The Sega Dreamcast was the greatest system that never really had a chance. When most systems die after a year and a half, it is because they are terrible systems with horrendous game libraries (see 32x, Atari Jaguar). The Dreamcast had arguably the greatest first 18 months of any console in history. The unfortunate thing is those 18 months were all we got.

Why did the Dreamcast die?

The Dreamcast faced three nearly insurmountable obstacles, any one of which would have been enough to derail most systems. The first obstacle was EA. Still bitter about the failure of the Sega Saturn and unsure of the Dreamcast’s potential, EA, the largest publisher at the time, decided not to release games for the Dreamcast.

This meant that some of the biggest franchises, such as Madden and Live, were not going to appear on the Dreamcast. Sega and 2K Sports did an awesome job of filling this gap with amazing sport games, but for many people Madden is football. No Madden meant lots and lots of people sticking with their PS1 and waiting on PS2.

The second obstacle was the hype for the PS2. When the Dreamcast was released on 9/9/99 most people were playing Playstations. Sony was the undisputed leader with no one else even close. For a generation of gamers, Playstation meant video games. Sony was in such control that everyone was anticipating the launch of the PS2. In fact, the hype generated by Sony for the PS2 was enough to convince people that the next generation did not start until Sony released the PS2. This perception caused a lot of people to consider the Dreamcast as competition for the PS1 instead of the PS2. Sony convinced people that the Dreamcast was a toy, and the PS2 was the future.

People always say that everything always comes down to the games, but if you were to compare the first year of Playstation 2 games versus the games that were out on the Dreamcast, the PS2 library doesn’t even come close. The PS2 launch really only had 3 games: Madden 2001, Timesplitters, and SSX. Compare that to: Soul Calibur, Power Stone, NFL 2K, NBA 2K, Skies of Arcadia, and dozens of others. Even with a superior library, the Dreamcast was still demolished by the perception that Sony had created.

The final obstacle was Sega itself. After much success with the Sega Genesis, Sega managed to dilute their brand name by releasing way too many systems. At one point you could go to the store and purchase: a Nomad, a 32X, a Sega CD, a Genesis, a Game Gear, and a Sega Saturn. Having so many systems confused retailers and consumers. By the time Sega got it right with the Dreamcast it was too late. People no longer trusted Sega consoles. They had been burned too many times before. The Dreamcast could have dispensed Nacho cheese and free Beer and people would have wondered if they would need 7 expansions and attachments to play all the games for it.

Any one of these obstacles would have been enough to derail a system. The poor Dreamcast faced all three. Is it any wonder the Dreamcast died?

Before the 2K series, most video basketball games devolved into dunk contests. Things like defense, post play, and offensive sets were relegated to the bench to sit next to old Clippers players with blown out ACL’s. Before the 2K series, games were completely unrealistic.

A typical game consisted of running straight down the court at the hoop and dunking or launching a 3 from another county. For people who don’t know anything about actual basketball this was fine, but for those of us who understood the difference between a motion and a triangle offense it was physically painful. The 2K series was the first to understand there was more to basketball than dunks and 3-pointers.

The beauty of 2K1 in particular is that it forces you to actually run your offensive sets and use your teammates. Sure you can run down the court as Kobe and try to dunk every time, but the scoreboard will not be in your favor at the end of the game. Just like with real basketball, the game rewards you for making the smart play, pushing the ball up the court when you can and passing the ball to the open man when he is open. This sounds like simple fundamental basketball (cause it is) but the 2K games are where it got its start.

Even though they are no longer associated with Sega the 2K basketball games are still going strong, consistently providing the best basketball game experiences. The Dreamcast run consisted of 3 top flight basketball games. NBA 2K laid the groundwork and 2K1 refined a few things but would also be released on the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube. For pure Dreamcastery it is all about 2K1 (and on Dreamcast day Dreamcastery is too a word.) Also NBA 2K1 was the first to feature Internet play which allowed Sega fans around the world the opportunity to connect and play. This was a huge moment in sports gaming.

Some of the other additions are subtle but very significant. Giving centers actual back to the basket moves gives big men something to do on offense besides clean up garbage rebounds. This meant players like Shaq are more than roadblocks on your trips to dunk city. You can actually play a little inside outside game by posting up, waiting for the double team and then kicking it out for three. When it comes to the actual moves your guys aren’t quite Kevin McHale but they can at least drop step and dunk or put up a jump hook.

The graphics are a little rough after all these years, the faces look okay (you can tell who most players are just by looking at their face) but the player models look muddy and Nintendo 64-ish. To make matters worse some of the animations are way off, some of the dunks in particular defy the laws of physics and basketball.

The game still plays surprisingly well. Sliding around in your defensive stance feels as fluid and simple as it did in the year 2000. The only major flaws come on defense where passes will fly right by your defender even if he is standing right in the passing lane. This means that defense consists of shot contests and steals, which means your middle school basketball coach would  groan and throw a fit. The other problem is rebounding A.I. Players will stand perfectly still while rebounds fall to the floor inches away. It is a very rare event in real NBA basketball when a rebound hits the floor before someone gobbles it up.

All in all 2K1 is one of the reasons my Dreamcast stayed out of the closet for as long as it did and is truly one of the best games on the system.