This weekend I've been playing and messing around with my Dreamcast a lot. It's been overstated but the system really was ahead of its time.
Even having the Sony PlayStation 2 and 3, the Dreamcast is the last system that had a true Japanese feel. While we didn't get all of those quirky and mostly insane Japanese titles, America did get Samba De Amigo, Chu Chu Rocket and Super Magnetic Neo. The system was compact enough to fit in the tiny Japanese apartments and it was a pioneer in online gameplay.
Two things killed the Dreamcast: DVD support as well as betrayed Sega fans. Back when Sega was going head-to-head with Nintendo as the console king, they pushed things too far. The Genesis was a fantastic system with great games. However, Sega ended up screwing over everyone when the 32X and the Sega CD came out. Those were expensive and unnecessary add-ons that really put them in the grave. When the Saturn came out people had already started to lean more towards the Sony PlayStation and N64. Even though the Saturn had arcade perfect ports and the best controller for fighting games, gamers were already tired of dropping hundreds on Sega. Sad story indeed.
While the Dreamcast feel to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, it will always have a fond place in my heart. For as long as I can, I will proudly keep my Dreamcast in my collection.
So, here's to Sega's last opus, the only console to truly think...
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A small asterisks about the "betrayed Sega fans." Now, I can't say whether or not that's true as I owned one and never felt betrayed; however, if Sega fans did feel that why, I'd be ashamed FOR THEM as they obviously did not know what was going on.
The Sega CD was meant to compete with the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16). While it's now seen as mostly a joke in the States (that actually sold modestly well), the PC Engine was a juggernaut in Japan that rigorously (and at one time very successfully meeting if not briefly overtaking) competed with Nintendo for the video game market.
Though the Genesis gained popularity in the rest of the world, the situation was reversed in what was at the time the video game Mecca (Japan).
To compete with the PC Engine, Sega began production of the Sega-CD (or Mega Drive CD). It was not, as some have speculated, meant to compete with the Super Nintendo (Famicom) or the possible marriage of Sony and Nintendo.
A lot of people in the States weren't aware of this rivalry or couldn't empathize due to the fact that the TurboGrafx-16 had a relatively small impact on the industry domestically.
But the PC Engine was a great concern to Sega at the time.
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