Sega’s Dreamcast saga: We split fact and fiction
We bring you THE most conclusive report anywhere on Sega's plans for the future. Also - how this whole mess happened
Pace set top box. The new DC?
As the web came alive yesterday with rumours that Sega was to end Dreamcast production, the decision was made by the games giant to come out fighting. In an e-mail sent to Sega employees across Europe last night, Sega president Kazutoshi said, "As you might have seen, rumors about Sega have been spread on the some websites and papers. But Sega globally reaffirms its commitment to Dreamcast. In fact Sega has more than 100 games worldwide coming out for Dreamcast in the next year, out of which more than 20 titles are due to be released in Europe. It is just a rumor and Sega has not made any statement regarding ceasing manufacturing of Dreamcast or development of games for other platforms."
Sega of America vice president Charles Bellfield sought to consolidate this statement "Sega of America stated today that the company globally reaffirms its commitment to Dreamcast," said Bellfield. "Infact, Sega has more than 100 games worldwide coming out for the platform next year." This is in contrast to a statement posted on Sega of Japan’s website which does state that the company will be producing titles for Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2. The statement also makes reference to Sega making Dreamcast technologies available to other parties and machines, including set-top boxes. It is expected that Sega will, on Monday, announce a deal with Pace, a manufacturer of set-top TV add-ons.
We spoke in depth to a Sega source today who explained the whole situation. “We planned to make announcements regarding the licensing of Dreamcast hardware next week and confirm the withdrawal of the console the week after. We felt that this was the way to proceed. Unfortunately, the rumours are pretty much all true. The console will be pulled at the end of March across all territories. Sega has to consider its shareholders, and to continue producing and marketing the console could have put the company in an unrecoverable position. All the stories you have heard have been leaked by Sega employees in Japan, and we don’t quite know the reason why. Though no redundancy has been mentioned, reassignment of roles may occur.
“We intend to fight fire with fire as far as the rumours are concerned. We have some important announcements coming up, not least the deal with Pace. This move, if executed correctly, could see mass saturation of the market place with online Dreamcast technologies in
more homes than the PlayStation.”
We then asked about cross platform gaming. “Sega’s official stance when the news breaks next week will be that the company will develop games for any viable platform. This includes the Xbox, the PlayStation 2, GameCube and all handhelds. Games that are in development at present include a Sonic the Hedgehog title and a port of Chu Chu Rocket. I don’t know of any home system games in development at this time.”
All the recent speculation about the Dreamcast has seen Sega’s stock price (Chu Chu) rocket, increasing by a massive 16% overnight. There is yet a bright future for Sega, it just has to find it.
Sega of America vice president Charles Bellfield sought to consolidate this statement "Sega of America stated today that the company globally reaffirms its commitment to Dreamcast," said Bellfield. "Infact, Sega has more than 100 games worldwide coming out for the platform next year." This is in contrast to a statement posted on Sega of Japan’s website which does state that the company will be producing titles for Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2. The statement also makes reference to Sega making Dreamcast technologies available to other parties and machines, including set-top boxes. It is expected that Sega will, on Monday, announce a deal with Pace, a manufacturer of set-top TV add-ons.
We spoke in depth to a Sega source today who explained the whole situation. “We planned to make announcements regarding the licensing of Dreamcast hardware next week and confirm the withdrawal of the console the week after. We felt that this was the way to proceed. Unfortunately, the rumours are pretty much all true. The console will be pulled at the end of March across all territories. Sega has to consider its shareholders, and to continue producing and marketing the console could have put the company in an unrecoverable position. All the stories you have heard have been leaked by Sega employees in Japan, and we don’t quite know the reason why. Though no redundancy has been mentioned, reassignment of roles may occur.
“We intend to fight fire with fire as far as the rumours are concerned. We have some important announcements coming up, not least the deal with Pace. This move, if executed correctly, could see mass saturation of the market place with online Dreamcast technologies in
more homes than the PlayStation.”
We then asked about cross platform gaming. “Sega’s official stance when the news breaks next week will be that the company will develop games for any viable platform. This includes the Xbox, the PlayStation 2, GameCube and all handhelds. Games that are in development at present include a Sonic the Hedgehog title and a port of Chu Chu Rocket. I don’t know of any home system games in development at this time.”
All the recent speculation about the Dreamcast has seen Sega’s stock price (Chu Chu) rocket, increasing by a massive 16% overnight. There is yet a bright future for Sega, it just has to find it.
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