Dreamcast 10 Years

[elektronhjarnan]

In a lot of ways the GC was similar to the DC. It didn't seem very modern; even though it was technically very good. There was an old-skool charm about it; that was never going to sit well with the massmarket.

Yeah, definitely. They seem very similar when it comes to design philosophy. Small, compact casings, hardware architecture that utilises cheap (but powerful, given their price) standard components... and they're both game consoles, nothing more. Not "entertainment centers", not "social communities", not movie players.

Sadly, the pitiful sales figures of both formats demonstrate that this is not what the general public wants. Two glorious failures, even if Nintendo did manage to make a healthy profit off of theirs.

[Team Andromeda]

Yeah, definitely. They seem very similar when it comes to design philosophy. Small, compact casings, hardware architecture that utilises cheap (but powerful, given their price) standard components... and they're both game consoles, nothing more. Not "entertainment centers", not "social communities", not movie players.

Sadly, the pitiful sales figures of both formats demonstrate that this is not what the general public wants. Two glorious failures, even if Nintendo did manage to make a healthy profit off of theirs.

I don't agree with that , Cube was not really pushing the Ball forward at all . DC was using some of the latest and best tech around at the time , and for the time the DC was given DC Huge Ram levels , can't say that about the Cube. To me the X-Box is far more like the DC.

I think the DC and Cube failed to sell more , due to 3rd party's not backing them , more than down to them not being entertainment centrers.
That's why I think the 360 is selling so well for MS to that of the PS3, Its down to the games and the support at the end of the day .

And to me the 360 is one of the best gaming consoles ever made, even if it can play DVD''s music and works with Media Centre .

[topper]

I think the DC and Cube failed to sell more , due to 3rd party's not backing them , more than down to them not being entertainment centrers.
That's why I think the 360 is selling so well for MS to that of the PS3, Its down to the games and the support at the end of the day .

I think it's not so much that the Cube failed as the PS2 / Xbox succeded, big time. This was a hangover from the PS1's success, which happened IMO mainly due to Sony's superior marketing clout, which caught Nintendo napping. They simply didn't recover quickly enough.

As I alluded to with my stag story above, outside the gaming world, it seems that a lot of people never even heard about the Gamecube, but these people know exactly what a Playstation and Xbox are. I reckon I could walk down the street here in London, and get similar results from most people. We sometimes forget that not everyone who buys a console is into it as much as we are.

Hell, I'm more into games than the average person, but even I don't really remember much about the Gamecube in the first couple of years after launch. It just wasn't visible. (Admittedly I was more into PC gaming then, but the point is still valid.)

Of course, the marketing worm has now turned. Basically, marketing wins in the marketplace. Those of us who like to look a little deeper into our purchases, may find ourselves on the fringe, as the best stuff doesn't always rise to the top.

[Team Andromeda]

I think it's not so much that the Cube failed as the PS2 / Xbox succeded, big time. This was a hangover from the PS1's success, which happened IMO mainly due to Sony's superior marketing clout, which caught Nintendo napping. They simply didn't recover quickly enough.

I really don't think most people bought a X-Box because it could play a CD or DVD with the remote . I really think it had more to down with the games , and its grunt myself, and I'll say the same is truth with that of the 360

Nintendo just don't make enough games , and since the Snes have lost out big time on 3rd party support . I think gamers want new games in the shop each month , not the odd miracle game ever 6 to 12 months , like NCL have been doing since the N64 days, not that hurting them now granted

[Leon Retro]

I really don't think most people bought a X-Box because it could play a CD or DVD with the remote . I really think it had more to down with the games , and its grunt myself, and I'll say the same is truth with that of the 360

Nintendo just don't make enough games , and since the Snes have lost out big time on 3rd party support . I think gamers want new games in the shop each month , not the odd miracle game ever 6 to 12 months , like NCL have been doing since the N64 days, not that hurting them now granted

Nintendo had lost a lot of ground to Sony, after the N64.

The N64 was a great machine, with enough good games to satisfy, but... the PS1 sold far more, and had an amazing amount of support from the industry.

Nintendo did get it wrong with the cartridge format; despite the fact that it had some good points( fast loading )

With hindsight, it's easy to see that Sega got things wrong by messing around with the idea of making the Saturn a primarily 2D machine, and then changing their mind, which resulted in a dodgy architecture. Nintendo got things wrong by sticking to the cartridge format.

Both of those companies made it far too easy for Sony. That's not to take anything away from Sony, because the PS1 was a great design inside and out.

If you look back, it's pretty impressive what Sony achieved as newcomers. They really did do things well.

The DC failed for a few reasons, one of which was the bad rep Sega had after the Saturn debacle in the west. The Gamecube failed - because Nintendo had lost a lot of support during the N64 days.

I always knew that Sony would have no worries with the PS2. Despite being difficult to program, the machine still became the main focus of 90% of developers/publishers.

What did suprise me, was how well Microsoft did with the Xbox. Not only was the machine very powerful - it also had an excellent launch line-up. Halo, PGR, Rallisport, DOA3, all of them looked superior to PS2 equivalents.

I was a big Xbox fan. After that I enjoyed the Gamecube, and.. despite the PS2 having quite a few good games, it was still my third favourite.

The last generation was fantastic. Four great machines - with tons of great games. I preferred it to what I've experienced this generation; even if visuals are better now.

At the moment, I feel Microsoft are the console kings, even if the Wii is selling more units. Sony, surprisingly dropped the ball with the PS3.

I think the next generation will be even more interesting.

[Champloo]

Thought I'd ask this here to save making a new thread.

Can anyone recommend any good adventure or RPG games for the DC?

I've played the obvious - Grandia, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue.

Jap-only is cool as long as they're reasonably playable without any knowledge of the language. Is Napple Tale playable?

[mezzanine]

Lack of Love is probably the best one to play after finishing the Shenmue games and SOA. Napple Tale and Submarine No 6 are almost as good but a FAQ would help you getting through those without wasting time not knowing what to do next.

[Phar]

Elemental Gimmick Gear's a pretty decent RPG, it only got a JPN and US release but you should be able to pick up a US version fairly cheap.

[Lyris]

EGG is the only US Dreamcast game which, for some reason, refuses to play on a European Dreamcast, even with a boot disc - except for when you use the VGA cable.

Doesn't work with Composite, S, or RGB Scart, just VGA... weird.

[Wools]

I think the DC and Cube failed to sell more , due to 3rd party's not backing them , more than down to them not being entertainment centrers.
That's why I think the 360 is selling so well for MS to that of the PS3, Its down to the games and the support at the end of the day.

I was such a hardcore player during the Dreamcast days that I still remember the Edge Dreamcast article after the news of the consoles cancelation.

"The Dreamcast was killed by the imagined power of the PlayStation 2"

In some ways the quote is completely true. Sony constantly interrupted all the keynote Sega speeches and game releases with those tech demos and imagined specifications. In the minds of some people they were all waiting for this super console and it never arrived.

At the PS2 launch we were left with un-optimised games, slow releases, sub standard design and sub standard graphics.

The Dreamcast was much more than the PS2 and much more than the GC. It had arcade perfect ports, beautiful innovative videogames and online for the lucky few who could or couldn?t afford it.

The Dreamcast is without question my most fondly remembered videogame console I've ever owned and has played host to some of my favourite software. What a machine.

[Shoju]

Thought I'd ask this here to save making a new thread.

Can anyone recommend any good adventure or RPG games for the DC?

I've played the obvious - Grandia, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue.

Jap-only is cool as long as they're reasonably playable without any knowledge of the language. Is Napple Tale playable?

Record Of Lodoss War. It's a Diablo style real time hack 'n slash RPG with lots of dungeon crawling though so I dunno if you'll like it.

[S3M]

EGG is the only US Dreamcast game which, for some reason, refuses to play on a European Dreamcast, even with a boot disc - except for when you use the VGA cable.

Doesn't work with Composite, S, or RGB Scart, just VGA... weird.

Works fine with an xploder on an European Dreamcast, don't have a problem playing my copy via RGB.

I would second Record Of Lodoss War, good hack 'n slash RPG along with Sliver which isn't too bad.

My brother finished Napple Tale and enjoyed it, he did use an FAQ on gamefaqs to help finish it, if I remember there were still few sticking points, but he finished it 100% in the end.