12-11-2004, 03:24 PM
I remember picking up both the Saturn and the Dreamcast myself. I had a 7 mile walk home when I picked up the Saturn (car was in the shop for a week while the brake techs were on vacation). I had waited till the Saturn dropped in price before picking it up and scored Virtual Crack... err... Virtual On for the system.
The Dreamcasts... one was the imported DC I picked up from Anime Crash (now since dead in MA) and picked up KOF99. The US DC I picked up during my lunch break from Valmar err Wal-Mart and left it in my car under my jacket. (Manager had "walked by" my car and saw the DC under the jacket thinking I had stolen it, showed him my receipt (from Game Stop) in front of 2 officers and called him an idiot.) Picked up Blue Stinger too. Then Virtual On OT and Record of Lodoss War and PSO.
As to why I think the DC failed, I know SEGA did a half assed job marketing the system. The whole "It's thinking" ad campaign did little in my mind to convince me to look at the system, and a friend of mine wasn't too thrilled about the system till he saw my imported DC. He went nuts and when it came out in the US he picked his up after work.
The DC had everything right, online play, four controller ports, serial port, web browsing, 56k/broadband modems, and the most comfortable controller design next to the Playstation. As with the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox the DC's launch titles were mediocre and parents didn't want to trust their kids with the discs preferring cartriges. The DC had the Playstation and N64 nailed in terms of overall power, graphics, and options. Yet the two systems flew off the shelves at a rate of 10 to 1. System returns in the first few months were just as dismal, out of every 10 systems sold 6 would come back to be exchanged for a Playstation or N64. The rest were either defective or died from abuse.
Little did gamers know they'd be shooting themselves in the foot settling for one system rather than having multiple systems and missing out on games that could have been.
The Dreamcasts... one was the imported DC I picked up from Anime Crash (now since dead in MA) and picked up KOF99. The US DC I picked up during my lunch break from Valmar err Wal-Mart and left it in my car under my jacket. (Manager had "walked by" my car and saw the DC under the jacket thinking I had stolen it, showed him my receipt (from Game Stop) in front of 2 officers and called him an idiot.) Picked up Blue Stinger too. Then Virtual On OT and Record of Lodoss War and PSO.
As to why I think the DC failed, I know SEGA did a half assed job marketing the system. The whole "It's thinking" ad campaign did little in my mind to convince me to look at the system, and a friend of mine wasn't too thrilled about the system till he saw my imported DC. He went nuts and when it came out in the US he picked his up after work.
The DC had everything right, online play, four controller ports, serial port, web browsing, 56k/broadband modems, and the most comfortable controller design next to the Playstation. As with the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox the DC's launch titles were mediocre and parents didn't want to trust their kids with the discs preferring cartriges. The DC had the Playstation and N64 nailed in terms of overall power, graphics, and options. Yet the two systems flew off the shelves at a rate of 10 to 1. System returns in the first few months were just as dismal, out of every 10 systems sold 6 would come back to be exchanged for a Playstation or N64. The rest were either defective or died from abuse.
Little did gamers know they'd be shooting themselves in the foot settling for one system rather than having multiple systems and missing out on games that could have been.
-- In memory of a dear friend, Kali --
Battle Angel - Cast
Chusha Kobayashi - Newman
Chusha @ Deviant Art
Battle Angel - Cast
Chusha Kobayashi - Newman
Chusha @ Deviant Art