Is the Dreamcast really going to become possibly the best system ever
or another complete failure by Sega? Throughout Sega's history, they
have proven themselves as a capable company, releasing great systems
and games. But they have also degraded themselves as an unloyal and
rash company. Making terrible mistakes (especially on the launch of
Saturn). Have their reputation gone sour? No doubt about it, their
reputation with casual and hard-core gamers has dwindled down. But what
about their RPGs? True, the SNES was the true choice for the RPG gamer
during the golden age of the 16-bit systems. The SNES had the best RPGs
by Square i.e. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc. But only an
ignorant fool would dare proclaim the Genesis did not start some of the
best RPG series around. Look at Shining Force or Phantasy Star (PS was
not as popular until it got to the Genesis) and many other "one-shot"
RPGs. What about the 8-bit days? I do not own a Master system myself,
so I cannot make a true judgement on it (I can make a true judgement
on the NES though but this editorial isn't about Nintendo is it?).
Now let's fast forward to the 32-bit days a.k.a. the dark ages. What
happens to Sega's glorious success? Sega became rash and became prone to
many stupid and terrible mistakes. At the same time, the market was
getting open for some "newbies" which enabled Sony to jump in. Nintendo
was still too busy planning their new system and the SNES was still
going strong. Sega thought they could speed past competitors with
another add-on for the Genesis and a new system at the same time of
Genesis's glorious empire. Sega went right ahead with a sloppy plan for
the Saturn, thinking anyone would buy it no matter what. Sony who was a
newbie releases Playstation with a sloppy plan too, but nowhere on the
same scale of the Saturn. Both took a while to get the RPG genre
started again. But when it was ready once again, only one system's
sales soar. The Playstation. Why? The answer: Square. Square released
Final Fantasy 7, one of the hugest successes of any RPGs ever. It
allowed RPGs to become mainstream. RPGs instantly went from underground
success to a household name. But what about the Saturn? Hard-core Sega
fans like me, would say this," SEGA HAD AMAZING RPGS! Yes, it was a
short list, but it had some real gems in them. Even the most bias Sony
or Nintendo freak will tell you they heard of Grandia or Panzer Dragoon
Saga somewhere.
Fast forward all the way to now, Dreamcast launch is almost upon us
all. With RPGs more mainstreamed today, what do you think most people
are looking for? RPGs of course. CEO Bernie Stolar of Sega has been
quoted many times,"RPGs are more important than ever". Why? Because he
has seen Square's huge success on the Playstation. We all know B.S is
not a true gamer, he's simply a businessman. But at least now, he'll
make some effort to get the RPGs released. What does Dreamcast mean for
RPG developers? For companies that make games for the PC, it means easy
cash. For console-oriented RPG developers it means freedom to fully
express an RPG the way they intended it to. With most of the smaller
and "big guns" signed on, Dreamcast is guaranteed to have a lot of
games. But many would still say, where are the RPGs? First off, a decent
amount of RPGs is already on the way, so don't cry over anything yet.
Also, the Dreamcast is possibly the first system to have RPGs in
development so early in its life (heck so early the system is not even
out yet).
If you want to complain about the lack of RPGs, look at the Nintendo
64. So I say to those who are not convinced by the Dreamcast, wait and
you shall receive what you want.
