Online Dreamcast Titles

For many people, myself included, the Dreamcast became our first introduction to the world of the internet and online gaming. While Sega's Dreamarena service in the UK was crippled by a pay-by-minute deal with telecommunications giant, BT, and a lack of stable online infrastructure resulting in only a handful of actual online titles being released, Sega's approach in Japan and the US was much more ambitious.

 

 

SegaNet, as Sega's online service was known in the US offered a much more familiar and stable yearly fee which enabled gamers to worry less about their phone bills and more about all the great titles available to play over the net. SegaNet had approximately 40-50 titles that were online compatible via either the built in 56 modem or the Broadband adapter. The service is considered the ground model that other companies such as Xbox based their online infrastructure.

In Japan, Sega's online service, Isao.net was named after the legendary Sega Chairman Isao Okawa who famously provided over US$40 million towards Sega Enterprises, mainly to fund the online functionality of the Dreamcast and forgave the debts Sega owed him and gave Sega Corporation his $695 million worth of Sega stock. The service was perhaps the most comprehensive of all, offering video chat, online phone calls and offering online games from a variety of genres and even featured cross-play, with titles such as Capcom vs SNK 2 playable against gamers on Sony’s PS2. For a comprehensive list of games which were available online please see below.