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Back at E3 1999, Konami demoed a new Castlevania title for the Dreamcast, Castlevania: Resurrection. It was meant to be a soft reboot of sorts, focusing on Sonia Belmont and a new character, Victor Belmont. (A character with this name later appeared in Castlevania: Lords of Shadows 2.) Set in 1666, it would have taken place before the original Castlevania, and would have featured a time travel storyline to fit in the 1800s-era vampire hunter Victor. It was being developed by Konami’s internal Japan team and was a 3D game. Sometime after the demo, it was quietly cancelled, reportedly due to Konami’s lack of confidence in the Dreamcast.

However, a prototype version has appeared online, sent anonymously to French website Sega Dreamcast Preservation Info. It features five levels that, due to how early the build is, don’t connect to each other, but are all selectable from the main menu, though one level won’t load.

As of now, the prototype only exists online through photos and video. Sega Dreamcast Preservation Info warns that this may be as far as it goes, as they do not know what the original owner’s intentions are with the prototype.

Source

 

[xcrimsonstormx]

The seller just updated his post saying that he has backed up the copy and will at some point release it publicly. So at least we don't have to worry that it will never be made public.

 

[HarveyHouston]

To be fair, the DC had a record-breaking launch... and then the PS2 happened. Nothing could stop the black monolith.

Yes, but I think SEGA's consoles were failing before the Dreamcast, which may have contributed to Dreamcast's demise.

SEGA and Nintendo were in big competition, as well. During the 90s, SEGA attempted to push the limits with their consoles, and Nintendo played it safe with their innovative yet simplistic technology. You know which one came out on top in that market. Not that I'm saying that SEGA hardware was bad, although I do wonder if they could have designed them better.

Genesis: "While their chief criticisms were the lack of upcoming game releases and dated hardware, they also concurred that the Genesis was clearly inferior to the Super NES in terms of graphics capabilities, sound chip, and games library. John Ricciardi in particular considered the Genesis overrated, saying he had consistently found more enjoyment in both the Super NES and TurboGrafx-16, while Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer recommended it based on its selection of classic titles and the high value-for-money of the six pack-in games Sega was offering at the time."

SEGA CD: "The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed its high launch price, it also suffered from a tiny software library... Sales were higher in North America and Europe, although the novelty of FMV and CD-enhanced games quickly wore off, as many later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews."

SEGA 32X: "Though positioning the console as an inexpensive entry into 32-bit gaming, Sega had a difficult time convincing third-party developers to create games for the new system."

SEGA Saturn: "As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47% of the console market, Nintendo 40%, and Sega only 12%. Neither price cuts nor high-profile game releases proved helpful... Due to the Saturn's poor performance in North America, 60 of Sega of America's 200 employees were laid off in the fall of 1997."

These quotes are from Wikipedia, but you can also do original research to find this out. Since their failures, these consoles have garnered a following by SEGA fans, but at the time, they were doing abysmal considering the competition.

 

[Foxi4]

Yes, but I think SEGA's consoles were failing before the Dreamcast, which may have contributed to Dreamcast's demise.

SEGA and Nintendo were in big competition, as well. During the 90s, SEGA attempted to push the limits with their consoles, and Nintendo played it safe with their innovative yet simplistic technology. You know which one came out on top in that market. Not that I'm saying that SEGA hardware was bad, although I do wonder if they could have designed them better.

Genesis: "While their chief criticisms were the lack of upcoming game releases and dated hardware, they also concurred that the Genesis was clearly inferior to the Super NES in terms of graphics capabilities, sound chip, and games library. John Ricciardi in particular considered the Genesis overrated, saying he had consistently found more enjoyment in both the Super NES and TurboGrafx-16, while Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer recommended it based on its selection of classic titles and the high value-for-money of the six pack-in games Sega was offering at the time."

SEGA CD: "The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Although many consumers blamed its high launch price, it also suffered from a tiny software library... Sales were higher in North America and Europe, although the novelty of FMV and CD-enhanced games quickly wore off, as many later games were met with lukewarm or negative reviews."

SEGA 32X: "Though positioning the console as an inexpensive entry into 32-bit gaming, Sega had a difficult time convincing third-party developers to create games for the new system."

SEGA Saturn: "As of August 1997, Sony controlled 47% of the console market, Nintendo 40%, and Sega only 12%. Neither price cuts nor high-profile game releases proved helpful... Due to the Saturn's poor performance in North America, 60 of Sega of America's 200 employees were laid off in the fall of 1997."

These quotes are from Wikipedia, but you can also do original research to find this out. Since their failures, these consoles have garnered a following by SEGA fans, but at the time, they were doing abysmal considering the competition.

Saturn's problems in North America were two-fold - SEGA competing with itself due to the 32X (which wouldn't have existed at all if not for SEGA of America - they're the ones who came up with the harebrained scheme of making it an add-on as opposed to the originally planned Mega Drive refresh) and a fumbled launch. What SEGA did was showcase the console and, at the end of the presentation, proclaim that it's "available now" - it wasn't. Retailers were furious, some outright refused to carry it on their store shelves altogether, and the whole marketing snafu caused them so much grief that it cost them the entire region. By contrast, the Saturn did exceptionally well in Japan, where SEGA wasn't managed by an army of lemmings. The 32X fiasco and the Saturn marketing blunder left a bad taste in everyone's mouths, but that didn't stop them from making the Dreamcast's launch one of the most successful in history. Unfortunately, after two big boo boos the company was in dire straits, so they simply didn't have the money cushion to fall back on and continue competing. It was significantly more sensible to start negotiating with Microsoft in regards to software compatibility (which fell through) and future releases (which worked) since they had a great relationship with the company already (given the fact that the Dreamcast was capable of running a modified version of Windows CE as an alternative development base). Big SEGA nut, very familiar with how those things turned out. The life of the Dreamcast was short, but it sure was sweet - one of those "ahead of its time" systems that boasted out-of-the-box features other systems would have to wait another generation for. Keyboard and mouse compatibility? Built-in Internet connectivity? A gosh darn Web browser? Lovin' it.