>> DREAMCAST AT 15
"SEGA WAS THE FIRST TO DO
ONLINE GAMEPLAY RIGHT"
DREAMCAST:
15 YEARS
We look back at SEGA's last console, still loved by millions and
responsible for many changes in the gaming industry>>
By Josh LaFrance
Most games in this modern era
succeed based on online gameplay.
Some of the biggest titles of the
last 10 years have been first
person shooters or MMOs and
although online gaming existed
prior to the Dreamcast, SEGA was
the first to do it right and allow
online gaming for the masses.
On 9/9/99 in North America, the
Dreamcast launched with huge
fanfare. For a game system so
highly rated by critics within the
industry and gamers around the
planet like you and me, it was quite
a shock when SEGA announced in
2001 that it was ending support
and production of the system.
The goal of this article is not
to discuss the reasons behind
the demise of the Dreamcast,
(in simple terms, lack of DVD
support was the issue) but rather
28 | classic console
to outline why it was so beloved
and why it lives on to this day as
one of the greatest of all time.
As already pointed out, SEGA was
the first to do online gameplay right
(through dial-up service SegaNet)
but what really drove sales initially
was the number of fantastic titles
available for the system, and that
was even despite the absence of
a few large publishers such as
EA who put all of their eggs at
the time in the Sony basket.
Dreamcast launched in the US
with 19 titles, which is a huge
number for the beginning of a
system. The strength of the launch
titles alone was a big reason for
strong pre-orders on the system,
as well as a very large TV ad
campaign leading up to 9/9/99.
Amongst these strong
launch titles included games
Above: Dreamcast truly was ahead of it's time and
the "ultimate gaming system" of the era.