Dreamcasts roll in the origins of the XBox fan base

[Carl B]

Dreamcast's role in the origins of the XBox fan base

Discussion in several different threads today got me thinking about something that I've thought about in the past, on and off.

Basically that question is: how many of the current XBox owners/fans were once Dreamcast owners/fans?

The reason I wonder is because I cannot help but notice the large number of Sega fans among all of the XBox owners out there. And on top of that, they seem to be some of the most vocal MS supporters there are. It could just be that later fact - that so many are so vocal - that makes it seem like there are a greater number of former Dreamcast owners than there really are, but I think it'd be interesting to find out.

Is MS and it's XBox basically viewed as the default successor to Sega?

Now, I would prefer if no one other than current (or former) Xbox owners voted in this poll. I think B3D is pretty good about respecting this stuff, and I myself will not be voting. For 'us,' I've made an extra vote choice, basically: 'Just watching' so that we can follow along with the results.

I also think that like that 'B3D Console Interest' poll recently, contentious posts should be kept to a minimum and focus around personal experience and opinion.

 

[The GameMaster]

Myself I was always more of a Nintendo fan up until after the Nintendo 64 days, I was more impartial to Sega myself... perferring Nintendo systems and games over Sega's, yet knowing that there was some really good games to play on the Sega platforms and have played a number of these games at times. In any case after it became apparent that Nintendo was not going to deliver the games that I wanted to play on their platform anymore I did eventually pick up a Dreamcast as well as a couple of RPGs that was interesting me at the time. Little did I know that the RPGs on the Dreamcast marked the end of the great Japanese RPGs... and for what it was worth I really enjoyed Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II on the Dreamcast and consider them not only the best Japanese RPGs of this generation... but the last great Japanese RPG as it stands right now.

The Dreamcast was the first Sega system I owned... and it was the last after their platform went under. In certain aspects I do consider the XBox platform a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast and Sega platforms in general... and I believe Sega will need to make a decision sooner rather than later in regards to their games, because how fragmented their fan base during this current generation has really hurt them. They need to decide on either releasing all of their games on all supported platforms or they need to choose just one platform and stick to that one platform... otherwise they will continue to have problems.

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

If it's of any use to you Xbd, I've thought the exact same thing. In fact, when Xbox came out and I saw the SEGA support, I infact thought that very thing. Xbox is the reincarnation of SEGA.

It's kinda humorous now because the Xbox 360 is almost in the exact same position now as the Dreamcast was at it's launch. The similarities are striking, and I'm sure every industry analyst worth their salt is watching the 360 so intensely they could probably burn a hole through it. It's a once in a lifetime chance to have such a excellent foil (Dreamcast/Xbox360) to see what's flys and falls in the industry and to gleen information on how to do things right/wrong.

(Note: I'm not saying the XBox360 would fail. In fact, I suggest the opposite. There's just a number of similarities between the two and I feel there's a good learning lesson in their foil. If it bothers you, sorry, but don't scream to me about it being absurd, since I obviously don't think that the case.)

 

[AlNom]

Didn't care too much for consoles after SNES until the day I held aloft my sword and said, "by the power of Grey Skull!"


...I mean, when I went over to my friend's house and played Halo.

 

[Carl B]

(Note: I'm not saying the XBox360 would fail. In fact, I suggest the opposite. There's just a number of similarities between the two and I feel there's a good learning lesson in their foil. If it bothers you, sorry, but don't scream to me about it being absurd, since I obviously don't think that the case.)

Ok Mefisuto I bolded that part of your post just to make sure everyone instantly recognizes you weren't trying to derail the thread.

Please please everyone... I'm not trying to make any Sega:MS comparisons, so let's just leave that out entirely. Also I might as well ask that for the most part, only XBox owners post so that no one feels there's a flame-trap being set here. Or if us non-XBox people post, that it just be on very neutral grounds.

Like... Gamemaster, I feel that I know you better now.

 

[Hardknock]

The reason I wonder is because I cannot help but notice the large number of Sega fans among all of the XBox owners out there. And on top of that, they seem to be some of the most vocal MS supporters there are.

Here's why this poll is a little skewed. I have always been a Nintendo man, never liked Sega. Dreamcast was my first Sega console, so just because I liked that console doesn't mean I'm a Sega f@nboy. I just really loved the games the console offered, and the graphics were unbelievable at the time. I then bought a Gamecube and Xbox.

 

[Carl B]

Here's why this poll is a little skewed. I have always been a Nintendo man, never liked Sega. Dreamcast was my first Sega console, so just because I liked that console doesn't mean I'm a Sega f@nboy. I just really loved the games the console offered, and the graphics were unbelievable at the time. I then bought a Gamecube and Xbox.

Hardknock to be honest I pared the choices down as best I could. I couldn't possibly address various degrees of Sega fandom, so I chose pretty well-rounded answers.

I feel you are pretty well covered by option #2 to tell you the truth, as it in no way implies having been a Sega diehard.

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Geh, sorry, Xbd. Got off on the wrong foot, if you want I can delete the post.

 

[Carl B]

Geh, sorry, Xbd. Got off on the wrong foot, if you want I can delete the post.

Mafisuto it's cool, don't worry about it.

(Now let's leave the floor to XBox owners)

 

[PARANOiA]

I owned a DC, then moved to XB because of the support of my fave Sega titles, such as the then new Panzer Dragoon title, Jet Set Radio, and Shenmue.

I've always had a pretty strong resentment for Sony for a few reasons. I had two PS1's, both in their "expensive" period (AU$700, and AU$499) and both died just after warranty period. I complained about the build quality but was told that it was just how it went. Talking to others I found the problem wasn't uncommon.

I moved to DC after this, when I needed a new machine. I saw Soul Calibur at a shop demo and know the next gen had hit. The DC wowed me with all the ingenuity and amazingly "different" games coming out for it, the likes of which I'd not seen before.

When Sega fell over, I was quite miffed, and felt the blame largely lay in crappy marketing by Sega, and Sony's then-young PS2 being over-hyped and over-promised by Sony (which I still believe to this day).

I went without a console for quite a while, living off DC games that I grabbed where I could (Skies of Arcadia in a 2nd hand store - woot).

When I saw JSRF running on the Xbox, I thought it was time to plonk down and get a machine which may have had a future, and quite possibly wouldn't have any build issues. Ironically, my Xbox DVD drive died just after warranty, so I wasn't too happy about that. Add the fact that HD support was removed from the Australian machines after sale and the component adapters removed from the shelf, and I feel MS did a crappy one on me too.

Overall, and on topic, the DC -> XB move was inspired by a library move more than anything. Next gen, I'll probably move to PS3 purely for the Japanese support. My fave games this gen for Xbox were the Japanese-inspired ones (particularly Ninja Gaiden and JSRF). After going to Sony Plaza in Ginza a couple of months ago, and seeing some fun PS2 games which never made it out over here, I feel like there's a market for me out there somewhere, it's just not obtainable right now.

As a closing statement, I'm not trying to bash Sony, MS or Sega here... I'm simply stating a series of events as it happened to me, and how it related to my purchases.

That's a long post. Back to work

 

[Inane_Dork]

I wasn't really aware of the console market until E3 2001. I think the timing had something to do with that being the first E3 after I started following video game news in earnest and it being such a big E3 for console gaming. I live in Redmond and know several MS employees, so my eyes were drawn to the Xbox to check it out.

So I never got a DC simply because it died about the time I got hooked up.

 

[DigitalSoul]

Yes, I owned a Dreamcast. However, I went from DC to PS2 to Xbox. I got my DC christmas 2000( I admit, it was a PS2 I wanted). I was happy with though....... untill just a few months later the news started to spring up that Sega was dropping support, going 3rd party and VF4 was in works for the PS2...arrgh!

My friend was a big Sega fan, so he was shocked when he heard that they were dropping support for the DC. He has no interests what so ever in Xbox though, so he got a PS2 and he likes it just fine.....

 

[jvd]

I went gamcube .

dc to gamecube .

 

[thundermonkey]

I went gamcube .

dc to gamecube .

Same here more or less.

I've got all three, PS2 is crapped out, Xbox DVD drive is wonky at times, and my GCN (launch day Cube, still works better then fine.)

I've always been a Nintendo and Sega fan, not that big a fan of Sony being that for two gens in a row their consoles have stopped working on me.

I like where MS has started, and when the 360 is cheaper I'll probably be picking it up.

PS3's the one I'm iffy about, I know I'll be pissing my pants for one when MGS4 comes out, and the next Silent Hill, but still not too sure.

Revolution I'll probably be picking up the day it releases, love the idea of that controller, and Nintendo consoles notoriously never fail. I don't think I can go wrong with a Rev.

 

[scooby_dooby]

nes > snes > n64 > ps2 > xbox > xbox360

 

[Edge]

I was the biggest SEGA diehard around. Devoted thousands of hours to my hobby site Dreamcast Technical Pages, but I refuse to support MS. My support is now with Nintendo and Sony.

Still a SEGA fan, and want more of their great games. Panzer Dragoon Saga sequel, and Eternal Arcadia sequel.

 

[see colon]

i think the reason there are so many sega->microsoft conversions is because...
-> sega and sony were competators, thus sony are evil
-> sega and nintendo were competators, thus nuntendo is evil
->microsoft never directly competed with sega in the living room, shenmue (the crown jewel of the DC) and panzer dragoon (the crown jewel of the saturn) went to XBOX, so sega fans go to XBOX

me, i'm console agnostic. i own all 3 current generation consoles, but my real passion is PC and portables. i even own a game.com

i wonder if the 2 game.com fans in the world bought NDS's

 

[Johnny Awesome]

A more useful poll would be to found out what systems all the DC users bought.

 

[Sis]

I had the PS1 and thought it was ok but never really got into it. When the Dreamcast came out, there was just something about it that I loved. Soul Caliber was awesome, Skies of Arcadia, NFL2k, NBA2k... the system just ruled. Playing Phantasy Star Online with my buddy.

I really admired what they were trying to do, which I believed/believe was to move the video gaming industry forward. PS2 came along with all these promises but in the end what did it offer? Improved graphics was it--and you didn't even get that initially.

So when the Dreamcast died its early death I very much resented Sony, since I cluelessly believed it all to be the fault of Sony. It wasn't until later that I learned there were many other reasons.

Besides, the PS2 has brought me such greats as Ico, Katamari Damacy, Dark Cloud 2 (amazing!), God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Eye Toy, and others. So we've since kissed and made up.

But people talk about the similarities between the DC and Xbox and others will shout them down, saying it's a stupid correlation, but honestly, the similarities are strong. When Peter Moore joined up at MS I about shat a brick (he's a bit of a one-trick pony: "Hey, I know, let's do some kind of MTV Special!"). Xbox Live is the natural progression of the DC's online system.

And the PS3 is full of promises but will largely amount to improved graphics (I'll shat another brick if I hear them do anything remotely interesting in terms of online). But they have some amazing games, so I don't complain too much. Of course, I have the luxury of being able to buy multiple systems over the long haul, so console debates are less interesting to me, in the end.

<apologies for the long-winded post>

.Sis

 

[Sis]

I was the biggest SEGA diehard around. Devoted thousands of hours to my hobby site Dreamcast Technical Pages, but I refuse to support MS. My support is now with Nintendo and Sony.

Still a SEGA fan, and want more of their great games. Panzer Dragoon Saga sequel, and Eternal Arcadia sequel.

I don't get the refusal part. If it's a good system and has games you want to play, why wouldn't you buy the system? Panzer sequel came out on the Xbox, if I remember correctly...

.Sis