Toyota to sell own unique version of Dreamcast

[01.27.99] » No joking. The Japanese carmaker plans to market and sell a "Toyota version" starting February 15th.

   Japan's number one car manufacturer made an announcement today that, starting February 15th, Toyota Motor Corp will begin selling special "Toyota versions" of the Sega Dreamcast in its showrooms. 160 of its 403 dealerships across Japan will carry the special version of the system, which includes a special GD-ROM for access to Toyota's homepage on the Internet. No other changes are mentioned.

   In addition to straight Dreamcast sales, the Toyota showrooms will also stock Dreamcast games and peripherals. A representative for the company asserted that Toyota is aiming to sell 50,000 Dreamcast systems by the end of 1999.

   But why in the world is a car company selling video game systems? According to the Toyota rep, the company expects Dreamcast sales to draw visitors to showrooms. There's no word yet on whether Toyota plans to market the Dreamcast in North America when the system is released this fall.