Gaming News

[sonicer]

Oh, that's very good news. I like them

[Tad]

Valkyria Revolution out tomorrow: https://twitter.com/SEGA/status/879428989009371137

[pcm92]

Anyone else excited about "The Inpatient"? I personally think it will be better as a VR only instead of third person.

Until Dawn was a really cool game, but the camera angles were bad at times.

[Tad]

Sony are set to reveil something new soon.

I swear if it's another console I'm done with console gaming. We've had 5 iterations in about 4 years now.

[Betwixt Thieves]

Sony should reveal an apology for releasing the PlayStation 2, that became such a hit it led to the demise of the Dreamcast. (It was strange going from online gaming and amazing experiences to a glorified DVD player)

[pirovash88]

Sony should reveal an apology for releasing the PlayStation 2, that became such a hit it led to the demise of the Dreamcast. (It was strange going from online gaming and amazing experiences to a glorified DVD player)

Wasn't just Sony's fault. Sega's ineptitude in the mid to late 90's killed their hardware business.

[Betwixt Thieves]

Wasn't just Sony's fault. Sega's ineptitude in the mid to late 90's killed their hardware business.

Sega actually did a lot better than everyone remembers during that time period. The Saturn actually outsold the N64. It also outsold the Playstation in Japan until around when Final Fantasy VII came out. Which was about a two year time period. Saturn was still selling fairly well in Japan, but had tanked in America. Anyone remember the Vectorman display Saturns at places that just felt old up against the N64 and PS1 displays? Now people are clamoring for 2d sprite releases again, but thought they were babyish in the late 90's.

Sega needed money from the west so in comes the Dreamcast, which in most scenarios was far better than the PS2. (Easier to program for, online services, amazing games). All PS2 needed was hype, a DVD player, and the promise of Final Fantasy X and whatever the next Dragon Quest game was going to be.

[pirovash88]

Sega actually did a lot better than everyone remembers during that time period. The Saturn actually outsold the N64. It also outsold the Playstation in Japan until around when Final Fantasy VII came out. Which was about a two year time period. Saturn was still selling fairly well in Japan, but had tanked in America. Anyone remember the Vectorman display Saturns at places that just felt old up against the N64 and PS1 displays? Now people are clamoring for 2d sprite releases again, but thought they were babyish in the late 90's.

Sega needed money from the west so in comes the Dreamcast, which in most scenarios was far better than the PS2. (Easier to program for, online services, amazing games). All PS2 needed was hype, a DVD player, and the promise of Final Fantasy X and whatever the next Dragon Quest game was going to be.

The Saturn fumbled out of the gates in the west due to a number of reasons, one more importantly being the launch price of $400, compared to Sony's $300. Not to mention that Sega had already alienated its fanbase by releasing the 32X and Sega CD right before it. Didn't leave a lot of room for consumer confidence. And let's not get into Stolar's stupid comment about the Saturn "not being Sega's future" that automatically killed any chance the Saturn had of being successful in the West..

DC was fantastic, but what some people don't realize is that Arcade games were starting to die down. Sega had always been able to cash in on bringing arcade games to your home, the very foundation of Sega is in arcades. Sony offered gamer's more than that, with games like MGS, FF, DQ. They offered long and cinematic game experiences for the same price that Sega was offering arcade games for. It was only a matter of time before the DC died, as gamer's tastes had already changed by that time. Arcade games could only sustain your business for so long, and it showed.

[Betwixt Thieves]

DC was fantastic, but what some people don't realize is that Arcade games were starting to die down. Sega had always been able to cash in on bringing arcade games to your home, the very foundation of Sega is in arcades. Sony offered gamer's more than that, with games like MGS, FF, DQ. They offered long and cinematic game experiences for the same price that Sega was offering arcade games for. It was only a matter of time before the DC died, as gamer's tastes had already changed by that time. Arcade games could only sustain your business for so long, and it showed.

I would make the argument that Sega knew that. Let's compare some titles and then tell me why Sony won. Was it games, or hype and a DVD player?

PS2 Titles:
A-Train 6
Drum Mania
Eternal Ring
Kakinoki Shogi
Kessen
Mahjong
More Shogi games
Ridge Racer V
Street Fighter

These launch titles and console sales already started to eclipse the previous Dreamcast launch numbers. Within a year PS2 had already outsold lifetime sales of Dreamcast. The hype titles that came late the first year or even later were Gran Turismo, Tekken Tag, and the promise of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Dreamcast did suffer from lack of software at launch, but by the time PS2 hit they were in full sprint. I think the biggest thing lacking was third party support outside of Capcom.

Dreamcast:
Phantasy Star Online
Virtua Fighter
Sonic Adventure
Power Stone
Puyo Puyo
Marvel vs Capcom
Nobunaga games
SNK fighting games
Street Fighter
Soulcalibur
Gundam
Nadesico
SHMUPs
JoJo Bizarre
Bangai-o
Resident Evil
Dance Dance Revolution
Shenmue
Sega Rally
Seaman
Sakura Taisen
J League
Grandia 2


I might be wrong, but I think Sony had marketing and DVD and they would have won any way history could have played out.

[Tad]

I think Sega were trying to pull away from the arcade games on the Dreamcast, but time and money was against them and others were in a better position.

[pirovash88]

I would make the argument that Sega knew that.

Yes, but it was already too little too late. Financially speaking, they couldn't sustain themselves.

Dreamcast did suffer from lack of software at launch, but by the time PS2 hit they were in full sprint. I think the biggest thing lacking was third party support outside of Capcom.

Ubisoft & Capcom were huge for the Dreamcast, but yes, they lacked a lot of big 3rd party support. Squaresoft and EA were big companies and they brought zero software to the Dreamcast, there was no way it would survive without them.

I might be wrong, but I think Sony had marketing and DVD and they would have won any way history could have played out.

Marketing was certainly behind them and yeah, i believe they oversold the PS2.

I think Sega were trying to pull away from the arcade games on the Dreamcast, but time and money was against them and others were in a better position.

I agree, but as i mentioned it was too late. Shenmue is a prime example of Sega trying to pull away from arcades and trying to offer a more cinematic and longer gaming experience. But the game ultimately was too expensive to develop, costing upwards of $50mil, which again brings me back to Sega's inept business practices. Anyone with common sense would know that there was no way they would be making any profit on developing a game like that, period.

[Tad]

It's both incredible and madness that they made Shenmue back then. I honestly don't know where to begin explaining just how difficult it would have been and I'm not just talking about how much they squeezed out of the hardware for polygons and texture detail. There was no such system to manage all the NPC's actions throughout the day or how such things that seem simple would have been difficult back then. Even on release certain parts were clunky, but there's no denying how big of an influence it had for future game developers in one way or another.

All these things that were so hard back then can be created much easier now with or without tools like Unreal or Unity. Even the basic programming methods has made it far easier. I guess Shenmue being the first was a blessing and a curse.

Gamescom has been going on and it seems fairly quiet to me. We've had Shenmue, Sonic and a handful of other games that look interesting, but that's it.

I really think these big events should be more inlined with modern game production and only happen every two years now. Back in thy oldie days, games could be made much quicker as they were simple, but they take far longer now and that's why we're seeing some years with nothing but updates or teasers only.

[Nameless 24]

Sega had always been able to cash in on bringing arcade games to your home, the very foundation of Sega is in arcades. Sony offered gamer's more than that, with games like MGS, FF, DQ. They offered long and cinematic game experiences for the same price that Sega was offering arcade games for. It was only a matter of time before the DC died, as gamer's tastes had already changed by that time. Arcade games could only sustain your business for so long, and it showed.

Arcade like experiences are making a comeback in a big way thanks to Indies. I wonder if SEGA can create a few small teams to make Arcade games again and put them on PSN/XBL/Steam and the Switch and make money like they are for Sonic Mania? It'd be a nice boost to their coffers and they have specialist knowledge on what gamers want these days! (Reagrding bite sized experiences that are similar to Indie games).

You never know, perhaps they could even make it a little collection named "SEGA's Mini Ventures" or something! Games costing no more than $10 but offer experiences similar to the Mega Drive, CD, 2D Saturn games and Dreamcast!

[Shun-Di]

Just make a Dreamcast 2.  :D  Make it blu ray and DVD compatible, though I don't think that's required since most formats are going totally digital these days.  Sega doesn't need movies anymore to compete with other consoles, just good games.  Sega can still do it.  Don't care what anyone says about money, Sega can do it if they just DO IT. 

[Tad]

An interesting insight to the development of Alpha Protocol: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-09-06-the-making-of-alpha-protocol-obsidians-secret-best-rpg