It's 1999 again, ThinkGeek selling sealed Dreamcasts for $99

[jaw04005]

I'm not shilling for ThinkGeek or anything, but I thought it was cool that they are selling sealed Sega Dreamcasts.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/ba52/

I'm thinking of picking up one, but the used costs of Dreamcast games are outrageous.

 

[danny_w]

I had so much fun with that machine! It was too bad that Sega flubbed in the marketing department. Technically it was far superior to the PS2 and the XBOX, but lost in the end.

 

[MRU]

Technically it was far superior to the.... XBOX....

I loved my DC but it certainly was not technically superior to the Xbox.

http://www.segatech.com/technical/consolecompare/index.html

 

[danny_w]

I loved my DC but it certainly was not technically superior to the Xbox.

http://www.segatech.com/technical/consolecompare/index.html

OK, forget the Xbox then. But the games definitely looked far better on the Dreamcast than the same games on the PS2.

 

[SkyBell]

They're selling PS2's now for $99...why couldn't you just pick up a used Dreamcast for much less?

 

[jaw04005]

I never owned one, but it's online connectivity had to be revolutionary since it was released in 1999. I don't think the original XBOX was released until 2001 was it?

Here's a fun docu-podcast on the Dreamcast:

http://www.onnetworks.com/videos/play-value/sega-dreamcast

They're selling PS2's now for $99...why couldn't you just pick up a used Dreamcast for much less?

You could. But I think the point of these is that they're brand new, sealed. And they include all the accessories, which is probably rare in a used one.

 

[0098386]

Damn that's a good price. It's a shame manufacturers simply don't make limited runs of their old consoles, or at least with newer innards emulating as close as possible the old system. I'd pay through the nose for a new Amiga or Snes.

 

[jaw04005]

Damn that's a good price. It's a shame manufacturers simply don't make limited runs of their old consoles, or at least with newer innards emulating as close as possible the old system. I'd pay through the nose for a new Amiga or Snes.

I would gladly pay $99 for a SNES. The best console of all time!

 

[smokestack]

Don't let the high prices of games hold you back.
The real reason the Dreamcast failed was its absolute lack of copy protection, relying only on the slightly higher capacity of their discs to limit copying. Sega failed to see the obvious signs on the horizon of sharing digital files over the 'internet' (as they called it in those days), so games trickled out online. All you needed was some bandwidth and a stack of CD-Rs. File sharing since then has only become better...

That said, the DC really is a fun machine, especially if you are into Japanese games (I'm not). The original version of Rez, Sonic Adventure, and of course Sega Sports games can make it fun to hook up every now and then.
I've found 2 of them used (one for $60, one for $6), and have picked up little extras along the way at flea markets and thrift stores (VMUs, s-video cables).
$99 isn't a steal or anything... unless you think a sealed Dreamcast is going to be worth big money someday...

 

[danny_w]

Don't let the high prices of games hold you back.
The real reason the Dreamcast failed was its absolute lack of copy protection, relying only on the slightly higher capacity of their discs to limit copying. Sega failed to see the obvious signs on the horizon of sharing digital files over the 'internet' (as they called it in those days), so games trickled out online. All you needed was some bandwidth and a stack of CD-Rs. File sharing since then has only become better...

That said, the DC really is a fun machine, especially if you are into Japanese games (I'm not). The original version of Rez, Sonic Adventure, and of course Sega Sports games can make it fun to hook up every now and then.
I've found 2 of them used (one for $60, one for $6), and have picked up little extras along the way at flea markets and thrift stores (VMUs, s-video cables).
$99 isn't a steal or anything... unless you think a sealed Dreamcast is going to be worth big money someday...

Yeah, $99 for a brand new system may be worth it to some, but when you can find loads of them on CL for $30-$50 with a few games it still seems too high for me. I sold mine quite some time ago with several games and all accessories for less that $50.

 

[txa1265]

Crap ... all sold out.

 

[Chone]

I loved my DC but it certainly was not technically superior to the Xbox.

http://www.segatech.com/technical/consolecompare/index.html

Or the PS2 either for that matter

OK, forget the Xbox then. But the games definitely looked far better on the Dreamcast than the same games on the PS2.

Resident Evil 4 on GCN looks far better than RE4 on the PC, doesn't mean, by any chance, that the GCN is technically superior to the PC

 

[stainlessliquid]

Don't let the high prices of games hold you back.
The real reason the Dreamcast failed was its absolute lack of copy protection, relying only on the slightly higher capacity of their discs to limit copying. Sega failed to see the obvious signs on the horizon of sharing digital files over the 'internet' (as they called it in those days), so games trickled out online. All you needed was some bandwidth and a stack of CD-Rs. File sharing since then has only become better...

The DC died long before broadband and file sharing became popular. People were downloading MP3's off Napster back then, not games. I didnt know a single person who pirated games for Dreamcast.

 

[Antares]

The DC died long before broadband and file sharing became popular. People were downloading MP3's off Napster back then, not games. I didnt know a single person who pirated games for Dreamcast.

Pretty much everyone I knew in college who had a Dreamcast did so....or knew someone who did so for them. I even got a disc full of SNES and NES roms and a Dreamcast loader for them back then. People were even pirating N64 games (to play on their computer) back then. I remember seeing someone playing Ocarina of Time on their computer and thinking thinking....wow. T1 lines in college in the mid and late 90's enabled all of this. And the schools were none the wiser, back then, about piracy.

 

[0098386]

Everyone I knew with a DC also had them chipped, and we didn't get broadband in our area until 2003! You don't need the internet to pirate games. People were pirating Amiga and Spectrum games during the birth of home modems.

 

[MRU]

People were pirating Amiga and Spectrum games during the birth of home modems.

People were pirating ZX81 games let alone spectrum

 

[gkarris]

Yes, I missed out when Best Buy was closing them out for $39.99 and $5.99 - $9.99 for the games.

I did find one from a guy on eBay that was selling them for $89.99 and $15 shipping - he bought out a warehouse full and was selling them on eBay.

That was about 5 years ago and I assume he's sold out. I guess they're really popular again.

Anyone have a Play N Trade? They're opening up here around Chicago and they have old games and systems!

Got some old Atari and Colecovision Carts as wall as some Sega Saturn games!!!

 

[Synthetickiller]

Don't let the high prices of games hold you back.
The real reason the Dreamcast failed was its absolute lack of copy protection, relying only on the slightly higher capacity of their discs to limit copying. Sega failed to see the obvious signs on the horizon of sharing digital files over the 'internet' (as they called it in those days), so games trickled out online. All you needed was some bandwidth and a stack of CD-Rs. File sharing since then has only become better...

Wrong.

Do you even know how to burn a DC game? You need a specific burner that will overburn (move the writing lens farther than normal) to burn the extra bit of data. I have a few burnt games from a friend and that was the method he was forced to use.

Dreamcast died because developers jumped ship and moved to PS2 believing that the dreamcast would die and have the same fate as the saturn against the ps1. Clearly, the developers caused this. The DC was highly successful, just lost support in the US too quickly. Japan is another story. Dreamcast lasted much longer and was produced in Japan till 06'. There are still games slated fro release THIS year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast

 

[RITZFit]

I still have my dreamcast laying around. I actually played it not too long ago, still fun stuff . It was a pretty cool machine for its time (especially w/ those cool memory cards).

 

[2nyRiggz]

I still have my Dreamcast and its in excellent working condition...even my SNES is in top form. The only thing I didn't like about the dreamcast was the bulky controller.


Bless

 

[stainlessliquid]

Pretty much everyone I knew in college who had a Dreamcast did so....or knew someone who did so for them. I even got a disc full of SNES and NES roms and a Dreamcast loader for them back then. People were even pirating N64 games (to play on their computer) back then. I remember seeing someone playing Ocarina of Time on their computer and thinking thinking....wow. T1 lines in college in the mid and late 90's enabled all of this. And the schools were none the wiser, back then, about piracy.

A few college kids with a T1 wouldnt have caused the downfall of the dreamcast though. VERY few people had broadband in their home back when the DC was still alive.

Everyone I knew with a DC also had them chipped, and we didn't get broadband in our area until 2003! You don't need the internet to pirate games. People were pirating Amiga and Spectrum games during the birth of home modems.

How is the average person supposed to pirate DC games without downloading them? You couldnt rip the discs on a computer without special crap. The old way of pirating computer games was making a copy of a friends/rental, DC discs werent that simple since the data cant be read by a cd-rom. Even PS1 piracy was way easier than DC piracy simply because you could rent the game and make a copy of it on your computer to use with the swap trick or some mod variation.

 

[Miharu]

Those are such beautiful packages. Makes me want to buy one. "Unfortunately" I already have one... Shenmue 2, Soulcalibur, Crazy Taxi <3

 

[LethalWolfe]

Wrong.

Do you even know how to burn a DC game? You need a specific burner that will overburn (move the writing lens farther than normal) to burn the extra bit of data. I have a few burnt games from a friend and that was the method he was forced to use.

Dreamcast died because developers jumped ship and moved to PS2 believing that the dreamcast would die and have the same fate as the saturn against the ps1. Clearly, the developers caused this. The DC was highly successful, just lost support in the US too quickly. Japan is another story. Dreamcast lasted much longer and was produced in Japan till 06'. There are still games slated fro release THIS year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast

Just to tie in to what you are saying, Sony's hype machine w/the whole Emotion Engine, Toy Story quality gfx, yada yada yada kept gamers away from the DC too. I knew a lot of people that skipped the DC because of the hype around the PS2.


Lethal

 

[0098386]

How is the average person supposed to pirate DC games without downloading them? You couldnt rip the discs on a computer without special crap. The old way of pirating computer games was making a copy of a friends/rental, DC discs werent that simple since the data cant be read by a cd-rom. Even PS1 piracy was way easier than DC piracy simply because you could rent the game and make a copy of it on your computer to use with the swap trick or some mod variation.

People at your school/college/university/work/pub didn't know someone who sold £5 DC games? Every one of them above mentioned places housed a pirated software seller or 2. You don't have to pirate games yourself, you just pay a little bit extra to have someone else do it for you...

 

[takao]

there were actually people who owned a dreamcast while it was still on the market ? so far i only met one person who bought it as a collectors item years later