Those who missed find it hard to understand. But for those who have known and played the Dreamcast during its (too) short life, the impression of a profound injustice remains. Equipped with a varied game library with high-quality titles, it also offered avant-garde features. Unfortunately, the PlayStation 2’s shadow never really allowed it. And if some players are having a hard time moving on, so will personalities who worked on the Dreamcast.
Peter Moore still “blames” Sony for the untimely death of the SEGA Dreamcast. At least that’s what he said recently during a public conversation about the “pioneers” of the Xbox. Now at Unity, Peter Moore has also worked for Electronic Arts, Microsoft and SEGA. And he was president of SEGA of America during the Dreamcast years.
Peter Moore, who was Xbox boss between 2003 and 2007, knows the Dreamcast and the Xbox very well. And while he drew a parallel between them, he couldn’t help but regret SEGA’s latest console:
The Dreamcast was ahead of its time. And, sadly, it failed to cope with the FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt – that is tied to PlayStation. And Sony did it brilliantly.
For Peter Moore, Sony nipped the Dreamcast in the bud
In marketing, the “Fear, uncertainty and doubt“(FUD) is a technique used by brands to denigrate competing brands and products. The aim is to influence through fear by spreading negative information.
Peter Moore is referring here to the way Sony has communicated about the imminent arrival of the PS2. And that shortly after the Dreamcast was marketed. This had the effect of preventing some players from receiving a Dreamcast for fear of making a mistake.
Indeed, at the time, it wasn’t uncommon for gamers to say they’d rather “wait for the PS2”. If he recognizes the effectiveness of Sony’s strategy, he adds humorously that the pill still didn’t fit:
It’s been 20 years but I’m still angry.
Xbox, a kind of “Dreamcast 2”?
Peter Moore ends his Dreamcast comment by saying that Xbox has taken over:
While the Dreamcast was unfortunately ruled out, the baton was handed over to Xbox. And when Xbox Live started launching and we believed in the concept of all playing online together, there was still a bit of the SEGA Dreamcast legacy in it.
As a reminder, the Dreamcast included a 56k modem for online gaming. The ability to play online with multiple people was one of the main selling points of SEGA’s latest console. That wasn’t enough for the Dreamcast to win, however.
SEGA then no longer had enough financial strength to compete with Sony and Nintendo. And with the arrival of Xbox, things just got more complicated for SEGA.
Even if he remains connected to the Dreamcast, we finally remember that Peter Moore does not necessarily enjoy a very good image with fans of SEGA. Some of them actually criticized him for decisions made after the Dreamcast ceased production. For example the cancellation of the American Dreamcast version of Shenmue II. Game released exclusively on Xbox across the Atlantic.
What do you think of these statements by Peter Moore about Dreamcast and Sony? Do you think he’s right? In your opinion, is the PS2 what harmed the Dreamcast the most? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
