The lost interview with Shoichiro Irimajiri
Media coverage of the Dreamcast tends to be a rather one-sided affair. While Sega of Japan always tended to keep a tone of deferential calm, Bernie Stolar (Saturn is not our future) the Chairman of Sega of America could often be found over-inflating his ego in numerous articles.
So, imagine my surprise when going through one of my old magazines, a relatively short lived UK publication, Total Control, only to find a feature on the Dreamcast with a short interview with then chairman of Sega Japan, Shoichiro Irimajiri.
Irimajiri-san, discusses his vision and hopes for the system and seems surprisingly realistic about the system’s chance of success. It’s also interesting to note his comment that, online facilities will be mandatory in the near future; something which has certainly become a reality. Despite the optimism there is an underlying soberness about the whole feature and the acceptance that the system, no matter what its strengths, will be crushed by the media hype of Sony’s Playstation 2.
Recommended reading for all Dreamcast fans.
