EA Sports boss and former Sega chief Peter Moore has paid tribute to the Dreamcast (R.I.P) on its tenth anniversary. Today marks the birthday of one of the most tragic consoles in gaming history and Moore, a man who witnessed its death firsthand, has written about the system on his blog.
“It certainly doesn’t feel like a decade has gone by since this innovative console ushered in the era of online gaming, albeit through a 56K modem, and thus changed the face of interactive entertainment forever,” he states. “The memories of course are bittersweet — we all know how this movie ended — but I was fortunate to have worked at that time with some of the most amazingly dedicated individuals, all of whom were galvanized around a single goal: prove the naysayers wrong, launch the console with a bang, get to a meaningful installed base within the first twelve months, and keep the momentum going in the face of the upcoming stiff competition.”
Moore also took the opportunity to lay to rest ideas that he and Sega of America were the ones to kill the Dreamcast: “Sega of Japan had rightly set sales goals for the North American market for that critical period, and as strong as our numbers were, they fell short of where we needed to be to continue. The decision was made, from Japan, to pull the plug and begin the transition to becoming a multi-platform third party developer and publisher. We at SOA, while disappointed, were in full agreement that this was the only real course of action, and it was with a heavy heart that I hosted the conference call on January 31st, 2001, announcing that Sega was ceasing manufacturing of the Dreamcast console. The call on the decision was made by SOJ. The conference call to announce the decision was conducted by SOA.”
Nice try, Moore, but the blood is still on your hands. THE BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS AND YOU ARE THE PONTIUS PILATE OF VIDEOGAMES!
