MarketWacht meldt dat de voormalige gameconsole-fabrikant Sega in gesprek is met Microsoft voor het ontwikkelen van games voor de Xbox. Sega, dat zich na het mislukken van de Dreamcast volledig terug heeft getrokken uit de consolemarkt, wil nu multiplayer-games gaan ontwikkelen. Microsoft wil zich met de Xbox vooral richten internettoepassingen; daarom is Sega aangetrokken om de breedband mogelijkheden van de Xbox te kunnen benutten. De lancering van de nieuwe console in de VS staat nu gepland op 8 november. Verwacht wordt dat de internetfunctionaliteit eind 2002 beschikbaar is.
Sega is already in the process of developing some game software for Microsoft's Xbox, which was supposed to be released in Japan by the Christmas shopping season. Earlier this week, Microsoft said it was delaying the launch until February 22 to focus on the U.S. market. Microsoft is pinning its hopes on the Internet capabilities of its Xbox game machine and has been looking for partners to develop Internet games for the console. Microsoft spokesman Kazuyuki Takada confirmed the talks, saying the company wants Sega to develop online games which can make full use of the Xbox's broadband capability.[...] In January, Sega announced it was refocusing its business away from developing game machines to supplying software and Internet games for its former rivals.
[...] The award-winning online game, which claims over 3 million subscribers today, has a built-in automatic translation system for 5 different languages -- Japanese, English, French, German, and Spanish -- to enable users to communicate worldwide via chat.