Dearest Most Honorable Mootiekins

Hello,

As you may be aware, there are many Dreamcast fans, including myself, questioning the exclusion of the system from discussion on /vr/.  The answer we have gotten, time and time again, is that the Dreamcast is a sixth generation console, and, as a result, is on the same grounds as the PS2, Xbox and GameCube.

We know this not to be the case.

We do not believe the Dreamcast's hardware power has any bearing over how old it is, or the timespan during which people were purchasing Dreamcasts and enjoying its library.  Because /vr/ is a board for the discussion of old, retro video games, we believe that bringing hardware generations into the mix at all is arbitrary and confusing, and has nothing to do with age.

Throughout the past week or so, we have compiled a large amount of data concerning the Dreamcast that clearly shows that its contemporaries (or peers) were the 5th generation PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

The Dreamcast's entire lifespan was contained within the lifespan of those 5th generation systems, and it was discontinued before the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation left the market.

The extent of the Dreamcast's presence in the sixth generation was a mere 5 months and 6 days (October 26th, 2000 to March 30th, 2001), during which it was still being manufactured and was available for purchase at the same time as the PlayStation 2.

To put this into context, the Nintendo 64 shared the market with the PlayStation 2 for 3 years,  1 month, and 5 days (from October 26th, 2000 to November 30th, 2003).  The PlayStation shared the market with its successor for 6 years, 2 months, and 5 days (from October 26th, 2000 to December 31st, 2006).

To demonstrate the Dreamcast's lack of presence during the sixth generation of consoles further, the percentage of the PS2's lifespan during which the Dreamcast was also available for purchase is a mere 3.4% (it was available for 155 of the 4545 days the PlayStation 2 was on the market).

In comparison, the Dreamcast was present for 13.7% of the PlayStation's lifespan (568 of 4161 days), and 21.7% of the Nintendo 64's lifespan (568 of 2618 days).

The Dreamcast was discontinued prior to the launch of both the Xbox and the GameCube in all territories, not just North America.  But because this email is focused primarily on the North American dates, the following data is relevant:

The Xbox launched in North America 7 months and 16 days after the Dreamcast was discontinued (Dreamcast was discontinued March 30th, 2001; Xbox launched November 15th, 2001).

The GameCube launched in North America 7 months and 19 days after the Dreamcast was discontinued (Dreamcast was discontinued March 30th, 2001; GameCube launched November 18th, 2001).

As such, we can definitively say that the Dreamcast was present for 0% of the GameCube's and Xbox's lifespan.

By looking at the period of time during which the Dreamcast was being manufactured and made available, we can clearly say that the Dreamcast has very little in common with the PlayStation 2 and nothing in common with the GameCube and Xbox, in that people were not playing Dreamcast games at the same time that they were playing other 6th generation systems, except for the (less than half a year) overlap between the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 (which it overlapped with less than the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation did).

Because the initial rule of /vr/ prior to the inclusion of a rule to specifically exclude the Dreamcast (which is irrelevant to this discussion, as the only purpose of its existence is to exclude the Dreamcast in the face of all fact) is centered around the year 1999 or prior, and the Dreamcast falls within this requirement (it was released on November 27th, 1998 in Japan, September 9th, 1999 in North America, October 14th, 1999 in Europe, and November 30th, 1999 in Australia; these all fall within the bounds of this rule), we can determine the Dreamcast to be a retro console.

Although the rule solely concerns hardware, the amount of time software was being produced also paints a clear picture of the period of time during which people were enjoying Dreamcast games, and as such may be considered relevant.

The Dreamcast shared 118 of its games with other systems, including the PC.  Because the 1999 rule goes only by console launch dates, the following data will only be concerned with Dreamcast games that were available on other consoles.

In determining which generation the Dreamcast shared the majority of its library with, it is important to distinguish what is and is not a multiplat.

A multiplatform game is a game that was in development for multiple consoles simultaneously, and released on those consoles at or around the same time.  As such, games that were developed by Sega and were Dreamcast exclusives during its lifespan can automatically be barred from being considered multiplatform titles, as they were in development for only the Dreamcast, and were ported to other systems after their initial planned release and after the discontinuation of the Dreamcast hardware.  Games that were released on other platforms 2 or more years after the Dreamcast version was released also cannot be considered multiplatform games, because they were not planned for release across multiple platforms at the same time.  They can be considered ports of Dreamcast games, released after the Dreamcast had already been discontinued.  The difference between ports and multiplatform releases is an important distinguishment to make, and understanding that difference, we can move forward with the following data.

The Dreamcast shared 51 multiplatform releases with 5th generation consoles.

It shared 23 multiplatform releases with 6th generation consoles.

Of the 51 games the Dreamcast shared with the 5th generation, 15 of those games were released on the Dreamcast first.

And of the 51 games the Dreamcast shared with the 5th generation, each and every one of those games is considered retro if being discussed on any platform other than the Dreamcast, despite being the exact same game released at roughly the same time.

Because of this, we can clearly see that the Dreamcast's library overlapped much more (over two times as many multiplatform releases were 5th generation games compared to 6th generation releases), and that people were playing Dreamcast during the latter portion of the 5th generation of consoles' lifespans.

Looking at the last games released across the Dreamcast's peer consoles, we also see that the last Dreamcast game was released before the last Nintendo 64 and PlayStation games were released.

NHL 2K2, the last official Dreamcast game to be released in North America, was released on February 14th, 2002.  This is 5 months and 4 days earlier than the last Nintendo 64 release (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 on August 20th, 2002) and a full 2 years, 7 months, and 26 days before the last PlayStation release (FIFA Soccer 2005 on October 12th, 2004).

From this data, we can clearly see that not only was the window of time during which the Dreamcast was being manufactured and sold contained within the bounds of its fifth generation contemporaries, but we can also clearly see that the window of time during which its software was available is also contained within the lifespan of the fifth generation consoles.

In both hardware and software lifespans, the Dreamcast existed and was played at the same time as the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation.

It was available at the same time as another sixth generation console for only 5 months and 6 days, and was discontinued prior to the launch of the other sixth generation consoles, definitively marking it as not in competition with the sixth generation consoles.

In sum, we believe this data speaks for itself in classifying the Dreamcast as a retro system.  In both hardware and software, it can be considered retro.

We ask for the removal of the sixth generation rule, as it is arbitrary and unnecessary, and ask that the 1999 rule remain intact as the only rule on /vr/.  This allows for discussion of the Dreamcast, disallows discussion of the PS2 and other sixth generation consoles, and fixes the situation not just for the Dreamcast, but for other systems that fall in this generational gray area, such as the Neo Geo Pocket Color and Wonderswan.

Hardware power holds no bearing over the age of the Dreamcast or its games.  We hope that you are now aware of the unique situation of the Dreamcast, and will change the rules to accommodate its rightful position as the last retro console.

Thank you for your time.

Sources:  http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/dreamcast/list-of-dreamcast-ports-on-other-systems

http://www.timeanddate.com/

Wikipedia used for basic console launch and discontinuation date information

*All dates are North American unless otherwise noted