There are very few Dreamcast exclusives left...

[Anayo]

Was Confidential Mission ever available for anything other than Dreamcast?

[samsonlonghair]

Almost all of its arcade ports [...] now run perfectly in MAME.

If emulation equates imposed obsolescence, then the next logical step is to say that NullDC, DEmul, and Reicast make practically the whole console obsolete. By the same logic emulation makes every eight-bit and sixteen-bit system completely obsolete.

Most of us on this board use or have used emulation, yet we still treasure our "real" games and consoles. The broader discussion of emulation vs "real" games has been hashed out many times in other threads. For now, I'll just say that MAME does not replace a dreamcast in my home.

Was Confidential Mission ever available for anything other than Dreamcast?

No it was not.

I may be biased considering my devotion towards the platform, but the system still has exclusives and more importantly still house superior ports that simply don't match up on other consoles. MvC2 is a huge example of this. PS2, XB, 360 PSN ports are inferior, and the latter two which are no longer available for purchase. Jojo's Bizzare Adventure also Springs to mind with similar results.
CvS1, Pro, SF III DOUBLE IMPACT, Project Justice, Plasma Sword, Cannon Spike, Cool Cool Toon, Royal Rumble and many others that have already mentioned.

The system's fine.

I agree with CD AGES. Basically any NAOMI game is best played on Dreamcast. Marvel VS Capcom 2 is the perfect example of this.

[Anayo]

Was Confidential Mission ever available for anything other than Dreamcast?

No it was not.

That might strengthen the Dreamcast's case as far as exclusive lightgun games are concerned. As far as I know, the Dreamcast version of Virtua Cop 2 included along with Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 hasn't seen a port to any other game console so far.

[dsheinem]

I also mentioned in my original post that MAME now can emulate perfectly a lot of the DC games that are arcade ports on your list that weren't elsewhere available. So stuff like Mars Matrix and Giga Wing 2 really don't require a DC to play anymore.

--considering this, there's little reason to own anything other than a PC that can handle anything released in the last two decades, and that can emulate everything else.

Fair enough! Not a bad idea, in fact

I think we agree that the overall DC obsolescence is a lot greater than something like the obsolescence of the libraries for the PS2, Atari VCS, or even the Xbox because the DC had a fairly small library in the USA (~250 games) compared to those other systems. I'd guess that almost half of that library is now available elsewhere officially (or easily playable via arcade emulation), including the vast majority of its best titles.

With all due respect, that's exactly the opposite of what I was saying. I would challenge you to put together a list of PS2 games, which were popular/recognizable, received scores commensurate with the upper echelon of games, and are not on any other home/handheld console, personal computer, or arcade hardware. I would be very surprised if that list reaches double digits, much less triple.

Ok, let's set aside the idea of what version is better, whether I can play discs across multiple systems, etc. Let's just consider official Dreamcast releases and their current accessibility on other platforms (including arcade) which was the main point I was making in the OP.

If we use Wikipedia's list of Dreamcast Exclusive North American releases (including post-console life stuff like Sturmwind), we are only left with about 50 titles, or only about 20% of the entire Dreamcast library that I can't get in some official form elsewhere. those games are:

4 Wheel Thunder
AeroWings
AeroWings 2: Airstrike
Armada (video game)
Blue Stinger
Bomberman Online
Cannon Spike
Carrier (video game)
Coaster Works
D2 (video game)
Daytona USA 2001
Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm
DUX (video game)
El Dorado Gate
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Evolution 2: Far Off Promise
Evolution: The World of Sacred Device
Fighting Vipers 2
Flag to Flag
Godzilla Generations
Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes
Illbleed
Iron Aces
Maken X
Max Steel: Covert Missions
Metropolis Street Racer
Mortal Kombat Gold
NBA 2K (video game)
NBA 2K1
NCAA College Football 2K2: Road to the Rose Bowl
Ooga Booga
Pen Pen TriIcelon
Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein
Project Justice
Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice
Red Dog: Superior Firepower
Rippin' Riders Snowboarding
Seventh Cross: Evolution
Shenmue
Sonic Shuffle
Soul Fighter
Sturmwind
Super Magnetic Neo
Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
The Ring: Terror's Realm
Time Stalkers
TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat
Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2
Toy Commander
Toy Racer
World Series Baseball 2K1

Yes, there's some good games in there. There's also a lot of crap. Basically, someone buying a Dreamcast today to get into its exclusives would only need to peruse a very small selection of the system's library. That was my point.

Even if we add back in any remaining "exclusive" North American arcade games, I think we're still only looking at maybe 25% of the total DC library at best that isn't available, officially, on a PC or on another console.


By contrast, if we just go with the PS2's greatest hits (of which MobyGames says there are 212), a quick count says there are about 55 games just in the Greatest Hits line which are still exclusive to the PS2 (about 25%). That isn't counting, of course, the hundreds of non-greatest hits games that are available only on the PS2, even today.

Also, most Atari VCS games haven't seen release other than on the VCS. There are 500+ games, and even if we count up what's been available on various compilations, I think there's still better than half of its library that can only be found on those original carts.

[Exhuminator]

--considering this, there's little reason to own anything other than a PC that can handle anything released in the last two decades, and that can emulate everything else.

Fair enough! Not a bad idea, in fact

This is what I've been doing for years and years (and years). If it's 5th gen or older, I just emulate. I get to play all the old games I want, when I want. No insane eBay prices. No storage space woes. No curator maintenance. No archaic hardware issues. No regrets.

[ElkinFencer10]

No curator maintenance.

Unfortunately for me, I enjoy this part of collecting as much as I do actually playing the games.

[Sarge]

You could actually even take the Evolution games off of there, as they were both merged into Evolution Worlds on Gamecube.

[Betagam7]

Shenmue, Metropolis Street Racer, Cannon Spike, Fire-Pro Wrestling D, D2, Carrier, Confidential Mission, L.O.L: Lack Of Love, Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice, Outrigger, Illbleed.

All exclusives worth experimenting with.

[ElkinFencer10]

Shenmue, Metropolis Street Racer, Cannon Spike, Fire-Pro Wrestling D, D2, Carrier, Confidential Mission, L.O.L: Lack Of Love, Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice, Outrigger, Illbleed.

All exclusives worth experimenting with.

Fixed it for you.

[Omerta]

How many Dreamcasts will boot CD-Rs without hardware/firmware modifications? A lot.

That means you guys don't need Dreamcast games. So help me complete my set.