Quote: "What happened to the dreamcast?"
Sega happened.
The Dreamcast came out quite a while before the Playstation2, which gave it really the heads up on the entire market.
It had a great selection of games.
Very simple for PC Porting because of the technology used.
Cheap to License software (even cheaper than the Playstation/2).
All in all the Dreamcast was a very good solution, especially as it's 'unique' (at the time) Disc Format ment it was damn hard to pirate games.
So what went wrong?
Sega never expected the Playstation2 to be as big as it was.
Sales from the PS2s launch were just pheonominal! Probably down to Sony's overhype of the console which anyone with a first generation version will know, has serious dvd issues, problem with zone piracy and even worse the memory card interface had a fatal flaw which causes problems with save games.
Really why the PS2 has done so well quite frankly is a complete mystery, because for the price it was almost everyone I know ended up trading thier old hardware and games just to get it.
(meaning no old games makes the back compatibility useless)
As a DVD Player, well you could get a DC + DVD Player for half the price at the time... so again it made no sense.
Needless to say though this hurt Dreamcasts sales, but Sega firmly believed that this was just a faze. Sure enough after the initial launch thier sales did rise again, unfortunately... Sega were far to ahead of themselves, and when the market began to bottom out they didn't stop production.
Infact they basically ran themselves into debt producing a console everyone was just no longer buying.
If they'd done what Nintendo did a matter of a year ago, odds on they could've saved themselves then graciously ducked out of this next up-comming war.
The problem with thier marketing isn't actually so much lack of marketing, infact all of the developers saturated the market when released.
Sega's problem was, they weren't seen as 'cutting edge' even though the console can quite easily top the PS2 graphics wise. It was never seen as 'a contender' only something to bridge the gap in '99.
Nintendo's problem is they're seen as the kiddie console. Most serious gamers firmly believe that the Gamecube is only if you want to play with the cutesy Pikmin, Mario or Startfox.
Unfortunately it doesn't help Nintendo's case that this is how they advertise the damn thing, if games like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid and Beyond Good & Evil got better exposure; then this wouldn't be the case.
X-Box's problem is well... it is gear far far too much at adults and online gameplay. Although online gaming is growing (and Nintendo's refuseal to believe it is a valid gaming medium) with more and more titles. Almost all of the X-Box's titles that are good really rely on this factor far too much.
Basically everything about the X-Box makes it a pure bore for single players (or even just playing with mates in the same room) as well as it is just far to expensive in almost every aspect.
Playstation2 is really the odd ball here.
It's technology quite frankly is a generation behind the current competitors, which is very noticeable.
Almost all of it's games are aimed at Single Player, which really means it's a loners console... same as the Playstation in many respects.
It too is just overly expensive especially for what it is...
Each console has it's flaws. The problem which each of the hardware developers face is quite frankly, no one has a clue what the hell the public prefers.
Sony is a prime example... Truely it baffles me to why the hell it is *still* outselling everyone.
Who will perform the best in the next console war?
Really who can say.
Xenon has the technology.
PS3 has the whole 'back compatibility'
'Revolution' ... well it's a complete mystery right now
Then you also have the Phantom which is all about pay-on-demand games. Could shock everyone and do really, really well.
As for the best controller... imo it's the Gamecube one.
- True Analog Buttons (unlike the 2 Step PS2 'Analog')
- Quality... The quality of the buttons, the 3D Sticks (thier motion is very nice, responsive as well as being made from anti-slip rubber with added anti-slip surface designs).
- Durability... This isn't just about how many times you can slam it on the floor, and that happens around here alot (gone through 5controllers between the XB and PS2 in the past 6months). More this conserns how it feels in your hand, they just feel sturdy.
- Weight... it adds to the sturdiness. The controllers are heavy enough so they rest in your hand nicely but not so heavy you need to be strong just to lift them up.
- Layout & Size... Everything is accessible without having to thing about where it is, to the point that it is colour coordinated so you don't have to think about what to push as in a letter.
The controller sits in anyones hand too... from kids to adults, there is no problem reaching the buttons for everything or stretching for them. (Nintendo made that mistake with the N64 and they didn't want to make it again)
Also imo the PSOne controller is better than the Playstation2 controller.
