[rm445]

Yeah the N64 was great, but in total worldwide console sales totals, PS2 = 155 million, N64 = 33 million, Dreamcast = 9 million. Partly the enormous total was because the PS2 stuck around for so long (and, cyclically, kept getting games for ages because of the installed base) but my point is, for most gamers, it's more like they didn't have a Dreamcast because they had a PS2.

That console generation had a clear winner, despite Nintendo doing its own wonderful thing as usual. Sega were out of the running, due to bad previous consoles, price, Sony's frankly dishonest publicity about what the PS2 would be able to do, some great hits coming to PS2 first, the DVD drive, and just the general network effect that means the winner of a format war sells many more units.

[zerocrates]

They're not perfectly aligned but the relevant competitor for the PS2 and Dreamcast would probably be the GameCube, not the N64. Though it's about the same story, just with slightly lower sales for Nintendo.

Or, for that matter, the same basic story as the prior generation as a whole: PS1 sold about 100 million, N64 33 million, Saturn 9 million. The Saturn got undercut by the Dreamcast but both were clear also-rans while Sony just ran away with the market.

Thinking about Sega kind of straddling the generations also just drives home how many moves in a row for them just didn't work: the 32X, the Sega CD, the Saturn, the Dreamcast.

[sixothree]

It really did seem like all of their (too many) consoles were a promise of the next gen but never quite living in the next gen.

[grawprog]

I know, there was a bunch of comments talking about that already, I just figured i'd throw in my own experience from the time rather than add to the echo chamber.