Wii U-Dreamcast comparisons

[Dendio]

The Wii U isn't doing so great, being outsold by the wii and having developers refusing to commit their games to the system. People also tend to think of it more as a peripheral to the Wii than a system in its own right.

The dreamcast is known as one of the great console failures in recent memory. The dreamcast died from overwhelming competition from the playstation 2. The Wii U seems to be setting itself up for a similar fall once the new ps4 and nextbox come out.

The dreamcast had a stronger launch lineup with a killer game that made you want the system (Sonic Adventure). Like the Wii-U it was innovative for its time. The system offered modem support and had a screen in its controller.

What do you guys think? Is nintendo doomed? Is there anyway that lessons from the dreamcast can save them?

 

[Fappy]

I've made the comparison myself, but Nintendo has a few big advantages working for them that SEGA didn't.

- They have a successful handheld (not as successful as it's predecessors, but the sales are picking up)
- Way more capital than SEGA had at the time
- More BIG properties that will sell to the hardcore Nintendo fans
- A successful console legacy. Remember, Dreamcast was coming off the heels of the massive failure that was the Saturn.

I don't think the Wii U is for sure doomed, but they are certainly hurting. If the Wii U ultimately fails I am not sure what Nintendo will do, but I am sure they'll be in a much better position than SEGA was after Dreamcast bombed.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

The Dreamcast comparison is extremely faulty as Fappy just illustrated. SEGA had FOUR disastrous hardware release with the Game Gear, SEGA CD, 32X, and the Saturn. Nintendo has had ONE of those in the Virtual Boy and that was nearly twenty years ago. Nintendo and the Wii U will be fine, especially when the 1st parties titles start rolling. People bitched and moaned about the DS, the Wii, and the 3DS and Nintendo proved them wrong EVERY time so I'm not worried.

 

[Desenova]

To me, everything about Sega came down to doing something no one else was really doing from the Master System to the Dreamcast. The main reason, to me that the Dreamcast failed was because it didn't play dvds. Yes, the SegaCD sucked, but - it's going in directions others weren't thinking of. A lot of Sega's failures really didn't fall so much on the hardware per se, but more with timing. Some of the things they were working on are coming out now, such as the cancelled handheld that was supposed to come out after the Gamegear, which was going to have touch screen capabilities, but ultimately discontinued because it would cost too much once released, instead they went on to make the very underrated Nomad, which I LOVE and bring it wherever I go.

Nintendo has always been about re-hashing their core 4 or 5 franchises and somewhat going against the grain of everyone else, but always for the sake of innovation, i.e. the N64. Now and again they come up with something wonderful, but then just burn it into the ground instead of pushing it as much as possible, like the Genesis or the PS1. Sure the add-ons were mediocre, but they were trying. And I'll always pick the console doing what no one else is doing over a remake. And no, the Wii was not the first of it's kind, just timed right.

So that's my two cents.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Besides the Gamepad, I wouldn't exactly call the Wii U "innovative", and, while this is only anecdotal evidence, you could argue that that innovation might be what is putting some developers off making games for it, at least when it comes to multiplatform games anyway.

But still I don't think that Nintendo are heading the way of ol' SEGA yet anyway.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Dreamcast is the posterboy for console failure, and it gets brought up wih every big name console that might be struggling at some point.

The Wii U won't fail, as in sell so dramatically Nintendo will cease production. Even if it might fail to garner the attention from the "hardcore", Nintendo will make it their business (because it is their business) to have it succeed to a point where it can make the finish line. Remember, Nintendo got pretty fucking rich off the Wii, so I'm sure they're more than capable to handle the Wii U tanking.

 

[hazabaza1]

The Dreamcast is the posterboy for console failure

Is it now?

Your move friend.

Not really a console is it? More of a handheld. Or faceheld. Or whatever.

 

[Terramax]

This comparison keeps getting brought up, and it's still completely bogus.

*snip*

This, this, this, this, this!

Although I'm not sure what the bit about the Dreamcast being on the scene for 4 years is about. I believe Sega pulled out a between 2-3 years, with third party companies carrying one publishing and distribution i.e. Big Ben Games in Europe.

Another thing thing to add is that the Dreamcast was initially a success, apparently breaking records for the number of units sold at its original release. Also, the game had a number of standout titles directly at launch, crucially of all a Sonic title. This is a far cry from the Wii U which has had less than stellar sales pretty much right off the bat.

 

[gorfias]

I hope to be proven wrong, but I think the real hold up on truly new and revolutionary graphics is developers, not hardware. I think it probable that the Wii U will be able to match the PS4 and Next Box while cost a fraction of what they will cost.

I am intrigued. $450 for the Wii U and a Bluray player, or more like $900 for the PS4 and Vita? If the graphics are comparable, and I think they will be, I'll get a Wii U.

ITMT: I hope Ps4 proves me wrong and offers something eye-popping by 2015. We'll see.

The great commercials are that good looking, but that tech was around for Gen 7. See Batman and Mass Effect 3 trailers: the games didn't end up looking anything like that even on high end PCs.

 

[TheComfyChair]

The Wii U pretty much has failed in terms of core games, the third party support isn't there and it wont ever be (Nintendo consoles are a very small fish for major publishers). It also doesn't have the 'casual gamer' appeal of the Wii to shift lots of consoles, there's a lot of other devices to play games on now that suit that audience much better.

There will, however, be the usual lineup of core games for the dedicated fanbase, and they will help keep the Wii U ticking over. I'd say the Wii U will probably fall a bit shy of gamecube worldwide sales, which wont be terrible, just not going to set the world alight.

Nintendo wont be in any trouble though, the Wii U really didn't cost them a lot to make at all from a tech perspective (the GPU, for example, is a slightly modified AMD embedded GPU) so they aren't hurting. Plus, as people have said, the 3DS is doing just fine.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've made the comparison myself, but Nintendo has a few big advantages working for them that SEGA didn't.

- They have a successful handheld (not as successful as it's predecessors, but the sales are picking up)
- Way more capital than SEGA had at the time
- More BIG properties that will sell to the hardcore Nintendo fans
- A successful console legacy. Remember, Dreamcast was coming off the heels of the massive failure that was the Saturn.

I don't think the Wii U is for sure doomed, but they are certainly hurting. If the Wii U ultimately fails I am not sure what Nintendo will do, but I am sure they'll be in a much better position than SEGA was after Dreamcast bombed.

It wasn't just the Saturn that was a drain on Sega, the 32X was also a much bigger failure than most people remember and there was a ton of money dumped into a console that was basically a stand-alone 32X.

Sega dumped a bunch of money into more than one console that failed. Nintendo only has one console that outright failed: The Virtual Boy. Also OP: Power Stone was a huge draw; it was Sega's answer to Smash Bros and a fighting game that I liked more than Smash. It didn't use Sega characters but Power Stone was a powerhouse and even now there are people clamoring for a third. Nintendo has multiple properties it's just sitting on that it could bust out at any time to cheers and fanfare.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Dreamcast is the posterboy for console failure

Is it now?

Your move friend.

I mean consoles that had, you know, promise.

 

[Jazoni89]

The Dreamcast is the posterboy for console failure

Is it now?

Your move friend.

I mean consoles that had, you know, promise.

The 3DO had a lot of promise, especially when it first came out. It was hyped up to be the best thing since sliced bread, but it's price point stopped practically everyone from buying it, and the fact (like the Dreamcast) it came out at a very awkward transitional period between generations. Still has a fairly impressive library for a failed console though, with high profile games such as Star Control 2, Alone in the Dark, and Street Fighter 2 making it's way on to the platform.

You could also say the Jaguar had promise too, but due to be hard to developed for due to the twin processors (the Tom and Jerry chips respectfully) There wasn't many games developed for it, and it was woefully underpowered. It got a total library of nearly sixty games, with a few extra games for it's ill-conceived add-on, the Jag CD. It only sold a quarter of a million units in it's lifetime, which is terrible even for a failed system.

However potentially these two consoles could of been a hit if released at the right time, and had a better marketing behind both.

Though consoles like the Apple Pippin, CD-I, Nuon, Laseractive, Amiga CD-32, and the Memorex VIS (going into some very obscure territory here) were dead in the water since they were released because of literally zero marketing, zero hype, and zero licenses, which the 3DO and to a lesser extent the Jaguar had.

These even sold much less than the Jaguar, rumor has it that the Pippin has more accessories available than actual systems.

This comparison keeps getting brought up, and it's still completely bogus.

*snip*

This, this, this, this, this!

Although I'm not sure what the bit about the Dreamcast being on the scene for 4 years is about. I believe Sega pulled out a between 2-3 years, with third party companies carrying one publishing and distribution i.e. Big Ben Games in Europe.

Another thing thing to add is that the Dreamcast was initially a success, apparently breaking records for the number of units sold at its original release. Also, the game had a number of standout titles directly at launch, crucially of all a Sonic title. This is a far cry from the Wii U which has had less than stellar sales pretty much right off the bat.

This is why i don't consider the Dreamcast to be in the same league as the 3DO, Jaguar, and other failed consoles, because It had the most successful launch for any console since then, and while the dreamcast itself only sold 10 million consoles worldwide, it left a legacy on the industry that's so big, it's still being felt pretty much today. Not to mention the lasting impression the Dreamcast has left on gamers everywhere, with it's great library of games, and it's innovative features. I still play mine on a regular basis...

I wouldn't even call the Saturn a failure either, it sold incredibly well in Japan, and still has it's own legacy like the Dreamcast. All the Jaguar gets is pretty much "Lol 64bits Lol!"

I find most gamers who hate on the Dreamcast, and Saturn, haven't played them at all.