My 2 cents, well actually it's 5 points here... so, uh... here's my nickel:
1. The controller was fine, a huge leap from the N64 controller. It had... triggers, and the VMU was the shit, honestly. Sorry Nintendo, but the Dreamcast was the first Dual Screen console. The games made much more of leap forward with titles like Soul Calibur the best evolution in gaming we have yet to see in our generation. The closest thing to it was Tekken 2 on the PS1.
2. Games were easy to copy, but alot of people didn't have CD-burners back then. The R4 is much easier to acquire and you don't see Nintendo giving up on it.
3. The dreamcast introduced Cel-shading to games with Jet Grind Radio a trend that has grown very well into titles like Okami, No More Heroes, and the upcoming Mad World. DC wins with originality.
4. First console MMO (PSO). I wasted my life on that damn game... and what little Meseta I had in HS.
5. The reason it died so soon is because of the DVD player, thanx Sony you killed the hardcore gaming and made it appeal to the masses who wanted to watch movies w/o rewinding. What didn't help was that games weren't really cool then. Being a gamer in 1999 did not get you any props, we're about to hit 2009 and there are nerds on my Dr. Pepper bottle. Master Chief is
ing everywhere, so is WoW, and video game movies don't come down to Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. We've come along way, but we owe most of the credit to the Dreamcast.
...RIP...