Dreamcast (Ohga Shrugs)

Dreamcast is the name of Sega's sixth generation video game console, which was released September 2000. It was the first entry in the sixth generation of video game consoles, preceding its rival, the Nintendo GameCube, by about a year. By the end of its life, it had sold 47 million units.

The Dreamcast was the first notable console built with online play in mind, and was Sega's first console specifically designed to play 3D games.

Although it succeeded the Saturn, it lacked and form of backwards compatibility, due to the different format of the discs and Sega's desire to keep system costs low.

History
By 1997, Sega had begun working on next-generation hardware. Said hardware was first displayed in 1998 as Project Naomi (New Arcade Operation Machine Idea), which would be Sega's main arcade hardware for over half a decade. NAOMI was soon modified to be used as a game console, with very few compromises being made.

Launch
The Dreamcast was first released in Japan September 2000, at a cost of $200 for a basic package. Titles out over the first few months included Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Samba de Amigo, Shenmue, Sonic Shuffle, Rayman 2, and Capcom vs. SNK.

Sales
The Dreamcast was Sega's best selling hardware of all time, with about 47 million units sold. 14 million Dreamcasts were sold in Japan, 21 million were sold in America, and 12 million were sold elsewhere. In general, the Dreamcast outsold its rival, the GameCube, in most non-American markets.

Hardware
The Dreamcast was a top-loading system. It had an impressive 56 MB of RAM, along with a CPU clocking in at 200 MHz and a GPU at 100 MHz. Its GD-ROMs held up to 1.2 GB of data, notably less than the full-sized DVDs that were just entering the market could hold.

The Dreamcast was the first console that supported online play, via a removable modem. Players could pay a certain fee a month, depending on their region, to play official titles online, using Sega-maintained servers. Due to the continued popularity of various Dreamcastgames, these servers are still operational, although Sega reserves the right to shut them down at any time.

Most Dreamcasts sold were either white or black models.

Games
The Dreamcast had a total of about 1,300 games released for it over its life, not counting unlicensed or fan-made titles.