DREAMCAST MP3 PLAYER dotmusic.com Sega are launching an MP3 player for their Dreamcast gaming console. The as-yet-unnamed player will plug in to a memory card slot in one of the Dreamcast's controllers and is rumoured to store up to 70 minutes of music -enough to hold most current albums. The Dreamcast's visual memory units, with their own built-in screen and control pads, can also be played outside the console as basic Tamagotchi-type games. If these cartridges are anything to go by, the Dreamcast MP3 player is likely to be very small indeed; possibly even portable, with a headphone socket for listening on the move. Whether or not the Dreamcast will allow illegal MP3s to be swapped a la Napster or even downloaded from grey area websites is hard to tell. It is probable, however, that Sega will want to get major labels on-side to provide audio content direct to its portal. Some kind of security mechanism might even be involved. The Japanese company's new foray into the digital music world makes a lot of sense. The Dreamcast already has a built-in 56k modem and Internet gaming capabilities so will be perfectly suited for downloading music on the Web. And with stiff competition ahead from Microsoft's X-Box and the Playstation 2 (which is fitted up with a DVD drive), Sega need to do all they can to keep us interested in its Dreamcast. Sega have not officially announced the Dreamcast MP3 player and so are remaining tight-lipped about the project. A source at their press office was, however, willing to confirm that the device will go on sale in stores in the autumn. He stated that a working version of the machine will be on show at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles from May 10-13 2000. comment on this article e-mail this to a friend start a discussion [about i-drive] writing index dotmusic index Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Contact me: mail@tobyslater.com back to top back to home page

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