Dreamcast - Giga Wing © 2000 Capcom - Gameplay
0The Dreamcast is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast was Sega's final console, its 2001 discontinuation ending the company's eighteen years in the console market.
The Dreamcast was developed by an internal Sega team led by Hideki Sato. In contrast to the expensive hardware of the unsuccessful Saturn, the Dreamcast was designed to reduce costs with off-the-shelf components, including a Hitachi SH-4 CPU and an NEC PowerVR2 GPU. Sega used the GD-ROM media format to avoid the expenses of DVD-ROM technology and a custom version of the Windows CE operating system to make porting PC games easy. The Dreamcast was the first console to include a built-in modular modem for internet access and online play.
The Dreamcast was released to a subdued reception in Japan, but had a successful US launch backed by a large marketing campaign. However, interest steadily declined as Sony built anticipation for the PlayStation 2. Dreamcast sales did not meet Sega's expectations after several price cuts, and the company suffered significant financial losses. After a change in leadership, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast on March 31, 2001, withdrew from the console business, and restructured itself as a third-party developer. 9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide. Its bestselling game, Sonic Adventure (1998)—the first 3D game in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise—sold 2.5 million copies.
Despite its short lifespan and limited third-party support, reviewers have celebrated the Dreamcast as one of the greatest consoles. It is considered ahead of its time for pioneering concepts such as online play and downloadable content. Many Dreamcast games are regarded as innovative, including Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi (1999), Shenmue (1999), Jet Set Radio (2000), Phantasy Star Online (2000), and high-quality ports from Sega's NAOMI arcade system board.
Sega announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri would replace Tom Kalinske as chairman and CEO of Sega of America, while Bernie Stolar, a former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, became Sega of America's executive vice president in charge of product development and third-party relations. After the 1996 launch of the Nintendo 64, sales of the Saturn and its software fell sharply. As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47 percent of the console market, Nintendo controlled 40 percent, and Sega controlled only 12 percent; neither price cuts nor high-profile games helped the Saturn.
—Bernie Stolar, former president of Sega of America, in 2009
As a result of Sega's deteriorating financial situation, Hayao Nakayama resigned as president of Sega in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri, and Stolar acceded to become CEO and president of Sega of America. Following five years of generally declining profits, in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, Sega suffered its first parent and consolidated financial losses since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, reporting a consolidated net loss of ¥35.6 billion (US$269.8 million). Shortly before announcing its financial losses, Sega announced the discontinuation of the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor. This effectively left the Western market without Sega games for more than a year. Rumors about the upcoming Dreamcast—spread mainly by Sega—leaked to the public before the last Saturn games were released.
The Dreamcast library consists of over 600 games across all regions, in GD-ROM format. It uses regional lockout, only playing games released within its predetermined region; however, this is circumventable via modchip installation, boot discs, or cheat discs such as Datel's Action Replay. In Japan, the Dreamcast was launched with Virtua Fighter 3tb, Pen Pen TriIcelon, Godzilla Generations, and July. In North America, it launched with 19 games, including the highly anticipated Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, and NFL 2K. In Europe, it was planned to launch with 10 games; this increased to 15 after the launch was delayed. Licensed Dreamcast games were released until mid-2002 in the US. Some indie developers continued to release games, such as 2007's Last Hope, developed by the German studio NG:Dev.Team.