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The Dreamcast Legacy

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Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#21

Post by droptablemain »

arprocter wrote: post #6
b15h0p wrote: post #2

The article states that the Dreamcast "fell out of the public eye as the Nintendo 64 was released". Am I missing something here? As far as I know the N64 was released more than two years before the Dreamcast's release. The Dreamcast always felt like it belonged to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube console generation more than the PS1/N64 generation, although it was released in between generations. Release dates: * PlayStation 1:…

Article also seems confused that the NES competed against the Genesis - the Master System was Sega's 8-bit console; and no mention of the 32X or Sega/Mega CD either iirc a big selling point of the PS2 was it could play DVDs, whereas the Dreamcast couldn't

The Mega Drive / Genesis was release to the NA market in 1989, a couple of years before the SNES. So for a time, it was competing with the NES.

But, overall agree that the article has some factual issues.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#22

Post by radicalbyte »

baochan wrote: post #3
b15h0p wrote: post #2

The article states that the Dreamcast "fell out of the public eye as the Nintendo 64 was released". Am I missing something here? As far as I know the N64 was released more than two years before the Dreamcast's release. The Dreamcast always felt like it belonged to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube console generation more than the PS1/N64 generation, although it was released in between generations. Release dates: * PlayStation 1:…

That's as far as I read before deciding the author had no idea what they were talking about and closed the window.

This; I went from being astonished by Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the N64 to being stunned by Shenmue only a two years later on my Dreamcast. I bought both of them on release.

The Dreamcast was a great machine, I have fond memories of many hours playing Rez, Phantasy Star Online, Sonic Adventure, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia and Space Channel 5..

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#23

Post by ac2u »

p0wn wrote: post #19

I remember you could copy the games because they had no drm on them. My buddy had a complete collection. What a masterpiece.

So if you had an ISO of a dreamcast game, it is possible to burn it to a CD-R and play it on an unmodified console (when it was first cracked it had to be a boot disc with a swap). The exploit was some sort of a software hijacking of the console's ability to play MIL-CDs which were used for interactive music discs in Japan.

Copying itself from the source discs (GD-ROMs that had their grooves packed closer together than a traditional CD for extra capacity), from what I can remember reading, was primary done via a dreamcast console (perhaps initially it was done via a development kit) and a serial cable or ethernet adapter.

I think over the years more means of doing the GD-ROM copy became available, like firmware overwrites of certain PC drives.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#24

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

themodelplumber wrote: post #17
smm11 wrote: post #9

Blundered into a BestBuy early one Sunday, and the Dreamcasts were in a pile by the door at $50 with bags of games included. I then had one, running Crazy Taxi, for years and years.

Similar here, I picked up mine at a drugstore for $50 along with a pile of discounted games from the rack. I never thought I'd own the thing for 20 years and watch my oldest beat Sonic Adventure at age 6. Watching those credits roll he gave me the most badass look, lol. They still ask to play it from time to time.

Sonic Adventure holds up surprisingly well in spite of, or perhaps because of, it's surreal voice acting and general jank. Controversial opinion: it's better than Sonic Adventure 2[0], and Big the Cat's story was a nice change of pace.

[0] Even more controversial opinion: Sonic '06 is also better than Sonic Adventure 2.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#25

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

ac2u wrote: post #23
p0wn wrote: post #19

I remember you could copy the games because they had no drm on them. My buddy had a complete collection. What a masterpiece.

So if you had an ISO of a dreamcast game, it is possible to burn it to a CD-R and play it on an unmodified console (when it was first cracked it had to be a boot disc with a swap). The exploit was some sort of a software hijacking of the console's ability to play MIL-CDs which were used for interactive music discs in Japan. Copying itself from the source discs (GD-ROMs that had their grooves packed closer together th…

Games that were bigger than a CD's capacity had to have their textures downsampled and recompressed though. I only point this out as anyone interested in playing DC games they don't have a GD-ROM copy of has a much better option in the form of GDEmu or Terraonion MODE.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#26

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

Izkata wrote: post #10
titusjohnson wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to my memory of the time, the Dreamcast launched a bit too early compared to the PS2. The Dreamcast was trying to sell games and systems right when the PS2 marketing engine went into full swing. The marketing hype for PS2 was huge , everyone I knew was talking about how many millions of pixels it would push, how the multi-core architecture would make everything else obsolete, and of course, how it was backw…

Yep, I was that kid who got a Dreamcast for Christmas (my parents' compromise since my brothers and I wanted different systems) and I remember the same about commercials for the PS2 having just started.

> Yep, I was that kid who got a Dreamcast for Christmas

There are dozens of us!

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#27

Post by ajmurmann »

titusjohnson wrote: post #8
b15h0p wrote: post #2

The article states that the Dreamcast "fell out of the public eye as the Nintendo 64 was released". Am I missing something here? As far as I know the N64 was released more than two years before the Dreamcast's release. The Dreamcast always felt like it belonged to the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube console generation more than the PS1/N64 generation, although it was released in between generations. Release dates: * PlayStation 1:…

According to my memory of the time, the Dreamcast launched a bit too early compared to the PS2. The Dreamcast was trying to sell games and systems right when the PS2 marketing engine went into full swing. The marketing hype for PS2 was huge , everyone I knew was talking about how many millions of pixels it would push, how the multi-core architecture would make everything else obsolete, and of course, how it was backw…

You touch on a really important point here that I feel is totally underreported: marketing. My friend group all had Saturns or wanted them. I remember it being a big topic for us how there were constantly PlayStation ads everywhere while they were pretty much absent for the Saturn, especially on TV where Saturn ads existed but were terrible and and they were almost never run (this was in Germany). Our own narrative always had been that it was lack of marketing and bad marketing that killed the Saturn.

I'd love to see some actual data on marketing spent in different regions for the consoles.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#28

Post by louhike »

ddm379 wrote: post #14

Still on the hunt for Marvel vs. Capcom 2

My favorite vs fighting game! The gameplay is diverse, a lot of great characters and the pixel art is beautiful. I’m lucky enough to have a dreamcast arcade stick and it’s such a thrill with it. I hope you’ll find it!

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#29

Post by icedchai »

nullstyle wrote: post #13
arprocter wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Article also seems confused that the NES competed against the Genesis - the Master System was Sega's 8-bit console; and no mention of the 32X or Sega/Mega CD either iirc a big selling point of the PS2 was it could play DVDs, whereas the Dreamcast couldn't

The genesis was available in stores concurrently with the NES, and once it was released the master system didn't get much shelf space at stores anymore. The genesis has nearly around 2 years lead on the SNES if I remember correctly. The NES and Genesis definitely competed. (source: I remember the store displays)

Yes, I remember this as well. Growing up, late 80's, we had a NES, then in 1989: a Sega Genesis, and also a Turbografx 16. Yes, we were spoiled kids...
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