Console of the Month (Feb 2023): Dreamcast

[alienjesus]

Whoops, sorry all - forgot to update with the new thread this month!

This month's console of the month is Sega's last hurrah in the hardware business, the Sega Dreamcast. Released in 1999, the Dreamcast lasted only 2 years before Sega officially became a third party developer.

The Dreamcast had many innovative features, such as the VMU memory card which allowed you to play mini games on the go, a variety of game-specific control methods and a focus on online gaming way before it was mainstream. It also gave rise to many interesting new IPs from Sega, including Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5 and Chu Chu Rocket.

Share your memories with the system here!

[marurun]

The Dreamcast was my last new dedicated console. Sure, I eventually picked up a PS2 and a GameCube, but only after they were market dead. The Dreamcast I picked up out of college and bought games while they were still available new. But there's another reason I have a fondness for the Dreamcast. I was in Japan when it was released. I went to the Spring Tokyo Game Show in 1999 when Namco dropped their footage for Soulcalibur. I had just seen an arcade Soulcalibur a couple weeks before and the difference in resolution and detail alone was astounding. Arcade: low-res blocky sparks. Dreamcast: smooth, buttery everything. I got to see some Shenmu sculps, footage of The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999 with the 3D backgrounds, and it was just great. That and Naomi was really making a presence in the arcades. There were still a lot of Model 3 arcade cabs, stuff like Virtua Fighter 3, SCUD Race, SpikeOut, and Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram. But Noami stuff looked almost as good: Zombie Revenge looked as good as SpikeOut, Ferrari F355 wasn't as much fun as SCUD race but it looked almost as nice, and PowerStone was a blast. It was an arcade game I was actually decent at and could take on some of the local competition in.

When I got back home from Japan my senior year roommate picked up a Dreamcast and we enjoyed it quite a bit for the action titles. I graduated and got my own Dreamcast. It was the first 3D-capable console where I felt like 3D had finally arrived in a manner that was worthwhile. There was a lot of fun 3D stuff on PC, and I did occasionally enjoy 3D games on PS1 and Saturn, but PS1 and Saturn 3D always behaved oddly. It was twitchy and unstable with chunky textures. The Dreamcast felt like an entirely new generation of 3D. It had all the modern conveniences that PC hardware had been progressing towards over time, but it happened in the console space in what felt like one big leap. Yes, the N64 was actually a bridge, but I had little exposure to it and the texturing was just awful. The Dreamcast seemed to fix every complaint I had with 3D except perhaps weird camera issues.

It makes me very sad that the Dreamcast was a market failure, because from my perspective Sega was finally doing everything right. The Dreamcast was not prohibitively difficult to develop for and even had a Windows CE environment for developers who really had no interest in learning a dev platform. It had powerful audio and graphics hardware, adequate memory, adequate CPU power... The controller wasn't hot stuff, but it was actually very good for 3D games*. The main problem with the Dreamcast was Sega's history and baggage, which was accentuated by the Japanese console market's decline. The PS2 sold like gangbusters, what am I talking about "console market decline"? The PS2 did well well in Japan, but the in-built DVD player is correctly cited as one of the main reasons the system took off in Japan. Japan did not sell a lot of N64s, GameCubes, or Xboxes, despite going ga-ga over the GameBoy and DS line. Part of what was happening was that mobile phones were starting to get lots of games. Before Apple basically exploded the smartphone market, Japan had lots of cool devices that were game-capable, and that mobile market was healthy, long before that market really existed in the US. Between mobile games and handhelds Japanese gamers largely had their gaming fix. The PS2 back-doored itself with DVD capabilities, but looking at subsequent console sales it wasn't until the PS4 that the Japanese console market saw another blockbuster console hit. Sega was bleeding money, was releasing an arcade-style console in a market that was no longer all that enamored of dedicated consoles (though that may not have been as obvious at the time), and had a weak launch lineup in Japan. In the US the Dreamcast actually sold very well with a great launch lineup up until Sega foreshadowed (and then withdrew) indications the end of the Dreamcast was near. This was within like a year of launch, so the Dreamcast had very little market time in the US without a cloud over it. Had Sega been a healthier company and put more focus on the US and EU markets I think the Dreamcast could have continued to sell decently well and even compete against the PS2 until Sony finally released stronger dev tools. While some early PS2 titles had marked graphical advantages over Dreamcast titles, most looked worse, with muddier textures and muted colors. The PS2 was a pain to develop for until Sony released updated dev tools, despite having a stronger CPU, more memory (but in weird places), and the ability to push more polys. But wishing for a world that couldn't be doesn't get us very far. Nonetheless, Sega's Naomi had very long legs in the arcade, including its second life as the Sammy Atomiswave.

*The analog stick was Hall-effect, so no drift, and so were the analog triggers, great for driving games. Cable placement was annoying and the controller was top-heavy with a full complement of accessories (VMU and rumble pack, for example) and the dpad could go jump off a cliff, but if you were playing the 3D stuff centered on the analog stick, buttons, and triggers, it was actually a pretty good experience. I never felt I was wresting with the controller once I adjusted to it. My complaints with the controller aren't excused by that, but those complaints aren't ruinous of the actual play experience in the titles I was playing the most of.

[Gucci]

I’ll go into some more details into the Dreamcast later on but I just wanted to add that seeing some games released on new platforms from the DC era is awesome!

The biggest one for me was the two Sonic Adventure games on the Xbox 360 (and by extension the XOne) is great. They are the DX version and Battle version respectively, though the upgrade is paid DLC. Modern gaming for ya!

And I can’t forget about Jet Set (or Grind) Radio. While I do have it for the Xbox platform, the game rocks on the Vita.

I know other games were released: Shenmue 1 & 2 which I own; Crazy Taxi and I think a Space Channel 5 game. I vaguely remember a Sega Bass game being released too.

Point is that the DC era lives on. Wish there were more games but I’m glad we got some stuff out there.

[alienjesus]

I never had a Dreamcast when they were relevant, but it came out at roughly the time I started to actively follow gaming. I had recently acquired a Game Boy and an N64 (thanks to the Pokemon craze) but only a year or 2 before the Sega Mega Drive had been my main gaming system - so I was definitely feeling envious of people who got to play Sonic Adventure. I remember looking at the games in Blockbuster and thinking Power Stone looked really cool too.

My cousins eventually got a Dreamcast, a couple years later when Sega was already 3rd party I think. I finally got to try Sonic Adventure and I liked it, but I never got too far because my cousins didn't have a VMU or memory card to save progress

Despite my hype for it back when, I have to say that in modern years my Dreamcast is one of my less-loved systems. Most of the best games are available elsewhere these days, and I really dislike playing games on the DC controller, which is on my list of the worst mainstream console controllers for sure. A lot of the more interesting exclusives didn't make it to Europe in the first place either (like Seaman, or Typing of the Dead). I've been making an effort recently to give it more of a go though - I bought a couple games for it last year (Toy Commander, Samba De Amigo) and I also recently got a DCHDMI mod installed for 1080p output, so that goes a long way towards giving me more incentive to use the system.

Always happy for recommendations of games worth playing - just note that in many cases I have the big name games on other consoles like Gamecube.

[Limewater]

Heh.

I can't like the Master System or Genesis/Mega Drive controllers, but I really like the Dreamcast controller.

The D-pad is almost as bad as the ones on the SMS and Genesis, but the thumb stick is so smooth! A second thumb stick would have helped give it more staying power in that generation, not that it would have made a huge difference.

I think I have mentioned before, but I really don't like Quick Time Events. They were the worst thing about Shenmue, and I wasn't happy to see them get more mainstream acceptance.

A game spends ten hours teaching you that a certain button is "jump" and then suddenly it goes, "Remember the name of a random button on your controller and press it right.... naw, you're too late."

[Markies]

So, I picked up the DreamCast in 2015 along with the XBOX and GameCube. I bought all of the consoles with about 12 Games a piece within 3 months of each other. I had finally increased my set up to include more consoles and I wanted those consoles to be my next one.

I had a Genesis as a kid, but I didn't love it too much. I only had a few games for them and I never really went deep into the library. The Saturn never interested me, even later when I was getting big into Retro Games. But, there was always something interesting about the DreamCast. The games seemed so unique for the time and I kept hearing about how great it was. All told, my DreamCast library won't be one of the largest I will have, but it is one of the most varied. And I think that represents the DreamCast for me. The games are either hits or misses. And I've had a lot of them with this console.

Hits:
- ChuChuRocket!
- Crazy Taxi
- Dead Or Alive 2
- Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (Such a great hidden gem!)
- Giga Wing
- Grandia II
- Gunbird 2
- Jet Grind Radio
- Maximum Pool (Probably the best Pool game ever made.)
- Metropolis Street Racer (Fantastic Gran Turismo clone.)
- Mr. Driller
- Phantasy Star Online (Addicting Single Player Campaign)
- Skies Of Arcadia (Probably the best game on the console)
- SoulCalibur

Misses:
- Sega GT
- Hydro Thunder
- Sonic Shuffle
- Re-Volt
- Space Channel 5
- EGG: Elemental Gimmick Gear (Really wanted to like this one.)

There are still a few more games I want to play, but these are the ones that left the most impact, positive or negative.

[Ziggy]

I remember when the Dreamcast launched, the graphics were super impressive compared to the consoles that were out at the time. I had a cousin that got the Dreamcast when it launched, and always had a blast playing it over his house. I ended up with a PS2 myself. But then just a short time later, the Dreamcast was discontinued. It seemed like anyone that had a Dreamcast was ditching it for another console. My above mentioned cousin ditched his Dreamcast for a PS2. So Funco Land (a chain of stores that bought and sold video games) had Dreamcast hardware and software for really cheap. Cheap enough that I decided to get one for myself, even though I already had a PS2.

I'm struggling to remember my early Dreamcast games. That is, the very first games I got when I first bought the console. I can only remember 2 (maybe that's all I got?). Sonic Adventure (1) and Mortal Kombat Gold. I sunk a lot of hours into Sonic Adventure. It wasn't nearly as good as a 3D platformer as the heavy hitters I've already played on the N64, but it was still fun enough. I think the soundtrack really helped that game out a lot. I never got Sonic Adventure 2 on the DC, but I ended up getting Battle on the Gamecube. And I definitely sunk some time in with Mortal Kombat Gold. I've always been a huge MK fan, mostly MKII. But I skipped MK4 for whatever reason, so MK Gold was a brand new game for me.

I can remember not long after getting my DC, getting some more games for super cheap from Funco Land. There was Fighting Force 2, which is some sort of 3rd person shooter, but kind of top-down. It seemed cool at the time, but I have no idea if I'd still like it today. it's not a heart pounding button masher like Contra or something, it's more slow paced. And I got Sega Smash Pack Volume 1, which I primarily got for Virtua Cop 2. I had 1 light gun, and I played a lot of Virtua Cop 2 with my brother (I used the light gun and he used a standard controller). I also picked up Confidential Mission at some point, but I can't remember when.

And I scored a used copy of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1) from Blockbuster. I use to rent the game for the N64, I never had enough money to buy my own copy but I always wanted it. So getting it on the Dreamcast was awesome. Not only did it have better graphics, but there was more content in the game compared to the N64 port. This might actually be the DC game that I put the most time into. I have a save file that I got all tapes and gold metals for each character. I can't remember when I got it, but Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX is another game that I definitely spent a lot of time with.

I might have had a few other DC games in my early days with the console, but those were the ones that I really spent time with. But unfortunately, that first Dreamcast that I got started acting up. It would occasionally have issues reading discs, and it would happen more and more frequently. I ended up trading away my Dreamcast and games to Funco Land, probably when I got my first Gamecube. I actually have a thread (here) that I go into detail about the various technical issues I've had with Dreamcasts. But long story short, not long after I traded away my first DC, I ended up getting another. This was still the early days of eBay, when it was mostly just people (not businesses) selling their old junk. You could get retro games for super cheap. So I bought another Dreamcast, and all of the games I had, and then even more games!

A friend of mine told me about Skies of Arcadia, so I picked that one up. I played it for a while, I think I got up to the second disc, but stopped playing for whatever reason. It's not that I lost interest in the game. I've been wanting to start it over, and hopefully beat it. But then there's the question: Dreamcast or Gamecube?

Some years back, Hobie posted that an eBay seller had sealed copies of The Typing of the Dead for a good price, so I picked one up. I ended up getting two keyboards and a mouse. I had a blast playing that game, and it was especially fun to bust out when I had people over. It was definitely a real novel thing to people. "Whaaaaaa?" was the usual reaction LOL. Everyone always ends up having a good time with it, whether they're playing or just watching.

Since I had a keyboard and mouse, I checked out a few FPS games that took advantage of them. Which brings me to the controller...

I actually like the DC controller, but it definitely helped in hurting the DC in my opinion. And in two ways. One, it traded Sega's classic 3x3 button layout for the diamond button layout. Which is great for many games, but a huge step back for Street Fighter games. And those types of games are huge on the Dreamcast. But that's more minor, and not every one would agree anyway. But not having a second joystick really hurt the console. When the Dreamcast launched, maybe it didn't matter so much. But FPS on consoles really blew up, and the PS2 controller could properly support them. There was just no good way to play these games on the DC controller. People always cite the PS2 having DVD, and also the huge piracy problem the DC had, which of course were huge problems for Sega. But the controller not being able to support a huge genre of gaming, I feel like that was a problem on the same level. Even outside of FPS games, two sticks were already standard for 3D games (one stick to move, one stick to control the camera). Even if the DC had a dual stick controller, would it still have failed? Maybe. But it's fun to imagine what could have been if it did.

So right now I have a stock Dreamcast with a working optical drive, and another Dreamcast in a transparent blue shell with a MODE installed. I also have a quiet fan installed in the DC with the MODE. I still have to finish setting it up fully, and figure out what I'm doing for AV cables.



Here's my physical DC collection (I might have sold some of these, I can't remember LOL).

Atari Anniversary Edition
Bust-A-Move 4
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
Fighting Force 2
Mortal Kombat Gold
NFL Blitz 2000
Razor Freestyle Scooter
Sega Rally Championship 2
Sega Smash Pack Vol. 1
Skies of Arcadia
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Time Stalkers
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Typing of the Dead, The


I haven't played much DC in recent years, unfortunately. But damn, that start up splash screen, I always thought it was so cool. And it definitely evokes nostalgia for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHmwksG_98Y

Oh, I almost forgot... I haven't tried many indie games for the DC, but I did purchase Xeno Crisis (also on the Genesis) and have been having an absolute blast with it!

[opa]

I really enjoyed playing the Dreamcast back in the day. There really wasn't another system with so many unique experiences. Some of my favorites were:

Jet Grind Radio
Carrier (I have a soft spot for this RE clone)
Shenmue (c'mon we all love Shenmue)
Ecco the Dolphin (I really enjoyed Ecco in 3d)
Sonic Adventure
Skies of Arcadia (pirates!)

I do remember that it was the first system wherein you could pirate games! If you were fortunate enough to have a cd burner in your pc you could just try out new games for the cost of the cd-r. Although I never pirated any content while the system was active. It wasn't until after the system's lifespan that I remember finally trying out games like Ikaruga or Shenmue 2. Anyone else remember having a stack of CD-R's on their desk? LOL

edit:
Oh, I almost forgot. I hated the long, drawn out beep the VMU makes if the battery is dead. LOL

[Ziggy]

edit:
Oh, I almost forgot. I hated the long, drawn out beep the VMU makes if the battery is dead. LOL

I hated that long beep for so long. Not wanting to spend a fortune to always have fresh batteries in my VMU, I had thought about disconnecting the speaker instead. But after so many years of ALWAYS hearing that beep when I boot up the console, I wonder if I'd miss if.

[Ziggy]

What AV solution is everyone using for their Dreamcast?

I ask because the Dreamcast AV output isn't exactly straight forward. Sure, you can get 480p VGA output, but not every game supports it. Some games you can trick, but others you cannot. Kind of a pain in the ass. There's the DC Digital HDMI mod, it's pretty expensive but it's what I would want if I were using my DC on an HDTV. I resolved to use the DC only on a CRT for now, and to go with regular old 480i RGB. But no one is making a quality RGB SCART cable, and making your own is kind of a pain in the ass. So I put some serious thought into just sticking with composite or S-Video, since it really doesn't look bad at all on a CRT.