Talk:Dreamcast accessories

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Controller section

I've deleted the following passage from the controller section:

Also complaints exist regarding the perplexing lack of action buttons compared to contemporary and previous consoles-- the Dreamcast controller only featured four face buttons and two shoulder buttons, an arragement that gave the Dreamcast fewer control options than most sixteen-bit systems. In addition, the d-pad deviated from the circular floating d-pad found in the Saturn and Genesis, instead featuring an uncomfortable NES-like cross-shaped pad. Also many found the lack of a second analog thumbstick perplexing, as twin thumbsticks had become standard fare for console development thanks to the success of Sony's Dual Shock controller.

Here's my rationale:

1. The 'perplexing lack of buttons' part is wrong about it having fewer buttons than 16-bit systems. The Dreamcast has the same number of buttons as the 6-button Mega Drive controller (3 more than the original one), one more than the Neo Geo, three more than the PC Engine, and only one less than the SNES (Dreamcast is missing Select).

2. The Dual Shock controller was only released a year or two before the Dreamcast came out, and it could only be found on one brand of console (the PlayStation) until the GameCube and Xbox were released in autumn of 2001 -- 3 years after the Dreamcast came out.

3. None of this is sourced. (Granted, most of the article isn't.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.179.0.132 (talk) 02:04, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Light guns section is confusing

Here's the paragraph on light guns at the time of this posting:

"Sega also produced a light gun for the system, although this was not sold in the United States, possibly because Sega did not want its name on a gun in light of recent school shootings (the Columbine High School massacre). American versions of light gun games even blocked out using the official gun. However, several third parties made compatible guns for the American Dreamcast. One of them was Mad Catz's Dream Blaster which became the official Dreamcast light gun for use in the United States. The games that did not work in United States with the official Dreamcast light gun were The House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission. Other light gun compatible games were Death Crimson OX and its Japanese prequel Death Crimson 2, Virtua Cop 2 on the Sega Smash Pack, and a light gun minigame in Demolition Racer No Exit."

Here are my questions:

Did Dreamcast developers really create code to "block out" Sega's light gun from USA releases? Wouldn't it have been simpler and more effective to simply remove light gun support from the USA versions? And why would third party developers go along with this? Did Sega of America actually refuse to license games that worked with Sega's light gun?
Here's the most baffling part: Why would Sega of America refuse to release Sega's Dreamcast light gun and force developers to "block out" its usage on USA releases, only to then license a third party light gun to serve as the Dreamcast's official light gun? I know Sega of America made plenty of bonehead moves in those days, but this is contradictory. Did they want the Dreamcast to have light guns or not?
"The games that did not work in United States with the official Dreamcast light gun were..." Which official Dreamcast light gun? The Sega one or the Mad Catz one?--Martin IIIa (talk) 18:41, 7 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's a bit confusing, but here's how I understand it:

Yes, devs did block out the official Dreamcast gun, but it seems that this is only true of the Sega games (e.g. HOTD2). I guess Sega wanted to wash their hands of everything and completely avoid the controversy. But completely removing light gun support would have ruined some of these games, so they just officially licensed a third party device.
Again, they didn't force other developers to do anything. It seems to have been an internal choice at Sega. So if there was controversy, they could just say they never released a gun controller in the states and none of their games supported the light gun they themselves produced.
The Sega one - both HOTD2 and Confidential Mission were Sega products that the company had their own lightgun locked out of. Ironic, I know. All other light guns (even unlicensed ones) work well with all the games with light gun support. I'm guessing Virtua Cop 2 for the Smash Pack just flew under the radar; not surprising considering how sloppily done the Dreamcast Smash Pack was.

That having been said, the paragraph could be worded a bit better to clear things up.--Jtalledo (talk) 00:50, 8 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]