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Looking back after the event, it's always easy to pinpoint what went wrong.
The doom merchants who predicted that the Sega Dreamcast would fail, and mockingly labelled it the Sega 'Won'tlast' and the Sega 'Diefast' were alas proven correct.
Anyway, the fact is, at this moment in time the Dreamcast is dying a dignified death - perhaps only in years come will people realise what a great console it was.
But with the wisdom of hindsight, here are (in my opinion) five ways Sega could have improved the Dreamcast's survival chances:
1. Sega should have delayed the launch of the Dreamcast until the Spring of 2000, so that they could have blasted onto the scene with gaming masterpieces such as Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi. The Dreamcast's launch titles were a little weak, and did nothing to persuade PlayStation owners to jump ship.
2. Instead of the stupid 'barber's hair-shaving' TV commercial, Sega should have knitted together an extravaganza of a TV ad showcasing the Dreamcast's graphical superiority over the PlayStation. I can't recall seeing one Dreamcast TV ad of this type. Sony know how to do it - just look at the now running Gran Turismo 3 ad.
3. On DreamArena there should have been large monthly cash prizes available in high score competitions - making good and worthwhile use of the Dreamcast's initially limited online capabilities. For example:
**Crazy Taxi Comp - most money earned on the Arcade City. (Post your best score onto an online ranking table).
1st Prize - £5,000.
10 Runners-up win a Dreamcast game of their choice.
Instead of sponsoring second-rate football teams, Sega should have used this money to promote these competitions in the media.
4. Sega should have sanctioned updates of old Sega classics, especially NiGHTS and Toejam & Earl. They should have also ported over more top quality PC games.
5. When Sony relaunched the PSone, Sega should have slashed the price of the Dreamcast there and then to £99.99. Failing to compete with the PSone relaunch was the final nail in the Dreamcast's coffin.
A great philosopher once said: 'Foresight is knowledge', and Sega's recent move into the all format console market surely signals an end to their distinct lack of past judgement.
I look forward to playing great Sega games on whatever console in the future.
The doom merchants who predicted that the Sega Dreamcast would fail, and mockingly labelled it the Sega 'Won'tlast' and the Sega 'Diefast' were alas proven correct.
Anyway, the fact is, at this moment in time the Dreamcast is dying a dignified death - perhaps only in years come will people realise what a great console it was.
But with the wisdom of hindsight, here are (in my opinion) five ways Sega could have improved the Dreamcast's survival chances:
1. Sega should have delayed the launch of the Dreamcast until the Spring of 2000, so that they could have blasted onto the scene with gaming masterpieces such as Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi. The Dreamcast's launch titles were a little weak, and did nothing to persuade PlayStation owners to jump ship.
2. Instead of the stupid 'barber's hair-shaving' TV commercial, Sega should have knitted together an extravaganza of a TV ad showcasing the Dreamcast's graphical superiority over the PlayStation. I can't recall seeing one Dreamcast TV ad of this type. Sony know how to do it - just look at the now running Gran Turismo 3 ad.
3. On DreamArena there should have been large monthly cash prizes available in high score competitions - making good and worthwhile use of the Dreamcast's initially limited online capabilities. For example:
**Crazy Taxi Comp - most money earned on the Arcade City. (Post your best score onto an online ranking table).
1st Prize - £5,000.
10 Runners-up win a Dreamcast game of their choice.
Instead of sponsoring second-rate football teams, Sega should have used this money to promote these competitions in the media.
4. Sega should have sanctioned updates of old Sega classics, especially NiGHTS and Toejam & Earl. They should have also ported over more top quality PC games.
5. When Sony relaunched the PSone, Sega should have slashed the price of the Dreamcast there and then to £99.99. Failing to compete with the PSone relaunch was the final nail in the Dreamcast's coffin.
A great philosopher once said: 'Foresight is knowledge', and Sega's recent move into the all format console market surely signals an end to their distinct lack of past judgement.
I look forward to playing great Sega games on whatever console in the future.
Page:
Looking back after the event, it's always easy to pinpoint what went wrong.
The doom merchants who predicted that the Sega Dreamcast would fail, and mockingly labelled it the Sega 'Won'tlast' and the Sega 'Diefast' were alas proven correct.
Anyway, the fact is, at this moment in time the Dreamcast is dying a dignified death - perhaps only in years come will people realise what a great console it was.
But with the wisdom of hindsight, here are (in my opinion) five ways Sega could have improved the Dreamcast's survival chances:
1. Sega should have delayed the launch of the Dreamcast until the Spring of 2000, so that they could have blasted onto the scene with gaming masterpieces such as Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi. The Dreamcast's launch titles were a little weak, and did nothing to persuade PlayStation owners to jump ship.
2. Instead of the stupid 'barber's hair-shaving' TV commercial, Sega should have knitted together an extravaganza of a TV ad showcasing the Dreamcast's graphical superiority over the PlayStation. I can't recall seeing one Dreamcast TV ad of this type. Sony know how to do it - just look at the now running Gran Turismo 3 ad.
3. On DreamArena there should have been large monthly cash prizes available in high score competitions - making good and worthwhile use of the Dreamcast's initially limited online capabilities. For example:
**Crazy Taxi Comp - most money earned on the Arcade City. (Post your best score onto an online ranking table).
1st Prize - £5,000.
10 Runners-up win a Dreamcast game of their choice.
Instead of sponsoring second-rate football teams, Sega should have used this money to promote these competitions in the media.
4. Sega should have sanctioned updates of old Sega classics, especially NiGHTS and Toejam & Earl. They should have also ported over more top quality PC games.
5. When Sony relaunched the PSone, Sega should have slashed the price of the Dreamcast there and then to £99.99. Failing to compete with the PSone relaunch was the final nail in the Dreamcast's coffin.
A great philosopher once said: 'Foresight is knowledge', and Sega's recent move into the all format console market surely signals an end to their distinct lack of past judgement.
I look forward to playing great Sega games on whatever console in the future.
The doom merchants who predicted that the Sega Dreamcast would fail, and mockingly labelled it the Sega 'Won'tlast' and the Sega 'Diefast' were alas proven correct.
Anyway, the fact is, at this moment in time the Dreamcast is dying a dignified death - perhaps only in years come will people realise what a great console it was.
But with the wisdom of hindsight, here are (in my opinion) five ways Sega could have improved the Dreamcast's survival chances:
1. Sega should have delayed the launch of the Dreamcast until the Spring of 2000, so that they could have blasted onto the scene with gaming masterpieces such as Soul Calibur and Crazy Taxi. The Dreamcast's launch titles were a little weak, and did nothing to persuade PlayStation owners to jump ship.
2. Instead of the stupid 'barber's hair-shaving' TV commercial, Sega should have knitted together an extravaganza of a TV ad showcasing the Dreamcast's graphical superiority over the PlayStation. I can't recall seeing one Dreamcast TV ad of this type. Sony know how to do it - just look at the now running Gran Turismo 3 ad.
3. On DreamArena there should have been large monthly cash prizes available in high score competitions - making good and worthwhile use of the Dreamcast's initially limited online capabilities. For example:
**Crazy Taxi Comp - most money earned on the Arcade City. (Post your best score onto an online ranking table).
1st Prize - £5,000.
10 Runners-up win a Dreamcast game of their choice.
Instead of sponsoring second-rate football teams, Sega should have used this money to promote these competitions in the media.
4. Sega should have sanctioned updates of old Sega classics, especially NiGHTS and Toejam & Earl. They should have also ported over more top quality PC games.
5. When Sony relaunched the PSone, Sega should have slashed the price of the Dreamcast there and then to £99.99. Failing to compete with the PSone relaunch was the final nail in the Dreamcast's coffin.
A great philosopher once said: 'Foresight is knowledge', and Sega's recent move into the all format console market surely signals an end to their distinct lack of past judgement.
I look forward to playing great Sega games on whatever console in the future.
I agree with most points except the first one. No matter when the DC was launched it would have second rate launch games. As does every other console. Games only get better as the developers get feedback from us as to whether or not we liked it.
Also thinking about it Sega had little choice apart from to try and be the first console out and steal Nintendo and Sony followers. The abysmal Saturn left Sega in no position to be fussy, they had to try and claw back gamers and would have had an even slimmer chance of doing this if the DC was delayed until 2000.
Also thinking about it Sega had little choice apart from to try and be the first console out and steal Nintendo and Sony followers. The abysmal Saturn left Sega in no position to be fussy, they had to try and claw back gamers and would have had an even slimmer chance of doing this if the DC was delayed until 2000.
I don't like Sony adverts, they make no sense and make me want to avoid Sony consoles rather than buy them. Those graphical greatness ones tend to show things I've seen before and often I've seen better things, especially on the PC. The only good console advert I can remember was the Donkey Kong one, but the game failed to impress really. It was fun though. I hope that adverts in the future get better because it seems that only beer adverts are any good these days and very few of those.
Ah, but the spirit of the DC lives on in other platforms, which is altogether a greater existence.
Ahhhhh Deep Breath....
Dreamcast. Odd name for a games console don’t you think? Well, on the Saturn’s premature, but deserved death bed every Sega fan and fan who believed in good clean, fun and pure gaming was either rapped up in their PlayStations by now, or beginning to look into Sega’s new piece of gaming hardware, and surely this would be the next ‘console to own’ as Sega weren’t going to allow the same ill fate that the black mammoth sized intergalactic planet named 32bit PSX ‘rival’ suffered! Surely not…
So, why did I get one? I never really caught on to the promises that Sega made about the Saturn & either way unless they vowed that it would fail miserably, despite being home to the greatest game of all time, they didn’t keep them. Still, I guess I must have been one of the few Sega Saturn owners to actually not care what status the machine was in – I never considered it ‘dead’, after playing Nights, one of the freshest, most original and highly playable games I have ever experienced, how the hell could the Saturn be dead? If you’re talking retail sales, then ok, the Saturn never really stood a chance – it shouldn’t have sold more than Sony’s debutant simply because it wasn’t as powerful, competent or as programmable! But if you want to play Nights its simply worth getting a Saturn.
Right, forget the Saturn, Dreamcast – a shiny new name, shiny new exciting peripherals and screenshots that made many a jaw dislocate – I remember looking at the Soul Calibur shots and MSR shots and just knew I just had to get this machine. Soul Calibur’s backgrounds alone were worth my £200. The Dreamcast was up against a sceptical industry though, with EA declining to sign on to develop games for it. Thank god for that! But honestly, if EA had of done, the current situation would not be as it is. And we could have done with a Fifa – one at least. The name Dreamcast, could this mean that all your dreams would be cast and answered through this groundbreaking 128bit games console?
But wait. This is was to be more than just a games machine. Everyday I’d look on different websites even before the Japanese Dreamcast launch, just to see what the UK and European PAL launch would bring. Would we get a modem or not? That was a question that raised many eyebrows and finally the relieving news was published with the headline across the gaming sites ‘October 14th.10 games. £199.99.’ Ah yes. Oh and the news of a 33.6k modem was great. So, at this point the Dreamcast looked like it was to be the gamers’ choice, with a really bright future and a record launch sales in Japan. But something was looming over the horizon, you know exactly what that something is…
Sony are dominating the console market, their PS2 has sold fantastically after the incredibly PSX/PS1 reign, and it’s a damn fine machine, with the games getting better all the time. But still, bizarrely, the PlayStation outsells the PS2 by 4:1 - much the same figure that it outsold the Dreamcast by. So why did Sega aim its console at potential PS2 owners instead of the PSX owners? Well, that’s a great question, which in hindsight is probably what they should have asked themselves. Still, the present situation is this: no more Dreamcast consoles being made, more and more games are being canned – for a stupid reason which I shall explain nearer the end of this, the Dreamcast is Sega’s last ever games machine (for now), but on the incredibly bright side everything is now incredible value in the Dreamcast world!
Dreamcast is £79.99, and the games at SRP are just £29.99, but you’ll be able to get many titles for less than £10. So why should you get one if it’s out of production, and out of the 128bit race? The gaming industry as a whole have had their revenge on Sega – they didn’t support the Dreamcast, and now they’re losing so much money as backing one horse that doesn’t want to run, and isn’t going as fast as it should be, really isn’t a great idea. Everyone’s losing money apart from Nintendo who continue to go from strength to strength thanks to the insanely popular Pokemon! So, they try to kill off Sega, succeed in that the DC ceases, then they lose loads of money, and now Sega are in the software market solely and are probably going to make them suffer even more still by showing the world how impressive their games are. Slightly ironic, I think you’ll agree! Let’s see what happens…it’s like hunting a shark that can live out of water. Go kick non-swearing word for backside Sega!
Right, so you’ve got your PS2, or maybe you haven’t – if you’re in the later category then well done, you’re both in financial security and have the chance to wait for the Game Cube or X-box, both of which will be cheaper than the PlayStation 2 was at launch. But if you can’t wait, and still having trouble trying to convince yourself that Superman on the N64 is the best game around, then I’d suggest you spend your money on a Dreamcast. As a previous PS2 owner I can honestly say the Dreamcast for me offered so much more, and at a third of the price you cannot, cannot go wrong.
There are at least 30 superb titles that deserve the status of ‘must have’, and I’ve probably owned or own most of them still. Be patient, this takes me longer to write than it does for you to read!!
The best for racing games:
Bizarre Creations took a year and half too long and still the game had bugs, (but we were allowed to send the game back and get a bug free version) but for a game to be released that’s so impressive as Metropolis Street Racer is something you don’t get very often. Some people find the ‘warning’ notification annoying as you hit a wall or opposition vehicle, but you have to appreciate and respect the incredibly 250 different routes spread out across 3 real life, sleeping (lack of people, birds etc), huge meticulously recreated cities with ultra realistic graphics, a delicious control system and over 40 stunning cars. It’s nothing like Gran Turismo so I won’t compare the two, but MSR is superb – and is the basis of the new X-Box racing game which looks like ‘wow’. Green TVR, hmm very shiny me like!
Don’t like the sound of that & don’t want the respect of AI machines in Kudos form? Nah? Well, arguably a far more playable racing game is Le Mans 24 whose 4player mode is faultless. Yes you can race the 24hour race, I haven’t of course, but if you want the definitive version of a game based on the world’s most famous race then get this. Criminally underrated, not a lot of Infogrames’ race up got bought – does that make it a dead game? Hell no. If you don’t like the sound of that then feast your eyes on games like F355 Challenge – the most passionate racing game under the sun, one car, one goal, on and offline play. Genius – and it’s graphically stunning! Daytona USA is a bit of fun and again, makes use of the FOUR Dreamcast control ports. Take note.
Best of the rest include Sega rally 2, Toy Racer and Wacky Races. Don’t get 4 Wheel Thunder – it will give you a headache.
The best for beat ‘em ups? Of course you could ignore Soul Calibur for the rest of your life, but number 2’s on the way to PS2 so you won’t be able to resist the lure of gameplay and graphics that crack up at Tekken (as in laughing, ironically, they’re both from Namco…). Soul Calibur is the king of fighting games with plenty of superbly detailed characters, weaponry and some mind-blowing background and stages! It’s a dream to play, and is probably the only flawless (100% flawless) 1 or 2 player game I have ever played.
Dead or Alive 2 comes close, but ultimately doesn’t match Calibur longevity wise, and has a supreme 4player tag mode. Right, you’re getting bored I can tell. Best of the rest of the rest include any 2D Capcom fighting game (if you like that style of fighting game), Project Justice is actually pretty good, Power Stone – either 1 or 2 are delightfully different and playable, err, Fighting Vipers 2 may bring back memories, and of course, Shenmue includes some astounding Japanese Bruce Lee style fighting action. Oh and Ready 2 Rumble is a laugh but avoid any wrestling game!
Special brief mention for UFC – a hardcore smash em up pure fighting game which is worth buying!
The best for originality! There’s a word – O R I G I N A L I T Y. Yep, just making sure I can spell it ;)
So what can Sega’s little white box of tricks do that nothing else can?
One game that’s highly in demand at the moment, and probably always will be seeing as only 2000 were made for the UK, is Samba De Amigo and Maracas/dance mat system. Oh yes – this’ll fetch around £170 at auction…why? Because everyone wants to play it! They say you can’t put a price on happiness, I paid £70, ahem, but Sega’s manic, magic and musical dance ’n’ shake ‘em up is something to be proud of owning. Everybody’s shy to play it at first - not wanting to look like a fool, but soon when one person’s braved the embarrassment everyone will be queuing up to play! It’s not so much what happens on the screen, it’s what happens of the screen that makes it such an enjoyable and incredibly fascinating game! Simply select a song, follow the blue balls on screen and let your hands and hips do the work! Pose, shake and play the mini games – this is far better than a CV work out! 2hours a day recommended!! Superb sound, funky tracks and hilarious monkey action, get this if you can!
Not content with making Sega Bass Fishing, Shenmue and Crazy Taxi, Sega manage to hide the sad fact that they wasted £20million on sponsoring 4 different football clubs, without having a real killer-app football simulation on their machine, although Uefa Striker is a fine game, as is Uefa Dream, they’re not quite ISS Pro are they? So instead of telling Silicon Dreams they’re basically rubbish, Sega turn to Hitmaker and Sega Sports to produce some absolute gems!
Sports games? Oh yes!
Highlights? Virtua Tennis! The only Dreamcast game to manage a number 1 all format position in the charts, selling incredibly well despite a lack of advertising, is simply the best sports game of all time. No question about it! 4player madness, intensely realistic rallying with 8 real life superstars, as well as 8 complimentary made-uppies, this is the most fantastic sports title ever! Intuitive gameplay that even Bill Gates could cope with, stunning, and I mean STUNNING graphics, which will be better in Virtua Tennis 2 of course (higher poly count, women players etc…) so get this it’s a must have!
NBA 2K. I can’t wait for NBA2K2 after playing NBA2K for a year now – we weren’t allowed NBA2K1 for some reason…hmm, as if that 33.6k modem is good enough… but still NBA from Sega is an excellent basketball title – it’s so much more realistic than the PS2 NBA Street or something, and with the player create system making for unprecedented laughter (5ft tall 500lbers with huge afros that can’t not dunk it!) and a really sublime commentary team, who hardly ever repeat what they say, repeat what they say, unlike in the football games! NBA2K2, if it gets a release, as it should do, will be amazing. Believe.
The best of extreme sports is undoubtedly Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, which is one of the games I’ll be getting with my GBA on June 22nd. Great two player bouts, an incredible amount of moves and authentic American attitude with a stylish soundtrack! A very nice create a skate park and skateboarder feature makes THPS2 one of the best selling, and rightly so, Activision titles.
RPG? “Repetitive pathetic gulp” or maybe ‘role playing game’ either way I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but Phantasy Star Online almost converted me. Online madness, offline insanity and fantastically presented and produced – one of the best games of 2000, and another Sonic Team marvel. The Dreamcast also has Grandia2, Evolution, Skies of Arcadia, and more, which I err, cannot think of!
The rest? Well Crazy Taxi defies logic and has had success on both PS2 and Dreamcast, with the year older version bettering Acclaim’s so-so porting of hitmaker’s delight. It’s one of Sega’s best games of all time, but don’t let that put you off buying it (eh?) so choose your format and get CT! Or alternatively wait for Crazy Taxi 2, which is a Dreamcast exclusive (for now) and should be hitting our shores, delivering a fresh aroma of New York craziness soon. Hop-hop!
Adventure/platform gaming. Rayman 2 and Sonic Adventure dispel anything else, although if you’re a major Resident evil fan, or not as the case maybe, get either Code veronica or RE3, as both are pretty darn impressive! Sonic is about to be joined with Sonic 2, and Rayman 2 still remains highly playable and visually impressive! You could try Super Magnetic Neo, but it’s nothing like the Matrix, nowhere near as good. Avoid anything with ‘army men’ or ‘toy story’ in ok?
Special mention for Sonic team’s freebie ChuChu Rocket, which spawned the launch of console online gaming! It’s actually pretty good! Also, Planet Ring defies convention – great fun, mad, but superb at 3am.
Online gaming. Scared? No money left? Well it’s 1p a minute, but just limit yourself. Nothing else is online yet, so Sega’s USP for Dreamcast is the online readiness. And it’s simply brilliant! If you don’t have a PC, then get yourself a Dreamcast for the cheapest and most effective online device. Oh, but then if you don’t have a PC, you’re probably not reading this….
Online games?
Well, all the games mentioned below, with Exception of Planet Ring, have both online and offline modes:
Quake 3 Arena: oh yes, lag-less, not legless and a real laugh. Not quite enough weapons, but highly playable with some nice touches and lighting effects. Worth getting if you like fragging people!
F355 – see above! Well, online it’s slightly odd. You have to wait a while, select a track - you get put on a different track to qualify, with the top 8 racers of 16 being able to race! Thing is, you don’t get to see them play against you whilst you racing which is good because it doesn’t distract, except you cannot affect how well they do (i.e. shove them off the track!), but when the races are over, the DC does it’s thing and you get disconnected, watch the replay with cars going through each other – entertaining if nothing else, and then feel slightly annoyed as a Japanese person totally thrashes the rest of you in a green manual Ferrari ‘number 1’ hmm.
ChuChu Rocket. Well? It’s free, although some places are charging £29.99 for it, so be careful. Is it online madness or online badness? A half second lag time totally changes the way the game plays, but it’s quite fun to beat the French at something. It’s colourful, tuneful and addictive with some really great touches! Still, it won’t last you that long.
Phantasy Star Online - wow! 250,000 have signed up for this so far, and it’s clear to see why. Online multiplayer adventures. It’s crazy, but it’s original. It’s Sonic Team of course!
Toy Racer is an online racing game, very simple, very happy and good for charity, so at just £5 you have to get it really.
Daytona USA 2001 on...no wait it doesn’t have online play because we are European, THANKS SEGA! Sarcasm.
Planet Ring? What’s this! Well, I’ve written a 2500 word review on it, so go read it, bah! It’s funny, odd, but you can use your microphone! If you buy one! Very nice!
Speed Devils online is a fairly half decent racing game, but not that great.
Is that it?
Ok, so there’s a few you can take to the world and prove your brilliance, but I am not 100% happy with Sega’s attitude despite the fantastic gaming they have brought us/me.
Reasons?
Broken promises. Back when the Dreamcast was being promoted, I complained, along with many, about the lack of ‘proper’ advertising, like using advertising that actually relates to the console and product it’s trying to sell (i.e. using in game footage), I wrote various emails to Sega – stating my views, and was assured, in a long hefty reply that “we will not let our unique offering fail”, did they? Well it happened, despite it’s glorious moments, not enough people were able to experience them. At least it did better than the Saturn eh?
Canning. Oh yeah, when you’ve made a game, got over a hundred thousand pre-orders, you don’t decide to can a game do you? Course not, but will Half-Life make it? That is a very good question, and the answer should be yes of course. We’ve waited 6months too long. Don’t disappoint anymore. So what else has been nailed? Well…
Soul Reaver 2. Soul Calibur 2. Uefa Striker 2001. (Half Life). Colin McRae 2. Basically anything else by infogrames and loads more too, but they’re the main ones. Thing is us UK and European owners don’t even get half of the features and wonders that our distant cousins in the USA and Japan get. No 56k modem at launch. No broadband modem. No online options for Sega rally 2, Daytona, no sign of ‘Seaman’, a year’s wait for coloured pads! I mean, what have they got against us? “The Dreamcast is still our main focus” “We will continue to support the Dreamcast until 2002” yeah, right.
Games companies have never had a better time to produce games for the Dreamcast, as there have never been so many Dreamcast owners! Surely the support should grow, not fall? It’s a young console still, easy to program (says he who has no knowledge of game programming) and anything that even ushers a sign life on the system will sell by the bucket load. They shouldn’t give up it’s daft. I predict, hope at least, that someone will continue to release games for the console, as they would make loads! How many copies of CT2 do you think are going to sell? Top format chart contender perhaps? Shenmue 2 will sell well too I am positive.
Peripherally, (wow that’s actually a word), the Dreamcast has some innovative plug-ins! The VMU – best memory card design of all time, microphone, fishing rod, light gun, steering wheels, vibration packs, oh it’s the same as most, but the VMU and controllers are great. Keyboard wise. It’s got one. Mine’s mint in box, as I never use it so there you go!
Phew, am I done yet?
I’d recommend the Dreamcast to you! It’s not going to help them, they make a loss still, it can only help you.
Roll on the Game Cube & X-box.
Dreamcast. Odd name for a games console don’t you think? Well, on the Saturn’s premature, but deserved death bed every Sega fan and fan who believed in good clean, fun and pure gaming was either rapped up in their PlayStations by now, or beginning to look into Sega’s new piece of gaming hardware, and surely this would be the next ‘console to own’ as Sega weren’t going to allow the same ill fate that the black mammoth sized intergalactic planet named 32bit PSX ‘rival’ suffered! Surely not…
So, why did I get one? I never really caught on to the promises that Sega made about the Saturn & either way unless they vowed that it would fail miserably, despite being home to the greatest game of all time, they didn’t keep them. Still, I guess I must have been one of the few Sega Saturn owners to actually not care what status the machine was in – I never considered it ‘dead’, after playing Nights, one of the freshest, most original and highly playable games I have ever experienced, how the hell could the Saturn be dead? If you’re talking retail sales, then ok, the Saturn never really stood a chance – it shouldn’t have sold more than Sony’s debutant simply because it wasn’t as powerful, competent or as programmable! But if you want to play Nights its simply worth getting a Saturn.
Right, forget the Saturn, Dreamcast – a shiny new name, shiny new exciting peripherals and screenshots that made many a jaw dislocate – I remember looking at the Soul Calibur shots and MSR shots and just knew I just had to get this machine. Soul Calibur’s backgrounds alone were worth my £200. The Dreamcast was up against a sceptical industry though, with EA declining to sign on to develop games for it. Thank god for that! But honestly, if EA had of done, the current situation would not be as it is. And we could have done with a Fifa – one at least. The name Dreamcast, could this mean that all your dreams would be cast and answered through this groundbreaking 128bit games console?
But wait. This is was to be more than just a games machine. Everyday I’d look on different websites even before the Japanese Dreamcast launch, just to see what the UK and European PAL launch would bring. Would we get a modem or not? That was a question that raised many eyebrows and finally the relieving news was published with the headline across the gaming sites ‘October 14th.10 games. £199.99.’ Ah yes. Oh and the news of a 33.6k modem was great. So, at this point the Dreamcast looked like it was to be the gamers’ choice, with a really bright future and a record launch sales in Japan. But something was looming over the horizon, you know exactly what that something is…
Sony are dominating the console market, their PS2 has sold fantastically after the incredibly PSX/PS1 reign, and it’s a damn fine machine, with the games getting better all the time. But still, bizarrely, the PlayStation outsells the PS2 by 4:1 - much the same figure that it outsold the Dreamcast by. So why did Sega aim its console at potential PS2 owners instead of the PSX owners? Well, that’s a great question, which in hindsight is probably what they should have asked themselves. Still, the present situation is this: no more Dreamcast consoles being made, more and more games are being canned – for a stupid reason which I shall explain nearer the end of this, the Dreamcast is Sega’s last ever games machine (for now), but on the incredibly bright side everything is now incredible value in the Dreamcast world!
Dreamcast is £79.99, and the games at SRP are just £29.99, but you’ll be able to get many titles for less than £10. So why should you get one if it’s out of production, and out of the 128bit race? The gaming industry as a whole have had their revenge on Sega – they didn’t support the Dreamcast, and now they’re losing so much money as backing one horse that doesn’t want to run, and isn’t going as fast as it should be, really isn’t a great idea. Everyone’s losing money apart from Nintendo who continue to go from strength to strength thanks to the insanely popular Pokemon! So, they try to kill off Sega, succeed in that the DC ceases, then they lose loads of money, and now Sega are in the software market solely and are probably going to make them suffer even more still by showing the world how impressive their games are. Slightly ironic, I think you’ll agree! Let’s see what happens…it’s like hunting a shark that can live out of water. Go kick non-swearing word for backside Sega!
Right, so you’ve got your PS2, or maybe you haven’t – if you’re in the later category then well done, you’re both in financial security and have the chance to wait for the Game Cube or X-box, both of which will be cheaper than the PlayStation 2 was at launch. But if you can’t wait, and still having trouble trying to convince yourself that Superman on the N64 is the best game around, then I’d suggest you spend your money on a Dreamcast. As a previous PS2 owner I can honestly say the Dreamcast for me offered so much more, and at a third of the price you cannot, cannot go wrong.
There are at least 30 superb titles that deserve the status of ‘must have’, and I’ve probably owned or own most of them still. Be patient, this takes me longer to write than it does for you to read!!
The best for racing games:
Bizarre Creations took a year and half too long and still the game had bugs, (but we were allowed to send the game back and get a bug free version) but for a game to be released that’s so impressive as Metropolis Street Racer is something you don’t get very often. Some people find the ‘warning’ notification annoying as you hit a wall or opposition vehicle, but you have to appreciate and respect the incredibly 250 different routes spread out across 3 real life, sleeping (lack of people, birds etc), huge meticulously recreated cities with ultra realistic graphics, a delicious control system and over 40 stunning cars. It’s nothing like Gran Turismo so I won’t compare the two, but MSR is superb – and is the basis of the new X-Box racing game which looks like ‘wow’. Green TVR, hmm very shiny me like!
Don’t like the sound of that & don’t want the respect of AI machines in Kudos form? Nah? Well, arguably a far more playable racing game is Le Mans 24 whose 4player mode is faultless. Yes you can race the 24hour race, I haven’t of course, but if you want the definitive version of a game based on the world’s most famous race then get this. Criminally underrated, not a lot of Infogrames’ race up got bought – does that make it a dead game? Hell no. If you don’t like the sound of that then feast your eyes on games like F355 Challenge – the most passionate racing game under the sun, one car, one goal, on and offline play. Genius – and it’s graphically stunning! Daytona USA is a bit of fun and again, makes use of the FOUR Dreamcast control ports. Take note.
Best of the rest include Sega rally 2, Toy Racer and Wacky Races. Don’t get 4 Wheel Thunder – it will give you a headache.
The best for beat ‘em ups? Of course you could ignore Soul Calibur for the rest of your life, but number 2’s on the way to PS2 so you won’t be able to resist the lure of gameplay and graphics that crack up at Tekken (as in laughing, ironically, they’re both from Namco…). Soul Calibur is the king of fighting games with plenty of superbly detailed characters, weaponry and some mind-blowing background and stages! It’s a dream to play, and is probably the only flawless (100% flawless) 1 or 2 player game I have ever played.
Dead or Alive 2 comes close, but ultimately doesn’t match Calibur longevity wise, and has a supreme 4player tag mode. Right, you’re getting bored I can tell. Best of the rest of the rest include any 2D Capcom fighting game (if you like that style of fighting game), Project Justice is actually pretty good, Power Stone – either 1 or 2 are delightfully different and playable, err, Fighting Vipers 2 may bring back memories, and of course, Shenmue includes some astounding Japanese Bruce Lee style fighting action. Oh and Ready 2 Rumble is a laugh but avoid any wrestling game!
Special brief mention for UFC – a hardcore smash em up pure fighting game which is worth buying!
The best for originality! There’s a word – O R I G I N A L I T Y. Yep, just making sure I can spell it ;)
So what can Sega’s little white box of tricks do that nothing else can?
One game that’s highly in demand at the moment, and probably always will be seeing as only 2000 were made for the UK, is Samba De Amigo and Maracas/dance mat system. Oh yes – this’ll fetch around £170 at auction…why? Because everyone wants to play it! They say you can’t put a price on happiness, I paid £70, ahem, but Sega’s manic, magic and musical dance ’n’ shake ‘em up is something to be proud of owning. Everybody’s shy to play it at first - not wanting to look like a fool, but soon when one person’s braved the embarrassment everyone will be queuing up to play! It’s not so much what happens on the screen, it’s what happens of the screen that makes it such an enjoyable and incredibly fascinating game! Simply select a song, follow the blue balls on screen and let your hands and hips do the work! Pose, shake and play the mini games – this is far better than a CV work out! 2hours a day recommended!! Superb sound, funky tracks and hilarious monkey action, get this if you can!
Not content with making Sega Bass Fishing, Shenmue and Crazy Taxi, Sega manage to hide the sad fact that they wasted £20million on sponsoring 4 different football clubs, without having a real killer-app football simulation on their machine, although Uefa Striker is a fine game, as is Uefa Dream, they’re not quite ISS Pro are they? So instead of telling Silicon Dreams they’re basically rubbish, Sega turn to Hitmaker and Sega Sports to produce some absolute gems!
Sports games? Oh yes!
Highlights? Virtua Tennis! The only Dreamcast game to manage a number 1 all format position in the charts, selling incredibly well despite a lack of advertising, is simply the best sports game of all time. No question about it! 4player madness, intensely realistic rallying with 8 real life superstars, as well as 8 complimentary made-uppies, this is the most fantastic sports title ever! Intuitive gameplay that even Bill Gates could cope with, stunning, and I mean STUNNING graphics, which will be better in Virtua Tennis 2 of course (higher poly count, women players etc…) so get this it’s a must have!
NBA 2K. I can’t wait for NBA2K2 after playing NBA2K for a year now – we weren’t allowed NBA2K1 for some reason…hmm, as if that 33.6k modem is good enough… but still NBA from Sega is an excellent basketball title – it’s so much more realistic than the PS2 NBA Street or something, and with the player create system making for unprecedented laughter (5ft tall 500lbers with huge afros that can’t not dunk it!) and a really sublime commentary team, who hardly ever repeat what they say, repeat what they say, unlike in the football games! NBA2K2, if it gets a release, as it should do, will be amazing. Believe.
The best of extreme sports is undoubtedly Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, which is one of the games I’ll be getting with my GBA on June 22nd. Great two player bouts, an incredible amount of moves and authentic American attitude with a stylish soundtrack! A very nice create a skate park and skateboarder feature makes THPS2 one of the best selling, and rightly so, Activision titles.
RPG? “Repetitive pathetic gulp” or maybe ‘role playing game’ either way I’m not a huge fan of the genre, but Phantasy Star Online almost converted me. Online madness, offline insanity and fantastically presented and produced – one of the best games of 2000, and another Sonic Team marvel. The Dreamcast also has Grandia2, Evolution, Skies of Arcadia, and more, which I err, cannot think of!
The rest? Well Crazy Taxi defies logic and has had success on both PS2 and Dreamcast, with the year older version bettering Acclaim’s so-so porting of hitmaker’s delight. It’s one of Sega’s best games of all time, but don’t let that put you off buying it (eh?) so choose your format and get CT! Or alternatively wait for Crazy Taxi 2, which is a Dreamcast exclusive (for now) and should be hitting our shores, delivering a fresh aroma of New York craziness soon. Hop-hop!
Adventure/platform gaming. Rayman 2 and Sonic Adventure dispel anything else, although if you’re a major Resident evil fan, or not as the case maybe, get either Code veronica or RE3, as both are pretty darn impressive! Sonic is about to be joined with Sonic 2, and Rayman 2 still remains highly playable and visually impressive! You could try Super Magnetic Neo, but it’s nothing like the Matrix, nowhere near as good. Avoid anything with ‘army men’ or ‘toy story’ in ok?
Special mention for Sonic team’s freebie ChuChu Rocket, which spawned the launch of console online gaming! It’s actually pretty good! Also, Planet Ring defies convention – great fun, mad, but superb at 3am.
Online gaming. Scared? No money left? Well it’s 1p a minute, but just limit yourself. Nothing else is online yet, so Sega’s USP for Dreamcast is the online readiness. And it’s simply brilliant! If you don’t have a PC, then get yourself a Dreamcast for the cheapest and most effective online device. Oh, but then if you don’t have a PC, you’re probably not reading this….
Online games?
Well, all the games mentioned below, with Exception of Planet Ring, have both online and offline modes:
Quake 3 Arena: oh yes, lag-less, not legless and a real laugh. Not quite enough weapons, but highly playable with some nice touches and lighting effects. Worth getting if you like fragging people!
F355 – see above! Well, online it’s slightly odd. You have to wait a while, select a track - you get put on a different track to qualify, with the top 8 racers of 16 being able to race! Thing is, you don’t get to see them play against you whilst you racing which is good because it doesn’t distract, except you cannot affect how well they do (i.e. shove them off the track!), but when the races are over, the DC does it’s thing and you get disconnected, watch the replay with cars going through each other – entertaining if nothing else, and then feel slightly annoyed as a Japanese person totally thrashes the rest of you in a green manual Ferrari ‘number 1’ hmm.
ChuChu Rocket. Well? It’s free, although some places are charging £29.99 for it, so be careful. Is it online madness or online badness? A half second lag time totally changes the way the game plays, but it’s quite fun to beat the French at something. It’s colourful, tuneful and addictive with some really great touches! Still, it won’t last you that long.
Phantasy Star Online - wow! 250,000 have signed up for this so far, and it’s clear to see why. Online multiplayer adventures. It’s crazy, but it’s original. It’s Sonic Team of course!
Toy Racer is an online racing game, very simple, very happy and good for charity, so at just £5 you have to get it really.
Daytona USA 2001 on...no wait it doesn’t have online play because we are European, THANKS SEGA! Sarcasm.
Planet Ring? What’s this! Well, I’ve written a 2500 word review on it, so go read it, bah! It’s funny, odd, but you can use your microphone! If you buy one! Very nice!
Speed Devils online is a fairly half decent racing game, but not that great.
Is that it?
Ok, so there’s a few you can take to the world and prove your brilliance, but I am not 100% happy with Sega’s attitude despite the fantastic gaming they have brought us/me.
Reasons?
Broken promises. Back when the Dreamcast was being promoted, I complained, along with many, about the lack of ‘proper’ advertising, like using advertising that actually relates to the console and product it’s trying to sell (i.e. using in game footage), I wrote various emails to Sega – stating my views, and was assured, in a long hefty reply that “we will not let our unique offering fail”, did they? Well it happened, despite it’s glorious moments, not enough people were able to experience them. At least it did better than the Saturn eh?
Canning. Oh yeah, when you’ve made a game, got over a hundred thousand pre-orders, you don’t decide to can a game do you? Course not, but will Half-Life make it? That is a very good question, and the answer should be yes of course. We’ve waited 6months too long. Don’t disappoint anymore. So what else has been nailed? Well…
Soul Reaver 2. Soul Calibur 2. Uefa Striker 2001. (Half Life). Colin McRae 2. Basically anything else by infogrames and loads more too, but they’re the main ones. Thing is us UK and European owners don’t even get half of the features and wonders that our distant cousins in the USA and Japan get. No 56k modem at launch. No broadband modem. No online options for Sega rally 2, Daytona, no sign of ‘Seaman’, a year’s wait for coloured pads! I mean, what have they got against us? “The Dreamcast is still our main focus” “We will continue to support the Dreamcast until 2002” yeah, right.
Games companies have never had a better time to produce games for the Dreamcast, as there have never been so many Dreamcast owners! Surely the support should grow, not fall? It’s a young console still, easy to program (says he who has no knowledge of game programming) and anything that even ushers a sign life on the system will sell by the bucket load. They shouldn’t give up it’s daft. I predict, hope at least, that someone will continue to release games for the console, as they would make loads! How many copies of CT2 do you think are going to sell? Top format chart contender perhaps? Shenmue 2 will sell well too I am positive.
Peripherally, (wow that’s actually a word), the Dreamcast has some innovative plug-ins! The VMU – best memory card design of all time, microphone, fishing rod, light gun, steering wheels, vibration packs, oh it’s the same as most, but the VMU and controllers are great. Keyboard wise. It’s got one. Mine’s mint in box, as I never use it so there you go!
Phew, am I done yet?
I’d recommend the Dreamcast to you! It’s not going to help them, they make a loss still, it can only help you.
Roll on the Game Cube & X-box.
Phew, that was a REALLY deep breath.
An even biggger copy and paste from one of your previous posts.
"The GBA I plan to get on June 22nd"
lol
An even biggger copy and paste from one of your previous posts.
"The GBA I plan to get on June 22nd"
lol
And get Tony Hawks again?
Don't tell me, your dog/cat/rabbit will mistake your current game for a toy. :-D
Don't tell me, your dog/cat/rabbit will mistake your current game for a toy. :-D
The Dreamcast version of Headhunter has been canned.
The end is nigh. GAME OVER.
The end is nigh. GAME OVER.
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