10 years ago this month, SEGA named its then-new upcoming Katana console, Dreamcast

[airraid]

Sega's plans for what would be its final console were discovered by early 1997. Within Sega there was an internal competition between two different prototype console machines. One was the SoJ-designed 'Katana' which used a Videologic/NEC PowerVR second generation chip for graphics. The other was the SoA-designed 'Black Belt' which used a 3Dfx Voodoo2-based or 3Dfx Banshee variant for graphics.

Katana won that competition during summer 1997. The 'Black Belt' machine was rejected and the team that put it together was let go from their jobs. The Katana would be fully developed and produced as Sega's next-generation console. Final specs emerged in late 1997 or early 1998. In May 1998, Sega revealed Katana's all-important consumer name, and it was Dreamcast.

So this month amazingly, it has been 10 years.


http://www.gamespot.com/news/2463782.html

Katana to Become Dream Cast?
Rumors that claim to know the official name for Sega's next console
are burning up the Net.
By Yutaka Ohbuchi, GameSpot
Posted May 19, 1998 12:07 pm PT

TOKYO - Just two days away from the official announcement of Sega's
next machine, and the rumors have started flying about its official
name. Brace yourself....

Some people are saying that the name will be related to the word
"dream." Others are saying that the official name for the machine is
actually Dream Cast. Some are saying none of the above - and that
Dream Cast refers to the lineup of developers Sega has assembled to
develop for the new system and nothing more. The words "Dream Cast"
were apparently spotted on printed material Sega plans to distribute
at the Thursday press conference.

Whether any of this is true or not, all will be cleared up at Sega's
press conference on May 21, where it will announce the name of the
machine and hopefully more details as to the release date in Japan and
the first round of games.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2463791.html

Sega of Japan officially announces its next system. It's good-bye
Saturn, hello Dreamcast.
By Yutaka Ohbuchi, GameSpot
Posted May 20, 1998 11:24 pm PT

TOKYO - Finally. The moment we've all...well, some of us have been
waiting for.

At a press conference on Thursday, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. officials
told an audience of reporters and editors that its next console system
will be called Dreamcast. And yes, it's official.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2463807.html

Dreamcast Is Here... Almost
Sega announces its next system in Japan with a dream cast of
partnerships.
By Yutaka Ohbuchi, GameSpot
Posted May 21, 1998 8:24 am PT

At a press conference on Thursday in Japan, Sega announced that it
will launch its next console, called "Dreamcast," on November 20 in
Japan.

The price of the console is still to be decided. But Sega's president
Syouichirou Irimajiri mentioned that it will be between 20,000 to
30,000 yen (roughly US$150-$225) in his Dreamcast presentation, and
there will be five titles available at launch. Exactly which five
titles is still to be determined, but one can surmise that Virtua
Fighter 3, Super GT, D2, and Sega Rally 2 are likely candidates.

The new console has a built-in 33.6Kbps modem to allow access to the
Internet or network games. According to a press release issued by
Sega, it can produce three million polygons per second (courtesy of
the latest PowerVR2 graphics accelerator) with a rich 1,677 million
colors. Additionally, the new console has 64-channel ADPCM capability
(Yamaha Super Intelligent Sound Chip). The games will be stored on CD-
ROM, and the system uses a MAX 12x CD-ROM drive.

The Dreamcast's controller looks similar to Saturn's 3D controller. It
has both analog and digital pads on the left-hand side and four (blue,
red, green, and yellow) buttons on the right, with a start button in
the middle.

Most interestingly, the controller has a slot on the top and a square-
shaped "window" in the middle of it. The slot can be connected to a
PDA that will be available separately from the console.

The PDA is based on an idea similar to Sony's. It can be played alone,
or it can be connected to the system's controller for use as a 128KB
memory card. Its LCD (48x32 dot monochrome) can be seen from the
controller's square-shaped "window," so it can be utilized for
Dreamcast games like card or sports sims in which the player doesn't
want to reveal his strategy to his opponent.

It also has a calendar feature. This PDA, called Visual Memory, will
be available on July 11 in movie theaters at a price of under 2,500
yen (roughly $19). This particular PDA will have a game called
Atsumete Godzilla: Kaijuu Daizukan. The game is a tie-in to the new
Godzilla movie that just opened in the States but will open in July in
Japan. In it, you raise monsters and battle with your friends, much
like Bandai's DigiMon or Nintendo's Pokemon.

Two PDAs can also be connected to transfer data or battle monsters or
to play other games.

We'll have more on Dreamcast later today, after Sega of America's
press conference, and a detailed account of the conference in Japan.

We still get two more 10 year anniversaries to celebrate: the Japanese launch of Dreamcast on November 27, 1998 and the U.S. launch on 9/9/99.

[Brian Deuel]

Still my favorite "modern" console, and fun to write code for. She died a commercial death way too soon, but lives on in homebrew circles.

[otoko]

My collection will never be without Dreamcast. It was my first console and holds a very dear place in my heart. I got it the November the year it was released and I have never entertained the thought of getting rid of it. I'm now on my second Dreamcast but I'm still holding onto my first. I guess a futile hope it will one day live again.

It might one day...

[Poofta!]

jesus dreamcast fans are the most annoying and obnoxious fanboys ever.

every freaking year (several times actually, one for 'announced' one for 'released' one for 'died' etc) these threads come up.

its a miserable failure of a console, both hardware wise and software.
it is single handedly responsible for the fall of one of the biggest and well loved video game hardware manufacturers ever.
it is a massive disappointment to level-headed gamers everywhere, yet drives the sticky fanboys wild.

let. it. die.

[otoko]

jesus dreamcast fans are the most annoying and obnoxious fanboys ever.

every freaking year (several times actually, one for 'announced' one for 'released' one for 'died' etc) these threads come up.

its a miserable failure of a console, both hardware wise and software.
it is single handedly responsible for the fall of one of the biggest and well loved video game hardware manufacturers ever.
it is a massive disappointment to level-headed gamers everywhere, yet drives the sticky fanboys wild.

let. it. die.

You know, It's not so black as you seem to think it is. The system had its ups and downs just like any other. Just because of what happened and the fact what was released did not appeal to you does not mean it's how you see it and that's it. I'm not a Dreamcast fanboy, as I said the reason it does have a special significances to me is because it's the only reason I ever got into game collecting in the first place. Other than that, I rather like some of the games on there. I mainly play Get Grind Radio if I play anything on that system at all.

And, sure I also agree with you that we should probably concentrate on just the release date for the US and do it for every ten years like every other system. I feel it makes it much more meaningful.

Still there's fucking Fanboys and Fangirls for every system.

Don't ruin it for other people just because you feel like being an asshole.

[j_factor]

its a miserable failure of a console, both hardware wise and software.
it is single handedly responsible for the fall of one of the biggest and well loved video game hardware manufacturers ever.

Oh come on, it's a little more complex than that. Dreamcast had a larger market share in North America than Saturn ever did. The miserable failure was, at the time, the most successful launch in videogame history, as well as the fastest-selling console in history, and the #2 console on the market for much of its life. Sure, it wasn't outselling Playstation, but hey, 360 took like two years to outsell PS2 (and when DC was two years old it was already being canceled). DC was a miserable failure in Europe and Australia, but it was a legitimate success in North America.

Sega's downfall was due to a combination of factors.

[Rob2600]

its a miserable failure of a console, both hardware wise and software.

What's wrong with the Dreamcast hardware? The controllers were decent, but the console itself was actually quite good.

While I don't think it had an amazing library like some other people do, it definitely had a handful of great games.

it is single handedly responsible for the fall of one of the biggest and well loved video game hardware manufacturers ever.

No, that was the Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn. The Dreamcast was the victim of "too little, too late."

[rkotm]

jesus dreamcast fans are the most annoying and obnoxious fanboys ever.

every freaking year (several times actually, one for 'announced' one for 'released' one for 'died' etc) these threads come up.

its a miserable failure of a console, both hardware wise and software.
it is single handedly responsible for the fall of one of the biggest and well loved video game hardware manufacturers ever.
it is a massive disappointment to level-headed gamers everywhere, yet drives the sticky fanboys wild.

let. it. die.

Sega's systems had been failing before this one. It was half responsible and the other half, the PS2, everyone wanted the next Sony machine, and didnt want to burned by Sega again regardless the console. It had a lot of decent software unless you want RPGS and tons of FPSs. But yeah there are a lot of anniversary announcements.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I am no fanboy and love all consoles but I have a suggestion for you, if it bothers you so much just stay the hell out of such threads, people are free to do what they want or be a fanboy if they choose, just friggin ignore these threads and go do your own thing, if you don't give a crap about such threads I am sure the participants in them wont miss you............................

[Bratwurst]

Way to give the troll a sloppy open mouth kiss, guys.

[Haoie]

Seems just like yesterday. I remember when it was released in NZ, mid 1999. Wow.

[Brian Deuel]

Sega's systems had been failing before this one. It was half responsible and the other half, the PS2, everyone wanted the next Sony machine, and didnt want to burned by Sega again regardless the console. It had a lot of decent software unless you want RPGS and tons of FPSs. But yeah there are a lot of anniversary announcements.

The Dreamcast's failure in the marketplace was due to Sega and their piss-poor management. Nothing more, nothing less. The seeds were planted long before with the CD, 32X, Saturn, and other missteps, and those planted a bad taste in the mouth of console buyers. Not to mention, they couldn't market their way out of a paper bag.

And to our trolling friend here... it'll just get more and more obnoxious and annoying from now on!! HAVE A DREAMY DAY!!!

[Poofta!]

the 32x/scd/saturn werent the last consoles that sega made. the dreamcast was, and left the company on the brink of bankruptcy and crying in the corner.

the hardware... well it was good, but not for a console. it was too easily hacked (one of its major downfalls) and the controllers i believe ot be the worst ever.

as for software, all it had going for it was 2k sports and capcom, both of which couldve easily been done on any hardware (and were).


im sorry to rain on everyone's parade here, please go ahead and celebrate. can we do ngage next? vboy? please?
dreamcast was the wood for the coffin and the metal for the nails for sega.

/asshole out (and i do apoligize)

[NayusDante]

To this day, I feel anger toward Sega for what I saw as jumping at the chance of waving the white flag.

Dreamcast was the early fighter in the "transition" generation. That generation saw the death of traditional games-only consoles (audio CD functionality is nice, but CD players were ubiquitous by then; PS2 as a DVD player was just good timing) and the dawn of the new era. Consoles could actually do several different computeresque functions, Dreamcast being the first (mainstream) internet-enabled console. XBand and such operated over phone lines, wheras Dreamcast took the dive into the Internet Protocol. PS2 brought consoles into acceptance as home-theater components with its DVD functionality. XBox allowed music storage. GameCube would be the last games-only console.

Dreamcast jumped in front of those consoles, but I don't think it should have taken a hit for it. Since its immediate competition were the N64 and the PSX, it stood out as truly next-generation. PlayStation had the media playback and CD storage features, but its 3D was fugly and polygons looked sickly at best. N64 had very crisp and "healthy" looking 3D, though it couldn't handle large ammounts of FMV or recorded audio. Dreamcast had the strengths of both. No, it doesn't quite stand up to the GeForce 3-power of the XBox, but then again, there was a different approach to 3D at its time (polygon counts and minimalism over effects like bumpmapping; the new stuff looks like plastic).

As for games, I personally owned few. Sonic Adventure, while ridden with bad camera, almost never left my Dreamcast. Crazy Taxi was amazingly creative and fun, until I attempted to remove the old Blockbuster label (NEVER do that; buy used discs elsewhere). Other than that, I didn't play much. However, I really wish I had picked up PSO at the beginning, and gotten into more of the arcade stuff.

The accepted story is that Sega feared the PS2 and honestly believed that DC could not compete. I disagree. While PS2 had DVD and more horsepower, Dreamcast just looked nicer. There's a distinct feel to the renderer of the DC that the PS2 really lacks. Where DC looks nice and clean, PS2 games look like they could really use a pass of antialiasing. I strongly considered a PowerVR card for my PC at the time because of how much I just loved the style.

Some say piracy killed the Dreamcast. While I'm sure it hurt sales, there could have been a workaround. Instead of shutting down the network servers, Sega should have pushed online for every game, much like M$ did with XBL. Even if games lack multiplayer, add more single-player content accessible online, such as in-game strategy guides and high scores. If every game had online incentives, they could have instituted CD key checks, stamping out piracy for all but those who only played offline. Making the ethernet adaptor so limited didn't help. We now know that Sega isn't against online-only titles, just look at PSO-XBox.

Sadly, Sega made all the wrong moves. One particular move makes me very curious, which is the choice of graphics. While I loved the PowerVR look, 3DFX was a better known company to most gamers. Those cards hold up amazingly well, with the community finding ways to run modern games on them years later. Glide was a nice API that gave solid performance. Since the Quake engine had been optimized for Glide, I suspect that Half-Life would have performed better and possibly seen commercial release.

So I forever view Dreamcast as the console that should have, but wasn't allowed. Sega's white flag was like puting the child prodigy in special ed: had they bumped him a grade, he would have performed on-level, just wouldn't have gotten the girls.

Since Dreamcast was the early entry in the last generation, there's still a glint of hope for Sega THIS generation. They're rumored to be nearly bankrupt, and that one big failure could shut them for good. Since their software doesn't seem to be hitting the mark, they might stand a better chance with hardware. Heck, a Sega-licensed Wii variant would be nice.

An arcade/retro/niche-centered system would be a nice relief from the mindless shooters and shovelware of this generation. Someone needs to stand up to the market and offer something different from the "hardcore" and the "casual" crap that keeps getting shoved down our throats. I can't see the Big Three doing it...

...but Sega...

I have a Dreamcast, and one day, this console will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: Sega Does what Ninten WON'T

[outofkeyslightly]

Now I love my Genesis, in a physical way. I could tell you what a good 32X game is. I could even tell you why the Saturn was technically superior to the Playstation. And I love my Dreamcast too. I especially love MvC2, but who's counting. I kind of agree with Dante too about the dc's graphics. I would say that the PS2 had the worst anti-aliasing of any console in the last gen. But like any good Sega fan, I could also tell you where Sega went wrong every single step of the way. Still though, what's all this then with the trolling? I agree celebrating the birthday of a console's coming out ceremony is kinda silly. It just makes me feel old, personally. But you are sir are out of line. Nobody in the thread had even tried to get to second base with the white lady before you were you hating. J'accuse!

[otoko]

Nobody in the thread had even tried to get to second base with the white lady before you were you hating. J'accuse!

You, sir, made me "lol".

[Melf]

the 32x/scd/saturn werent the last consoles that sega made. the dreamcast was, and left the company on the brink of bankruptcy and crying in the corner.

Not true. The Saturn left Sega without the cash it needed to really push the Dreamcast, which is why the latter's massive launch and subsequent success didn't benefit the company as a hardware manufacturer. Sega stumbled so many times with the Saturn (and the 32X before that) that by the time it released the DC, it had squandered the trust and good will of consumers, retailers, and developers. Remember Kay-Bee snubbing the Saturn? EA announcing there would be no Madden on DC?

The DC was Sega's last shot at becoming solvent again after several financial disasters in a row. Toshiyasu Morita, one of the technical directors at Sega told me that the company had been in trouble and considering leaving hardware for almost five years before the DC launched.

It really wasn't a great shock to see Sega giving up hardware. Internally, many of us had been talking about this for at least three or four years before the event happened.

The DC was Sega's last gasp, and had the company not been in such dire financial straits, it could have supported it as needed and done quite well.

[otaku]

my first console was a n64 then I met a friend with a dreamcast and fell in love my parents wouldn't buy me my own DC so instead I got a psone which I regularly traded for his DC, played the hell out of it. Finally bought my own DC this year brand new in box (not anymore) with about 200 games loving it!

[nat]

The Dreamcast was such a great console, as a matter of fact, it was the one great console of the last generation. (I would give the Wii that honor this gen...) It was the one that stood above the rest as innovative and did something new. Something different. Different = good. It also ended up paying much homage to what came before in all the 2D ports (both official and independent). And while I'm a much bigger fan of 2D games over 3D, it was the first console that actually had 3D graphics you could look at without wincing. It ranks very highly among my favorite consoles of all time. There's no question it died commercially prematurely, but look at all the games we got out of it. Not to mention one of the most active independent & homebrew scenes around...

[Rob2600]

Dreamcast jumped in front of those consoles, but I don't think it should have taken a hit for it. Since its immediate competition were the N64 and the PSX, it stood out as truly next-generation. PlayStation had the media playback and CD storage features, but its 3D was fugly and polygons looked sickly at best. N64 had very crisp and "healthy" looking 3D, though it couldn't handle large ammounts of FMV or recorded audio. Dreamcast had the strengths of both.

That's an excellent summary of the three consoles.

as for software, all it had going for it was 2k sports and capcom

As for games, I personally owned few. Sonic Adventure, while ridden with bad camera, almost never left my Dreamcast. Crazy Taxi was amazingly creative and fun, until I attempted to remove the old Blockbuster label (NEVER do that; buy used discs elsewhere). Other than that, I didn't play much.

Dreamcast games my friends and I enjoyed:

18-Wheeler American Pro Trucker
Bust-a-Move 4
Chicken Run
Dead or Alive 2
Jet Grind Radio
MDK 2
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Re-Volt
Seaman
Sega Bass Fishing
Space Channel 5
Toy Commander
Virtua Tennis
Worms Armageddon
Zombie Revenge

I think there was a pretty good selection.

It had a lot of decent software unless you want RPGS and tons of FPSs.

Dreamcast first-person shooters:

Quake III: Arena
Soldier of Fortune
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
Unreal Tournament

What more could a first-person shooter fan want in 1999-2000?

An arcade/retro/niche-centered system would be a nice relief from the mindless shooters and shovelware of this generation. Someone needs to stand up to the market and offer something different from the "hardcore" and the "casual" crap that keeps getting shoved down our throats. I can't see the Big Three doing it...

I think Nintendo is doing it with the Wii. What other home console right now offers such a huge variety of fun games? There's House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Trauma Center, Mercury Meltdown Revolution, Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, Wii Fit, Endless Ocean, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers Charged, Karaoke Revolution, Wii Sports, Metroid Prime 3, etc.

The Wii isn't just about hardcore games or casual games or retro-style games or fitness games...it's about all of the above! Another plus is that many highly-rated games debut for only $20 or $30.

Yes, there's a lot of shovelware, but as I've pointed out before, there were tons of shovelware for the Atari 2600, NES, Genesis, SNES, PlayStation, and every other successful console ever released. Buy the good games and don't buy the shovelware. Problem solved!

The Dreamcast was such a great console, as a matter of fact, it was the one great console of the last generation. (I would give the Wii that honor this gen...)

See!