Sega consoles for the masses

[techwizard]

Yesterday I picked up Grandia II for Dreamcast and showed my co-worker, who is at least somewhat interested in video games. He asked "What's a Dreamcast?" I felt that was a real shame that someone had never heard of the Dreamcast at all, so I asked another co-worker who plays games, and she had never heard of it either. The first one said that his only experience with Sega consoles was the massive "Sega Game Boy" that a friend of his had when he was young. My girlfriend said that no one has heard of the Dreamcast, and until yesterday I didn't believe her, but now I'm starting to wonder.

Has anyone else experienced this Sega void with the non-collector? Are we finally that far removed from the Sega generations that people in their late teens/early 20s aren't old enough to know it even existed, unless they decide to dig deeper into gaming?

[Addicted]

It might be more mainstream than an Amiga CD or Fm Town's Marty but anything that is not made by Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft would be hard to identify for your average gamer.

It will be interesting to see if this perception changes any when the Console Wars film is released.

I received two Dreamcast consoles as gifts from a co worker a couple years ago but I would count that as the exception not the rule.

[SirPsycho]

Now ask them about the Saturn, there's a reason I call it the "Forgotten Console".

[techwizard]

Now ask them about the Saturn, there's a reason I call it the "Forgotten Console".

to me the Saturn being unknown seems a bit more reasonable for some reason, same with the Master System, because not many people talk about those very much, even in collecting circles. the Dreamcast has such a cult following that it surprises me more when people don't know about it.

[RobotWillie]

Well Shenmue was like my first game I was ever obsessed over so this is very sad for me. (keep in mind I am 26, and my older brother got one for his bday Valentines Day the year after it came out). I loved it. It had my new fav game (it and the sequel are still in the top 10 at least for me, and the first top 5), and it had my fav sports games (2K beat the heck out of EA in my opinion as many others think too). This was before I really knew how to look for new games or look into new games to get sadly. I was still too young, having the brother or parents get the games was what I did then. The first game I really knew I ever wanted was SII for Xbox. Which is pretty much when I started that phase of looking out for new games I wanted in my early teens. So, Shenmue is a huge reasons I am even on this site today, it got me more into gaming. In fact I was introduced to RF Gen by Ryudo, when he put a link on Shenmue Dojo, a site I was a frequent of and where I became a main posting member over 10 years until a few years ago when I decided to stop going.

And Skies of Arcadia, another game I look to as a reason I am into games and RPG's. It was one of my first experiences with RPG's outside of FF and it shed light on how many great RPG's there are I should be looking for (yeah they put it on the GC, but thats pretty much like we do today and put it on a newer console).

Had the better Star Wars Podracer game than the 64 (this is not small to me, I was a huge Star Wars nerd and I still think its one of the best racers ever).

Crazy Taxi was addicting and I spent hours on it.Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were for a long time the last 2 decent Sonic games until they finally made decent ones recently.

Phantasy Star Online was great (again though would be ported in the next 2 years after release).

So the Dreamcast and my brother wanting one is maybe the reason I am even here today on RF Gen.

[tactical_nuke]

Sega seems to mostly have gotten mainstream recognition with the Genesis in the US. Whenever someone refers to a "Sega" they usually mean that. As for their other consoles, I think only people in their mid 20s and up would be able to recall a Dreamcast or Saturn being a thing. It might be a geographical thing too. I've noticed Sega has a larger urban following.

[Cobra]

Haven't run into it yet. Mind you Sega dominated Australia. Nintendo didn't make any headway until the SNES here... but I'm pretty sure even then Sega came out on top. So it's probably a very different scenario because of that. The Dreamcast also had a really strong internet community here with a lot of users being introduced to the web for the very first time through it.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I think it's more of a regional thing. Just about everyone where I lived had Nintendo consoles, except for one person who had Sega. While we'd all heard of it, no one had really played it, and Dreamcast didn't sell well here.

[Arrrhalomynn]

Dreamcast didn't sell well anywhere. Unfortunately.

I knew a lot of people with Master Systems though. Maybe because it was a bit cheaper than the NES?

[MetalFRO]

Sega seems to mostly have gotten mainstream recognition with the Genesis in the US. Whenever someone refers to a "Sega" they usually mean that. As for their other consoles, I think only people in their mid 20s and up would be able to recall a Dreamcast or Saturn being a thing. It might be a geographical thing too. I've noticed Sega has a larger urban following.

That sums it up pretty well.  Being a long time gamer, I new what the SMS was, and even played it a few times through a couple friends who had them, but to this day, I still don't own one, and only have a handful of games I can play via the Power Base Converter.  Most folks wouldn't know that.  If you mention Sonic the Hedgehog and SEGA, they'll probably have some recollection of the Genesis, even if it's fleeting.