Japan sells out of broadband adapters for Dreamcast
Broadband goes well in Japan, but yet to come to the UK.
Jealous? Us? Well, perhaps a bit. In the UK we are using 36K modems to power our Dreamcast online play times. Over in the States, our portly cousins have use of a 56K device and will, on January the 9th, be getting broadband connectivity.
For those of you still unaware of the wonders of broadband allow us to explain. The adapter allows the Dreamcast to be hooked up to an Ethernet signal, meaning the console can upload and download data up to ten times faster than the original modem.
The adapters have just gone on sale in Japan and have completely sold out across the country. A similar high level of demand is expected in the US when the units go on sale next week. At present Sega cannot name a date of the European launch of the adapter though the first half of this year looks likely.
Full of joy and enthusiasm we called Sega today to find out when we would be getting our hands on, what has to be the new Holy Grail of online gaming. This is what we were told. “Following the success the broadband adapter in Japan, we are confident the we will see the same success in America.” Yes, we thought, and what about us? “At present, Sega does not consider the European territory to be enabled for broadband enough to warrant a release of the adapter although we are poised to launch the unit, if and when, the situation changes.” Argh…sinking feeling…noooooo! (Dramatic camera work sees us looking to the heavens with wild eyes and gritted teeth with a white-knuckle grip on the phone.)
The reality of the situation is that DSL, which enables access to the Internet at up to 10 times modem speeds, has not been widely adopted in the UK. This is partly because of poor marketing by British Telecom, who sell the service under the Openworld name, and partly because of the pricing structure, which costs over £40 a month. While DSL penetration in the US represents around 50% of Internet users, in the UK, it is in the low single figures. BT’s website contains the following statement on the situation, “teething problems in increasing the supply of ADSL lines has meant that our installation rate has not increased as fast as we would have liked”
We will continue to badger Sega and keep you informed of our progress.
For those of you still unaware of the wonders of broadband allow us to explain. The adapter allows the Dreamcast to be hooked up to an Ethernet signal, meaning the console can upload and download data up to ten times faster than the original modem.
The adapters have just gone on sale in Japan and have completely sold out across the country. A similar high level of demand is expected in the US when the units go on sale next week. At present Sega cannot name a date of the European launch of the adapter though the first half of this year looks likely.
Full of joy and enthusiasm we called Sega today to find out when we would be getting our hands on, what has to be the new Holy Grail of online gaming. This is what we were told. “Following the success the broadband adapter in Japan, we are confident the we will see the same success in America.” Yes, we thought, and what about us? “At present, Sega does not consider the European territory to be enabled for broadband enough to warrant a release of the adapter although we are poised to launch the unit, if and when, the situation changes.” Argh…sinking feeling…noooooo! (Dramatic camera work sees us looking to the heavens with wild eyes and gritted teeth with a white-knuckle grip on the phone.)
The reality of the situation is that DSL, which enables access to the Internet at up to 10 times modem speeds, has not been widely adopted in the UK. This is partly because of poor marketing by British Telecom, who sell the service under the Openworld name, and partly because of the pricing structure, which costs over £40 a month. While DSL penetration in the US represents around 50% of Internet users, in the UK, it is in the low single figures. BT’s website contains the following statement on the situation, “teething problems in increasing the supply of ADSL lines has meant that our installation rate has not increased as fast as we would have liked”
We will continue to badger Sega and keep you informed of our progress.
Companies:
SEGA
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