Sega's Dreamcast still standing -- for now

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by Tokyo Drifter

(IDG) -- When responding to rumors that could potentially kill its business, a company normally not only squashes speculation, but also offers hope in the form of previously unreleased information. That's exactly what Sega of Japan did when Famitsu's online division Famitsu.com asked Sega if it was really abandoning the Dreamcast system to become third-party developers. Famitsu is the publisher of the leading weekly gaming magazine in Japan. The following is Sega of Japan's official response:

IDG.net INFOCENTER Gamepro.com main page Free daily newsletters Free stuff from GamePro.com TechInformer Related IDG.net Stories Sega says it is fully committed to Dreamcast News:The end of the Dreamcast? Broadband support makes Dreamcast dreamier Features Review: Ms. Pac Man Maze Madness PlayStation One rescues Sony's Christmas PS2 hits Europe, Web auction price jumps Visit an IDG site Choose a site: IDG.net CIO Computerworld Darwin Dummies.com GamePro.com The Industry Standard ITWorld.com InfoWorld.com JavaWorld LinuxWorld Macworld Online Network World Fusion PC World Publish.com SunWorld IDG.net search

Today, some news organizations made reports on the future of our Dreamcast business that, since we are still carrying on an internal debate about the issue at the moment, were not based on any official company announcement.

To restore our lost revenue in the next fiscal year, we are currently discussing our 'new management policies,' which were announced on October 27, 2000. The policy is to reform our business structure with a focus on our content and amusement enterprises, which have the strongest profit-earning capacity for us at this time.

  • Concerning Dreamcast's hardware, we have plans for a structural reorganization in its production, distribution, and circulation systems. We fully intend to continue our DC business and are prepared to let the software titles take the lead; we have about 100 titles (including third-party ones) in the pipe for Dreamcast from this April to March 2002.

  • We are currently in negotiations with Sony and Nintendo to provide our game titles to PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance.

  • As for the DC platform strategy, we have been actively working on promoting Dreamcast's architecture for use in PCs and consumer electric appliances, including STBs (Set-Top Boxes).

In addition to this response, Sega restated the many titles that are planned and revealed previously unannounced titles including House of the Dead 3, Get Bass 2, Dynamic Golf, a sequel to Space Channel 5, Virtua Tennis 2, and Victory Goal 2001.

Sega downplays rumor of Dreamcast demise
January 23, 2001
Sega isn't playing around with SegaNet
September 11, 2000
Sega to launch broadband service in Japan
June 12, 2000
Sega to launch Dreamcast high-speed Net service
February 1, 2000
Dreamcast launch not all fun and games
September 10, 1999

Sega says it is fully committed to Dreamcast
(IDG.net)
News:The end of the Dreamcast?
(GamePro.com)
Broadband support makes Dreamcast dreamier
(PCWorld.com)
Sega's broadband adapter for Dreamcast
(GamePro.com)
Nintendo to buy Sega·not!
(GamePro.com)
Who ya gonna call? Sonic the Hedgehog
(The Industry Standard)
Sega launches SegaNet gaming network
(IDG.net)
Sega isn't playing around with SegaNet
(The Industry Standard)

Famitsu.com
Sega.com
Sony PlayStation 2

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