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Games Entertainment

Most Dreamcast Online Servers Halted 38

Posted by simoniker from the end-of-an-era dept.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the official Sega announcement that most of their Dreamcast game servers will be shut down starting this month. According to the site, "Effective June 2003, the only Dreamcast titles that Sega will continue to support online are Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Online ver. 2. No other Dreamcast titles will be playable online after this time." This means that titles such as Alien Front Online (which pre-dated Xbox Live with a headset feature), the Sega Sports titles, Quake III, and even the classy Chu Chu Rocket will no longer be online-compatible, admittedly long after their prime. Perhaps someone could find a homebrew solution?
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Most Dreamcast Online Servers Halted More

Most Dreamcast Online Servers Halted

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  • I didn't think anyone used the Dreamcast anyway, so why find a homebrew solution to a problem that simply does not exist?

    • Re:Uhh...? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Painaxl ( 673056 )
      I'm not trying to flame or anything, but the DC has what is probably the largest homebrew communities around. Check out DC Emulation [dcemulation.com] or BOOB! Dreamcast Development [boob.co.uk]. A lot of people still use the Dreamcast (I still do, even though I've got a PS2 and Xbox). It still has it's supporters, especially in the homebrew, emulation and open source communities.

    • Re:Uhh...? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Baron_911 ( 664953 ) <baron@inse[ ]e.net ['cur' in gap]> on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @09:52AM (#6160881) Homepage Journal
      Actually, the Dreamcast isn't quite dead yet! The hacker community has been writing all sorts of emulators and various trinkits for the DC for a while after it 'officially' died, so there will probably still be some demand for at least a Chu Chu rocket server. :P

      Links:
      Dreamcast Programming [mc.pp.se]
      Dreamcast Emulation [dcemulation.com](much more than emulation there...)
      • Actually, stuff emulators and pointless trinkets, I'm looking forward to the DC release of the latest King Of Fighters game (2002?), which is released soon.
    • I use mine DC a fair bit. Like others have mentioned, I use mine for emulation. For $30 it can't be beat- cheaper than buying even just another NES with a bunch of the games I wanted. Also cheaper than buying a TV out card and a gamepad for my iBook.

      Heck, I didn't even own any real DC games until a month ago, when I picked up "Caution: Seaman." It was just NES, SNES, and GB up until then....
    • I use mine...and have a spare waiting for when this one dies, and probably will pick up a second spare.
    • What are you talking about dude.... I have a Dreamcast and still use it.

      It had a lot of bytchin' games and some of these are still readily enjoyable. I got the European import version of Shenmue II for the Dreamcast and I would rather hear Japanese and the heinous voice acting in the XBox version. Then there's "Metropolis Street Racer" still quite pleasant to play today (the predecessor of the Platinum hit "Project Gotham Racing" on the XBox). Then there's "San Francisco ush 2049" and "Sega Rally Champions

  • I, for one, will be very sad... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SynapseLapse ( 644398 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @09:48AM (#6160841)
    This is just another nail in the coffin of system that died way too fast. The homebrew scene has been a wonderful source of continual innovation. Despite what the troll said above, there are some of us who still play some classic DC games. It has so many titles that are absolutely wonderful that were all but completely ignored by the mainstream buyers. (Bangai-o anyone?) Oh well, I still have four controllers for some Bomberman/Chu Chu Rocket fun.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • I was _really_ enjoying Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast up to the point I started playing alongside players who 'suspiciously' had the best weapons on the game, despite not being _THAT_ levelled up. When asked where they got them, they mumbled something about 'a friend' giving it to them. Just say no to item cloning, kids - it really does ruin the user experience :(
      • its a sad state of affairs when a console with so many quality games can just sink into the ground like this

        In the uber-competative world of console + PC + handheld gaming , it may be tragic to some, but is this really unexpected? I mean these companies want you to buy a new one every two years. Should I have any sympathy when they start dying off just as quickly?

        • Actually, that's a myth. The game companies would very much prefer that you didn't have to buy a new console every two years. The truth is that according to most reports the companies lose money on the consoles and make money on games. At best their console profits are nothing compared to their profits on actual game licenses. Actually, the longer a console is in production, the more likely it is that a company will make money on both the games and the console.

          Why would they want you to buy a new cons

      • I am still baffled as to why people bought into the PS2 hype so much - the DC had plenty of quality games by the time Sony's console launched, and it was months before it had its own high quality game.

        Here's the thing, though. I recognize that DC had great titles, but the "killer app" for PS2 was the backward compatability to a system that had dominated much of the market prior to its upgrade release. If Saturn hadn't been killed by Bernie "Can't find his ass with both hands" Stolar, and if third party
  • As far as I remember the Dreamcast Quake 3 could play against PC owners; does this mean that the "central server" part of the online game was just a GameSpy server list? I suspect it shouldn't be too difficult to get that title speaking to a standard PC Q3A server.

  • The reason: (Score:5, Funny)

    by breon.halling ( 235909 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @10:07AM (#6161032)

    They've probably all been turned into Linux routers [slashdot.org]. =)

  • It only makes sense! (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Domini ( 103836 )
    Since most Dreamcasts will now become Linux routers, it only makes sense that games will suffer... -grin-

  • I guess I have to give props to Sega on this one. As noted, it is long after the prime of the games and the system, and it is very impressive that they endured the expense of maintaining the servers this long, and that they continue to support the servers for PSO, despite the recent releases for todays systems. Kudos Sega.

  • Attention Sega: Release the server source (Score:4, Interesting)

    by saladpuncher ( 633633 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @02:19PM (#6163745) Homepage
    Sega could pull off a huge public relations coup by releasing the source code to their servers so that the development community that has grown up around the Dreamcast can continue to grow. Sure, they wont make any money but it will go a long way towards making people trust them enough to buy their next console...if they ever make one.

  • Online PC games last longer... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LazyBoy ( 128384 ) on Tuesday June 10, 2003 @03:11PM (#6164322)
    IMO, the type of online PC games that are hosted by users will last longer because they're hosted by users. Typically, someone has to host a central server info server, but that doesn't cost them much. The new MMP environments won't fit this model...

  • PSO Server Emulator/Lobby emulator (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I think somebody on the DCEmulation forums started a PSO server emulator. He claims to have broken the encryption used for the protocol.

    It is -kindof- believable, because he was/is known for other hacks on PSO. But he never followed up with information or a proof, and it went quiet after a short while.

    It looks like in most cases the SEGA servers provide only a lobby, to start games and get the IP addresses of all players interchanged, from then on it's peer-to-peer with UDP messages.

    I think this is the
  • I haven't been able to connect to the sega sports servers ever (though I was trying 2k1 games in 2002-2003). Were they accessable at all after 2001?
  • Sega could score big points if they open sourced the server software-- I doubt it'll happen, but it would enable people to keep using their Dreamcasts, and wouldn't cost Sega any money. Of course, if there are too many similarities between the games that they're continuing to support and the ones that they're not, it'd be even less likely to happen.

    still. maybe a petition is in order?

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