At E3, we were given the chance to talk to every major SEGA developer about the future of the company.
While many are sad that this was probably the last time we would see the Dreamcast at E3, it was also a springboard for SEGA to launch its new third party strategy. During the SEGA Unleashed event at the show, we were given the opportunity to speak to every major SEGA development team¿ for an hour. As you can imagine, we were rushing back and forth from one team to another, and while we couldn't get to every one of the SEGA teams, we got to talk to enough SEGA developers to give our IGNinsiders a different interview everyday this week! To start this daily feature, we talked to Mr. Sonic himself, Yuji Naka:IGNDC: Are you satisfied with the number of users playing Phantasy Star Online right now? Was 270,000 plus players the target goal, or was it above or below that number?Yuji Naka: I think the potential is much, much higher. But just the fact that we have 270,000 users, I think it¿s a very big accomplishment.IGNDC: This may be somewhat of a blunt question, but why did you choose to develop on the GameCube rather than the Xbox, especially since Microsoft has announced its Broadband online gaming strategy? It would seem that the Xbox would be more suited for the online plans of Phantasy Star Online rather than GameCube.YN: I have the position that the Broadband days are coming, but they are not here yet. We still think 56k is a critically important technology for today.IGNDC: After Sonic Adventure 2 and PSO Ver.2, do you have plans for another Dreamcast title?YN: Well, we're still finishing up Sonic Adventure 2 and PSO Version 2, so when Sonic Team releases those titles, that'll give me some time to think about what we¿re going to do next. It's so busy right now, especially with all the work on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance; I really need some quiet to think about things and I also need to give my stuff a little break as well.IGNDC: We're all very sad that the Dreamcast will be gone, so SEGA fans are wondering what system to buy next. What system would you recommend buying for those diehard SEGA fans?YN: Well, I can't make a huge generalization for all SEGA fans, but maybe if you're a Sonic Team fan, my recommendation is to buy a GameCube. That's a very difficult, but good question.IGNDC: Finally, while we look forward to all the fantastic new SEGA projects on other consoles, do you think SEGA will ever make a new hardware console again?YN: Well, I think SEGA's new business direction is very exciting, giving us the freedom and creativity to work on new platforms. But given SEGA's popularity in the past, I wouldn't be surprised to see a new SEGA console sometime in the future.
