Pluto (Ohga Shrugs)

Pluto is the name of Sega's seventh generation console, released on November 11, 2006. Its chief competitor was the Nintendo Revolution.

As the successor of the Dreamcast, it can play all Dreamcast games.

History
Sega officially revealed the Pluto at E3 2005. However, only tech demos were shown until the next year's event, where games were shown for the first time.

Launch
The Pluto launched on November 11, 2006 in America and Japan, and on the 17th in Europe. The system was available with either 20GB or 60GB of internal memory, and systems started at $300 with 20GB of internal memory and a controller. Launch titles included Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and various sports games. Sonic the Hedgehog was planned to be a launch title, but was delayed for quality reasons.

Sales
As of the end of 2011, the Pluto is roughly in line with its predecessors' sales, with a total of 41 million systems sold worldwide, including 7 million in Japan and 20 million in America. However, these numbers pale in comparison to its competitor, the Revolution, which has sold nearly twice as many units.

Hardware
Most models of the Pluto can only be stood horizontally; however, a few versions can also be stood vertically. The system comes with a wireless controller that plugs into the main unit. The disc drive only accepts Dreamcast GD-ROMs and proprietary format DVD discs. Thus, the Pluto can not play most movies or music discs.

Specifications
The specifications of the Pluto are very similar to those of the Revolution. The CPU clocks in at slightly over 2,000 MHz, the GPU clocks in at about 350 MHz, and the system has 256 GB of RAM. The optical discs hold up to 4.7 GB of data, although a dual layer disc can hold up to 8.5 GB. Up to four controllers can connect to the system at a time, and the system's memory can be expanded through SD Cards. Video can be displayed in 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, and 720p.

Features
The Pluto's primary purpose is playing games, but it has many more non-gaming features than its predecessors. Photos can be viewed on the system, applications can be downloaded to view movies, and web browsing is available. However, these services require a SegaNet account, which in turn requires a monthly or annual fee.

Reception
The Pluto has received somewhat mixed reviews. On one hand, its hardware was praised at launch for being easy to develop for and being reasonably powerful for its starting price. However, the launch lineup was panned, in stark contrast to the Dreamcast launch of 2000. Furthermore, the online system, though deemed superior to Nintendo's, has been criticized for its relatively high prices in some countries.