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SEGA:
The End of an Era
Over
the last week or so, SEGA supporters everywhere have had a bit of a
confusing time! Announcements have been made left right and centre
concerning the future of our little white box. Rumours had people fooled
into thinking that the DC was a gonna already! But Mikey and myself (Andy)
are here to tell you that, whilst SEGA
are due to cease production of the Dreamcast by March 31st 2001,
they will continue to be a huge presence in our lives… not just on the
DC, but on many other formats too. Read on to find out why the
future isn’t just bright for DC owners… but console gamers everywhere! Well...the
time has come... Dreamcast
is dead. PS2
rules with Sega games... What
a fool I feel forever getting one! Actually,
despite recent news, the DC is STILL THE
console to have in 2001. The
new Pace deal will open up all the Dreamcast classics to countless more
people, X-Box is looking increasingly like the DC2… Now...hear me out on
that. The control pad, is going to be perfect for DC owners to get used to
and it looks like SEGA games could be spilling onto that, as well as PS2
and GBA. The expected cease of Dreamcast titles in 18 months fits
perfectly with the X-Box launch, at least were gonna have a lovely power
house to move onto when our DC finally heads up to console heaven...to
join it's equally ill fated brother, the Saturn. Now
that’s the future... Don't
tell me you bought the Dreamcast because of it's future, that’s why you
buy the PS2...if you pre- ordered it you only had to wait 2 - 3
months...then now around 7 months for the first major title people bought
the console for...then the Killer App might come along summer 2002. You
bought the Dreamcast for what it has here and now. Okay,
so what if PS2 owners are getting Space channel 5 later this year? They
paid £300 for their console, we paid no more than £200 and SC5 has
already been out, going on 6 months. Let's face it, the DC was home to all
the classics long before the PS2 even came along to this country, and now
they think they've got it all going for them, but here's your chance to
laugh at their £300 purchase... The
Dreamcasts future begins here.. Black
and White Shenmue
2 Head
Hunter Sonic
Adventure 2 Outtrigger Half
Life Phantasy
Star Online Skies
of Arcadia Grandia
2 Sega
Marine Fishing House
of the Dead 3 Space
Channel 5 2 (You heard right!) Unreal
Tournament Confidential
Mission Sega
Bass Fishing 2 (not Marine!) Crazy
Taxi 2 Virtua
Tennis 2K2 2K1
sports franchises 2K2
sport franchises Jet
Set Radio 2 Farnation Hundred
Swords Daytona
3 (Don't know if this is Online, or a totally new one...here's hoping!) Toe
Jam and Earl 3 Ooga
Booga Floigan
Brothers All
these AT LEAST! Well,
those alone would make for a years games, but before them, we have around
40 titles due to hit, then a few 3rd party ones, that ain't on the list.
Most of them are all in house! Shows
that the DC will boogie on 'till the end! Roll
on GameCube and X-Box! Well
said, Mikey! I’d like to add one thing that has cropped up recently
though. A question on every DC owner’s lips is ‘what happens when my
Dreamcast breaks?’ Well, SEGA have said that if you send your DC to
them, then they will fix it. They are making sure that parts are kept for
at least another six years! I bet my Dreamcast will go and break in 2009
now…. That’d really piss me off! The
DC is by no means dead just yet. SEGA
have pledged to support the Dreamcast console itself until December 31st
2001, but they will cease manufacture of the console 9 months prior to
this. They anticipate that there will still be a small amount of supplies
left at the end of the year. In
the introduction, I said that SEGA have a new strategy… that
they are going multi-platform. Now, this is in terms of software…
not hardware production (obviously). SEGA have officially announced that
they are working on titles for both the PlayStation 2 and the GameBoy
Advance. As Mikey said earlier, games such as Space Channel 5 will be
ported to the PS2. But it will not just be this. Others include 18 Wheeler
American Pro Trucker, Crazy Taxi and Zombie Revenge. And that’s not the
end of SEGA’s PS2 support. Not only are many DC games being ported over,
but also our own master (Yu Suzuki) has created Virtua Fighter 4 as a PS2
exclusive (we’ll see about that…)! Just shows that SEGA are really
going for it! And
that’s not all! Confirmed on the GBA are Sonic the Hedgehog Advance,
ChuChu Rocket! And a Puyo Puyo game.
All good so far then! And if SEGA are developing for one Nintendo
console… developing for the other may be a possibility! In fact, SEGA
are in talks with Nintendo at the moment over developing for the GameCube!
Not only that, but they are also in talks to develop games for the X-Box
too (which is seeming extremely likely at this point). On
top of this, SEGA are said to be making games for mobile phones, and the
deal that SEGA have struck with Pace means that satellite television
customers will be able to enjoy many of SEGA’s DC creations by
downloading them (for a fee) onto the 40GB hard drive. This will work like
a rental system, for the game will be deleted after a period of time, and
so you will have to pay another fee to play some more! Still,
it is a great idea… one that will be important in SEGA’s future.
So,
what is to become of the arcade side of SEGA? Well, that will remain
unaffected. As the NAOMI hardware has actually been successful, it is
likely SEGA will continue to produce this and will definitely
develop games for the arcades. On top of this, SEGA is looking to make
the arcade industry profitable once again, with the help of arcade
developers. New centres that include multiple forms of entertainment are a
very likely next step for the aging industry now, and is probably where
SEGA will advance. Andy and Mike Do you have something to say? Post your views here |
Feature by:
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All copyrighted images and names are trademarks of their respective copyright holders. All original work is copyrighted by Farooq Asif. Unauthorised reproduction of any material from this site is strictly prohibited. © 2001 DreamcastSource.co.uk |
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