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As much of an anti-Sega-ite (if that's a word) as I once was, I get more excited about the Sega Dreamcast with each passing day. And I'm going to tell you why. Those who can't think of anything better to say might ask how the Dreamcast can be a success after the failures of the Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn. The 32X and Sega CD failed because they were add-ons (which always fail because they fragment the market) and because Sega was trying to market four systems at once (the Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn). The Saturn was a failure in the US, but it is very much alive and well in Sega's home country of Japan. And even in the US, the Saturn had a decent amount of high-quality games that is arguably better than the N64's slim game library. Ultimately, the past is in the past and the future is in the future. If you want to live in the past, go play your NES. Unlike the days when they were trying to market four systems at once, Sega now has all of its resources behind the launch of the Dreamcast. I believe the system will succeed for all of the following reasons: -Hardware. Unlike the Saturn, the Dreamcast is a truly awesome piece of hardware that blows everything else on the market away, everything from a PlayStation to a Pentium 2 running at 400MHz with two Voodoo 2's in SLI mode. More powerful hardware gives developers more room to work and can eventually lead to better games. -Marketing. Sega is going to spend a massive amount of money ($500 million) to make sure that everybody and their dog knows about the Dreamcast and wants to buy it. The company doing the Dreamcast advertisements is the same company that made the clever (but little-seen) ads towards the end of the Saturn's life cycle in the US. The company behind the initial Saturn ads that failed so miserably is long gone. -Sonic. Dreamcast will have a Sonic game at launch, Saturn didn't. Sonic propelled Sega to the top of the video game market once before (when the Genesis was first released), and Sonic can do it again if the game is good enough. -Time. Sega is not rushing the Dreamcast like they did with the Saturn. I'm sure Sega could rush the Dreamcast out the door in late 1998 or early 1999 if they really wanted to, but instead they are taking the more sensible approach and giving themselves (and third-party developers) plenty of times to make their games the best they can be. -Third-party support. Whether some magazines report it or not, tons of developers have already signed on to make games for the Dreamcast, with many more sure to follow. Third-party support is one of the biggest keys to success for any video game system, if not THE biggest. If you don't have tons of third-party companies making games for your system, you're not going to have enough games (ask Nintendo). Also, unlike the Saturn, the Dreamcast is very easy for developers to make games for, which should further increase the number of companies making games for the system. -First-party support. Sega itself consistently makes darn good games that Sony's in-house development studios only wish they could come close to. Nintendo may have great first-party development, but it comes at the cost of being the single-worst company in the world in terms of releasing their products on time (plus, Nintendo is no longer 100% reliable after the disaster that was Yoshi's Story). Sega makes great games (both for consoles and arcades) in much shorter amounts of time than Nintendo. -Price. One of the biggest reasons the Saturn failed the way it did in terms of initial sales is because of its $400 price tag at launch. Sony proved with the launch of the PlayStation that you can be very successful with the $300 price point, but look for Sega to take it one step further and sell the Dreamcast in the US for only $250 or maybe even $200. Anything under $300 for the Dreamcast system is freakin' amazing considering the power of the hardware beneath the hood of that little white box. So while I am going to proceed with caution as I do with every system when the Dreamcast is released in the US in late 1999, I can't help but be extremely excited about the system in the meantime.
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com