Editing Dreamcast (section)

== Reception and legacy ==
[[File:Sega Dreamcast arcade machine.jpg|thumb|upright|A Dreamcast European retail demo kiosk is at the [[Finnish Museum of Games]] in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. The video game seen on the screen is [[Sonic Adventure]], where [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|Sonic]] is in Mystic Ruins.]]
In December 1999, ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' rated the Dreamcast four out of five, writing: "If you want the most powerful system available now, showcasing the best graphics at a reasonable price, this system is for you." However, ''Next Generation'' gave its future prognosis three out of five, noting that Sony and Nintendo were both due to release more powerful consoles.<ref name="NextGen214">{{cite magazine|title=The War for the Living Room|magazine=Next Generation|publisher=Imagine Media|date=December 1999|page=95|issue=2.1.4}}</ref> At the beginning of 2000, five ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' reviewers scored the Dreamcast 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 8.0, and 9.0 out of 10.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Electronic Gaming Monthly 2000 Buyer's Guide|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|publisher=EGM Media, LLC.|author=Davison, John|date=January 2000|display-authors=etal}}</ref> In 2001, the ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' reviewers scored it 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, 9.0, and 9.5 out of 10.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Electronic Gaming Monthly 2001 Buyer's Guide|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|publisher=EGM Media, LLC.|author=Leahy, Dan|date=January 2001|display-authors=etal}}</ref> ''[[Businessweek|BusinessWeek]]'' named the Dreamcast one of the best products of 1999.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gamespot.com/news/business-week-praises-the-dreamcast-2440353 | title = Business Week Praises the Dreamcast - GameSpot.com | access-date = February 23, 2013 | last = Kennedy | first = Sam | date = December 10, 1999}}</ref>

Reasons cited for the failure of the Dreamcast include consumer excitement for the PS2;<ref name="Dreamcast memorial" /><ref name="Forensic" /><ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 27, 2006 |title=The ten greatest years in gaming |url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/ten-greatest-years-gaming/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022221114/http://www.edge-online.com/features/ten-greatest-years-gaming/ |archive-date=October 22, 2014 |access-date=March 5, 2015 |magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]}}</ref> a lack of support from EA and [[Square Enix|Squaresoft]], the most popular third parties in the US and Japan respectively;<ref name="360 will succeed" /> disagreement among executives over Sega's future, and Okawa's lack of commitment to the product;<ref name="IGN's History of Sega" /> Sega's lack of advertising money, with Bellfield doubting that Sega spent even "half" the $100 million it had pledged to promote the Dreamcast in the US;<ref name="gamasutra1" />{{sfn|Kent|2001|page=573. '''Charles Bellfield:''' "When you consider that Microsoft has announced a $500 million marketing program for the launch of Xbox and that Nintendo has a $5 billion war chest and the overall power behind Sony's PlayStation brand, Sega does not have the ability to compete against those companies"}} that the market was not ready for online gaming;<ref name="Pulls plug" /><ref name="360 will succeed" /> Sega's focus on "hardcore" gamers over mainstream consumers;<ref name="Dreamcast memorial" /><ref name="Pulls plug" /> poor timing;<ref name="gamasutra1" /> and damage to Sega's reputation caused by its several poorly supported previous platforms.<ref name="360 will succeed" /><ref name="gamepro">{{cite magazine |author=Snow |first=Blake |date=May 4, 2007 |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time |url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111822/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time/ |magazine=[[GamePro]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905175406/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111822/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time/ |archive-date=September 5, 2008 |access-date=October 28, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Parish |first=Jeremy |date=November 18, 2014 |title=The Lost Child of a House Divided: A Sega Saturn Retrospective |url=http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-lost-child-of-a-house-divided-a-sega-saturn-retrospective |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215095100/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-lost-child-of-a-house-divided-a-sega-saturn-retrospective |archive-date=December 15, 2014 |access-date=December 17, 2014 |publisher=[[USgamer]]}}</ref> In ''GamePro'', Blake Snow wrote of "the much beloved [Dreamcast] launched years ahead of the competition but ultimately struggled to shed the negative reputation [Sega] had gained during the Saturn, Sega 32X, and [[Sega CD]] days. As a result, casual gamers and jaded third-party developers doubted Sega's ability to deliver."<ref name="gamepro" />

''[[Eurogamer]]''{{'}}s Dan Whitehead noted that consumers' "wait-and-see" approach, and the lack of support from EA, were symptoms rather the cause of Sega's decline. He concluded that "Sega's misadventures during the 1990s had left both gamers and publishers wary of any new platform bearing its name".<ref name="Forensic" /> According to ''[[1UP.com|1Up.com]]'''s Jeremy Parish, it would be intellectually dishonest to blame Sony for "killing the Dreamcast by overselling the PS2", as Sega's lack of support for previous consoles had made customers hesitant to purchase Dreamcasts.<ref name="Dreamcast memorial" />

In 2009, ''IGN'' named the Dreamcast the eighth-greatest video game console, praising its software and innovations, including its online play.<ref name="IGNGreat">{{cite web |title=Dreamcast is number 8 |url=https://ign.com/top-25-consoles/8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830184437/http://www.ign.com/top-25-consoles/8.html |archive-date=August 30, 2011 |access-date=September 7, 2011 |website=[[IGN]]}}</ref> In 2010, ''PC Magazine''{{'}}s Jeffrey L. Wilson named the Dreamcast the greatest console and said that it was "gone too soon".<ref name="PCMag">{{cite web|last=Wilson |first=Jeffrey L. |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364241,00.asp |title=The 10 Greatest Video Game Consoles of All Time |work=PCmag.com |date=May 28, 2010 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |quote=A collection of creative, fun, and quirky games that you'd be hard-pressed to find in such abundance on any other platform. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204123346/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C2817%2C2364241%2C00.asp |archive-date=December 4, 2014}}</ref> In 2013, ''Edge'' named the Dreamcast the tenth-best console of the last 20 years, highlighting innovations including in-game voice chat, [[downloadable content]], and second-screen technology through the use of VMUs. ''Edge'' wrote that "Sega's console was undoubtedly ahead of its time, and it suffered at retail for that reason... [b]ut its influence can still be felt today."<ref name="Edge20">{{cite magazine |date=September 20, 2013 |title=The ten best consoles: our countdown of the greatest game boxes of the last 20 years |url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-ten-best-consoles-the-greatest-gameboxes-from-the-past-20-years/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128181657/http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-ten-best-consoles-the-greatest-gameboxes-from-the-past-20-years/ |archive-date=November 28, 2014 |access-date=March 5, 2015 |magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]}}</ref> Dan Whitehead of ''[[Eurogamer]]'' likened the Dreamcast to "a small, square, white plastic [[JFK]]. A progressive force in some ways, perhaps misguided in others, but nevertheless a promising life cut tragically short by dark shadowy forces, spawning complex conspiracy theories that endure to this day." He wrote that its short lifespan "may have sealed its reputation as one of the greatest consoles ever", as "nothing builds a cult like a tragic demise".<ref name="Forensic"/> According to ''IGN''{{'}}s Travis Fahs, "Many hardware manufacturers have come and gone, but it's unlikely any will go out with half as much class as Sega."<ref name="IGN History of Dreamcast"/>{{Quote box
| quote = If ever a system deserved to succeed, it was Dreamcast. Dreamcast has a hell of a library. It's dying now, 18 months old, with a larger library than the 5-year-old Nintendo 64. It's a better library than the Nintendo 64. Dreamcast was a wonderful system.
| source = —Journalist [[Steven L. Kent]], March 2001.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=''GI'' "Quotables"|magazine=Game Informer|volume=11|issue=100|date=August 2001|pages=44–45}}</ref>
| width = 30em
}}

The Dreamcast's game library was celebrated.<ref name="gamepro" /> In January 2000, three months after the Dreamcast's North American launch, ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' wrote that "with [[AAA (video game industry)|triple-A]] stuff like ''Soul Calibur'', ''NBA 2K'', and soon ''Crazy Taxi'' to kick around, we figure you're happy you took the 128-bit plunge".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 2000 |title=...Should you buy a Dreamcast or Wait? |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=EGM Media, LLC. |issue=126 |page=150}}</ref> In a retrospective, ''[[PC Magazine]]''{{'}}s Jeffrey L. Wilson referred to Dreamcast's "killer library" and said that Sega's creative influence and visual innovation had been at its peak.<ref name="PCMag" /> The staff of ''Edge'' agreed with this assessment of Dreamcast games, including Sega's arcade conversions, stating that the system "delivered the first games that could meaningfully be described as arcade perfect".<ref name="Edge20" /> Damien McFerran of ''[[Retro Gamer]]'' praised Dreamcast's NAOMI arcade ports, and wrote: "The thrill of playing ''Crazy Taxi'' in the arcade knowing full well that a pixel-perfect conversion (and not some cut-down port) was set to arrive on the Dreamcast is an experience gamers are unlikely to witness again."<ref name="RetroinspectionD" />

[[Nick Montfort]] and Mia Consalvo, writing in ''Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association'', argued that "the Dreamcast hosted a remarkable amount of video game development that went beyond the odd and unusual and is interesting when considered as [[avant-garde]]&nbsp;... It is hard to imagine a commercial console game expressing strong resistance to the commodity perspective and to the view that game production is commerce. But even when it comes to resisting commercialization, it is arguable that Dreamcast games came closer to expressing this attitude than any other console games have."<ref name="Avant-Garde" /> ''1Up.com''{{'}}s Jeremy Parish favorably compared Sega's Dreamcast output, which included some of "the most varied, creative, and fun [games] the company had ever produced", with its "enervated" status as a third-party.<ref name="Dreamcast memorial" /> Fahs noted, "The Dreamcast's life was fleeting, but it was saturated with memorable titles, most of which were completely new properties."<ref name="IGN's History of Sega" /> According to author [[Steven L. Kent]], "From ''Sonic Adventure'' and ''Shenmue'' to ''Space Channel 5'' and ''Seaman'', Dreamcast delivered and delivered and delivered."<ref name="Kentsite">{{cite web |last=Kent |first=Steven L. |date=October 9, 2006 |title=SOMETIMES THE BEST |url=http://sadsamspalace.blogspot.com/2006/10/sometimes-best.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218184642/http://sadsamspalace.blogspot.com/2006/10/sometimes-best.html |archive-date=December 18, 2014 |access-date=October 31, 2014 |publisher=Sad Sam's Place}}</ref>

Some journalists have compared the demise of the Dreamcast with changing trends in the video game industry. In ''[[1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die]]'', Duncan Harris wrote: "One of the reasons that older gamers mourned the loss of the Dreamcast was that it signaled the demise of arcade gaming culture&nbsp;... Sega's console gave hope that things were not about to change for the worse and that the tenets of fast fun and bright, attractive graphics were not about to sink into a brown and green bog of realistic war games."{{sfn|Mott|2013|page=434}} Jeremy Parish, writing for ''[[USgamer]]'', contrasted the Dreamcast's diverse library with the "suffocating sense of conservatism" that pervaded the gaming industry in the following decade.<ref>{{cite web |last=Parish |first=Jeremy |date=September 13, 2014 |title=What if Dreamcast Had Won? |url=http://www.usgamer.net/articles/what-if-dreamcast-had-won |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215170706/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/what-if-dreamcast-had-won |archive-date=December 15, 2014 |access-date=January 20, 2015 |publisher=USgamer}}</ref> According to Sega's head of product implementation, Tadashi Takezaki, the Dreamcast would have been Sega's last video game console no matter how it sold because of the changes in the market and the rise of PCs. He praised the Dreamcast for its features, saying in 2013, "The seeds we sowed with the Dreamcast are finally bearing fruit at this point in time. In some ways, we were going by the seat of our pants, but it was part of the Sega credo at the time — if it's fun, then go for it."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gifford |first=Kevin |date=August 7, 2013 |title=Why did the Dreamcast fail? Sega's marketing veteran looks back |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcast-fail-segas-marketing-veteran-looks-back |access-date=June 25, 2022 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625224228/https://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcast-fail-segas-marketing-veteran-looks-back |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Dreamcast remains popular in the video game [[Homebrew (video games)|homebrew]] community. By 2014, [[List of Dreamcast homebrew games|unlicensed Dreamcast games]] formatted for [[MIL-CD]], a multimedia-enhanced format developed by Sega and supported by the Dreamcast, continued to be released.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=May 2011 |title=Keeping The Dream Alive: The Men Behind Dreamcast Homebrew |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6376/keeping_the_dream_alive_the_men_.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515012754/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6376/keeping_the_dream_alive_the_men_.php |archive-date=May 15, 2011 |access-date=May 15, 2011 |website=[[Game Developer (website)|Gamasutra]]}}</ref> After Sega shut down the official Dreamcast servers, hobbyists developed [[Server emulator|private servers]] to allow games such as ''Phantasy Star Online'' to continue being played online.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fenlon|first=Wes|date=April 14, 2017|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/phantasy-star-online-will-never-die-how-the-nicest-fans-in-gaming-keep-a-16-year-old-mmo-alive/|title=Phantasy Star Online will never die: how the nicest fans in gaming keep a 16-year-old MMO alive|website=PC Gamer|access-date=July 14, 2018|language=EN-GB|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121000017/http://www.pcgamer.com/phantasy-star-online-will-never-die-how-the-nicest-fans-in-gaming-keep-a-16-year-old-mmo-alive/|archive-date=January 21, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Whitehead |first1=Dan |title=The Dreamcast Dozen |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/the-dreamcast-dozen-article |website=[[Eurogamer]] |access-date=October 17, 2023 |date=February 1, 2009 |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126062443/https://www.eurogamer.net/the-dreamcast-dozen-article |url-status=live }}</ref> Hobbyists have restored online functions for 40 Dreamcast games as of 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Games: Dreamcast Live |url=https://dreamcastlive.net/games/ |website=[[Dreamcast Live]] |access-date=February 26, 2025 |date=February 10, 2025 |archive-date=2025-02-10 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250210064344/https://dreamcastlive.net/games/ |url-status=live }}</ref>