What If the Dreamcast Won?

Cover Story: Jump into an alternate reality where Sega’s hardware hopes didn’t die with the last millennium.

ega’s Dreamcast burned bright, but not for long. The company’s last foray into video game hardware barely lasted two years, and tied the bow on a decade lousy with unsuccessful consoles. Unlike the Philips CD-I, 3D0, or Atari Jaguar, Sega deserved better, but a series of unfortunate circumstances helped sink their attempt to make up for past failures. While the Dreamcast had a significant head start during gaming’s last gen, a certain combination of factors spelled doom for Sega’s final console: the company’s sketchy reputation with hardware, Sony’s sheer inertia with its upcoming, DVD-compatible PlayStation 2, and piracy — all these elements merged to form a Megazord of financial woes that beat Sega into utter submission.

It’s been well over a decade since the Dreamcast left us, and in that time, we’ve been able to cope, heal, and wonder what could have happened if things went down differently. Granted, a reality where the Dreamcast won could have only happened if a nuclear strike completely wiped Sony from the face of the Earth (along with a mass Pokemon extinction), but such a dark and twisted scenario falls well within the boundaries of conjecture. So, grab your nearest clock, wind it back roughly 12 years, and witness how the world of gaming would have (probably) differed if the Dreamcast achieved the success it truly deserved.