Why did the Dreamcast fail?

John Rowland · Postby **John Rowland** » August 13th, 2005, 5:29 pm

OK, this topic has probably been hashed and rehashed over and over again, and you probably rolled your eyes when you read the title of this thread. But that doesn't help me. I don't know the answer to this question and I want to. I just bought a Dreamcast a little while ago and I'm loving it. I bought in part because Shenmue is one of my all time favorites, and in part because it seems to be Critic's favorite system. I have been really enjoying Tennis 2K2, Sonic Adventure, Rayman 2, and I am looking forward to HOTD 2.

If anyone knows the answer to this question then it has to be Dave. So please share your thoughts (again, probably)!

Also, is the DC more powerful than the PS2? These games really look fantastic!

Atarifever1 · Postby **Atarifever1** » August 13th, 2005, 5:47 pm

32X, Sega CD, and for some reason less than great Saturn sales.

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » August 13th, 2005, 6:40 pm

John,

I think it was mainly a case of Sega's past catching up with them. Since the Sega Genesis was released in 1989, none of Sega's hardware set the world on fire. Even my buddy Eric, who originally opted for the Saturn over the Playstation, was concerned about getting "burned" again.

I was the first in line to pick up my Dreamcast on 9/9/99 (actually I was the only one), but all of my friends were holding out for the PS2. The Dreamcast turned out to be a terrific console, and I like the easy-to-play, arcade quality of the games. Too bad most other gamers missed out on a great machine.

For more info, see "Dreamcast: a retrospective" on the very bottom of my "Special Features" menu.

Dave

Alienblue · Postby **Alienblue** » August 13th, 2005, 10:43 pm

I think it was two things; as Dave points out, Sega, at one time king of the hill, was getting a reputation for making new systems and ditching them. The 32X was a mistake all around. The Saturn was a great macine but rather than try to support it better they just dumped it in the gutter (I bought mine new for $99)....I
remember seeing the dreamcast SONIC ADVENTURE being demoed and it did look so much better than playstation...but we all had lost our faith in Sega by that point. They even dropped the game gear!

Also, just too much compettition..sony and nintendo OWNED the market and would not let go. Then there was 3DO, Jaguar, Soooo many systems good and bad flooding the market like a semi crash.

So, reason DS failed, not too different than Atari 7800.
Great machine, not enough support and no chance to get any.

chrisbid1 · Postby **chrisbid1** » August 14th, 2005, 1:01 am

no support from EA and sony's hype machine killed the dreamcast. sega did pretty much everything in their power to make the DC a success, and they didnt have the cash in the bank to keep the ship afloat to turn a profit.

Zenzerotron · Postby **Zenzerotron** » August 14th, 2005, 1:27 am

I have a great romance for both the Neo-Geo and the Dreamcast. Because if you think about it, those were the last&most advanced systems to be mostly devoted to 2D gaming.

Those 2 systems were all about "bringing the arcade experience home". Even to this day, they outclass more modern&powerfull systems in that regard.

McTom · Postby **McTom** » August 14th, 2005, 10:47 am

i was a huge Sega-fan, i had a Master System, and after that a MegaDrive. After that an 32X, which was kind a waste of money. My confidence in Sega dropped totally when even my just bought Saturn seemed to flop (less powerful than PlayStation and after a while no more games etc). That isn't a very good Sega-background to buy a Dreamcast, so i didn't... (well, i was short of money than too, student and stuff..

Kroozer · Postby **Kroozer** » August 15th, 2005, 6:40 pm

Sega picked a bad time to release a system (they were already in the red when DC came out). They should have waited, skipped a gaming generation and concentrated on software and handhelds until about now to give the XBOX360 and PS3 a run for the money.

sega saturn x · Postby **sega saturn x** » August 17th, 2005, 1:29 am

The dreamcast failed for lots of reasons. Isin't there a book on it?

SEJ · Postby **SEJ** » September 26th, 2005, 11:32 pm

Basically Sega was their own worst enemy and that killed the Dreamcast's chances. With the flops that were Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn many didn't want to spend $199.99 on a system produced by a company with a shaky record.

I had a Dreamcast and it was actually a pretty decent system. Which is the really crappy thing about the whole Dreamcast story: they finally get it right and find that nobody cared. Had they made things right with the Saturn they just might have been able to make a good run with the Dreamcast. Instead we'll never know how far the DC could have went.

Kind of sad really.