The Dreamcast is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube, and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast's 2001 discontinuation ended Sega's 18 years in the console market.
Crazy Taxi is a racing video game developed and published by Sega. It is the first game in the Crazy Taxi series. The game was first released in arcades in 1999 and then was ported to the Dreamcast in 2000. Gameplay is based on picking up taxi customers and driving to their destination as quickly as possible. Reception to Crazy Taxi has been mostly positive. It was ported to other platforms numerous times, including the PlayStation 2 and GameCube by Acclaim in 2001, and then Windows in 2002.
In the history of video games, the sixth generation era is the era of computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming devices available at the turn of the 21st century, starting on November 27, 1998. Platforms in the sixth generation include consoles from four companies: the Sega Dreamcast (DC), Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2), Nintendo GameCube (GC), and Microsoft Xbox. This era began on November 27, 1998, with the Japanese release of the Dreamcast, which was joined by the PlayStation 2 on March 4, 2000, the GameCube on September 14, 2001 and the Xbox on November 15, 2001, respectively. On March 31, 2001, the Dreamcast was among the first to be discontinued. Xbox in 2006, GameCube in 2007 and PlayStation 2 was the last, in January 2013. Meanwhile, the seventh generation of consoles started on November 22, 2005, with the launch of the Xbox 360.
Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underworld, Neff. Through the use of power-ups, the player character can assume the form of different magical beasts. It was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers. It was the pack-in game for the Mega Drive when that system launched in 1988.
Homebrew, when applied to video games, refers to software produced by hobbyists for proprietary video game consoles which are not intended to be user-programmable. The official documentation is often only available to licensed developers, and these systems may use storage formats that make distribution difficult, such as ROM cartridges or encrypted CD-ROMs. Many consoles have hardware restrictions to prevent unauthorized development.
The GD-ROM is a proprietary optical disc format developed as a collaboration between Sega and Yamaha for the Dreamcast. A double-density format based on the CD-ROM that could hold up to 1 GB, it consists of a single-density track near the disc's center surrounded by a double-density track comprising much of the disc's capacity. The GD-ROM was created in response to developers exceeding the typical 650 MB storage capacity of the CD-ROM; while DVD-ROM would have addressed this limitation, implementing its then-new technology would have made console production cost prohibitive. Along with the format's general novelty, the extra capacity also had the theoretical benefit of curbing video game piracy, a major concern of CD-based consoles that was validated by its rampancy on the PlayStation.
Crazy Taxi is a series of racing games developed by Hitmaker and published by Sega. It was first available as an arcade video game in 1999, then released for the Dreamcast console in 2000. It is the third best-selling Dreamcast game in the United States, selling over a million copies. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and IBM PC compatibles with sequels also appearing on the Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation Portable systems.
Over one hundred video games based on the Star Wars franchise have been released, dating back to some of the earliest home consoles. Some are based directly on films while others rely heavily on the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Sega Bass Fishing, known in Japan as Get Bass, is an arcade fishing video game developed in 1997 by Sega for the Sega Model 3 hardware. The game has since been ported to the Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.
Octomania is a puzzle game by Compile Heart and Idea Factory for the Wii. It is an enhanced version of an arcade title released in 2006 running on Sega NAOMI hardware. Hyper-Devbox Japan helped port the game to the Wii by creating libraries so that the programmers could easily just recompile the source code of the arcade game, and then add new features. The game was published in North America by Conspiracy Entertainment. The game was supervised by Puyo Puyo creator Moo Niitani.
Record of Agarest War, known in Europe as Agarest: Generations of War, is a tactical role-playing game for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game is a collaboration between Idea Factory, Red Entertainment and Compile Heart. An updated port of the game was released in Japan for the Xbox 360 on November 27, 2008. HyperDevbox Japan released an Android port on December 19, 2013, and an iOS port on May 16, 2014. A Nintendo Switch port was released on March 9, 2023.
HyperDevbox Japan is a French Japanese video game company created by Carlo Perconti, one of the founders of Toka and Arcade Zone. HyperDevbox Japan is developing original games, mostly for Android, and also porting external titles from one platform to another. The Company is now based exclusively in Tokyo, Japan. HyperDevbox Japan is known for its breaking technology developed for the Android platform with games like ExZeus arcade and the upcoming "Spectral Souls - Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires" the first Tactical RPG to be announced for Android devices.
Virtua Tennis is a series of tennis simulation video games started in 1999 by Sega AM3. The player competes through tennis tournaments and various arcade modes. While originally released for arcades, all games in the series have been ported to other platforms, including most major consoles.
Game development kits (GDK) are specialized hardware and software used to create commercial video games for game consoles. They may be partnered with game development tools, special game engine licenses, and other middleware to aid video game development. GDKs are typically not available to the public, and require game developers to enter an agreement, partnership, or program with the hardware manufacturer to gain access to the hardware. As console generations pass, development kits often get sold through websites like eBay without repercussions. This is often because the console manufacturers discontinue certain development programs as time passes.
