You’ve heard all the news stories, folks, now hear the official announcement so many have awaited:
It’s been rumored all over the place, announced in several retailer bulletin boards, and been typed across several platforms. But SEGA has yet to confirm the Dreamcast price drop to $79.95? well, until now. So here is the full SEGA press announcement about the Dreamcast price drop taking effect August 12th:
On Sunday, August 12, 2001, Sega of America will reduce the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the Sega Dreamcast video game console to $79.95, down from $99.95. The change will be effective Sunday, August 12, 2001 at retail stores nationwide. The price reduction is a milestone in Sega?s announced strategy to transition from hardware manufacturer to leading platform-agnostic third party publisher. The move will help ensure that Sega Dreamcast is on store shelves this holiday season, as well as help deliver on Sega?s stated goal to sell through all remaining Dreamcast inventory by the end of the holiday season 2001. In addition to reducing the price of Dreamcast hardware, Sega will also drop the prices of the Dreamcast controller to $14.95, the visual memory unit (VMU) to $9.95 and the Sonic Hardware Bundle to $99.95 (consisting of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, and a blue Sonic VMU).
?By taking these steps, we are confident that we will meet our sell-through goal, and we are excited to be able to offer consumers an excellent choice in consoles this holiday season. Besides its affordable price point and incredible library of content, Dreamcast continues to be the only console offering out-of-the-box online gameplay right now.? — Peter Moore, President & COO, Sega of America.
Sega will continue to support Dreamcast with innovative Sega content. In fact, Sega is shipping more than 20 titles this year to Dreamcast, including the first online-playable baseball simulation, “Sega Sports World Series Baseball 2K2;” the first online console games to use in-game voice chat, “Alien Front Online” and “Propeller Arena;” as well as sequels to top-selling Sega games like “Sega Sports NFL 2K2,” “Sega Sports NBA 2K2” and “Shenmue II.”
Further, on August 13, Sega will bring back the popular Sega Sports bundle at the attractive price point of $99.95. This year?s Sega Sports bundle will include Dreamcast hardware, a Dreamcast controller and the top-selling Sega Sports NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1 and WSB 2K1. Sega?s focus is on developing innovative content for gaming and non-gaming platforms, and on networked entertainment. Sega continues to be an architecture provider and licensor of the Dreamcast chip-set technology for set-top-box products from Pace Micro Technology, Europe’s largest digital set-top box manufacturer. In addition, Sega is exploring different publishing channels to deliver Sega games to handheld devices, such as the previously announced partnerships with Palm handheld computers and Motorola cellular phones. Finally, Sega is focusing on its network strengths to bring online gaming to a variety of devices. Sega?s goal is to become the leading publisher of interactive entertainment worldwide.
For those that don’t know what the Sega Sports bundle is, here’s a press release of the full details of the sports bundle:
?We are making the Dreamcast more affordable than ever so consumers can experience the thrill of playing Sega Sports games on or offline this summer,? said John Golden, director of product marketing, Sega of America. ?Sega Sports has a reputation for incredible content, so by combining games from the awesome Sega Sports 2K1 line-up with the Dreamcast makes the Sega Sports Bundle 2K1 a terrific value for every sports video game fan.? ?Sega Sports NFL 2K1,? ?Sega Sports NBA 2K1? and ?Sega Sports World Series Baseball 2K1? are three genre-breaking sports titles that feature over 1,300 motion-captured character animations, high-resolution detail and facial expressions, artificial intelligence that mirrors real life behavior, and accurate game and season statistics. From ?bump and run? coverage in ?NFL 2K1,? a working spin move and crossover in ?NBA 2K1? and true-to-life camera angles in ?World Series Baseball 2K1,? these games bring all the intricate action of the big leagues to gamers everywhere. *Is cursing the fact they don’t sell Dreamcasts where he lives* Source: DCIGN