MeleeMonk
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Part-time gamer, full-time environmentalist, and member of PAPO (People Against Palm Oil)
Posts: 3,651 
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Post by MeleeMonk on Feb 12, 2017 7:59:30 GMT
Which console do you think is superior: the Nintendo Gamecube, or the Sega Dreamcast? And in what ways? (games, controller, system design, system features, etc.)
I thought of this today as I reconciled on my experience with the Sega Dreamcast. I figured it would make for an interesting discussion.
I'm going to say right away that I prefer the Nintendo Gamecube, but that may be due to nostalgia. I had heard so much hype for the Dreamcast ever since I was a kid. Even after the console had been discontinued, I still heard my friends and my brother's friends rave about it! The Dreamcast has been featured on many "top consoles of all time" lists, and the internet still seems to be in love with it. When I finally got my hands on one back in 2009, I was rather disappointed with it, but maybe because of the games I bought and the controller rather than the system itself and its overall game library. None of the games I bought (Shenmue, Hydro Thunder, Marz Matrix, Soul Calibur) held my interest for very long. Shenmue was boring, Soul Calibur felt like an uglier version of Soul Calibur II (which I played beforehand on the GC) with less content, Marz Matrix failed to spark any interest in bullet hell shooters (being the first bullet hell shooter I played), and Hydro Thunder, while fun, didn't have enough depth to the gameplay to keep me playing. So ultimately I decided to sell my Dreamcast, a decision I don't regret making, because I don't miss it a bit.
The two other Sega consoles I owned were the Genesis and Saturn, both of which I enjoyed much more. The Sega Saturn, unlike the Dreamcast, had an outstanding controller, as did the Genesis. Both the Genesis and the Saturn had games that I fell in love with (like Darius Gaiden, Streets of Rage 3, Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Golden Axe, and Astal), while the Dreamcast didn't (maybe there are better Dreamcast games out there than the ones I played, I can't know for sure). Another detracting factor of the Dreamcast is that much of its games library has been ported to other consoles (like many of the 1st party titles, the Capcom fighting games, etc.). so in my eyes there's hardly any reason to own one. :/
I think the Gamecube is an interesting comparison to the Dreamcast because of a few reasons. 1: Their controllers both used an eight way joystick, which was ideal for arcade games & fighting games. 2: They both were financial disappointments for their respective companies. 3: Sega ported several DC titles over to the GC, a few receiving enhanced features. And so on.
I dunno, I just thought it would make for an interesting comparison. It a classic case Sega Vs Nintendo!
WHO DEFEATZ?!
Discuss.
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Cervantes
Off-Brand Transformable Robot
A former Incompetent Evil Commander (XP: 2423)
Posts: 2,819
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Post by Cervantes on Feb 12, 2017 8:27:49 GMT
Dreamcast all the way, baby!
If we consider the time these consoles were released, the Gamecube was an ok console, a middle ground between the weak-but-popular PS2 and the powerful-but-niche Xbox. The Dreamcast, on the other hand, was one generation ahead of every other console for almost 2 years. I remember how impressive it looked - just imagine seeing Shenmue/Soul Calibur/Sonic Adventure besides any PS1/N64 game. It was just... Man, everything else felt instantly archaic.
Also, the DC had what is probably the best launch line-up of games ever (just look at how many launch games it had), and it is probably the last console for games with an arcade-like mentality (short, hard, extremely replayable). I just wish it kept the Saturn 3d controller (six face buttons, awesome d-pad, perfect analog stick) instead of the controller it got (four buttons, awful d-pad, inferior stick). With a better controller and a longer life (it would get GunValkyrie, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future and even... Ninja Gaiden! Yep, Ninja Gaiden started its development on the Dreamcast), this would be the best console ever. Too bad it died too soon and had that controller.
I do agree that, nowadays, most important Dreamcast games can be found elsewhere; but then, why get a GC if the Wii is backwards compatible?
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Post by Imperial Khador on Feb 12, 2017 8:28:10 GMT
This is a bit of a difficult call for me. I owned a GameCube, and played and enjoyed many games.
However, I have a good friend who had a Dreamcast purchased near launch, along with four controllers. I have great memories of playing games like Soul Calibur, Virtual Tennis, Dead or Alive 2, Techromancer, Project Justice and Virtual On as a group. I didn't have a lot of personal first person experiences with the system, but I had a lot of fun watching him play through Shenmue 1 and 2, RE: Code Veronica and many other games. The Dreamcast just seemed to pack so much life into its short existence.
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Armored Core Raven
Vanguard Ranger
Radio: The test is over. From this moment on, you are a Raven!
Posts: 1,737
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Post by Armored Core Raven on Feb 12, 2017 8:46:52 GMT
In my experience; Dreamcast in every way, by far.
It has by far the better and more varied game library, despite lacking a second analog stick the controller is vastly superior in every other way*, it has the best system design, the main system menu is easy to use, looks great and has good features, it plays music CDs, it did online properly and was natively ready for it directly out of the box, it's easier to get imports, emulators and backups to work on it with simple cd burning and it has an active homebrew and indie developer scene still supporting it with games.
FYI I'm not counting Wii or Wii mini as there are no equivalent redesigns for the Dreamcast to compare with as it was sadly discontinued instead of given an overhaul or a makeover**, similar to the Xbox which overall had a lot more in common with Dreamcast than PS2 or even GameCube did.
*Besides, GameCube games were the worst of all dual analog controller consoles in actually putting the second analog stick to good use, the only console I know that had a dual analog controller that used the second analog stick as little overall was PlayStation, but at least it had the excuse that it didn't have any dual analog controllers for the first 4-5 years of it's lifespan, and games still had to be compatible with older non-analog stick controllers after that to not alienate players who only had the older controllers, so that's TWO good excuses GameCube games don't have.
**And even if I was to count Wii/Wii mini and even the next gen Wii U, Dreamcast still wins in most regards as the upgrades did very little overall to improve things;
ex) Instead of one universal dual analog stick controller standard there were now 3-4 different non-standardized controllers, sadly leading to far too many games being limited to the single analog stick IR motion controller combo monstrosity only, even though they still had both the old GameCube controller support (limited time only, support was later dropped entirely) and a new dual analog stick controller (with better ergonomic design but worse and lacking features than the old GameCube controller had)
ex) Instead of small discs limiting music CD and DVD playback they simple didn't add any software for for CD or DVD playback even though the bigger size discs were now being used.
And the rest of the things changed, like a much more expansive system menu, 500mb internal memory for game saves (and DLC, though underutilized and not optimized for large downloads greatly limiting practicality), an SD card slot for additional memory storage (also underutilized) and native internet access over wifi (this was nice, but with a heavily limited internet browser and poorly implemented e-mail and online functions provided by Nintendo on their terms and were all later discontinued entirely making them all completely useless) for example were not things that actually made the games themselves much better, in most cases those things either added nothing/wasn't used or made things worse (controller problems especially made many games that would have been fully playable and probably very enjoyable otherwise virtually unplayable and completely unenjoyable instead), and at best they still didn't reach up to Dreamcast levels. Simply put; Wii etc. was too little, too late, and the Dreamcast remains superior.
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Dan E. Kool
Walking Trash Can Robot
Now With Extra Pulp!
Posts: 3,325
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Feb 12, 2017 9:38:29 GMT
The Dreamcast was Sega's last hurrah. I never owned either, only played them at friend's places, but the Dreamcast just has something special about it.
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Balder
Supreme Overlord
Trying to cut down the amount of movies I watch
Posts: 6,822
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Post by Balder on Feb 12, 2017 10:25:06 GMT
I think most people would say the Gamecube, but on this forum the Dreamcast definitely wins.
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stratogustav
Supreme Overlord
Warrior with Bandana
Posts: 7,460
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Post by stratogustav on Feb 12, 2017 10:51:33 GMT
It's hard to say. They are both very good. That gen was very good altogether.
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centipede
CGR Undertow Groupie
It was just one soy latte, I swear!
Posts: 2,694 
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Post by centipede on Feb 12, 2017 11:00:27 GMT
Dreamcast. Everyone else built on top of its innovations.
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scipioafricanus
Cartoon Pony Wrangler
Sega Does What Nintendon't... except the 32X
Posts: 3,570
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Post by scipioafricanus on Feb 12, 2017 14:35:58 GMT
Sega CD
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lukefonfabre388
Sonic Wing
Move like a shadow, sting like a nuke.
Posts: 466
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Post by lukefonfabre388 on Feb 12, 2017 20:53:13 GMT
Dreamcast all the way, baby! If we consider the time these consoles were released, the Gamecube was an ok console, a middle ground between the weak-but-popular PS2 and the powerful-but-niche Xbox. The Dreamcast, on the other hand, was one generation ahead of every other console for almost 2 years. I remember how impressive it looked - just imagine seeing Shenmue/Soul Calibur/Sonic Adventure besides any PS1/N64 game. It was just... Man, everything else felt instantly archaic. Also, the DC had what is probably the best launch line-up of games ever (just look at how many launch games it had), and it is probably the last console for games with an arcade-like mentality (short, hard, extremely replayable). I just wish it kept the Saturn 3d controller (six face buttons, awesome d-pad, perfect analog stick) instead of the controller it got (four buttons, awful d-pad, inferior stick). With a better controller and a longer life (it would get GunValkyrie, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future and even... Ninja Gaiden! Yep, Ninja Gaiden started its development on the Dreamcast), this would be the best console ever. Too bad it died too soon and had that controller. I do agree that, nowadays, most important Dreamcast games can be found elsewhere; but then, why get a GC if the Wii is backwards compatible? Gameboy player thats why. Cant use the gameboy player on the wii. |
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lukefonfabre388
Sonic Wing
Move like a shadow, sting like a nuke.
Posts: 466
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Post by lukefonfabre388 on Feb 12, 2017 21:08:45 GMT
I played a dreamcast at a friends house one time and I enjoyed it. However the thing that always hurt the dreamcast in my eyes was the controller. I freaking cannot stand the dreamcast controller. The gamecube controller was way better and more comfortable. The only thing bad I can say about the gamecube controller is that the c-stick is not good at all.
However I like both the gamecube and the dreamcast. They are both very good systems even if there are things I dont like about both. However gamecube does have one thing the dreamcast never had which is the gameboy player. The ability to play your gameboy,gameboy color,and gameboy advance games on a tv. It's one of the best accessories ever made for any game console ever.
Now I do have a dreamcast and almost 40 games for the thing. I do play it once in a while so its not like I dont play it. Its get about as much play time as my other game consoles I own of that gen which would be the ps2 and gamecube.
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Post by Imperial Khador on Feb 12, 2017 21:12:39 GMT
I do agree that, nowadays, most important Dreamcast games can be found elsewhere; but then, why get a GC if the Wii is backwards compatible? Gameboy player thats why. Cant use the gameboy player on the wii. Heh, can't disagree there. I tend to use my Wii U for Wii games (since it is most often hooked up), my Wii for GameCube games (since I have component cables for the Wii, but not the GC), and the GameCube for the Game Boy Player. |
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lukefonfabre388
Sonic Wing
Move like a shadow, sting like a nuke.
Posts: 466
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Post by lukefonfabre388 on Feb 12, 2017 21:16:34 GMT
Gameboy player thats why. Cant use the gameboy player on the wii. Heh, can't disagree there. I tend to use my Wii U for Wii games (since it is most often hooked up), my Wii for GameCube games (since I have component cables for the Wii, but not the GC), and the GameCube for the Game Boy Player. Yea not a whole lot of people have component cables for the gamecube. When they came out they were only sold in nintendo's online store and I dont think they sold well. They also have some kind of special chip in them that doesn't allow them to be remade into a third party option. |
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Armored Core Raven
Vanguard Ranger
Radio: The test is over. From this moment on, you are a Raven!
Posts: 1,737
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Post by Armored Core Raven on Feb 12, 2017 22:16:08 GMT
Cervantes: "Most important Dreamcast games can be found elsewhere?" Sword of the Berserk Guts' Rage? Nope. Red Dog Superior Firepower? Nope. Gundam Side Story 0079 Rise from the Ashes? Nope. Psychic Force 2012? Nope. Metropolis Street Racer? Nope. Spawn in the Demon's Hand? Nope. Shenmue? Nope. OutTrigger? Nope. Buggy Heat? Nope. AeroWings 2 Air Strike? Nope. Record of Lodoss War? Nope. Super Runabout? Nope. SoulCalibur? Nope. Zombie Revenge? Nope. Super Magnetic Neo? Nope. D2? Nope. Daytona USA 2001? Nope. Demolition Racer No Exit? Nope. Frame Gride? Nope. Toy Commander? Nope. Zero Gunner 2? Nope. Virtua Fighter 3tb? Nope. Most important Dreamcast games can be found elsewhere? NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. And no, mobile doesn't count, mobile never counts (SoulCalibur had an iOS and Android release a few years back apparently.. besides, that's the only one I found to have a mobile release of the games I listed above), nor does arcade cabinets because that doesn't count as a retail release and it's not something available to a vast majority of people nor [easily] available for purchase. I don't count PC either as those retail versions are virtually impossible to get hold of thanks to a close to nonexistent second-hand market of PC games, but I didn't list any games available for PC as that would've added far too many games more to list and I'd be stuck here all night, besides, even without games that were only on Dreamcast and PC like StarLancer and Slave Zero for example my point was made clear enough by the games I listed I'd say.
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Pimpjira
Guardian Force Shooter
Posts: 1,102
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Post by Pimpjira on Feb 12, 2017 23:57:33 GMT
Soul Calibur is also on Xbox 360. I would think that PC counts but that still doesn't invalidate much of that list, the ones that are readily available on Steam or GOG anyway.
As for the poll, there is a lot I like on both consoles. Voted for can't decide.
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