Why the Dreamcast? Part 1
October 4, 2010
So I started last week with a little history behind why we chose to develop things specifically in regards to the Atari Jaguar console. Today, I'm going to start talking about the other console that GOAT Store Publishing is known for having supported - the Sega Dreamcast.
Since the Dreamcast was discontinued, it seems that the nostalgia for the console has only increased. I've heard the Dreamcast referred to as people as the last hardcore gaming system, the most innovative gaming console ever, and many other things. And, while in many ways I agree with all of this, I feel that it overlooks perhaps the most important factor that sets the Dreamcast apart from everything that has come since.
The Dreamcast is the last console made by an arcade manufacturer, and it placed a huge emphasis on arcade conversions.
Let me just touch on what that means in a little more depth - before the Dreamcast, many companies focused on getting great arcade conversions to run on their consoles. The Colecovision gained a huge foot in the door by licensing and creating a spectacular version of Donkey Kong and then packing it in the console. Genesis and Super Nintendo owners debated which console had the best versions of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. And Cruis'n USA in the arcade proclaimed that it was running on "Nintendo Ultra 64" hardware, and to watch for the console in the future. But by the time the N64 launched, arcade ports were becoming a rare thing.
Enter the Dreamcast. Sega was cranking out incredible arcade games, and when they created the Dreamcast it was a natural fit to put many of those games on the console. House of the Dead II, Virtual Tennis, Crazy Taxi, F355 Challenge Passione Rossa, Sega Rally 2, Sega Bass Fishing and Virtua Fighter 3tb were all titles that Sega brought to the console - often with huge advertising campaigns, that were direct from the arcades. In an era where the exploration titles like Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto were starting to define 3D gaming as story-driven, not-too-challenging titles, Sega brought out the games that were tough. And then they promoted the heck out of them.
And this made other companies take notice. Arcade ports of games from other companies like Soul Calibur, Hydro Thunder, Mars Matrix, Rush 2049, Gauntlet Legends and Gunbird 2 celebrated old school, quarter munching gameplay. Not to mention compilations from Atari, Namco and Midway.
The Dreamcast's library is practically a list of the most popular arcade games of the era. In fact, unlike the current consoles where you have to really think to find any releases that are arcade inspired, you almost have to think about what releases were not arcade inspired for the Dreamcast.
This gives the Dreamcast a flavor all of it's own. Arcades have almost completely dried up and went away in the Western world, and there is little chance for a wholesale resurgence of them like we saw happen in the early 80s or even the 90s on the heels of Street Fighter II. Today, the companies that develop the consoles and decide what titles they are going to promote don't focus on the games that are arcade-like in nature. They promote the story driven games or the sports games that they feel like will give them the biggest edge - Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Madden... all great games, but not games that give the same experience as an arcade title. The arcade titles that do come out for these systems are rarely if ever pushed by the console manufacturer itself -- completely unlike the scenario that played out during the days of the Dreamcast.
There truly will never be another console quite like the Dreamcast - it was the last of it's kind. And that is something that keeps its legacy and it's profile higher still today than many of the consoles in the past. Stay tuned - I'll discuss later this week the exact reasons that drew us to the Dreamcast.
P.S. Did you know that GOAT Store Publishing was started by 2 burned video game designers, they were basically screwed by a publisher and distributors and they decided to fuck everything and start their own store and now they help upcoming developers make it big.
HarmLess Lion Made "Cool Herders" for Dreamcast which earned them a Nintendo DS SDK and they will be releasing a game on it this year.
MadPeet released Irides last year that earned them a PSP dev kit and will be releasing a game for it next year.
Stay Tuned for Part 2.
