Happy 9/9/99!

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Sonicx9
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Happy 9/9/99!

Postby Sonicx9 » September 9th, 2019, 12:40 pm

Aka Dreamcast day in the US, it was basically a less successful Nintendo Switch minus the handheld part. Too bad Sega money problems and PS2 coming in ate Segs lunch.

Any memories of Dreamcast guys.
Last edited by Sonicx9 on September 9th, 2019, 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Stalvern
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!!

Postby Stalvern » September 9th, 2019, 2:13 pm

Sonicx9 wrote:Aka Dreamcast day in the US, it was basically a less successful Nintendo Switch minus the handheld part.

That's quite a take there.

(But if you're going with that angle, the VMUs at least should count for something.)

Sonicx9
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!!

Postby Sonicx9 » September 9th, 2019, 3:02 pm

Stalvern wrote:
Sonicx9 wrote:Aka Dreamcast day in the US, it was basically a less successful Nintendo Switch minus the handheld part.

That's quite a take there.

(But if you're going with that angle, the VMUs at least should count for something.)


Except the VMUs where used for saving and mini games not playing home games anytime/anywhere like the Switch case.
Last edited by Sonicx9 on September 10th, 2019, 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 9th, 2019, 3:16 pm

I remember taking off from work, showing up at Electronics Boutique first thing when the mall opened, and being the only one there!

I didn't regret it though! Great console that continues to be one of my favorites.

Gleebergloben123
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby Gleebergloben123 » September 9th, 2019, 3:31 pm

I was working in Tokyo during this time. I remember reading an interview with the company president in either The Daily Yomiyuri or the Japan Times right before the Dreamcast was released. One thing that struck me from the interview is the company president basically said “This is it. If Dreamcast doesn’t succeed we’re done”. Not in so many words but that was the gist of it. For some reason after reading this I really wanted to see them succeed even though I never owned a Sega console. Seems like a good system, just wasn’t meant to be.

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Matchstick
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby Matchstick » September 9th, 2019, 3:38 pm

Sonicx9 wrote:it was basically a less successful Nintendo Switch


I don't understand this comparison. I never will. You've made it on several other posts and it just makes zero sense.

Dreamcast was the most powerful and advanced home console ever produced at the time of its release. Its launch games were full of recent arcade ports and fresh IPs, and seeing them in motion had people drooling. Seeing Ready 2 Rumble, NFL 2K, and Soul Calibur in person for the first time were jaw-dropping moments, and were all far and away superior to anything else on the home console market at the time from a graphics standpoint.

Meanwhile, the Switch is the least powerful console of its generation, with its major launch game being a port of a last-gen Wii U title. The Switch has been a runaway financial success while the Dreamcast was a complete fiscal disaster. You can (and are encouraged to) take the Switch with you wherever you go, while your Dreamcast needs to be firmly anchored to a wall socket. The Switch is black. The Dreamcast was white.

They. Are. Nothing. Alike.

Anyway...

I didn't get one on launch day (I couldn't find one anywhere!) but got one shortly thereafter. Got House of the Dead 2 and a few horribly inaccurate light guns as my first purchases. Followed that up with Airforce Delta and NFL 2K. A buddy down the street had Soul Calibur and we played it every damn day for months, right through Xmas and the new year.

Dreamcast was the last home console I was "all in" for. Its quick death left me totally holding the bag, as I had invested so heavily in the console, accessories, and games, then felt totally kicked to the curb when Sega pulled support for it. Yes, that PS2 hype train was something else, but I was never a believer.

I didn't want a PS2. I had a Dreamcast with a huge library of games that I already held near and dear. It didn't matter. As soon as the PS2 came out, the DC was dead in the water. Thanks, gaming press! I never bought another console new, around its launch window, ever again. I now play it safe and wait a few years, making sure the system has some legs under it before I invest in one. In that regard, my time as a Dreamcast owner was quite the learning experience.

Maybe I'll fire up the DC tonight for old time's sake. Maybe not. The hurt is still pretty real with that one.
Last edited by Matchstick on September 9th, 2019, 6:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Stalvern
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby Stalvern » September 9th, 2019, 5:32 pm

The only Nintendo system that I'd compare the Dreamcast to is the GameCube. Technically advanced but hampered by weird proprietary disks that weren't DVDs, weak on multiplatform games but strong on exclusives. They both misjudged the market around Y2K in the same way and paid the same price, if much more dearly in the Dreamcast's case (and, to be fair to the Dreamcast, the deck was already stacked against it by its 1998 launch and the bridges that Sega had burned with the Saturn).

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Matchstick
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby Matchstick » September 9th, 2019, 5:47 pm

Stalvern wrote:The only Nintendo system that I'd compare the Dreamcast to is the GameCube.


Ya see? This guy gets it! All valid points, every single one of 'em.

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ASalvaro
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby ASalvaro » September 9th, 2019, 6:53 pm

love the Dreamcast and it still holds up well today

_craker_
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Re: Happy 9/9/99!

Postby _craker_ » September 10th, 2019, 7:31 am

Passed me by completely. I wasn't into gaming at the time, I knew someone who house shared with someone who had one. I remember being told it was mainly used for to visit adult websites on the internet!

But I was psyched about the PS2. Seemed like a big deal, people in my office preordered.

I still don't know anyone what has / had a DC. The power of marketing, huh!


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