how good and powerful the machine is. If Sega had released the same machine but with slightly higher specs at a later date, say 2000, it would of stood a better chance; 1999 was just too early to enter the next-gen!

[SuperDanX]

So if they had continued, we would surely of had Virtua Fighter 4, which I expect would have been close enough (for most people) to arcade perfect. We would have had ShenMue 3 (!!!), and games such as OutRun 2 would never have existed on Chihiro, but instead on Naomi 2, meaning more close-ish Dreamcast ports. Of course it wouldn't have looked *quite* as pretty as it did on Chihiro, but we'd of never known otherwise.
Agreed,the point is if the dc had survived it could have handled ANY of segas post dc realeases because the games would have eather been designed exclusivley for the dc or converted from a dc freindly arcade hardware.

[tokyochojin]

We would have had Virtua Fighter 4, Gun Valkirie, Jet Set Radio Future I don't know about any others.

But i doubt Shenmue III, Outrun or Panzer Dragon would have been released. They would have surely been more likely kept for the next gen Sega console.

Now we are getting to the what iffs....

[SuperDanX]

The list goes on and on dc spikeout would have been loooverly!Not to mention potential 3rd party realeases prehaps the continuation of the biohazard series on dc,project gotham city,soul calibur 2,sigh!Does anyone think sega is permently out of the hardware race?I cant not see them having another crack somewhere down the line,esp now they have sammys cash(or vice versa!)anyone have any outrun 2 news?I have a feeling we can expect a ps2 convertion to be annoucned at this years e3!Fingers crossed eh!?

[anephric]

We would have had ShenMue 3

Never in a million years... part of the cause of SEGA's huge losses was the lack of return on HUUUGE investment in those games...

[tokyochojin]

But it was worth it, wasn't it.

[MikeRox]

I liked the ethos Sega went into late in the DCs life.

Good simple fun arcade/multiplayer titles with hours of online play you could get out of them. Alien Front Online, Propeller Arena, Bomberman Online, Ooga Booga, all great examples of how games could have been made quickly, and relatively cheaply compared with the big blockbusters like Shenmue and Headhunter. It's a shame Sega didn't have a bit more cash and the PS1 remodel wasn't such a huge hit (this also came out around the same time as the DC with many ppl thinking it was the PS2 for some reason) because I do think the DC could have made a spot for itself as a budget console with games like I mentioned above.

[Kubrick]

Nope, I'm the opposite. Besides PSO, Rez and Shenmue II, I thought it was pretty-much all downhill during the last year or so for the PAL Dreamcast. Sega ran out of ideas/money/whatever and started cashing in with lame sequels to some of their hit games. Crazy Taxi 2 was pretty terrible, Sonic Adventure 2 wasn't much better, and Virtua Tennis 2 was an exercise in fleecing what fans they had left one more time - Something I feel Nintendo are guilty of today with their quick-fire sequels/rehashes of Donkey Konga, Made in Wario etc.

Dreamcast was great while it lasted though. For 18 months it was untouchable with AAA games being released every few weeks or so at one point. It's just a shame so much of it's heritage has since been stripped away with nearly all the decent games it had being available on other consoles now.

Because of that, I don't think it'll get the recognition it deserves in the years to come.

[Big Seany]

Kubrick is right about the sequels thing. Virtua Tennis 2, whilst undoubtedly a half decent game, is awkward and demands too much of the player - keep it simple like the brilliant first one.

Having said that, yesterday I played the remarkable Border Down for the first time, and it was brilliant to see the release date - 2003. Good old Jap programmers - long may they continue to use the DC's awesome hardware for some more shmups.

If you want a "what if" - how about if a port of Radiant Silvergun was produced for the DC in Japan? Imagine how many people over here would import that at fifty quid a throw.

[tokyochojin]

But would it have sold more systems in Europe or U.S the big what if is, what if EA(urrgh) would have supported the machine...

[anephric]

Having said that, yesterday I played the remarkable Border Down for the first time, and it was brilliant to see the release date - 2003. Good old Jap programmers - long may they continue to use the DC's awesome hardware for some more shmups.

Check out Trizeal and Chaos Field for even more recent Naomi madness!

Holding a brand new DC game in 2005 is a palpable thrill, I agree...