Is Sega Dreamcast Discontinued? What Happened?

Sega Dreamcast was Sega’s last home video game console. It launched in Japan on November 27, 1998, and in North America on September 9, 1999. That launch date, known as 9/9/99, became one of the most recognized dates in gaming history.

The Dreamcast was the first home console to ship with a built-in modem. That meant players could connect to the internet and play games online without buying any extra hardware. Sega set up its own internet service called SegaNet to make online matchmaking easier. Online play on a home console was still a new idea at the time, and the Dreamcast was ahead of most of its competition on that front.

The console also came with a memory card called the VMU, which stood for Visual Memory Unit. The VMU had a small screen and buttons built into it, so it could work as a standalone mini-device. Some games put extra information on the VMU screen while you played, and others let you play mini-games on it away from the TV.

The game library was strong. Soulcalibur, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, NFL 2K, and Phantasy Star Online were all well-regarded titles. Phantasy Star Online was one of the first games to let console players connect and explore an online world together. Jet Set Radio used a visual style called cel-shading that made the graphics look like a cartoon, which was new at the time.

The Dreamcast ran into problems it could not overcome. In 1999, Sony announced the PlayStation 2, which could also play DVD movies. The Dreamcast could not play DVDs, and that gap mattered to a lot of buyers. Third-party support was uneven, partly because some developers were wary about committing to a platform made by a company that had lost money on its previous console, the Saturn. EA, one of the biggest game publishers in the world, refused to make games for the Dreamcast after Sega turned down EA’s demand for exclusive rights to all sports titles on the platform. That meant no Madden, no FIFA, and no other EA Sports games.

Sega was also selling each Dreamcast unit at a loss, hoping to make the money back on game sales. That model required strong sales momentum, which the PS2 announcement disrupted. Piracy spread quickly too, because it was easy to copy and play games without modifying the hardware.

On January 31, 2001, Sega announced it would stop making the Dreamcast. Production ended on March 31, 2001. Sega left the console hardware business and went on to make games for other companies’ platforms. The Dreamcast sold around 9 million units worldwide, which was not enough to keep it going, but it built a devoted following that still celebrates the console today. Its influence still shows up now in the use of bold, cel-shaded animation art and in the online console gaming it helped pioneer.