OfManNotMachine wrote:I gotta question some of this a bit, Was it really such a big deal DC's were sold at a slight loss?
Well... before the advent of the Dreamcast, SEGA wasn't financially in the best position. Dropping Saturn as early as they did to get a head start on the Next Gen with Dreamcast was their attempt at making the company profitable once again. Selling their hardware at cost (or at a loss outside of Japan) on day 1 does seem like a big deal considering their position at the time.
Considering SEGA abruptly fired Stolar (and at the cusp of the console's launch no less) after pricing the system at $50 less than what was intended, is rather telling. As you mentioned, the razor blade business model (selling hardware at a loss in an effort to increase the install base and profit from software) is a common strategy in the industry. But one SEGA ultimately couldn't afford to make.