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XBOX 360=Dreamcast 2.0?

Tenken writes "1UP has an eye opening article on the many similarities between the XBOX 360 and the Dreamcast. It's actually pretty scary, case in point: both consoles launched a year before their major competitors, and even their logos are incredibly similar. The article also goes on to mention why the 360 will not fail miserably like the Dreamcast. "

80 of 452 comments (clear)

  1. Different gamer, different opinion by dada21 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I love my Dreamcast. I still play it daily (used the HD output for years to my projectors). Never owned a PSx. I still have (younger) friends who knock on my door all the time to get their Dreamcast fix.

    I also couldn't give up my Intellivision for a Nintendo for 2 years (Metroid finally did it). Graphics hype wasn't enough. My friends with Nintendo came to my house for all-night Intellivision gaming. Playability was tops. I still have my Intellivision for a few games. Love that controller.

    I can't see picking up an X360 for gaming. I own 2 X-Box consoles, 90% for my Media Center Extenders, 10% for my broad's vampire games. Since back in the day, my gaming was PC gaming. Castlevania and Conan, Ultima, Utopia, etc.

    Console gaming for me was never about video hype. I love repeated playability with longevity, and catchy music/sounds. Graphics have always been better on my PC, but I turn them to the lowest settings. We're getting really close to "Life" rather than "Life-like" and when we get there, I'll put graphics near the top once I can truly be reality immersed.

    There aren't many gamers like me, I think. I'm not a market. I spend a TON on hardware, very little on software. I'd love to find a group/site I can communicate with, consisting of people with similar gaming issues.

    Chu Chu Rocket, anyone?

    1. Re:Different gamer, different opinion by Jonny_eh · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow, you are sooo interesting! Tell us more!

    2. Re:Different gamer, different opinion by shinma · · Score: 3, Funny
      10% for my broad's vampire games.


      Guess she doesn't read Slashdot, huh?
      --
      Shinma
    3. Re:Different gamer, different opinion by BewireNomali · · Score: 3, Interesting

      31 is the average age of the gamer market. You are spot on.

      I never played the dreamcast, but I'm of the Playstation generation... and I like the X-Box because of the immersive quality of its games.

      I'm a toking gamer - so there's a huge difference between walking into an empty room and skulking into a brilliantly shaded, lit room with curtains wafting in a breeze that I can hide behind in Splinter Cell. Immersion is important to me. X-Box games feel more complete.

      By contrast, the PS2 has an awesome variety of games; the library is a compelling reason to own one. Among my friends, I'm the X-Box guy; they all have PS2s, so it works out well.

      My experience as a gamer revolves around immersion and variety. The X-Box suffers from a lack of variety; the PS2 is not immersive. The PS2 is akin to watching VHS; whereas the X-Box is more of a DVD experience.

      If the PS3 can promise immersion and variety, then I'm there. It'll be an easy call. I'm already going to get an XBox 360 because PS3 missed the boat by not having an online service.

      --
      un burrito me trampeó.
  2. It's ==, not =. :-) by techmuse · · Score: 5, Funny

    The slashdot editors were probably not assigning the XBOX 360 to have the same value as the Dreamcast, but rather just doing a comparison. But since they have performed the assignment, the XBOX 360 will fail several years ago, in EXACTLY the same way as the Dreamcast. :-)

  3. The biggest difference is by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that Microsoft is not coming off an abysmal failure of a console, it's coming from a console that did relatively well. It seems a lot of people were just so tired of Sega constantly releasing overpriced hardware(eg 32x, Genesis CD, Sega Saturn) with a very limited software selection that they just gave up on Sega and wouldn't even give the Dreamcast a try. Of course Sony's overhyped PS2 announcement didn't help either, but I don't think that was the main cause of the demise of the dreamcast. Microsoft(in the realm of video games anyway) is coming off a somewhat surprising hit with the XBox, a relatively long lived console with lots of games to choose from. They could still fail, but I don't think it will be for the same reasons the Dreamcast failed.

    1. Re:The biggest difference is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Saturn was a winner in Japan. It was Sega of America that fucked things up in the US by not releasing the good games and as a result Sega cleaned house after the Saturn.

      And the 32x was Japan but in the US. It was another US Sega fuck up.

      MegaDrive through Saturn were great systems to own, just not in the US.

      The Dreamcast died due to being half a generation behind Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. They were the odd man out and not strong enough to pull that off.

    2. Re:The biggest difference is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Microsoft is not coming off an abysmal failure of a console"

      I guess that depends on how you define abysmal failure.

      Microsoft lost $4 billion, equivalent to 10% of their profits over the last 4 years, to come into a very distant and very sloppy second in a market with only 3 competitors.

      Microsoft literally gave the Xbox away. Divide the 4 billion they lost by the average price of the Xbox over the last 4 years and you get almost 20 million consoles - which accounts for almost every console they "sold".

    3. Re:The biggest difference is by Have+Blue · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Considering that they kicked their most experienced competitor out of that "very distant and very sloppy second", I'd say they did pretty well. Also, you're not accounting for games that tanked (of which MGS financed more than a few) and investments in the Xbox Live infrastructure.

      This is how MS has always worked- the first version sucks and loses a ton of money (the Xbox somehow dodged the former), but they do learn from their mistakes when they're actually forced to compete with someone.

    4. Re:The biggest difference is by Svartalf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Define kicked...

      When you start looking at what Nintendo did with the GameCube, you start realizing that it wasn't that Microsoft kicked them out of the second place slot, it's Nintendo failed to execute sufficiently to keep the second place slot.

      If they'd designed the GameCube a little differently, say with a DVD drive in it instead of their cutesy discs...
      If they'd not gunned for the kiddie games company role (which has always been a failing of Nintendo...)...

      If either or both of them happened differently, X-Box would have most likely ended up third. Even then, Microsoft didn't
      really kick them, they out bought them. Like the grandparent poster indicated- they basically GAVE the X-Box away, spending more than either of the other two players, just to get that second place. Imagine what would have happened if Sony had seriously opted for that play- Sony's a MUCH bigger company with even deeper pockets.

      --
      I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
    5. Re:The biggest difference is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nintendo never had an unprofitable quarter this generation. When your competitors are losing $4 billion and you're making money, it doesn't matter how much they outsold you by. You won the console race.

    6. Re:The biggest difference is by Txiasaeia · · Score: 2, Insightful
      If they'd designed the GameCube a little differently, say with a DVD drive in it instead of their cutesy discs... If they'd not gunned for the kiddie games company role (which has always been a failing of Nintendo...)...

      I always find it amusing when people slam the Gamecube because it's too kiddy. Invariably, people who make this claim don't own the console. Repeat after me: the Gamecube is not kiddy, despite repeated claims to the contrary.

      Even if you're not looking at M-rated games, there are several excellent games that are enjoyable for all ages, including F-Zero GX, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime 1 & 2, Pikmin, and Viewtiful Joe. I'd also like to see a kid play Ikaruga for more than five minutes before moving on to something easier. Finally, the PS2 has games like Powerpuff Girls Relish Rampage, Monsters Inc., and Piglet's Little Game, while the XBox has such Triple-A titles as Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, Tom and Jerry: The War of the Whiskers, and Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin' Da Rules. Does that mean that Microsoft and Sony were "gunning for the kiddie games company role" too? Cutesy graphics does not necessarily equal "kiddie games."

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    7. Re:The biggest difference is by JohnnyLocust · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If they'd not gunned for the kiddie games company role (which has always been a failing of Nintendo...)...

      Failing? No. Gunning for the kiddie games is what kept Nintendo at the top of the portable gaming console market for well over a decade.

    8. Re:The biggest difference is by EiZei · · Score: 2, Insightful

      XBOX was kind of like the turning point of WW2 in the eastern front, sure, Stalin lost a LOT of people but it was a strategic victory.

      The fact that the first-time console manufacturer Microsoft could get it's foot in the door on it's first try is huge.

  4. Erm...no... by kubevubin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've already read this article, and I don't feel that many of those "similarities" are even relevant. After all, couldn't much of the same be said of other consoles?

    1. Re:Erm...no... by kubevubin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, allow me to explain...
      #1 - The Xbox 360 is not launching an entire year before its competition; it's launching 4-8 months before its compeition.
      #3 - The Xbox 360 is still bulky.
      #12 - How the Hell do they consider a VMU highly customizable? If nothing else, they could've mentioned the fact that you can change a Dreamcast's shell. Then again, you can do that with pretty much any gaming console.
      #14 - Dreamcast had a whopping three Bleemcast! discs releases, and maybe one or two Smash Packs (depending on the country).
      #15 - I don't recall "Space Channel 5" being too widely anticipated. (I, personally, loved the game, though.)
      #18 - These aren't the only two consoles that have headsets...
      #19 - Nintendo 64, anyone?
      #23 - What?

    2. Re:Erm...no... by penguin_asylum · · Score: 2, Funny

      You can change any gaming console's shell, sure, with liberal amounts of duct tape.

    3. Re:Erm...no... by MBCook · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I've read this article too (I submitted it to /., but I guess he beat me to it).

      I don't think the article is meant to be taken seriously. It is part of their "launch coverage" (read: we need to fill time). It is interesting to look at, and some of the coincidences are surprising, but I think it is meant as a laugh.

      Either way, when you get to the second page, that is when the article becomes more serious. Many of the 10 reasons the XBox 360 will succeed show why a similarity from the previous page isn't so similar after-all.

      An example of this is on the first page, they show both the DC and the 360 have a way to connect to the internet (modem, and ethernet) and tout playing against your friends and such. On the second page, they point out the difference between the modem (yeah, you can use it) and XBox Live (already established, successful, high speed, and there is a good broadband penetration).

      This is just one of those "Isn't this interesting" articles, sort of like those things about the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy. While many of them are kind of eerie, many of the similarities are a stretch and you can see people were just reaching for another connection.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    4. Re:Erm...no... by despisethesun · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've read this article too (I submitted it to /., but I guess he beat me to it).

      Don't worry. I'm sure your submission will get posted some time in the next day or two.

      --
      This poo is cold.
  5. I just had the same thought yesterday by Lord+Byron+II · · Score: 5, Funny

    The same thing occurred to me when I saw the white 360 controller in Walmart. "Is the Dreamcast back?" And then I saw the 360 logo. Interesting...

    1. Re:I just had the same thought yesterday by zerocool^ · · Score: 2, Insightful


      The article mentions that the XBOX 360 controller may be the best console controller ever. I can't see how it's possible. There are some games for which analog sticks are not the apex input device, and the D-pad on that controller looks horrible - it looks like the input on a logitech $9.99 usb controller. As long as the D-pad doesn't have at least a T-bar, instead of the circle of doom, it will never be as good as other controllers for fighting games.

      Not to mention, it looks like they've been wishy-washy on what the controller for the left thumb is supposed to be. Is it supposed to be the D-pad, or the analog stick? Ugh. So instead, there's a big blank space where your thumb normally rests, and you have to stress yourself to move to either of the inputs. The buttons look too bubbly to be responsive... I dunno, it just looks like it was designed by marketing people to look slick, and then secondarily to fit the buttons on.

      Sorry, but the PSX controller is the best controller ever made. To the point where I use them on my computer with an adapter to play games and emulators. Everything on the ps2 controller feels like it's in exactly the right spot. No controller compares; not the NES, SNES, dreamcast, sega, N-64, gamecube, XBOX, or any controller I've ever used on the computer. I'm not a playstation fanboy (i own a grand total of 3 playstation 2 games, and I didn't buy one of the things until 2 years after it was released), but Sony hit a homerun with that thing.

      ~Will

      --
      sig?
    2. Re:I just had the same thought yesterday by brkello · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So you are countering an opinion with your opinion. God, what morons! You say the PSX controller is the best so now it must be. Way to put that argument to rest!

      People like different things. The XBOX controller to me is by far the most comfortable. The button layout just feels perfect to me. Next comes the PS2 controller. Next, GC controller. So now that I have stated my opinion after yours, I must be right!

      --
      Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
  6. Why 1UP won't be asked to dev the 360 interfaces by Dominic+Burns · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Because you'd have to be an 8 year old mathematical genius to figure out TFA.

    Maybe it's because I'm old [33] or something but that article made little and/or no sense to me on any level.

    Idiots.

  7. #13 Marketing by the.Ceph · · Score: 5, Insightful

    #13 on the list is "Peter Moore spearheaded the marketing" and most of the actual similarities seem like Marketing aspects of it so I think a better headline would read "How Peter Moore's marketing style resembles Peter Moore's marketing style"

  8. Let us hope it is as easy to mod as dreamcast by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Informative
    As someone who recently picked up a second Dreamcast for my nephews,Let me say that I will only pick up an Xbox 360 if a good modding comunity springs up for it.Long after they quit shipping the DC I have found a new life for it playing emulated games with the boys and showing them what we played "Back in the day"

    As DRM and other crap like lawsuits threaten the mod comunity I just hope they remember that cool mods help sell consoles.Half the fun is finding out what you can do with it BESIDES play games.If they cut that out I'll just build my boys new computers and forget about consoles.At least then I'll know they'll get as much use out of it as our trusty old DC.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    1. Re:Let us hope it is as easy to mod as dreamcast by jmcmunn · · Score: 5, Informative


      They don't care if your mods help sell consoles. They lose money on the consoles. They make the money on the software and accessories. So, by you modding the console, and buying nothing else (save for maybe a memory card to perform the 'raincoat mod' or something) they get nothing else from you. How is this good for them? Why is Microsoft happy that they sold more Xbox's to people when they lost so much money on each one? If you don't get Xbox live, don't buy games, and never get the latest greatest accessory, then they lose money on you. They couldn't care less that you are running Linux on it, or playing homebrew games that make them no money...

      The only possible benefit is that if you modded their console, you are probably more likely to have modded the competitions console as well, and thus their competitor also lost money on you...

      Now DRM is a little different, I find it annoying in most cases and believe that it doesn't really help stop piracy in most cases. And I am a software engineer, so I can relate to not wanting my stuff pirated. I know a lot of musicians who also beleive DRM is not the right way to solve the problem, we're all just waiting for a better alternative unfortunately.

    2. Re:Let us hope it is as easy to mod as dreamcast by SilentChris · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You don't see how the market works. I've worked in it.

      When you buy a console, yes, it's a one-time loss for MS. But they gain one more tick in market penetration numbers. So instead of going to EA and saying "There's a million Xboxes out there" they can say "There's a million in one". Now, add that tick with all the others, and you have a signficant increase. They can then charge MORE on licensing fees (which is based on total market) and easily make up the one-time loss, and then some.

      The formula for console success is:

      First party titles x (licensing fees x installed base) - hardware loss

      The first two more than make up for the third.

  9. Aimless articles by Doomstalk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Has anyone else noticed that 1up excels at taking up 2 or 3 pages of space in their articles, despite never actually saying anything? They read like one of those papers you write in school when you aren't sure what you want to say, but you started writing anyway because it's due the next morning.

  10. Obviously by vulcan_pupil · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course it's true, that's an assignment statement, not a comparison ;). Sheesh.

  11. Let Me Add Reasons #24 and #25 by Comatose51 · · Score: 4, Funny
    24: They both use electricity. 25: They both have the buttons on their controllers.

    WTF? The stupid article is more fortune-telling than anything else. There's nothing technical or logical about the article. It's basically looking for signs of omens. If Mars is aligned on Venus' right on the launch date, the XBox 360 is bound to succeed....

    --
    EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
  12. No, NO. by game+kid · · Score: 4, Funny

    They assigned it the value of Dreamcast 2.0. There hasn't been a Dreamcast 2.0 yet, so the XBOX 360 is currently null (Nothing in Visual Basic).

    Therefore, it actually doesn't exist. Quod erat demonstratum etc.

    (Now, having seen many pictures of the console before this, my head will surely explode in either case.)

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  13. Why it will succeed by squoozer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They saved the real reason it would succeed until the end. Piles and piles of cash. M$ would all but give the console away to make sure that it succeeded and that is the reason it will do well. People will have $10 worth of anything that is free.

    Perhaps the rest of the PC industry could counter this rise of the console by designing a standard PC spec for gaming. First create a few simple categories. I suggest "PC Gaming Machine 2005 Level 1, 2 and 3". In each category spec out three of four machines (eg one amd with a nvidia, one intel with nvidia, etc) built with decent components. Level 1 machines have top of the range components, level 2 is where most people will be, level 3 is entry gaming. The games publishers could just test their game against these machines specs and get a tick in the "PC Gaming Machine 2005 Level 2 Compatible" (or whatever) box.

    Simple, understandable and doesn't need to cost the Earth.

    --
    I used to have a better sig but it broke.
  14. Dreamcast: by taxevader · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Best. Console. Ever.

    If the xbox 360 can have half the amount of original games that the Dreamcast had, I'm getting one.

    And yes, even though I hate Microsoft, Sony has become the new Evil. DRM on *everything* seems to be their goal, and the PS3 will be the ultimate foot-in-the door in their quest to lock down all things digital.

    Blu-Ray. Just say no!

    --
    -Copyright law #69:Whenever Mickey Mouse is about to enter the public domain,copyrights get extended by 25 years.
    1. Re:Dreamcast: by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

      because then you should say no HD-DVD too because they both use the exact same DRM system.

      Except that unlike the Blu-ray Video DRM spec, the HD-DVD Video DRM spec requires publishers of motion pictures to write the DRM license files so as to provide for a modicum of space shifting, even if not the transformative use that the Freeists want.

  15. Submission was retarded by Liquidrage · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Listing fluffy similarities between two systems isn't "pretty scary". It's pretty easy to do when you set your standards for a similarity at such a meaninglessly low level.

    OMG!! Both were white systems when the previous generations were black. Noooz!!!

    Calling the PS3 "far superior at this point is rediculous. Mentioning "hi-def" when the Dreamcast was released before there was basically any hi-def sets in homes and when the PS3 is also supporting hi-def is moronic.

    The article itself was so fluffy I can't believe it made it to the front page. But hey, if you didn't RTFA in this case it only takes aobut 20 seconds and there's lots of little pictures to help you out.

  16. Biased much? by AndreiK · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hmm, I read it, but then put it down in disgust on reason number 7:

    D: Had tons of amazing games...but no Halo 3.
    X: Will have Halo 3. And it will be huge.


    That point being given to the XBox? To put it bluntly, this is biased crap.

    1. Re:Biased much? by SharpFang · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That point being given to the XBox? To put it bluntly, this is biased crap.

      Yes. It's biased. The sad part is it's true though.
      Put enough money in marketing crap and people will buy it. Halo may not live up to expectations of customers, but it will live up to expectations of sales dept.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  17. dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by ArmorFiend · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Indeed, the people that accuse Dreamcast of being a "failed" system invariably are those that never had a dreamcast! The system rocked, and had eminently fun & groundbreaking games. If, like me, this is what you want from your console, then the Dreamcast was a smashing success (actually its my favorite console of all time). If, on the other hand what you desire from your console is "the same mediocrity that all your friends have", then the PS2 is your man.

    1. Re:dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by Jason+Earl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Here's how you can tell that Dreamcast failed. Instead of making Sega piles of money, it lost Sega piles of money, and it caused them to get out of the console business forever.

      Believe it or not, the gaming business isn't about giving you and your friends fun games to play, it's about making money. That's why it's hard to qualify the XBox as a success. The XBox lost more money than any other console in history. Microsoft has lost billions of dollars on the XBox. Heck, it's still losing money on a quarterly basis as Microsoft readies the 360. If the XBox 360 is as big a financial disaster as the XBox then Microsoft investors are almost certainly going to wonder what they are doing throwing their money down a hole.

    2. Re:dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by ArmorFiend · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sega is a failed console manufacturer. I suppose that would matter if they'd released the system only to have no games for it, like, say, the 32x. But with Dreamcast apperantly they only had money to either (A) Make Great Games or (B) Market it properly. They chose (A), and that's why you don't see DC owners complaining it is a "failed system".

    3. Re:dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by despisethesun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Marketing had little to do with it, I think. It probably had more to do with all the stuff Sega released in the past and then abandoned so quickly. The Sega CD had a short shelf life, the 32X came and went pretty quickly, and in North America Sega dumped the Saturn as soon as it had a little competition. These were all good systems (maybe not the 32X, I never had one so I can't say) but gamers felt like Sega wouldn't support them to the extent they should have, so by the time the Dreamcast came out, the sentiment was "I can buy a Dreamcast now and watch Sega abandon it, or I can wait for a PS2." It was a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy and it was a real shame because the DC had some really great games.

      --
      This poo is cold.
    4. Re:dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by MrWa · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Indeed, the people that accuse Dreamcast of being a "failed" system invariably are those that never had a dreamcast!
      Which would explain why most people say it "failed".
    5. Re:dreamcast was "failed" only for non-owners by fistfullast33l · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Believe it or not, the gaming business isn't about giving you and your friends fun games to play, it's about making money. That's why it's hard to qualify the XBox as a success. The XBox lost more money than any other console in history.

      It's easy to say the Xbox failed due to the fact that it lost money. However, it's hard to find a 10-year old nowadays who doesn't know Halo. They might also know GTA, but Halo has much less controversy surrounding it and is more likely to hit that critical pre-teen bracket where product preference is formed. Plus most of those 10 year olds can't play GTA anyways. Think about it from a marketing standpoint. Perhaps PS2 sold more systems and games, but which system has the movies being made about it's game characters? Even Nintendo's attempts to capitalize on Mario failed. Doom and Halo both are available for the Xbox exclusively and are (going to be) major motion pictures, even though Sony owns it's own motion picture studio. So even though Microsoft may have lost the financial fight, they probably at least are neck and neck, if not ahead, in the product recognition race. And that's what Microsoft does best - market to the masses. That's why Windows is more prevalent than CP/M, why Office is more prevalent that Lotus, and why the Xbox is helping them win over the next generation of geeks to walk the world.

  18. Yikes! by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For those who read TFA... did you notice that the Time Magazine shown in #10 has Bill Gates behind the 360 resembling the all-famous Borg image? *shudder*

    In any case, I'd rather have bill gates selling a famous videogame console rather than forcing a crappy operating system down our throats.

  19. rulr0z by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    / You seem to try to create a gaming \
    \ console. May I help you?           /

            \     ____
             \   / __ \
              \  O|  |O|
                 ||  | |
                 ||  | |
                 ||    |
                  |___/

  20. ahead of its time... by Ares+Halcyon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So, if one of the biggest problems faced by the original Dreamcast was that is was ahead of its time for some of its features like online play, then I'd say the timing for the 360 is just about perfect!

  21. I really enjoyed the dreamcast by digitallysick · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I was displeased with the sega saturn, i think that was a turn off for alot of people for the dreamcast. I really enjoyed the dreamcast, i spent countless days playing tony hawk pro skater, sonic, GTA 2, powerstone, Marvel vs capcom etc, when they said they were no longer going to support it, it was very disappointing, the graphics were good, i enjoyed the controler (compared to the N64 which i hated) I think giving up the gamesystem was a mistake for the dreamcast, they finally got one that people actually liked, i guess they couldn't compete with Sony's mega millions

  22. Re:It's ==, not =. :-) by Xipher · · Score: 2, Funny

    Never used Ada have you? = Equality Testing := Assignment

    --
    I don't know everything.
  23. #16 is Utterly Preposterous! by craXORjack · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mountain Dew is in no way similar to Pepsi. Drawing a parallel between the two is absolutely ridiculous. Mountain Dew is gathered by hand only from the freshest clover leaves in the unspoiled Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. It was the official drink of the original olympic games. It is versatile. It can substitute for blood plasma during emergencies or natural disasters. Pepsi, however, is nothing but sugar water with brown food coloring.

    --
    Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
    1. Re:#16 is Utterly Preposterous! by tehlinux · · Score: 2

      Mountain Dew wont really shrink your nads, but we all know Dr. Thunder is the best.

      --
      Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
  24. I love the Dreamcast by Okeeblow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    TFA seems to really be picking on the Dreamcast, but I always loved it. Its controller is still my favorite. To this day I use it to play some amazing games via the VGA box, such as Sonic Adventure (the last really great Sonic game), Seaman, or Jet Set Radio.

  25. XBOX series *LACKS* important DC features by DrYak · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The article also goes on to mention why the 360 will not fail miserably like the Dreamcast.


    Marketing ?
    and deeper pockets.

    ---

    There's also a big difference between DreamCast and Microsoft's consoles :
    - DreamCast : runs home brewed software out-of-the-box (although on CD-R and not on GD-ROM).
    Some free developpement kits where available for it (KallistiOS)
    Some were even blessed by Sega (some *BSD)

    - Xbox 1 : DRM filled shit. You must put Mod-Chip inside or exploit bugs to be able to do whatever you want to do with a piece of hardware you paid for.
    Microsoft has even tried to stop this, either suing Lik-Sang for providing mod-chips, or trying to lock user with software exploits out of XBox Live.
    Developpement has only been possible on the XBox because it is basically a repackaged PC architecture and because the Windows based software is filled with bugs. Developpers have asked to be provided keys to sign software for unmodded X-Boxes but no answers from Microsoft

    - Xbox 360 will surely have even more DRM barriers against homebrewer. And isn't PC architecture anymore

    ---

    BTW: DreamCast is not *powered* on Windows CE, but *compatible* with Windows CE. (according to the sticker).
    In fact, most of the commercial games are designed using Katana (Sega's own proprietary system),
    and most homebrewed software us KallistiOS.

    XBOX runs a modified Windows 2k and Microsoft is putting a great deal of efforts to be sure that nothing else runs on it.
    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:XBOX series *LACKS* important DC features by The+Vulture · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I started at Sega just before the launch of the Dreamcast, so I don't know the entire story (or even if this one is completely true). Nonetheless, this is what I heard:
      The team at SOJ (Sega of Japan) didn't want to make their own OS for the Dreamcast. They were uneasy about it, but chose Windows CE, as I guess they figured that it was similar enough to Win32. The fact that Microsoft was able to demo Internet Explorer on the Dreamcast was probably a big bonus, given Sega's desire to make the Dreamcast a big thing on the Internet.

      However, as time went on, SOJ noticed that Windows CE was big and bloated and full of bugs. There was developer backlash. Sega's own software development teams (AM) needed something better, especially if they were to make full power of the Dreamcast (there was an arcade system that was basically a Dreamcast on steroids, although the name escapes me now). Thus, Sega of Japan started to develop their own low-level operating system for the Dreamcast. By the time that this happened though, the contract was in place with Microsoft for Windows CE - part of the contract was that Sega had to make WinCE available to all developers and stamp the logo on the unit.

      My own observations:
      Most of the developers in the United States and Europe used Sega's OS - it just provided the low-level functionality that tbey were used to. The developers who were using WinCE usually had an existing code base that ran on Win32 on the PC, and they were looking for a quick port. For games that weren't really intensive, this worked fine, but for some others (I saw early versions of Half-Life on the DC, when it was already delayed by at least six months, and let me tell you, it had *major* problems+) it was a disaster. What I would tell developers who were asking me if WinCE was worth using: "It will get you a solid 15 FPS, and if you're willing to optimize your rendering code with some assembly (to make use of the SH4's vector functions), you should be able to get 30 FPS. You'll get your game up and running faster, but you'll spend more time optimizing it for speed."

      Version 1 of WinCE for Dreamcast was pretty buggy, version 2 fixed a lot of things, but even once they came out with the final version (I think 2.1), there were still lots of bugs. Developers were asking me if Microsoft would release WinCE 3, or at least fix some of the bugs. I tried to get the source for WinCE 2.1 for DC (so that I could try to at least maintain it myself for the developers) and got nowhere. Mind you, this was only a few months from Sega canning the Dreamcast anyway.

      Microsoft did what they could to get developers to use WinCE on the Dreamcast. They'd send out promotional material to every new (and existing) Dreamcast developer which included a T-shirt, a Leatherman tool and of course, the WinCE SDK CD. We got a lot of thanks for the free tool and a T-shirt, while the CDs went into the garbage.

      -- Joe

      + That's not to say that the sole decision to cancel Half-Life for the Dreamcast was because of WinCE performance. There were also some other issues outside of that, which I shall not discuss, but WinCE was a big factor.

    2. Re:XBOX series *LACKS* important DC features by The+Vulture · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My, my, we wouldn't be a disgruntled Dreamcast fan who waited for Half-Life, would we? :) (Or am I being trolled? I'm not really sure!)

      Seriously though, them using Windows CE for Dreamcast played a major role. They couldn't keep a decent frame rate (which probably came from the combination of C++/WinCE/DirectX), and they were having trouble with sound. (The sound one I recall in particular because they wanted to do multiple effects on a playing sound, and DirectSound wasn't capable of it, because it was running an older sound driver that didn't support it. I think that the Sega sound driver supported it though, I just don't remember that far back).

      Then there's the usual politics, return on investment questions, and the lead developer was apparently having personal problems which led him to taking some time off from work.

      I guess that everything combined just caused them to drop the title. It clearly wasn't because of the Dreamcast hardware - the port of Quake III was quite good, and as I recall, it was one programmer who did everything.

      -- Joe

  26. What about the maturity of the market? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Xbox beat out gamecube, in part, because the media sort of got on the bandwagon that the cube was a toy for kids where the PS2 and Xbox were made for adults. All the gamer boys seemed to eat that up, it stroked their ego or something. I think it set Nintendo in a position where they had to cost reduce it a ton and just set the stage against them. In reality, the cube is a great machine. My only complaint is multiple discs for some games. There are some great games on it, it's definitely on par with the other 2 consoles.


    This time around, it feels like the market is a little smarter and not as willing to believe the bullshit. I may be completely wrong about this but that's how it seems. MS will roll out early with a brute force style product, I expect Sony and Nintendo to roll out with products that take much less loss on their initial sales. If there continues to be any parity in the market, and there has been, then they will all be fairly similar in terms of technical specs and it'll come down to the few key titles moving things and then whoever comes up with the next big thing.


    The other thing, Sony may have a slight hardware disadavantage in the current market between PS2 and Xbox (tech specs doesn't matter that much though... they are all still pretty close, all things being equal) but they were ambitious, when I bought the PS2, I knew I was going to get a DVD player if nothing else and at that time DVD players were like $150 so I throw in some extra money and I can play games too and I can play ps1 games that block buster sold for $5 a pop. PS3 is doing that with HD and Blu-Ray DVD, ps2 compatibility for my 30-40 games. What's xbox360 doing that with? I don't even know that it will play all of my xbox games, it looks pretty clear that it won't be a DVD player. They're going early but they aren't raising the level, it's just an upgrade and I also think that the technical architecture is going to make it difficult to be manufactured at a break even cost; the big piece where the cost is is a triple core expensive CPU and I think Sony's loss poing will be an early to market bluray and those things historically drop in cost a ton and I just expect a consumer company like Sony to put a lot more thought in to the cost of the CPU so I expect it to be easier to cost reduce than the xbox's will be.


    I'm just speculating here but PS3 will either have to be dramatically better looking than the competition or it will be costing the same when it ships so if they can break even faster than MS can, can't they just start rolling with the greatest hits and platinum hits and catch up pretty quickly with cost reduced games since the hardware will pay for itself? That means MS will have to make some really really good games to captialize on this lead, doesn't it?

  27. Typical 1Up bullshit. by PhotoBoy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "DC: Had tons of amazing games...but no Halo 3
    X360: Will have Halo 3. And it will be huge."

    How the hell do they know Halo 3 will be huge? If it's like the last one it won't be finished and it won't be a patch on the FPS games the PC has been doing for years.

    Who the fuck is bribing the whole games industry into giving the Halo franchise such a cock sucking? It's average at best and nothing revolutionary, why everyone hails these games as the second coming I don't know. And before anyone tells me about Halo 2 on Live, it's full of squealing 13 year olds who call everyone gay when they get fragged.

    1. Re:Typical 1Up bullshit. by Jubii · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How the hell do they know Halo 3 will be huge?

      Halo has brand recognition under its belt. You have to look at Halo in the terms of an iPod to understand why, barring some major screw up, it will always be successful.

      Halo is to multiplayer FPS's as iPod is to MP3 players. There are a number of similarities when comparing the two. Halo was not the first multiplayer FPS, we've been doing this on PCs for years. In the same way, the iPod was not the first MP3 player out there. In both cases, it was the technically savvy, the geeks, the "true-believers" that actually utilzed what was existing at the time. iPod and Halo brought this stuff to the mainstream masses, in an easy to use, friendly way.

      Now they're a part of culture and they "are" the market they belong to. "Do you have an MP3 player?" gets "um.... I have an iPod!?" Same way with Halo... The thing is you know there's better stuff out there, and I know that there's better stuff out there, but the populous either doesn't know or doesn't care. Plus you have to factor in the fact that Halo was a lot of people's first time... and as they say, you always remember your first.

      Halo is multiplayer fps, fragging a bunch of the guys on Friday night, the future of gaming, to much of the population out there. Just like it's fun for us to get together and LAN party, it's fun for them to get together and Halo party. That's why the next iteration of Halo will be successful.

      --

      I planned on inserting something witty here but never got around to it.
    2. Re:Typical 1Up bullshit. by sco08y · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How the hell do they know Halo 3 will be huge?

      Who the fuck is bribing the whole games industry into giving the Halo franchise such a cock sucking?


      Well... Halo was fun, not so challenging that I couldn't beat it on Legendary if I felt like playing it through a second time. (I'm not as good at video games as when I had an Atari 2600...) Halo 2 did lots of things that probably should have been in Halo. If you were already a Marathon fan playing Halo you probably felt like you were going from Blade Runner to Star Wars/Trek.

      Personally, I think a lot of the Halo fanboys just never played any FPSs before Halo or read any good sci-fi. They're the kinds of people who would flip to the end of an Asimov book to find out where the second Foundation was. It also probably appeals to a lot of people who, honestly, aren't very good at video games because it's a very easy game. The gameplay is a lot slower than Quake, and the missions are much simpler than Half Life.

    3. Re:Typical 1Up bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Personally, I think a lot of the Halo fanboys just never played any FPSs before Halo..

      I feel the same way. I think that is why so many people love it and give it high scores, while PC FPS players like me find it to be average or less then average.

      If they have played as much FPS as a lot of PC gamers have, they would probably understand why people like me are not too thrilled with Halo.

  28. about this potential X-Box failure... by Phil+Urich · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Believe it or not, the gaming business isn't about giving you and your friends fun games to play, it's about making money. That's why it's hard to qualify the XBox as a success. The XBox lost more money than any other console in history. Microsoft has lost billions of dollars on the XBox. Heck, it's still losing money on a quarterly basis as Microsoft readies the 360. If the XBox 360 is as big a financial disaster as the XBox then Microsoft investors are almost certainly going to wonder what they are doing throwing their money down a hole.

    Now, I have to slightly disagree with you there. Firstly, was it actually a "disaster"? Is Microsoft in financial troubles because of it? I couldn't claim to have anything near to exact figures, but I'm nonetheless quite sure that the answer is no, it is not in bad financial shape now because of the X-Box. Just because it didn't make money doesn't make Microsoft instantly broke, and investors know that . . .

    Now, I'm usually the first to lambast the system for the encouragement of short-term quarterly gains instead of long-term goals, but I think in this case Microsoft (or, since this is slashdot after all, I should say "M$") has been pretty clear with its goals and the investors are on board with it. The fact that Microsoft is making so much money in every other area is exactly why it needs to go into this area even if it means losing a fraction (perhaps a sizable fraction, even) of that profit; there really isn't much room for growth where it is now. Already with a virtual monopoly, what is "M$" left to do? So what if some money is lost in the short term. It's a sacrifice to get a foothold in an industry that is quite difficult to break through into. But the X-Box is a success because it does show a widespread adoption. It was certainly never intended to make money, it was meant to be successful in the "screw the monetary consideration!.....for now" way. And a foothold in the video-game industry gives the Redmondians a stepping stone for access into the vague but promising directions that digital entertainment is always threatening to soar off into.

    The company has grown, and growth is nearly synonymous with success. The profit part can come later. If Microsoft had less of a seriously impressive disposable income, then it would be another story, but the company has the luxury of such (relatively) grand planning.

    Naturally, if anyone has facts to back up my arguement (or alternatively, to dismantle it) please do elaborate!

    --
    I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
    1. Re:about this potential X-Box failure... by fistfullast33l · · Score: 2, Insightful
      They are competiting for standards and DRM rights and other BS.

      So if Microsoft and Sony are both competing on the DRM and standards front, the only choice you have left is Nintendo. Which is probably where most people find themselves. I for one, however, refuse to limit myself to a system with a bunch of games that make the game designers go nuts but are marketed to 8 year olds. I think Microsoft and Sony both realize that the average age of gamers is not in the teens, but more in the twenties and will likely increase as time goes by. Just like the movies industry where there are movies for adults and for children, I think the games industry will need to fulfill both markets. Nintendo has yet to prove to me they can successfully and consistently hit both markets. For every Splinter Cell there is an Obi-Wan to complement it. Not to mention that there are far few unique adult oriented series for the Gamecube or DS. The company is hit and miss to this age group. Sure, Nintendo can inovate, but all I want are games I enjoy, not the latest and greatest in gameplay mechanics.

    2. Re:about this potential X-Box failure... by NetRAVEN5000 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      "The fact that Microsoft is making so much money in every other area"

      What other areas are those? The PDA/cellphone area? No, I gotta say, I think they're losing there. The MP3 player area? No, I gotta say they're losing there, too - even though the majority of MP3 players use MS software, many still don't, and even MS employees agree that the iPod is better. The PC peripheral area? No, I think companies like Logitech and Kensington are still beating them there. The PC gaming area? No, id and Valve have got them beat - and if MS hadn't bought Bungie we'd never be able to make the comparison. Maybe you're talking about Microsoft Press? MS' history is fairly interesting, but I doubt they're making a killing off their books.

      Name four areas where MS is "making so much money".

      I'll help you out a bit. Let's see - there's the OS area, there's MS Office, there's IE. . . oh, wait, that's free. . . what about OE. . . wait, no, that's free too. . . hmm. . .

      And Windows and Office are stolen quite often in other countries. Not to mention the fact that Linux, MacOS, Firefox, and OpenOffice.org are gaining ground. If they ever lose Windows and Office, MS won't last long unless they change their money-spending habits.

    3. Re:about this potential X-Box failure... by scot4875 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think Microsoft and Sony both realize that the average age of gamers is not in the teens, but more in the twenties and will likely increase as time goes by. Just like the movies industry where there are movies for adults and for children, I think the games industry will need to fulfill both markets.

      Can you please name some of these adult-oriented games? I mean, seriously, name some games that have a storyline (not just a theme) that an intelligent, educated adult would actually find engaging. Or hell, name some with puzzles that are more challenging than "put gold key in gold lock" or "push box onto switch to hold it down."

      There aren't very many. For any system.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    4. Re:about this potential X-Box failure... by rtb61 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Income is never disposable at corproations only management is. Microsoft made huge claims for the xbox and failed. Now microsoft attempts to rewrite history and pretend it never made the claims that it did make. It was going to generate a huge profit, it was going to capture the majority of the market, it was to be the digital media machine instead the xbox is just a profit vacumn and hype.

      Cycles in consoles exist because the older consoles and games have to be sufficiently out of date to allow a new consoles onto the market. The games have to appear dated and the game play outmoded compared to expectations as to what should availalable. Microsofts failure to date has forced them to jump early, basically a blind leap and they already showing expectations of failure. Fake sold out marketing campaign and claims they don't want to sell to many consoles are both indications of the Sony has picked the right renewal cycle and microsoft know it.

      Sony will have a more powerfull console coming at the right time, not a year to early at a time when the majority market is not yet ready to dump their previous consoles for the latest versions. For microsoft the xbox will just be a further drain on revenues and an additional black mark for management with no idea. They only seem capable of exploiting a monopoly with lies and deceit once some else has given it to them, beyond that they have nothing.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    5. Re:about this potential X-Box failure... by jchenx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I remember hearing about MS stock being around $70 a share. Now it looks like it's trading at about $30 a share


      Just a quick note ... there was a stock split about two years ago, which might explain the jump from $70 -> $30. (It's actually around $25-26, and its been that way for a while)

      Anyway, I work at MS and even I know the big cash cows are Office and the OS. Sure, some businesses here and there make money (MSN has been profitable recently, thanks to the huge boom in Internet advertising again; MGS has made money occasionally, when there are big releases like Halo 2), but no where does it compare to the "core businesses". It's a bit irritating actually (I work at MGS and sometimes I feel like we get no respect from those in other divisions).
      --
      -- jchenx
  29. We're talking about Microsoft here by LKM · · Score: 2, Insightful
    If it failed miserably, how come there's now a version 2.0?

    Because we're talking about Microsoft here? Remember Windows 1.0?

    The Xbox isn't yet supposed to make money. It's supposed to extend Microsoft's market. Then, it's supposed to make money.

  30. They had money to market it by rsilvergun · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it's just that their marketing sucked, lots. They had the best looking games in existence. Games that look so good there was no comparison. Games that looked so good that only 5th gen ps2 games (and very few of those) compare. So why the fsck didn't they show them off? Instead, we got dumb ass 'It's thinking' commercials with Sonic all 'jammin' to the xtreme!!!' with the NBA. wtf?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  31. Didn't fail because of marketing by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What makes you think the Dreamcast failed because of marketing?

    I knew about it. I bought consoles. Heck, I bought an Atari Jaguar - AND the CD unit! It wasn't like I made my choices based on popularity.

    But I just wasn't interested in the Dreamcast, because while it had some good games it did not have (in my mind) a lot. And the other problem was that for a brand new system, it seemed underpowered. To a lot of gamers that was a point in time where the increase in graphics meant more than they do now. To me the Dreamcast languished because of being slightly underpowered and a trickle of games I cared about.

    In that respect I do think the 360 has some things in common. Not exactly in the graphics where it appears to be about equal, but more in storage with the space-limiting DVD meaning games with wider ranges of graphic content will be released on the PS3. And there just aren't enough interesting games lined up for release yet (the ones that are actually releasing anyway) to make me want to buy the system now, or seemingly even in six months.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  32. Why the 360 may do well - easier piracy by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One interesting aspect of the 360 that may help it fare well is with a DVD drive instead of a newer drive like HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, piracy will be simpler - so more peeople may actually buy the console for that reason. Even pirates end up buying some games so it might help it out.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  33. Re:I don't see the paralel at all ... by Eightyford · · Score: 2, Informative

    The media while not that great is unique to Sega and they did move away from the cartriges that every thing else was using at the time.

    Sega Saturn?
    Sony Playstation?
    Optical Media...

  34. regular Xbox was Dreamcast 2.0. by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Xbox 360 would be Dreamcast 3.0.

    Back when Dreamcast was starting up, MS offered up their Windows CE as a platform to Sega as the DC OS. It came in late, so the first games didn't use it. But Sega was pressing their developers to use it, and MS was helping out a lot. Japanese DCs came with the text "designed for Windows CE" on the front.

    But something happened, Sega got word MS was doing all this because they were working on a gaming machine of their own, a "super Dreamcast". And MS was offering up CE so that when MS' box came out they would have a lineup of games ready to go, or at least easy to port. It would give them a huge legup on all the other competitors in the video game market (including Sega).

    So Sega immediately told their developers not to use Windows CE. Only one game came out with Windows CE, Sega Rally (the browser also used CE). And US Dreamcasts say "compatible with Windows CE" on the front.

    And not too long after, MS released their machine with a controller which was very similar to the DC controller. Same basic layout, with two additional buttons and the hole in the top for the memory unit display covered (Sega had moved away from the memory cards with displays by that time too).

    So, Xbox really was a super Dreamcast, or a Dreamcast 2.0 if you wish.

    --
    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  35. You are full of crap.... but not "literally" (^_^) by Dogtanian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Microsoft literally gave the Xbox away.

    Microsoft did not literally give the Xbox away. When we say stuff like "Microsoft gave the Xbox away", we accept some slight exaggeration being used to make a point.

    I can't see any justification for throwing "literally" in there, unless you actually meant "literally". Or perhaps you didn't mean "literally" literally. But I doubt it...

    Please don't tell me you were actually referring to Microsoft giving a few of the things away in promotions; we know that's not what you meant :)

    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  36. Go go fanboys. by OwP_Fabricated · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Dreamcast was a financial failure and caused Sega to get out of the hardware business. Sorry.

    Were some of the games very good? Oh hell yes. I played the shit out of Phantasy Star Online 1/2 (before cheaters ruined it), Soul Calibur, Skies of Arcadia, and Jet Set Radio. Uh, that was about it though.

    Being mad at Sony for having better sales and in the end a much better game selection just proves you're a fanboy. That "mediocrity" comment will provide me with a chuckle or two when I'm playing Shadow of the Collosus, Devil May Cry 3, Ico (for the 10th time), Metal Gear Solid 3, Fatal Frame 1/2, Silent Hill 2/3/4, God of War, Ace Combat 4/5, etc. etc.

  37. I'd also point out by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They are basically only the second company every to succede at that, Sony being the first. After the NES got popular and gaming was revitalized, it was basically a Nintendo-Sega hegemony. Sure there were other consoles, lots of them, but they were all tiny. The PC Engine (TG16), Neo Geo, 3DO, Jaguar, all did just peanuts for business. There was Nintendo on top, Sega with a slowly but surely slipping second place and then maybe someone is a waaaaay distant third.

    Sony was the first company to ever smash in to that and survive. Now they did it at an extremely good time too. Sega's downward slide was in full force with the disaster that was the Saturn. Nintendo pissed off some developers with the announcement that the N64 was cart based (Square essentially told Nintendo FF7 WOULD be on a CD, on the N64 or not) and also miscalculated the kid gamer market, forgetting that many of the kids who had NES's were now older teens or young adults. In to that gap, Sony stepped successfully, the first major player other than Nintendo and Sega since, well, Atari.

    Microsoft didn't have nearly so easy an environment to try and compete in. Sony's second gen system was out and people liked it, between Nintendo and Sony there was a selection of games for everyone. For all that, they managed to do it and well enough to edge out Nintendo in market share, and they are now comming back for round 2.

    I certianly don't think Microsoft has a lock on the gaming market and the 360 may well prove to be less than they hoped, but to try and write it off because the X-box was costly is silly. Of COURSE it was costly, they were trying to bash in to a market that's extremely hard to get in to. They were also smart enough to know you either go all in or you forget it. To try and just poke at the edges, even if your stuff is superior, and sell an expensive console is doomed to failure.

    This is even more true these days in the era of the computer GPU. Time was, consoles were it for high-end graphics. You could spend all the money you liked on a computer, the top dog console would still whack it. No longer the case. At best, a first flight console is as good as new accelerators (the 360 should be roughly on par with upper ATi X1000 and nVidia 7000 series accelerators) and it doesn't take long for comptuers to pull ahead. So those with tons of free cash and the need for the best will go with computer gaming, and not spend tons of money on your specality console.

  38. Interesting that you say that... by Svartalf · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I own one and while I don't think it is too kiddie, they DID lend that impression with the GC earlier on because there really wasn't a lot of adult/mature appealing titles out for it when it shipped, unlike the PS2 and X-Box.

    What was available in the "M" category at the first release date?

    Eternal Darkness, I think was mostly it (And a damned good game at that...). Most of the rest of the titles were kiddie style games and a couple of things like Madden Football, etc. There were follow on titles of the "cool" variety like Eternal Darkness, but the damage of the impression was done by how many kiddie type titles were available for the GC versus the more adult ones.

    Nintendo missed the boat on this round of consoles; the titles they'd lined up at release colored the impressions of the console and made it a little less appealing to other studios to make titles for- the impression was that Nintendo was placing the market for the GC with the younger audiences. Basically, Nintendo was still marketing to and planning for the younger crowd where they used to make their money, when they should have been catering initially to a broader audience with the rollout of the GC. When the X-Box came out, they had an edge, but they lost it fairly quickly because MS could out-spend them and managed to score enough X-Box Only titles (such as Shenmue, etc...) that they lost that edge. Right now, I wouldn't count them out yet- they've still got at least one iteration of consoles to go before they're in trouble and I think they might have learned something from the oopses done with the GC's marketing and sales efforts (which they DID do...).

    --
    I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
  39. Bogus, bogus, bogus by Phantasmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Nintendo is the most profitable of the big three, despite having the smallest share.
    2. One of the reasons that the Gamecube is so dang affordable ($90 retail here in Canada) is because they left out the ability to play DVDs. Those licenses cost money.
    3. The "kiddie" market is extremely lucrative, and Nintendo dominates it. Kids harass their parents constantly about toys. Parents have money. Teenagers and college students don't. Did you ever wonder why 90% of your friends' XBoxes and PS2s are modded?
    4. If "Clueless Dad" walks into Wal-Mart looking for a console for his kids, he'll find that the cheapest one has about 200 E-rated games. On top of that, "Clueful Dad" will probably know that this cheap console is so durable that his kids will have to work really, really hard to wreck it before the next generation comes out.
    5. Were the 'cutesy discs' really a problem? I can only think of a handful of games that needed to span two discs.

    I think that Nintendo is working to convert a bit of its "kiddie" image to a "casual" image. The fact of the matter is, Gates didn't get into the console business because of Sony. He did it because he heard Nintendo had these insane 20% profit margins. Now he cries himself to sleep every night because Nintendo still has 20% profit margins and he's losing a mint.

    --

    The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
    1. Re:Bogus, bogus, bogus by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Bill Gates I'm sure is perfectly content with his sleeping schedule.

      The reason the Xbox exists is so that Sony doesn't dominate the TV platform like Microsoft was able to dominate the PC. The future is in media and communications when it comes to technology. If Bill Gates didn't have windows running on your TV, Sony would jump on the chance to do just that.

      Blue Ray, HD DVD, all of these are just a passing ghost as true online delivery takes over. On-Demand is the future, everybody knows it, and what better way to position yourself for the HD future than to get your hardware online and in HD hooked up to potential customer's TVs? In my mind, games are nothing more than a trick to get customers to buy an HD, online media delivery platform.

      I can see Bill's tear of joy right now.

  40. engaging immersive by YesIAmAScript · · Score: 2, Informative

    Immersive is nice, but it only applies to certain kinds of games. Many great games were never meant to be real. And many real-type games are not great.

    Super Bomberman was one of the best games ever made, and it was not immersive. Most puzzle-type games are far from immersive.

    In order to be good (or great), a game needs to be engaging like Super Bomberman is, like Robotron is, like Mario Kart is, like Halo at its best (not in the library) is.

    Quake 2's immersion made it more engaging than it would have been otherwise. But it didn't seem to work for Doom 3. Doom 3 is immersive, but it's a long way from engaging.

    As to PS3 not having an online service, how do you know that? Has Sony said? Personally, I think that PS3 will have good online play, even if it doesn't have an online service. PS2's online play has gone from awful to decent, and there's no reason to think it won't get even better with PS3.

    As an aside (and perhaps a contentious point), do you prefer Gran Turismo 4 to Forza due to it's noticeably better graphics? Personally, I like them both, probably liking Forza's driving better, despite the oddly inferior graphics. I mean, Rallisport Challenge 2 looked better than Forza! What happened?

    Finally, did you like God of War? Great game. Best game in a while, very engaging. It's graphics are good, not quite Xbox quality in resolution of textures or models. But in other ways, the graphics are utilized well that it sets a standard no Xbox platformer can touch (perhaps GC's Metroid Prime comes close though).

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    http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
  41. Just a different boat by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If the PS3 can promise immersion and variety, then I'm there. It'll be an easy call. I'm already going to get an XBox 360 because PS3 missed the boat by not having an online service.

    I don't see it as missing a boat at all. I see it as not needing to spend $10 (or whatever the cost is now) a month for the rest of my life just to play online games... there are a number of PS2 games with online play too; it's just up to the companies to provide the servers instead of Sony. It's that they've chosen a whole different boat to be on.

    Personally I like that approach a lot more since I only irregularily play online games now and have come to detest any form of recurring payment. I do realize the benefits of having a centralized service such as comprehensive buddy lists and invites that can appear while you're in the middle of some other game... but I just don't need it, and sometimes I wonder how many other people really do.

    I also see the scary things that can happen like your XBox being forever denied entry to Live if it's hacked. To me it does not seem desireable that a company that makes a thing I buy should so easily be able to remove such a degree of value so easily.

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    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  42. Re: Probably did fail because of marketing by Cryptnotic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sega probably did fail because of marketing. The Christmas season of 2000 was where they totally failed. PS2 had been anounced, but wasn't available. Dreamcasts were plentiful and had tons of great games (Soul Calibur on Dreamcast is still better than PS2 versions). But Sega didn't market it. There were no commercials on TV for it. They didn't tout it as an alternative to waiting for PS2. So no one bought it. Everyone I know who had a Dreamcast loved the games on it (Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, Jet Set Radio, various sports games, Shenmue I and II, Crazy Taxi, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Skies of Arcadia, Sakura Taisen series, Napple Tale, Vib Ribbon, Space Channel 5, Psychic Force 2012, Rival Schools, Guilty Gear X, and tons more). PS2 didn't get that many good games for it until years later.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast

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    My other first post is car post.