The demise of the Dreamcast and Shenmue 2: Bellfield breaks his silence
Sleepless nights... our hearts are bleeding. Sega of America boss wriggles
In an interview with ign, Charles Bellfield, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Corporate Affairs for Sega of America, has made his feelings known regarding the Dreamcast and recent Xbox announcements.
“First off, I feel accountable to the Dreamcast owners,” Bellfield began. “This decision was predicated by many sleepless nights of "are we letting down our Dreamcast consumers" as Dreamcast consumers have been the core of this company. I started working on Dreamcast August of 1995 and it's been our lifeblood since then. The unit is still selling quite well and we'll sell through all four and half million units by just after Thanksgiving. We're very glad that we are able to get a great product out at a great price and we're still shipping great stuff when it comes to software.
“Cancelling any game for Dreamcast today is a really hard decision and it's not just about our financials; it's about our responsibility of being the leading company in this industry and making a promise and going through with it.” How true this is remains to be seen. It is easy for Bellfield to say that, but surely if a game was going to rake in the cash, it would get published. To state that financial factors are not at the forefront of Sega’s thinking is a proven falsehood. In fact, he immediately contradicts himself.
Bellfield goes on, “And I don't think anybody can criticise this company. From Peter Moore downwards in the US, or Kayama-san in Japan – and say that that we haven't fell through with our commitments. In saying that, unfortunately we do need to make the right decisions for this company, particularly when you look at the amount expenditure and the development teams we're supporting. We need to focus on what is the right decision for our development teams and for our content, and at this point, we have decided enter into a relationship with Microsoft for Xbox for versions of Shenmue 2 and Phantasy Star Online for Xbox.
And what about Europe? Is Sega really going to do a full European regionalisation job for the Dreamcast version of Shenmue? Apparently so. “It isn't necessarily a cancellation of the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2; in fact, Shenmue 2 has shipped in Japan already and is also going to be shipping in Europe in the New Year.
“First off, I feel accountable to the Dreamcast owners,” Bellfield began. “This decision was predicated by many sleepless nights of "are we letting down our Dreamcast consumers" as Dreamcast consumers have been the core of this company. I started working on Dreamcast August of 1995 and it's been our lifeblood since then. The unit is still selling quite well and we'll sell through all four and half million units by just after Thanksgiving. We're very glad that we are able to get a great product out at a great price and we're still shipping great stuff when it comes to software.
“Cancelling any game for Dreamcast today is a really hard decision and it's not just about our financials; it's about our responsibility of being the leading company in this industry and making a promise and going through with it.” How true this is remains to be seen. It is easy for Bellfield to say that, but surely if a game was going to rake in the cash, it would get published. To state that financial factors are not at the forefront of Sega’s thinking is a proven falsehood. In fact, he immediately contradicts himself.
Bellfield goes on, “And I don't think anybody can criticise this company. From Peter Moore downwards in the US, or Kayama-san in Japan – and say that that we haven't fell through with our commitments. In saying that, unfortunately we do need to make the right decisions for this company, particularly when you look at the amount expenditure and the development teams we're supporting. We need to focus on what is the right decision for our development teams and for our content, and at this point, we have decided enter into a relationship with Microsoft for Xbox for versions of Shenmue 2 and Phantasy Star Online for Xbox.
And what about Europe? Is Sega really going to do a full European regionalisation job for the Dreamcast version of Shenmue? Apparently so. “It isn't necessarily a cancellation of the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2; in fact, Shenmue 2 has shipped in Japan already and is also going to be shipping in Europe in the New Year.
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