Sega and 2001
This may possibly be one of the biggest years to happen in Sega history. So much has changed for the developer that they will never be able to turn back. This editorial today will summarize and highlight the main points of Sega in the great year of 2001.
Chapter 1: Success gone sour
For the end of 2000, news reports flooded in about how Dreamcast sales were really improving. Accounts of Dreamcast units being sold out also poured in through users of the internet, proclaiming that major games such as NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1, and Shenmue were being sold out quickly in store shelves. The news came in from TSRT about some sales of the Dreamcast. The best selling title of 2001 was NFL 2K1 with over 900,000 units sold. This was amazing, seeing as how Madden NFL 2001 for PS2 snagged a little over 650,000 units. Crazy Taxi came in second with over 700,000 and NBA 2K1 and Shenmue both got sales in the 400,000 to 500,000 range. It seemed like everything was going fine.
It seemed like with this shot in the arm, Sega fans could feel secure knowing that Sega survived the maelstrom that is PlayStation 2. It seemed like everything would be just fine. Not really. In a couple weeks into the new year, old rumors resurfaced about Acclaim porting popular Sega titles to the PlayStation 2. These rumors surface the summer of 2000 and were brushed away because these were rumors and Sega denied them whenever they popped up. Once again, they claimed that these were false. Yet on January 21, 2001, Sega of Japan had announced that they were going multiplatform. This changed everything in every way possible.
The news came when Yu Suzuki announced that Virtua Fighter X (now known as Virtua Fighter 4) was landing on the PlayStation 2. For the following few days, Sega laid down the plans for the third parties. These plans included porting popular Dreamcast titles to PlayStation 2, Game Cube, and the XBox, porting Saturn and basic Dreamcast titles to PlayStation, and creating entirely new software. Sega fans across the world were shocked. I can personally remember the reactions. They were mixed for the most part. One group embraced this and felt it was for the best as Sega was just a few million dollars away from going bankrupt. Others hated it, especially this is the time when the major Sonic Team Online RPG Phantasy Star Online came out, hampering its sales. Then there were the people who denied these and figured it was just another mistranslation.
Sega's stocks may have increased but many fans felt almost betrayed. It seemed like Sega was going to have a bright future. Sega tried to make it up to the fans by saying as much as 50 first party titles alone will be released for the Dreamcast. That seemed assuring to fans who felt that Sega betrayed them. Sonic Team then announced that Chu Chu Rocket was coming as a Game Boy Advance launch title. People were assured that it seemed like all Sega was doing is porting old titles and releasing games that were too powerful for the Dreamcast to handle, like Virtua Fighter 4. So it seemed ok. Phantasy Star Online, despite coming out at one of the worst times possible, did fine in the American markets.
Chapter 2: Third parties and retailers stray away from the Dreamcast
To make things sweeter, Sega would drop the price of the Dreamcast from $149 to just $99. They also introduced two new bundles: The 2K Sports Pack and the Smash Pack. These both were $119 but one had NFL 2K, NBA 2K, and NHL 2K. The other had the Sega Smash Pack, a retro Genesis collection plus Sega Swirl and Virtua Cop 2. Sega would also announce a few more All Stars games such as Virtua Tennis, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Power Stone.
Retailers interpreted this as a backing out by Sega so almost instantly, retailers began marking down Dreamcast software. Ecco the Dolphin, just a few months ago being priced at $49 could now be purchased for less than $19. Most lesser Dreamcast titles were slashed repeatedly for prices, trying to clear it out to avoid having massive quantities of unsold titles later on when the Dreamcast really becomes dead.
Third parties began to panic. Eidos quickly canned Soul Reaver 2, despite being near completion. Metro 3D followed suit and canned Dark Angel and Armada 2. Fox Interactive decided to can any future Dreamcast release, including Croc 2 and Planet of the Apes. Third party titles were slowly dissipating from announcements. Games that were due for release in March or April just did not come out. Many of them were cancelled but no announcements regarding the cancellation. It was like third parties were afraid of the system, treating it like a leper of sorts. Sega unfortunately would follow suit after them.
Chapter 3: Sega strays away from the Dreamcast
E3 arrived and naturally, a pathetic Dreamcast showing took place, even with a huge Sonic Adventure 2 banner outside the building. The main titles being showcased here were Crazy Taxi 2, Sonic Adventure 2, and Shenmue 2, possibly the three biggest titles Sega had at the moment that were coming to the Dreamcast. However their third party lineup was great. Sega announced Sega GT 2002, Crazy Taxi Next, Jet Grind Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon X, and Gun Valkyrie for the Microsoft XBox. Sonic Team shown their affection for Nintendo by showcasing PSO v2 with four player split screen action. They also announced Sonic Advance for GBA and Sonic Adventure 2 for the Nintendo Game Cube.
To rewind a bit, Chu Chu Rocket came out for the Japanese and American launch but barely made a blip on the charts for both nations. In April, Acclaim released Crazy Taxi for the PlayStation 2. So it was true, Acclaim did plan to bring titles Sega made for Dreamcast and release them onto other consoles. Acclaim planned to bring Crazy Taxi to Game Cube and the Game Boy Advance.
Sega slowly began to slip out of Dreamcast development themselves. They moved Jet Grind Radio Future, Gun Valkyrie, and later House of the Dead 3 to the Microsoft XBox. Overworks announced Skies of Arcadia was landing on PlayStation 2 and Game Cube and word of a sequel hit for a post Dreamcast system. Visual Concepts later stated that their major 2K2 Sports titles (NFL 2K2, NBA 2K2) were landing on the PlayStation 2 and XBox. Virtua Fighter 4 supposedly was near arcade perfect. It seemed like in just a short six months after E3, Sega would completely forget the Dreamcast and just move on but that was still six months away.
Crazy Taxi 2 was released. The next month in June, Sega released Sonic Adventure 2. Sega of America also released a 10th Anniversary Sonic Pack at the same time as the release for Sonic Adventure 2. Along with that, Sega also aggressively marketed Sonic Adventure 2, showing that while they may be thinking about future consoles ahead but they still got some hot titles that are still coming out for the Dreamcast. Shenmue II after the videos and screens looked like the system was going to go with a bang. Sonic Adventure 2 became a summer smash hit, even outselling Twisted Metal Black for PlayStation 2 and most Game Boy Advance titles. This was a glitter of hope that there was still an active Dreamcast userbase. After the release, Sega released a $119 Sonic bundle with Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, and a Sonic Adventure 2 demo. Things actually seemed to look brighter.
They looked brighter on the Japan front. Sega of Japan dropped the price of the Dreamcast to roughly $100 in February and seen good or decent sales afterwards. Dreamcast software seemed to be selling better. Dreamcast software in America was selling better, thanks to some of the low price markdowns retailers were doing to push off the software on the shelves. Later in the summer, World Series Baseball 2K2 arrived. Sporting better gameplay than the prequel, which was dogged for many problems, 2K2 sold decently and was better accepted. So things seemed to be going fine for Sega but this is Sega we are talking here and the constant fudging that they seem to do, they struck again in a big way.
Chapter 4: The Dreamcast comes to an abrupt end
Third parties by the end of summer were few and far between. Major third parties for the most part were gone and those couple who remained just quickly and haphazardly published their last titles to get out of there. This gave some glory to a small publisher named Agetec. Agetec, which distributed the Official Sega Arcade Stick for the Dreamcast basked in the glory when releasing Last Blade 2 in late August 2001. They already got some good karma going for them with past releases like King of Fighters Evolution and Sports Jam (to a degree) but Last Blade 2 brought them into the limelight of hardcore gamers. They stood by the Dreamcast to put out some titles that people wanted.
Sega of Europe starting doing big damage to future Sega releases. Several European Dreamcast titles were canned such as Take the Bullet. The only game to come from Sega of Europe after their canning of 5-6 titles was Headhunter, which was then announced to arrive on the PlayStation 2 as well in 2002. Sega of America started to show its general apathy for the Dreamcast and wanted to just move on. A lot of releases like Rez and Headhunter were not considered. Sega just wanted to release the cash cow games like 2K2 Sports titles and just get out of there. NCAA Football 2K2 arrived in late August satisfying (but not impressing) those who wanted a College football title on DC. Later in September and October, NFL 2K2, NBA 2K2, and Tennis 2K2 were released.
Another title being released was Bomberman Online. Bomberman, one of the most popular multiplayer series of all time, was released for Dreamcast. SegaNet was gasping for air when Phantasy Star Online v2 arrived and disappointed many. Several bugs including corrupted or missing Hunter's Licenses became a big problem. Cheaters were quickly taken care of in the original PSO but seemed to be let go for v2. Cheaters dominated the v2 networks, making many people stick the original or just give up on the crack that is Phantasy Star Online.
Sega of America proved their apathy for Dreamcast by cancelling the release of Shenmue II for America. This made many people angry, including myself. Sega even advertised the game in magazines. This news was unusally offensive and struck a chord with people. Sega hating was at an all time high, especially to see not only Rez was coming to Europe but so was Shenmue II. Sega basically spit on millions of its fans. The news didn't bode well with most Sega fans when Sega announced the US Shenmue 2 will arrive...on XBox. Sorry. People wanted it on the Sega Dreamcast. It seemed like other systems were getting the silver platter treatment while its fans were eating the dust that Sega left behind from running to the bandwagons.
Worse came to worse as Sega stated a $9.95 flat monthly fee would be charged for users of SegaNet. People decided instead of bending over and paying the fee, most just gave up on the Dreamcast. Sega successfully killed off the Dreamcast from ending with a shred of dignity.
Chapter 5: The aftermath and beyond
Agetec released Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves for Dreamcast shortly before Thanksgiving of 2001. The game was a classic and once again, Agetec got instant praise from hardcore gamers, which was a brilliant strategy. Sega would reduce the price of the Dreamcast to $79 brand new and all packs, including the recent 2K1 Sports Pack would be $99. Retailers reduced the prices even more, trying to liquidate the Dreamcast stocks left. Sega also would reduce the prices for all peripherals of the system. This was made just so retailers could get rid of their remaining Dreamcast stock and use the room for Game Cube and XBox releases.
Sega again in early December reduce the price of the Dreamcast. This time it was at a sad $49 and $69 for a bundle. Now you could get a DC, a VMU, and Sonic Adventure 2 for under $100. A lot of retailers decided to even mark down new releases. Best Buy started to price many 2001 releases for just $9.99, including the Smash Pack. There didn't seem to be any more titles coming out except for Conflict Zone, which had no screens or info about the DC release. EB, to become popular with the Sega gamers, would release Shenmue II Euro with a converter for just $59. The plan was to sell these so American gamers could buy Shenmue II. EB reportedly made a total of 130,000 of these bundles and they sold out quickly.
Conflict Zone arrived for just a scant $19. This would be the final title from Ubi Soft and pretty much is the last third party title in general to come out for the Dreamcast. NHL 2K2 was announced for January or February 2002 for Dreamcast but like Conflict Zone, there was no screens or info about the game so this title is up in the air. It may end up coming out or it may not. Who knows.
2001 was a mindblowing year for Sega. Going multiplatform was a double edged sword for them as it brought them praise and got them burned. Whatever it is, Sega can't go back as I've stated before. Sega changed their core practices and so far their third party efforts' sales have been lukewarm. Chu Chu Rocket sold poorly, Rez sold poorly but the PS2 version sold a little bit more than the DC version thanks to the Trance Vibrator, and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Sonic Advance are selling at a mediocre pace. Virtua Fighter 4 may end up being the first wildly successful title to be released. So far, Sega has yet to get a major profit from any of their multiplatform works but 2002 may be the year to see just how Sega really does.
-Shin Egg Robo X
