Microsoft Announces Windows CE Toolkit for Dreamcast
Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Windows CE Toolkit for the Sega Dreamcast home video game system is now available to licensed Sega Dreamcast developers. The Windows CE Toolkit for Dreamcast provides a full-featured development environment including optimized DirectX libraries for 3-D graphics, sound and input, as well as built-in communications support designed to provide Internet access and networked multiplayer gaming. The flexible development environment of the Windows CE operating system also maximizes programming productivity by delivering for the first time the benefits of the Microsoft Visual C++ development system to the world of console development.
''The Windows CE Toolkit for Dreamcast delivers Windows CE operating system services and optimized DirectX libraries designed to take creative and technical advances in video games to entirely new levels,'' said Ted Kummert, general manager, Windows CE home products group, Microsoft. ''The recent release of Sega Rally2 in Japan proves that Windows CE is delivering on our promise to enable compelling new console gaming experiences.''
Sega Rally 2, developed by Sega Enterprises Ltd. with Windows CE and the DirectX API, has been the No. 1 title for Dreamcast since its release on Jan. 28 and is the first and only multiplayer networked title released on Dreamcast in Japan so far. ''The popularity of network play with Sega Rally 2 confirms that networked multiplayer functionality can drive retail sales of console titles,'' said Toshinori Asai, general manager, consumer software R&D at Sega Enterprises. ''Using Windows CE with DirectPlay greatly simplified our efforts to add multiplayer network play functionality and build the network infrastructure forSega Rally 2.''
''Windows CE has made it very easy for Acclaim to get title development under way for Dreamcast,'' said Craig Galley, vice president of technology at Acclaim. ''Using the Windows CE Toolkit for Dreamcast, we were able to bring one of our key game engines developed with Win32 and DirectX over to the Dreamcast platform and get title development under way within a month.''
Windows CE for Dreamcast is a full-featured, full-service operating system whose specific optimizations for game development on Dreamcast hardware make it a sound choice for serious high-performance game development. The size and performance of Windows CE and DirectX API components have been optimized to meet the demands of game developers, whilemaintaining compatibility with the widely accepted Win32 API and DirectX programming model on Windows-based PCs. Incorporation of DirectX also allows the Dreamcast system to capitalize on the momentum toward Windows-based PC gaming and the ever-increasing body of developers creating games for the Windows platform.
The Windows CE Toolkit for Dreamcast is designed to work with Dreamcast hardware development systems, which are available to developers under license from Sega Enterprises.
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