Gaming: November 2005 Archives

First off, "!=" is computer terminology for "does not equal." I remember some of my schooling...and I'm a nerd.

So, 1UP thought they'd be cool and run this story, basically trying to get people to compare the Xbox 360 to the Dreamcast. Did Sony pay for this, or what? Trying to undermine the launch before it even happens...that's what's familiar to the Dreamcast. And the way people say "I'll wait and see" on the Sony console offering, even if it isn't offering anything of value at launch. But hey, let's go all fanboy-on-a-forum and start picking nits: the "23 eerie parallels between the Xbox 360 and the Sega Dreamcast."

1. Launched a year before the competition.

Ok? The Genesis came out a year or two before the SNES, and I think the jury is still out on who won there in raw sales.

2. Facing a "far superior" next-generation PlayStation console that wowed gamers with fancy tech demos.

What kind of fancy tech demos? Ducks in a sink? I think the MGS2 trailer wow'd me more than the MGS4 trailer did. It didn't have the music or the storyline that drew me in with that MGS2 trailer that was very well produced. And too many of these tech demos spawn all these stories later about them being pre-rendered.

3. Sleek white console following in footsteps of bulky, black console.

Sleek, absolutely. Hopefully that makes it sell even better because people won't use size as a selling factor like back in the days of "XBOX IS HUGE LOOOL". What about Sony? How many versions of the PS2 are there now? Seems like they're taking pages from the Game Boy design timeline. And everyone's seen the images of the PS3 comparing it to a George Forman grill. If the Dreamcast were in a black case like it's predecessor, it'd lead to even more comparisions to the Saturn than there already were! Hey, rock! Hey, hard place!

4. Made its American debut on MTV.

I don't really remember the Dreamcast making its debut on MTV, I remember it being a sponsor of a few big MTV events to try and get the name out there, but I dunno if there was an infomercial like what the Xbox 360 event was.

5. Runs on a Windows-derived OS.

So do most of the computers in, oh, THE WORLD. Hopefully makes it leaps and bounds easier to program for. And/or hack for those so inclined.