Sega's Dreamcast is currently the hot topic in the video game industry, bested only by speculation on the PlayStation 2. But the questions we've been getting lately to add to our FAQ (look for an updated version Friday with more details) have mainly dealt with its processor. More specifically, "What bit is it?"

　　While this question really isn't that easy to quantify these days, and its relevance to whether a system is more powerful than another is very little, we thought it was worth asking Sega what it plans on calling it. Sega representative Dan Stevens told GameSpot News that "technically, is a 64-bit processor. We're saying it's got so many components, it's impossible to put a number on it. Each component has been optimized; it's scalable. The SH-4 is capable of processing in different modes - 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit, and 128-bit."

　　In the Dreamcast's spec sheet, it does note that the system's "performance" is 128-bit. But the SH-4 at the heart of the Dreamcast is 64-bit. So, while the system has a lot of great hardware and optimization going for it, it's a 64-bit system with 128-bit performance. Or at least that's what Sega's saying.

　　Included in the 150 Internet domain names that Sega recently registered are the domains for 128-bit.com, and iterations of that. What we're understanding from this is that Sega is at least planning on floating the 128-bit number as marketing for the system ("We're more powerful than the Nintendo 64, etc."). This would not be the first time such adjusting of bits has been used - several other systems in the past have claimed a higher bit performance than its actual CPU was capable of processing.

　　Whatever the bit count, what really is going to matter are the games. There's no doubt that Dreamcast games are going to be visually impressive. So does that make quantifying the "bits" of the Dreamcast really necessary? No.