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Why the Dreamcast was/is better than the PS2...

P90

Member
Outside of Skies of Arcadia, I can't think of one reason. Sega fans please state your case.
 

BuddyC

Member
Oh hell no.

You are not tarnishing the one holy day Sega fans have left with this tripe.

P.S.
samba.jpg

XJ100011590.JPG

vjcp68210_front.jpg

art06.gif
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I adore the DC (it was my favorite system ever), but quite frankly, the PS2 simply has more games that I love. It isn't even about lifespan either, as some of my favorite PS2 titles were released while DC was even still around!

Sadly, the ONLY two DC games that I TRULY loved that have remained only on DC are VOOT and Jet Set Radio. I'd include Soul Calibur, of course, but SC2 has replaced that (and there is no reason to go back to SC1). Everything else has been ported (to other systems) and many of those games have even recieved sequels...

It is the most memorable machine I've owned, for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't mean it has the best games overall.

I don't understand why this topic was made, though...especially on today. You heartless bastard. :p
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
it'll have to settle for being better than the gc and xbox. not that this is much of an accomplishment.
 

Teddman

Member
I think in most cases, the texturing ability of the DC was superior to the PS2's. And then there's VGA support and built-in internet connectivity!
 

Grubdog

Banned
Meh, pretty much every game i've ever been interested in on DC has had a superior version ported somewhere else. :)
 

Miburou

Member
If it weren't for the DC, then the PS2's jaggy display and low-res textures would've be more easily forgiven.
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
BuddyChrist83 said:
I will cut you.
I meant this actually: not that this is much of an accomplishment.

You know since the GC and Xbox are such terrible consoles.

I would never dare insult a man who loves Samba de Amigo, that goes against that is right in the world (I'm a fellow Samba fan).
 

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
Awww I like the GC and Xbox (and PS2 and Dreamcast). :(

The smiling monkey brightens my day. You nearly won that round drohne.
 

BuddyC

Member
I'd have more pictures, but I guess I didn't transfer everything to my laptop. Oh well. Here, enjoy Amigo's foray into the world of Zombies.

zombieamigo.gif
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
drohne said:
it'll have to settle for being better than the gc and xbox. not that this is much of an accomplishment.

There appear to be an awful lot of Dreamcast games on the GameCube these days.
 
Dreamcast games as a whole are an awful lot, LOL

Seriously though, DC was great a few years ago. These days, however, I hardly touch it. The controller is still one of the worst I've ever used, and many of its finest games have been ported or seen sequels on the newer consoles. My DC is basically a Samba/shmup machine now.
 

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
1st affordable console to bring arcade games home intact, in many cases surpassing the arcade offering.

First console to embrace online gaming via 56K or broadband.

The XBOX and PS2 are just now becoming what the DC was some 5 years ago.

U betta recognize...
 
Firstly, if you are mainly an RPG enthusiast, the Dreamcast would not have been your first system of choice. Aside from Grandia II, Phantasy Star Online (really more of a Diablo type game), and Skies of Arcadia there aren't really any compelling games in the genre. I wouldn't know about the Japanese games like the Sakura Taisens. I'm not a huge fan of the genre; I would have stuck with a PlayStation had I been.

For its time, the Dreamcast was the most graphically advanced machine available and had a wide variety of very quality games. I'm not going to say one is better than the other, but the fact remains that I've enjoyed many more Dreamcast games than I have PS2 games. Perhaps more importantly, there was a wow factor with the Dreamcast that wasn't there when I got my PS2. I felt that I'd already experienced many of the same type games with my DC by the time the PS2 came out. Good evidence that the Dreamcast was ahead of its time can be seen in the sheer number of Dreamcast ports that have landed on the new systems.

The following is a list of the Dreamcast games I highly enjoyed, with those bolded my favorites, as well as some of my favorite video game experiences ever -- ones that make me think so highly of the system. 40 games is quite a lot, especially for a system that only lasted for 2-3 years.

Bangai-O
ChuChu Rocket
Crazy Taxi
Daytona USA
Demolition Racer: No Exit
Dynamite Cop
The House of the Dead 2
Jet Set Radio
MDK 2
NBA 2K1
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
NFL 2K1
NHL 2K2
Phantasy Star Online/PSO v2 - Spent nearly 1,000 hours with the two combined.
Quake III Arena
Rayman 2
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Re-Volt
Samba de Amigo
San Francisco Rush 2049
Seaman
Shenmue
Shenmue 2 PAL
Skies of Arcadia
Sonic Adventure
Soul Calibur
Space Channel 5
Speed Devils
Speed Devils Online Racing
Tennis 2K2
Tokyo Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Toy Commander
Typing of the Dead
Virtua Tennis
Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram

Other notes:

The first two Tony Hawk games being on Dreamcast was huge news to me. Being able to play the games without the technical limitations of the PS1 and N64 versions was very nice.

Phantasy Star Online. I'd never experienced anything like it before, and will probably never have a feeling of "oh, wow..." with another game in quite the same way.

The sports games. The Visual Concepts NFL and NBA games just kicked the crap out of what was available before them. And NHL 2K2 was just a great game of hockey, the best simulation I've played.

Quirkiness. Chu Chu Rocket, Samba de Amigo, Seaman, and Typing of the Dead are not only different types of games that I'd never really played before or since, they were also very fun.

So, that's why.
 

drohne

hyperbolically metafictive
oh no, it's list time!

bakuretsu muteki bangaioh (way better than the fugly and fussy n64 version!)
border down
cannon spike
chu chu rocket
crazy taxi
f355 challenge
garou: motw
giga wing
giga wing 2
gunbird 2
house of the dead 2
ikaruga (minutely more faithful to the arcade game than the INFERIOR gc version!)
jet set radio (best 3d platformer EVER!)
last blade 2
mars matrix
marvel vs. capcom
mdk 2
phantasy star online
power stone
power stone 2
psyvariar 2
tennis 2k2 (ps2 version has JAGGIES!)
seaman
sega rally championship 2
shikigami no shiro 2 (vga! very convenient for a vert shooter!)
soul calibur
street fighter 3: third strike (though it's supposedly better on ps2)
super magnetic niu niu (second best 3d platformer EVER!)
tony hawk's pro skater 2 (best version of best game in series!)
typing of the dead
virtua fighter 3tb (er...UNDULATING TERRAIN!)
virtual on: oratorio tangram
yu suzuki gameworks vol. 1 (OUTRUN! best racing game ever!)
zero gunner 2

omfg! awesome dreamcast! dreamcast is awesome! gamecube owned!
 
it was the go-to system for most Capcom fighting fans until last week

every Capcom fighter from Alpha3 up is on that one system, and it had it's own arcade sticks, which were pretty good.



Also every time I turn it on my VMUs squeal at me. PS2 can't do that!!
 

Teddman

Member
Demolition Racer: No Exit is an awesome, awesome DC racer. Great hybrid of crash'em up derby and racing action.

Burnout 3's Road Rage "takedown" mode owes a lot to that game.
 

Insertia

Member
JGR is the only hyped DC that doesn't actually suck imo. :)

Can't honestly say I enjoyed the rest of DC's overrated ilk (Shenmue? please...).
 
m0dus said:
I disagree, considering how WELL the dreamcast can STILL hold up against the PS2 in terms of resolution, visual IQ (oh supersampling, how I miss you), and superior texture quality, I'd say it's hardware kicks the ever-living-shit out of the PS2's in all the areas it counts . . . except, you know, sales :). The DC was a masterpiece of elegant design.


I'm clinging to the hope that you are kidding.
 
The Dreamcast was a system that truly did have it's life span robbed due to blind system lust and hype.

And Jet Set Radio? Easily the most influential game, art style-wise, of the past five years.
 

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
P90 said:
Outside of Skies of Arcadia, I can't think of one reason. Sega fans please state your case.

It's still better than the GC, but if you think SoA was the best thing about it I hope you're not allowed to own one.
 

ge-man

Member
The sheer number of arcade titles put the system nearly on the level of the Neo-Geo, with the exception of premium prices.

While the PS2 surpasses the DC technically on most levels (as others have mentioned, texture and IQ is still the DC's strong point), I think the one thing that the DC has over the PS2 in my own case is the fact that it was the first to the gate. The 32 bit generation wasn't quite ready for 3D, and the launch of the Dreamcast drove that point home drastically. I was quickly converted after seeing Sonic Adventure running at a kiosk for the first time. I knew I was done with the over pixelation of PS games and the overfiltered, soft look of N64 games. The DC will forever have a wow factor for me that the PS2 can never claim.
 

olimario

Banned
I don't know what this topic is or where it's headed, but I need to say that Skies is a terrible game and outside of story, I don't know how it gets ANY praise.
 

Cathcart

Member
MvC2, Bangai-O, the absolute best looking and defining versions of THPS, PSO, Space Channel 5, Mark of the Wolves, Chu Chu Rocket, Virtua Tennis, the only good versions of Crazy Taxi, Rayman 2, Grandia 2, Test Drive Le Mans, man that was an awesome system. It got me back into console games after I had been sucked into RTS's and FPS's for a few years in college. Plus the DC looks way cooler than the PS2.

Seriously, PS2 bastards, let the DC have its thread on its fifth anniversary. Every day is PS2 day.
 

DCX

DCX
To be honest, if Sony slapped PS2 on Dreamcast and Sega slapped DC on PS2 i wonder what would have happen? :D

DCX
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
m0dus said:
I disagree, considering how WELL the dreamcast can STILL hold up against the PS2 in terms of resolution, visual IQ (oh supersampling, how I miss you), and superior texture quality, I'd say it's hardware kicks the ever-living-shit out of the PS2's in all the areas it counts . . . except, you know, sales :). The DC was a masterpiece of elegant design.

comic11.jpg


Yeah, yeah, not teh funny, but it feels appropriate.
Yes, I am a Sega Nazi.

Wow, you couldn't be MORE wrong...

The only area where DC stood above PS2 was image quality and textures, but that doesn't really hold true these days.

The DC hardware subscribed to the old PC ideal of "detail via textures". It was beyond any PC at the time, of course, but it still relied heavily on the usage of flat textures to make up for lack of geometric detail.

Initially, the DC could hang with the PS2 due to textures and IQ, but PS2 has more than caught up in the texture department and is starting to offer 480p on more and more titles these days (usually the most impressive looking titles as well). Image quality and texture abilities were really the ONLY areas where DC stood ahead of PS2. They are far from the most important aspects.

Oh, and VERY few DC games used any sort of anti-aliasing. Multi-sampling was supported, of course, but it was still expensive and most games avoided using it. I used a VGA box throughout the DC's life, and I own no game which supports multi-sampling.

PS2 had a very rocky start, but it still managed to step up to the plate with much higher polygon counts, better lighting abilities and tons of effects that had never been seen before in games (the famous post processing effects found in many PS2 games were unheard of prior to the PS2). Also, from a percentage standpoint, there are more 3D 60 fps titles on PS2 than any other console in history. The PS2 WAS the first console to really show me how important lots of geometry could be. For example, while the game was poor, The Bouncer was displaying visuals that really looked very similar to the CG found in games such as FF8...while running at 60 fps. Within the first year of owning the PS2, I witnessed a number of games with visuals that really did stand well beyond anything the DC had ever seen. I would say that the PS2 and XBOX/GC are much closer in terms of overall potential than the DC and PS2 are.

That comic is pretty funny too, considering that the PS2 DOESN'T have heat issues. The XBOX and DC (especially DC) have these issues, though. My DC becomes VERY warm after a few hours.

Bah, you've made me post something negative in a DC thread. :(
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
Four Controller Ports, whoo!

Actually, the DC was a hell of a lot better than the PS2 when the PS2 came out, and for quite a few months thereafter, which seems fairly obvious considering the time DC had to build up its lineup, but even that simple logic didn't seem too popular among the countless OMG PS2 ALREADY BLWOS DC AWAY launch hype proclaimers. But even a big DC fan like me wouldn't allege DC superiority thereafter.
 

DCX

DCX
Image quality means alot. Even though Gamecube is inferior to both the XBOX and PS2, it's image quality still allows to hang with the big boys. To this day games like Lemans, Sonic Adventure, Code Veronica, Soul Calibur, Quake III: Arena, VOOT, TrickStyle...have such a pristine image display, especially on VGA that people could mistake it for current gen games. I know what you mean by lacking geometry and the importance of it ( Ratchet and Clank's cities ) but if you are displaying a less than perfect image it really takes away from the real beauty in the technology....basically would you rather look at a girl next door who has under rated beauty clearly or a model with a less than perfect set of dirty glasses? Sure it wouldn't make the model any less of what she really is...but it's all about presentation and that's where DC shined.

- SegaNet=XBOX Live
- Wacky games into the mainstream ( i would have never tried games like Samba, The Typing of the Dead, Chu Chu, Seaman!! inovation...taking risks for who? Not them...for us, the gamers )
- Arcade Perfect games=Capcom Long live 2D and 3D with Power Stone

The fact that a system that was released in 98 with less than 6 million polys max still even bring up this debate with a current gen system pushing over 30 MILLION polys?!?! Sony should be ashamed....a Lambo is just as fast and capable as a Ford Focus....in city streets..

DCX
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I'd take more detail over image quality any day. I'd much rather turn a PC game down to 640x480 and run at full detail than to drop those details in order to hit 1280x1024.

Of course, like I said, image quality is becoming less of an issue. You mention Ratchet and Clank, yet R&C 2 and 3 both support progressive scan and would work with a VGA adaptor.

As I've said many times before, I'm not impressed with the DC VGA adaptor. I used it simply because I had no choice, but I would have used a TV over it any day. It was TOO revealing and often made the games look worse than they would on a TV.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
dark10x said:
I'd take more detail over image quality any day. I'd much rather turn a PC game down to 640x480 and run at full detail than to drop those details in order to hit 1280x1024.

Of course, like I said, image quality is becoming less of an issue. You mention Ratchet and Clank, yet R&C 2 and 3 both support progressive scan and would work with a VGA adaptor.

As I've said many times before, I'm not impressed with the DC VGA adaptor. I used it simply because I had no choice, but I would have used a TV over it any day. It was TOO revealing and often made the games look worse than they would on a TV.

Man really? DCA VGA Adapter was great. I remember playing JGR and even NFL2K on it vs. my TV and the difference was almost laughable (of course, I used it out of necessity too and just for couchability, I probably would have used the TV otherwise), the games looked GREAT on the VGA; in fact I played over 50 games on it and I can't think of many that didn't look significantly better, but then again I guess it's a matter of taste, and I loves me some clarity.
 
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