September 9th, 1999 marked a significant year in the gaming world. Super Smash Bros on the Nintendo 64 had shaken up the 2D fighting realm with its blend of overindulgent faced paced battle mechanics with familiar franchise mascots. Final Fantasy VIII also released earlier that year, proved to the West that the JRPG wasn’t a flash in the pants runaway hit like its predecessor was merely two years prior.
But it wasn’t Nintendo nor Sony that stoked the flames of the gaming world at the dawn of the new millennium. The Sega Dreamcast became one of the best, and the sadly the last, of consoles that provided players with a gaming experience in the purest sense of the term. Specifically, unlike consoles today that pride themselves solely on high definition graphics rather then killer software, online stores that seem to operate more like an apple app store then a provider of quality virtual games, the Dreamcast delivered onto its devoted Sega fanbase everything that the Saturn and 32X failed to achieve. Sega’s final outing in the console market was a tour de force unlike any other launch up to that point. With Soul Caliber, Sonic Adventure, and Blue Stinger just to name a few, Sega seemed to achieve a return to form, a Renaissance if you will, in the way made us fall in love with Genesis a decade before. Here are just a few highlights of what the Sega Dreamcast was all about and why any modern or retro gamer should have this in their collection.
The Games
It is undeniable that the success of a console’s lifespan depends on killer apps. Those gems that exist solely on that console, a symbol that any console developer plans on bestowing onto the gaming world. In this aspect, Sega left nothing to be desired. In retrospect, it seems as if the Dreamcast had a hit in every genre for every gamer to sink his/her teeth in. If you were a fan of RPG’s, then look no further then Grandia 2 or Skies of Arcadia. For the fighting fan, this system was your wet dream. With a roster including Mark of the Wolves, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and Soul Caliber, just to name a few, the Dreamcast was the place were the arcade truly came alive in your living room.
Online Gaming
The Sega Dreamcast can pride itself on being the first at home console that featured online functions that bridged the gap between PC gamers and Sega fanboys alike. One game, in particular, Phantasy Star Online epitomized the Sega Network’s brilliant connectivity service that could hold up to anything the PC market could churn out. Phantasy Star did for the console market what Diablo 2 did for the computer gaming in that both United players across the planet creating a community that was as close to one another as any couch co-op title could bring. This was no small feat considering the Dreamcast predated the original Xbox by almost two years and most would agree that Sega’s online service was the foundation for everything Microsoft had done with its live marketplace.
But all this greatness was undermined by two fundamental factors: The rise of the PlayStation 2 and DVD video.
The Dreamcast’s final days
Only two years into its lifespan, the Dreamcast was ultimately doomed to fail. Sony had built up a devoted fan base with its first incarnation onto the public market, and it was unavoidable that the PS2 would continue this trend. Graphically both consoles were pretty much the same from a technical standpoint but one single factor decided the fate of each: DVD technology. DVD video was the new trend for films and the Matrix became a bigger hit on DVD video then it did at the movie theaters. The Dreamcast could not compete with such a multitude of functions that the PS2 could give a consumer. Keep in mind that the Dreamcast lacked any kind of backward compatibility.
Immediately fans were presented with a full library of games from the PS1 era which as any gaming historian knows, the first PlayStation was a breeding ground of great JRPGs. The Dreamcast had nothing to fall back on in between new releases. As more third-party developers flocked to Sony’s next system, Sega seemed to be a company of the past, a corporation who was out of touch with modern consumers.
It’s Legacy
For most, the Sega Dreamcast was the prime example of how a console with a great launch lineup, decent hardware, and new technology could lose everything in the face of competition. Sega had reached its peak with the Genesis a decade before the Dreamcast was launched. Sega rested to hard on brand name recognition thinking naively that all the mistakes of their past would be erased with its new system.
Today the Dreamcast still has a devoted fan base that consistently releases new titles on this relic from gaming history. A target for most collectors, Sega’s last hurrah has become more quality then niche, a conglomeration of great hardware and first-rate titles that was not given its fair stake in the console war. The Dreamcast remains a high point in Sega’s creative apex, even though its run lasted a meager two years.
Anthony Frisina is a graduate of the City University of New York-Brooklyn College with a BA in Political Science with a minor in Psychology. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Anthony went on to attend Brooklyn College's Film Academy and Writer's workshop program, achieving an interdisciplinary degree in Screenwriting and Film theory in the Fine Arts. Transforming his love for classic American cinema, Anthony went on to adapt a number of his own works into different mediums, including his well-received Western novel The Regulator. Anthony likes to spend his free time writing articles for magazines and periodicals that cover a wide range of topics, from science fiction to popular culture. As a screenwriter, Anthony has had his screenplays featured at numerous spec script writing competitions across the country where he one day hopes to write the next great American film.
September 9th, 1999 marked a significant year in the gaming world. Super Smash Bros on the Nintendo 64 had shaken up the 2D fighting realm with its blend of overindulgent faced paced battle mechanics with familiar franchise mascots. Final Fantasy VIII also released earlier that year, proved to the West that the JRPG wasn’t a flash in the pants runaway hit like its predecessor was merely two years prior.
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