Sega Dreamcast
Around March 12th, 1997 rumors began to surface about what began as a 64-bit upgrade for the Sega Saturn. Eventually news began to leak about Sega’s development of a totally new console. By June 1997, Sega had two different design specs
under consideration to become the new console. One design was code-named ‘Black Belt’, and the other code-named
‘Dural’.
‘Black Belt’ was being designed by Sega of America. The console would sport an IBM/Motorola PowerPC 603e CPU with 3Dfx Voodoo graphics chipset. As a result of the programming difficulties of the Sega Saturn, Sega of America also approached big time
Windows developer Microsoft to create an easy to program operating system for the console (Probably where Microsoft took an interest in the console market). Sega of Japan however began developing ‘Dural’ which would sport a Hitachi SH-4 CPU with PowerVR2 graphics chipset designed by old console rival NEC/Videologic (Maker of the Turbografx 16, Turbo Duo, and PC-FX). Both designs were brought to the big shots at Sega, and compared side by side. It was determined that the ‘Dural” design would be used, but would incorporate elements of the ‘Black Belt’ design. As a result most of the members of the American design team quit the company. 3Dfx then
filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Sega.
Sega worked with Microsoft, Hitachi, NEC/Video Logic and Yamaha to produce the
new console. It was announced to the public as the Sega 'Katana' on September 7th 1997, and would be the first 128-bit console to enter the videogame market. Sega fueled the console’s hype by spending $100 million to launch it.
The system now called Sega Dreamcast was re-scheduled a number of times due to the demand for units.
. Dreamcast was finally released on November 25th 1998 in Japan.
By 16th July 1999, the Dreamcast was outselling the Nintendo 64 by a 3 to 1 ratio. Meanwhile in America, advertising for the Dreamcast was taking place and by August 1999 it had broken many sales records by grossing an estimated 98 million dollars. Europe also saw a successful release on October 14th 1999.
The Dreamcast was an impressive system boasting powerful specs, a simple to program Windows CE operating system, and a built in modem for use in internet browsing and online gameplay. The year long wait from the Japanese release gave 3rd Party Developers ample time to bring an
impressive collection of software titles for the console's release.
After some delays, SegaNet was finally introduced. SegaNet gave Dreamcast users the ability to play games
online. In January 2000, 30% of Japanese Dreamcast owners were online, and by
February 17th this had risen to almost 50%. In the US over 300,000 people were using DC's Internet and in Europe over 200,000 were reported. It would seem that Sega had finally corrected the mistakes that plagued them in the past.
Even with the success of Dreamcast all was not well in the world of Sega. Sega faced numerous lawsuits from companies such as 3Dfx, and were attempting to recover from a failed merger with Japanese company Bandai that occurred in January 23 1997. The eventual release of Sony’s 128-bit over hyped successor complicated matters with it’s backwards compatibility and ability to play DVD’s (more bang for the buck). The President of Sega Sholchiro Irimajiri
steped down and was replaced by Isao Ohkawa. One of Ohkawa's first steps is to issue an ultimatum and 500 million dollars to Sega of America to make the Dreamcast
strong in the U.S market again. Sega began facing difficulties with price wars
against Sony. Sega initially could not afford to lower the price of the console
because they would never meet the break-even point ( losses from previous console
failures did not help matters. Console manufacturers actually lose money for each console sold, and
recap losses by licensing each game released for the console.) Obviously with Nintendo and Microsoft’s announcement of new consoles, Sega knew they couldn’t hold out.
On January 31 2001, Sega of America announced a major restructuring. The price the Sega Dreamcast dropped to $99.95 on February 4, and production of new Dreamcasts ceased on March 31. Sega left behind the hardware business and became a
3rd party software developer. Sega of Japan followed suit two days later.
The Sega Dreamcast was an amazing console, and possibly one of Sega’s greatest successes. It opened the gateway to console online gaming, and
it's heart lives on in Sega’s NAOMI arcade board. It’s a shame that the Dreamcast’s success could not save Sega as a hardware company, but it’s amazing game library lives on in console
and PC ports.
 FACT: Sega’s choice to use a simplistic operating system to run it’s Dreamcast console was not only a benefit to 3rd Party Software developers, but also to private programmers around the world. Even after Sega announced they would no longer support the console, the Dreamcast lives on special thanks to these amazing private software authors.
Site’s such a DCEmulation are the go to place to find MP3 Players, VCD Players, emulators, and even homemade games such as dRxLax all capable of running on the good OLE Sega Dreamcast. Best of all..these authors do it for free. A special thanks
goes out to them.
| 
