Did Dreamcast launch too early?

[Kid Ice]

The DC launched more than a year before PS2. Consider what would have happened if it launched the same day as PS2:

-in addition to its already stellar launch line up, they could've had Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, NFL 2K1, Quake 3, PSO, Daytona, and Shenmue. Contrast to the big launch releases for PS2...uhh...Ridge Racer 5, Tekken Tag, Gungriffon Blaze anyone?
-they could've had their online game together at launch, as opposed to PS2.
-they could've opened at a lower price point, sayyy half the price of PS2 at $150. Or at 199 w/ free Seganet.
-instead of allowing the Saturn to go down in flames to make way for the DC, they could've brought over some of their outstanding Japanese releases, and produced bigger runs of Panzer Dragoon Saga, House of the Dead, Burning Rangers, and Shining Force 3.

[sisko]

They would have folded quicker than they actually did.

With such massive competition, (remember, backwards compatability) they simply would not have stood a chance.

And hey, Gungriffon Blaze is a great title I've logged well over 100 hours on that game.

[Ze_ro]

I don't think it would have worked... the Saturn died an early death, and Sega had to move fast to replace it. Delaying the Dreamcast until the PS2 came about would have just left Sega with essentially nothing to do, since the Saturn was doing so poorly. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses.

Plus, I'm fairly confident that if both had launched on the same day, the PS2 would have stole a lot of Sega's thunder... Of course, Sega could always have compensated for that by doing a surprise release 6 months early and alienating distributors

I think Sega did the right thing with the Dreamcast... they were just in an unfortunate situation that they really had no way out of... but hey, that's the way the cookie gets completely stomped on and obliterated.

--Zero