Although this past week has seen Sega announce a profit for the first time in years, the 1.01 billion yen figure was nothing compared to their original predictions.

Since moving from a console manufacturer to third party software developer, Sega has seen it's profit rise back up out of the red. It's not all good news, however. Sega have been the only thing keeping the arcade sector alive, and rely on it for much of their income, nevertheless it's in a bad way, and that severely affects their financial status.

It also seems that Sega under-estimated EA Sports, with US sales for "Sega Sports NFL 2K3" falling way below expected figures. Sega insist that they are in no real danger, but admit to having a few difficulties adjusting the structure of the business. As a result, it may prove financially preferrable to cease development of sports games for the GameCube. Nothing is certain yet, but expect the decision to be made sometime next month.

Source: PCG