This looks amazing. But they want 34.95 pounds for it, which under today's conversion rate is $55.22 USD, and that's not including shipping. That's a little high, I think. Plus, I feel like this is just an "audition" to attract a deal from XBLA, PSN, Steam, or WiiWare. Since there's already a Dreamcast Collection on Steam and XBLA, those would be the best bet.

The-Excel wrote:

How many "last Dreamcast game ever" games do they need to make?

The same could be said about the NES.

Honestly, if I wasn't already committed to Otomedius Excellent and DoDonPachi Resurrection, I'd probably be ordering this as we speak. As it stands now, I'm going to wait it out and see if there's a cross-platform release, which I bet there will be. This is what's known as "Internet Marketing 101". You build up buzz for your game by releasing it on the Dreamcast, and then use that buzz to ink a lucrative deal to bring it to a more viable platform.

To be fair, the Dreamcast is huge on the secondary market. Due to its low secondhand price and lack of piracy controls, it remains a popular console choice for poor college students everywhere.

Dreamcast's demise was based, as far as I can tell, on Sega's longterm financial situation. When Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, it came on the heels of an announcement that they were going to be in the black for a fiscal year for the first time in several years. Sega ultimately decided that they had two options: they could either fight to grow their brand, or they could decide that their then-current financial success was not sustainable and leave the console game. Given their previous string of flops (Sega CD, 32X, Saturn), it was not necessarily the wrong decision. A disappointing one, perhaps, but not wrong.

In many ways, Sega was the WCW of the video game industry. The perpetual #2 who briefly took the top spot by making some bold moves, then eventually fell victim to in-fighting, excess, and mismanagement. The only difference is that Sega didn't end being purchased by their former archrival. Maybe someday!

Well, I suppose discs are easier to produce, so you're probably right. Does the PS2 suffer from this phenomenon as well?

The thing is, I'm really into shooters. And I really want to play this. It's just that the 360 is currently my shoot 'em up system of choice, and I'd really like to have it on that. Cuz, you know, achievements and leaderboards are always nice. Not that I'd ever make the leaderboard, but still.

I understand what you're saying with the green grocer analogy, but it's not really a good analogy when it comes to indie games. Indie games, as a whole, are more like moonshine than locally grown produce. Sure, some of them are more like microbrews, but most are not. Would you pay $55 for Angry Birds? I would hope not. And the current market dictates that you do not have to.

Plus, they have to know their audience. Their game is being marketed through the internet to an internet community of retrogamers who like the Dreamcast due to its ability to run homebrews and pirated games with ease. Asking them for $55 USD is like asking a homeless guy if he can break a $5 bill, it's just not gonna happen. Instead, the game will probably be heavily pirated. You've got to have an asking price that will make people want to buy it, instead of punishing the people who do buy it by asking them to offset the cost of piracy. And that asking price is somewhere in the $20-30 range. Not to mention, there are probably dozens of games like this on Steam for $10 or less.

Here's a recent NES game. It costs $30:

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=86

And a cartridge costs way more to produce than disc.