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JoJoBae

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,493
Layton, UT
Man, I was 8 when the Dreamcast launched... Also it's been stated but the Dreamcast launch lineup is the best ever. It's probably why I view every launch since so harshly lol
 

Lynd

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,440
It's easy to say adding a DVD player would have made it better. But how feasible would that have been for a release in 98? How much more expensive would the system have been?
 

Plax

Member
Nov 23, 2019
2,820
Good times. The Dreamcast had me hyped and I think it had a stellar library despite it's untimely death.
 

Celine

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,030
They must've been selling in the red, to have not been able to weather storm with 2 mill-ish install base
Yes, DC was sold at a loss from day one in US.
Sega of America adopted an especially aggressive plan.
Problem is DC sold in the first 4 launch months (1999) more than what it sold in the 12 months of 2000 despite Sega cutting the price of the console in September 2000 and making other aggressive offers (like a free DC + keyboard if you subscribed for 18 months to SegaNet).
Sega really tried their hardest to make DC a success in America.
The problem was that, beyond the early adopters that bought the console in droves around launch, the public at large didn't care.
 

Pargon

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,023
This, so much. The jump from PS1/N64 to Dreamcast in terms of image quality was incredible. The sharpness and high(er) resolution were a huge step up, same for the vivid colors.

Even with the early PS2 games, that's true. I think this was also very noticeable because the Dreamcast shipped by default with an RGB cable, as opposed to RCA for PS2.
Comparison videos on youtube (DOA2, Headhunter...) clearly show these gaps in image quality, it was pretty jarring.

Also worth noting, for PAL 50Hz users, the Dreamcast was the first console with 60Hz signal for most (if not all?) games, and it made a massive difference (and also something the first PS2 games did not have here).
It's crazy thinking about this now, but until 1999 all the console games we played had black bars and a relative slowness because of this limitation.
I don't think it did, unless that was a regional thing.
RGB SCART cables were very scarce near launch, as the majority of PAL TVs required one to use the 60Hz mode. Without it, the image would be displayed in black and white.
I remember being on a family trip -more of a business thing, so my sister and I were stuck in the hotel room a lot of the time- not too long after getting my Dreamcast, and being really happy that I was able to find an RGB cable in one of the stores there; because the "hotel mode" on the TV locked out input selection - so we weren't able to play it at all until I got one (RGB SCART overrides everything on older CRTs).
I could probably pinpoint exactly when that was by going through magazine archives, as I had just picked up the first Official Dreamcast Magazine which contained SEGA Swirl on the disc, and we spent hours playing it and the other demos.

But you're absolutely right that it was a giant leap forward. Compared to other systems at the time, the Dreamcast felt like it came from the future.
It had pristine image quality, most games targeted 60 FPS, and the hardware itself was tiny and sleek. On top of that, it was affordable!
It's the first time I was able to get a console anywhere close to launch; prior to that was a second-hand SNES with Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country that I got for Xmas in '95, and I only ever got games for that from the clearance bins.
The timing was great too, as I got my first job in 2001 and nearly everything I earned went toward games and hardware for it. Those were the best times, when SEGA was bringing the arcade experience home, and the games were affordable enough that I could buy something new every week or two. I never got bored with that system.

…and I deeply regret selling it; my library of, I think, almost 200 games; and accessories like the light guns, fishing rod, keyboard etc. to buy an Xbox.
Not that I didn't like the Xbox - it felt like a successor to the Dreamcast in many ways due to SEGA's support, and I had a great time in split-screen co-op/multiplayer and hosting LAN parties; but I wish I had kept it all.
 

Keywork

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,132
Still have my launch Dreamcast I got for my Birthday later that month. My grandparents also surprised me with a TV of my own to hook up the whole thing in my room. Was one of my most memorable birthdays ever at 15. When I stayed with my parents at the start of Quarantine this past March I busted out my DC, hooked it up, and it still ran well and I played some games I haven't in a few years. Still one of my favorite consoles of all time and the games hold up surprisingly well.

The laser motor is definitely showing its age and pretty loud. Is there a tear down guide for cleaning the system?
 

JackBauer24

Member
Oct 28, 2017
586
I remember going to EB Games in a mall that's no longer there at opening and I was the only person there. Not a great sign of its longevity.
 

indosmoke

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,054
France
I don't think it did, unless that was a regional thing.
RGB SCART cables were very scarce near launch, as the majority of PAL TVs required one to use the 60Hz mode. Without it, the image would be displayed in black and white.
It's definitely a regional thing, but I don't know if it was limited to France (where I bought my Dreamcast in 1999), or Europe, or PAL region.
I could have sworn the RGB SCART was included in by default, and this is the feedback I'm reading now in most forums from different owners (but it's no hard evidence. I should probably go get my old Dreamcast at my parents' and inspect the SCART myself haha).
 

daninthemix

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,024
Best thing about the Dreamcast was the Survival Horror library - tons of games, some of which are still exclusive.
 

Shibata100

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,645
I don't think it did, unless that was a regional thing.
RGB SCART cables were very scarce near launch, as the majority of PAL TVs required one to use the 60Hz mode. Without it, the image would be displayed in black and white.
I remember being on a family trip -more of a business thing, so my sister and I were stuck in the hotel room a lot of the time- not too long after getting my Dreamcast, and being really happy that I was able to find an RGB cable in one of the stores there; because the "hotel mode" on the TV locked out input selection - so we weren't able to play it at all until I got one (RGB SCART overrides everything on older CRTs).
I could probably pinpoint exactly when that was by going through magazine archives, as I had just picked up the first Official Dreamcast Magazine which contained SEGA Swirl on the disc, and we spent hours playing it and the other demos.

But you're absolutely right that it was a giant leap forward. Compared to other systems at the time, the Dreamcast felt like it came from the future.
It had pristine image quality, most games targeted 60 FPS, and the hardware itself was tiny and sleek. On top of that, it was affordable!
It's the first time I was able to get a console anywhere close to launch; prior to that was a second-hand SNES with Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country that I got for Xmas in '95, and I only ever got games for that from the clearance bins.
The timing was great too, as I got my first job in 2001 and nearly everything I earned went toward games and hardware for it. Those were the best times, when SEGA was bringing the arcade experience home, and the games were affordable enough that I could buy something new every week or two. I never got bored with that system.

…and I deeply regret selling it; my library of, I think, almost 200 games; and accessories like the light guns, fishing rod, keyboard etc. to buy an Xbox.
Not that I didn't like the Xbox - it felt like a successor to the Dreamcast in many ways due to SEGA's support, and I had a great time in split-screen co-op/multiplayer and hosting LAN parties; but I wish I had kept it all.

I have kept all my library. Recently checked ebay for value of rare dreamcast games and looks like I have a nice collection ready to make some money if I ever need to sell.
 

AmirMoosavi

Member
Dec 10, 2018
2,024
I keep repeating myself on this thread and elsewhere: Piracy was not the cause why the Dreamcast failed in the market. If it had lasted a couple more years, every publisher/developer would have bailed by then because of piracy, yeah, but the Dreamcast went under in 2001, just when piracy for the system became mainstream. That was two (three, if you count Japan) whole years of no piracy causing any impact on the system's sales. It was a split between the ridiculous hype of the PS2 and Sega's previous bad decisions catching up to them.

And zero piracy protection? I know this is the Internet and people love to spout things that they have no clue about, but zero piracy protection is what systems from the early 90's like the Amiga CD32, the PC Engine CD, or even Sega's Mega CD system had. The Dreamcast had two big counters to piracy:

1) its proprietary CD format which was completely unreadable on any device that wasn't a devkit. Only by exploiting a late hardware device, the broad band adapter, could pirates find a way to rip games out of the system because nothing could read them
2) even then, they couldn't do anything with those ripped games, because the Dreamcast has an encrypted bootloader program that doesn't boot any non-official software... except some jackass working on the Sega Smash Pack (a compilation of emulated Genesis/MD games for the Dreamcast) released the bootloader information to a piracy group, thus giving out the keys to the kingdom

Even with all these pieces, early piracy on the Dreamcast was a mess of boot discs, data discs, and whatever releases being completely unavailable to the general public, until the system was in its death throes in 2001. Hell, if anything, the piracy should have helped sell more systems, yet when stores were basically giving them out at a mere $50, people weren't picking them. Nobody cared. The fucking Wii U, considered one of the greatest failures of Nintendo, sold 4 million more units than the Dreamcast.

Wasn't there also something about a dev kit being stolen in Germany? I could have sworn that's how the MiL-CD exploit was discovered.

It's definitely a regional thing, but I don't know if it was limited to France (where I bought my Dreamcast in 1999), or Europe, or PAL region.
I could have sworn the RGB SCART was included in by default, and this is the feedback I'm reading now in most forums from different owners (but it's no hard evidence. I should probably go get my old Dreamcast at my parents' and inspect the SCART myself haha).

In the UK at least I think it was RF cables. I had a HK Dreamcast (same as JP but minus a modem) for years, and then when I got a UK Dreamcast off eBay I was shocked to see an RF cable, good thing I still had my composite cable. Then got a VGA box (and a SCART cable for non-VGA and light-gun games).
 

Saoshyant

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,996
Portugal
Wasn't there also something about a dev kit being stolen in Germany? I could have sworn that's how the MiL-CD exploit was discovered.
IIRC, there were two hacking groups competing with each other. One got confidential information from a Sega contractor (that jackass from Smash Pack). The other had to do the work the "hard" way, reverse engineering a (probably stolen) devkit.

Honestly, wish they all had been arrested. In an ideal scenario where the PS2 hype wasn't such a big thing or Sega wasn't bleeding so much money, trying to keep the Dreamcast in stores and well advertised and funding crazy stuff like Shenmue, we would have had a couple more years of the system's super creative games -- only for that to be destroyed by pirates. I guess the system never stood a chance, whichever way you look at it. Too good for this world.
 

SnatcherHunter

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
13,501
Sega Dreamcast showed the world how to do video game launches. So many games to choose from! I ended up buying 5 games at launch. That was unprecedented back then!
 

AmirMoosavi

Member
Dec 10, 2018
2,024
IIRC, there were two hacking groups competing with each other. One got confidential information from a Sega contractor (that jackass from Smash Pack). The other had to do the work the "hard" way, reverse engineering a (probably stolen) devkit.

Honestly, wish they all had been arrested. In an ideal scenario where the PS2 hype wasn't such a big thing or Sega wasn't bleeding so much money, trying to keep the Dreamcast in stores and well advertised and funding crazy stuff like Shenmue, we would have had a couple more years of the system's super creative games -- only for that to be destroyed by pirates. I guess the system never stood a chance, whichever way you look at it. Too good for this world.

I had only heard about the Genesis/Mega Drive emulator thing from Smash Pack before, but here's the story I was thinking of with the stolen dev kit:


Which references:

https://www./threads/lets-build-a-s...scratch-breakout.916501/page-3#post-216433495

Still no primary source, but seems legit.

From talk on the playground, the number one Dreamcast killer was the hype for the PS2. I've never seen hype like that for a console since, it was this mythical thing in every kid's mind.
 

deathsaber

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,099
Its crazy, because after PS2 launched and I got one of those, theres was a huge draught of games and around that time, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and dropped it to $99 (and Gamestop was selling used ones for less than that). I picked one up, and probably had the best year of gaming ever, since the whole lineup was available dirt cheap- just spending this time running through Skies of Arcadia, Crazy Tax, Jet Grind Radio, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Code Veronica, Sonic 1 & 2, Soul Calibur, Shenmue, and others while there was pretty much nothing going on with PS2 was magical.

I wish I would have supported the system while it was still viable (not that it would have likely helped, given the juggernaut PlayStation was, and which only grew back then).
 

Xwing

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 11, 2017
9,884
An HDMI modded Dreamcast is at the top of my "expensive bullshit" wish list. Still so many amazing titles that have never been ported adequately elsewhere.

Dreamcast in isolation deserved to be a success, but it released too early (missing out on the key feature of the DVD drive) and SEGA had just made too many mistakes prior to recover.
 

Qwark

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,030
Best thing about the Dreamcast was the Survival Horror library - tons of games, some of which are still exclusive.
Can you list some examples, I know Resident Evil: CV and I think Blue Stinger (is that horror?), but that genre is kind of a mystery to me on Dreamcast. DC had such an incredible multiplayer catalog that I didn't really delve into the single-player stuff, minus the Sega stuff.
 

JetBlackPanda

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,505
Echo Base
I loved the Dreamcast so much! I remember me and a friend bought an import unit from a local shop and played the shit out of Aero Dancing featuring blue impulse before the US release.

After the US release I have fond memories of Sonic, Code Veronica, Powerstone, quake III arena and crazy taxi!! and getting the keyboard and internet thing and playing the shit out of phantasy star. I'm pretty sure i watched a lot of porn on that thing too.

Thanks SEGA!!
 
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daninthemix

Member
Nov 2, 2017
5,024
Can you list some examples, I know Resident Evil: CV and I think Blue Stinger (is that horror?), but that genre is kind of a mystery to me on Dreamcast. DC had such an incredible multiplayer catalog that I didn't really delve into the single-player stuff, minus the Sega stuff.

Blue Stinger
Illbleed
Carrier
D2
 

gnexus

Member
Mar 30, 2018
2,286
The Dreamcast was probably the most fun and exciting console launch for me ever. I remember preordering it at Toys R Us. I think FF8 came out the same day. I got a DC, Sonic Adventure and FF8. Great times.
 

Deleted member 60582

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 12, 2019
2,152
I was working at Sears at the time, so I had everything pre-ordered and ready to go day of release. Console, Blue Stinger, Soul Calibur, Sonic Adventure and NFL 2K. My Blue Stinger copy had an issue where the console wouldn't read it without multiple boot attempts thanks to the factory messing up the burning process on that particular batch. I had just bought a 27" Sony Trinitron to go along with the console so working that day was fucking agony. One of my favorite launch experiences ever, though.
 

tapedeck

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,982
This thread is fantastic, all the feels. DC and N64 are only consoles Ive ever bought on launch day.

She's is still alive and kickin too, that damn VMU beep on startup tho. I can't be arsed to change the battery.
 

∀∃:ETURNA

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,205
Unforgettable launch and console! I followed pre-release news quite a bit and was really hyped for Geist Force: A rail-shooter that was originally supposed to launch alongside the console in Japan.


 

Kapryov

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,144
Australia
I love this thread.

I didn't buy it at launch, but I was there shortly after.
I got Sega Rally 2 with my Dreamcast, and Code Veronica maybe around that time too? It came with a cool bag and a free internet trial (dialup), it was like living in the future.

Dead or Alive 2 and Soulcalibur were amazing.
 

AlteredBeast

Don't Watch the Tape!
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,767
I'll never forget seeing that scrolling VHS video of NFL2K, NBA2K, and Sonic Adventure at Babbages during the spring and summer of 99. It looked absolutely incredible. I absolutely couldn't believe it was real, swore up and down they were just FMV sequences lol
 

Terraj_RSL

Member
Feb 8, 2018
866
it's fact, not opinion.
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