The video game industry has been saturated with an abundance of news the last few weeks. First of all, lets start with Sega.

Following the announcement of Sega’s decision to halt production on their Dreamcast system, a recent interview by GameWeek with Sega?s Vice President of Marketing and Communications Charles Bellfield has revealed new details about Sega?s upcoming releases and strategies, both for Dreamcast and on other platforms.

In addition, two rumors recently have concerned possible joint development deals between Sega and Nintendo. Bellfield didn?t state specifics in the interview, but he did confirm that Sega and Nintendo are working on a joint “top-secret RPG.”

The rumor that Dreamcast chips might be installed in Microsoft?s new X-Box system was denied, however, though Bellfield indicated that Sony has shown an interest in incorporating SegaNet technology into its PlayStation 2.

Also in the interview, Bellfield said that those former rumors that Nintendo was looking to buy Sega weren?t just vapor; according to Bellfield, Nintendo was indeed interested, as were both Sony and Microsoft. Sega, however, decided to keep its ownership structure as it was, and concentrate on developing software for all platforms. Bellfield also confirmed plans to release a sequel to the recent online RPG Phantasy Star Online by the end of this calendar year.

Squaresoft, maker of the immensely popular Final Fantasy series, has announced a rare financial loss, possibly due to the $170 million digital movie based on Final Fantasy due out July 13, and the cost of developing their PlayOnline gaming service. Several high-ranking executives, including the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the CEO and the president of the company, have demoted themselves to lower positions.Nintendo has recently revealed the American release date for the Game Boy Advance. The new handheld system should be released on June 11, however, the GameCube has been pushed back.

Speaking of Nintendo, IGN has posted a story that says the new Metroid game being developed by Retro Studios for GameCube will be a first-person shooter instead of the more traditional side-scrolling platform game. A lot of Metroid fans on the Internet are not happy about this, including the producers of Web comic Penny Arcade, who mocked the move in one of their recent comics.

It remains to be seen if Retro Studios can keep the flavor of the old series, or if the new Metroid will lose the things that made the old games great.

Related links:

www.gameweek.com

www.ign.com

www.penny-arcade.com

www.thegia.com