130°

Was the Xbox an Evolution of the Sega Dreamcast

TK: Sega Dreamcast, Xbox, Microsoft...Ever imagined there would be some connection. From what could have been to what did, all your burning questions answered!

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thekarachiite.com
saadd203422d ago

I never owned a Dreamcast but miss playing Soul Calibur and Sega Tennis on it with my college roommate. So sad it never reached its potential.

PeaSFor3422d ago

i still own mine, along with all my old consoles(i would never sell them, NEVER!!)

i even kept my ridiculously heavy 32" crt tv for retro consoles

zeee3422d ago

I never owned a dreamcast either. Someday, I'll buy it from eBay.

stonecold33422d ago

still have mine to this day i will cherish the dreamcast for life love my street fighter games on it and crazy taxi ready to rumble sonic daytona usa 2001 house of dead 2 awsome machine

Death3422d ago

Articles like this really make me feel old. Back when the Xbox was announced there were stories floating around that stated Microsoft was in talks with Sega to release the Xbox as a Sega console. Microsoft and Sega had already been working together for the creation of the Dreamcast which used a modified Windows CE as the OS. From my understanding there was far too much pressure from Sega's parent company to move multi-platform which helped kill the deal forcing Microsoft to launch as a completely new platform.

yewles13422d ago

Yes and no... let's say that's how certain Sega people saw it, but not MS. The whole story is a lot darker than fans want to accept.

Godmars2903422d ago

Didn't MS help to make the Dreamcast, then when Sega stopped making consoles, a majority of their employees went to work for MS and make the first Xbox?

And even during all of that, MS almost bought Sega outright.

DevilOgreFish3422d ago

I believe peter moore use to be president of saga of america back then.

yewles13422d ago (Edited 3422d ago )

Like I said, the full story is darker than fans want to accept...

http://kotaku.com/5447897/h...

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Death3421d ago

I'm not sure how this is "dark". The Dreamcast was a commercial failure selling only 10 million consoles. With Microsoft just entering the console market, teaming up with the company in last place isn't exactly a winning strategy. As a fan I would have loved to see Microsoft acquire the Sega library and made them playable on the Xbox. I'm not sure how it would have cost Microsoft money to allow the Dreamcast library online access over Live though. From the article it almost seems like Sega wanted the Xbox to play Dreamcast games natively. I could see why Microsoft would say no to that since software sales offset hardware losses. That would also explain the added cost to play them online.

That would make sense as the reason why this never happened. If Sega wanted to use the Xbox as their platform until the company became more stable and could make another platform of their own it would be much less attractive. Microsoft most likely wanted to acquire Sega and it's IP's.

hay3418d ago

SEGA was created for soldiers' enjoyment during the retarded clusterf*ck known as World War II. When USA banned all slot machines in 1952, they bought them cheap, and moved everything to Japan, still making money from american military presence there trying to subdue any Japanese business hurt during WWII and establishing pretty much every economy rule there.

Fortunatelly, Ninty's still strong, and now MS is continuing the BS legacy as SEGA couldn't handle the environment changes(actual technical advancement, which wasn't US strong side until they robbed blind defeated by Europeans Germany, who in turned robbed everyone around them).

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Godmars2903422d ago

Just confirms that technically Sega was all but a satellite company of MS. That if MS had left Sega largely intact, just given them money while pulling them in on all of the tech blunders they were making, they'd still be in the game. Even if only as a division of MS.

Instead, redid everything, never considered Sega's IPs, and started the PC migration to consoles.

yewles13422d ago

Actually, it shows MS using Sega as a more accurate example of the trojan horse method than how most people would point to Sony and Nintendo instead. A very hard pill to swollow for some individuals...

Death3421d ago

How was Sega a satellite company of Microsoft? The only association they had was Sega used Windows CE on the Dreamcast and after Sega pulled out of the hardware market they launched their games on the PS2 and Xbox. Other than Peter Moore jumping ship from Sega to Microsoft the two companies have nothing in common. Sammy bought the controlling shares of Sega for $1.1 billion. This was after they acquired 22% of the companies stock. If that $1.1 billion was enough to give control without the 22% Sammy had, Microsoft really dropped the ball since they paid $375 million for Rare a year later. Sega for $700 million more seems like a bargain when you look at what Rare has done.

Godmars2903421d ago

"*all but* a satellite company".

Reading comprehension: its fundamental.

Also wouldn't call using a version of Windows as the Dreamcast's OS an especially small thing. Nevermind that MS had first option but ultimately chose not to buy Sega.

hay3418d ago (Edited 3418d ago )

SEGA was a satellite company like MS, not theirs though. It's a tight group sex of Holywood studios and military operations. The main reason of its actual existence is the war with Japan.
They hired and created companies there due to the fact they bombed or murdered most of previous local entrepreneurs.

The businesses and businessmen associated with creation of SEGA and its parent companies are directly responsible for FOX television, the very same News Corp which was split up in 2011 to avoid responsibility for corruption or espionage.

And MS... Well, they had a good, and sure start with bankers, lawyers and charity/foundation people in the family.

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Concertoine3422d ago

If you ask me yes. Continued the move to pc architecture, continued innovation in online gaming, a lot of sega's best studios had their last hoorah on the xbox with Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, etc.

Also very similar controllers and a lot of unique, if overlooked and commercially unsuccessful, games.

TFJWM3422d ago

If by last hoorah you mean a shadow of their former selves...

Concertoine3421d ago

No, sega's output on the xbox was very good. Awesome games like Gunvalkyrie, Crazy taxi 3, both otogi games, all the racing games as well as the games i mentioned above. A ton of sega series saw their last entry on the xbox, and a ton of talented studios saw their last games on the xbox before Sega restructured and layed off.

Death3421d ago

I agree, but you have to look at what Sega has done on the Playstation as well. Valkyria Chronicles is one of my favorite games on the PS3. It's sad that Sammy didn't consider selling off the home console assets instead of flushing most of it. Sega lost a tremendous amount of talent when Sammy took over. Shifting their talent to the dying Arcade market was incredibly short sighted.

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150°

10 Biggest Xbox Mistakes of All Time (So Far)

The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.

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culturedvultures.com
piroh2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)

ChasterMies1d 9h ago

By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.

OtterX1d 21h ago

You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.

RNTody1d 21h ago

Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.

S2Killinit1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.

MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.

For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.

They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 1h ago

I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.

Cacabunga1d 21h ago (Edited 1d 21h ago )

Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke

Reaper22_1d 16h ago

He still has his job. Something you can't say about Jim Ryan.

Cacabunga1d 15h ago

Both bad execs. One is on job and one thankfully retired.

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 1h ago (Edited 1d 1h ago )

I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.

Rainbowcookie2h ago

Yeah but the one that was "bad" didn't even affect sales.

bunt-custardly1d 11h ago

Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).

Cacabunga1d 10h ago

Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..

S2Killinit1d 8h ago

I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 1h ago

The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.

MaximusPrime_1d 19h ago

Really good video.

I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.

Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.

Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue

shinoff21831d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming

ChasterMies1d 12h ago

I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?

Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.

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150°

Microsoft to Add Copilot AI to Video Games

Microsoft recently revealed its plans to incorporate Copilot directly into video games, with Minecraft being the first showcased example.

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xpgained.co.uk
Fishy Fingers6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

F*** AI

"Hey Copilot, what's a good meme to prove I dislike AI".... https://giphy.com/clips/sou...

Einhander19726d ago

Two trillion dollar company that just can't wait to put as many people possible out of work as fast as possible.

It feels like every single thing they do is making gaming worse and destroying the industry.

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darthv725d ago

....you know it takes people to program the AI.... right? It isnt like it is sentient. We haven't reach skynet level of situation or anywhere close to the matrix just yet.

That's next Thursday.

Einhander19725d ago (Edited 5d ago )

It takes a people to program the AI then that AI is used for who knows how many games eliminating countless jobs which only grows as AI is used for more and more game creation functions.

What you're saying is so ridiculously short sighted and truly larking any kind of understanding and foresight.

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CaptainFaisal5d ago

Why all the hate? Im actually excited about this! Always wanted this kind of immersion, and an AI companion with me all the time helping me out knowing the status of my skills/inventory/progress and giving me tips on the best approach or how to craft something specific is game changing for the industry.

Hate all you want about AI, but this is just the start and I can see the potential already. You wont be complaining in the next 5-10 years about this, but rather complain if a game hasn’t implemented it.

MrDead5d ago

Yes we can't wait for the work of others to be used without the need to pay them so that MS can profit even more from the people they fire.

I_am_Batman5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

There is no chance I'd ever use something like this, especially if it's not part of the core game design, but a layer on top of it. It's way too much handholding. Many games already feel like busy work, because they don't let the player figure things out on their own. Having a real-time interactive guide defeats the purpose of playing the game in the first place in my opinion.

If this were to become the standard like you predict, we'll see more and more video games get away with bad design, because people will just be used to ask for help from the AI companion anyway.

Number1TailzFan5d ago

Well Nintendo don't need this with some of their games these days, with invincible characters, items, easy bosses etc.. they do the hand holding built in

helicoptergirl5d ago

Takes "hand holding" in games to a whole new level.

BlackDoomAx4d ago

Because human nature xD Almost every new technology had these kind of comments.

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70°

Activision team is opening a new game studio in Poland 'Elsewhere Entertainment' to build new AAA IP

Microsoft's Activision subsidiary announced today that it is opening a new game development studio to take advantage of the huge talent pool growing in Poland. It'll be the second Activision studio based in the region, joining Infinity Ward Krakow, although this studio is, in fact, not working on Call of Duty.

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windowscentral.com
Psychonaut859d ago

They’re not working on Call of Duty? Give it time.