That said, a sizable change.org petition was submitted to Sega, and several videos showing concept designs of both the console and the proposed UI were shared online...but when it came to the crunch nothing concrete really materialised. It looks as though our fears have now been confirmed though, and as much as we'd like to see a new system from Sega or Project Dream, this particular dream appears to be over. The Project Dream website has been taken down, while the popular Project Dream Facebook group has been deleted and users are now met with the following message:
"The project has been taken offline. This is due to a schism within the team caused by inefficient and amateurish conduct resulting in members being removed and others leaving the team. In light of such unprofessional behavior and an embarrassing lack of progress, seasoned members of the gaming industry have chosen to distance themselves from the project. I too am stepping away from Project Dream. Please note the Twitter account @Project_DreamDC is no longer associated with this group."
- Project Dream Facebook Group
Whether or not this really does mean the end for Project Dream remains to be seen, but I have been contacted by a source close to the team who told me that the claims of a 'schism' are indeed true, and that various members resorted to in-fighting and conflicts of direction. This in turn lead to a rift between the core members of Project Dream, a rift which has resulted in the events described herein.
We'll keep an eye on Project Dream and let you know if anything changes going forward. For now though, it looks like the dream of a new system from Sega will remain just that.
Update: after we published this story, we received a flurry of messages and tweets stating that Project Dream would recover and would forge ahead regardless of the setbacks detailed above. However, it appears that this is no longer the case and any ambiguity has been settled by Project Dream on Twitter with the following announcements:
