And with nearly 60m current PlayStation users, that may give it a crucial advantage in the race for the new generation of games machines. Meanwhile, Nintendo is counting on the craze for Pokemon, the Japanese pocket monster characters, to see it through the Christmas selling season. The Pokemon interactive computer game, which was launched in the UK on the weekend of 1 October, has already sold 25,000 copies, making it Nintendo's all time best seller. Nevertheless, Nintendo says it will sell 500,000 N64 consoles in the UK this year, many sales stimulated by the release new games like Donkey Kong this Christmas. Nintendo is also gearing up for battle royal next Christmas with the simultaneous world launch of its Dolphin game system.
Video games are now big business, earning more revenue that the motion picture industry.
But with so many new systems coming on the market next year, Dreamcast will have only a narrow window of opportunity to make its mark. No wonder Sonic the Hedgehog is looking worried.