Sega, DoCoMo Planning Game Service Linking Phones, Console, Arcade

The service will link arcade machines at Sega's video arcade facilities to i-mode phones and home video game consoles. The companies did not reveal which console the service would be based upon, however. NTT DoCoMo is Japan's largest mobile communications operator, with over 34 million subscribers. It had consolidated operating revenue of 3.7 trillion yen ($34.7 billion) in fiscal 1999. In February 1999 NTT DoCoMo launched its i-mode service, which provides continuous connection with the Internet via mobile phones. The number of subscribers to the service exceeded 19 million by February 2001. NTT DoCoMo plans to introduce third-generation mobile communications services based on its W-CDMA system in May 2001. In January, Sony and DoCoMo announced a pact to develop and market a new mobile communications network service and related applications that combine DoCoMo's mobile Internet and SCEI's PlayStation technologies.