re: Why was the Dreamcast not successful?

Oh, it's absolutely poking fun at themselves. Each goddess (platform) fights for control of the Gameindustri. They end up banding together to fight against Arfoire (R4, the card you used to pirate DS games). This idea has spawned off a franchise that has 3 main games, 2 spin offs, and a TV show.

Development studios also get their own characters. It's very campy and silly. The games themselves honestly aren't great, but worth a buy if you can get a good deal.

quote:

---

That generation certainly started the trend that continued with Nintendo systems.

---

I think this is why the N64 is overall looked back on more fondly than the PS1 by the general public. Nearly all of the best games on the N64 were either developed by Nintendo or produced by Nintendo. I think that situation focuses everyone's adoration on Nintendo.

The PS1 certainly has more quality titles (it also probably has more terrible titles, but that's besides the point) but they were spread out more among loads of 3rd party developers.

And, to bring this back in line with the topic, this Nintendo fandom effect is why the Dreamcast is looked back on with rose-colored glasses. Sega also developed most of the best and unique games on that system and you went into that purchase knowing you were getting something uniquely "Sega".

quote:

---

How can someone enjoy a console so much and then 20 years later call it a disappointment?

---

Because I've noticed the relative lack of staying power for the N64. As an adult (and a Nintendo fan) I've gathered and collected my old systems. The NES and SNES have just aged so much better. There are STILL unique games and aspects to discover on those systems. The N64 gets exhausted quickly. You run out of good new games to play really quick.

And I went through that as a teen. PS1 was my first non-Nintendo system and it was because it had so many good games while the N64 was stark. Yeah, I got bored with OOT and Mario 64 and DK64 and Banjo-Kazooie after beating them five times each. There's not much after that. Sue me.


(And eventually your friends move on and don't want to play Goldeneye or Mario Kart anymore). Lots of people got an N64 in 96 or 97 then switched to PS1 a few years later even though it was released earlier.

quote:

---

SNES: 784

---

That's just NTSC/North American releases.

The Japanese version had 1442 on the Super Famicom. A lot more are playable these days, due to a lot of fan-made translations that now exist. The SNES has held up quite well over time for this reason, among others.

quote:

---

The NES and SNES have just aged so much better.

---

I think this has a lot to do with the relative immaturity of polygonal 3D gaming of the time and added complexity the 3rd dimension brought to games. I have trouble going back and playing old N64, PS1, and Dreamcast games because a lot of what we take for granted now simply wasn't possible then.

PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox is really when technology began matching ambition. I can play many of those games today and they hold up well.

quote:

---

I think this has a lot to do with the relative immaturity of polygonal 3D gaming of the time and added complexity the 3rd dimension brought to games

---

This sums it up pretty well right here.

It didn't help the N64 that they focused on the 3D games and actually refused a lot of 2D games over the span of the system. They thought the future had arrived then

It's a disappointment that they didn't release more games, sure. Overall, it's far-fetched to call the N64 a disappointment.

I dunno it's hard to judge now but I think it was an amazing console that may have been even more amazing if they had gone with a disc format instead of the cartridge. We would have played FF7 on the 64 if it weren't for the cartridge.

This has me thinking... would Nintendo have killed the Playstation if they had gone with a disc format?

Well I said I was looking back. This is all from my adult perspective. I loved my 64 but I also played the shite out of a Mortal Kombat Tiger LCD handheld. Kids are stupid. Me and my wife and my friends and my siblings and my nephews still play NES and SNES all the time. Not out of nostalgia or irony or whatever, because they're still legitimately fun in 2015. And I continue to expand those collections with good games - get games only my friends had, or games I only heard of, or games I never even knew about. It's not the same with the N64. You get a few great games and play through them and you're done. That's the disappointment.

I see where you're coming from but I just don't think it's a fair comparison.

Developers still make retro-styled 2D games on current-gen consoles that are awesome. You don't see anyone making new 3D games with low polygon counts.

It's tough to compare. A better comparison would be PS1 vs N64. Then you'd realize the only real disappointment is the cartridge choice which led to less games.

I get you though, I just find it tough to give it a fair assessment this far down the road.

I did go through a many N64 analog sticks.

The PS1 didn't have analog sticks when it was released. Looks like Ape Escape was 1999, a year before the PS2 came out. You must have been busy playing that 64 ;).