The Dreamcast Legacy • Hacker News Board

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#71

Post by xgkickt » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 7:38 PM UTC

ajmurmann wrote: post #27

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…

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 a…

There was a rumor that in the UK SEGA pretty much spent their entire Dreamcast marketing budget on the Arsenal sponsorship. Would like to know how close to the truth that was.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#72

Post by VRay » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 7:50 PM UTC

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #39

No other console tanked the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was fatally wounded as a platform because their DRM was easily bypassed. You didn't even need a special hardware dongle or modification. You could instead straight up download copies of games that were modified to work on the system. No point in supporting a platform that was dominating arcades but whose sales were getting obliterated by piracy at home.

I remember that the Dreamcast was already dead by the time piracy started becoming rampant, at least in the USA where I lived

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#73

Post by joeman1000 » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:27 PM UTC

The Dreamcast is still special. It never made big waves in Australia, so I bought one secondhand in 2016. My childhood was spent playing the PS2. The Dreamcast library and the whole ‘attitude’ of the system is quirky and refreshing. Playing titles like Shenmue and Jet Set Radio is still so enjoyable. If they had a 3D GTA on the system I think it could have helped.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#74

Post by aasasd » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:28 PM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #54

aasasd wrote: post #41

PS2 emulation is such a pain that I still can't make any emuls work on my Mac. Meanwhile Flycast is being ported to PS Vita with decent FPS.

Is there any reason you can't just use PCSX2? It works on my 2012 MacBook Pro...it should work on any fairly recent hardware with zero fuss... https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Native-Mac-Testing-Build

It works! But... hella slow with games like Gran Turismo 3. Vaguely on par with PCSX2 in Windows in VMWare Fusion, if not slower. (Fusion can run DX10 stuff on Mac, while Wine and VirtualBox can't.)

Previously I assumed that PCSX2 development for Mac stopped around 2012 with 0.9.7. Can't remember what was my result with it, but possibly the same.

I guess the problem might be with the embedded GPU of the Macbook. Which is still telling, if a weak modern GPU can't handle a system from 2000 while being able to run games from mid-to-late 2010s.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#75

Post by nanna » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:34 PM UTC

hahamrfunnyguy wrote: post #33

One game I haven't seen mentioned here was Ikaruga. It was a top down shooter from Japan. Like many shooters, you fought your way through hordes of enemies and boss battles. You of course could upgrade your arsenal along the way by collecting powerups. One innovative gameplay mechanic was the firing mode: you would fire either white or black bullets. When you were firing white bullets, white enemy bullets and project…

Ikaruga was great, however it was effectively Treasure's sequel to its imo greatest game, Radiant Silvergun for the Sega Saturn, which sadly never made it out of Japan. Best game of the 32bit generation, maybe best bullet hell ever.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wue0F5YyeEQ

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#76

Post by oso2k » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:35 PM UTC

Comevius wrote: post #7

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:…

They confused it with Sega Saturn, that's the one that was pushed under the bus by Nintendo 64 in 1996. Nintendo however was late to the game, the PS1 was already entrenched.

I think OP’s sentiment was right. I vividly recall seeing at Christmas time at a Toys R Us dozens and dozens of Saturn boxes next to handful of Dreamcast boxes, next to 2 N64 boxes. And I remember talking to the cashier and them complaining that they couldn’t sell Saturn and Dreamcast. They expected Sega to go out of business soon. They also remarked that the Dreamcast was being artificially held back to make seem as big a seller as the N64.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#77

Post by vikingerik » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:53 PM UTC

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #39

No other console tanked the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was fatally wounded as a platform because their DRM was easily bypassed. You didn't even need a special hardware dongle or modification. You could instead straight up download copies of games that were modified to work on the system. No point in supporting a platform that was dominating arcades but whose sales were getting obliterated by piracy at home.

As the other reply says, this didn't really happen this way. The Dreamcast was already on its way out after the PS2's launch by the time piracy really started up. Piracy was a footnote, not a cause.

Internet access was one constraining factor. Not everyone in 1999/2000 had broadband to download entire CD images. And an even smaller portion ever knew where to find the piracy methods and content - most of it was on Usenet.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#78

Post by timw4mail » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:54 PM UTC

rusk wrote: post #60

emodendroket wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was absolutely the PS2 that tanked the Dreamcast. Perhaps the author meant Xbox.

Best selling game console of all time I think. No shame losing to the best.

It was only the best in terms of hype and sales. Video-quality-wise, it was likely the worst of its generation.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#79

Post by timw4mail » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #39

No other console tanked the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was fatally wounded as a platform because their DRM was easily bypassed. You didn't even need a special hardware dongle or modification. You could instead straight up download copies of games that were modified to work on the system. No point in supporting a platform that was dominating arcades but whose sales were getting obliterated by piracy at home.

PS2 marketing killed the Dreamcast.

Re: The Dreamcast Legacy

#80

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 8:59 PM UTC

pmlamotte wrote: post #66

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> [0] Even more controversial opinion: Sonic '06 is also better than Sonic Adventure 2. Having never played either but having watched gameplay of both, I'm very interested in your thoughts on that. I also agree that Sonic Adventure 1 holds up surprisingly well despite the jank. A lot of Dreamcast era games have a certain aesthetic to them that feels distinctly different from other games. Sega really had some wild ide…

It's pretty subjective, honestly. For context, I played Sonic Adventure when it first came out. I played Sonic Adventure 2 (DC version) less than a year ago because it had a reputation for being a fan favorite. I hated it. I played Sonic 06 recently it had a reputation for being terrible and I found I actually kinda liked it because it made me laugh.

'06s reputation for being terrible is objectively overblown. It is definitely rushed, has long loading times, and is jank as hell, but it is otherwise a pretty mediocre game. I've definitely played a lot worse and I think the general "someone's free Unity game" feel helps it to not be taken too seriously. It is also occasionally completely hilarious. For instance, during the Shadow story fight with Silver, I got trapped in a notorious "It's no use" loop getting shot straight upwards. This was a little frustrating, but then Shadow's corpse fell into the ground head first and got stuck in it like a lawn dart and I laughed my ass off.

By contrast I think a lot of what put me off of SA2 was how seriously it seemed to take itself. It's a lot more polished than '06, but still has enough jank to cause frustration and is otherwise just as mediocre in the gameplay department. A lot of my gripes about SA2's gameplay are actually shared by 06, but I guess I just kind of expect that from a buggy unfinished mess so it is more easily forgiven.