Two reasons why the DC and that end of an era was great.When you looked at the Japanese style of development at the time, which was: 'Let the developers figure out what they want to make – then they will let you, the subsidiaries, know'. Maybe at prototype stage, but sometimes even when the game was going into alpha, only then would you figure out what your dev teams were doing.
....
And so when the GTA phenomenon started to kick in it was clear, despite the initial controversy, that this was the way the industry was going. But our content [at Sega] was still very much Japanese. You know, everything involved samurai swords or ninjas or fish or fantasy
How many pages would Sega leaving the console market have generated if Era existed as it is then?
Imagine Nintendo or Sony calling it quits.
Moore's right in a way, the Dreamcast had an incredible catalog but...
"What we also saw was the way that our marketing came together and really lifted the entire industry from being predominantly a toy category, typically enjoyed by the stereotypical 12-year-old gamer in their spare bedroom. It moved gaming from the spare room to the living room."
I completely disagree with this. In the UK at least, the original Playstation was the console that moved (console) gaming from the bedroom to the living room.
Still, it was veeery common, every person I knew who had a PSX had it modded back in the day.You still had to mod the PSX tho! Thats a extra barrier you know. Dreamcast didn't have that.
It was very common because you hung out with lots of unscrupulous people?Still, it was veeery common, every person I knew who had a PSX had it modded back in the day.
Same for every person who I knew who had a Nintendo DS, had an R4 card
It did not kill the PSX, nor did it kill the NDS
Damn, not the guy you're replying to but there are different situations and realities than your own. In Brazil, for example, no one (and I truly mean no one) had a PS1 or a PS2 without a modchip. You couldn't even find them, basically.It was very common because you hung out with lots of unscrupulous people?
I'm just annoyed by people continuing to use anecdotal experiences as facts.Damn, not the guy you're replying to but there are different situations and realities than your own. In Brazil, for example, no one (and I truly mean no one) had a PS1 or a PS2 without a modchip. You couldn't even find them, basically.
This makes me sad. Worst thing is that there was nothing on PS2 that impressed as much as Soul Calibur for like year and all multiplats looked like crap with jaggies everywhere, but the hype made everyone wait for and buy PS2 instead. DOA2 had 60fps cutscenes, that's about the only "win" PS2 had at the start.
I am here in Europe, I wasn't impressed by anything, most games were super jaggy compared to DC and also ran at 50hz compared to PAL60 on DC. MGS2 was impressive though, and Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, but those came later.Untrue, at least here in Europe. The launch game SSX looked jaw-dropping, even after playing Soul Calibur on a rented DC. It certainly wasn't jaggy. The same goes for Tekken Tag Tournament, which looked at least as good as SC, and its visuals were improved since the launch in Japan. It did have more aliasing at that time.
The R4 was all bought by parents, and the PSX was modded by dads or some local game store. Very shady folks indeed. You would be surprised how mainstream mod chips or those NDS cards where.It was very common because you hung out with lots of unscrupulous people?
Moore's putting some blame on Sony FUD? Sega failed because they blame the competition than themselves. The Dreamcast hardware was great, but their default controller was regressive. Missed the point where 3D controllers were going, and they just jazzed-up a Saturn 3D controller.
The PS1 Dualshock already had twin sticks, and it's no surprise that the next generation with PS2, Xbox and GCN also had them and this is where console games were going. Stuck with a single stick that generation was a dumb foresight on Segas part.
Damn, not the guy you're replying to but there are different situations and realities than your own. In Brazil, for example, no one (and I truly mean no one) had a PS1 or a PS2 without a modchip. You couldn't even find them, basically.
I am here in Europe, I wasn't impressed by anything, most games were super jaggy compared to DC and also ran at 50hz compared to PAL60 on DC. MGS2 was impressive though, and Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, but those came later.
The Sony Emotion Engine and Toy Story level graphics bullshit was really strong back on the day. Plus people had bad memories of the Saturn. In the end I also agree that the DC library was heavily Japan oriented, which was at same time great (produced so many classics) but not forward thinking in the changing market.
One of the basic premises of the Xbox is to put the power in the hands of the artist," Blackley said, which is why Xbox developers "are achieving a level of visual detail you really get in 'Toy Story.'
The 3-D chips in the Xbox would be three times faster than anything on the market and offer nearly unlimited graphical visuals. "We're approaching the level of detail seen in Toy Story 2," he said, referring to the computer-generated kids film from Disney/Pixar.
"Game developers will finally be able to develop games as they can visualize it in their minds, without having restrictions placed on them due to performance."
"The developers and end-users have spoken, they're tired of poor-quality artificial intelligence, blocky characters, limited environments and other unnatural looking scenes," said David Kirk, chief technologist at NVIDIA. "This new graphics capability is the first step towards an interactive Toy Story or Jurassic Park.
"One of the things that Sega had done successfully was open up through online gaming a broader demographic, a more mature demographic, and it was very clear to me as graphical fidelity was improving that you were able to now create more movie-like content. And so when the GTA phenomenon started to kick in it was clear, despite the initial controversy, that this was the way the industry was going. But our content [at Sega] was still very much Japanese. You know, everything involved samurai swords or ninjas or fish or fantasy. Yeah, well, we certainly saw it coming.
This misconception still seems to live on. It was Seamus Blackley who said that about Xbox.
And Bill Gates:
And also Nvidia:
The only written statements are really from Bill Gates and Xbox development team. But somehow the Toy Story 2 level graphics entered the PS2 and Emotion Engine Imaginarium and everybody was talking about the upcoming revolution and thus DC was a thing of the past. While not as powerful as the newer consoles DC was leaps beyond its predecessors. But it was released more towards the end of a console generation and not truly the start of a new one.
Sega killed themselves with the Mega CD, the 32X and the Saturn before finishing the job with the Dreamcast. It was just a slow, drawn-out seppuku.
Sega killed themselves with the Mega CD, the 32X and the Saturn before finishing the job with the Dreamcast. It was just a slow, drawn-out seppuku.
The GameCube found "moderate" success with ~24M consoles shipped because each of those consoles shipped within touching distance of profitability, and because games published by Nintendo regularly sold well over 1M copies. Even if you count that as a "moderate success", it was close enough to a failure for Nintendo to rethink their entire console strategy for the following generation.He doesn't say in the article why it was pulled though. Yes, the PS2 did well, but even the GameCube and Xbox found moderate success with only 20 or so million consoles shipped each.
Sega did do many things right, but I disagree that it ever looked "good". Dreamcast sales never took off in Japan. It had good launch-day sales in North America but that didn't last (between September 1999 and the end of the year, Sega sold 1.5M Dreamcasts in NA - that quarter-and-a-bit in a single region accounted for about a sixth of all Dreamcasts sold ever). Third party support was lacking with some exceptions (Capcom being the only prominent one), and a large majority of the industry's key franchises stayed away from Dreamcast. Sega were losing tons of money. Things looked bad for Sega, except for a small bright spot just after the NA launch.I mean, of course. But the Dreamcast did almost everything right (including price), and for a while things looked good.
Then the first information about PS2 started to 'leak'.
I grew up with Sega from the mid-80s, with all sorts of marketing from their competitors. Even Blast Processing from Sega themselves. Moore blaming competitors marketing explains their demise - management not being accountable. A slow death that started at the tail end of the Megadrive.The Sony Emotion Engine and Toy Story level graphics bullshit was really strong back on the day. Plus people had bad memories of the Saturn. In the end I also agree that the DC library was heavily Japan oriented, which was at same time great (produced so many classics) but not forward thinking in the changing market.
I mean, of course. But the Dreamcast did almost everything right (including price), and for a while things looked good.
Then the first information about PS2 started to 'leak'.
Mega/Sega Cd was cool, Incredible games by the time (although not the video ones) but high price tag. 32x was a mistake and worse yet was the development of the 2 next gen machines (Japan an US developed) and the choosing of the Japan's project which was a 2D powerhouse but behind the 3D revolution. And of course the mess of the US launch. Dreamcast did everything right, including the price, but it was too late to match the PS2 train hype.