Outrun 2 further away than ever as Sega fears rental market

In a recent interview with GameSpy, senior AM-2 producer Makoto Osaki cast yet more doubt over the possibility of Outrun 2 making its way from the arcade to any home console.

According to Osaki-san, Sega’s main issue with a home release for the Xbox is the rental market that exists in the West. As you may be aware, renting games is illegal in Japan - all games have to be purchased. As Outrun 2 is a fairly short (about ten minutes) arcade game, the temptation to rent it, as opposed to shelling out circa £40, would be irresistible to all but the most hardened of Sega fans.

“Hmmm, well, you know, we're actually really scared of the rental markets that exist in the West. You see, games like Outrun 2 and Virtua Cop C3 are really designed with arcade play in mind. They're something you put your coins in and amuse yourself with for a little while. This arcade-centric design idea is different from something like GTA3, which was made to keep you playing at home for long periods at a time. As a result, you could probably just rent the games, play them a bit until you're done and take them back. This would no doubt cut into potential sales.”

Oh dear. However, all is not lost, unless you were expecting a GameCube or PlayStation 2 version. When asked about what systems may host Outrun 2, Osaki-san said, “The Xbox would be easy, but other systems ... hmmm. That'd be tough. I don't know if the ports would generate good returns.”

It would seem, dear friends, that this is the final nail in the slowly-closing coffin that has entombed the home console version of Outrun 2 since the Chihiro original was revealed last year.