Sega
will develop games for PlayStation, Nintendo,
Microsoft, Palm and Motorola
New Company
Strategy Gives Sega a Range of Revenue
Possibilities and a Path to Profitability; Poised
to Become Leading Network Entertainment Company
Sega(R) today announced
it would restructure the company to capitalize on
its game content -- an area that has been Sega's
biggest strength for more than 40 years. In turn,
Sega will unveil a three-pronged approach --
becoming a platform-agnostic third party
videogame publisher for game consoles, focusing
on its advantage in the networked gaming arena,
and becoming an architecture provider of the
powerful Dreamcast chip-set technology to a range
of devices including the Pace Micro Technology
set-top-box. By embracing technologies including
Java, Sega will also be taking advantage of
different publishing channels and will deliver
Sega games to Palm(TM) handheld computers and
Motorola cellular phones. With this new strategy,
Sega will be significantly broadening its
accessibility to consumers and dramatically
expanding its revenue possibilities, leading the
company to a path of profitability.
World's Leading
Publisher of Interactive Entertainment
"Sega is a company
that has always dared to innovate and push this
industry forward," said Peter Moore,
president and COO, Sega of America. "Sega
will continue to do so with its new strategy, and
the result for consumers will be what you would
always expect from a `rules-breaker' like Sega --
a library of pioneering, jaw-dropping content now
available any way you want to play."
Sega plans to ship more
than 30 games for Dreamcast in the U.S. this year
and a number for other platforms. The first Sega
games to be available on other game consoles this
year will include "Virtua Fighter(TM)
4," the "Space Channel 5(TM)"
series, the popular "Sakura Wars"
series and two titles from the "Let's Make a
Sports Team" series (which has been highly
successful in Japan) for Sony PlayStation(R)2.
"Sonic the Hedgehog Advance(TM),"
"ChuChu Rocket!(TM)" and "Puyo
Puyo(TM)" will ship for Nintendo's Game Boy
Advance(R). Further details on availability of
these titles will be announced shortly.
Sega will continue to
sell through and market the Dreamcast console and
its games at retail for the next year. To help
accelerate the transition of Sega from a hardware
to a software company, the company has announced
a new MSRP of $99.95 for Dreamcast. The new price
point becomes effective on February 4, 2001
throughout the United States and Canada ($149
CND). In addition, Sega of America will be
undergoing a company restructuring as they
transform into a third party publisher.
Sega is already well
positioned to become the world's leading
publisher of interactive entertainment. The
company has more than 40 years of experience in
interactive entertainment, in addition to
thousands of Sega developers worldwide creating
quality games. The combination of a greatly
expanded installed base provided by other
videogame consoles and the world's best developer
talent including Yu Suzuki (creator of the
"Shenmue(TM)" and the "Virtua
Fighter" series), Yuji Naka (creator of the
"Sonic the Hedgehog(R)" series,
"Samba de Amigo(TM)" and "Phantasy
Star Online(TM)") and Hisao Oguchi (creator
of "Crazy Taxi(TM)" and "Virtua
Tennis(TM)"), Sega is well positioned to
become the world's leading videogame publisher.
Alternative
Platform Support
Sega will leverage its
powerful Dreamcast technology and other
technologies such as Java to further the
objective of putting Sega games virtually
everywhere. To that end, Sega today announced it
will bring its legendary videogame content to
Palm handheld computers, and announced a
relationship with Pace, a leading set-top box
company. Under the relationship with Palm, Sega
will provide both on and offline games for Palm
Powered(TM) handhelds sometime this year. Sega
has licensed the Dreamcast technology to Pace,
which is creating a set-top box that will play
Dreamcast games. Additionally, Sega also
announced late last year that the company would
bring Java-based games to Motorola phones this
year.
In further support of
Dreamcast consumers, many of the 30 Dreamcast
games shipping in the U.S. will be exclusive to
the Dreamcast console. There will also be
best-selling franchises such as "Sonic
Adventure 2," "Crazy Taxi 2(TM)"
and "Shenmue 2" coming to Dreamcast
this year. Dreamcast gamers can also enjoy the
current library of more than 200 games including
hits such as the award-winning
"Shenmue," which USA Today called
"one of the most immersive and gratifying
games around" and the top-selling "Sega
Sports(TM) NFL 2K1" and "Crazy
Taxi."
"We have an
incredible line-up, key opportunities with other
non-gaming devices and a huge combined installed
base worldwide for next generation
platforms," continued Moore. "With this
in place, Sega is well positioned to become the
world's dominant interactive software publisher
and the leading network entertainment company
given our online strengths."
Networked Gaming
and Entertainment
With this new company
strategy, Sega will not only be focusing on
content, but also the company's networked gaming
strengths. Utilizing Sega.com's SegaNet(TM)
network, Sega will be able to bring network
gaming to virtually any platform from other
videogame consoles to other Internet devices.
SegaNet delivers additional revenue streams to
the company via subscriptions, commerce and
advertising.
"As Sega makes its
incredible content available across multiple
networked platforms and devices, SegaNet is
uniquely positioned to create the world's largest
game and entertainment network," said
Jonathan Kaplan, chief executive officer,
Sega.com.
SegaNet, launched in
September 2000, is the world's first high-speed,
low-latency console gaming network. The network,
which already has over 200,000 user sign-ups, was
designed to support multiple platforms including
gaming consoles, PCs, wireless devices, and
set-top boxes. In addition, with the recent
acquisition of FamilyWonder, SegaNet is poised to
expand beyond gaming content to other forms of
entertainment, including music and movies, as it
continues to lead the industry with innovative
online entertainment offerings.
Sega's Software
Heritage
Sega has been an
interactive entertainment leader for more than 40
years. In fact, no other company has had more
"firsts" in the $8 billion videogame
market than Sega. Sega created the first-ever
arcade simulator game with "Hang
On(TM)" in 1985. In 1990, Sega unveiled
"R-360," the first arcade game to be
able to rotate 360 degrees. In 1993, Yu Suzuki
pioneered the 3D fighting game genre with
"Virtua Fighter(TM)." The year 2000
brought other industry firsts including
"Seaman(TM)," the first-ever voice
recognition videogame in the U.S. and "Sega
Sports(TM) NFL 2K1," the first ever online
console videogame.
About Sega
Sega(R) of America is the
American arm of Tokyo-based Sega Corporation,
responsible for the development, marketing and
distribution of Sega video game systems and video
games in the Americas. Sega Corporation is a
nearly $2.5 billion company recognized as the
industry leader in interactive digital
entertainment media, offering interactive
entertainment experiences both inside and outside
the home.
About Sega.com and
SegaNet
Sega.com, Inc. www.sega.com is an
online entertainment company that integrates
Internet technology and innovation with over 40
years of experience in the video game industry.
Sega.com also built SegaNet www.sega.net, the
only high-speed online console gaming network and
community destination for gamers that provides
game users with the ultimate in speed,
reliability and content. SegaNet offers both
Dreamcast and PC gamers the best in 3D
multi-player games, chat, community, cheat codes,
tournaments and content. SegaNet is also a full
service ISP offering everything including e-mail,
high-speed Internet access and great game content
to music, TV, community, movies, sports and
e-commerce. SegaNet is the one stop destination
for online games and gaming related content,
offering gamers a community built specifically
with them in mind.
About Nintendo
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of
Kyoto, Japan, is the acknowledged worldwide
leader in the creation of interactive
entertainment. To date, Nintendo has sold more
than one billion video games worldwide, has
created such industry icons as Mario(R) and
Donkey Kong(R) and launched franchises like The
Legend of Zelda(R) and Pokemon. Nintendo
manufactures and markets hardware and software
for its popular home video game systems,
including the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy -- the
world's best-selling video game system. As a
wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America
Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as
headquarters for Nintendo's operations in North
America.
About Pace Micro
Technology
Pace Micro Technology plc
is a pioneer of digital technology for the home
and has helped build the global market for pay
television services. Using this expertise, Pace
is evolving the set-top box into a sophisticated
home gateway to enable revenue-generating
services for TV and the networked home. In this
networked home, the Pace home gateway is the
portal for entertainment and interactive
communications around the home and with the
outside world.
Pace analog and digital
technology has been installed in over 11 million
homes worldwide since it was founded in 1982. The
company is now actively involved in all digital
platforms -- satellite, terrestrial, cable,
wireless and xDSL -- through relationships with
broadcasters, network operators and technology
partners in the UK, USA, Europe, Latin America,
Australasia and the Far East. These achievements
were made possible through the commitment of
Pace's 1,200 strong workforce, over a third of
whom are research and development engineers,
dedicated to the development of digital
technology for the home and small and home office
markets.
Pace's head office is in
Shipley West Yorkshire, with further offices in
Bracknell, Cambridge, the USA and Hong Kong. The
company's shares are traded on the London Stock
Exchange (PIC). Pace's U.S. operations are based
in Boca Raton, Fla.
About
Sony Computer Entertainment
Recognized as the
undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer
Entertainment America Inc. markets the
PlayStation game console and develops, publishes,
markets and distributes software for the
PlayStation game console and the upcoming
PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for
the North American market. Based in Foster City,
Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
serves as headquarters for all North American
operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
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