PlaySEGA, Sega’s casual gaming site, goes online

Yesterday Sega launched the beta of PlaySEGA, an internet based gaming site that includes flash versions of various Sega titles, such as Sonic at the Olympic Games, as well as third party puzzle and arcade games.

Following the suit of Nintendo, whose family-friendly Wii has opened the gaming market up to an untapped demographic, and Microsoft, who recently updated the XBox Live interface to include personalized avatars much like Nintendo’s Miis, Sega seems to be looking to make their way into the new casual gamer market.

Signing up for PlaySEGA is free, and comes with an avatar that can be personalized by playing the selection of online games and accruing PlaySEGA “rings,” which are the site’s internal currency for buying new clothes, houses and other knick-knacks.

Sega has also announced that in the future they will be establishing a VIP only pay portion of the site, which will include exclusive content and is rumored to include classic games such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Chu Chu Rocket.

Nick Phil, the Network Business Director of Sega Europe seems excited about the future of PlaySEGA, saying, “What started off as a small project within the SEGA Network Group has now caught the imagination of the entire company. He continued, I have suggestions for new games filling up my in-box, from the CEO, to staff I’ve never even met over in our Japanese, European and US offices.”