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Developing for the Dreamcast years later, interview with redspotgames

siliconera.com — On releasing Last Hope Max Scharl executive director says, "the Dreamcast got a very loyal and big fanbase - compared to other consoles of their times in the same age. Also a lot of other high quality shoot em ups were released after the so-called "commercial death" of the Dreamcast, so I think it was the right decision to choose the Dreamcast."

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  • jsanders, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4so what store is going to carry this? there haven't been new dreamcast releases on store shelves for years! dreamcast sections have faded away....
    • 2Deluxe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Here in Tokyo, particularly in Shibuya and Shinjuku - Dreamcast sections in game stores are still very much alive - I don't see it as a particularly bad idea.
    • aboyd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Play Asia still has a big Dreamcast section, sells worldwide, and currently features Last Hope on their main Dreamcast page. Also, lots & lots of games have come out for the Dreamcast in the last 2 or 3 years, despite it being a "dead" console. Play Asia has most of them. 2D shooters seem to extremely popular.

      http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-14-71-4-49-en.html
    • joehobbes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And there is another new one:
      http://digg.com/gaming_news/Another_New_Dreamcast_Game_Karous
    • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"2D shooters seem to extremely popular."

      Yes they are...

      I doubt any other genre could work out this way. Shooter fans are an extreme bunch who place a lot of value on owning originals. Original PCBs for games that are available all over the web in ROM form still sell and trade very well in shooter circles. Likewise certain posters, marquee cards and various other arcade shooter collectibles routinely sell for several hundred to several thousand dollars even though there are already high quality scans of many of them on the web. It's still profitable to release a limited edition shooter on the DC for $80 even though it will be ripped and posted to the scene well before the official release date.

      It's cool that developers have learned to understand how they can succeed by serving a loyal niche community. (I've had Last Hope on pre-order for months.)
  • expertninja, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Ahhhh Dreamcast... the good old days...I think I'll get my walker and go play Scrabble with the rest of the old folks.
    • oyourmom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Isn't that old, yet. But i'm sure one day we'll be able to look back and say "ah the Dreamcast, one of the best 3D consoles" and we'll hear back from kids "ONLY 3D?!?!"
    • knightblade2oo4, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5i don't see a 4th dimension [time] being integrated into gaming anytime soon...
    • ucbmckee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Clearly, you never played Final Fantasy...

      Ungh, 150 hours played in X2 and I'm still occasionally working on side quests.
    • Dested, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15You use your hands? Thats like a babies toy...
    • trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Blinx is one of the closes games to be 4th dimensional I've played.
    • Cerebral, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@oyourmom

      Obviously you have never played Chrono Trigger as well.
      Blinx (as mentioned above) as well as Full Auto, Prince of Persia Sands of Time... all of these have time warping abilities.

      @Dested +digg for the Back to the Future II Reference!
  • DamnMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4cool maybe ill have to dust off DC again to err.... backup this game when it comes out.
    • izzykaubaubau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@idconvict

      Get outta here Jack!

      Wow, digg has some problems... put me under the wrong comment
    • soccerboi00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think it's you who have the problems izzy.
  • Cloud7654, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I never actually owned a dreamcast. But I damn well remember having some of the best times with my old friend on his. He's in jail for using drugs now though. =/
  • 2Deluxe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Oops, digg me down.
  • Beyond31, on 10/12/2007, -26/+1the Dreamcast got a very loyal and big fanbase - compared to other consoles of their times in the same age'

    HAHAHAH Really like what ? Super Nintendo ah NOPE

    Sonys PLAYSTATION ahhhh NOPPPPPEEE !

    What glue is this guy on ? Sorry the Dreamcasts games weren't very interactive most of their sponsers pulled out and jumped ship to Nintendo or Sony
    their online BS became just that BS !!! Sorry the Dreamcast was horrible period !! Jesus let that system die in peace ! SEGA is nothing but a gofer game distrubuter for SONY , MIcrosoft and Nintendo with lame as rehashed titles left over from the Nintendo vs Sega days !!!
    • hobbla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There's still time to make the Darwin Awards 2006...
    • UniversalTarget, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Dreamcast had better textures than the ps2, but the ps2 hid it with being able to push a few more polygons (which wasn't exactly a bad thing) and had a dvd player in it.

      The DC was also one of the best systems for fighting games out there, IE-- marvel vs. capcom, power stone, street fighter, snk games, SOUL CALIBER. Then, there were games like Soul Reaver and even the old quake 3. Anyone remember silent scope? It's internet might have been 'BS,' but the ps2 didn't even have one to speak of until FF11, and even then a PC you already owned was probably a better choice since you needed even more peripherals just to play it on your ps2.

      You rag on the DC for getting The Hulk to kick the crap out of Mega Man? Gambit vs. Iron man? Spider Man against Ryu? Sometimes, I pity the FPS zombie age, I really do...
    • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I hope you die of an unfortunate accident.
      Like my foot flying up your ass.
      The dreamcast was a ***** incredible machine, and you should shut your filthy mouth.
    • echonull, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just... Look at Rez on a PS2. Then look at it on a Dreamcast.
      Or Grandia 2, or Ikaruga (as mentioned).
      Then go cry in a corner that you don't have one.
  • tito13kfm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I would guess they used the full space of the GD-ROM to prevent piracy as this was a common strategy of developers to make it harder to copy the games to standard CDs. You will probably have to import this to have a chance to play it. I can only hope it's half as good as ikaruga.
  • zatch5412, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I used to love the fact that you could use the modem to dial up and surf the Internet. It was a great way to search for highly detailed anatomically correct studies of the female body, all from the comfort of my bedroom! There's nothing more a young teenager could ask for.
  • NoBullet2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+89/9/99

    I've never unhooked my DC since then. Great games.
  • drakethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Seems something like this would do a lot better on Xbox Live Arcade. At least you have an audience of at least 9 million consoles and considering how simplistic it is, seems to be a much better choice. Although I still have my dreamcast and it was a great system if you were ever a Sega fan.
    • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You're very right about that. If MS cut a deal with a Cave and some others to produce near-perfect ports of top shooters to XBLA it would certainly help the 360's situation overseas.
  • dixonr315, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't care what anyone says I thought the DC was a great console and very underrated, I think the Sony Hype machine killed it early, at the time all this talk of the amazing graphics the Emotion Engine could do etc. I remember how people would say the DC had no great games, but then when they stopped making it those games were ported to Xbox and PS2 lol. I loved The NFL 2K series (more than Madden), playing Soul Caliber as soon as I got home, and of course House of the Dead! Probably my favorite console :-)
  • tony134340, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4When it first came out, I thought the DC was sort of lame with the controller and PS2 was gonna own it. But after purchasing one after it started going commercially kaput here in the US, I've come to find out it was a very under-rated system. Many years and many games later, me and my son still play it as much as the PS2. If it had better marketing, it would still be competing. Not to mention, the console emulators for the system and other homebrews. May the dream live on!
  • ucbmckee, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1How many people that loved the DC so much actually bought games for it, though? I had one too (it was a nice box), but most of the people really zealous over it seem to be the ones that knew how to play 'backups' on it. =) No wonder it died. As a piece of console hardware, I don't recall it having anything terribly remarkable. The VMU thing was sorta neat, but the controller was a bit ergonomically awkward.
  • AnarchyOnline, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Last Hope looks fun,

    Old school R-Type genre.. but omg 500 bux for a cartridge ????

    I was thinking about getting a DC from my local pawnshop just to play Last Hope, but no way im going to pay 500 bux for a game
    • aboyd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think you're getting modded down because the Dreamcast version is not $500. Last Hope for the Dreamcast is $40. The $500 version is for a different console.
    • 022A, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$500 was for the Neo*Geo cart, a drop in the bucket for the serious NG collector types who would actually buy it.
  • denfinster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Bleemcast>all!

    I miss playing Tekken 3 and Gran Turismo 2 both enhanced on the dreamcast...
  • cupid311, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3definitely one of the best. pretty much the only true 128 bit system. I love the controller too, really comfortable except the cord coming from the bottom. Plus the VMU was pretty cool. Soul Calibur is probably one of the best 3D fighting games ever. Jet Set Radio! almost every game i played for the DC i loved. Plus you have to love a console that has a game that causes seizures... GO SONIC!!!
  • blackmagician, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I still have mine. I STILL love it. the music's a little cartoony nowadays, but I still love Sonic and Hydro Thunder.
  • zetec, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have my dreamcast sitting not 3 feet away from me. I just bought a wii, but I still think that the DC was the best console ever made. I miss sega. Maybe one day, they'll re-enter the system market and wow us all once more...

    • malformedkitty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's because it was the best console ever made ;)
  • asstroboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0So I liked the article okay, but I was a little worried after the first sentence:
    "Most systems quickly fade into existence after their lifespan..."
    Isn't this a bit like "please put your seat back forward"?
  • brindon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I had to put my DC in storage. I simply played it too much. I mean, put in one disc, and you can play every single ColecoVision title ever. Put in another disc, and you end up playing Puyo Puyo for 5 hours. DANGEROUS MACHINE...
  • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just finished playing mine again today.
    The only system worth my time.
  • thegreat59, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love the Dreamcast by far one of the best consoles out there. Looking at the graphics in Shenmue, it's amazing how it didn't get a larger fan base. My favorite games on it by far was the Powerstone series. Such a great party game, when I had a sleepover as a smaller kid I would pop in Powerstone and we would be entertained for hours on end. And of course the wealth of emulators for the Dreamcast made it even more awesome.
  • sephiroth4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sega just didn't set aside the money for advertising, and Sony fanboys murdered it waiting for the PS2. While they got lock jaw from playing another madden, Dreamcast owners had fun with NFL 2k and picking plays from vmus. Fine machine and I had my eyes set on Dreamcast 2 all those cool accessories that were planned.
    sega fanboy for life. Under Defeat, Ikaruga, Soul Calibur, even Dynamyte Cop....some of the best games around.
  • DECwakeboarder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dreamcast was definitely the most underrated console with the worst release date possible. Sega never really advertised it, then not long after it came out, Sony (a mega-corporation) releases the PS2 capturing the entire audience simply because they have the brand and advertising dollars over Sega.

    I loved my Dreamcast and still have it today, it was/is probably one of the best homebrew consoles out there for a long time. The biggest problem was the fact that there were very few games made for it (outside of fighting games) but there was always homebrew and being able to play PSX games to get around that. The few games that did come out for the Dreamcast were great though, can't believe I sold a few of them now.

    Seph just reminded....the VMU was another great thing with the Dreamcast, it's just a shame that their wasn't many developers that fully implemented it. Probably one of the best use of a console and handheld (even though it was just a small B/W screen with a few buttons) I have seen, 6 years later and Sony still can't get it right.
  • jmaynardg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can't find Dreamcast consoles *anywhere*. I've been to - like - every Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Gamestop, you name it. Nothing. Of course, every time I walk in and ask, some sales dweeb says, "No, but we have the PS3." Oh yeah?!?!? Well, I don't want no stink'n PS3! I want a Dreamcast!!!

    SHEESH!
  • crcurran, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Laser Etching on the removable battery cover? genius!! All they have to do is capture mii your image from the Wii's online interface and they ship you a replacement cover with the etching.

    on second thought, having my mii on the battery cover doesn't sound like I'm really personalizing the wiimote itself.
  • caddyalan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A few individuals who have made attempts to create games for console systems have used older CD-based formats such as the Sega CD. I suspect some people might prefer to create their own Dreamcast games because the system includes Windows CE.
    • malformedkitty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The system didn't include Windows CE - rather it was compatible with it. Every game that needed to use Windows CE had the binaries included on the disc.
  • Rangoth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Man I so love my dreamcast :)
  • malformedkitty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love the Dreamcast so much I have 6
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