New Neo Geo Hardware from Sammy: The Truth
USA arm debunks AtomisWave@Home chatter.
The AtomisWave system
The run up to E3 is always packed with titillating rumour, usually centring around the hardcore fringes of the gaming scene. This year’s recurring theme was the emergence of new hardware, from Sega and from SNK, with a home version of the AtomisWave, Sammy’s Dreamcast/Naomi-based arcade platform being touted as a replacement for the Neo Geo.
This rumour has now been thoroughly debunked by Ben 'Yikes, he sounds like he’s out of Goodfellas and he’s shouting' Herman, president of SNK Neo Geo USA.
Impressively, the shake of the head came from one of the most controversial figures in gaming, Hajime Satomi. Herman said, “That’s a great rumour and we noticed it hitting [the Internet] on the run up to the show. It’s not true, but we did check. I spoke to Satomi-san at Sammy to make sure and he confirmed that there are no plans to release any AtomisWave system for home use.”
Indeed, the idea that enough actual AtomisWave units could be prepared for a full global console roll-out is somewhat absurd, given that Sammy has already bought up all residual Dreamcast and Naomi stock. Current estimates offer 300,000 operable, unused units remaining, the majority of which will be used to power various slot and pachinko machines, with a small amount being kept aside for dedicated 'novelty' game cabinets.
Although Sammy bought the five-year rights to manufacture its boards using Sega technologies back in 2002, it is thought unlikely that this option will be exercised, given the access it now has to Sega’s current coin-op hardware development.
This rumour has now been thoroughly debunked by Ben 'Yikes, he sounds like he’s out of Goodfellas and he’s shouting' Herman, president of SNK Neo Geo USA.
Impressively, the shake of the head came from one of the most controversial figures in gaming, Hajime Satomi. Herman said, “That’s a great rumour and we noticed it hitting [the Internet] on the run up to the show. It’s not true, but we did check. I spoke to Satomi-san at Sammy to make sure and he confirmed that there are no plans to release any AtomisWave system for home use.”
Indeed, the idea that enough actual AtomisWave units could be prepared for a full global console roll-out is somewhat absurd, given that Sammy has already bought up all residual Dreamcast and Naomi stock. Current estimates offer 300,000 operable, unused units remaining, the majority of which will be used to power various slot and pachinko machines, with a small amount being kept aside for dedicated 'novelty' game cabinets.
Although Sammy bought the five-year rights to manufacture its boards using Sega technologies back in 2002, it is thought unlikely that this option will be exercised, given the access it now has to Sega’s current coin-op hardware development.
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Comments
Joji 25 May 2004 13:10
1/2
Weird. Would be a nice home machine if it was done though.
Mattyd242 26 May 2004 12:19
2/2
Atomiswave already is a nice home console. It's called Dreamcast ;-)
Strangely enough, the spec of the Atomiswave is actually slightly inferior to the DC. It has less RAM for one thing. Very odd indeed.
Strangely enough, the spec of the Atomiswave is actually slightly inferior to the DC. It has less RAM for one thing. Very odd indeed.