The Latest News From March 2001

The fallout continued from Sega’s console market exit, with Edge providing a blow-by-blow account of the week of the announcement, beginning with an oddly lavish preview event for Shenmue: The Movie and Shenmue II, where the expected announcement of a release date for the latter didn’t actually materialise.

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The final announcement of leaving the hardware market was then made, with most parties warmly welcoming the move. Criterion’s Alex Ward described it as “just fantastic news” and Free Radical’s Steve Ellis was “glad to see that Sega intend to continue developing software”. However, not everyone was thrilled. In particular, Edge noted that, “Some perceive Sega Japan’s manoeuvrings as a stab in the back to its overseas representatives,” and that the feeling amongst third-party PS2 developers was that “as a software-only company Sega is a new danger”. Japanese TV journalists framed the issue as being about a lack of great games on the Dreamcast, as compared to the PS2. Interestingly, Chris Kingsley of Rebellion said that he “wouldn’t be at all surprised if they have some new, cool console waiting in the wings”.

Space Channel 5 and its forthcoming sequel, a new Sakura Taisen and Virtua Fighter 4 were all announced as being PS2-bound, and vague rumblings of cheap PlayStation releases were also being heard. Sonic Advance was confirmed for Game Boy Advance, with Sonic Team in general considered to be Nintendo-oriented. No projects were yet announced for the GameCube or Xbox, but with no exclusivity deals announced, it could only be a matter of time.

Of course, the Dreamcast still had some life left in it, as the phenomenal Phantasy Star Online proved. It was a groundbreaking moment for console gaming – a full 3D co-op RPG, playable online via the humble dial-up modem. Edge praised the game with a 9/10 review and stated that, “Atmospherically,