Sega has confirmed at a press conference that the company is indeed planning development for platforms other than Sega's own. The possibility has been circulated as rumor for several days, but only today did Sega president Isao Okawa make the announcement official at the Tokyo press event. Sega appears to be expecting immediate big things from this new plan, projecting a 20 billion yen operating profit for the upcoming fiscal year after taking a series of substantial losses.

Currently, Sega's share of the game software market stands at 4%. Okawa said he plans to increase that value more than sixfold, to 25%. While it remains partially uncertain at this point which platforms will receive Sega's attention, Vice President Shouichi Yamazaki stated that development teams are investigating the possibility of producing games for the Game Boy Color and the original Sony PlayStation. Dreamcast owners needn't fret about this apparently backward-looking trend; over two dozen Dreamcast titles are planned to hit the market in 2001.

An important addendum to this news has, however, come to light. When questioned about the diversification, Sega of America offered no confirmation on the story, and said that the translation of the press conference transcript to English could have introduced errors to the information.

In far gloomier news, Okawa also revealed at the press conference that he has been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, and is currently awaiting treatment. He made no mention of his plan of action for combatting the disease, but RPGamer wishes him a speedy and complete recovery.