Why did the Dreamcast fail?

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chrisbid1
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Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby chrisbid1 » September 27th, 2005, 10:01 am

sigh...

 

the sega CD was NOT a flop.  it had a three year plus lifespan, over 100 titles, and multiple hardware variations.  it was the most successful console addon ever released.  it wasnt a runaway success like the genesis, but it wasnt what brought sega down as a company.  in fact its mild success gave sega enough confidence to think an addon would work, and they went ahead with the 32x, which was a failure


Omar1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby Omar1 » September 28th, 2005, 2:00 am

[QUOTE=chrisbid]

sigh...

 

the sega CD was NOT a flop.  it had a three year plus lifespan, over 100 titles, and multiple hardware variations.  it was the most successful console addon ever released.  it wasnt a runaway success like the genesis, but it wasnt what brought sega down as a company.  in fact its mild success gave sega enough confidence to think an addon would work, and they went ahead with the 32x, which was a failure

[/QUOTE]

Console add-ons, as far as I can tell, has never been succesful in America. In Japan, I think Nec did very well with the TurboGrafx16/PC-Engine CD and it's various system cards, but I'm not a 100% sure about that. If you read game coverage from that era, you will see that even then the SegaCD was very criticized for not just it's price (much more expensive than a regular Genesis console) but also it's game library, wich consists mostly of FMV games and enhanced Genesis ports.  As a Sega fan that just recently got one, I find myself  disapointed with most of what I have played so far, even though I did not pay full price for either the console or the games.
I don't think the reason behind the 32x was the relative "success" SegaCD. Sega of Japan was planing to launch a "new" console, basically a Genesis with more colors.  The current president of Sega America thought that if all it was going to do was add more colors, then Sega should turn it into an add-on. Evantually it became a 32 bit add-on that, once again, costed more than the Genesis itself, with a chip setup slightly similar to the Saturn.

By the time Sega released the Dreamcast, they had commited too many mistakes in the past. They no longer had the credibilty and the amount of cash necessary to subsidize a console until it became profitable, and could not fight the powerful Sony PR machine.

lol

Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby lol » September 28th, 2005, 9:37 pm

"and for some reason less than great Saturn sales"


Ibuki

Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby Ibuki » September 30th, 2005, 10:14 pm

The main things that kept the Genesis from initially failing was an extremely popular marquee title,Sonic, which all other Sega systems lacked, and support from EA. Sports games are huge in the US, and the Genny was the 1st great sports system.

Sega has always made great games. It's not their games that separate their systems. Because even the Master system had Phantasy Star, Shinobi, and Wonder Boy. The Dreamcast needed a game that would be like Sonic was for the Genesis, and it lacked key support from companies like EA and Square. I don't know if Sega was powerful enough to garner a ton of 3rd party support for the DC. It 1st sold well, but its sales dropped as 3rd party companies left it.

Great system, but not necessarily built for good sales.


sega saturn x

Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby sega saturn x » October 1st, 2005, 6:10 am

The dreamcast failed because it didn't study hard enough.


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pacman000
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Re: Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby pacman000 » December 30th, 2015, 4:19 pm

Read an article a few months ago about this, but I can't remember where (aside from the fact that Yahoo! had it on their home page). Oh well, I can remember the gist of the story.

After the Saturn failed, Sega hired a new CEO for their American division. He helped bring the Dreamcast to fruition, and he helped Sega acquire 2k games. Initially, the system sold well. To keep selling well, however, Sega needed to market it heavily, and they didn't have the money. There was also a rumor that Microsoft was working on a video game system. The new CEO went to Sega's board, told them that leaving the hardware market was in the best interest of their investors, and they (reluctantly) agreed.

Edit: I found the article. It was on Gamasurta, so I probably didn't find it from Yahoo's home page: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4 ... hp?print=1

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby VideoGameCritic » December 31st, 2015, 1:05 pm

I think the success of the Playstation brand had a lot to do with Sega's demise. When the Playstation beat the Saturn, Sega suddenly became a second-tier game company. Sony could do no wrong and Sega could do no right.

I remember telling a lot of people how great the Dreamcast was, but they were already dead-set on waiting for the PS2. And even though the PS2 not really much better than the Dreamcast they flew off the shelves on brand name alone.

I think Microsoft is experiencing much of the same thing now. After several self-inflicted wounds (including the Xbox One fiasco) they are no longer perceived as a leader in the video game market. So while their console is technically as good as the PS4, Sony's good reputation is buoying their sales.

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ptdebate
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Re: Why did the Dreamcast fail?

Postby ptdebate » December 31st, 2015, 1:17 pm

I truly believe that the Dreamcast would have stayed alive if it had a DVD player. The lower price point would have helped it carve out a niche similar to the Wii, except it was powerful enough to run any triple-A game. If it had maintained momentum, it probably would have gotten ports of games like Grand Theft Auto 3, Call of Duty, and Resident Evil 4. If the Dreamcast had succeeded, the Xbox would never have happened.


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