Former Microsoft VP Joachim Kempin is at it again. The man who earlier this week was quoted as saying that Microsoft launched the Xbox game console to "stop Sony" now says that the company briefly thought about buying Sega to quickly get into the console business.
"There was always talk maybe we buy Sega or something like that; that never materialized," Kempin told IGN," but we were actually able to license them what they call Windows CE, the younger brother of Windows, to run on their system and make that their platform."
While it is true that Microsoft did indeed announce an agreement with Sega in 1998 to use Windows CE for the Dreamcast, it"s also truth that the Dreamcast launched in 1999 with its own operating system, although Windows CE was used for some Dreamcast games.
Kempin claims that ultimately, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates decided not to acquire Sega, saying, "He didn’t think that Sega had enough muscle to eventually stop Sony, so we did our own Xbox thing."
Sega got out of the hardware console business in early 2001, several months before the launch of the Xbox in late 2001. Sega developed a number of Xbox exclusives and Peter Moore, who was president of Sega America, later joined Microsoft as an Xbox executive.
Source: IGN | Image via Sega