Sales through last year came to 1.65 million units in both the U.S. and Japan, and 650,000 in Europe. U.S. sales have already topped the March 2000 target of 1.5 million, but in Japan will likely fall short of the 2 million units we had hoped for. The game was still selling strongly five months after the release, which is much better than the industry expected.
Players seem fed up with conventional software.
Dreamcast is priced more competitively than PlayStation2 but Japanese consumers tend to prefer brand names over value for money. A domestic subsidiary focusing on network strategies will begin in May working on a system enabling players to enjoy games and chat online. Our approach will make for tough going in the first year but should contribute to profit from 2001. But this is an expense we can easily afford. Sega does not seem to be in that comfortable a financial position because convertible bonds outstanding total about the same as cash.