Sega zal vandaag een drastische verandering van strategie bekend maken. In de VS zal het onder de bedrijfsnaam Sega.com een online gaming dienst opzetten genaamd SegaNet. Tegen de maandelijkse abonnementskosten van $21,95 krijgen gamers een Dreamcast met een gratis toetsenbord en toegang tot SegaNet:
Sega of America Inc., anticipating serious competition in the cut-throat video game business, will unveil Tuesday a radical shift in its business strategy by offering its own Internet service and giving away to subscribers its Dreamcast video console via a $200 rebate.[...] With a business model not unlike the companies that offer free PCs or Internet devices in exchange for monthly Internet access, Sega will offer a rebate of $200 -- the cost of the Dreamcast game console -- to gamers who sign up for two years of SegaNet Internet service. It expects to launch this service in the fall, at a cost of $21.95 a month. Subscribers will also get a free keyboard.
[...] "It's a radical change but a radical change is needed," said Sean McGowan, a video gaming analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. "It's a very risky strategy... This is not a company that is sitting on a ton of cash. They are betting the ranch because they have to. Sega is clearly the weakest financially of all the major players. They have got to do something drastic."
Zie dit artikel van CNN voor het complete verhaaltje.
