The Console Wars I

[Ayen]

What are these great games for it?

I'd be curious to see the answer to this. For me it felt like Sega didn't have many games that grasped your attention after you left the Genesis for the Saturn and Dreamcast. With the Dreamcast I can only remember Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sega Bass Fishing, WWF Attitude (which was multiplatform but did have slightly better graphics than the PS1 and N64 ports) Legacy of Kain (which was also multiplatform) and Resident Evil Code Veronica before Code Veronica X came out for the PS2.

As for the system itself I think one of the major things that hurt it was the hype for the PS2 overshadowing its existence as well as the planned introduction for the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft making a bid to enter the console race with the Xbox.

[Slothy]

Why do you always say the Dreamcast is the best? What are these great games for it? If it is so good then why did it tank?

I say the Dreamcast is the best because it is legitimately one of the best consoles ever made. What were the games it had? Let me list a few:
Sonic Adventure
Soul Calibur
Grandia 2
Skies of Arcadia
Power Stone
Power Stone 2
Space Channel 5
Crazy Taxi
Crazy Taxi 2
Shenmue
RE: Code Veronica
Dynamite Cop
The House of the Dead 2
Virtual Tennis
Virtual Tennis 2
Marvel vs. Capcom
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Street Fighter 3 (pretty much every variant)
Metropolis Street Racer
Samba De Amigo
The Typing of the Dead
Jet Grind Radio

And I'm probably missing quite a few. Hell, I didn't even name great import games like Ikaruga. I'd have trouble naming that many good games for a lot of consoles that lasted a lot more than 2 years. The Dreamcast library was truly amazing.

As for why it failed, try releasing two failed peripherals for the Genesis, having the Saturn fail miserably, and then see how well you do when Sega of America fails to properly support and market the console. There were a lot of things that went wrong and lead to the Dreamcast failing. The console and the game library were not two of those things.

[Botchmun]

Amiga for life

this. We Amiga kids were experimenting with 3D and playing hardcore psygnosis titles back when Sega and Nintendo were just figuring out 8 bit consoles. Even in the 80s there was a PC master race.

[Vyk]

For my part, SEGA always accepted the idea of more mature gamers. Nintendo always wanted to be for kids. SEGA encouraged experimentation and innovation, especially on the Dreamcast. Nintendo always wanted to play it safe. So I really had a bit more respect for SEGA in the day, and for a long time after their failings. So I'd give the point to them in the long run. But these days I care very little for either company. Nintendo's played it too safe to interest me much at all anymore and Sega is all but dead these days.

[Del Murder]

Nintendo played it safe with the Wii, WiiU, DS, and 3DS?

[Bolivar]

With their target demographic and some of their franchises in their mid-20s I'd say so.

[Del Murder]

I don't know what that post means.

[Bolivar]

I don't know what that post means.

Their target demographic is still kids, to the point that the latest entries in their longest running franchises are being dumbed down more than they've ever been. Vyk has criticized them for catering to children while the rest of their competitors have been willing to mature with their players, and this unwillingness to branch out is certainly playing it safe.

And when they're on the 11th Zelda and 17th Mario game it's hard to say they're taking risks, especially when the big selling points on a lot of those recent games is a return to their older formats!

I do understand what you meant about the hardware risks, though.

[Elskidor]

Chin up, in terms of Handhelds, Nintendo will keep winning for as long as Pokemon remains Nintendo Exclusive.

Unlike Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. No one is brave enough to try and create a direct competitor to pokemon.

Pokemon is still a thing? Wow. I still don't even know what a Pokemon is. I went to the movie in the 90's and couldn't get into it so I just chatted with a friend. I'm surprised it's still around, it seemed to be dying off and people got made fun of in my high school for liking.

[Jiro]

How do you not know Pokémon? Wow! I thought that was one of those things that just pervasive in pop culture.

Also the Dreamcast probably would've been an excellent console had it been released later. It was just trying to do too many things that technology didn't support yet. "Before its time" is perhaps one way to put it. Certainly gave the PS2 free reign after that though.

[Pike]

I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't played Pokemon do so. It's not "too late" to jump into it and I know first-timers who have fallen in love with the recent iteration X/Y. Even if you missed the initial bandwagon it's still a great little RPG.