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Originally posted by: PSYCHO_DAYV
THE SEGA DREAMCAST WAS THE NUMBER 1 SELLING CONSOLE OF ALL TIME WHEN IT CAME OUT. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE GAMES WERE TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE AND WAY TOO EASY TO SCRATCH.
Emphasis added. The Dreamcast did very well in Japan (it even had a re-release last year I think), but U.S. sales weren't enough to keep Sega of America in the hardware business. They lost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Dreamcast's failure in the U.S. is the primary reason Sega is now a third-party developer for other consoles.
I don't remember Dreamcast games being any more expensive than anything else out at the time. They just couldn't keep up with Sony. The PlayStation was a huge success and even a superior piece of hardware like the Dreamcast was no match for it. Once the PlayStation2 was announced, the Dreamcast market shriveled up and died.
When the console was discontinued, I picked up a spare at Toys R Us for $50 and about 30 or so games for $5 to $10 a pop. Most of them are still in the shrink wrap on the shelf. Not enough time in the day.