SEGA'S NIGHTMARE (Dreamcast in general)

Member Name: ICEFIRE

Product:	Dreamcast in general
Date:	03/07/01 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Game selection, internet

Disadvantages: Stopped! , PS2 = better

Sega used to be the biggest name in home consoles, they took great market chunks away from Nintendo with the Mega Drive being the ultimate 16bit games machine – the Super Nintendo was great too, but the Mega Drive had the greatest sales. Ah, the days of 16bit technology. How it has advanced in such a small space of time! Anyway, Sega had an opening run in with the Master System, a comparable console to the Nintendo entertainment system – similar graphics – same 8bit technology, but Sega’s 16bit monster really was the winner of the 16bit era.

Unstoppable at this stage, Sega wouldn’t let the market move on, bringing out ugly add-ons and so forth like the 32X, Mega CD etc. The gaming public didn’t want or need this, and quite frankly Sega messed up – these extras flopped like nobodies business and in 1994/5 the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation 32bit games machines arrived onto the scene, but it’s obvious which one was the most successful. 80million unit sales compared to 4million. Says something doesn’t it? Sega had lost a lot of support and fans as gamers ignored the hefty Sega Saturn. It was never as great as the Sony revolutionary console, it did have a few top games, but Sega flopped with the Saturn and debt mounted. Sega needed to recapture something that was once theirs.

The N64 came and went, with mediocre sales meaning the PSX or PS1 would never be beaten. But Sega, determined to claw their way back from beneath the huge hole that they effectively dug themselves, was to make resurge and in November of 1998 gamers in Japan went wild for the new 128bit incredible Dreamcast. However many sales records were broken at launch, the Dreamcast started to slow down, with few top titles being released. A disappointing Sega Rally 2 conversion – one of Sega’s flagship titles, and a half decent Virtua Fighter showing, the Dreamcast did take a while to get into it’s stride, which sadly
, eventually, was stopped.

The Dreamcast was fished out of the water and crawled up to our shores and launched on October 14th 1999. A fairly good launch line up, fairly decent sales but the advertising – far too obscure hardly did the Dreamcast any favours. Yeah, so the Dreamcast has had some really good games, and although I have not owned one, I have played on them, but I prefer the PlayStation 2. You see, the Dreamcast didn’t have the gaming development support, or the general gaming public support as many people were waiting eagerly for the marvellous PlayStation 2 – and I believe that they refrained from the Dreamcast in favour of Sony’s 128bit console, and this is effectively what ‘killed’ the Dreamcast.

Sega have stopped producing it, although you should easily be able to buy one in the UK, it has however sold out completely in Japan. There are more titles being made for it, but it isn’t going to be getting much support outside of Sega’s in-house development teams. Sales figures are always inconclusive, but in the 3 years of life the Dreamcast sold around 7million. Compare this to the 9million PlayStation 2’s already sold, and you’ll see why Sega had to pull the plug as it were. Should you get one then?

Well, I would strongly advise the PS2. You may have read my review on it, but if not I can tell you that you have no worries of it ceasing in production. The PlayStation 2 is starting to get some absolutely fantastic games, and it’s now just £269.99 – it’s a games machine and DVD player in one, so I would go for that against the Dreamcast. Now, there is a huge difference in price. The Dreamcast is just £100, although you’d easily find one second hand for about £60. The games are cheaper, with an SRP of £29.99, although again you can find some bargains, with older games selling at less than ten pounds.

What has the Dreamcast got that the PS
2 hasn’t? It has lots of games, more than the PlayStation 2 at the moment, and it’s also the world’s first and only online games machine – you can play games online as well as using all of the special Dream Arena internet system and browser disc. The online feature is good, but I don’t know many Dreamcast owners who actually use it regularly. The DC has FOUR control ports, which is a big plus, as you won’t need to buy a multi-tap unlike us PS2 owners – that’s if you have more than 1 friend and a game that has a 2 player + option. The Best games on the Sega machine are probably the following. As I say I have not got one, but I’ve done a spot of research:

Metropolis Street Racer – a realistic looking driving game.
Virtua Tennis – again, a fun 4 player, realistic tennis game.
Shenmue – an RPG style of adventure game with a difference. It looks absolutely stunning I must say – I wouldn’t mind seeing it on the PS2.
Soul Calibur – a Tekken rival, looks great and plays very fast indeed.
Sonic – everyone loves the Sonic games. This is one of Sega’s best sellers.
Crazy Taxi – it’s great on the PS2, but it all started on the Dreamcast. Classic game.
Grandia II and Skies of Arcadia are supposed to be the best RPG games.

So. You can get a lot for your money, but Sega have flopped yet again with the Dreamcast – losing so much money, they just couldn’t continue and so are now a software (games only) company, developing for the PS2, X Box and Game Cube.
It’s your choice as to whether you want a Dreamcast, they’re small and compact with a nice range of peripherals, but if Sega doesn’t care, then why should you?

Get a PlayStation 2, but this is still a good machine. So if you have £100 for a games machine? You can't beat the DC.

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