Sega Dreamcast games on Xbox 1 - Officially

[phreakindee]

You know, I hate articles like this sometimes. Apparently, Sega was in very serious talks to have the first Xbox be backwards compatible with Dreamcast games. But it fell through. Holy crap.

I knew of the many connections between Xbox and DC already, but this one... wow, if only if only

How Xbox Could Have Helped The Dreamcast Survive (http://kotaku.com/5447897/how-xbox-could-have-helped-the-dreamcast-survive)

"Okawa insisted that internet was indispensable for the Dreamcast games, it seems, but Microsoft didn't want an internet connection for the Dreamcast titles and negotiations fell apart.

Furukawa says that Okawa negotiated with Gates himself, but he was unable to work out a deal to pass on the Dreamcast customers."

[TonyTheTiger]

Would it really have made much of a difference? Not that it wouldn't have been cool but even when the next machine is backwards compatible it doesn't always result in the earlier machine living a longer life. I figure the more likely scenario would be an Xbox capable of playing the few hundred Dreamcast games we have now without there being a whole lot more. I think perhaps the biggest effect would have been on the borderline titles that got canceled. Certain Dreamcast games that were canceled like Castlevania Resurrection would have been released under these new circumstances. Other than that, I can't imagine Dreamcast development lasting a whole lot longer than it did.

That being said, since I still want to play Castlevania Resurrection, I'm pissed that this didn't work out.

[Flippy8490]

I'm not sure if it would have made it 'survive', but damn, I would have appreciated the backwards compatibility 8D

[Ed Oscuro]

They aren't telling us what Sega's motives in this were (I'm guessing they wanted a much bigger piece of the Xbox pie), and the point the article made that it would have been expensive is important, but I think they ought to focus on the hardware obstacle first - remember NES backwards compatibility for the SNES? Probably something like that - totally different hardware in the DC, and not so cheap in 2001 that they could have added it without significantly increasing the cost of the systems.

[Sosage]

Wow! I almost completely forgot about this little tidbit of history. I remember this being a "very reliable rumor" floating around the press at the time that sort of faded out. It was a bizarre, yet exciting idea (exciting if you loved the DC...otherwise...enh?). Memories!

[RCM]

While I doubt it would've saved the Dreamcast, it would've been nice to play DC games in the highest resolution available without having to use a VGA adapter.

[j_factor]

Would it really have made much of a difference? Not that it wouldn't have been cool but even when the next machine is backwards compatible it doesn't always result in the earlier machine living a longer life. I figure the more likely scenario would be an Xbox capable of playing the few hundred Dreamcast games we have now without there being a whole lot more. I think perhaps the biggest effect would have been on the borderline titles that got canceled. Certain Dreamcast games that were canceled like Castlevania Resurrection would have been released under these new circumstances. Other than that, I can't imagine Dreamcast development lasting a whole lot longer than it did.

That being said, since I still want to play Castlevania Resurrection, I'm pissed that this didn't work out.

Castlevania Resurrection was cancelled long before the Dreamcast died. A lot of those other canceled games were canned for no good reason. Although I suppose Shenmue II probably would've received its US Dreamcast release. That's about all you can say.

Anyway, this feature would have been nice, but I doubt it would've been feasible. They couldn't have just crammed a whole Dreamcast in there for next to nothing. The only other way to do it would have required the Xbox being a completely different design (which may be possible), e.g., using a PowerVR series GPU. Even with the right CPU and GPU, they'd still have to create an optical drive capable of reading both DVD-ROM and GD-ROM (unless the Xbox were to be GD-ROM based, which I find highly unlikely).

[Icarus Moonsight]

I think they could have crammed a DC in the XB. They had tons of DCs to put the guts in the box with the MS system. But the Xbox would have been even more mammoth and would have probably archived sufficient mass so you could orbit your controllers around the console for storage. :D

[Push Upstairs]

So the XBOX would have taken after the 5200 then?

[Icarus Moonsight]

Don't let a 5200 and an Xbox touch... Unless you want a black hole in your game room.

[buzz_n64]

I used to have my 5200 on top of my xbox all the time. Now I have my Nuon under my 5200.

[Sonicwolf]

But the Xbox would have been even more mammoth and would have probably archived sufficient mass so you could orbit your controllers around the console for storage. :D

I think that the Xbox at that point would have reached critical mass and begun nuclear fission. We would have all been destroyed by the Xbox star.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Tee hee... Xbox was the catcher... Peter sobbing, "Lois was... The Man!"

Sorry, I'm done now.

[Cryomancer]

Psh, Xbox and 5200 have nothing on the size of the Laseractive.

[Icarus Moonsight]

LD Players and the first VCRs did have the "bale of hay" form factor.

Poke holes in the humor logic of someone else, jeez. :p

[Lerxstnj]

It would have been great to play Dreamcast games with a wireless Xbox controller!
At least we did get some good ports though... Shenmue II, House of the Dead, Hydro Thunder (on compilation), etc.