What killed the Dreamcast?

[blakjedi]

As we look forward to the next generation I was taking a minute to think back to the launches of every system and the hype or lack thereof of each system. the only systems "failure" that I cannot understand was the DC. It had almost everything. Powerful specs, great launch games (best launch ever imho) and support form almost everyone but square enix and ea.

I keep hearing about Sega CD, 32X, the Saturn launch as reasons but....... ahhhh I think it was just and only Sony's marketing that killed the DC. The PS2 specs were aggressive and an order of magnitude greater than DCs. Although Im not sure that that level of power was represented in PS2 games until recently....

BTW the DC is my favorite console ever.

 

[-NakedZ-]

What killed the DC? Sony. At that time, a lot of gamer aren't ready to move to the next era and was still enjoying their PSX and it's large library. And of course, there's the PS2. So I think gamers were like "I'm still enjoying my PSX games. Till then, I'll just wait for PS2."

- Z

 

[Megadrive1988]

the lack of Daytona USA 2 Battle on the Edge / Power Edition

the lack of a true Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star V.

lack of DVD movie playback


the Emotion Engine


just my opinions

 

[jvd]

Sega killed the dreamcast .

At the time they pulled the plug there were over 12 million dcs out there. THey had good subscribers to thier isp and thier games were still selling vrey well .


Sega just bailed out thinking that nintendo and ms would finish off the job but i would wager the dc would have hit at least 20 million even with the gc and xbox on the market . That would have been more than enough for sega to make money off the box .

Oh well its sad but nothing you can do

 

[Tsmit42]

EA

 

[Pozer]

1. Unrealistic PS2 hype. (cgi quality gfx etc.)
2. Lack of confidence in Sega (Saturn, 32x)
3. Lack of quality launch software and known franchises.
4. Sega lacked ca$h
5. Horrible controller.
6. Lack of advertising after launch.
7. EA

8. It couldn't/didn't do anything ps1/n64 could, minus fancier gfx.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

1. Unrealistic PS2 hype. (cgi quality gfx etc.)
2. Lack of confidence in Sega (Saturn, 32x)
3. Lack of quality launch software and known franchises.
4. Sega lacked ca$h
5. Horrible controller.
6. Lack of advertising after launch.
7. EA

8. It couldn't/didn't do anything ps1/n64 could, minus fancier gfx.

They didn't lack cash, they were always backed up by CSK... They did lose money, but that didn't mean they lacked it. Sega was never in any major trouble because of money problems.

 

[RichardCypher101]

1. Unrealistic PS2 hype. (cgi quality gfx etc.)

That hype was limited to a small demographic. The majority of consumers at launch bought it for its DVD-Playback + games.

-Rich

 

[UKt@xman]

The fact that you could download every single game off the usegroups, and burn onto a bootable CD........no one I know bought any games after they realised they could do that and how easy it was to do.
It's a shame really, because I think it still stacks up quite well against the PS2 now!

 

[Snyder]

5. Horrible controller.

While I'd agree with most of your other points, to this I have to say:
Definitely not. While it could have used one or two more buttons, I have never before or after used a better balanced controller. Neither the Dual Shock 2 nor the XBox S controller (which is quite similar, with its dual analog triggers) are that good IMO (although both are really good and have their specific strengths).
I can play intensely for hours with a Dreamcast controller without the slightest sign of fatigue or cramping in my hands, the buttons and triggers are precise as well as the analog stick, and the pad itself lies great in my hands.

 

[kyleb]

The fact that you could download every single game off the usegroups, and burn onto a bootable CD........no one I know bought any games after they realised they could do that and how easy it was to do.
It's a shame really, because I think it still stacks up quite well against the PS2 now!

Thats what it seemed like to me timming wise, and it just makes sense that no one would want to make games for a console with that flaw when they could exploit the more sercure market on other systems.

 

[UKt@xman]

The fact that you could download every single game off the usegroups, and burn onto a bootable CD........no one I know bought any games after they realised they could do that and how easy it was to do.
It's a shame really, because I think it still stacks up quite well against the PS2 now!

Thats what it seemed like to me timming wise, and it just makes sense that no one would want to make games for a console with that flaw when they could exploit the more sercure market on other systems.

Yep, timingwise it couldn't have been worse with the advent of faster internet connections and the huge reduction in the cost of CDr & burners.

 

[randycat99]

Eh, so essentially DC's own userbase killed it! (the piracy thing does make perfect sense, though, but I couldn't resist poking a little fun )

 

[ondaedg]

It was a good console. I think that Sega rushed it out because the Saturn took such a beating vs the PS1. Personally, I think it is all about momentum. Sony had momentum and everyone knew the PS2 was coming. People kept their cash and waited for the PS2. The hardcore gamers were the ones who supported the DC.

 

[randycat99]

I think it was cited earlier there was, what, 12 mil DC users? If that's not enough to keep a console alive, then what is? Now if you have rampant piracy eating into the revenue of a 12 mil DC userbase, then that is a BIG problem. No revenue, no way for DC to continue living.

 

[Phil]

Sony's mindshare after selling 60+ million of PSone's (or was it already around 70 - 80 million when Dreamcast launched)?

Why would happy Sony consumers change to Dreamcast when the next PlayStation with all their favorite franchises was around the corner? After all, they still had great support on the PSone giving them every reason to wait (FFIX, Ridge Racer 4 etc).

 

[pegisys]

I dont think it was piracy all 12 million users didn't download there games, I think it was dvd play back and disc size mostly, games were starting to use more than one disc on the psx, 300MB more was not enough it was holding the system back, and most of the multi system games were ports from the n64 which didn't show the true power of the system

 

[kopio0]

1. Unrealistic PS2 hype. (cgi quality gfx etc.)

games like kingom hearts, mgs, zoes, slient hills, onimoushas etc looks much better than most psone video cgs except for image quality issues so thats abit harsh imo...

 

[randycat99]

I dont think it was piracy all 12 million users didn't download there games,...

Of course, it wasn't all 12 mil. It is a hanging-by-a-thread grasp on the industry, however. Once the impact of piracy gets to a considerable point where it is eating into the legitimate revenue production of a 12 mil userbase, that can kill things pretty quick. From that respect, it would literally be insane to continue supporting a console that has been "hacked" that bad, and continue to lose revenue to a tide of piracy. It is not healthy for the game developers involved, nor the console builder. In a certain way, it was actually a gracious decision for Sega to bow-out DC when it did, rather than expect game developers to continue making new DC games in full knowledge that piracy will intercept a great amount of revenue that would justify making the games in the first place. In a sense, it was a no-win situation- only a minimize loss situation.

 

[quest55720]

1. Unrealistic PS2 hype. (cgi quality gfx etc.)
2. Lack of confidence in Sega (Saturn, 32x)
3. Lack of quality launch software and known franchises.
4. Sega lacked ca$h
5. Horrible controller.
6. Lack of advertising after launch.
7. EA

8. It couldn't/didn't do anything ps1/n64 could, minus fancier gfx.

I agree with all points but 3 and 5. The Dreamcast easily had the best launch line up in quality and quanity. I can't remember the whole line up but there were 2 AAA quality titles in soul calibre and NFL2K. I bought like 8 games at the dreamcast launch there were plenty of good titles from day one.

I personally liked the controller. The only problem was in fighting games but then the PS2,Xbox and GC controllers suck for fighting games.