Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[noiseredux]

Since I didn't get banned or warned

The only way to get banned from Racketboy is to criticize the Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast is fragile, too loud, has a terribly uncomfortable controller that needed a second analog stick and most of its best games have been ported elsewhere.

I still like it though.

Almost banned you til I got to that last sentence.

[noiseredux]

I also agree that DC has a lot of amazing exclusives.

[Tanooki]

I miss my DC at times but I know if I wanted one again it wouldn't keep my interest very long I don't believe. Plus the fact the games scratch real easy and I'm picky about that it wouldn't be fun trying to track down the stuff I had before let alone new things to enjoy in great shape (or cheap.) I'm sticking to the Genesis as far as Sega goes at this point as there's already more than enough I'll probably not get to as it is.

[Ack]

You know what I hated, guys? The forced stealth in Ocarina of Time. Also that big, wide, empty, boring expanse in the middle of the world that just plain sucked to traverse. They had to give me a horse to try to make it interesting, and it still sucked. And those dungeons? Yawn. I already did the 3-8 split in an earlier, better Zelda game. And what the hell was with little kid Link? What a stupid design.

Oh, right. Blue text.

[Snatch1414]

The DC certainly isn't perfect. Controller is just okay, and that BEEEEEEEP the VMU makes every time you boot it up is terrible (I guess it means it needs a new battery?). More importantly, the controls for games that would normally use two sticks weren't bad at the time but I can't go back now.

That said I loved the fighters and the exclusives. I wouldn't expect it to garner any votes for best system ever, but it's a good, solid console. There's certainly a lot of good games if you already have them or are willing to pay notable but not crazy prices for most (and some are dirt cheap).

[Sarge]

For a while, the Dreamcast was a better console than the vaunted PS2. I constantly imagine an alternate reality where Sega put a DVD drive in there instead of using GDROM, and it makes me wonder how the console wars would have gone then.

I mostly like the Dreamcast controller, except for the analog stick. It just feels a little too weird. It's not anything unplayable, but it's not optimal, either. I thought the d-pad was just fine, though, and I put in soooo many hours in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

It is a bit loud, although my original one is a bit louder than the one I fixed up from a thrift store, so it may have varied a little bit during the lifespan. The fan was always loud, though. And yes, the beep is the VMU needing a battery. Doesn't do that if it's got juice. Unfortunately, the batteries in those didn't last long at all.

[Reprise]

In hindsight, I really don't understand why the Dreamcast controller was not better. You know what? I don't dislike the shape, I don't dislike the feel, I don't even dislike the plasticy analogue stick and I don't even dislike the cable coming out of the front of the controller, or the light feel when you have no VMU/Vibration packs inserted.

But what I do dislike is the lack of buttons. The Mega Drive/Genesis had 6 face buttons. The Saturn had 6 face buttons (hell even the 3D Saturn pad, which Sega just self-plagiarised for the Dreamcast controller, had 6 face buttons). Why in God's name would they think going down to just four would be a good idea? Considering the competition had more (N64 had 6 face buttons, Playstation had dual shoulder buttons), you'd think they'd not think the lack of buttons could be an issue.

Next is obviously the lack of a second analogue stick. The Dreamcast was ahead of its time in many ways. They were the first console of that generation launched on the market. They really should have realised a second analogue stick would ensure it's ready for the new generation, especially as they ended up pushing ideas like online gaming and the FPS genre. I mean, Sony worked it out with the Dualshock controller on the PS1. Sega should have looked at that and thought "hey, that's a neat idea that's going to be common in gaming. We better do that ourselves".

But hey, at least we got the VMU screen. Seeing my character's health, on my controller, in Resident Evil, without ever needing to pause, FTW!

[Snatch1414]

But hey, at least we got the VMU screen. Seeing my character's health, on my controller, in Resident Evil, without ever needing to pause, FTW!

Don't forget your chibi Soul Calibur character......standing there. Or the logo of whatever game you're playing.

I remember one of the big things for the VMU was going to be calling plays in football games. I don't think they thought it through much past that, and even that wasn't a terribly good idea haha.

[noiseredux]

I'm one of those converts that loves the DC controller. I find it super comfortable. I like the cable coming from the bottom myself. I like the weight of it (w/ VMU and rumble in there).

I think that it's designed for 3D games. Which is why there is the Ascii fight pad or Agetec stick for 2D games. But for 3D games it's perfect.

As far as FPS games go, I must say that the scheme used in things like the unreleased Half-Life work really really well if you get used to them. You use the four face buttons to move forward, back or sideways. You use the analog stick to aim. You use the shoulders to fire and the dpad for switching weapons, etc. It's actually really comfortable once you "get it."

That said, a lot of the FPS games on the system support the keyboard and mouse.

[Snatch1414]

As far as FPS games go, I must say that the scheme used in things like the unreleased Half-Life work really really well if you get used to them. You use the four face buttons to move forward, back or sideways. You use the analog stick to aim. You use the shoulders to fire and the dpad for switching weapons, etc. It's actually really comfortable once you "get it."

That said, a lot of the FPS games on the system support the keyboard and mouse.

As mentioned above I didn't mind that scheme back in the day but it's hard to get used to now. I think the problem is I don't play those type of games on my DC for long periods anymore. Usually I'm just farting around for 15-30 minutes. I would like to get back in the groove some day with it though. I love MDK2.