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= Dreamcast =
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Introduction
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The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was
released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September
9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first
sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2,
Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast's
discontinuation in 2001 ended Sega's 18 years in the console market.
A team led by Hideki Sato began developing the Dreamcast in 1997. In
contrast to the expensive hardware of the unsuccessful Saturn, the
Dreamcast was designed to reduce costs with off-the-shelf components,
including a Hitachi SH-4 CPU and an NEC PowerVR2 GPU. Sega used the
GD-ROM media format to avoid the expenses of DVD-ROM technology.
Developers were able to include a custom version of the Windows CE
operating system on game discs to make porting PC games easy, and
Sega's NAOMI arcade system board allowed nearly identical conversions
of arcade games. The Dreamcast was the first console to include a
built-in modular modem for internet access and online play.
Though its Japanese release was beset by supply problems, the
Dreamcast had a successful US launch backed by a large marketing
campaign. However, sales steadily declined as Sony built anticipation
for the PlayStation 2. Dreamcast sales did not meet Sega's
expectations, and attempts to renew interest through price cuts caused
significant financial losses. After a change in leadership, Sega
discontinued the Dreamcast on March 31, 2001, withdrew from the
console business, and restructured itself as a third-party developer.
A total of 9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide and over
600 games were produced. Its bestselling game, 'Sonic Adventure'
(1998)--the first 3D game in Sega's 'Sonic the Hedgehog' series--sold
2.5 million copies.
The Dreamcast's commercial failure has been attributed to several
factors, including competition from the PlayStation 2, limited
third-party support, and the earlier failures of the 32X and Saturn
having tarnished Sega's reputation. In retrospect, reviewers have
celebrated the Dreamcast as one of the greatest consoles. It is
considered ahead of its time for pioneering concepts such as online
play and downloadable content. Many Dreamcast games are regarded as
innovative, including 'Sonic Adventure', 'Crazy Taxi' (1999),
'Shenmue' (1999), 'Jet Set Radio' (2000), and 'Phantasy Star Online'
(2000). The Dreamcast remains popular in the video game homebrew
community, which has developed private servers to preserve its online
functions and unofficial Dreamcast software.
Background
============
In 1988, Sega released the Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in most
countries outside North America), in the fourth generation of video
game consoles. It became the most successful Sega console ever, at
30.75 million units sold. Its successor, the Saturn, was released in
Japan in 1994. The Saturn is CD-ROM-based and has 2D and 3D graphics,
but its complex dual-CPU architecture was more difficult to program
than its chief competitor, the Sony PlayStation. Although the Saturn
debuted before the PlayStation in Japan and the United States, its
surprise US launch, four months earlier than scheduled, distribution
was limited to four retailers due to a lack of supply, which
"aggravated" other retailers. Developers also found it easier to
program for the Playstation, which caused a loss of support from these
game developers. Losses on the Saturn contributed to financial
problems for Sega, whose revenue had declined between 1992 and 1995 as
part of an industry-wide slowdown.
Sega announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri would replace Tom Kalinske as
chairman and CEO of Sega of America, while Bernie Stolar, a former
executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, became Sega of
America's executive vice president in charge of product development
and third-party relations. After the 1996 launch of the Nintendo 64,
sales of the Saturn and its software fell sharply. As of August 1997,
Sony controlled 47 percent of the console market, Nintendo controlled
40 percent, and Sega controlled only 12 percent; neither price cuts
nor high-profile games helped the Saturn.
Hayao Nakayama resigned as president of Sega in January 1998 in favor
of Irimajiri, and Stolar acceded to become CEO and president of Sega
of America. Following five years of generally declining profits, in
the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, Sega suffered its first parent
and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo
Stock Exchange, reporting a consolidated net loss of (). Shortly
before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced the
discontinuation of the Saturn in North America to prepare for the
launch of its successor. This effectively left the Western market
without Sega games for more than a year. Rumors about the upcoming
Dreamcast--spread mainly by Sega--leaked to the public before the last
Saturn games were released.
Development
=============
As early as 1995, reports surfaced that Sega would collaborate with
Lockheed Martin, The 3DO Company, Matsushita or Alliance Semiconductor
to create a new graphics processing unit, which conflicting accounts
said would be used for a 64-bit "Saturn 2" or an add-on peripheral.*
* Dreamcast development was unrelated. Considering the Saturn's poor
performance, Irimajiri looked beyond Sega's internal hardware
development division to create a new console. In 1997, he enlisted
IBM's Tatsuo Yamamoto to lead an eleven-person team to work on a
secret project in the United States with the codename Blackbelt.
Accounts vary on how an internal team led by Hideki Sato also began
development on Dreamcast hardware; one account specifies that Sega
tasked both teams, and another suggests that Sato was bothered by
Irimajiri's choice to begin development externally and had his team
start work. Sato and his group chose the Hitachi SH-4 processor
architecture and the VideoLogic PowerVR2 graphics processor,
manufactured by NEC, in the production of the mainboard. Initially
known as Whitebelt, the project was later codenamed Dural, after the
metallic female fighter from Sega's 'Virtua Fighter' series.
Yamamoto's group opted to use 3dfx Voodoo 2 and Voodoo Banshee
graphics processors alongside a Motorola PowerPC 603e central
processing unit (CPU), but Sega management later asked them to also
use the SH-4 chip. Both processors have been described as
"off-the-shelf" components. According to Charles Bellfield, the former
Sega of America vice president of communications and former NEC brand
manager, presentations of games using the NEC solution showcased the
performance and low cost delivered by the SH-4 and PowerVR
architecture. He said that Sega's relationship with NEC, a Japanese
company, likely also influenced the decision to use its hardware
rather than the architecture developed in America. Stolar felt the US
3dfx version should have been used, but that "Japan wanted the
Japanese version, and Japan won". As a result, 3dfx filed a lawsuit
against Sega and NEC claiming breach of contract, which was settled
out of court.
The choice to use the PowerVR architecture concerned Electronic Arts
(EA), a longtime developer for Sega consoles. EA had invested in 3dfx
but was unfamiliar with the selected architecture, which was
reportedly less powerful. According to Shiro Hagiwara (a general
manager at Sega's hardware division) and Ian Oliver (the managing
director of the Sega subsidiary Cross Products), the SH-4 was chosen
while still in development, following lengthy deliberation, as the
only processor that "could adapt to deliver the 3D geometry
calculation performance necessary". By February 1998, Sega had renamed
the project Katana, after the Japanese sword, although certain
hardware specifications such as random access memory (RAM) were not
finalized.
Knowing the Saturn had been set back by its high production costs and
complex hardware, Sega took a different approach with the Dreamcast.
Like previous Sega consoles, the Dreamcast was designed around
intelligent subsystems working in parallel, but the selections of
hardware were closer to personal computers than video game consoles,
reducing cost. It also enabled software development to begin before
any development kits had been completed, as Sega informed developers
that any game developed with a Pentium II 200 in mind would run on the
console. According to Damien McFerran, "the motherboard was a
masterpiece of clean, uncluttered design and compatibility".
The Chinese economist and future Sega.com CEO Brad Huang convinced the
Sega chairman, Isao Okawa, to include a modem with every Dreamcast
under opposition from Okawa's staff over the additional cost per
unit. To account for rapid changes in home data delivery, Sega
designed the modem to be modular.
Sega selected the GD-ROM media format. Jointly developed by Sega and
Yamaha, the GD-ROM could be mass-produced at a similar price to a
normal CD-ROM, avoiding the greater expense of newer DVD-ROM
technology.
Microsoft developed a custom Dreamcast version of Windows CE with
DirectX API and dynamic-link libraries, making it easy to port PC
games to the platform, although programmers would ultimately favor
Sega's development tools over those from Microsoft. A member of the
Project Katana team speaking anonymously predicted this would be the
case, speculating developers would prefer the greater performance
possibilities offered by the Sega OS to the more user-friendly
interface of the Microsoft OS. In late 1997, there were reports about
the rumored system, then codenamed Dural, and that it had been
demonstrated to a number of game developers.
The Dreamcast was finally revealed on May 21, 1998 in Tokyo. Sega held
a public competition to name its new system and considered over 5,000
different entries before choosing "Dreamcast"--a portmanteau of
"dream" and "broadcast". According to Katsutoshi Eguchi, Japanese game
developer Kenji Eno submitted the name and created the Dreamcast's
spiral logo, but this has not been officially confirmed by Sega.
Former Sega executive Kunihisa Ueno confirmed in his biography that a
branding agency called Interbrand created the logo for the console,
with Kenji Eno volunteering to name the console. Eno was paid for his
involvement and signed a NDA to prevent his involvement from going
public.
The Dreamcast's startup sound was composed by the Japanese musician
Ryuichi Sakamoto. Because the Saturn had tarnished its reputation,
Sega planned to remove its name from the console and establish a new
gaming brand similar to Sony's PlayStation, but Irimajiri's management
team decided to retain it. Sega spent on hardware development, on
software development, and on worldwide promotion--a sum which
Irimajiri, a former Honda executive, humorously likened to the
investments required to design new automobiles.
Japan
=======
Despite a 75 percent drop in half-year profits just before the
Japanese launch, Sega was confident about the Dreamcast. It drew
significant interest and many pre-orders. However, Sega could not
achieve its shipping goals for the Japanese Dreamcast launch due to a
shortage of PowerVR chipsets caused by a high failure rate in the
manufacturing process. As more than half of its limited stock had been
pre-ordered, Sega stopped pre-orders in Japan. On November 27, 1998,
the Dreamcast launched in Japan at a price of , and the stock sold out
by the end of the day. However, of the four games available at launch,
only one--a port of 'Virtua Fighter 3', the most successful arcade
game Sega ever released in Japan--sold well. Sega estimated that an
additional Dreamcast units could have been sold with sufficient
supply.
Sega had announced that 'Sonic Adventure', the next game starring its
mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, would launch with the Dreamcast and
promoted it with a large-scale public demonstration at the Tokyo
Kokusai Forum Hall, but it and 'Sega Rally Championship 2' were
delayed. They arrived within the following weeks, but sales continued
to be slower than expected. Irimajiri hoped to sell over one million
Dreamcast units in Japan by February 1999, but sold fewer than
900,000, undermining Sega's attempts to build an installed base
sufficient to protect the Dreamcast after the arrival of competition
from other manufacturers. There were reports of disappointed Japanese
consumers returning their Dreamcasts and using the refund to purchase
additional PlayStation software. 'Seaman', released in July 1999,
became the Dreamcast's first major hit in Japan. Prior to the Western
launch, Sega reduced the price of the Dreamcast to , effectively
making it unprofitable but increasing sales. The reduction and the
release of Namco's 'Soulcalibur' helped Sega gain 17 percent on its
shares.
North America
===============
Before the Dreamcast's release, Sega was dealt a blow when Electronic
Arts, the largest third-party video game publisher at the time,
announced it would not develop games for the system. EA's chief
creative officer Bing Gordon said that Sega had "flip-flopped" on the
hardware configuration, that EA developers did not want to work on it,
and that Sega "was not acting like a competent hardware company".
Gordon also said that Sega could not afford to give them the "kind of
license that EA has had over the last five years". According to
Stolar, president of EA at the time, Larry Probst, wanted exclusive
rights as the only sports brand on Dreamcast, which Stolar could not
accept due to Sega's recent purchase of the sports game developer
Visual Concepts. While EA's 'Madden NFL' series had established brand
power, Stolar regarded Visual Concepts' 'NFL 2K' as superior and would
provide "a breakthrough experience" to launch the Dreamcast. While
none of EA's popular sports games were released for the Dreamcast,
"Sega Sports" titles developed mainly by Visual Concepts helped to
fill that void.
Working closely with Midway Games (which developed four North American
launch games for the system) and taking advantage of the ten months
following the Dreamcast's release in Japan, Sega of America worked to
ensure a more successful US launch with a minimum of 15 launch games.
With lingering bitterness over the Saturn's early release, Stolar
repaired relations with major US retailers, with whom Sega presold
300,000 Dreamcast units. In addition, a pre-launch promotion enabled
consumers to rent Dreamcasts from Hollywood Video starting on July 14.
Sega of America's senior vice president of marketing Peter Moore, a
fan of the attitude previously associated with Sega's brand, worked
with Foote, Cone & Belding and Access Communications to develop
the "It's Thinking" campaign of 15-second television commercials,
which emphasized the Dreamcast's hardware power. According to Moore:
"We needed to create something that would really intrigue consumers,
somewhat apologize for the past, but invoke all the things we loved
about Sega, primarily from the Genesis days." On August 11, Sega of
America confirmed that Stolar had been fired, leaving Moore to direct
the launch.
The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999, at a
price of , which Sega's marketing dubbed "9/9/99 for ". Eighteen
launch games were available in the US. Sega set a new sales record by
selling more than 225,132 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning in
what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail
history". Within two weeks, US Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000 units.
By Christmas, Sega held 31 percent of the North American video game
market share. Significant launch games included 'Sonic Adventure', the
arcade fighting game 'Soulcalibur', and Visual Concepts' football
simulation 'NFL 2K'. On November 4, Sega announced it had sold over
one million Dreamcast units in North America. The launch was marred by
a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced
defective GD-ROMs.
Europe
========
Sega released the Dreamcast in Europe on October 14, 1999, at a price
of £200. By November 24, 400,000 consoles had been sold in Europe. By
Christmas of 1999, Sega of Europe had sold 500,000 units, six months
ahead of schedule. The price was dropped to £149.99 from September 8,
2000, with sales at around 800,000 in Europe at this point. Announcing
the drop, Jean-François Cecillon, CEO of Sega Europe, commented:
"There are 'X' amount of core gamers in Europe; the early adopters. We
have reached 80 or 90 per cent of them now and the market is screaming
for a price reduction. We have to acknowledge these things and go with
the market". Sales did not continue at this pace, and by October 2000,
Sega had sold only about one million units in Europe. As part of
Sega's promotions of the Dreamcast in Europe, it sponsored four
European football clubs: Arsenal (England), Saint-Étienne (France),
Sampdoria (Italy), and Deportivo de La Coruña (Spain).
Australia and New Zealand
===========================
Through the regional distributor Ozisoft, the Dreamcast went on sale
in Australia and New Zealand on November 30, 1999, at a price of . The
launch was planned for September, but was delayed due to problems with
Internet compatibility and launch game availability, then delayed
again from the revised date of October 25 for various reasons. There
were severe problems at launch; besides a severe shortage of the
consoles, only six of the thirty planned launch games were available
for purchase on day one with no first-party software included, and
additional peripherals were not available in stores.
The Ozisoft representative Steve O'Leary, in a statement released the
day of launch, explained that the Australian Customs Service had
impounded virtually all the supplied launch software, including demo
discs, due to insufficient labeling of their country of origin;
Ozisoft had received them only two days before launch, resulting in
few games that were catalogued and prepared for shipment in time.
O'Leary also said that the Dreamcast's high demand in other markets
had reduced the number of peripherals allotted to the region. Further
complicating matters was the lack of an internet disc due to
localization problems, and delays in securing an ISP contract, which
was done through Telstra the day before launch. The online component
was not ready until March 2000, at which point Ozisoft sent the
necessary software to users who had sent in a filled-out reply paid
card included with the console. The poor launch, combined with a lack
of advertising and a high price point, produced lackluster sales in
Australia; two large retail chains reported a combined total of 13
console sales over the first few days after launch.
Competition
=============
Though the Dreamcast launch was successful, Sony held 60 percent of
the overall video game market share in North America with the
PlayStation at the end of 1999. On March 2, 1999, Sony revealed the
first details of the PlayStation 2 (PS2), which Ken Kutaragi said
would allow video games to convey unprecedented emotions. Sony
estimated the PS2 could render 7.5 million to 16 million polygons per
second, whereas independent estimates ranged from 3 million to 20
million, compared to Sega's estimates of more than 3 million to 6
million for the Dreamcast. The PS2 would also use the DVD-ROM format,
which could hold substantially more data than the Dreamcast's GD-ROM,
and would be backwards-compatible with hundreds of popular PlayStation
games. Sony's specifications appeared to render the Dreamcast obsolete
months before its US launch, although reports later emerged that the
PS2 was not as powerful as expected and difficult to develop on. The
same year, Nintendo announced that its next console, the GameCube,
would meet or exceed anything on the market, and Microsoft began
development of its own console, the Xbox.
US Dreamcast sales--which exceeded 1.5 million by the end of
1999--began to decline as early as January 2000. Poor Japanese sales
contributed to Sega's ¥42.88 billion ($404 million) consolidated net
loss in the fiscal year ending March 2000, which followed a loss of
¥42.881 billion the previous year and marked Sega's third consecutive
annual loss. Although Sega's overall sales for the term increased
27.4%, and Dreamcast sales in North America and Europe greatly
exceeded expectations, this coincided with a decrease in profitability
due to the investments required to launch the Dreamcast in Western
markets and poor software sales in Japan. At the same time,
increasingly poor market conditions reduced the profitability of
Sega's Japanese arcade business, prompting Sega to close 246
locations.
Moore became the president and chief operating officer of Sega of
America on May 8, 2000. He and Sega's developers focused on the US
market to prepare for the upcoming launch of the PS2. To that end,
Sega of America launched its own internet service provider, Sega.com,
led by CEO Brad Huang. On September 7, 2000, Sega.com launched
SegaNet, the Dreamcast's internet gaming service, at a subscription
price of $21.95 per month. Although Sega had previously released only
one Dreamcast game in the US that featured online multiplayer, 'ChuChu
Rocket!', the launch of SegaNet combined with the release of 'NFL
2K1', with a robust online component, was intended to increase demand
for the Dreamcast in the US market. The service later supported games
including 'Bomberman Online', 'Quake III Arena', and 'Unreal
Tournament'. The September 7 launch coincided with a new advertising
campaign to promote SegaNet, including advertising on the MTV Video
Music Awards that day, which Sega sponsored for the second consecutive
year. Sega employed aggressive pricing strategies around online
gaming; in Japan, every Dreamcast sold included a free year of
internet access, which Okawa personally paid for. Prior to the launch
of SegaNet, Sega had already offered a $200 rebate to any Dreamcast
owner who purchased two years of internet access from Sega.com. To
increase SegaNet's appeal in the US, Sega dropped the price of the
Dreamcast to (compared to the PS2's US launch price of ) and offered
a rebate for the full price of a Dreamcast, and a free Dreamcast
keyboard, with every 18-month SegaNet subscription.
Decline
=========
Moore said that the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in
the US by the end of 2000 to remain a viable platform; Sega fell short
of this goal, with some 3 million units sold. Moreover, Sega's
attempts to spur increased Dreamcast sales through lower prices and
cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. Instead of an
expected profit, for the six months ending September 2000, Sega posted
a () loss, with a projected year-end loss of . This estimate more
than doubled to , and in March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net
loss of (). While the PS2's October 26 US launch was marred by
shortages, this did not benefit the Dreamcast as much as expected;
many consumers continued to wait for a PS2, while the PSone, a
remodeled version of the original PlayStation, became the bestselling
console in the US at the start of the 2000 holiday season. According
to Moore, "The PlayStation 2 effect that we were relying upon did not
work for us... People will hang on for as long as possible... What
effectively happened is the PlayStation 2 lack of availability froze
the marketplace." Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 35 percent
of the US video game market, while Sega held only 15 percent.
According to Bellfield, Dreamcast software sold at an 8-to-1 ratio
with the hardware, but the small install base meant this did not
produce enough revenue to keep it viable. During the course of 2000,
the PlayStation had sold five times more than Dreamcast despite being
five year old hardware.
On May 22, 2000, Okawa replaced Irimajiri as president of Sega. Okawa
had long advocated that Sega abandon the console business. His
sentiments were not unique; Sega co-founder David Rosen had "always
felt it was a bit of a folly for them to be limiting their potential
to Sega hardware", and Stolar had suggested Sega should have sold
their company to Microsoft. In September 2000, in a meeting with
Sega's Japanese executives and the heads of the company's major
Japanese game development studios, Moore and Bellfield recommended
that Sega abandon its console business and focus on software,
prompting the studio heads to walk out.
Amid speculation and rumors, Sega executives denied to the media that
it would leave the console hardware business. Nevertheless, on January
31, 2001, Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast after
March 31 and the restructuring of the company as a "platform-agnostic"
third-party developer, although with continued Dreamcast software
support for some time. Sega also announced a price reduction to to
eliminate its unsold inventory, which was estimated at 930,000 units
as of April 2001. After a further reduction to $79, the Dreamcast was
cleared out of stores at . The final Dreamcast unit manufactured was
autographed by the heads of all nine of Sega's internal game
development studios, plus the heads of Visual Concepts and Sega's
sound studio Wave Master, and given away with all 55 first-party
Dreamcast games through a competition organized by 'GamePro'. Okawa,
who had previously loaned Sega in 1999, died on March 16, 2001;
shortly before his death, he forgave Sega's debts to him and returned
his worth of Sega and CSK stock, helping Sega survive the transition
to third-party development. As part of this restructuring, nearly one
third of Sega's Tokyo workforce was laid off in 2001.
Aftermath and reaction
========================
9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide. Despite the
discontinuation of Dreamcast hardware, Sega continued to support the
system and had stated that more than 30 new titles were confirmed for
release for the remainder of 2001. In the United States, official game
releases continued until the end of the first half of 2002. Sega
continued to repair Dreamcast units until 2007. Many hardware
developers that worked on the Dreamcast also joined pachinko and
pachislot company Sammy Corporation, who soon merged with Sega. Hideki
Sato pushed for leftover Dreamcast parts being used as displays in the
machines that Sammy develops, including the very successful 'Fist of
the North Star' pachinko machines.
After five consecutive years of financial losses, Sega finally posted
a profit for the fiscal year ending March 2003.
The announcement of Sega's exit from hardware was met with enthusiasm.
According to 'IGN's' Travis Fahs, "Sega was a creatively fertile
company with a rapidly expanding stable of properties to draw from. It
seemed like they were in a perfect position to start a new life as a
developer/publisher." Former Working Designs president Victor Ireland
wrote, "It's actually a good thing ... because now Sega will survive,
doing what they do best: software." The staff of 'Newsweek' wrote that
"from 'Sonic' to 'Shenmue', Sega's programmers have produced some of
the most engaging experiences in the history of interactive media ...
Unshackled by a struggling console platform, this platoon of
world-class software developers can do what they do best for any
machine on the market." 'Game Informer', commenting on Sega's tendency
to produce under-appreciated cult classics, wrote: "Let us rejoice in
the fact that Sega is making games equally among the current console
crop, so that history will not repeat itself."
Hardware
==========
The Dreamcast measures 190 x and weighs 1.5 kg. Its main CPU is a
two-way 360 MIPS superscalar Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC, clocked at 200
MHz with an 8 kB instruction cache and 16 kB data cache and a 128-bit
graphics-oriented floating-point unit delivering 1.4 GFLOPS. Its 100
MHz NEC PowerVR2 rendering engine, integrated with the ASIC, can draw
more than 3 million polygons per second and use deferred shading. Sega
estimated the Dreamcast's theoretical rendering capability at 7
million raw polygons per second, or 6 million with textures and
lighting, but noted that "game logic and physics reduce peak graphic
performance".
Graphical hardware effects include trilinear filtering, gouraud
shading, z-buffering, spatial anti-aliasing, per-pixel translucency
sorting and bump mapping. The Dreamcast can output approximately 16.77
million colors simultaneously and displays interlaced or progressive
scan video at 640 × 480 video resolution. Its 67 MHz Yamaha AICA sound
processor, with a 32-bit ARM7 RISC CPU core, can generate 64 voices
with PCM or ADPCM, providing ten times the performance of the Saturn's
sound system. The Dreamcast has 16 MB main RAM, along with an
additional 8 MB of RAM for graphic textures and 2 MB of RAM for sound.
It reads media using a 12× speed Yamaha GD-ROM drive. In addition to
Windows CE, the Dreamcast supports several Sega and middleware
application programming interfaces.
The Dreamcast can supply video through several accessories including
A/V cables, RF modulator connectors S-Video cables and SCART. A VGA
adapter allows Dreamcast to connect on computer displays or
enhanced-definition television sets in 480p.
Models
========
Sega constructed numerous Dreamcast models, most of which were
exclusive to Japan. The R7, a refurbished Dreamcast, was originally
used as a network console in Japanese pachinko parlors. Another model,
the Divers 2000 CX-1, is shaped similarly to Sonic's head and includes
a television and software for teleconferencing. A 'Hello Kitty'
version, limited to 2000 units, was targeted at female gamers in
Japan. Special editions were created for 'Seaman' and 'Resident Evil -
Code: Veronica'. Color variations were sold through the Dreamcast
Direct service in Japan. Toyota also offered special Dreamcast units
at 160 of its dealers in Japan. In North America, a limited edition
black Dreamcast was released with a Sega Sports logo on the lid, which
included matching Sega Sports-branded black controllers and two games.
Controllers and accessories
=============================
The Dreamcast has four ports for controller inputs, and was sold with
one controller. The controller is based on the Saturn 3D controller
and includes an analog stick, a D-pad, four action buttons, start
button and two analog triggers. It received mostly negative reviews
from critics; 'Edge' described it as "an ugly evolution of Saturn's 3D
controller", and was called "[not] that great" by '1Up.com's' Sam
Kennedy and "lame" by 'Game Informer's' Andy McNamara. 'IGN' wrote
that "unlike most controllers, Sega's pad forces the user's hands into
an uncomfortable parallel position". Both the analog joystick and
triggers uniquely used Hall effect sensors, which requires less
calibration and leads to fewer issues with joystick drift.
Various third-party controllers, from companies such as Mad Catz,
include additional buttons and other features; third parties also
manufactured arcade-style joysticks for fighting games, such as
Agetech's Arcade Stick and Interact's Alloy Arcade Stick. Mad Catz and
Agetec created racing wheels for racing games. Sega did not release
its official light guns in the US, but some third party light guns
were available. The Dreamcast supports a Sega fishing "reel and rod"
motion controller and a keyboard for text entry. Although it was
designed for fishing games such as 'Sega Bass Fishing', 'Soulcalibur'
is playable with the fishing controller, which translates vertical and
horizontal movements into on-screen swordplay; 'IGN' cited it as a
predecessor to the Wii Remote. The Japanese Dreamcast port of Sega's
'Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram' supported a "Twin Sticks"
peripheral, but its American publisher, Activision, opted not to
release it in the US. The Dreamcast can connect to SNK's Neo Geo
Pocket Color, predating Nintendo's GameCube - Game Boy Advance link
cable.
In most regions, the Dreamcast includes a removable modem for online
connectivity, which is modular for future upgrades. In Brazil, due to
the high price of the console, the modem was sold separately. The
original Japanese model and all PAL models have a transfer rate of
33.6 kbit/s, and consoles sold in the US and in Japan after September
9, 1999, feature a 56 kbit/s dial-up modem. Broadband service was
enabled through the later release of a broadband accessory in 2000 in
Japan, and early 2001 in the US.
Sega also produced the Dreameye, a digital camera that could be
connected to the Dreamcast and used to exchange pictures and
participate in video chat over the internet. Sega hoped developers
would use the Dreameye for future software, as some later did with
Sony's similar EyeToy peripheral. In addition, Sega investigated
systems that would have allowed users to make telephone calls with the
Dreamcast, and discussed with Motorola the development of an
internet-enabled cell phone that would use technology from the console
to enable quick downloads of games and other data.
Storage
=========
In contrast to the Sega CD and Sega Saturn, which included internal
backup memory, the Dreamcast uses a 128 kbyte memory card, the VMU,
for data storage. The VMU features a small LCD screen, audio output
from a one-channel PWM sound source, non-volatile memory, a D-pad and
four buttons. The VMU can present game information, be used as a
minimal handheld gaming device, and connect to certain Sega arcade
machines. For example, players use the VMU to call plays in 'NFL 2K'
or raise virtual pets in 'Sonic Adventure'.
Sega officials noted that the VMU could be used "as a private viewing
area, the absence of which has prevented effective implementation of
many types of games in the past". After a VMU slot was incorporated
into the controller's design, Sega's engineers found many additional
uses for it, so a second slot was added. It is generally for vibration
packs providing force feedback, such as Sega's "Jump Pack" and
Performance's "Tremor Pack"; it can be used for peripherals including
a microphone, enabling voice control and player communication. Various
third-party cards provide storage, and some contain the LCD screen
addition. Iomega announced a Dreamcast-compatible zip drive storing up
to on removable discs, but it was never released.
Game library
==============
The Dreamcast library consists of over 600 games across all regions,
in GD-ROM format. It uses regional lockout, only playing games
released within its predetermined region; however, this is
circumventable via modchip installation, boot discs, or cheat discs
such as Datel's Action Replay. In Japan, the Dreamcast was launched
with 'Virtua Fighter 3tb', 'Pen Pen TriIcelon', 'Godzilla
Generations', and 'July'. In North America, it launched with 19 games,
including the highly anticipated 'Sonic Adventure', 'Soulcalibur', and
'NFL 2K'. In Europe, it was planned to launch with 10 games; this
increased to 15 after the launch was delayed. Licensed Dreamcast games
were released until mid-2002 in the US. Some indie developers
continued to release games, such as 2007's 'Last Hope', developed by
the German studio NG:Dev.Team.
First-party games
===================
In what has been called "a brief moment of remarkable creativity", in
2000, Sega restructured its arcade and console development teams into
nine semi-autonomous studios headed by their top designers. Studios
included United Game Artists (UGA), Hitmaker, Smilebit, Overworks, WOW
Entertainment, Amusement Vision, Sega Rosso, Wave Master, and Sonic
Team, while Sega AM2 had been taken over earlier in the year by CSK
Research Institute and became independent in 2001 as SEGA-AM2 Co.,
Ltd. Sega's design studios were encouraged to experiment and benefited
from a relatively lax approval process. This resulted in games such as
UGA's 'Rez', an attempt to simulate synaesthesia in the form of a rail
shooter; Wow's 'The Typing of the Dead', a version of 'The House of
the Dead 2' remade into a touch typing trainer; and Hitmaker's
'Segagaga', a Japan-exclusive role-playing game in which players are
tasked with preventing Sega from going out of business.
Sonic Team's 'Sonic Adventure', the first fully 3D platform game
starring Sega's mascot Sonic the Hedgehog, was considered the
"centerpiece" of the Dreamcast launch. At 2.5 million copies, it is
the best-selling Dreamcast game. Sonic Team also developed the
Dreamcast's first online game--'ChuChu Rocket!'--which was praised for
its addictive puzzle gameplay and "frantic" multiplayer matches, and
the critically successful music game 'Samba de Amigo', which was noted
for its expensive maracas peripheral and colorful aesthetic. Sonic
Team's 'Phantasy Star Online', the first online console RPG, is
considered a landmark game for refining and simplifying 'Diablo's'
style of gameplay to appeal to console audiences.
UGA created the music game 'Space Channel 5' for a female casual
audience; players help a female outer-space news reporter, Ulala,
fight aliens with "groove energy" by dancing. Hitmaker's arcade ports
include 'Crazy Taxi', an open-world arcade racing game known for its
addictive gameplay with more than one million copies sold; and 'Virtua
Tennis', which revitalized the tennis game genre.*
*
*
*
* Smilebit's 'Jet Set Radio', in which players control a Tokyo gang of
rebellious inline skaters, is cited as a major example of Sega's
commitment to original concepts during the Dreamcast's lifespan. 'Jet
Set Radio' also popularized cel shaded graphics, though it failed to
meet Sega's sales expectations.*
*
* The role-playing game 'Skies of Arcadia', developed by Overworks and
produced by Rieko Kodama, was acclaimed for its surreal Jules
Verne-inspired fantasy world of floating islands and sky pirates,
charming protagonists, exciting airship battles and memorable plot.*
*
*
*
AM2 developed what Sega hoped would be the Dreamcast's killer app,
'Shenmue', a "revenge epic in the tradition of Chinese cinema", with a
level of detail considered unprecedented for a video game.
Incorporating a simulated day-and-night cycle with variable weather,
non-player characters with regular schedules, the ability to pick up
and examine detailed objects, and introducing the quick-time event in
its modern form, 'Shenmue' went over budget and was rumored to have
cost Sega over $50 million. According to Moore, 'Shenmue' sold
"extremely well", but had no chance of making a profit due to the
Dreamcast's limited installed base.
Visual Concepts' 'NFL 2K' football series and its 'NBA 2K' basketball
series were critically acclaimed. 'NFL 2K' was considered an
outstanding launch game for its high-quality visuals and "insightful,
context-friendly, and, yes, even funny commentary", while 'NFL 2K1'
featured groundbreaking online multiplayer earlier than its chief
competitor, EA's 'Madden NFL' series. 'Madden' and '2K' continued to
compete on other platforms through 2004, with the '2K' series
introducing innovations such as a first person perspective new to the
genre, and eventually launching 'ESPN NFL 2K5' at the aggressively low
price point of $19.95 until EA signed an exclusive agreement with the
National Football League, effectively putting every other pro-football
game out of business. After Sega sold Visual Concepts for $24 million
in 2005, the 'NBA 2K' series continued with publisher Take-Two
Interactive. During the Dreamcast's lifespan, Visual Concepts also
collaborated with the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' level designer Hirokazu
Yasuhara on the action-adventure game 'Floigan Bros.' and developed
the action game 'Ooga Booga'.
Ports and third-party games
=============================
Before the launch of the Dreamcast in Japan, Sega announced its NAOMI
arcade board, a cheaper alternative to the Sega Model 3. NAOMI shares
the same technology as the Dreamcast, with twice as much system,
video, and audio memory and a 160 MB flash ROM board in place of a
GD-ROM drive, allowing nearly identical home conversions of arcade
games. Games were ported from NAOMI to the Dreamcast by several
leading Japanese arcade companies, including Capcom and Namco. The
Dreamcast also used parts similar to those found in personal computers
with Pentium II and III processors, allowing a handful of ports of PC
games.
To appeal to the European market, Sega formed a French affiliate, No
Cliché, which developed games such as 'Toy Commander'. Sega Europe
also approached Bizarre Creations to develop the racing game
'Metropolis Street Racer'. Although Acclaim, SNK, Ubisoft, Midway,
Activision, Infogrames, and Capcom supported the Dreamcast during its
first year, third-party support proved difficult to obtain due to the
failure of the Sega Saturn and the profitability of publishing for the
PlayStation. Namco's 'Soulcalibur', for example, was released for the
Dreamcast because of the relative unpopularity of the 'Soul' series at
the time; Namco's more successful 'Tekken' franchise was associated
with the PlayStation console and PlayStation-based arcade boards.
Capcom produced a number of fighting games for the Dreamcast,
including the 'Power Stone' series, and a temporarily exclusive entry
in the popular 'Resident Evil' series, 'Resident Evil - Code:
Veronica'. The Dreamcast is known for several shoot 'em ups, most
notably Treasure's 'Bangai-O' and 'Ikaruga'. Sega also revived
franchises from the Genesis era, such as Appaloosa Interactive's 'Ecco
the Dolphin'.
Network services
==================
Dricas was an Internet service for Dreamcast consoles in Japan. The
service launched the week of October 28, 1998, with its feature set
expanded in the weeks preceding the Dreamcast's launch in Japan on
November 27, 1998. Much of its infrastructure was developed by ISAO
Corporation, which was spun-off from Sega on November 26, 1999. Its
accompanying web browser, Dream Passport, provided the ability to
connect via dial-up, browse the internet, receive and send e-mail, and
chat with other users. Dricas persisted until March 7, 2000, when the
service was consolidated into ISAO's multi-platform online service,
isao.net. Isao.net maintained online services and game servers for the
Dreamcast until Sega ceased operation of the online servers for
'Phantasy Star Online', along with its GameCube port, on March 31,
2007.
SegaNet was an Internet service for dial-up-based online gaming on the
Dreamcast in the United States. The service was created by Sega in
collaboration with GTE through its GTE Internetworking division, later
renamed Genuity. Sega announced a partnership with AT&T on August
4, 1999, making the AT&T WorldNet service the preferred ISP for
Dreamcast in the United States, and an agreement making Excite@Home as
the exclusive portal partner for SegaNet. Microsoft participated
somewhat in the development of the service, but they terminated their
relationship with Sega just a few months before its launch over
differences in its direction. SegaNet launched on September 7, 2000,
and originally offered a rebate for a free Dreamcast and keyboard with
a two-year contract. Because of the Dreamcast's discontinuation, Sega
announced they would discontinue the service on July 20, 2001, less
than 11 months after launch. Online support for Dreamcast games via
SegaNet continued until 2003.
Dreamarena was a free dial-up-based online gaming service provided for
Dreamcast consoles in Europe, launching with the debut of the
Dreamcast in Europe on October 14, 1999. The service was created and
operated for Sega Europe by a partnership between ICL, BT and various
ISPs. The service was accessed via the DreamKey browser, which was
also built into some games such as 'Sonic Adventure 2'. After the
discontinuation of the Dreamcast, Sega closed Dreamarena on February
28, 2002.
Reception and legacy
======================================================================
In December 1999, 'Next Generation' rated the Dreamcast four out of
five, writing: "If you want the most powerful system available now,
showcasing the best graphics at a reasonable price, this system is for
you." However, 'Next Generation' gave its future prognosis three out
of five, noting that Sony and Nintendo were both due to release more
powerful consoles. At the beginning of 2000, five 'Electronic Gaming
Monthly' reviewers scored the Dreamcast 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0, and 9.0
out of 10. In 2001, the 'Electronic Gaming Monthly' reviewers scored
it 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.5 out of 10. 'BusinessWeek' named the
Dreamcast one of the best products of 1999.
Reasons cited for the failure of the Dreamcast include consumer
excitement for the PS2; a lack of support from EA and Squaresoft, the
most popular third parties in the US and Japan respectively;
disagreement among executives over Sega's future, and Okawa's lack of
commitment to the product; Sega's lack of advertising money, with
Bellfield doubting that Sega spent even "half" the $100 million it had
pledged to promote the Dreamcast in the US; that the market was not
ready for online gaming; Sega's focus on "hardcore" gamers over
mainstream consumers; poor timing; and damage to Sega's reputation
caused by its several poorly supported previous platforms. In
'GamePro', Blake Snow wrote of "the much beloved [Dreamcast] launched
years ahead of the competition but ultimately struggled to shed the
negative reputation [Sega] had gained during the Saturn, Sega 32X, and
Sega CD days. As a result, casual gamers and jaded third-party
developers doubted Sega's ability to deliver."
'Eurogamer's' Dan Whitehead noted that consumers' "wait-and-see"
approach, and the lack of support from EA, were symptoms rather the
cause of Sega's decline. He concluded that "Sega's misadventures
during the 1990s had left both gamers and publishers wary of any new
platform bearing its name". According to '1Up.coms Jeremy Parish, it
would be intellectually dishonest to blame Sony for "killing the
Dreamcast by overselling the PS2", as Sega's lack of support for
previous consoles had made customers hesitant to purchase Dreamcasts.
In 2009, 'IGN' named the Dreamcast the eighth-greatest video game
console, praising its software and innovations, including its online
play. In 2010, 'PC Magazine's' Jeffrey L. Wilson named the Dreamcast
the greatest console and said that it was "gone too soon". In 2013,
'Edge' named the Dreamcast the tenth-best console of the last 20
years, highlighting innovations including in-game voice chat,
downloadable content, and second-screen technology through the use of
VMUs. 'Edge' wrote that "Sega's console was undoubtedly ahead of its
time, and it suffered at retail for that reason... [b]ut its influence
can still be felt today." Dan Whitehead of 'Eurogamer' likened the
Dreamcast to "a small, square, white plastic JFK. A progressive force
in some ways, perhaps misguided in others, but nevertheless a
promising life cut tragically short by dark shadowy forces, spawning
complex conspiracy theories that endure to this day." He wrote that
its short lifespan "may have sealed its reputation as one of the
greatest consoles ever", as "nothing builds a cult like a tragic
demise". According to 'IGN's' Travis Fahs, "Many hardware
manufacturers have come and gone, but it's unlikely any will go out
with half as much class as Sega."
The Dreamcast's game library was celebrated. In January 2000, three
months after the Dreamcast's North American launch, 'Electronic Gaming
Monthly' wrote that "with triple-A stuff like 'Soul Calibur', 'NBA
2K', and soon 'Crazy Taxi' to kick around, we figure you're happy you
took the 128-bit plunge". In a retrospective, 'PC Magazine's' Jeffrey
L. Wilson referred to Dreamcast's "killer library" and said that
Sega's creative influence and visual innovation had been at its peak.
The staff of 'Edge' agreed with this assessment of Dreamcast games,
including Sega's arcade conversions, stating that the system
"delivered the first games that could meaningfully be described as
arcade perfect". Damien McFerran of 'Retro Gamer' praised Dreamcast's
NAOMI arcade ports, and wrote: "The thrill of playing 'Crazy Taxi' in
the arcade knowing full well that a pixel-perfect conversion (and not
some cut-down port) was set to arrive on the Dreamcast is an
experience gamers are unlikely to witness again."
Nick Montfort and Mia Consalvo, writing in 'Loading... The Journal of
the Canadian Game Studies Association', argued that "the Dreamcast
hosted a remarkable amount of video game development that went beyond
the odd and unusual and is interesting when considered as avant-garde
... It is hard to imagine a commercial console game expressing strong
resistance to the commodity perspective and to the view that game
production is commerce. But even when it comes to resisting
commercialization, it is arguable that Dreamcast games came closer to
expressing this attitude than any other console games have."
'1Up.com's' Jeremy Parish favorably compared Sega's Dreamcast output,
which included some of "the most varied, creative, and fun [games] the
company had ever produced", with its "enervated" status as a
third-party. Fahs noted, "The Dreamcast's life was fleeting, but it
was saturated with memorable titles, most of which were completely new
properties." According to author Steven L. Kent, "From 'Sonic
Adventure' and 'Shenmue' to 'Space Channel 5' and 'Seaman', Dreamcast
delivered and delivered and delivered."
Some journalists have compared the demise of the Dreamcast with
changing trends in the video game industry. In '1001 Video Games You
Must Play Before You Die', Duncan Harris wrote: "One of the reasons
that older gamers mourned the loss of the Dreamcast was that it
signaled the demise of arcade gaming culture ... Sega's console gave
hope that things were not about to change for the worse and that the
tenets of fast fun and bright, attractive graphics were not about to
sink into a brown and green bog of realistic war games." Jeremy
Parish, writing for 'USgamer', contrasted the Dreamcast's diverse
library with the "suffocating sense of conservatism" that pervaded the
gaming industry in the following decade. According to Sega's head of
product implementation, Tadashi Takezaki, the Dreamcast would have
been Sega's last video game console no matter how it sold because of
the changes in the market and the rise of PCs. He praised the
Dreamcast for its features, saying in 2013, "The seeds we sowed with
the Dreamcast are finally bearing fruit at this point in time. In some
ways, we were going by the seat of our pants, but it was part of the
Sega credo at the time -- if it's fun, then go for it."
The Dreamcast remains popular in the video game homebrew community. By
2014, unlicensed Dreamcast games formatted for MIL-CD, a
multimedia-enhanced format developed by Sega and supported by the
Dreamcast, continued to be released. After Sega shut down the official
Dreamcast servers, hobbyists developed private servers to allow games
such as 'Phantasy Star Online' to continue being played online.
Hobbyists have restored online functions for 40 Dreamcast games as of
2025.
License
=========
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast
