My point is, I would really like to know why the SEGA Dreamcast has been written off. No I am not behind the times, I did not just discover this yesterday but since the day SEGA announced it's departure from this platform and all future own made ones I have never really understood why.
Think about it, the Dreamcast has not done all that badly. True it did have a lot of sale success after they slashed the price down severely, but look at the U64 that has done by comparative standards pretty badly as well and yet it still remains in a niche market.
To me the Dreamcast has been one of the best consoles I have ever owned. It has an astonishingly vast library of quality games (unlike PSX 1 or 2) the technical performance is amazing (I still haven't seen a PS2 game vastly, or even slightly superior), and yet it failed? Why?
Here are two significant quotes I noticed in EDGE today:
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Financial Times: The performance of different consoles has become so similar it is difficult to tell whether you are using Playstation2 or Sega's Dreamcast
I know these people are not of game authority but the magazine in question virtually agreed with them.
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Ken Kutaragi (Sony): Microsoft has finished before it even got started. They have no games... Microsoft does not understand the entertainment business. The processing speed of their console is not fast enough and graphics were rough
The first quote details to my thinking of the similarities between the DC and PS2. The second quote however is quite laudable. Sony are saying that the X-Box has not enough speed/power to compete even though their machine is not only lower class, but as I can see as far as CURRENT development standards go on par with our dead pal the Dreamcast?
That makes no sense, unless of course it means that the PS2 will somehow be able to remodify it's basic architecture which I deem very unlikely (surely no add-on would give such a boost).
Even more silly, is talk of the "entertainment" industry. No you damn bitches, you just had the right hardware at the right time, I personally believe that if Namco was on holiday at the time, your machine would have died the death it damn well deserved to..especially if Psygnosis had pulled out of the deal as well.
SEGA must have either something up their sleeve, or they were more in debt than they let on (probably the latter) and that is why now a perfect console is dead. It offered so much more than the shitty PS2 (I am never going to have one) or the XBOX (my living room is too small for such a monster). I just hope the GameCube pulls through and sends both Sony and MS to the gutter as they both only deserve to prosper within their own original industries. Curiously enough, does anyone know what overall profit margin Sony were making from their PSX in 1999 set against the rest of their dealings? 50% yes the PSX has been so successful for them that it has nearly doubled their turnover.
If the GameCube does win (I hope it does, but LM looks quite boring) I only prey that SEGA goes on to be one of the leading developers for the system. Who knows maybe if they hit bright blue again they might even consider the hardware industry again.
Another horrific point, it is plain to all that consoles are trying to turn into PCs. Unfortunately the DC made the first step with internet access but now it is becoming horrendous. I was reading an article about E3 today and looking at pictures of a PS2 connected to a keyboard and high resolution monitor on what looked like a database. And then one of Sony's StormTroopers holding aloft a surprisingly large looking hard drive add-on which of course with their recent broadband access drive would make it one OS short of a PC (or maybe MS come in later?). Of course I am not talking about the X-Box for it is not a console trying to be a PC, more the other way around as it's HUGE size attests to.
How depressing, maybe I should freeze myself for two years and then come back when new blood has hit the field?
I have never liked the PSX or it's lame sequel, and as far as I can see the PSPOO has had no "must have" games out yet, if it has someone please enlighten me as usually the panic wrought upon the gaming community by an amazing game even hits the general public at times.
God, I think Sony are shit at 1. making games 2. Publishing games (remember Sony Imagesoft?) 3. AND AT MAKING CONSOLES, THE PSX IS SHIT!!!!!
The only worthwhile game they have made (according to the public) is maybe Jumping Jack Crap and Gran Turismo which I thought was shit as well. The only game I have ever really liked on The PSSUX was CSOTN and I blame Konami for not making that a Saturn exclusive game, tell me a one PSX game that rivals Panzer Dragoon Zwei or Guardian Heros?
Ok, I must finish my ranting now...but be warned, I HATE SONY IN THE GAME BUSINESS!
