3 ms·

Piracy was a huge problem on the Dreamcast. The bios devs accidentally left some code in from the developer consoles that would allow home consoles to run games

by wmil 10y ago

Piracy was a huge problem on the Dreamcast. The bios devs accidentally left some code in from the developer consoles that would allow home consoles to run games from standard CD-Rs. Developers didn't want to invest in a system that had effectively no copy protection.

Grazester 10y ago
You are wrong about this. Developer were skeptical to commit to the Dreamcast right out the gate(before even the console's launch). EA saying later on it would never support the console(it seemed like there was even bad blood between EA and Sega). Developers didnt want to commit large amounts of resources to development into another Sega console. Simply put they were burnt by the Saturn and Sega didnt have the resources to throw money at them.
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  No, wmil is not wrong about piracy on the Dreamcast. It clearly was a contributing factor for developers not supporting the Dreamcast, it just wasn't the only reason.
  - Grazester 10y ago
    It might seem like this but you really don't seem to have an idea of the state Sega was in and their poor relationship with developers.
    - ZenoArrow 10y ago
      I'm as aware of that as any other armchair expert.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
  - simondedalus 10y ago
    why is that clear? the post to which you responded notes that piracy didn't hurt PS2. why should it hurt dreamcast? but more importantly, suppose it did hurt dreamcast. wmil already said that. if you're convinced that this is the correct position, why not point to interviews or news articles of the time to prove your point, instead of just endorsing someone (as if that proves anything)?
    - wmil 10y ago
      The PS2 needed a modchip for piracy. Most people don't want to go through that trouble. Pirates realized that it was possible to boot games on CD-R on an unmodded Dreamcast. Sega and game devs weren't eager to advertise that fact, so you're not going to find any articles. But once that happened developers weren't putting money into new releases.
    - ZenoArrow 10y ago
      Piracy did hurt the PS2, it just had a high enough install base to counteract the negative effects. I remember buying a second hand PS2 for Guitar Hero. The aforementioned game was pretty much the only original game that came with it, it was also bundled with a Swap Magic disc and about 100 pirated games. Clearly pirated PS2 games weren't hard to come by. However, the PS2 was hugely successful, so from the point of view of a game publisher even if you lose a high proportion of potential sales to piracy you can still make a profit. This article gives some insight into how important strong software sales were to the survival of the Dreamcast: http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcast-fail-segas-marketing-veteran-looks-back http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcas... Whilst the Dreamcast did not have the worst ever attach rate, any downturn in sales was not something sustainable. As I said in a different comment, if the Dreamcast had been released with a DVD drive (even if this bumped up the retail price) then this would have helped immensely, not only to counteract piracy (DVD burners were much rarer at the time), but also to take away one of the big reasons for waiting for a PS2. Whether they could've afforded to do so in 1998 is another matter.
JohnBooty 10y ago
PS2 games were just as heavily pirated as Dreamcast games. How many developers abandoned Sony because of that? Konami, EA, Squaresoft, etc - all these developers had already decided they wouldn't have anything to do with the Dreamcast before it launched. Had nothing to do with the piracy scene that cropped up a year or so after the DC launched.
- ZenoArrow 10y ago
  Konami released games for the Dreamcast: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Konami_games https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Konami_games

by wmil 10y ago

Grazester 10y ago

You are wrong about this. Developer were skeptical to commit to the Dreamcast right out the gate(before even the console's launch). EA saying later on it would never support the console(it seemed like there was even bad blood between EA and Sega). Developers didnt want to commit large amounts of resources to development into another Sega console. Simply put they were burnt by the Saturn and Sega didnt have the resources to throw money at them.

ZenoArrow 10y ago
No, wmil is not wrong about piracy on the Dreamcast. It clearly was a contributing factor for developers not supporting the Dreamcast, it just wasn't the only reason.
- Grazester 10y ago
  It might seem like this but you really don't seem to have an idea of the state Sega was in and their poor relationship with developers.
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    I'm as aware of that as any other armchair expert.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- simondedalus 10y ago
  why is that clear? the post to which you responded notes that piracy didn't hurt PS2. why should it hurt dreamcast? but more importantly, suppose it did hurt dreamcast. wmil already said that. if you're convinced that this is the correct position, why not point to interviews or news articles of the time to prove your point, instead of just endorsing someone (as if that proves anything)?
  - wmil 10y ago
    The PS2 needed a modchip for piracy. Most people don't want to go through that trouble. Pirates realized that it was possible to boot games on CD-R on an unmodded Dreamcast. Sega and game devs weren't eager to advertise that fact, so you're not going to find any articles. But once that happened developers weren't putting money into new releases.
  - ZenoArrow 10y ago
    Piracy did hurt the PS2, it just had a high enough install base to counteract the negative effects. I remember buying a second hand PS2 for Guitar Hero. The aforementioned game was pretty much the only original game that came with it, it was also bundled with a Swap Magic disc and about 100 pirated games. Clearly pirated PS2 games weren't hard to come by. However, the PS2 was hugely successful, so from the point of view of a game publisher even if you lose a high proportion of potential sales to piracy you can still make a profit. This article gives some insight into how important strong software sales were to the survival of the Dreamcast: http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcast-fail-segas-marketing-veteran-looks-back http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/7/4599588/why-did-the-dreamcas... Whilst the Dreamcast did not have the worst ever attach rate, any downturn in sales was not something sustainable. As I said in a different comment, if the Dreamcast had been released with a DVD drive (even if this bumped up the retail price) then this would have helped immensely, not only to counteract piracy (DVD burners were much rarer at the time), but also to take away one of the big reasons for waiting for a PS2. Whether they could've afforded to do so in 1998 is another matter.

JohnBooty 10y ago

PS2 games were just as heavily pirated as Dreamcast games. How many developers abandoned Sony because of that? Konami, EA, Squaresoft, etc - all these developers had already decided they wouldn't have anything to do with the Dreamcast before it launched. Had nothing to do with the piracy scene that cropped up a year or so after the DC launched.

ZenoArrow 10y ago
Konami released games for the Dreamcast: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Konami_games https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Konami_games