The Sega Dreamcast was one of the first consoles to offer online play thanks to a built-in dial-up modem and an additional add-on for broadband support.
The Sega Dreamcast is a 128-bit console. It's the successor of the Sega Saturn. It has an NEC processor that takes GD-Roms. These CDs can hold up to 1 GB of storage. The Dreamcast is notable for its selection of games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and NFL 2k.
History
The Dreamcast originated in 1995 at the first E3. Since the arrival of Sony with the Playstation, console makers began playing a major defensive against the juggernaut of the Playstation. The gaining popularity of the Playstation brought a lot of support from Japan, which began beating the Sega Saturn in sales. Due to this, Sega began to fear that Sony would gain momentous support in the US and would leave Sega lagging seriously behind. In order to keep up, Sega made a momentous mistake move at E3. At E3, Sega announced that the Saturn was released the same day as the press conference in the US. Their strategy was to release the console early so they could get a strong base before Sony released their console in September. This plan backfired due to the anger of many developers and retailers. Many developers were mad because they wanted their games to be released with the Saturn's launch, and many popular retailers (like Wal-Mart and KB Toys) were so angry for lack of information that most considered not selling anymore Sega consoles in their stores. The Saturn sold 80,000 units before the Playstation launched, but the Playstation sold over 100,000 units during the first week it launched. The plan failed and Sega paid the price for it. Even though the Saturn was doing great in Japan, it completely bombed in the US.Things did not get better for Sega over the next 2 years. At E3 1997, Bernie Stolar announced that "The Saturn is not our future". This announcement, for all intensive purposes, killed the Saturn, and made people even more mad because of this. Thus, Sega began work on a new console. They wanted to make a console that everyone can enjoy, they wanted to make a system that has impressive graphics for its time, they wanted to have a console that will revolutionize games, they wanted a console that would outsell the Playstation and Nintendo 64. That's how the Dreamcast was born.
Success
in 1998, The Sega Dreamcast launched. It sold really well in Japan, selling out everywhere. It was selling so well that Sega couldn't keep up with the demand. According to reports, NEC was unable to create enough processors for the Dreamcast so Sega was unable to make as many consoles as they would liked.Seeing how successful the Dreamcast had done in Japan, Sega began work on an American release. Sega of America was hard at work on getting buzz for the American Dreamcast launch. Sega even created their own holiday called "Dreamcast Day" Set for September 9, 1999 (making the advertizements say 9-9-99). Everyone was eagerly anticipating the release of the console, meaning that all the advertising hype had paid off.
Downfall
At E3 1999, Sega was showing off all their Dreamcast games to the market. However, Sega's biggest threat, Sony, had something up their sleeves. At E3 1999, Sony unveiled the Playstation 2. At E3, Sony showed the complete layout and design of the Playstation 2. They showcased all the tech of the Playstation 2, which was vastly superior to the Dreamcast. Due to this, consumers decided to skip the Dreamcast and wait for the PS2 to come out. These turn of events began to shake the foundation of the Dreamcast.
Even though the PS2 was controlling much of the hype, the Dreamcast had a successful launch, selling 300,000 preorders, which was more than the original Playstation. The Dreamcast had a vast variety of launch games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and NFL 2k. For a while it seemed that Sega would continue to be a competitor in the gaming market.
Then in March of 2000, Sony released the PS2 worldwide, selling better than anyone could've possibly imagined. One thing that major plus the PS2 had was the DVD player. Back then, DVDs weren't popular because they were too expensive for the average consumer. Thanks to the PS2 doubling as a DVD player, and was less expensive than a stand alone DVD player, the PS2 sold very well. There were instances reported where people didn't even buy the console for games (the launch didn't have that many good games as the Dreamcast), and solely used the console for the DVD player. To show support of this, the best selling item for the PS2 in Japan was the Matrix DVD. This made the PS2 look more like an entertainment device more than an actual console. Since the Dremacast couldn't play DVDs, people overlooked the system, and the death of the console was sealed.
Sega was in a wreck. Their sales were dropping as Sony's were rising. The PS2 was flying off shelves and the Dreamcast was sitting there. Then Sega ran into another problem, their games weren't selling. This was because there was a major problem with the design of the Dreamcast; extreme ease of pirating. It was very easy to copy Dreamcast games and put them on regular CDs. Due to the fact that the Dreamcast had poor copy protection, the Dreamcast was able play the vast assortment of pirated games. People weren't buying the games and Instead were pirating them. The seal of the Dreamcast's fate had all but been sealed.
Sega later got some relief where Sony was only able to sell half their inventory of PS2s. Since the PS2's inventory was so weak, Sega decided to take action and try to move mass quantities of units. Unfortunately, this plan backfired as well.
In March 2001, Peter Moore (the head of SoA at the time) announced that the Dreamcast hadn't been meeting expectations. The sales had been sadly lagging and their warehouses were filled with unsold Dreamcasts and games. Sega decided to sell off the remaining number of consoles at a vastly discounted price and cut their losses. This announcement came with the final nail in the Dreamcast coffin, they announced the Dreamcasts was no longer in production and that Sega was switching from a hardware manufacturer to a software manufacturer. The entire gaming community was astonished and saddened by the final announcement about the Dreamcast.
Even though the Sega Dreamcast failed and only sold 10.6 million units during its lifetime, the Dreamcast will always be remembered by fans as being one of the greatest systems of all time.
Hardware
Back in 1998, the Dreamcast was an advance console for its time. It was the first 128-bit console to be released. The console has 4 controller slots and a 56k modem built into the console for Seganet. You could buy a Broadband modem for a faster connection for only $50.
There were many different ways to play the Dreamcast. You were able to play it on your TV via A/V chords with an optional S-Video chord, RGB chords, and an RF connector (all were sold seperately). You could even play on your computer screen via VGA box sold seperately.
This console runs GD-Roms which could hold up to 1 GB of space. It also uses VMU memory cards that could hold up to 128 KB of space. These VMUs connect to your Dreamcast controller and have an LCD screen that shows pictures relating to the game that you're playing. For some games, you're able to play minigames relating to the games that are saved onto the VMU whereever they go, making it a handheld console as well.
The Dreamcast had a lot of accessories. Here's a list of them:
VMU Memory Cards
Rumble Packs
VGA Adapter (to play the Dreamcast on your computer screnn in 480p)
Mouse and keyboard
fishing rods (for fishing games)
microphones (for games like Seamen)
lightguns
arcade sticks
Camera
karaoke
Maracas (for Samba de Amigo)
Train controls (for a Japanese train simulator)
There was supposed to be a MP3 player, DVD player, and Zip players, but they were canceled due to the Dreamcast dying.
Games
The Dreamcast was well known for its variety of games. Unline the Playstation 2 that barely had anything to play at launch, the Dreamcast had a huge launch lineup of good games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and NFL 2K. Over the next 2 years of the Dreamcast's life, they would have over 300 games in it's lineup. What the Dreamcast was known for was having a great selection of arcade ports, ranging from some of Sega's classics (like Crazy Taxi and Samba de Amigo), to fighting games (like Marvel vs. Capcom). They even had some innovative ones as well. For example; the first game to ever use Cel-shading was Jet Grind Radio (or Jet Set Radio), a skateboarding game where you go around putting graffiti on everything in the city. They even had ports of PC games (like Quake III and Unreal Tournament) that was like the PC game with online and all.
Online
The Dreamcast was the first console to have full online play from their first party. SegaNet was an online gaming community where people can play each other. You can play a game of football with each other with NFL 2K1. You could play a round of Deathmatch in Unreal Tournament. Although the launch of SegaNet was successful, the sales of Dreamcasts dropped. By July 2001, the service ended, and everyone was forced to switch to Earthlink. This was bad because there was a deal going on that if you sign up for two years, you'll get a $180 rebate. Since it didn't last two years (only 10 months) the deal was null and void.
Legacy
Even though the Dreamcast is dead, the legacy of the console lives on. Due to the Dreamcast failing, Sega had to drop from the console race and stick to making games for other consoles. Most of those games, early on, were ports of Dreamcast games. The two Sonic Adventure games were ported over to the Nintendo Gamecube, which was shocking at the time because everyone knew that Nintendo and Sega were sworn enemies, and now they were partners. The Gamecube even got Phantasy Star Online, being one of the only Gamecube games to support online play.
Sony, the people who made Sega go bankrupt, got Virtual Fighter 4 for the PS2. Peter Moore, SoA's president at the time, left Sega to join Microsoft and help with their new console, the Xbox. Due to him being a part of Sega, he got Sega to make games on the Xbox. They got some exclusive games like Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Shenmue II. Sega's still making games for the new consoles, the WII, 360, and PS3.
Dreamcast - Recent Games
| Name | Platforms | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles released on Oct. 31, 2008 |
DC | ||
|
Karous released on March 8, 2007 |
DC | MileStone Inc. | |
|
Trigger Heart Exelica released on Feb. 22, 2007 |
PS2, DC, ARC, XBLM | Warashi | |
|
Under Defeat |
DC | G.rev Ltd. | |
|
Radirgy |
PS2, GC, DC, ARC | MileStone Inc. | |
|
Last Hope |
NEO, DC, NGCD | NG:DEV.TEAM | |
|
Ever17: The Out of Infinity |
PS2, DC, PC | KID Corp. | |
|
Cool Herders |
DC | HarmlessLion | |
|
Trizeal |
PS2, DC | Triangle Service | |
|
|
Maqiupai |
DC | JMD | |
|
Castle Shikigami 2 released on Nov. 17, 2004 |
PS2, GC, XBOX, DC, PC | Alfa System | |
|
Tea Society of a Witch released on Aug. 6, 2004 |
DC, PC | ||
|
Puyo Pop Fever released on July 20, 2004 |
GBA, MAC, PSP, PS2, GC, XBOX, DC, DS, XBLM, PC | Sonic Team | |
|
Chaos Field |
GC, DC | MileStone Inc. | |
|
Psyvariar 2 |
PS2, XBOX, DC | Skonec Entertainment | |
|
Border Down |
DC, ARC | G.rev Ltd. | |
|
Feet of Fury |
DC | Cryptic Allusion | |
|
Ikaruga |
GC, DC, ARC, XBLM | G.rev Ltd., Treasure | |
|
|
Inhabitants |
DC, PC | S+F Software | |
|
The King of Fighters 2001 |
PS2, NEO, DC | Eolith Co., Ltd. |
Dreamcast - Upcoming Games
| Name | Platform | Developer | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles expected release 2008 |
DC |
| Platform Name: | Dreamcast |
| Release Date: | Sept. 9, 1999 |
| Online Support: | True |
| Install Base: | 10,600,000 |
| Original Price: | $199 |
| Producing Company: | Sega |
| Total Games: | games |
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Ryu first in Street Fighter |
12
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Ken Masters first in Street Fighter |
12
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Akuma first in Super Street Fighter II |
10
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Chun-Li first in Street Fighter II |
9
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Cammy first in Super Street Fighter II |
8
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Zangief first in Street Fighter II |
8
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Morrigan Aensland first in Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors |
8
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Terry Bogard first in Fatal Fury |
7
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Sakura Kasugano first in Street Fighter Alpha 2 |
7
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Dan Hibiki first in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams |
7
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Earth first in |
24
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Japan first in |
22
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New York first in |
18
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Chicago first in |
13
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The United States of America first in |
12
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Seattle first in |
9
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Miami first in |
9
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Russia first in |
7
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Space first in Spacewar! |
7
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Hong Kong first in |
6
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Health first in |
56
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3D first in Elite |
41
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Melee first in |
40
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Game Over first in |
39
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Death first in |
39
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Jump first in Donkey Kong |
38
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Boss Fight first in |
32
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Launch Titles first in |
30
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Combo first in Street Fighter II |
29
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Hand to Hand Combat first in |
27
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Gun first in |
33
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Sword first in |
20
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Shotgun first in |
19
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Pistol first in |
18
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Helmet first in |
17
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Car first in |
17
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Rocket Launcher first in |
16
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Bullet first in Spacewar! |
14
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Grenade first in |
13
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Ammo first in |
13
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