10 Ways The Sega Dreamcast Was Ahead Of Its Time
3. Voice Control
"Xbox on. Xbox ON. XBOX ON!!" *stands up and presses power button*
Is this a vaguely familiar scenario? It probably isn't because, let's face it, using voice commands is an exercise in futility akin to trying to tame a hippo. Though, large water-dwelling mammals probably respond more readily than half-baked hardware.
Any of you who have tried and repeatedly failed to perform even the most basic of tasks with just the power of speech can blame the idea on the Dreamcast. Had Sega's cutting-edge console survived its infancy, our frustrations with voice recognition could have occurred much sooner.
The Dreamcast's microphone was similar in execution to the N64's Voice Recognition Unit, neatly slotting into the controller's expansion slot. Unlike the Nintendo effort, Sega's mic had more ambitious intentions than a pet Pikachu and a painfully niche train simulator (Densha de Go! 64, check it out, it's the foremost title in the train announcement genre).
Originally developed for the frankly ludicrous Seaman (basically Hey You, Pikachu! with the yellow mouse substituted for a man-faced fish), the peripheral was set to be used in a whole range of titles, but its potential was cut short by the Dreamcast's early demise. In the end, it was compatible with just three published games.
A fourth - Propeller Arena - was due for release, but was hastily canned following 9/11. A game allowing players to command planes to fly into buildings was a definite no-no in 2001. The Dreamcast stopped production shortly afterwards, and games had to wait many years before they could be cooed by my mellifluous tones.