The Dreamcast website has been updated, apparently by Sega of Japan, and is asking gamers from around the world ‘Do you still own a Dreamcast?’ The update to the site happened over the weekend and enables Dreamcast owners to register using their Dreamcast’s serial numbers and sign up for a ‘@user.dreamcast.com’ account.

Initially the response to the site was overwhelming, causing it to crash, but since then many gamers have become skeptical with much speculation brewing as to whether the site is a hoax.

Gamerush reported that the website was a scam because Dreamcast.com was not hosted by Sega. However, Videogaming247.com claimed that a Whois registry search confirmed that Sega does own Dreamcast.com and that the site expires in June 2008.

It’s thinking

The Dreamcast was released on the 29th of November 1998 in Japan, which means that it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The image is called ‘dcpromo2008’ which also seems to suggest that Sega have some sort of Dreamcast promotion up their sleeve. But this also means that the site expires about five months before the 10th anniversary. Just to remind you that the Dreamcast was released on the 9th of September 1999 in the US and on the 14th of October 1999 in Europe.

Sega has yet to issue an official statement about the Dreamcast saga. However, Japanese news site Mainichi is reporting that Sega has confirmed to them that it is a fake site.

According to Mainichi, Sega warned “We are not involved in the administration of this site, and regret any misunderstanding that may have occurred to the consumer.”