Sega not re-launching Dreamcast, only selling refurbs

As with most things that sound too good to be true, the rumored re-release of Sega's Dreamcast console has turned out to be just that: a rumor. Due to some shoddy translating of the Japanese Sega Direct site, an offer of refurbished Dreamcasts was misinterpreted by someone to mean that the system was about to get a fresh production run. Sorry for getting the hopes up of all you people looking to snatch up outdated hardware, but you can still take Sega up on their one-unit-per-person deal on these used machines while supplies last.

[Via Joystiq]

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Sega should take the response as a hint.

[hussein rawat @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

it is for this very reason that i have held on to my Dreamcast since 2001. even though i do not use it so much i dearly hold on to it. the best use of the dreamcast was in MSR when they used the internal clock as a feature in which if u left the game running at say, 6 pm in the london zone, and you got back say about midnight the game shows u the real time. superb time elapsing feature. to this day i do not know of any other game that has this feature.

[starpause @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

the dreamcast remains my favorite console system, it has a happening homebrew community =)

sad that sega won't pull something off like the gp2x but in console forum! i suppose everyone looking for their own stationary emulation station just builds a cabnit and that's that!

[alex webb @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

i actually have an unopened dreamcast.... i never really thought i was gonna sell it, but whoa, the demand from the relaunch makes me think about ebay....

is anyone actually interested?

[Deluxe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Keven, As for Sega "Taking it as a hint", I very much disagree. The thing you need to realise is that the people who read these kinds of websites ( like you and me ) are for the most part - geeks, nerds, whatever you want to call it. Juat accept it, 'aite ;)?

So the huge response on Engadget is hardly 'market research'. It's filled with biases and on a very small, segmented, narrow-angled sample that for this kindof website can only be expected.

I for one would love to see the Dreamcast re-launched, but I am also aware that such a response from here means very little, in the bigger scheme of things.

Sad news, Babelfish: +1, Engadget Readers: 0

[Gavin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

... That and we all ALREADY have our dreamcasts right?

[Dave Zatz @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I wonder why they would sell refurbs? Heck, I wonder why they even have them laying around!

The Dreamcast might have been my favorite platform... the first to feature Internet-connected gaming (Daytona) and it had a disc with a web browser so you could go online (slowly). Also folks got NetBSD running on the thing - I just dug up a message from 3/01 where I ask about modem support:
http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-dreamcast/2001/03/27/0010.html

Ah the memories... my Dreamcast and that company (with gameroom) I worked for are long gone.

[Adrian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

The rumor the other day prompted me to take my old Dreamcast down from the shelf in my closet and bring it to work. People are ooohing and awwing over it and we've been having fun playing all sorts of games today.

Graphics have come a long way but the games on this console are pretty damned good.

Remember Crazy Taxi?? That still is a fun game.

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I bought a couple for $19.99 at ebgames a couple months ago. I'm curious to see how much these refurbs would go for.

[Mitch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I want to get one! Does anyone have one they want to sell?

[console skeptic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

i was there 9.9.99

i preordered the system and soul calibur

i have LOVED my DC ever since, and with the all talk of MS's new console being another DC i say..

HA!

at least i got my preorder on launch day 9.9.99
i even reserved a vacation day from work a week earlier then, gaming bliss.

MS should've taken better notes.

i love your consoles Sevice Games of America
i wish you would come back

[console skeptic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

i was there 9.9.99

i preordered the system and soul calibur

i have LOVED my DC ever since, and with the all talk of MS's new console being another DC i say..

HA!

at least i got my preorder on launch day 9.9.99
i even reserved a vacation day from work a week earlier then, gaming bliss.

MS should've taken better notes.

i love your consoles Sevice Games of America
i wish you would come back

[console skeptic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

i was there 9.9.99

i preordered the system and soul calibur

i have LOVED my DC ever since, and with the all talk of MS's new console being another DC i say..

HA!

at least i got my preorder on launch day 9.9.99
i even reserved a vacation day from work a week earlier then, gaming bliss.

MS should've taken better notes.

i love your consoles Sevice Games of America
i wish you would come back

[console skeptic @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

oops

[Siege @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

It's thinking!

[Google Nazi @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Sad part is that the Marketting research guy for xbox360 is the same one from the dreamcast.

Dreamcast is not returning into Dreamcast 2 or Dreamcast 1.2 it is done with. If sega wants to release a new console they would do so within 2 or 3 generations from now. Perhaps when sony and microsoft fall, sega will rise to take their place and compete with nintendo.

However if I had to root for sega or nintendo it would be Nintendo even though i bassed my life onto sega's territory.

Dreamcast still lives, just not like it used to.

[b @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

and a new version of nesterDC just came out this week...

http://www.sch3rz0.com/nesterdcse/

(long live rbi... go pedriq!)

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I was 9 years old when Dreamcast came out so I dont really remember it, so how much are these going for?

[KP @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

The only console I own is Dreamcast and have never bothered with PS2 and Xbox. I always thought Dreamcast was nice in that it had 4-ports for multiplayer and lots of party games. Also it supported lots of arcades too. I may be wrong but I totally dismissed PS2 and Xbox as consoles without originality. Of course there was Gamecube but I thought that wasn't all that better than Dreamcast. At the same time, I got into PC games with online games. I won't be buying PS3 or Xbox3 since I feel like it's same crap with upgraded graphics. However, I am excited about Revolution, as it seems.. well revolutionary. We'll see.

[Dman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

If I remember corrently, I walked in EB Games 9.9.99 and walked out with Dreamcast, Sonic and Trickstyle. No preorder, no regrets.

Wasn't the Dreamcasts demise more to do with the PS2 outselling DC in Japan because it could play DVDs? I could've sworn it did well/better in America. Regardless, it held its own.

[Kris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Thinking back on it, Dreamcast did kick arse. Powerstone, Tennis, Dead or Alive, etc. Nothing real cutting edge, but some of the games were a blast to play. To think, mine went to Goodwill a few months ago. Maybe it's still there...

[JD Mills @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Oh man... all this talk of the Dreamcast is tugging at my heart strings... Yeah I love my Dreamcast. Sonic Adventure, Trickstyle, Rush 2049, NFL 2K, Power Stone, Soul Calibur, Grandia 2 (best RPG save FFVII), among other classics. It's still my favorite console of all time. The day it was discontinued I seriously considered holding a funeral in its honor.

[RaGu @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

I got a dreamcast for Christmas '99. I also recieved the keyboard and I was able to go online (thanks to freei.net, anyone remember?) and play kick-ass games. I really, really wish that SEGA would at least consider coming back into the hardware arena. SEGA is a really innovative company. Please hear us and make a new system!!!!

[King Bigos @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Anyone know the price for some refurbished DC's?

[cy7 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

yeah, i still remember i was waiting outside of wal-mart to get my dreamcast.
it was sweet and silly time :-) it's about 149, and i remember the news said it sold more than 500,000 unit (first couple days)...
i love the memory card! you can bring it with you, and play silly little game...
I really love sega, they are cool and innovative...

[KSyn @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

even though it would be seriously cool of sega to commit to a re-release of the dreamcast hardware, even in limited quantity, let's be real: who would buy the damn thing?

to release six year old technology TODAY up against the Xbox 360 or even its contemporary consoles such as the PS2 would be laughable to say the least.

sega's shares and whatever headway the company has made in the past four years toward healing its financial troubles would go down the toilet in the blink of an eye.

let's just be thankful that sega has somewhat come to its senses in regard to monetary affairs and is slowly closing the door on the dreamcast chapter rather than reopening it.

and to whomever asked, dreamcasts can range anywhere from $20-$40, depending on the retailer or the individual selling the console.

dreamcasts are becoming more and more scarce in my neck of the woods (deep south) which is probably why most gaming boutiques i've been to sell them for sometimes equal to that of a newly released PS2 game.

try ebay, amazon, ebgames, etc. etc. to find the best deals.

good luck on your search.

[alienwhere @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

The Dreamcast remains, in my mind, a groundbreaking and innovative system that was released at both the best and worst times possible. That fall of '99 was a plateau for the N64 and PS1 and the Dreamcast was nothing short of a revolution. Soul Calibur was an absolute marvel and I remember thinking that if this was the beginning of the future, then I was in all the way. The PS2 cut that life cycle short, and the Xbox and Gamecube finished the job. New products always garner the attention and money of gamers; it has always been this way. Every system since has been interesting, with their indivdual high points, and the next gen. systems will be cool, no doubt, but I haven't seen anything between E3 and the 360 release that captured my imagination like the Dreamcast, and I doubt that I will anytime soon...

[TranslatorNazi @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

>>Due to some shody translating of the
>>Japanese Sega Direct site

Maybe if people didn't spell so shoddily translating wouldn't be as difficult.

What is a "shody"?

[Glancing Aft @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Right about now I'm really wishing I hadn't ebayed mine.

[Casey R Williams @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

KSyn said:
"to release six year old technology TODAY up against the Xbox 360 or even its contemporary consoles such as the PS2 would be laughable to say the least."

Of course it would. But apparently there's a market for Atari 2600s with built in games, Intellivisions in control pads, and Nintendo seems to think playing NES, SNES and N64 games is a good selling point for the Revolution. Sega could make the Dreamcast dirt cheap if they wanted to, especially since the "Dreamcast" on a chip (developed for mobile) has already been developed (though it would also require a new motherboard). An $80 Dreamcast with a good bundle of games, or multiple bundles grouped by theme would be a great deal. Especially if one of those bundles were called "Saturn Classics" and had the Panzer Dragoon games on it...

[Mr B @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Ha here in Japan you can pick a a dreamcast in hardoff (second hand electronics store) for 500 yen.... about 2pounds fifty or 5 dollars,, sweet huh

[Nick @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Yeah, and games are everywhere in the used shops, usually less than $5 a piece. Japan is retro gaming Mecca.

[slay3r @ Dec 21st 2005 1:54PM]

is sega will release new dreamcast? (dreamcast 2 or anyone tag ^^) ??? my 1st. console platform. aaah i miss it. :))

[Omar @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:49PM]

Dreamcast is... way better than xbox, ps2, gamecube, xbox 360 put together it has way more graphics than old azz ps2 and clearer sound.