#dreamcast 2

[nerbulent]

DREAMCAST 2 IS REAL WE DID IT

[stedipace]

"What if?" My Pitch for the Dreamcast 2

So after the bird app got bought by a rich moron, I got to thinking: what company would I impulsively buy if I had more money than common sense? I mean I wouldn't, I'd probably try and end world hunger or something but if there was anything left I'd just buy SEGA.

Like, for a laugh.

This started out as a design exercise for coming up with a launch title library but I got carried away...

So here's my plan:

The Actual Console

I think I'd like to honour VMU of the original Dreamcast and seeing Sony's recent announcements, we wouldn't be the only ones hopping on the Nintendo Switch Bandwagon.

The Actual console could stand to be a bit more powerful than the Switch but it doesn't have to be a top of the line behemoth. focus on making it fun, rather than powerful, thats how Nintendo sold a buttload this generation.

Launch Titles

Sonic Adventure 3

Ok, so right off the bat this one is a bit tricky.

Let me be clear: I LOVED Sonic The Hedgehog when I was a kid, but I'm sorry, I'm beginning to think there has never actually been a good Sonic game. Even my favourite ones haven't aged gracefully. Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 are a bit crap, I think we can all agree there. I love them games but the lack of polish on display, considering its SEGA's flagship title, is inexcusable. And since a SEGA console needs to ship with a "mainline" Sonic game (we've seen what happens when it doesn't), I say we go with Sonic Adventure 3 but maybe, like... good?

The idea of a 3D, momentum-based mascot platformer isn't a bad one. In fact, it's kind of a resurging genre in certain indie dev circles.

Twitter user @Cornf_Blue has been developing what looks like the best Sonic Adventure game Sonic Team never made. Actually, let's just hire this dude to run the project.

I'd also refer you to Spark The Electric Jester.

IT CAN BE DONE.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about my idea for SA3 cause I might do another "What If?" post specifically about that at some point but basically, here's the gist of it:

3 Playable Characters are Sonic, Tails & Knuckles

Stages connected by a hub world the player can explore as they like in SA1 but make it bigger and more open to exploration like Sonic Frontiers

3 Kinds of stages: Sonic "speedy" stages, Tails shooty mech stages and Knuckles treasure hunting stages like in SA2 (but keeping it to 3 characters instead of 6 so the team isn't spread itself thin and can focus on delivering quality over quantity).

Special challenge modes like Boss Rush, Speedrun mode etc..

In fact, just put in a bunch of speedrun-friendly features and modes.

Chao Garden! (but more on that later)

Power Stone 3

You need a big, fun multiplayer game in your launch titles and what's more fun than a 4 player fighting game with items and (kind of) platforming elements? It'd be fun to have a big co-op story mode and an online lobby system for multiplayer matches, but mostly, if you've got more than one kid and you're buying them a console for Christmas or whatever, this is the game you'll want to get with it.

Jet Set Radio: Legends of Tokyo-To

Another SEGA IP that started on the Dreamcast, this game was just a ton of fun. The game had a VERY distinct 1999/2000 timestamp on it and I think we're juuuust starting to see the nostalgia wave from that period swelling, so instead of going to the future like the game's sequel, it continues immediately after the plot of the first one. Get Hideki Naganuma, Cibo Matto, Guitar Vader and the rest of the gang back to do the soundtrack, keep the cool cel shading art style BUT make it an open-world game, having all of Tokyo-To available to roam around in, with different gangs controlling different territories, skating and tagging challenges, customizable art (players can make their own tags), and a faction system with rival NPCs (kind of like the nemesis system in those Lord of The Ring games but with graffiti instead of murdering). Heck, get the folks who did Bomb Rush Cyberfunk to make it.

Phantasy Star Online II

So it turns out this game already exists! And it's free to play! I didn't know that before I started making this post but honestly, that's perfect. If there's already a community of players, however small, that's already a lot of the legwork out of the way. Get some crossplay in there and you're set! Imagine getting the new console and your launch title but then, on the home menu, you see Phantasy Star Online II available to download for free! Old school players can enjoy the influx of new blood, revitalizing the game with a massive story event like new colonies being discovered or something, to explain the arrival of all the new players.

Crazy Taxi 3

YAHYAHYAHYAHYAH!

Everybody loves Crazy Taxi, there'd be something wrong with you if you didn't. Honestly, there's not much I'd do in terms of changing up the formula except maybe add a company management element to it, like you're trying to build a little taxi service where the main characters work. Upgrading cars, drumming up business and expanding to new areas. Just something to balance out the relentless fast-paced arcade gameplay. Online leaderboards for challenges and a local multiplayer with a versus mode (see who makes the most money) and a co-op mode (try to reach a set goal together) too, for good measure.

Bayonetta 4

Bayonetta isn't an OG Dreamcast title but IS currently an extremely successful franchise that would absolutely help sell some units on launch. I'm putting it in here because it's published by SEGA so I guess it's technically their IP? But it's also a Nintendo exclusive so I don't know how that would work. Platinum Games has a 4 contract deal with SEGA, but whatever, for this little exercise, pretend SEGA keeps the publishing rights to all their stuff as they move back into making consoles.

Virtua Tennis Pro

So we need a sports title in our launch library and I think it should be Vitrua Tennis. EA Sports games aren't exclusive anymore so you would eventually your FIFAs and whatnot, but it'd be nice to have a proper SEGA sports game again. For this one though, it would have a big, cinematic NBA 2K17 style where you're a rising young tennis star on your way to the top, singing deals, beating rivals etc... Get some competitive online multiplayer in there too of course.

Skies of Arcadia: Dusk

I've always loved the idea of Skies of Arcadia, a big, bright and colourful swashbuckling adventure, and you need one of those in your launch library, but I only played a little bit of the GameCube version unfortunately.

That doesn't matter cause I think I know exactly what to do with this one. Make a traditional RPG title, honouring the franchise's heritage BUT, since we now know how to make a fun pirate game thanks to Assasins's Creed IV: Black Flag, we add in the ship boarding/crew capturing mechanics from that game! So imagine you have the trusty, old-school dungeon crawling/battle systems when you get of your ship but you can get back in and sail through the skies, looting other airships and slowly building your fleet!

Chao Garden

Kinda like Nintendo Land but with Chaos!

Remember the Mii characters in Nintendo consoles? What if they were cute instead of creepy? Every console would have a Chao Garden where the player would create, customise and raise their own Chao. That Chao would also serve as the player's online avatar when connecting with friends and shopping in the SEGA store or whatever.

Players would be able to meet other Chaos, have them compete in minigames and lots more. Essentially the SA2 Chao garden but online. And of course, this would also connect to our Sonic Adventure 3 Chao Garden.

Obviously, this would extend to the console's portability function, like how the 3DS could actively search for the profiles when the user would walk around with it, letting you meet other Chaos!

Make a mobile app for it too so you can check in on your Chao.

These videos were massively helpful to me when writing this post:

[posthumanwanderings]

[posthumanwanderings]

Virtual On: Force (Sega Hikaru) - Opening + Demo

[flyking-data-bank]

I hope SEGA will release a new video game console.

[gaminggadgets]

Einen Dreamcast-Nachfolger wird SEGA nie veröffentlichen. Doch dank Fans gibt’s jetzt eine Dreamcast 2.

Okay, zugegeben – das Werk der britischen Casemod-Experten von Extreme Consoles ist in Wirklichkeit eine Nintendo Switch. Für den Youtuber MAZ Gaming erschufen sie zumindest eine fiktive Dreamcast 2 mit ein paar witzigen Details.

Sehr cooler Dreamcast-Controller. (Foto: Extreme Consoles)

Das bietet die Dreamcast 2

Auffällig ist erst einmal die typische Dreamcast-Farbgestaltung in Schwarz-Weiß-Blau. Auf der Rückseite der tragbaren Maschine befindet sich ein Dreamcast-2-Logo – wie kann es anders sein?!

Dreamcast 2. (Foto: Extreme Consoles)

Dreamcast 2. (Foto: Extreme Consoles)

Sehr cool ist die Nachbildung des originalen Dreamcast-Controllers. Das sind zwei Joy-Cons mitsamt eines angepassten Joy-Con Grip. Die VMU, also die Speicherkarte mit LCD-Display – eine Besonderheit der letzten SEGA-Konsole – ist in diesem Fall allerdings nur aufgemalt. Trotzdem: schick, schick.

Die Frage wäre für mich nach diesen Bildern: Würde SEGA eine solche Dreamcast 2 veröffentlichen, würde sie mich reizen? Es käme sicherlich auf die Spiele an. Ein weiteres Gerät mit emulierten Klassikern bräuchte ich dagegen nicht…

SEGA Dreamcast 2: Wenn SEGA eine Handheld-Konsole gebaut hätte...dann sähe sie bestimmt so aus! Einen Dreamcast-Nachfolger wird SEGA nie veröffentlichen. Doch dank Fans gibt’s jetzt eine Dreamcast 2. Okay, zugegeben – das Werk der britischen Casemod-Experten von…

[posthumanwanderings]

[blazehedgehog]

I keep hearing rumors about Sega wanting to make a Dreamcast 2, with plans to reveal a prototype. Thoughts?

Absolutely ridiculous. Sega is very likely in worse shape now than they were when they canceled the Dreamcast. It’s not like they went on to be mega-successful.

And what would Sega even stand to gain? There’s no room for them right now. The market usually supports two heavyweights: a Coke and a Pepsi. In the 90′s, it was Nintendo (Coke) and Sega (Pepsi), and now it’s Sony (Coke) and Microsoft (Pepsi).

The only way Nintendo’s factored in to this market is because Nintendo’s always sort of detached from the main battle. They’re off trying weird, new, different ideas, and deliberately banking on cheaper, less powerful hardware. They’re running a different race, and it’s mostly a race with themselves.

Sega doesn’t fit in to any of that. I don’t think they could outdo Nintendo at being weird, and they CERTAINLY couldn’t keep up with Sony or Microsoft.

And then there’s the PC. The one trojan horse nobody wants to admit exists. Nintendo ignores it, Sony and Microsoft have a lot of their so-called “exclusives” show up there, and it houses the biggest contiguous library of games out of any system in the world. Nobody can or wants to compete with the PC.

And if metrics are to be believed, the PC is where a lot of Sega’s best business is done, at least sometimes. Football Manager and Total War, PC-exclusive titles, were cited as some of Sega’s biggest sellers across the entire company. And Sega is pushing for more and more of their games to see PC releases – we got Sonic Lost World and Valkyria Chronicles, for example. There were rumors of Sonic Colors coming to PC at some point as well, and Takashi Iizuka has said he wouldn’t be opposed to a PC port of Sonic Unleashed.

Throwing a Dreamcast 2 in to this kind of world would be a disaster. Sega would have to work some serious magic to even BARELY have a chance. They have not yet proven that they aren’t still totally clumsy in every single respect.

I learned many, many, many years ago, that if anyone out there says Sega’s secretly working on the Dreamcast 2, you always ignore them, because it just doesn’t make sense.