Actually most companies already do lose money on the console hardware, because, like you said, they make it up easy on game royalties. However, the only threat I can see MS posing is one of undercutting: Since they are so much larger than their possible future competitors, they can much more afford to have major losses on system and game prices in the first year or so of a console until the prices for the games/console come down. Although Nintendo, Sony, and Sega can afford to undercut each other somewhat, they just can't do it in the big way that MS could.
I guess you're saying I don't know all the facts, then. The Dreamcast is going to do extremely well...among those who either spend frivlously or don't really know the video game market. Sega has just had too many mistakes in the past, and it's going to be a while before they can win back the real gamers. Casual and first-time gamers will be able to enjoy the system, I'm sure, and more power to them. But I, for one, am not going to be able to play the Dreamcast without remembering such items as the 32x, Sega CD, and the Saturn.
You have to remember that poly numbers don't really mean that much...the polys they are talking about are probably microscopic with no textures etc etc, and nobody is going to make a game using only polys like that.
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Actually most companies already do lose money on the console hardware, because, like you said, they make it up easy on game royalties. However, the only threat I can see MS posing is one of undercutting: Since they are so much larger than their possible future competitors, they can much more afford to have major losses on system and game prices in the first year or so of a console until the prices for the games/console come down. Although Nintendo, Sony, and Sega can afford to undercut each other somewhat, they just can't do it in the big way that MS could.
I guess you're saying I don't know all the facts, then. The Dreamcast is going to do extremely well...among those who either spend frivlously or don't really know the video game market. Sega has just had too many mistakes in the past, and it's going to be a while before they can win back the real gamers. Casual and first-time gamers will be able to enjoy the system, I'm sure, and more power to them. But I, for one, am not going to be able to play the Dreamcast without remembering such items as the 32x, Sega CD, and the Saturn.
You have to remember that poly numbers don't really mean that much...the polys they are talking about are probably microscopic with no textures etc etc, and nobody is going to make a game using only polys like that.