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Happy Birthday, Dreamcast!

T

Tiktaalik

Member
During the late Genesis, 32X and Saturn years I saw so many fans get burned that I didn't even consider buying a Dreamcast. Damn I regret that. Several years later in college I bought one from ebay with a bunch of games and had an absolute blast. I'm basically permanently late to the party and Dreamcast games are hard to find at flea markets (I swear it was not as popular in Canada as it was in the USA) so new games for me are not often bought. I guess I should go out and go the ebay route again.

In college my friends and I had insane amounts of fun playing Chu Chu Rocket, Bomberman Online, Virtua Tennis, Typing of the Dead and most of all, Samba de Amigo. Best multiplayer party system ever? Probably. It's a shame that my friends weren't into fighting games, so my copy of Virtua Fighter 3 and various capcom fighters sat sad and unused. :(

For single player, the system has one of my favourite arcade games of all time, Crazy Taxi, and other gems like Jet Grind Radio and Space Channel 5.

ONLY ONE MORE YEAR FOLKS.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
Around the PS2 launch, I was in a lull where I wasn't really into or following games that much, basically only playing Counterstrike and Starcraft, but I remember reading I think a Next Generation magazine that had a sort of show off feature comparing the Xmas lineups of the Dreamcast and the PS2. The gap was so massive in terms of game quality that I thought you would have to be an absolute fool to buy a PS2 over the Dreamcast.
 
B

Birbo

Member
shidoshi said:
Please. The decision comes down to the third party support, and I'd argue until the end of time that the DC's library of third-party titles was infinitely better than the GC.
Click to expand...

At least the Gamecube had support from EA. I still think not having EA on the Dreamcast helped its early death.
 
N

nny

Member
I can't help posting this photo:

153784.jpg


Happy Dreamcast is happy with all the love in this thread.
 
W

WrathOfOtaibah

Banned
I'm sure I've written a 10,000 word essay here describing my Dreamcast experience. In short, it was fucking awesome. My sister currently has one and I always make sure I play a few games of Virtua Tennis, Sonic Adventure, and Crazy Taxi whenever I'm there.

Looking back though, the Dreamcast died right where it should have. The PS2 at the end of 2001 was cranking out games that were far above what the DC could do. With the Xbox and Game Cube coming out with much cleaner textures than anything the Dreamcast provided, it would have limped to an early death in 2002, maybe 2003, had Sega not gone the third party route. The port of Virtua Fighter 4 would have been atrocious on it and if it was successful enough, Shenmue 3 would have had serious problems in terms of maxing out the system's capabilities.

It was a good system but most of the really good titles found their way to other systems. Although I'm still pissed at how badly Sega keeps fucking up their Dreamcast era IPs. Crazy Taxi could have much bigger and better than what it turned out to be. I don't even get why Sega abandoned Jet Grind Radio. Not to mention the low quality software Sega kept pumping out towards the latter end of the previous generation.

I don't think EA killed the Dreamcast like someone said but the problem was that Sega had such a bad reputation that it was competing against the sequel to one of the most successful consoles of all time. No matter how much effort they put into the system, it was a lost battle from Day One. Plus the fact that Sega had such a bad financial situation required them to be ultraconservative with their financial choices, giving them no chance to make large gambles, which are sometimes needed to sell a few million consoles.
 
Nizz

Nizz

Member
I remember spending more money than I anticipated that day: 9/9/99. That morning me and a friend of mine went to pick up our pre-ordered Dreamcasts from an EB. I figured since I started work at 9:00 am and we got to the mall at 7:00 am, I'd have plenty of time, plus I was excited to be picking it up myself :D . Thought wrong. There were already at least about 15-20 people already waiting. So we were all waiting for the store to open, and the clock's ticking.... It was going on 8:30 already so I told my friend if he could do me the favor and give em my pre-order ticket and bring the console to my house since I had to get going to work. I was going to swing by my house real quick to let them know at home my friend was going to drop off the console. Would you know that at the intersection at the corner of my block I get into an accident. Wasn't too bad, but the front left wheel was twisted up, plus the fender was banged up. Ended up costing me about $400.00 to repair. Plus, the difference I had to pay on the Dreamcast plus game, ended up being almost $600.00 :lol I remember getting home from the repair shop and seeing the brand new console sitting in our living room floor that my friend had dropped off. I felt a little bit guilty that I had basically got into an accident trying to pick this machine up. But that guilt went away the moment I booted up Soul Calibur ;) I loved that system. The graphics, the VMU, I could look on the internet. Playing Soul Caliber, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Quake 3: Arena. Fun times! So Happy B-day to the Dreamcast! Wish I had never gotten rid of mine :(
 
B

Birbo

Member
The Experiment said:
I don't think EA killed the Dreamcast like someone said but the problem was that Sega had such a bad reputation that it was competing against the sequel to one of the most successful consoles of all time. No matter how much effort they put into the system, it was a lost battle from Day One.
Click to expand...

Oh I don't think EA's lack of support killed the Dreamcast, but it sure didn't help.

The Experiment said:
Plus the fact that Sega had such a bad financial situation required them to be ultraconservative with their financial choices, giving them no chance to make large gambles, which are sometimes needed to sell a few million consoles.
Click to expand...

How much did Shenmue cost? They sunk a boatload of money into that. I thought that was going to be the killer app for the DC but I think GTA3 was hitting around the same time.
 
M

megashock5

Member
STILL the best launch ever IMO.

Not just the number or quality of games, but the breadth.

Platform, fighting, racing, sports, survival-horror, etc. all on day one. My wife made cupcakes with white icing and orange Dreamcast swirls for the launch party.

Still haven't had quite the same sense of elatedness from any console release since. The only thing even close is getting my parents to play bowling on the Wii launch day.
 
H

HomerSimpson-Man

Member
Has it really been 9 years already?

It's almost felt like f'n yesterday when I was blown away seeing games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and Shenmue for the first time.
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
amazing console, cruel fate. console still lives, though, and will continue to live.

this machine has earned its eternal place on my desk. years from now, i'll be booting my GOTF fighters, racers and shooters on it and no marketing dollar or new technology will ever change that.

happy birthday, DC. glad to see you looking so good, baby.
 
F

Flavius

Member
Some of my favorite DC-related memories:

Back in college, playing a fuckton of Soul Calibur with my roommates, while I should have been sleeping or going to classes.

Playing DOA2 with my girlfriend (now my wife of 6 years) because for whatever crazy reason, she was really good at it and could kick my ass without me giving her a win.

Playing NFL 2K1 online with my buddies and thinking how fucking awesome it was that we could actually play a game together online (and it worked really, really well for the days of dial-up!).

Picking up Shenmue for $19.99 in Target a week after its release and absorbing it over the next couple of weeks, spending far too much time in that world's arcade.

Jet Grind Radio, Sega GT, Metropolis Street Racer, all of the Capcom fighters, etc, etc, etc...
 
O

Ogni-XR21

Member
TheSonicRetard said:
OMG. I can't describe how out of this world those graphics were at the time. No generation leap has been comparable, IMO.
Click to expand...


I wholeheartedly agree. No other console has ever managed to make last gen look like shit the way the DC did.
 
W

WrathOfOtaibah

Banned
Birbo said:
Oh I don't think EA's lack of support killed the Dreamcast, but it sure didn't help.
Click to expand...

I will admit that the overall third party support of the Dreamcast was pathetic. There was a lot of support but from the wrong developers. Most of it was C grade filler. The Dreamcast had a lot of solid games overall but games like Jet Grind Radio were tough sells. Big third party developers generally just ignored the Dreamcast. Except Capcom and even then, it was just for their arcade efforts. I will give them Code Veronica but their support didn't materialize much in terms of their heavy hitters. Capcom would only just throw them a bone once in a great while.

How much did Shenmue cost? They sunk a boatload of money into that. I thought that was going to be the killer app for the DC but I think GTA3 was hitting around the same time.
Click to expand...

Shenmue was $70 million. That was a lot of spending but there was something to the effect of Sega only having a half billion dollars to use for the Dreamcast. If that turned out to be true, then Shenmue's budget took up a large portion. Still, they couldn't take too many risks outside of Shenmue because of their strapped finances. No powerful ad campaigns, not enough money to give to developers so they can develop better software for Dreamcast, all of these things, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft did for the GC, PS2, and Xbox.

Shenmue came out a year before GTA3.
 
Retrofluxed

Retrofluxed

Member
My favorite thing was waking up, going to Pizza Hut for lunch and my friend casually telling me the Dreamcast launched. We then left, I hit the bank, took out about 400 bucks and went crazy at the local Gamestop.
 
Nizz

Nizz

Member
Ogni-XR21 said:
I wholeheartedly agree. No other console has ever managed to make last gen look like shit the way the DC did.
Click to expand...
I agree. Seeing Soul Caliber, Resident Evil: CV, and NFL 2k in motion dropped my jaw back in the day. And off topic, but I love your avatar! :lol :lol
 
J

JEKKI

Member
happy bday!

I always wanted one but never had the money for it...

until 2003 when I won one from a Dance Dance Revolution freestyle competition!!

and now it's still my favorite system that I never unhook!!

and while I'm at it, I love SD CRT TVs!!! I dont want any lag when playing my shmups and fighters on dreamcast!
 
S

SlaughterX

Banned
bumpkin said:
I'm not really basing my decision on third party support, but just more on the games I played on the system. By far, my GameCube saw much more playtime than my Dreamcast. Though had Sega not been d-bags and killed the DC, it's possible that may have been a different story... They did have really awesome third party support.
Click to expand...

Other way around for me. I think the Dreamcast acomplished much more in the few short years it was on the market than the GC did in its entire life cycle.
 
D

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
RevenantKioku said:
I just bought a DC along with JSR and Shenmue.
RECOMMEND RPGS AT ME. (Japanese releases only.)

I remember 9/9/99.

Going into the mall, getting FFVIII and not having a clue what the DC was, or even seeing anything about it.
Click to expand...

Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II are the obvious ones... there was also the serialized RPG series "El Dorado Gate" by Capcom, that featured Amano's artwork, though I don't know how good any of them were. There were also Silver and Time Stalkers, but I remember the reviews for them were pretty bad. DC didn't really have much in the way of RPGs, unfortunately.
 
G

Gagaman

Member
SlaughterX said:
Other way around for me. I think the Dreamcast acomplished much more in the few short years it was on the market than the GC did in its entire life cycle.
Click to expand...
Yeah, same here. When Sega bailed out I thought moving to a Nintendo console would be a great choice as they were the other classic game company still making consoles, but the Gamecube disappointed me quite a bit. The gaps between the great games were unbearable and Nintendo's big hits (Zelda, Metroid etc) didn't excite me like i thought they would. My favorite games on the system was F-Zero GX and Monkey Ball 2, funnily enough.
 
xemumanic

xemumanic

Member
I still love my DC, and I still play it from time to time. Soon as I get home from work, I'm playing DC games all night.
 
N

Nekobo

Member
I still remember the first time I played Soul Calibur at my friend's place the day after it launched. I was skeptical after the Saturn tanked in the US, but I had a grand time playing SC that day. I also remember my friend's copy of Sonic Adventure wouldn't work, so we were both really disappointed, since we were both Sonic fans.

I also have fond memories of watching my friend play Jet Grind/Set Radio. Great times.

Oh, and PSO. What a blast.
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
I need to pick up a new Dreamcast controller since mine all fucked up now.

Also, does anyone know where to get Dreamcast vga cables?
 
R

Ramirez

Member
Mariner said:
Lots of great memories but nothing tops ...

pso-logo.jpg



:D :D :D
Click to expand...

Fucking greatest gaming experience I've ever had, touching down into the Forest for the first time was so awesome, adding 3 friends was even better.
 
C

cRIPticon

Member
Birbo said:
At least the Gamecube had support from EA. I still think not having EA on the Dreamcast helped its early death.
Click to expand...

I was in the audience of a conference back in 2000 where Bing Gordon told Peter Moore that, basically, 3DO didn't make it without EA supporting it (at the end) and neither will Sega.
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
There are no words that I can summon to accurately describe my Dreamcast experience and the love I have for the system. I still have the few issues of Dreamcast magazine that managed to come out before it was canceled and I have every single one of their demo discs. And this...

pso-logo.jpg


I didn't pay for PSO and I got it for the Sonic Adventure 2 demo disc that came packed in with it. Well, after playing the first level of SA2 over 100 times I finally popped in PSO... and hated it.

But I kept at it and I grew to love it (it took like a week)! Skipped PSOv2 but then got PSO on GameCube and lost a girlfriend because of it. Level 144 RAcast FTW.
 
S

SlaughterX

Banned
I need to finish SoA, been on the first disc for too many years now...

IMG_0545.jpg


The DC looks surprisingly good stretched on my 22" Monitor via VGA, and even on my 30" Tube HDTV with s-video.
 
T

Thunder Monkey

Banned
cRIPticon said:
Playing now.....

*Hawt Shenny*

and

*awesomesauce*
Click to expand...
Lucky man.

My Shenmue disc 3 got scratched all to hell and then the disc drive went out meaning I never got to beat Draconus.

I'd love to go through Shenmue again... another 14 times if possible.
 
T

teepo

Member
SlaughterX said:
I need to finish SoA, been on the first disc for too many years now...

The DC looks surprisingly good stretched on my 22" Monitor via VGA, and even on my 30" Tube HDTV with s-video.
Click to expand...

your speaker setup defies logic.
 
G

Gagaman

Member
Took photos of my Sega collection this morning for another topic, here's the Dreamcast lot for the sake of it:

2up8t53.jpg


2yltgxw.jpg


o52jh5.jpg


2rypxf6.jpg


i3w0f7.jpg


Even with that lot there's a few I'm looking to get still. I'd dread to think how much money I've blown on the Dreamcast in total :lol
 
F

FortNinety

Member
dark10x said:
I can't believe it's already been this long. What a great system the DC was...
Click to expand...

Don't you mean IS?

Anyhow, time to bust out my fave DC pic...

stillcool.jpg


... Still pissed that Senko No Ronde didn't come out for the system, nor will that new G.rev shump (Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta is it called?). But at least Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles is still coming!
 
G

Gagaman

Member
FortNinety said:
But at least Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles is still coming!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wonder when we'll get a solid release date on that. Looking forward to tapping a code into it and seeing the avatar they made me (<--) pop up on the screen. :D
 
C

camineet

Banned
Ogni-XR21 said:
I wholeheartedly agree. No other console has ever managed to make last gen look like shit the way the DC did.
Click to expand...



The reason for that is, we went from consoles that could only do 160,000 (N64) ~ 180,000 (PS1) texture-mapped, g-shaded, lit polygons/s with every effect/ rendering feature they could do turned on, which was less power than Namco's System 22 board of 1993 and SEGA's MODEL 2 board of 1993/1994, upto Dreamcast, a system that could easily handle 3-5 million polygons/sec, that's more than an order of magnitude more powerful (meaning 10x)... Dreamcast was also more powerful in raw polygon/pixel pushing power than almost any arcade board, even MODEL 3 Step 2.1. At Japanese launch, Dreamcast cushed $2000~$3000 PCs equipped with two Voodoo2 cards. The first PC card to really rival / surpass Dreamcast was the TNT2 / TNT2 Ultra in mid 1999 but very few people had those. Even when the GeForce256 (GF1) arrived in fall 1999, most people still only had lower-end graphics in their PCs.

Then, even though PS2 was much more powerful than DC in many areas, the DC was still ahead in some other ways, like image quality. PS2's massive advantage in raw power over DC was hard to tap during 1999-2001 (PS2 games were in dev in 1999 even though it launched in early 2000). Eventually Dreamcast was crushed technologically by better PS2 games, GameCube, Xbox and the average PC that had GeForce whatever and Radeon whatever, but for a console mainly designed in 1997 It was ahead of it's time.

I could even argue that Dreamcast was underpowered by 1999. I think Sega should've had a 2 or 4 pixel pipeline GPU with on-chip geometry processing, like GeForce256, combined with its bandwidth, memory, and pixel-saving PowerVR technology. Then it could've competed with not only PS2, but Xbox & GameCube also. but as it was, DC was far, far ahead of previous PS1/N64 gen and PCs of 1998.
 
C

Classic_Gs

Member
I remember the EGM preview blowout issue for the Dreamcast that got my beyond hyped for the system, which did not disappoint btw. The best launch line up period.

Some of my favorite moments are ditching school to go play Sonic Adventure (The whale!) at a local Toys R Us before its release, playing NFL 2K online, and being able to play my arcade favorite Power Stone at home, for hours.
 
dacuk

dacuk

Member
The fighting game system by preference....

...once you get other pads for it, that is.

Even though, the support Capcom and SNK gave to it made it one of the most played consoles here.
 
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