SegaNet

SegaNet was an internet service provided by Sega for the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast video game consoles. The European counterpart for Dreamcast was called Dreamarena.

Sega Saturn (Japan)
In its inception, SegaNet was Sega's online service for the Sega Saturn in Japan. In the United States, it was called Sega NetLink.

Dreamcast
SegaNet became a short-lived internet service geared for dial-up-based online gaming on the Dreamcast game console. A replacement for Sega's original PC-only online gaming service, Heat.net, it was initially quite popular when launched on September 10, 2000. Unlike a standard ISP, game servers would be connected directly into SegaNet's internal network, providing very low connection latency between the consoles and servers along with standard Internet access. Just over a month after launch, by October 27, 2000, SegaNet had 1.55 million Dreamcast consoles registered online, including 750,000 in Japan, 400,000 in North America, and 400,000 in Europe.

Online games on the Dreamcast initially allowed free access to their game servers, to be offset by SegaNet subscriptions and game sales. But with the demise of SegaNet, most games shut their servers down while Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 charged a monthly fee, and closed for the last time at the end of the year. There are some private servers still online that can be played with the following games: Phantasy Star Online Ver. 1 and Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2, Sega Swirl, 4x4 Evolution, Quake III Arena, Maximum Pool, Planet Ring, Toy Racer, Starlancer, ChuChu Rocket!, The Next Tetris On-line Edition, PBA Tour Bowling 2001, Sonic Adventure, Alien Front Online, Worms World Party, Racing Simulation 2 On-line: Monaco Grand Prix, POD: Speedzone, Ooga Booga, World Series Baseball 2K2, Jet Set Radio, NCAA College Football 2K2: Road to the Rose Bowl, NFL 2K1, NFL 2K2, NBA 2K1, NBA 2K2 and many more coming soon.

Closure
SegaNet originally offered a $200 rebate with a two-year contract, to encourage sales of the Dreamcast. But due to pressure from Sony's PlayStation 2 and the announcements of the Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, sales of the Dreamcast continued to drop and, on July 23, 2001, Sega announced they would discontinue the service, shutting it down just 11 months after launch. At this point, all subscribers were given the option to transfer their accounts to EarthLink.

European counterpart
The European online service counterpart to SegaNet, Dreamarena, continued to operate until it, too, was discontinued in March 2003.