The Dreamcast - What Happened?

On this episode of What Happened, we learn of the ancient legend that occured on the holy date of 9-9-99!
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Edited By: / kawaii3droofie
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Intro By: / dkirbyj and / phildragash and / littlevmills
#dreamcast #sega #whathappened

[@Lythero]

Thank you Isao Okawa

[@DestinyZX1]

If it wasnt for him SEGA wouldnt be here today

[@ThievNWalrus]

He was a Gentleman of Fortune, he was.

[@Aazdremzul]

What an amazing legacy. I hope they have a statue of that man somewhere near Sega's main HQ.

[@scottpiwinski6779]

Get a life looser it’s a game console

[@scottpiwinski6779]

No one cares

[@GraveReaperCushions]

*"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ATARI JAGUAR"* That's a t-shirt right there 👍

[@moister3727]

they were worried about the atari jaguar

[@toiletsinjapan9933]

Surprising considering the reputation atari had at the time

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

THE ATARI JAGUAR IS A MAIN EVENTER, WE GOTTA PUSH THE 32X SUPER HARD

[@universalperson]

Jaguar had an enormous amount of hype back in the day. Best comparison is microsoft being worried about google stadia before it came out

[@toiletsinjapan9933]

@@universalperson but the actual company was in pretty bad shape behind the scenes. also the lynx had bombed pretty hard.

[@Guttabee]

Imagine loaning 500 million dollars of your own money out of the kindness of your heart. In turn saving thousands of jobs, and peoples stability. Then on your deathbed, knowing you wont need that money soon, simply dropping the debt. That's half a billion dollars... Loaning the money was commendable on it's own, but then simply dropping the debt... Then we have Activision/Blizzard CEO's are laying off hundreds of people to make sure they get their few mil at the end of the year. Isao Okawa was a name I have never heard before today, but wish I had. If only we had more people like him. Having that kind of money, and actually using it to do some good is honorable, and yet men like him are rare. Hit me right in the feels.

[@edgardeitz2784]

I only want to know if Isao Okawa was a saved Christian, because he *should* be in paradise. If he is,... :)

[@barretprivateer8768]

@@edgardeitz2784 How dare you. At least if paradise actually existed you wouldn't get to go there and bother good men like Mr. Okawa

[@edgardeitz2784]

I didn't mean anything by my statement; I was merely stating my beleifs...

[@EAZIIMAN]

@@edgardeitz2784 you kinda made it seem like he's in hell for not believing in god even tho the man was a very kind and generous person. Pretty much like a back handed compliment. Some things shouldn't be said especially when speaking on the deceased

[@edgardeitz2784]

@@EAZIIMAN I just wish to let people know that is not what I intended with my comment; I was merely stating asking if he was a saved christain, an stating that if he is, that he IS in paradise now, which he deserves...

[@Zabuza3190]

“Years ago, I was Chinese” that had me dying.

[@gemstonegynoid7475]

@@CosmicG777 yesterday i was alive. doesnt mean that I'm not alive rn.

[@jbaldinelli4]

@@CosmicG777 He was a Chinese citizen, but after living in Japan for so long he gained Japanese citizenship. That's how he describes it the game lol Trust me, I had the same reaction when I played Shenmue for the first time.

[@justafox5356]

CosmicG777 the full quote is “Years ago...I was Chinese. Now I’m a naturalized Japanese.” It’s just the wording and delivery that makes it sound so hilarious. If I had to guess it’s just a combination of iffy translation and the silly sort of amateur voice acting that helps make Shenmue such a delight. It makes it really feel like playing through one of those terribly dubbed Japanese martial arts movies.

[@jonasamorim4958]

is that so?

[@continentalglue]

Is that so?

[@kininlil9181]

Damn, seeing that Okawa bit made me emotional. I hope SEGA still paying respects to him.

[@hanliu3707]

that's the kind of capitalist we really need in this day and age...

[@jinkade]

Yeah I wonder if he's an Easter egg or cameo in any of their games. I would definitely have him as special thanks in the credits of every game released after his passing.

[@SeanStrife]

@@hanliu3707 Unfortunately, most capitalists are the exact opposite of him. Between that guy and someone like Satoru Iwata, who took pay cuts twice so that nobody would have to lose their jobs when most game publisher CEOs would cut everybody lose to save their own profit margins.

[@stranger59]

He believed in the dream...

[@shinmiroku]

I didn't know this part, what a hero, F

[@goddamnarshia]

Isao okawa is officially a gigantic mega chad. Mad respect

[@ColossalKilla]

His name isn't Chad.

[@willtheoreminer5527]

Man's a legend

[@dereksbooks]

@@fumomofumosarum5893 Gifting someone that much more as your dying wish makes him a Giga Chad.

[@KaguyaHimex]

Developed by two teams? Thousands of miles apart and with a language barrier? Absolutely no communication? Always a good idea! Never goes wrong!

[@derealized797]

I kind of have to wonder. If they did go along with 3dfx, the difference it could have made. I mean, i wish i could travel to alternate universes for the what if's. Return with the Nintendo playstation. The N64 version of FF7. There's so many different possibilities which we know of. Everyone is all about time travel. I think this would be more interesting than that.

[@xXFlameHaze92Xx]

Sega did it..... Thrice! Sega of America start designs Sonic 3 when they did not know Sega of Japan start to Design Sonic CD. Sega of America start designs of 32x when they did not know sega saturn design was already started by Sega of Japan. Sega of America start to make a deal with 3dfx when Sega of Japan already make the deal with Hitachi

[@lazarushernandez5827]

@@xXFlameHaze92Xx The Sonic CD thing wasn't a big deal, apparently Sonic 2 (92) wasn't doing too well in Japan, so the team over there got to work on Sonic CD(released in 93), meanwhile STI in the U.S. started working on Sonic 3 early in 93 which launched in 94. Sega of America knew that Sega of Japan was working on the Saturn, the Saturn had started development in 92, one of the reasons the 32X used the same cpu chips the Saturn did was that programmers could get used to programming for them. The 32X was supposed to keep the Sega userbase engaged before the Saturn launched in the U.S. the following year (it launched in Japan in 94 the same year the 32X did in the U.S.)

[@sandyr5407]

Nowadays, we at least have Zoom. 😅

[@Abel-Alvarez]

*Looks at Capcom Vancouver and Capcom Japan during their Dead rising 3 & 4 years* ummm yeah about that. 😬

[@SHARDK2]

Isao Okawa is the Sega version of Satoru Iwata. What a fucking outrageously generous man to singlehandedly save Sega when they should've by all metrics gone under. Without him we would've never gotten shit like the Yakuza games or even possibly Persona or Dark Souls.

[@ShOscar]

We would've never gotten "DAME DA NE DAME YO"

[@Agent-yw1kj]

Persona already existed before Sega

[@snailthelostcow63]

Persona already existed way before Sega though. Keeping Atlus alive? Yes

[@SHARDK2]

@@snailthelostcow63 SMT existed, not Persona

[@p5rsona]

@@SHARDK2 google harder

[@CometX-ing]

The fact that Sega was saved by one extreeeeeeeeeeeemly generous man is honestly amazing in a way I cannot tell is good or bad.

[@Luxocell]

If SEGA was killed early, we would have never gotten Super Monkey Ball aka best game -dare to say- in the story of mankind

[@chosebine2169]

good or bad i dunno the most SEGA thing ever? yes Baffling Buffoons saved by a Baffling Miracle

[@DocMcCray]

Sega may have made a lot of mistakes post-Dreamcast, but all in all I like them as a company and believe they have made the gaming marketplace a better place. Much like Capcom, they had to learn a new niche to get into within the past 10 years, but they still publish titles that I enjoy. Yakuza being their new flagship IMO

[@s0shadow]

just think about a world where there WASN'T a sonic racing game with danica patrick in it. scary thought.

[@GreatNegus]

@@s0shadow Say what yoi want but she's probably the best character in that game. A tier for sure.

[@AVGNROCKS1996]

I still find it hilarious that despite being Nintendo’s Rival, the two things that killed Sega as a hardware competitor was themselves and Sony.

[@westfield474]

@@Bloodletter8 Not Really, While the Playstation has cut into a lot of Nintendo's original console market share they've still continued to make a solid profit through a mix of smart business practices, strong IPs and dominating the handheld market.

[@AVGNROCKS1996]

@@Jose-se9pu Yeah, Sega ultimately dug their own grave, but Sony was a thorn in their side like nothing else and took their spot as Nintendo's ultimate rival. Fuckin "299"

[@58jharris]

Both Sega and Nintendo made major goof ups in the 90's that allowed the rise of Sony and Microsoft into the console market. Nintendo survived though because they made fun games that had a loyal following and you could only play them on a Nintendo console.

[@aaron_aj_knight_95]

@@ShadowWolfRising Well, Microsoft sort of had a hand in developing the Dreamcast, hence the label "Compatible with Windows CE".

[@gamalsaad1545]

@@58jharris handheld saves nintendo

[@tacoman422]

Gotta say, these days it's hard to imagine a wealthy chairman bailing out one of his own flagging companies instead of giving it the axe while waiting for a bailout from the government so he doesn't have to cut his own paycheck.

[@hwanniggles187]

Iwata did something similar during the Wii U. He cut his own pay to prevent any lay off

[@super_speedster360]

I wish we lived in a world where the dreamcast succeeded

[@lukebennett1648]

We do

[@Endar0]

This Isao Okawa sounds like a decent person.

[@tobalitos23]

For Real, I knew a lot about this story but that one caught me by surprise. If there is any takeaway for me from this is that Isao sounds like a good man.

[@origirindra1590]

sega should put a gold statue of him in front of their main office

[@CornBreadtm1]

He saved so many peoples jobs that it's not even funny. And Japan was in a pretty shitty place at the time, so losing their jobs at SEGA would have been brutal in all respects.

[@BknMoonStudios]

The real MVP of Sega, and he wasn't even part of the company!

[@Endar0]

So I looked it up. He did receive recognition from the Japanese government for his aid to technology companies, including Sega.

[@Boom12]

Isao Okawa went above and beyond to keep Sega alive. If that doesn't inspire selflessness, I don't know what will. He deserves all of our gratitude for saving Sega. May he rest in peace.

[@TheBlackSeraph]

..and indirectly keeping MegaTen alive since Atlus has been bought out twice - first by index then by Sega.

[@terrenceswiff]

What Okawa did genuinely made me tear up. That's amazing.

[@terrenceswiff]

Yeah I guess

[@Reverse_Spider_Parker_SH]

RIP Okawa san the supervisor of sonic adventure 1 ,2 ,and the savior of sega your dream will never die

[@BioroidPilot]

You know I cant help but have some respect for Sega's boss being willing to give up a large amount of his own money so the company wouldnt have to fire everyone and go away, kinda wish more high rank Ceos and the like were like that.

[@SeanStrife]

It must be a Japanese cultural thing; Satoru Iwata famously took several separate paycuts so that he didn't have to dock the pay or fire anybody at Nintendo when he was in charge. The philosophy there is that when workers are stressing if they'll keep their jobs or not, they won't put out the best possible product they can.

[@moonman4307]

@@SeanStrife most japanese workers are notoriously overworked and underpaid, so not sure if thats entirely true. Its just these 2 men were genuinely good people

[@AzureKite]

​@@moonman4307 It holds true for Nintendo and Sega, at least. The rest of Japan might have differing views, but we've never heard of a Nintendo game being subject to crunch.

[@maximsavage]

Japanese CEO's are often held responsible when their company suffers, whether they deserve it or not; that leads to a massive loss of face. In Japan, nothing is considered worse than embarassment: losing face is the worst thing anyone can suffer. So, to avoid losing face (NOT to be altruistic or fair), some high-level businessmen will take a personal financial loss to save their company.

[@flyballer1573]

If you a billionaire and don't use your money to preserve what you love then what good is your money?

[@toiletsinjapan9933]

Matt, here's an interesting tidbit you might not've heard: so it ends up that Sega wanted to exit the console business long before the dreamcast was even released. You think they were worried about the Jaguar, but they had another console in their crosshairs as well, the 3DO. Rather than shill out the megabucks to build their own console, the plan was to buy 3DO outright, who were developing their successor console, the M2, which was to be manufactured by 3DO's partner Panasonic. This basically would've given Sega a console that was rumored to be more powerful than the dreamcast sooner, with the benefit of Sega's first party titles on it. Apparently the whole deal was nixed at the last second because 3DO president Trip Hawkins (same guy who founded EA) tried to make a power play and asked to be the head of Sega of America. After that, all 3 companies ended up exiting the hardware business within a few years of each other.

[@JonVonBasslake]

I want to see the mad timeline where that deal went through, even if it ended up making Trip the head of SoA... Though, it might have been better if he wasn't the head, even if the deal went through...

[@toiletsinjapan9933]

@@JonVonBasslake Well, for one thing it would have meant the release of the M2 version of D2, which actually looked kinda cool to be fair. On the downside, alot of the arcade games which used M2 hardware ended up being notoriously faulty. Who knows how it would have gone, honestly...

[@BoonMcNougat]

You're kidding me. Back then, hardware manufacturers were so ignorant and delusional that they would consider coming out with a sequel to a system called 3DO with something called an M2? Wow, that is crazy, that they'd try to even go backwards with the model numbers like that. That's be extremely confusing to the consumer! Now excuse me while I play my XBOX 1

[@JonVonBasslake]

@@BoonMcNougat What about XboX Series X, coming maybe probably sometime this year?

[@BoonMcNougat]

@@JonVonBasslake yes, thank you for helping me to prove my point

[@mostlyjoe]

It always strikes me as how strange the US, European, and Japanese home offices were constantly at war each other within Sega. It wasn't until after the restructuring with the collapse of the Dreamcast that their overall global platform was unified.

[@mattm7798]

Yeah, a good CEO would have seen the success and encouraged it, not rejected it because it wasn't supposed to happen that way.

[@fredroberts8275]

Sega Japan felt they were being usurped by Sega Europe & America as they did pretty terribly in sales. There is also a real major cultural stigma in Japan about letting foreigners run your company and that is basically what Sega of America had been doing, even got the non-english speaking Yuji Naka to work in the US.

[@toledochristianmatthew9919]

​@@fredroberts8275which is weird since Sega was originally an American company. Yeah Japanese branch gained more influence over time but that is still not an excuse with the way they treated their Western branches. It was the western branches that allowed Sega to dominate in the first place.

[@Cableguy15]

Game development in the 90s was very different from today. A lot of Japanese devs believed that westerners could only make weak PC ports or low quality games for the Atari. Companies like Sega Technical Institute and Rareware helped reverse that negative stereotype, but before they came to prominence, you could almost understand why they'd be annoyed at some American marketers trying to steer the company their way. SOJ seeing SOA's success probably ignited their national pride, which was why the Saturn catered so much to Japanese audiences and actually succeeded in Japan (But nowhere else).

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

@@toledochristianmatthew9919there was a jealousy within Sega of Japan at the success of Sega of America and Europe.

[@wolfhawk1999]

A Fred Durst signed Dreamcast is one of the most late 90s things I've ever heard

[@mechajay3358]

I feel Sega got too overconfident with the Genesis success and didn't bother to properly advance their console line, taking the phrase "They do what Nintendon't" way too far.

[@dovic2293]

they were a one hit wonder just like Atari with the Atari 2600 being there best console and the Genesis being segas best console

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@dovic2293 atari weren't really a 1 hit wonder their computers actually tended to do really well at least.

[@job489]

I recall the PS2 was also the cheapest DVD player in stores on its release date. I knew people who bought the PS2 to play DVD movies and never even played a game on it.

[@Jansk1h]

It wasn't the cheapest, but it was so cheap it was worth buying for that alone, since you cold also play games if youso desired

[@stupidbluebird]

the dreamcast just had something special to it. no other console has come close to recreating the feeling of playing dreamcast. it's probably nostalgia but there was something unique to that console.

[@G.G.___162]

100% agreed

[@kaisersoymilk6912]

Part of it's charm it's due to its Hitachi-NEC chips, it wouldn't have been the same with 3Dfx hardware inside.

[@atre5763]

You wrong! There is a console that recreated the Dreamcast. And that’s EVERY OTHER FUCKING CONSOLE!!!!

[@THB192]

I don't think it's just Nostalgia. Dreamcast games had a distinct look to them, on account of being well above the PS1/N64 but a bit behind the PS2. It has its own distinct aesthetic. And it has kind of a fascinating place in console history, as it directly inspired the development of the first truely modern online service-in a real way, SEGANET is the true predecessor to XBox Live. The other reason the Dreamcast is special is easier to quantify. It's *fucking batshit insane.* Sega knew they were doomed unless they could sell like crazy, so they had everything to play for and nothing to lose. Which means that teams were given license to make really weird games that wouldn't fly at any other time. AM2 put out Shenmue, which was crazy expensive and... okay I won't say Shenmue is *good* exactly, but it's a weird, weird game that feels like it was designed by space aliens and it's totally worth at least trying if you can grab it on Steam (apparently Shenmue 2 is much better...). Sonic Team put out Samba De Amigo, and ChuChu Rocket! (as well as PSO and the Sonic Adventure games, which were a bit more expected and... okay, Sonic Adventure isn't really all that great. Admittedly, I really kinda like SA2, but that's because SA2 epitomizes what I remember Sonic being as a kid: blue skies and kickass butt-rock). And of course Smilebit put out Jet Set Radio, the immediate award winner for Most Dreamcast Dreamcast Game. The reason I say it's not nostalgia is because I didn't grow up with the Dreamcast: I was a PS2 kid. But I've emulated these games and played ports later and they are nuts.

[@atre5763]

What about the Switch?!

[@stallionmouse]

It's crazy to see someone like Okawa be part of the games industry and be so generous. It's like night and day compared to present day CEO/company practices.

[@stallionmouse]

ok buddy

[@whosaidthat84]

I remember my brother and I being at the midnight launch at Gamestop. It was PACKED. So much hype and the clerk said "Dreamcast is no joke!" It's such a bittersweet memory because if you were there that night you would've thought that this thing was going to beat the PS2. RIP Dreamcast.

[@rickyrosay33977]

My birthday was literally the day before the launch my dad left my birthday party at around 8 pm he came back at around 1 am with a gift box in that box was a dreamcast it was the first new console I ever got while all I had at the time where hammydowns one of my best birthdays ever I still have that same dreamcast that copy of Soulcalibur as my launch game still works great

[@flyingfist4203]

7:20 "The competition from Nintendo-" *Cut to Mario dropping a baby penguin over the cliff.*

[@lukebennett1648]

We all did it

[@sifunmon]

That penguin had it coming

[@jasonhill8696]

It should be noted that Shenmue was so expensive to produce that for it to have made a profit every Dreamcast owner would have to buy it TWICE

[@freelanceryuu]

WOW.

[@oscarperez9783]

You can thank Sega of America president Tom Kalinske for making sega relevant in the console market and also thank Isao Okawa for saving sega from bankruptcy

[@bunyan2422]

That scream spiderman makes at 16:24 is hilarious!

[@Ramsey276one]

I'M GOING TO DIE I will never forget that sequence now...

[@propheci]

Shame about the Saturn, that was, and still is my favorite Sega console. Had no idea that Okawa guy stepped up to save the company. RIP to that guy👍👍👍👍.

[@WraxTV]

Yeah, Saturn was amazing, though it's definitely a waste unless you got a region beater. Most the best games were Japanese exclusive. But yeah, when I got a Saturn, first things I got was a 4-in-1 Action Replay, S-Video cable, Vampire Savior and Die Hard Arcade. Was a fun as hell time.

[@Tantalis77]

nights into dreams and astal on saturn are two of my favorite games of all time.

[@alfo2804]

I just hope nobody watches this video and gets the impression that the Saturn's best looking game was Virtua Racing, since that is the only Saturn game shown in this video. Virtua Racing is nowhere near the specifications for an average Saturn game, why on Earth would you use that for comparison over Daytona USA or SEGA Rally Championship?

[@LainWithSweetTea]

@@Tantalis77 no mention of shining force 3? Come on~

[@atre5763]

Saturn is worse than Dreamcast, and Dreamcast sucks already!

[@pumpkinhill4570]

Another fact about the PS2 launch that often gets lost in these retrospectives is that it was a very affordable DVD player at the time. The Dreamcast could play CDs (and V-CDs which were pretty big in Japan), but people had just been spending thousands of dollars for DVD players in recent years, and even at the launch of the PS2 were still routinely spending $200-400 just to be able to through away their VCRs. The PS2 at $300 allowed you to upgrade to DVD and have one of the latest game consoles for little more than the cheapest DVD players were going for.

[@gamesandplanes3984]

Yup. This was probably the biggest reason ps2 sold so well.

[@invencible373875559]

right, you could play with the ps2 and watch movies and listen to music on the same console, a deal as any i haven't seen since then

[@nicolemonrue]

I remember the end of the Dreamcast cycle. I was working at Toys R Us at the time and I remember they discounted the Dreamcast to $50. I bought it and 2 extra controllers 2 extra memory cards and a handful of games, plus my employee "discount" I spent around $80. They were just trying to get rid of them. I still have mine til this day. I even still have the box lol. The playstation 2 release was a BEAST. We could NEVER keep even one on the shelf and we'd only get like 1 to 5 of them a week

[@rabb1t_guy]

Massive fan of the Dreamcast and I’ve seen loads of videos on its history and everything, but this was by FAR this was the most informative one that I’ve seen. Thanks Matt!

[@guardrailman6924]

I see your another initial d fan Takumi yawning

[@derealized797]

I remember, i bought my dreamcast soon after they announced that it was the end. People were like why would you buy that thing? Well because i got it brand new in the box for $50, and there were some good games out for it. So.... why not? Also. bleemcast. I mean, it all seemed obvious to me.

[@Incubusnut]

The Dreamcast was amazing. I was never more hyped for a system launch. Never regretted buying one for even a second.

[@Twinleaf_2623]

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of 9/9/99, my dad and I went on a bidding site to score a Dreamcast that came four controllers, 3 VMUs, and Crazy Taxi for just 60 bucks. By the end of the month, I got it in the mail. Since then, I've been building a small collection, getting games like Ecco the Dolphin, Shenmue, Grandia 2, Rayman 2, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

[@Kspat2]

The fishing games on the dreamcast with the pole controller were ELITE and yes I’ll die on this hill.

[@RegalPixelKing]

Isao Okawa is such a legend, the man saved Sega, and he didn't even work there. I have not even heard his name until I saw this video. Hell, even on his death bed he waved the loan they owed and gave them his shares back, that's just inanely generous. I'm really glad Sega is still around because they do make some truly outstanding games, but god some of there upper management was mindbogglingly stupid.

[@ArrowValley]

I remember being the only kid in my class with a Dreamcast as everyone else wanted the PS2. I also said how great the Sega games were but it fell on deaf ears. Then years later, some of my friends purchased one when it was worth peanuts and already dead only to agree it had great first party games! That’s what I had been saying for years!

[@atre5763]

Your friends are dumb. They should’ve kept playing the ps2.

[@Pooky1991]

Nah. There were interesting titles, but theres still alot of ps1 games I find myself more interested in and wish would have some kind of comeback (Tomba, Einhander, Frogger He's Back, ect). If Sega were smart they would've utilized their ips outside of Sonic more wisely (I still want a new Nights game that's executed better and another Jet Set Radio). As for Shenmue, if the die down of hype for that 3rd game is to go by, it's still really niche a series and aged just as badly as some of the ps1 games despite how revolutionary it was at the time (plus some of the kickstarter issues makes the chances of a conclusion or resurgence of popularity very unlikely).

[@33Dannyb]

I remember vividly when Sega dropped the Dreamcast price to $50 bucks, some people had two in their hands.

[@crazyking1896]

@@atre5763 Your definitely a toxic PS fan who thinks anyone who doesn't like or own a Playstation is an idiot like you.

[@Dark-Shinobi]

@@Jose-se9pu wtf are you talking about??? The ps2 had a great launch line up Unreal Tournament, DOA II, Tekken Tag, Time splitters, midnight club, Madden etc. It out performed the Dreamcast out the gate people were buying them as cheap DVD players along with gamers this is why it sold better than the Wii. GT 3 and GTA 3 releasing one year later in the same year back to back is what straight up killed the Dreamcast everyone wanted a PlayStation at that time.

[@gex581990]

my god a Dreamcast with 3dfx would have been godly

[@JonRobTom]

"The 32X was born in a call from (then) Sega of Japan President Hayao Nakayama...Mr. Nakayama basically said that we had to do something about the Atari Jaguar." "If SEGA had picked the direct competitor to 3Dfx at the time. It would have been fine. But they picked someone (Hitachi SH-4 CPU architecture) we had never heard of. It was somebody's friend of somebody's friend at a Japanese country club. It was a head-scratcher, like, 'What are they doing?' That was mostly it." Damn. Those awful, out of touch hardware business decisions contributed to SEGA downgrading itself to a software company. Good thing that they bounced back though thanks to the generosity of the late, great chairman Isao Okawa.

[@drift180x]

Man Isao Okawa is an absolute legend, I like the games SEGA makes, so I’m very grateful to him for his amazing generosity and keeping SEGA alive.

[@crashschwarzen4642]

The Dreamcast was such a amazing console, Its such a shame they pulled the plug on it so early

[@quangtran-rc9bk]

Crash Schwarzenegger just like the Vita

[@LazyPirate8]

@@quangtran-rc9bk XD

[@MrDmoney156]

@@JohnDoe-kv3kd except the Dreamcast had actual good games

[@misterbadguy7325]

Yeah, Sega did a lot right with the Dreamcast and managed to learn at least a good number of lessons from the Saturn... but the problem was, by that point, they had lost too much money and goodwill for anything short of the Second Coming to pull them out of their death spiral.

[@JamalTheTitan]

@@JohnDoe-kv3kd I personally think that damned sony memory card is what killed the Vita. What a dumb idea!

[@stevenc9251]

Holy crap, I never knew about how they almost went bankrupt either. I for one am glad Sega is still around, and greatly appreciate the life line they were given to stay afloat.

[@christiandacanay3086]

@@LeynosJehuty That woild be Tec-Toy, Sega's Brazilian partner, selling them in Sega's behalf.

[@silverflight01]

16:58 o7 A hero we will always remember

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

I picked up my Dreamcast at 8am on 09-09-1999. I loved it from that morning all the way until the terrible news that it was going away. Honestly, it might be my favorite console of all time.

[@iranoutofideasforausernam1703]

Part of me really wishes you'd picked it up just one hour later.

[@randomguywithacar]

Same 9-9-1999​@@iranoutofideasforausernam1703

[@SaraNightfire1]

I recently read Console Wars (a great book about Genesis vs SNES), and justd behind the scenes on what was going on in Sega at the time is just a history lesson in the business itself. America really pulled through for Sega, they hired a CEO who steered the company through a really rough patch and got games behind him. Hell, they're the reasons why we have M rated games (the hearing for violence in video games, Sega pretty much publicly spanked Nintendo when they were trying to put a stop to M rated games) Well, apparently success made the Sega of Japan jealous. They actually started to undermine the American counterpart, I wish I was kidding. They purposely did things to the company they knew would destroy the consoles so they can have their "I told you so" because their ideas were terrible. (google the first Sonic the Hedgehog concept, they thought that was one of their best ideas they ever had). That their ideas would work out better in the long run, Sega of America actually tried to protest several changes and was severely resigned at the end. Especially when some people dropped out seeing where it was headed and they quietly started replacing the employees with their own, some with completely insane ideas that were going to make the already bad situation worse and bullied the American counterparts to quitting. Yeah, Sega was a story of too much success from only one side of the pond.

[@snailthelostcow63]

So... sega being sega again... This company is like Nintendo but on drugs

[@OneTrueBelmont]

100 percent yes. I read that book too and it's just mind boggling how much they shot themselves in the foot.

[@Oturan20]

Sega really does do what Nintendon't.

[@kaneo1]

Oddest of all is SEGA was begun by Americans, & went Japanese-controlled later.

[@TheBlueBlur100]

That's pretty ironic considering the spiritual successor to the Dreamcast was the OG Xbox.

[@brianvaira486]

Every Sonic, Super Monkey Ball, and Yakuza fan has Isao Okawa to thank. May he rest in peace.

[@03chrisv]

I got a Dreamcast at launch when I was 14 years old. It blew my mind that I finally had arcade quality graphics at home. It's definitely one of my favorite consoles.

[@zachiswayposi1]

Isao Okawa should have a giant statue in front of Sega's headquarters if he doesn't already.

[@aeongg9985]

Skies of Arcadia OST brings back some great memories 10/10

[@CornBreadtm1]

I own it on the GameCube. Fantastic game. I don't even own a gamecube anymore, just the game!

[@rorymalheur2545]

What a trip hearing so much of it! Good times.

[@Elc22]

Yes. I'm glad they updated the game and released it on the GCN. It's sad to see the game being mostly forgotten. We need a PC port.

[@Wafflemage]

Dat Skies of Arcadia music. Beautiful.

[@ContactM1ke]

Hats off to Isao Okawa

[@Erdenichtspricht]

Throwing in Phantasy Star Online as another top tier game that came out on the Dreamcast. I put thousands of hours into PSO, PSOv2 and the GameCube follow-ups.

[@nickh7777]

I was really interested in that game and than...I got my first computer instead. I still don't regret it...

[@boodlefightbunny]

I actually teared up a bit when I found out what Isao Okawa did. Truly legendary class act.

[@alexandre9563]

Very interesting video, just like the rest of the show! I think Final Fantasy XV would be a good subject. The developement hell, the mixed release, the severals rerelease, the never ending cross promotions with other unrelated games or whatever products SquareEnix could find, the parts of the story that never made into the game... there would be a lot to do with. (I hope my english is ok in this post)

[@JonVonBasslake]

I think FFXV could be broken into at least two part. Versus XIII as it was originally going to be and that leading into the Wha Happun for XV proper.

[@rebellyanmagic6409]

An anime miniseries, a horrible movie, a patch released post-launch just to explain certain story elements, the DLCs that never got implemented and got published in a book that I think was only released in Japan.....just yikes.

[@CornBreadtm1]

Might as well toss all 3 on the chopping block! Hallway simulator FF13, F14 1.0 and FF15 and it's amazing technicolor DLC!

[@thelittleredhairedgirlfrom6527]

CornBreadtm And don’t forget 13-2!

[@Ramsey276one]

THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN A MUSICAL CUP NOODLE MODE XD

[@Saturnfanboy]

"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ATARI JAGUAR" ... Does this mean that the Jaguar is responsible for the 32X's failure!?

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Nope, Sega's responsible for that. The Jaguar could be responsible for the failure that was the 32x.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Yes, by causing the 32X to exist in the first place. 😂

[@grklipss]

I have a special attachment to my dreamcast... first console i bought with my own money, i was like 10 or 11 yrs old... i love my dreamcast.

[@raidthanfl]

Same here. I was 16, and bought it for re code veronica. Totally worth it

[@s4tchm0j0n3s]

@@raidthanfl Same here. Worked weekends while at school to fund it. I was a big Soul Blade (Edge) fan on the PS1 and the first time I played Calibur....my god. I remember the viewer mode where you could just watch the CPU fighting and pan the camera round. I'd spend ages just on that watching in awe. Such a great console.

[@Incubusnut]

“WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ATARI JAGUAR.” 😂🤣😂🤣

[@dizzydoom4230]

Sounds like Isao Okawa saved SEGA's ass overall with that huge bro move.

[@RyanPuffs]

7:21 “Competition from Nintendo” *Mario drops the baby penguin off a cliff*

[@LesbianJumpscare]

I started crying when hearing about Isao Okawa. God damn, what a man.

[@Jansk1h]

Me too man. Imagine believing in something so much and just wanting to see them succeed that you're willing to go above and beyond for them 🥲

[@joshsweet7512]

"Crown Jewel! the vmu..." *Stop Skeletons from Fighting has entered the chat*

[@dest151]

Wow..that guy saved sega..where would sega be without that man?

[@That_Ifrit_Guy]

Didn't realize just how bad of a situation Sega was and how much of a legend Isao Okawa was!

[@LordRaif]

I recall another part of the reason that the Dreamcast game sales flagged was because they had no read protection, meaning you could copy Dreamcast games via a conventional CD/RW drive, something that was becoming more and more common at least in American households at the time. Considering the US was their second largest market, it stands to reason that this huge piracy issue likely at least made a dent in their game sales (while not necessarily the console itself, for obvious reasons).

[@otakuthegreat]

Europe release date 14/10/99 (Since nobody brings it up) Still remember one of the adverts that had Robbie Williams "She's the one" playing in the background Didn't get one till years later (Friend bought it for me as a birthday present, his mum found out and was not happy yada yada yada) still love it to this day (got it modded to have the Katana dev kit boot vid too) Loved the video & the edits *Should've had a edit with Onslaught from MARVEL VS CAPCOM saying "The dream is dead!" R.I.P. Isao Okawa What a legend. You don't get businessmen like him anymore...

[@mysticphoenix1987]

This ^

[@RealHumanBeing276]

if you're making What Happened on consoles now, remember OUYA?

[@TSalispahic]

Real Human Being that would be awesome tbh

[@maximillianlylat1589]

Oh god this would be perfect.

[@alistair4909]

Literally got beat by the Wii Mini XD

[@alistair4909]

Justin R that’s an interesting position. what kind of changes would you have made?

[@alistair4909]

Justin R I mean the software, optimization, the pace at which Tegra was evolving, and the cheap controller would still make it pretty pointless imo

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

The horrible reception of the previous Sega console (Saturn) kinda doomed the fate of the Dreamcast. Most of the Sega fan base had left for the PlayStation brand, despite the Dreamcast being quite innovative (ability to play online). Not to mention The PS2 was getting some huge sellers like GTA III and FFX.

[@SeanStrife]

Yeah, the Saturn could definitely been seen as the beginning of the end for Sega as a console dev.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Looking back, yeah, but at the time it wasn't that simple. Sega of Japan supported the Saturn right up until Sega called it quits in the hardware market. It was Sega of America's then VP/later CEO Bernie Stolar who cut off the Saturn at the knees in the U.S./western markets. In 1997 he announced that the Saturn wasn't their future, this basically caused many western devs working on Saturn titles to stop completely and/or move them to other platforms. It kept some of them away from the DC as well. Before then the Saturn was still getting regular games alongside the PSX (PS1), and it was still an attractive platform for publishers compared to the N64: that was cartridge based, Nintendo was responsible for the manufacture of those carts as well as the amount, they took longer to get to market than CDs, and Nintendo took home a bigger cut. Don't get me wrong, I agree that Sega made a lot of errors and mistakes with the Saturn and earlier hardware. The shame is all of those would come back to bite the DC which didn't deserve that.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

@@SapphireSword-pd1ix At the time PS2 and Dreamcast had equivalent graphics, the thing is PS2 lasted so much longer that programmers learned to extract so much more out of it, compare games that launched on the PS2 to the last ones released for it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2PJoJhjpZd9bKM The full potential of the DC was never reached when it was out. While I don't think it would have matched some of the later PS2 titles, you would have seen an improvement in quality over time. Sega's decision to make the Saturn do both 2D and 3D has to do with the competition at the time. The Megadrive was beaten in Japan by the Super Famicom(SNES) and the PC-Engine(TG-16). NEC's follow up to the PC-Engine was the PC-FX which was 32 bit system that focused on 2D graphics. There was also the FM Towns/Marty that also focused on 2D graphics.These 2 may have influenced Sega's decision when developing the Saturn, although Sega should have known better considering they helped usher in 3D polygon games with Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter etc...

[@RetrOrigin]

@@lazarushernandez5827 The hardware difference between the DC and PS2 is quite larger than most people like to admit. Also the DC was a lot easier to code for and even received sort of a hardware upgrade in the form of the Naomi 2 which still lacked many features found in PS2 developed games (lightsourcing for example still looks a lot more basic than even budget PS2 games) I don't think the difference between early DC games and later gen games would have been that big. Keep in mind the whole generational thing doesn't really apply to all consoles, look for example at a 1st gen game on the Gamecube like Rogue Squadron that already looks just as good as any later gen game. The same can be said about some OG XBOX games. It has a lot do with how well documented the hardware is, the development software available for it and the ease to code for it. That being said, hardware isn't everything and many "weaker" consoles have been able to survive just by relying on a decent library.

[@theretronavigator]

@@SeanStrife Sega of America got cut at the knees when they got the okay to do the 32X, being blindsided by the Japanese branch with the Saturn reveal. Hell, Sega of Japan fucked Sega of America constantly.

[@Frankenburger]

It's also pretty important to note that a good chunk of Dreamcast's failure was because the frequent release of addons, and the miscommunication between Sega JP and Sega NA about the 32x and Saturn, lost them a lot of developer support. Nobody wanted to develop for the Dreamcast because they didn't have faith in Sega's ability to retain a single platform for a long period of time. This lead to a very underwhelming library for third party titles.

[@pablocasas5906]

It's kind of amazing that Nintendo also suffered a lot in terms of third-party support on their home consoles, though not on their portable ones, but still managed to survive through various console generation with their own first-party software Now that I think about it, aside from Sonic, Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia, I can't think about a major title for the Dreamcast developed by SEGA that wasn't an arcade like game

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

At the time, being worried about the Jaguar was understandable. It was 64 bit which was impressive for the time, and I think even though it’s hardware was buggy and needed more work it could power some great games when used properly, and although it eventually became a flop at the time it could’ve been really dangerous, unfortunately though it’s hardware was built for flat shading and gourad shading, and the next generation instantly moved onto texture polygons.

[@nickh7777]

Ya but anyone with half a brain at the time would have realized that it all would've ended at 64 bit. Just like hmmm, Sony did, and Xbox did, and computers did, and Nintendo did

[@GenerationWest]

"The SEGA Dreamcast is the superior machine!" - James Small

[@ThePivotaddict]

hearing matt say dreamcast without a shitty british accent or james small banter is weird

[@atre5763]

Lol no!

[@gogetawhatif8138]

Faaaaaxxxxxx

[@Velocity42]

Ahh, The Dreamcast... One of the greatest underrated consoles that have some of the amazing timeless classic games and has a unique use of the Internet capabilities with the Ethernet adapter, SEGA NET userbase, and Windows CE bulti-in. Sadly, games were easily pirated, you can't play DVD movies on there, and with the PlayStation 2 coming closer and closer to its launch day, SEGA has to close their console business and have to strictly be a third-party company in 2001.

[@NinjaWeedle]

Piracy actually didn't play too big of a role.

[@lindylou538]

"Underrated"

[@Barakeh]

Man I got goosebumps knowing what Isao Okawa did, such a selfless man

[@a.jackson9613]

I still have my Dreamcast and several of the games. I thought it was an amazing system that was unfortunately too short lived. NFL 2K, Virtua Tennis, Crazy Taxi, Skies of Arcadia, Phantasy Star Online, and Soul Calibur, which at the time was better than the arcade. The list goes on, but imo, it was a solid system.

[@thomasnoh5149]

Isao died for Sega's sins

[@christophergordon6250]

Sega really owes everything in their current situation to Isao. He literally saved Sega's asses and then waved the loan on his deathbed AND gave them his shares of his stock, as well. That's a classy guy, right there.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

The controller wire on the bottom always confuses people, but I realised why they made that choice while playing the Dreamcast at my desk with it hooked up to my CRT monitor. They intended the console to support VGA output and be played on PC CRTs, and when you are playing it like that having the controller wire go down is convenient since when you are that close to the console the wire naturally goes down and then back up to the controller from underneath. When the controller is connected to the console under a TV at the other end of the room, having the cable underneath feels more awkward, but to be honest it makes very little difference either way. Also while I’m writing this you mentioned the cost of Shenmue, and I just want to say that that 50-70 million wasn’t just spent on Shenmue 1, it was spent on 2 as well. The two games were somewhat developed as one, and then split apart and continued as separate games. A lot of Shenmue 1’s prerelease materials actually showed Hong Kong and China from Shenmue 2.

[@edgardeitz2784]

1) Explore new techniques in programming and such. 2) Encourage the American and Japanese teams to work together and communicate more, or find a way to make them want to. 3) USE THE 3DFX tech ANYWAY; this will also keep EA Games in your roster. 4) Include a DVD player function 5) redesign the Dreamcast controller; a better design will help... 6) DO NOT release _early_; continue developing the Dreamcast properly, THEN release! 7) ADAPT WITH THE TIMES!; learn from the successes and failures of your competitors, and develop more open world exploration games. If SEGA did this with the Dreamcast, maybe they might have fared better...

[@shirubionicle]

Also, don't discontinue the Saturn too early

[@Raishinshi]

Finally the "What Happened" that will make me cry

[@atre5763]

Tears of joy you mean!

[@Raishinshi]

@@atre5763 Yes, tears of joy too, it was a great time with Dreamcast

[@atre5763]

Raishinshi uh no! I meant tears of joy for me because the Dreamcast failed, and it’s a shit console!

[@wuztron]

Nothing gives me more nostalgia vibes than the Dreamcast.

[@retroentertainment1340]

5:28 If you listen closely, you can hear Tom aka James Marsden’s scream reaction when he first sees Sonic in the Sonic movie.

[@drewforchic9083]

I actually had a Dreamcast as a kid! Still have it in a closet somewhere. We had two games for it: NHL 2K and SEGA Marine Fishing. They were both my dad's choice; I didn't (and still don't) care about hockey or fishing, but he didn't like video games and those were all he'd buy us. I barely used it, and a couple years I got a secondhand Gamecube and some good games that I loved and used constantly.

[@magiman2382]

I kinda want a Dreamcast now, do to the fact that Illbleed and Bluestinger is getting a cult classic vibe and that I want to pick up.

[@JonVonBasslake]

It's not a bad little console, just be ready to either pay out of the nose for some games (same goes for the Saturn, maybe even more so) or go on the high seas...

[@LordArikado]

If you're looking for more cult classics, don't forget Skies of Arcadia, Death Crimson OX, Seaman, Cannon Spike, Dynamite Cop, and L.O.L. Lack of Love.

[@danielseth8272]

I just bought a dreamcast from Gamestop online. It was 65.99 with free shipping. It can be extremely difficult to find certain games and others on like Amazon were asking $150.00 for used rare titles but you can still have a decent selection of games for 10.00-$50.00

[@magiman2382]

mirandabeach is there any HDMI converter cables for the Dreamcast

[@boldandbrash9447]

They made a port of my fav Dreamcast games, Powerstone 1 and 2, on the PSP for what that's worth.

[@malixia3939]

Just seeing the title made me slightly sad. Thanks Matt! Stay safe, and thanks for all the vids!

[@allhailjojo4708]

I remember finding a Sega Saturn in my grandmother’s garage as a kid (circa 2004). She had no idea where it even came from. The only game that worked for it was Area 51 and it always froze after about ten minutes of playing. My dad threw the whole thing out promptly afterward. I wish I had known at the time that I had found a real, lost piece of gaming history.

[@Barduwulf]

Anyone else have a good laugh when he said “worried about the Atari Jaguar”? 😆 Oh, hindsight, you cheeky devil....

[@neoevil]

virtua fighter 4 on the ps2 was a huge part of my childhood

[@MagicMaster667]

The Half-Life port made for it was pretty rad actually!

[@RetrOrigin]

It's impressive in one hand but also not great. There's way too much loading and it's just ackward to play with the DC controller.

[@LNSLateNightSaturday]

10:28 - Can I just say EA Exec Bing Gordon looks *exactly* like I picture all EA Executives and every person named "Bing"?

[@CookieCookGames]

If sega weren’t practically bankrupt the Dreamcast could of had a full Life at the end of the day for it to sell 10 million units in only 18 months isn’t bad the Saturn sold about the same amount in 4 years

[@Arro3]

I've heard this story a few times, and every time I facepalm. I didn't know about the huge company-saving loan at the end though, but it answers my question of how they even survived all of their blunders. It makes their continued indecisiveness with the Sonic franchise feel more disrespectful now though. You'd think they would notice that their lack of direction was what got them almost bankrupt and that they should maybe take a lot of time and care from now on. Thank goodness for Yakuza and the ports of older games. I assume Yakuza's still a niche game that probably doesn't make as much money as it should for how much effort is put in, but I feel like it's helping a lot.

[@PScoopYT]

Yakuza was selling pretty well in Japan from what I heard. But recently the sales started to slow down by a lot for one reason or another.

[@gebs123]

@@PScoopYT Sales are probably slowing down, because they are pumping so many out. It feels like there has been a new Yakuza (or Yakuza like) game out every 6 months for the last 3 years. 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 6, Fist of the Yakuza Star. I think 7 is out. I loved the series, but I can't keep up and play other games.

[@marknielsbeats]

Also, I'm sticking to my theory of Microsoft stealing the ideas of Dreamcast lol. No way a console has that much in common with another.

[@lazarushernandez5827]

Windows CE was a secondary OS for the DC, and Isao Okawa actually spoke with Bill Gates wanting to have the upcoming Xbox able to play DC games. They were definitely in cahoots.

[@russellgxy2905]

@@lazarushernandez5827 Didn't one of the main developers of the Dreamcast go one to work on the Xbox and later the 360?

[@jasonhill8696]

Microsoft was in talks to buy sega at that point and if the deal went through the Xbox would’ve had some kind of Dreamcast backwards compatibility

[@THB192]

That's not even theory. It's basically confirmed.

[@SomeDumbKid1]

God, those 90s commercials with the camera swinging around and the snap zooms actually make me physically ill.

[@cadcTV]

16:45 that... is simply incredible!

[@m3sneakerhead465]

I really didn’t expect to learn anything new, what with the hundreds of retro gaming vids I’ve viewed for the last decade on YT, but I was completely unaware that Sega only survived due to one mans philanthropy. Bravo.

[@wishonpleiades6288]

Sometimes I feel like Sega's console division just happened to get lucky when they hit it out of the park with the Genesis, considering how many times they failed afterwards.

[@davestevens6283]

Too arcade oriented with their thinking. And bad timing. The 32x\Saturn debacle screwed them up. Sony used its hardware business to its advantage, by selling the PS2 as a reasonably priced DVD player that can game. The DC would probably be more competitive if it could offer that.

[@RariettyC]

Sega had some great timing with their "cooler, more mature than Nintendo" image, as they were really a driving force in making game consoles seem less like toys; however, Sony also timed the PS1 launch at the perfect time to steal that image from Sega. Also, a lot of Genesis's success in the West (apart from just being a fantastic console) was driven by Sega's American marketing team's efforts, and Sega USA couldn't push back when Sega in Japan made decisions about product launches. It's how most global subsidiaries operate; if you're in a branch country, you're kind of just stuck working with whatever the company's home country decides, even if those choices don't match the purchasing behaviours of your own country (can confirm; I work in the marketing department of a Canadian branch under a Japanese parent company).

[@gingerqueer22]

They overestimated how invested people were in their brand and how much the average consumer cares about hardware (very little). Hence the knee-jerk reaction to the Jaguar and 3DO of all things.

[@thomasdesposito]

This always saddened me so much, I have always been a diehard Sega fan since the master system days. I've had every system they put out including Sega CD, 32x, Saturn and finally the Dreamcast. Such a shame they didn't have more third party support, as the Dreamcast was a powerhouse under the hood.

[@DavidKen878]

Having just watched the What Happened? episode on the Atari Jaguar, the part at 5:20 had me dying. 😂

[@worldofthought8352]

Sega: We must do something about the Atari! Nintendo: Excuse me, console war rival from the early 90's here!

[@X_Blake]

I wouldn’t mind them trying it again one last time.

[@cnk9822]

No, they still can get their shit right; they had the chance and they messed up

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

Their bank accounts would.

[@00110000]

And I wouldn't mind another Wha Happun video on it :)

[@MrAlexandermartis]

I'm 53. Since I was a kid I was chasing that console or home computer that could give that arcade perfect conversion. Sega and Atari dominated the arcades in the 80's. The first time I had the feeling of playing a perfect arcade conversion was when I bought the Megadrive (what the Genesis was called in Europe). But that high was short lived. The Megadrive didn't have Sega's most famous sprite scaling tech. The next near arcade perfect conversion was SF2 on the Super Famicon (SNES in Europe). Then I bought a Neo Geo, which IS the arcade, but costs like $2000 inflation corrected. Had the Playstation 1 too, a lot of arcade perfect (sprite game ) conversions, but lousy 3d texturing with no filtering. Then came the Dreamcast. That WAS for me the end of my quest. ARCADE PERFECT Sega exclusive titles. I still have 2 out of respect for the tragic good times we had. The current king PS4 will soon die and the new king PS5 will rise.

[@dronesaur4328]

8:18 yeah, but think of all the opportunities for magic wand compatibility that the Hitachi CPU would present. 💦