Writing on the tenth anniversary of the Dreamcast’s North American launch, former Sega of America chief operating officer Peter Moore has been discussing his “bittersweet” memories of the console.

“It certainly doesn't feel like a decade has gone by since this innovative console ushered in the era of online gaming, albeit through a 56K modem, and thus changed the face of interactive entertainment forever,” Moore said.

“I don't think it is an overstatement to say that the Dreamcast and it's online network laid the ground for what we all take for granted today - online gameplay, linking innumerable gamers from around the world to play, compete and collaborate, as well as enabling new content to be delivered in addition to that which was delivered on the disc. As rudimentary as those first dial-up game play experiences were, we proved that it could be done, and that gamers were clamouring for competition that extended past whomever was sat next to you on the couch at the time.”

Moore, who now heads up EA Sports, also tackled the question of whether his current employer’s decision not to develop and publish games for the Dreamcast was a key factor in the system’s early demise.

“That we will never know,” he said. “But it is hard to argue with EA's rationale at the time and the ultimate outcome - get in position for the impending arrival of the PlayStation 2, deploying all resources against the newest version of Sony's already wildly successful video game platform. You can't argue with the results. EA came out of the blocks strongly in support of the PS2, and enjoyed tremendous success throughout the key years of that console's life cycle.”

The Dreamcast released in the US on September 9, 1999, with a launch line-up of 18 titles. First day sales totalled just under $98 million, but following the Christmas selling season of 2000 Moore said it was evident that the company was "falling short of the critical mass target we had set ourselves for continued investment in the hardware business". On the back of the results, Sega of Japan opted to cease Dreamcast manufacturing and transition to a third party developer and publisher.

“Many saw the Dreamcast as a spectacular failure, a last-gasp effort by a once-powerful player in the industry to remain relevant (and solvent). If measured by longevity and the ultimate financial outcome, they were right. But the Dreamcast had a profound and lasting impact on the world of videogames,” Moore concluded.