Sega missed out on this and could've saved the Dreamcast early on. Imagine what timeline we would've ended up in.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I want that timeline. It seems more fun!

If only Sega skipped the Sega/Mega CD and 32X, and have the titles from those systems added as Saturn games, it would have been a different story for them. People were really having trust issues with Sega with those stop-gap systems. Another move Sega could have done was support the Video CD format out of the box for Saturn and Dreamcast (at least for the Asian region) considering that Video CD was bigger than VHS, Laser Disc, and DVD combined during the late 90's up to the early/mid 2000's in Asia. Sega would have given Sony a really good challenge.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes IMO keep Saturn off the market and ride the hardware they had till M2 was ready and ship that. Less hardware to fracture the market

@RetroGamerBB

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I don't see the Sega CD as a total failure. It's probably the most successful add-on in existence. Had they not made the 32x, it's a different story. 🤷‍♀️ I'd like have to seen a Sega M2 over the Saturn.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Sega CD wasn’t a total failure. 32X was though which was a bummer

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

VCD support out of the box for the Saturn probably would have been a big deal. That meant hardware MPEG decoding built into the machine, which is something I think even the Playstation didn't really have (I think it did it in software, but I'm not sure). I went to Singapore in 2005 and was surprised to see how popular VCDs were. I had no idea. I would have LOVED to have the ability to watch VCDs on a game console back then! Unfortunately, it would have also added to its cost, which was already too high from a manufacturing standpoint. All the more reason that the Saturn should have been delayed and possibly even re-engineered! I think the Sega CD was actually a good move. Even if it didn't sell a ton, it got decent support and helped prove that the way forward in gaming was disc media. It also made Sega out to be the cooler, higher-tech company. I salivated over the Sega CD as a Nintendo fan. I think it was also key in giving developers a chance to figure out the new CD-ROM technology. So there's a lot more to consider here than just the sales numbers. 32X was a bit of a different story, although I still wanted one (I just bought one recently, actually). I think it could have been a lot more successful had it not launched so close to the Saturn, and/or had it been compatible with Saturn software.

@maris4137

2 жыл бұрын

@@rars0n I agree. Sega CD made Sega a cooler, "edgier" company, and I'm glad they made it. It's the 32X that really dented their image. The spacing between releases of the stop-gap consoles are giving them a negative press, not to mention buyer confusion as to which console Sega would commit to. Yes, Sony made a Video CD unit (SCPH-5903) that was released in the Asian region. It has a white housing/shell. Also, both Saturn and PlayStation had Video CD add-ons that can attach to their appropriate back ports for non-VCD units to play them. But considering the perception for add-ons for game consoles then, in retrospect, out of the box support could have been a huge selling point for a lot of people in Asia. Video CD was huge. I'm here in Asia, and the last VCD I saw was Captain America: The Winter Soldier from 2014. A lot of VCD buyers do not care about DVD special features, just the movie, so they always buy VCD for the cheap price compared DVD's. Saturn could have been a hit with that feature. But yeah, considering the manufacturing cost, and the feasibility of the Saturn for the market, the console would definitely not be at a $399 price point. Too bad, really.

Had Sega actually done this, I'm pretty sure they would have been out of the hardware business earlier than they did. Sega was already in a bad habit of releasing and abandoning hardware within a year or two (Sega/Mega CD, 32X, Saturn, Pico, etc.) and that burned consumer loyalty big time. As much of a Sega fanboy as I am, their business practices were what really dug their graves as far as hardware was concerned. By the time the Dreamcast made it to store shelves, it was already too little too late. I encourage anyone interested more about this check out the book Service Games: the Rise and Fall of Sega by Sam Pettus. The book is actually pretty enlightening looking back at the company culture at Sega at the time, how their corporate pride led to a lot of hasty and bad decisions.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Pride = infighting. Sega basically fought with itself

@SgtSega

2 жыл бұрын

I prefer the late US launch of games for Dreamcast. Japan's early titles kind of sucked and there wasn't much variety.

@arfarfarf256

2 жыл бұрын

Sega deserved to lose. They didn't even support their successful Genesis as well as they should have before flopping around with all the failed consoles after that.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I wouldn’t agree they deserved it

@SgtSega

2 жыл бұрын

@@arfarfarf256 The supported the Genesis but not much for the adds ons. If they had more stuff for say the 32X like arcade ports that couldn't be done on Genesis like more Virtua games instead of straight up ports of Genesis games on 32X, it might have survived. Saturn took care of that real quick. lol

Where on earth did you get an M2 from? Been lookign for one for years!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Haha I’ve got a closet full of them. 12 in total. Kiosks, arcade boards, etc. 100% not a brag. I mean if you want an arcade board ones for sale out of Japan right now and I can point you to it if you want

@JaimeValladares00

2 жыл бұрын

Always everywhere

@martinevans1206

2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully it will be a case of ‘Hello M2’ very soon for you!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

They are the easiest “rare as can be” items to find if you get lucky

Your analysis of what could have been done clearly is something else. Having all this jammed into the Dreamcast shell with its controllers and the like certainly would have put Sony to a task.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

It would have been fun to see for sure

I understand what SEGA was trying to do. I actually loved the 32X and the SEGA CD. I loved the Saturn. But the Dreamcast, it is my favorite console of all time. It was one of a kind. It brought to me a lot. I bought most of my Saturn games off eBay on the Dreamcast. I love this little piece of badass!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Dreamcast was an epic era for sure

@TheEarthRealm

10 ай бұрын

You bought Saturn games on the Dreamcast...? 🙃

The only way I can see this scenario working is one where Sega does not release the Saturn. They would have had to support the 32x for about a year or two longer and done well with it. M2 could be released in 96 just in time to compete vs Sony and Nintendo. This gives Sega enough time to release a good PS2 competitor with the MX and really battle it out with Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. Maybe Microsoft doesn't enter the console market in this world.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes don't release Saturn. Ride CD / 32X till M2 is ready, then transition. Now you have hardware more powerful than anything on the market in 1996 and it has an arcade variant ready to go as well to keep Sega's arcade hardware business humming along

@BlueEyedVibeChecker

2 жыл бұрын

Wrong, the 32X is the one that lost fans trust, the Saturn was a great console. The 32X tried to compete with Nintendo, Sony and SEGA. SEGA of America brought SEGA down, then the PS2 and Mil-CD piracy tag teamed the Dreamcast into the ground.

@BlueEyedVibeChecker

2 жыл бұрын

Also to add. Fans were mad with the CD and 32X since they hadn't gotten any "true consoles" in years, unlike Nintendo with the NES, SNES, N64 etc. The Saturn was more adopted over seas, whole the 32X, made by SEGA of America, didn't even appeal to Americans like it was supposed to. (It did at least bring us Knuckles Chaotics, but Sonic Jam on the Saturn was miles better and the prototype for Sonic Adventure)

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

But if Sega had really supported the 32X in the absence of a Saturn I think it would have brushed the gap long enough to get to M2

@martinevans1206

2 жыл бұрын

@@BlueEyedVibeChecker Wrong. It’s because the 32X was discontinued for the Saturn that fans lost trust. Had there been no Saturn, SEGA would have continued and supported the 32X etc.

The only issue I can see is .Genesis, CD, 32X, Saturn, M2, M2X. Part of what I hear made Saturn/Dreamcast fail was customer confidence in the brand sticking with something long term.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes that is a very tricky pickle I can't really solve lol

@camrongraziano1254

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I mean I love that you solved glaring DVD issue, the money issues and the missing in action from between Saturn and Dreamcast in the West. So all in all those are some big hurdles. 😅

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

lol batting .750 isnt bad!

@oblivieon1567

2 жыл бұрын

It was actually more in the confidence of developers than the public. The Dreamcast was a booming success when it launched. Much to the surprise of EA and many other 3rd party developers. But by that time it was too late since so much of their resources were aimed at the upcoming PS2. The Genesis was a huge success but the Sega CD 32X and Saturn were all disasters.

@camrongraziano1254

2 жыл бұрын

@@oblivieon1567 I think the SEGA CD was ok aside from FMV games. It doesn't have as many real games as I'd like, but I think SEGA releasing it was ok. Just like I said about Genesis, it just needed games. 32x was a disaster even if it's initial sales were ok. And again with Saturn great system and great games...that never came west 🤦🏼‍♂️ imo the best Saturn games came out in 1997/8 and that was just waaaay too late. Dreamcast also just needed games. You know the ones that ended on every other console 😭

Once again, great video.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate it. It was a fun one to make :)

Well done video. Your theory make’s sense. Sega buying the M2 would of made great potential. One of many Sega’ s mistakes. The fallout w/Sony, Silicon Graphics, Bandai, & etc.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Sega is littered with bad decisions but I still love them

Loved the 3DO and loved the Dreamcast. This dream hybrid would have been my system of choice. Although I would have preferred for 3DO M2 and then MX to have remained Panasonic machines and beat the snot out of all other game consoles of the era.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Technically Panasonic didn’t outright own MX. They owned M2 and had rights to use MX if they wanted

Dreamcast hardware was based on powervr chips that had a unique method for culling polygons from The view when they weren't supposed to be displayed, do those numbers account for that unique method? Those kind of numbers are usually raw throughput but wouldn't account for the fact that a lot of the polygons in the scene wouldn't need to be drawn at all. Meaning the Dreamcast is more capable than the raw specs would imply

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

M2 supports culling off camera per the SDK docs

@Roninkinx

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica is it built in or a software solution? That will make a difference on pc cycles and fill rate possibilities.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I don’t answer To Hesh. Get me Captain Murphy or at least Squishface

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Joking aside it’s part of the Mercury graphics engine

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

This is just a wild guess but I bet in the next console gen (PS6/Xbox whatever they call it, etc) there may be another competitor. I feel like someone could come in and try at least

I whole heartedly think that if the rumors of GTA3 originally being a DC exclusive for 12 months are true, if they could have tread water for the 3 or 4 months before it was released, it would have saved Sega and the dreamcast. Sports game wise, 2k had the sports game at the time. NFL 2k was light years ahead of madden at that time.. And NBA 2k was just taking off. The DC was also the fighting game king, the arcade port king. The last thing it needed was a killer system selling game. While Shenmue was amazing, GTA redefined the open world game and having it on DC would have sold the system in droves.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Dreamcast suffered because of the "wait for PS2" attitude. Had they done M2 and then MX in 1999 it would have been "Sega has DVD and as powerful hardware...first"

@b2th3m1th

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I don't disagree, but there are many steps outside of that issue, that sega messed up. Most of the DC's bigger issues where not DC issues, but the 32x/saturn releases so close together. Instead of a unified front. And releasing the M2 instead of the saturn and 32x would have set sega up much better.. And the DC could have been setup to succeed.

NEC had many problems with delivering enough chips for Dreamcast manufacturing. Sega could have sold another million units at the US Lanuch but did not have the supply. I remember the Dreamcast being sold out for the Holiday season of 1999.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Even if Sega sold double I doubt it would have moved the needle much for them long term sadly

I think the reason the Dreamcast failed is because by then consumers had already lost confidence in Sega after they had abandoned the 32x and Saturn.

@hitkid2456

2 жыл бұрын

At the same time you could say they wanted it to fail. And so it did. Consumers are absolutely brutal like that, haha. I guess that's why they're "everything".

@codezero7981

Жыл бұрын

they should have never released the 32x and stayed with the Saturn for a while..

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

That would have been a better path for sure

@TheEarthRealm

10 ай бұрын

Only Sega of America abandoned the console in their region. Sega of Japan didn't. There it went on to outsell and outperform the Nintendo 64. And Sega supported it with new software releases up until the year 2000.

Great video

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate that :)

New Sub! Dryden, MI Well Done! I haven't personally seen an M2, that looks sweet!

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for subscribing :) didn’t know Batman did Motown 😂

@MotownBatman

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Oh look it finally fixed my name: that only took 3 years lol Yessir, You Prefer "Motown Philly"?

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Makes me think of a dancing horse 🤷🏻‍♂️

@MotownBatman

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Touche` 🤣

As the old saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

More like 20/10 in Sega’s case LOL

SOMEONE give me a FUCKING TIME MACHINE RIGHT NOW

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

call Doc Brown

If Sega launched the M2 with DVD playback, I don't want to think about how much it would cost.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

in 1999 MX with DVD would have been priced at par with Sony. It was a simple design (M2)....just four chips, two of which weren't proprietary silicon

I believe the Xbox is the dreamcast 2. You'll find hints in the arcade hardware. I'd love to understand the relationship.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Just no shared hardware lineage sadly

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

I hate this "theory." It's not. The Xbox has NOTHING to do with the Dreamcast. The only connection is Microsoft providing Windows CE to the Dreamcast. That's IT. "You'll find hints in the arcade hardware." Please explain to me exactly what this means, because otherwise it's complete nonsense.

@BlueEyedVibeChecker

2 жыл бұрын

Not exactly. Spiritual successor to a degree, but not a sequel. "The Duke" controller is inspired by the Dreamcasts controller (the space for the VMU screen when there were none made the Duke too big, and its memory cards were unnecessary when the system had a hard drive however) The former Dreamcast Live and current Xbox Live are an extention of SEGAs online gaming ideal, except Microsoft had the funds to back it up. And it got many games that Dreamcast had, Shenmue II(Dreamcast had this outside of the US) but again, same could be said for the Gamecube with SADX and SA2:Battle. So that one makes less sense to me.

@BlueEyedVibeChecker

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Aye, MS made a blunder on that, they could've taken the Dreamcast fans into their own ecosystem with DC - Xbox compatibility and been vastly more successful in player count.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

In spirit it’s a successor but in hardware design it’s so different. PC in a box

That was excellent! Required viewing for any Dreamcast fan 🍻

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate it!

Unfortunately Sega of Japan was its own failure.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

They really did make about as many mistakes as was possible

Good vid. Well argued. Solid.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate it. All backed by research, conversations with ex-3DO employees and stated facts :)

I’m curious, do you know the cost analysis on the hardware during that time adjusted to 2021 dollars? Maybe the cost was too high in 1998 for the average home? This is a very intriguing video and never heard about the M2 till now.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

M2 was designed to be sold for $300 at launch. The hardware design was minimalistic (two off the shelf CPUs, and two custom ASICs) to ensure the hardware could be sold at a competitive price. Release MX in 1999 before PS2 with a DVD drive? Probably still $300 so long as they sold it at a loss, which is SOP in selling consoles

@SgtSega

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica PS2 was cheaper than a regular dvd player, so factor that in.

It would be really cool to make a 3d print of the m2 case and maybe put in a mini pc with 3dfx to recreate a similar style of graphics.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I should get measurements of the case if someone does want to do that

nice video, even if those are speculations and nothing more... I STIL KEEP DREAMING

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Speculations are the most fun

I could imagine three scenarios: 1) Sega keep injecting morphine on the Saturn until the DC launch worldwide, pay for ports and etc, so the public opinion wouldn't be crumbled by a year and half hiatus. 2) Releasing DC worldwide simultaneously in 98, even with very barebones software as people would buy for the Virtua Fighter 3 and soon to be released (and rushed) Sega Rally 2. 3) One user in assembler said that Sega had the idea of replacing the Dreamcast with a new console that used NAOMI 2, the same hardware used in VF4. Sega would have a console more powerful than the PS2 replacing the DC immediately and with backwards compability. But all of these are major "what ifs", when you take the account the issues, its pretty much clear they were screwed unless a major effort to have SoJ not screwing up on the first one, or having a kinda risky bet on the second as the saturn would have been out of production for months, or finally, replacing a console within an extremely short time. Also regarding DVD, it wasn't much of a issue at the time (games were like 300-700mb most of the time), plus it was expensive as hell and Sony owned the format, even OG Xbox decided instead to move the playing DVD movies fees to the customer with the optional Xbox DVD controller.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

3 would have been interesting. NAOMI 2 can outclass PS2 and the backwards compatibility would have been great

What truly killed the Dreamcast was not being shipped with a DVD Rom as soon as the PS2 announced its specs. Also, the keyboard could've had a built in trackball.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

DVD would have been huge for Dreamcast whatever hardware it used

my biggest and only complain of the dc was the joypad. i mean even psx and saturn had at aleast an 8 buttons joypad but the dc only had 6 beacuse....?

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Because reasons? Yeah I don't know either

This is a cool “what if” about how Sega could have released a very cool console, but it doesn’t really address the actual business problems that led Sega to abandon the hardware market. Dreamcast lost money because it was *too popular* and it was being sold at a loss. Every Dreamcast sold at retail took money out of Sega’s pocket until that user bought quite a few games (5 or 6?) to make up the difference. Unless M2 could be manufactured for significantly less money than what the Dreamcast cost to make then it wouldn’t really address that core problem.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

What it is my fav type of what

When exactly could the M2 have been released? Considering that the PlayStation was in Japan in late 1994. Sounds like the PlayStation would have 2 years on this new console, and it was a lot cheaper.

@whatamalike

2 жыл бұрын

I think very end of 1997 in Japan and a possible western release in spring 1998. But even then, it would've probs only lasted about as long as the dreamcast did if not even shorter

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

M2 could have been released End of 95/beginning of 96. Design was done...3DO slowed it down to look to sell it.

@martinevans1206

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Not bad if it would have been a worldwide release and not just Japan first.

@Grail_Quest

2 жыл бұрын

M2 power in 95 would have DESTROYED Playstation which would have just released the prior year. Japanese devs would have gravitated toward M2 development and the video game world would have looked very different today.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

If only LOL

Great video! The relationship between Sega and 3DO is very intriguing... One rumour I heard was that Sega was willing to buy 3DO outright, but the sticking point was Trip Hawkins, who'd only let it happen if he could be President of Sega of America...

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I’d have given Trip Sega of America myself. I still find it wild that a Sega developed game demo existed for M2. That’s how far along it really was

@SamMcDonald83

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Yeah, that era for Sega sure is curious. I believe they were also working with Atari on some Jaguar projects at the time too. Real shame they didn't go all in with the M2. Just imagine Sega, Konami and possibly Capcom all developing for the same hardware at the height of their creative powers.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Would have been epic. Capcom was developing Power Stone for M2 before Dreamcast / NAOMI

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica "I’d have given Trip Sega of America myself." Agreed! Trip was nothing if not a visionary in the video game world. Some of his ideas were unfortunately TOO early, but his salesmanship was always exemplary. Also, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but apparently Digital Dance Mix (on the Saturn) was AM2's way of testing out VF3 characters on the Saturn. Can you imagine if there was actually VF3 development taking place on M2 hardware? I would HAVE to think it's at least possible.

I'm not sure this policy would've made Sega win or not burn out customers. It's exactly what made people angry of them with the 32X and the Sega CD. "Release a console now in 1996, then another more powerful console in 98/99 with a DVD-ROM and forget the older one or limit the amount of games the former had". Doesn't it sound awfully similar to the SEGA CD & 32X case? to me it does. However... if they came out in 98 with this M2 thing that had DVD built in from the get go (no more 1996 stopgaps since by 96 they released the 32X already!!) and most importantly IT WAS COMPETITIVELY PRICED (which is hard to do for a company like Sega that was in financial problems)....... Then we could've had a winner yes. BUT NO STOPGAPS IN BETWEEN! that kind of thing burns out even the most diehard Sega fanatics.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

So hard to say but I think it would have given them a better shot

Add-ons for DC wasn't the solution.... It just didn't get the publicity and following of the press like Sony's Hype train. My Nostalgia for DC is real, unlike people who passed over the DC on its release. The DC just needed gamers to play it and buy it - and ignore the pre launch hype surrounding PS2 imo. I wanted a game console not a DVD player in 1999. Still got my NTSCJ DC from Jan 1999 .. to play arcade quality ✌️ M2 became a 3DO pipe dream ...

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I think it still could have used a bigger head start then a more powerful system later with dvd myself to compete against Sony but yes by the point Dreamcast was launched Sega just didn’t have the resources to fight long term against Sony

I just want to say I love what you have done for the M2 and the Hyper Neo Geo 64. I always think of ways Sega could have saved itself and still make hardware like Nintendo today but one thing you missed in your video is that to save Sega you would have needed to go all the way back to 1993/early1994 and have the Saturn architecture completely changed and to be designed so that third party developers could have made all the major mid to late 90s hits on it. I did a lot of research on this and I went over all the yearly revenue reports from Sega from 1996-2000. Sega Enterprise was set up in four different divisions. You had Arcade Operations (physical arcade centers that Sega owned), Arcade Hardware (arcade machines sold i.e. Model 1-3, Naomi), Consoles/console game sales and finally License revenue(ex would be like Hasbro making sonic toys or sonic anime). When the Saturn bombed in the 90s Sega was loosing millions of dollars and going into heavy debt but what kept it alive was the massive revenue from its Arcade operations and Arcade sales with both of these reaching almost a billion. Sega made only a few million with License money. This is the thing that actually killed Sega, in late 1999 and 2000s the entire America/Europe/Australia arcade industry abruptly died and also arcades in Japan declined as well. When looking at the yearly sales report you can see massive drops of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Arcade Operations and Arcade hardware sales which had been used in the past to cover for the massive loses the Saturn created. The Dreamcast was being sold at a loss and to make matters worse the hype that Sony had created for the PS2 with getting non gamers to buy a cheap DVD made Sega Dreamcast sales come to an almost halt in late 2000. I even remember reading an interview with Sega of America people saying how they tried to do everything to sell Dreamcast in late 2000 from going down to 99 dollars and this did not even help(this is how I got a Dreamcast because my dad was so cheap). If it was not for the CEO of CSK which forgave all of Sega's debt that they owed him plus him giving them millions of dollars before he died of cancer they would have closed down. Sadly, Sammy bought Sega in 2004 and ruined them with all the talent leaving and now Sega being a shell of their 90s and Dreamcast glory days. If Sega did what you say in the video they would have still had to dealt with the massive debt of the Saturn plus the hundreds of millions of dollar losses from the end of arcades in america/europe and the decline in Japan. I guess you would have needed the Sega M2 and Sega MX to have had PS1 and PS2 sales to have Sega survive and handle the debt and arcade decline.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoy the Hyper Neo Geo and M2 stuff. I love talking about the rare and obscure stuff people probably don’t know about

@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube

2 жыл бұрын

Saturn was hugely successful in Japan....

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

It was. Sadly not the same case in the US

@MrSafira13

Жыл бұрын

@@TheKayliedGamerChannel-KZread The saturn was only successfull for a few years before the PS1 got FF7 and sega killing it by releasing the dreamcast. At the end of the day it only sold sligtly more than the N64 and was nowhere near the PS1 in sales.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

But it still succeeded and had a great library

I'm not really sure about this M2 theory, but it was interesting! If I were to choose two changes they would be: 1) In the US they should have sold it for $250 dollars as per the original plan. I'm pretty sure it would have still sold just as well and it would have lessen the financial hit to Sega per unit. 2) Sega should have paid Square to make a Final Fantasy game for the Dreamcast. That would have sparked the Japanese sales numbers. These wouldn't have made Sega number 1 or anything, but might have helped keep them alive as a console company. My what-if goal would be to beat the Gamecube and maybe the Xbox ^_^

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Every Sega fan has a plan for Dreamcast not to fail haha. Shows how much we all love the console!

@dtester

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica True dat!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I’m not sure who is right but damn do I wish Sega hadn’t failed

@dtester

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Agreed! Since we are at it, before was my conservative what-if. If I really had a choice to change the timeline it would be for Sega and Sony to partner up as they almost did. In theory this could have lead to a huge Sega domination of 6th gen.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Sony almost partnered with everybody until they want their own way. It would’ve been interesting to see what could’ve been

I didn’t even know there was a DVD capable M2.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yep all FZ-35 M2’s are equipped with DVD drives. M2 could support DVD with no issues

So, a 10+ minute video just to say "add a DVD drive' since that is what truely did the Dreamcast in (movie playback and piracy issues). Licensing 3DO would have only helped in possibly getting Parasonic involved since they were one of the developers of the DVD format (along with Sony, Toshiba, Philips) and was a partner with the original 3DO; else they'd have to license the DVD tech. Costs would be of concern since that was one of the main things that did the original 3DO in.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

LOL I think you missed a lot of the point. You could have a PS2 power level competitor a year earlier with DVD in it. That’s a lot diff than “put a dvd drive in”

@chriswheatley3146

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica And the cost would have been around $700; which killed the 3DO. The only other option would have been to sell it at loss like Microsoft and Sony does; which Sega did not have the financial ability to. That was the point of the second statement I made.

I remember hearing from some 3DO developers (ewhak) that they where considering a DVD drive for the M2 release. Im sure that wouldn't make it cheaper> One would have thought that Sega would have an easier ride to the 3d generation with all their experience with 3d arcades. I could never understand why they failed so much, specially with the Saturn. I guess they didn't fail with the Saturn in Japan and that arcade hardware is expensive. But with their experience with the hardware, the economy of scale you thought they could have done much better. Instead they where shopping here for m2, there for 3dfx until they finally decided to go with something similar to the naomi.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes M2 could have shipped as a console with DVD had the price been figured out. It was a forward thinking, easy to expand technology from day 1. Plus the SDK was light years ahead of developing for Saturn

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

"One would have thought that Sega would have an easier ride to the 3d generation with all their experience with 3d arcades. I could never understand why they failed so much, specially with the Saturn." Hideki Sato, the designer of the Saturn and lots of other Sega hardware, has stated repeatedly in interviews over the years that Yu Suzuki was the only one who understood 3D back then. Sato was conflicted at the time when designing the Saturn hardware. He knew that all of Sega's developers were masters of 2D programming, but maybe the machine should have some 3D capabilities. At that early stage it wasn't a total given that 3D would be so embraced as the way forward (at least in home consoles), so Sato designed the Saturn to be a capable 3D machine as an extension of its excellent 2D power. When they saw what Sony was doing with the Playstation, they knew that they needed to increase the 3D power of the Saturn, but that philosophy still remained. That led to the multiprocessor architecture of the Saturn, which proved more difficult for most to utilize effectively (Sega already had quite a bit of experience utilizing multiprocessor setups, both in arcade and with the Sega CD, so they saw it as a clear move forward). Sega didn't anticipate the learning curve for their hardware to be such a big problem.

@maroon9273

11 ай бұрын

​@@rars0nalso multichip set up like the 32x and even worst the 32x cd.

How would you feel about sega making gaming PCs? Do you think they could pull that off?

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Def couldn’t pull it off lol

First time watching one of your videos. But I got a idea. If you think this hardware can save Sega from leaving the console market. I wonder if you can do a custom skin of a fictional Sega console or the Dreamcast skin onto the hardware

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Haha that would be fun

0:31 where did your math come from? Sega released the Dreamcast 9/9/99, and discontinued it 3/31/01, 18 months later. How is 18 months "2 1/2, 3 years"?

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

bad math? lol

The DVD argument is often brought up but Sony sold the PS2 at a loss and DVD would have been even more expensive in the 90s. Sony had the money and an entire movie division to push DVD as a format. 3DO was not a cheap system and Sega launching a huge expensive console in 96 coming right off the Saturn would have been suicide. Sega did just about everything right with the Dreamcast which makes its premature death even sadder. The damage was done by the Saturn and 32X, and Sony's dominance which had even Nintendo struggle at the time. But certainly a cool what-if. You could do a similar video on if Sega had gone with PowerPC for the Dreamcast. They also jumped on that at the last moment, and PowerPC would have put the DC inline with Model 3 architecture.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I still think Sega could have sold more consoles against the PS2 if they Trojan Horsed consoles into homes with DVD :)

@primus711

2 жыл бұрын

Dont forget pippin from apple and that also failed Anyway 3do failed cause you were licensing out so people had to make money on hardware that model would have failed and did

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

"Sega did just about everything right with the Dreamcast which makes its premature death even sadder." No they didn't. The Japanese Dreamcast launch was a disaster along the same lines as the US Saturn launch. They had a chance to partner with 3dfx and they chose VideoLogic instead. They excluded a DVD drive but chose to include a modem despite having no online gaming infrastructure whatsoever. I think it's easy, especially in hindsight, to point out many things Sega could have done better. "and PowerPC would have put the DC inline with Model 3 architecture." How so? You do realize that M2 was also PowerPC, right?

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

@@primus711 Pippin was the same exact business model as the 3DO. Except it had no graphical hardware in it.

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

@@primus711 Actually, the Pippin was NEVER made by Apple, it was made by Bandai. Which I'm guessing you figured out, hence why you deleted your comment.

I can't believe you didn't get the pube off the dreamcast, bruh.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Probably a beard hair but thanks for noticing!

Sorry but this huge gaping holes in it. The biggest is that it doesn't address why Dreamcast failed. The 3DO M2 follow-up product was nowhere near ready for prime time. It is extremely doubtful it would have been ready to mass produce for market significantly before Dreamcast. Nor is it mere coincidence that Sony was able to leverage DVD playback in the PS2. Sony was in a unique position in terms of access to the DVD patent pool, being in the movie and home video business, and a leader in video gaming. No competitor in that generation was able to include DVD playback in the base price of their console. Nintendo chose to avoid it entirely, though a certain company made a DVD playback capable machine based on the GameCube. This same company had gotten cold feet on making 3DO based consoles. Microsoft offered DVD playback as an option in the original Xbox. Most of what you paid for when you bought the remote and IR dongle package was the license code embedded in the dongle. Since Sony was largely paying itself, from the parent company's perspective, for DVD playback, it was an acceptable aspect of the red ink from the first year of PS2 shipments. Especially in Japan due to initial production being done on ,25 micron rather than the .18 used for later production and launches elsewhere globally. This is another critical aspect. DVD playback was costly, not just due to the licenses, but also due to the need for the dedicated hardware to handle the heavy lifting of MPEG-2 decode and other tasks. At the time Sony froze the PS3 chip set design, the intended process node for the chips wasn't in mass production anywhere, not even at Intel, who long lead the industry in bleeding edge process nodes. The chip set was initially made at .25 micron for engineering and early dev kits but those were very expensive chips. Sony took a serious hit on the cost of the launch units in Japan because the .18 micron foundry just wasn't ready. Things worked out in the long term but it was not a fun time for many people at Sony whose careers lived or died on the PS2's success. Launching a console with DVD playback in the base package significantly earlier than the PS2 would have made for a pricey product. That issue had already made the original 3DO dead on arrival. Nothing they could do after that initial year of a $700 MSRP was ever enough to overcome that. Sega had been down that road as well with the $300 Sega-CD add-on that just never delivered on the promise. Too pricey and the tech just wasn't that good yet. Nintendo in turn got scared and killed their more affordable at $200 SNES-CD, even though it had a much stronger technical position on top of a much better price. So, yeah, the Dreamcast did have to die. The circumstances worked against it (too early for broadband while dial-up on a console too clunky for that market) Sega had already left many wary of the brand after failed add-ons and the Saturn. The sheer number of handicaps they were struggling against were just too much.

I love Sega Dreamcast, I wish they didn't end so soon at the time. For that time in my opinion they were the best console.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I prefer DC to PS2 from that gen

@hitkid2456

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Really most everything on PS2 is more "grimdark", I'd say. And being "the" console conferred upon them the most shovelware, much like what happened with Wii a gen later.

Metropolis Street Racer actually did several sequels beyond the Dreamcast. It continued on as the Project Gotham Racing series for the XBox and Xbox 360.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

True but it never quite felt the same. I’d love a modern one in 2022 though

@rars0n

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I definitely agree with that. They tweaked the game a bit when releasing PGR and it's still a good game, but not the same. I just like how MSR plays better.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

PGR was good but it lacked something. Then again I haven’t played it in forever and now I’m thinking I should revisit it

I think it would be awesome for industry competition and the consumer, were Sega to get back into the console market.

@VideoGameEsoterica

10 ай бұрын

That would be fun to see for sure

@jasonleveck8546

10 ай бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I really enjoyed your presentation. I'm a bit lagged out on Micro Soft and Sony. They both make beautiful games, but the overall content seems really shallow or even vapid. I really feel like games are very similar to movies, novels and even table tops; you gotta have characters we care about, which leads directly to a compelling narrative and great music which lends itself to a great atmosphere. Seems like publishers don't focus on those facets as much anymore. I think back to the musical scores of Mario, Link to the Past, Super Castlevania, Gunstar Heroes and so many others. I think graphics and gimmicks have supplanted the core of what made great mediums of entertainment.

@VideoGameEsoterica

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoy the presentation!

I don't think Sega knew what they were doing when it came to consoles. They mild to decent success with the Mastersytem and Genesis. However, the peripherals were terribly executed. Then the Saturn was never pushed in the west (and was coming out while the 32x was still trying to grow). By the time the Dreamcast came out they had lost credibility. It was a good system as I've owned 2(1 still works), but they didn't develop it properly. And the PS2 was a console killer to everything else.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

It just didn’t have to be like that. That’s the worst part

this was a very well done video and hope it gets more views that it deserves but in reality, I just don't see how sega could of competed with Sony when they let the saturn get completely trounced by the PS1. The PS2 is arguably the first console that was a worldwide phenomenon. the NES and SNES in their heydays were still in the era of video games are a fad, but once PS2 came out it was a monster like nothing before and honestly like anything since!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it. My theory isn't perfect and maybe cancelling Saturn and just supporting 32X till M2 is ready would be a better move. Hope it gets more views too lol

I think the best look back at the situation was Sega was dead already and in the hole with Dreamcast. They spent so much marketing the Saturn and look a loss on every console trying to match PS, plus massive marketing money thrown down the drain. Dreamcast was a last shot that needed to decisively win the console generation it was in. Really then it was iffy if Sega could dig out of the Saturn hole. Combined with Saturn being very successful in Japan probrably caused Sega Japan to dig in on the console. Would adopting the M2 have changed things? Maybe, but consider Sega also had an opportunity to partner with Sony and bring out the PS but did not do it. Insisting on their in house hardware. Dreamcast did all the right things. But they ran out of money. A DVD drive sure would have massively helped. But as an alternative to the M2 hypothesis for success. I’d say partnering with Sony would have been the ideal move.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Sony and M2 would be interesting too but those conversations never took place so that would be pure theory crafting

Personally, I unfortunately don't think this would have helped after the awful Saturn reception. IMO just simply scrapping the Sega CD/32X and launching Saturn with those games would have benefitted the Saturn immensely (Lunar, Shining Force, Knuckles Chaotix, Mortal Kombat 2 before the PSX release of MK2 or 3, tons of popular licensed and sports games). Sonic CD released a mere year before the Saturn launch and we barely knew anything of Sonic Xtreme until over a year into the Saturn's life. It would've easily been a standout Saturn launch title. Saturn still had other logistical issues such as the high price and surprise release date, but more games that appealed to more markets outside the East and maybe sprinkle in that once-planned Genesis backwards compatibility and I think the Saturn would have been a bigger (That is to say moderate) hit outside Japan. IMO, Dreamcast should've either launched in more territories a year earlier or launched with a DVD player. It would be extremely hard to pick up momentum again after the Saturn (Some stores refused to stock Dreamcast because of the Saturn) but Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur were ready to go by the year end, and hopefully it would have picked up some of the PSX releases going into that year. Not having major 3rd party support really damaged their image and 1997/1998 were huge years for Capcom and Namco - two of the biggest 3rd parties who actually supported the dreamcast. Having a version of RE2 that blew the PS1 version out of the water on the same launch day in early 1998 wouldve been huge as that was one of the biggest if not the biggest 3rd party home console release that year, and Sega blew it by missing not only RE2 at launch but RE3 at launch as well. With EA and Square already announcing they would ignore the Dreamcast, it seriously looked (to non fighting game fans) like Capcom and other 3rd parties were giving it timid support, like the N64 got its first few years.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

RE was huge back then for sure

If there was any justice in the world Sega would still be the hardware market. Personally Sega should release a new console, but for the hardcore fans. Not trying to compete with the other 3. Imagine a modular console similar to the Konix multi system, with model 1,2 3, all the super scalers like Outrun, Super Hang on, Thunderblade. But with detachable controls, steering wheel, bike handle bars, flight yoke. Check out the Konix you'll see what I mean.

@VideoGameEsoterica

11 ай бұрын

I wish they were still in the game too

So Saturn comes out in '94/'95 and then they release a successor in '96? Bad idea! Customers would have no confidence to invest in one of your consoles, so you'd have nobody to sell your follow up to less than four years later. If we're playing the game of saving Sega as a hardware manufacturer, I think we need to go back to the Sega CD. The big issue there is that it was an add-on. When someone developed a game for it, they were releasing it to a subset of the main console's user base, so companies didn't want to put a lot of resources into developing for it. That's why so few games actually leveraged the additional hardware it did have and we got so many games that were either straight ports with CD audio tacked on (and perhaps a fancy intro movie) or games that focussed purely on FMV (though that was kind of a phase and we probably would have seen those games regardless). If they'd left it in the oven a little longer, given it some beefier hardware and released it worldwide as their next main console in '93, it may have shut the door before Sony had even entered the market. The thing is, in our timeline Sony did everything right with the PS1 and PS2. Sega were already fumbling the ball before Sony entered the market. The Sega CD and 32X were ill conceived and took away valuable resources on the run-up to the Saturn, which itself was ill conceived (compromised 3D capabilities and difficult to develop for). I don't think the Dreamcast alone could have realistically saved Sega. Sony already had incredibly strong support from publishers/developers and a huge user base.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Or we can just make Saturn not exist. Support 32X till 96

@napalmhardcore

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I personally have a soft spot for the 32X because it's responsible for one of my happiest memories. I'd seen Virtua Fighter in the arcade and nothing before or since has blown me away the way it did. I was obsessed with it, but a Saturn wasn't a realistic prospect because my parents didn't have that kind of money. My brother and I asked for a 32X as our combined big present for Christmas that year. I'm honestly struggling to think of a time I've been happier than I was that Christmas playing Virtua Fighter and Star Wars Arcade with my brother. That said, the 32X has the problem I mentioned with the Sega CD. I don't think the add-on nature of it and the way it divided the main console's user base would work in this game of "what if?". Sega needed a whole new console. I see two ways they could have succeeded: First is basically a stand-alone CD based console with the best hardware they could afford to put in it in '93. Beat the competition to market, establish a foot hold and get developers making games that take advantage of the hardware. The second is, if they'd held on a little longer, didn't squander their resources on side-projects and waited to see how the 3D games their arcade division were developing were received, they may have recognised (like Sony did) that 3D was the future. With their experience designing arcade hardware, had they gone all-in on a console optimised for 3D games, we might have got an alternate version of the Saturn that put the PS1 to shame.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

That’s an awesome memory. That’s also why I always hype up the unloved hardware; so many of us have such a great connection to it!

If Sega East and West offices co-operated earlier, the fifth generation (Saturn) would have been wildly different or better to be honest...The addition of the second chip at the last minute was such a poor choice and maybe if the Saturn was easier to develop games on, probably would have started the third party multiplatform trend a generation earlier (pretty sure Resident Evil/Biohazard all ran very similar on PS, Saturn and M2). Just felt like Sega of Japan and Sega of America were two different entities in the 90's.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes it’s like Sega fought a war with itself; East against west and the loser was Sega worldwide

Sega was hooked on Hitachi CPUs.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

They did like them for sure. Nobody else was using them

@maroon9273

11 ай бұрын

There cpus were slower and weaker than power pc, motorolla 68k40, MIPS, Arm and NEC risc cpus

Idk why the hell 3DO didnt help sega get the DVD playback capabilites at least after there collaborations

SHADOW DID YOU GRAB OUR NEW CONSOLE?!?!!!

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Haha

I think the 3DO company influenced both the 32 bit and 128 bit consoles architechtures, i´ve heard a podcast with Shuhei Yoshida a few years ago, and he did say that they looked at the 3DO and other consoles while they were making the Playstation., Trip Hawkins wanted Sony and Sega to make their own 3DO, is more than obvious that Sega did their 3DO mixing it with their arcade board, and Sony made their own stuff mixing it with the Snes CD prototype, in the case of the M2, you can see that again was object of study, there were talks and rumors of SEGA buying the 3DO M2 as the saturn succesor back in the day but also, look at the controller of the M2 and tell me if NINTENDO didn´t copy it, there is a reason on why the Gamecube looks like a square dreamcast and the xbox also looks like a dreamcast, i think everybody was working on the M2 prototype but again everybody evolved their own ways through the development, Xbox could have taken the Black Belt too, the 3D Fx prototype that was discarted by Sega., so that´s my point the 3DO company had the spects that created the next generation of hardware and again the 3DO took stuff from the Atari Jaguar development cause some of the developers left Atari and went to 3DO to make the "REAL" system

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

3DO hardware inspired a lot of consoles in the future for sure and I will do an episode on it the future

great vid and Sega shoulda bought 3DO because it woulda kept them in tha console market alot longer

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

agreed

Just to be clear: are you suggesting that Sega should have released M2 in 1996 instead of Saturn in 1995? As much as I love the Saturn, I absolutely agree that this would have been a superior strategy. I know there was a lot of disagreement between SOA and SOJ on the hardware moving forward, even during Saturn development, with Tom Kalinske approaching SGI to try to use the technology Nintendo eventually ended up using. It's a bit silly to think that Sega surprise launching the Saturn at E3 in May of 1995 would somehow give them a head start advantage over Sony launching in Sept of 1995, even though none of the software was ready... as if a couple months head start would guarantee Sega dominance (SOJ were blinded by the success the Saturn was having in Japan). On the flip side, with Nintendo already delayed until well into 1996, Sega could have taken the time to beef up the dev tools, which, if past 3DO is any indication, were probably a lot better than what Sega had available for the Saturn in 1995. And launching in 1996 around Nintendo's launch, with superior hardware, would have made a huge splash. Nintendo was smart to continue on with 16-bit in 1995 as they dominated the market over the 32-bit systems, while Sega totally killed Genesis support. Sega would have made MORE MONEY in 1995 by not launching the Saturn and just sticking with the Genesis. And what if Sega had built a 32X but based on M2 technology? That's an interesting thought! Maybe such hardware wouldn't have been ready early enough, but had they truly made 32X into an entry-level option into next-gen technology, rather than a stop-gap, and made it compatible to some degree with the M2 hardware, then it could have been a compelling budget option. Speaking of budgets, I doubt a Sega MX console released in 1999 with a DVD drive would sell for less than $400. However, $400 was still very cheap for a DVD player in 1999. It would have had the same effect that Sony capitalized on when they launched the PS2 a year later for $299. And there's also the fact that with 3DO, expanding upon the base specification was always at least the intention. I have a feeling that expanding the M2 into MX would have been a bit more feasible than expanding M1 into M2. Or perhaps there wouldn't be a hardware MX upgrade module for M2, but maybe at the very least the software could be made compatible somehow, so that games made for the new system could run in some capacity on the old system. I'm actually kind of shocked that it took the mid-cycle PS4 Pro upgrade for this to finally happen. Had a company done this much sooner in the past, I think that would have been a winning strategy. Bought a Sega M2, and now only 3 years later, there's a new Sega MX? Not to worry, just buy the MX titles and play them on your M2 until you're ready to upgrade! What a concept that would be. It's absolutely mindblowing how much hardware Sega was looking at back then. They literally had their hands on everything. I am still not sure about the supposed Saturn accelerator cartridge, whether it existed and was used to any extent before cancellation (Sega of Europe was most vocal about it, going on record to say that it would come out at a price of less than $99, but according to other sources Shenmue and VF3 were running beautifully with no hardware acceleration cart, so who knows). Sega was so ambitious and forward-thinking with their hardware development, which was also unfortunately their downfall. It's a shame that they're not still in the hardware business.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes. No Saturn, just M2 :)

The way you lay it out, it sounds like they should have acquired and released the M2 instead of/inside the Saturn (not in addition to), and then used the MX tech inside the Dreamcast. That may have worked, but the company infighting between SEGA JP and SoA over marketing and partner relations (walked last minute in M2 deal) seemed to really be their downfall - not technical superiority.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Yes Sega was their own worst enemy it seems. They had to fight each other like they were rivals and not the same damn company

@quinnhofmann5399

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica still would love if things would have played out like this.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

So would I lol

yay... the cat pen is back.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

It never went anywhere. If you see the chopstick it’s an old video I pushed schedule wise lol. But how many people LOVE the cat pen really makes me happy :)

How: 1. Don't release 32X. 2. Don't release rushed bad quality games on Saturn, and have more games ready at launch. Which means less negativity, more units sold, and therefore more developer support. 3. Don't rely so heavily on arcade ports on Saturn and have more exclusives and RPGs and not such bad sports titles in the US. Release more of the JPN games in the US and EU. 4. Don't kill off Saturn so early in the US.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

I think people really enjoyed Saturn arcade ports though

@Ruylopez778

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I loved Sega arcade games. And I think some of them were really well ported onto the Saturn given the limitations of what the machine could do compared to the arcade hardware. But some of them were still rushed. The Dreamcast ports from NAOMI were obviously much easier to do, and much better received. But that doesn't change the fact the Dreamcast had to suffer because of bad strategy with the Saturn (and 32X) eroding consumer (and developer) confidence. I couldn't understand why more people didn't love the Dreamcast for its arcade games - and even its creative and mad games, but the reality is that thy needed to offer more variety for some gamers. And they stuck with Sony for the FF series etc. Not going with a DVD drive was an obvious blunder, but nowhere near as bad as the own goals they inflicted on themselves with 32X and Saturn. They sure overcame many of those problems with Dreamcast - having a strong launch line up, for one. But I don't really think launching earlier with different architecture would have changed much given the damage done in the previous years with strategy and quality. Not to mention Sega of America on a completely different page to Japan. The natural choice for all those who bought the PSX was to wait for the PS2, and not much incentive for developers to switch either, especially with titles like Tekken and FF, MGS.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Yes 32x and then Saturn so close together really killed fans confidence in Sega to not render their investments worthless so soon

@Ruylopez778

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica I don't think it was necessarily a terrible idea, given how expensive the Saturn was, and how popular the Genesis was in the US. Especially considering the massive leap from 16bit to 32bit and 2D to 3D. Maybe it's just my age, but none of the later generations felt like such a gulf in performance and design. After the Saturn and PSX, it just feels incremental to me. But the way they went about it just didn't work. But if you look at the money they wasted on 32X and the confuse for the average parent, they might as well have just discounted the Saturn instead. I suppose another way to look at it, was perhaps SoA were complacent after the success with their Genesis sports catalogue. The problem with 32X from a marketing point of view is that you want to make it sound like 'next gen', but then compared to the PSX, it looks weak.

@maroon9273

11 ай бұрын

Plus, no surprise launch and also, utilize genesis/mega drive (especially continuing with sports titles) and master system ip software.

Sony is unbeatable. They knocked out a bunch of competitors and the only one to claw their way back was Nintendo and that by innovating into a different type of device and by staunchly protecting their IP and the quality of their IP. You can draw up plans till you're blue in the face, Sega never had the ball.

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

See I beg to differ. If there was a true competitor to Sony before 99 I think it would be a diff story

I take it this video is a little tounge in cheek, a fun listen to some alternate history. Didn’t know much about the MX and Sega’s interest in the format. That said, I find it unlikely that Sega would have done much better with these 3DO machines. DVD was indeed a selling point for PS2, but I doubt Sega had the muscles to take the opportunity of selling it to your average movie watcher. As much as I’d loved to see Sega winning the console war, they were already in bad shape during the Saturn days and the failed 32X add on. Selling the M2 and MX. would have been really tough. Sega had lost many of their distribution channels. I was baffled I couldn’t buy Dreamcast games locally in my little Swedish hometown. The only ones who knew Dreamcast existed were gaming enthusiasts. Even if Sega marketed the follow up to the M2 as a DVD machine too few people would have noticed. Sony already had the worlds attention, if they stated “you can finally play DVD movies on your console” most would have ignored Sega already being available. DC ports looked really good on PS2 & XBOX. The biggest problem wasn’t the hardware, Sega couldn’t reach a market outside of the most dedicated gamers. Also, early PS2 adopters were content waiting for their Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo, something Sega couldn’t offer. Too many bridges were burnt with different publishing houses, and the great arcade ports from Sega & Capcom were considered to lack longevity… Thought provoking video though!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

MX is barely known about and S42 after it is even more obscure. I’ll do videos on them at some point though

@bjornh1527

2 жыл бұрын

Cool, looking forward to it!

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Should be fun

It's a fun theory to play out in your head if this actually happened, but I remember buying a PC-DVD kit in 1997/98 and it was crazy expensive. I can't imagine sega had deep enough pockets to swallow a loss per unit for the drive, decoder and Mpeg licence. That said piracy plagued the DC, it would've been less of an issue with DVDs at that time. All in all, good research. I'm pretty sure I had that copy of Edge but had completely forgotten this link between the 2 firms.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I mean 3DO felt confident they could bring an affordable MX to market with DVD. Even with licenses I think its a viable option.

@voteDC

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica In fairness the 3DO company didn't make the consoles but licensed the technology out to others. Given the insane pricing of the original 3DO, due to not being able to make money back from game licensing, I have my doubts a DVD based system would have been affordable.

@Helvetica_Scenario

2 жыл бұрын

@@voteDC This, exactly. One of the reasons 3DO failed was because it was licensed and cost $700 at launch. Another licensed console with a DVD drive would have been insanely expensive and I don't think Sega wouldn't have done much better themselves.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

True but by the time MX with dvd was possible it wasn’t a licensed concept but a one company owns the platform and sells at a loss business structure vs the OG 3DO business plan

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

The licensed hardware model was canned by then though had Sega bought it outright

I do not think timing was wrong. It came out before PS2, problem was because they canceled deal with 3dfx and EA stopped contract with them. Many titles were lacking for dreamcast and it did not look so appealing as it was for ps1. At that point sega made some bad decisions with a dreamcast expantions and sega saturn and had no steam to continue.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

If only Sega wasn’t Sega LOL

a front loading addon for the dreamcat with a Dvd player would have been Just fine

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Sega couldn’t sell any more addons. They’d gone too hard on them

Easy answer- have a dvd player in the dreamcast

It looks honestly like a 1997ish arcade game which is awesome, but you can tell that it’s not the same caliber as the Dreamcast not to mention having to pay a huge price point to get that first adopters fee, then a year or two later needing to buy a new console or upgrade mine which I can’t see Sega allowing you to upgrade it. DVD came out in 97, I just don’t see it being feasible to put a dvd drive into a console so early maybe if it was 99.. The thing is, they would of HAD to strip down the specs a bit just for it to not be cost prohibitive. This in 97 would be 5 to 7 hundred.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I mean it’s not a perfect theory lol. You can push MX to 2000 and have a console four years later that competes with and may out perform PS2 still though

Here's what SEGA should've done Did not release the CD or 32X Released the Saturn later (say 1996 around the N64 release) Released the Dreamcast later (say around 2001 or 02)

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

M2 in late 96, MX in 2001 against Sony. It had DVD capability as did M2

Lé hidden knowledge lé Vidjea Gaemz

I think this would have saved the Saturn more than the Dreamcast. With this technology more 3rd party developers might have flocked to making games for sega during the 5th generation. Especially since sega had more of an imprint in the industry coming off the success of the mega drive/genesis. Also a lot of 3rd party companies left sega due to the Saturn being difficult to program for and the fact saturn hardware was more focused on 2d games when the industry was headed towards 3d. This scenario could have potentially prevented the PlayStation from becoming as popular as it was which would have made the PlayStation 2 either non existent or not as big of a player. If the big consoles of the 5th generation would have been this sega console and the Nintendo 64 with the PlayStation coming in 3rd, Sony might have bowed out of the video game industry and a PlayStation 2 might have never existed.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes in 1996 you could have just released M2 and called it Saturn :)

I think this is a great what if scenario, honestly. Sega could've completely skipped the 32X and Saturn, and keep supporting the Mega CD and Mega Drive. Then they would've released M2 in 1996, then MX in early 2000 (So that production costs for DVD drives would lower a bit) and beat both Sony and Nintendo

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly. Better plan than the reality of what actually happened

I want to say if Sega bit the bullet and gave DVD rom support and backwards compatibility with Saturn games, the dreamcast would have done well enough to survive. However, I know Sega Saturn was a challenge for hardware, so it may not have been easy to do.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

that would have been great but it's not surprising it didnt happen sadly

@thomasmoriarty6088

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica We can only wonder.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes imagining what could have been is always a fun time

I think this misses the problem with Sega, their hardware was great, They just had a habit of not supporting it correctly or well enough. Sega of America did alot of damage to the company as well. I would argue that Segas problems were entirely internal basically fighting between the US and Japan divisions. The Saturn struggled for many reasons, confusing Architecture that was hard to program for, lack of some big name titles and the US CEOs saying things like "American's dont want RPGs" after the success of games like Final Fantasy VII (something which sega should have worked their ass off to get on their platform) and "The Saturn is not our future" which while a true statement at the time killed consumer confidence even more including thought who owned the system, The 32X didnt even need to exist and after the failure of the Sega CD both sides of the company should have known people wouldnt buy another addon. Sega didnt use DVD technology because it wasnt common in Japan at the time and even more likey they couldnt afford it. I think going with something proprietary was a bad point of the dreamcast. Then at the time of Dreamcast Launch Sega of Japan wanted to price the cost of the system at $250 in the US and the American division priced it at $199 meaning they were losing money on console sales.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

The Saturn was a great console but it’s hardware was a mess. Don’t do Saturn, release M2 in 1996; it’s SDK and OS based development was light years ahead of Saturn

While a interesting theory there are allot of issues. For one Sega Saturn released in 94. It's biggest issue was it was released within a year of 32x. So the idea of Sega pushing another console 1-2 years later would have been nuts. Then on top of that releasing a update with DVD would of been a nightmare to market

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I think if Sega just didn’t release Saturn and fully supported 32X well until 96 then dropped an M2 powered Sega they’d have a real shot!

The Dreamcast wasn't actually a failure. The console just die because the previous failures like 32x, SegaCD and Saturn were the ones that make Sega stop the console productions If those things and the war between Sega of América and Sega from Japan (believe in me, this war was the true Battle of Sega, Nintendo doesn't exist) didn't happened, the DC wouldn't die so soon (maybe until 2004 or 2005, we could have a DC2 or something)

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes Sega loved to infight

It makes me wonder if anybody could even afford this and what the prices would have been

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Planned M2 price was $299. Probably go up to $399 with DVD

As much as I love the DC/Naomi and Saturn, I do think this would have been a better console release path. I think ideally though that Saturn would have needed to not have existed as the console that was released at the time. If possible, the theoretical SEGA M2 should have been released instead of the Saturn as we know it. I don't know if, financially for SEGA, the 32x should have existed either even as a stop-gap system in the face of waiting out the M2 release in late '95 or early '96. Instead, though the per cart cost was high, Sega could have instead released a few more Genesis games making use of the SVP: Virtua Racing on the Genesis wasn't bad-it's no VR Deluxe on the 32X, but it fairs well against SuperFX performance-and I could see Virtua Fighter or Star Wars Arcade getting acceptable ports to the SVP (or maybe some unique SVP titles). I'm not sure how a '95/'96 M2 with no '94 Saturn would fair if the Playstation has a year+ head start, but I think releasing both the Saturn and then the M2 in quick succession would do more harm than good to SEGA's customer relations that were already somewhat strained. But, with neither a 32X nor a Saturn in '94, but instead with the Genesis releases continuing as-is like the actual real-life releases but with a smattering of additional SVP games (1st-party for sure, maybe 3rd-party; or, maybe with a different enhancement chip besides the DSP, if that was a possibility without wasting too much cash on research)...a '95/'96 M2 would have been great and wouldn't make SEGA look like bad for releasing the Saturn and quickly replacing it on the market 12-18 months later. Follow up with the MX in '98-'99 with a DVD ODD, and maybe we'd have a different console landscape now. I kind of love this alternate console timeline (plus, in this time line we can get, instead of my theoretical Atari Lynx-III based on a cost-reduced, re-tooled-for-a-handheld, cart-based 3DO revision from Dave Needle and RJ Mical, we get the same hardware released instead as a SEGA handheld 😂). However, we all know that no matter what, SEGA was likely to do something completely stupid management-wise to screw it all up haha. 🤦‍♂️

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes had the Saturn not existed and Sega supported the 32X properly till M2 was ready you’d have a lot more people less upset with Sega for dumping hardware at a near constant pace. Then three years after M2 you go to MX and that’s the first time Sega releases new hardware a bit too soon...and people wouldn’t be as upset

@maroon9273

11 ай бұрын

Plus, upgraded genesis and sega cd games on PC with better sound and colors in place of the 32x/32x cd.

This video makes absolutely zero sense. Dreamcasts would have cost even more than 3DOs at launch if they tried this and it would have killed the hardware division way earlier. The Dreamcast died because Sega's early launch of the Saturn pissed off Electronic Arts and when you do not have the support of the largest 3rd party developer out there, things get a lot harder for you. EA declined to develop on Dreamcast and that was it, the writing was on the wall.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I still believe if you have a PS2 competitor with DVD before the PS2 ever releases you have a Sega that sells more consoles and has a chance

Metropolis Street Racer continued on as Project Gotham Racing

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I know :) just didn’t have the same vibes IMO but still an awesome game

When I see people overclocking the Dreamcast, I realize it could be a much more powerful console by itself, if it wasn't designed so small, and had beefier cooling. The Dreamcast also have standard IDE interface for it's GD-Rom drive, so it too, could've use an off the shelf DVD drive, pretty much like the original xbox did, but way back in 1998. If they haven't had designed the Dreamcast in such a small form factor, they could've upgraded the cooling and run it with a faster clock, and also have space for a DVD rom drive inside it!

@VideoGameEsoterica

10 ай бұрын

It may have been designed to target a specific TDP / wattage whether it’s in that case or a case 2x as big

Sega is probably the console maker with more huge mistakes under their wings. They've gotten a fair amount of successes, but seems that they were always all over the place. I didn't know about this M2 story, however everybody knows the tale about the two dreamcasts: katana and black belt. I think that if they concentrated their efforts more they would have a chance to still be around making consoles. Great video, btw

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes the dual development of Dreamcast just cost Sega money they did not have to waste

I bet sonic 06 would be a success if sega still made consoles since they have their own hardware again

@VideoGameEsoterica

21 күн бұрын

Poor Sonic 06

Sony could fab their own silicon. Gave them a huge advantage. SEGA relied on others to make their chips, so their console cost allot more to make. Poor choices with tension between SEGA HQ and SEGA US. Seem to remember hearing about SEGA US courting 3DFX ( Blackbelt ) at one stage. Some senior staff in the US holding 3DFX shares and this causing serious problems with SEGA Japan. Pushing Japan HQ towards other hardware options. 3DFX hardware might have been a better option, as glide was already an accepted graphics api, making ports of the most popular PC titles easier. Anyway, it's fun to speculate.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I wonder what it would have been like had Sega gone with 3DFX

when they did vrally 2 for the dreamcast they stated that they could do 5 million or more polygons a second they didnt know it was capable of that many polygons before that .

@VideoGameEsoterica

11 ай бұрын

Once they get a handle on the hardware suddenly it does things they never expected. Pretty common across all platforms once devs get comfortable with it

If they put a DVD drive in it they could have thrived. It had a Hitachi chipset in it DESIGNED for DVD media. The went proprietary to mitigate piracy, but made it easier due to CD compression and reduced content size due to storage.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

and that proprietary to try to keep piracy down ended up with major piracy

@tHeWasTeDYouTh

2 жыл бұрын

idk about a DVD in 1998/1999. The M2 dvd had a 2x drive. Even if Sega had released a console with a DVD before the PS2 it would have met that Sega would have taken a massive loss on the hardware as the dvd hardware and license was a lot.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

That is a tricky thing to work around

As much as I love to conjecture about a different destiny for Sega as a hardware maker I'm not sure about this, or about anything concerning the post Saturn era. I'm a Sega die hard fan, I bought the Dreamcast at the time even though the PS2 had already launched in Japan and being an avid movie watcher, but I think I went with the Dreamcast for the same reason than most people did, I wanted arcades, Sega arcades, and by the time the arcades were already begining to fade (at least outside Japan), and after the PSX I think people wanted a different kind of game to play at home, JRPGs, action/adventure movie like games, driving sims and the likes that made the first PlayStation such a hit. I think releasing a console by the end of '96 would've make no sense, before FFVII the Saturn was doing well in Japan, Sega still could have hope to be in well shape for another round, it would've been too early, and not being able to have perfect Model 2 ports would've make it look like it was (again) underpowered against what could come from Sony. But let's think they got to release it in 96 and upgrade its power with the DVD player... It would've been way too similar to the Megadrive situation with the MegaCD and 32X, people got tired of expansions, and even if players with the base console decided to upgrade... what about the new ones? The idea of buying (again) two machines was out of the question. Dreamcast was an amazing machine, and mostly because it brought next generation arcade quality games to our homes, none of it would've been possible this other way, it was a small powerful machine, but people wanted something different, people wanted the next PlayStation, I'm not so sure even about the DVD thing, people cared more about MGS2, FFX or GT3, and those were only on PS2, gamers waited for them and Sega died during those years... Had the situation been more similar to today I think it would've been different, back then people used to commit to one system, but now we are used to have Sony and Microsoft, even being more similar than the systems in the 90s/early 2000s. Anyway, your video, as always, is very good.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

IMO had Sega not gone with Saturn but waited and bought M2 I think a lot of devs would't have felt burned by Sega and would have put better versions of PS1 games on M2. Lots of PS1 games were in development for M2 as enhanced ports

@ghostito

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Taking the Saturn off tje equation makes more sense for the M2 idea, but maybe thay would've made even easier for the PSX to dominate the market, just look how bad it went for Nintendo too releasing the N64 so late... Well, it also had the cartridge "problem" but... It's quite hard to imagine these kind of things, sincerely, the only scenario in which I see Sega surviving is one without Sony, the PSX brought in so many people that wasn't interested in games before, people that didn't care about Sega or Nintendo games at all, leaving those two companies in a difficult situation, specially Sega, who was already damaged financially.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

I just don’t think they’d have been in as bad if financial shape if Saturn doesn’t happen

I'm not sure about this. Releasing a new console every two years would piss many people off, because it would be a very similar move to what Sega already did with the Mega Drive (cd add-on, then 32x and a rushed Saturn release right after that). It wasn't only about power or technology. Sony released a console that was supported for many years with a vast library of games and zero unnecessary hardware add-ons. Ps2 was an even bigger success, because people trusted that Sony would deliver another system that would be supported for many years. I really think Sega did almost everything right with the Dreamcast, but it was too little too late. They made too many mistakes in the past and lost the trust of consumers.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Just don’t do the 32X then. Genesis to M2 :)

@klodek14

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica That's a really far fetched "if" right there. Might as well say, "if Sega made smart decisions instead of stupid decision they would still be manufacturing consoles today." Not that I don't enjoy such "what if" scenarios, but I'm just saying that Sega would have to steal a goddamn DeLorean with a flux capacitor to make things work out for them.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Haha but that’s the fun part about theory crafting. It can be anything you want :)

@klodek14

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica For sure. I'm just pointing out that it would take a lot more than M2 to save Sega's console business.

how about no saturn 32x in all regions from 94 to 97 m2 96 in the same day as blur64 mx 2000 in the same day as ps2 simple as, problems were not

A bunch of early 6th gen releases from Sega on other systems were originally planned to be Dreamcast games or already were in Japan. They totally could have stretched it out another year or so with just the software.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes the roster of cancelled Dreamcast games was stacked

Not sure all this would cost 199$ if they made it in 1999… the way they made Dreamcast was balanced… for it’s time, should have scraped the modem bloc for a more powerful gpu

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

the modem was a great idea but in execution underutilized

@exquize1660

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica Yeah, too ahead of its time, it should have been a separate expansion like for ps2, gdrom also had low capacity, shenmue could have fit on DVD disc or GDrom with more gigs... PS2 was Sold at a loss with the DVD player, but I guess since Sony is a megacorporation they were pretty strong to take those beatings on the hardware. Also, they created with a consortium, the DVD so they had the pipeline for it, a big plus, unfortunately for Sega who wasn't a consumer electronics company at core, and Hitachi wasn't involved in the DVD. Same thing happened to bluray, today xbox uses it... you can tell they pay sony for it haha again thanks to the loss on the ps3 and the bluray player on it that wasn't an addon. Sony is a hardware behemoth unlike Microsoft, they have the best product and the best engineering, cameras being one example. I also think that arcade games are also responsible for the fall of the dreamcast at a time when games were moving away from all that, sega had remained in the "coin-op" style while games on ps1 and n64 offered freedoms never seen, adventure games like crash, Zelda Oot, FF7/8 or Mario64 for example, shooting and action games like MGS, SyphonFilter, Goldeneye. Sonic was poorly executed and is a mascot whose gameplay is linked to genesis was fading, the gameplay was sclerotic by the speed which does not give a feeling of great adventure and exploration, the player does not really have a hand on the character but sees him scrolling (practical to show the power of the megadrive, less breathtaking on the following consoles) where Mario has kept his longevity and continues to offer new things. shenmue was the swan song but the dreamcast, by its simplicity and ingenuity at that time, remains a beautiful machine between two generations, it deserved a sequel. sorry I talk a lot but it's an interesting topic about how a gaming company can fail and for me it's just not adding or deleting an hardware. :)

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

I mean they were trying for a ZIP drive. I wonder if the expansion port could have carried the data needed for DVD

@maroon9273

11 ай бұрын

And also a faster cpu.

@VideoGameEsoterica

11 ай бұрын

Would have been interesting to see

All valid points you brought up, and also good points in the comments section. Poor business decisions aside (ie. Genesis/MD add-ons, Saturn, etc.) I think one of the failures of the Dreamcast is their focus on easily porting arcade games over (ie. NAOMI, CPS2/3, even Atomiswave, etc.). It probably could work in Japan but not in the west (biggest market) when arcades were slowly going away. Not everyone wants to play fighting games, SHMUPs, etc. And I totally agree that Sony built a powerful brand with their knockout success of the original Playstation. My life in High School, most people didn't care about the Saturn, saved their money for the PS2 and totally ignoring the DC as they just didn't care about Sega anymore.

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Yes the most fun part of videos like this is the comment section. Lots of theory crafting and fun concepts being thrown around

@taladrocule

Жыл бұрын

Estoy bastante de acuerdo con esto y a la vez completamente en contra 😂. Y lo digo por experiencia propia. Es algo que yo en el futuro me pregunte. Porque no tuve Saturn? Mi primera consola Master System, la siguiente la Genesis (Megadrive para mi) y en el tiempo de la siguiente generación nunca preste mucho interés por Saturn. Y yo no tuve 32x o MegaCD aunque si seguía el día a día de todo en la industria “lo sigo haciendo ahora, imagínatelo😂” pero no encontré razones, por los pasos que había dado Sega creo no se vio como algo novedoso, de salto tecnológico, un Sonic que inspirara… Sega llego antes de tiempo a la fiesta del 3D con sus ampliaciones de MD, sumado a que su éxito y mercado que existía y en el que eran fuertes era el 2D. El paso fue posible para ellos en los arcades, pero no era viable ese paso a los hogares entonces. Como a tantos otros Playstation nos abrió un nuevo mundo.😮y para el Saturn ya era tarde. Nuevo y ya era obsoleto (la apuesta de su diseño interno la condeno) Sin embargo quise la Dreamcast en el primer momento en que vi su primer juego, yo vivo en España y aquí llego la televisión de pago por Channel + que era francesa y emitía un canal exclusivo 24h de videojuegos, cuando vi Soul Calibur no me lo podía creer. Dreamcast igualo y supero las versiones Arcade para cualquiera de mi generación era un sueño. Daytona USA, Sega Rally, Crazy Taxi… no fue valorada en la época por tantos y no mereció su final anticipado pero pese a su corta vida es la mejor consola que he tenido. No le quito el mérito a Playstation pero fue demasiado dispar el éxito de unas y de otras. Nintendo sin su línea de portátiles Game boy / Nintendo DS estaría posiblemente también fuera del mercado.

The only thing you forgot to mention in your analysis is the Price of admission for such a powerful console with the DVD drive in 1998. While PS2 came out in the year 2000, the price difference would've been absolutely massive in this 2 year gap. Would anyone buy the new console from Sega after their streak of failures with all those Genesis add ons and Saturn for $599? That's a very big question mark

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

MX was designed to be powerful and cheap. Two common PowerPC commodity chips and two custom ASIC’s. The hardware was designed for maximum capability with the minimum chips needed

@alex.starostin

2 жыл бұрын

@@VideoGameEsoterica it all sounds too good to be true honestly. on paper it could've been cheap but in reality the price could've been very high

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

Sadly we will never know

What made the dreamcast fail no dvd

@VideoGameEsoterica

2 жыл бұрын

a confluence of reasons to be honest

1. Increase system performance by 50% 2. Have DVD drive 3. Get EA support

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Sega did pretty well replacing EA all the same

Sega Dreamcast Up... this 3DO 2 M2 Panasonic down 🤔 ..

@VideoGameEsoterica

Жыл бұрын

Eh?