Sega of Japan confirms recent reports

Most of the online media, including GameSpot, recently picked up a report originating in the Nihon Keizai Shinbun that Sega will cease production of its Dreamcast hardware by March of this year. Sega of Japan today released its official comments on the matter. "There have been reports regarding our company's future plans with the Dreamcast," the company said in a statement. "We'd like to clarify that it has not been officially announced by our company. Therefore, the information on the news report is not official at this point."

Sega of Japan held its business strategy meeting last year to outline the company's future plans, including its plans for the Dreamcast. The company reiterated the following in today's official comments:

• Regarding the Dreamcast hardware, the production, sales, and distribution for the next fiscal year is currently undergoing changes, but the Dreamcast will remain a part of our business, focusing on its software. Our company, including third-party developers, has about 100 titles prepared for this coming fiscal year.
• Software distribution to the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance is currently under negotiations.
• Regarding the platform strategy, our company will strengthen its focus on the Dreamcast architecture for the PC, set-top boxes, and other electronic appliances.

The Dreamcast console has not succeeded in gaining a niche in the Japanese market, and the company plans to change the Dreamcast brand from a hardware perspective to a format that will be used in multiple platforms--namely, in the form of a PC card and integration onto other hardware such as set-top boxes. The idea of integrating Dreamcast technology into other gaming consoles, such as the Xbox and PlayStation 2, is a possibility, although Sega has not made any official comments in that regard. It is important to note that this latest announcement only affects the Japanese market, and Sega of America has not announced anything regarding its respective territory.

Sega of Japan intends to release the Dreamcast PC card this summer and another card for laptop computers this fall in Japan.