Akihabara, Japan - Sega Dreamcast Sell Out

[Mark30001]

Via Kotaku

Snapped at a retailer yesterday by yours truly. This year, two Dreamcast games have been released in Japan, and if this shop is any indicator, increase in the retro console has picked up considerably. Note to Sega: Stop making the crap Sonic games and start making Dreamcasts again. We're buying!

 

[mtxblau]

Sonic and the Secret Rings is actually very, very good.

I don't think Sega should get back into the hardware market ever again - they can't afford to wage a war with Sony or Microsoft. Releasing new DCs would be for a very (very) small niche market, with probably little or no profit since major retailers don't even carry DC games anymore.

I don't think selling five or ten DCs at one store is any indicator of how well they'd sell in a global market. And, small video game companies aren't going to make it profitable either - Sega couldn't get it to go when they were designing most of the games for the DC. Remember the NFL 2Kx franchise? It was widely regarded as being better than Madden, yet the PS2 went on to absolutely destroy Sega (hardware sales wise and financially).

And it appears that the games that are coming out for the DC are for a niche market, too (shooters). A niche of a niche? I love my DC, but I only mildly enjoyed Ikaruga (and Radiant Silvergun for the Saturn). That's just me, though.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I think people are holding out hope for things that just won't happen.

 

[jojit]

I dont agree...

The cost of production of a DC nowdays would be ridiculous compared to a PS3! ...if Sega decides to make to continue the production of GD-roms, Naomi and DC (which will obviousely not happen, as Sega is neglecting gamers to target family-dads... thanks to conformist and capitalist society!) its target will not be the same as Sony's or Nintendo's.

I think it could be a not-too-bad idea to release a DC mk2 and dedicate this console to "underground gaming"... shooters, 2D fighters (Melty Blood, Arcana Heart and so on) and Doujin games (Last Hope and hopfully other yet-to-be-released stuff)... even if the scene is small, there is a market! ..and even if the profit is small, it's still a profit, and the best way to keep targeting family-dads without losing the hardcore-gamers public.

this topic and the number of sales of Trigger Heart and Karous prouves it...

I guess...

 

[mtxblau]

this topic and the number of sales of Trigger Heart and Karous prouves it...

I guess...

It only proves that there are people who still own a dreamcast. If it were such that people were picking up Trigger Heart / Karous AND a Dreamcast, that'd be a 1:1 ratio. Since DCs aren't being produced anymore, we know for a fact that it's not 1:1. By that logic, if I buy a PS1 or Sega Saturn game, there must still be a profitable demand for either system, right? Not really.


Secondly, after writing my first post, if I recall, Sega was already taking losses on hardware sales, which is why they exited the hardware scene entirely.


Thirdly, the Dreamcast is a 'loser' name, in that it's already widely known that the DC lost to the PS2. If Sega decided to re-release the DC, it'd have to go by another name entirely, which includes advertising revenue, etc.


Fourth, Sega doesn't care about you, me or any of the rest of us. If they did, there'd have been a Streets of Rage on the Saturn and DC (instead of Zombie Revenge), a translation of Shining Force 3 campaigns two and three, and several more iterations of nights into dreams. None of that has happened.


I think you're severely overestimating the actual fanbase for Sega hardware. If I was underestimating them, don't you think Sega would still be making hardware? As far as they're concerned, we weren't enough to sustain the DC, which is why it prematurely died.

 

[dibz]

As negatively slanted as the last post was, I'm inclined to mostly agree with MTXBlau. I highly doubt there is much demand for the DC, and if I had to guess I would even say the buyers of those DCs were probably previous owners with a renewed mild interest.

I think Sega releasing new hardware would probably put the final nail in their coffin, since much like MTXBlau said about the DC name -- the Sega name itself would likely kill any reasonable sales for new hardware.

Granted most of us here like Sega, but that shouldn't cloud judgment -- They need to concentrate on fixing their own name, like released some good games.

 

[mtxblau]

...sorry. Still bitter about Zombie Revenge.

 

[mrkotfw]

That picture is secks. I see a Saturn!

 

[dibz]

On the plus side, hopefully the new Sonic for the Wii will get them back on track with putting quality back in to their old franchises. I understand there is some issues with it of course, but at least it's fast.