Sega Dreamcast loses its browser: Google's latest update finally kills PlanetWeb 3.0 support

The Sega Dreamcast web browser, PlanetWeb 3.0, is finally dead, as Google has ended support for an ancient piece of software that thrived for over 25 years, leaving many retro gamers to say goodbye to one more part of the Dreamcast’s online legacy.

PlanetWeb 3.0 launched in 2001 and was the only outlet for Dreamcast owners to browse the internet on what was Sega’s last home console, which first hit store shelves in 1998. Sega itself had shut down the Dreamcast’s official online servers years ago. 

However, dedicated retro communities kept PlanetWeb 3.0 alive via private servers and clever workarounds. Unfortunately, Google’s recent update has rendered PlanetWeb 3.0 redundant, effectively cutting off web access for the Sega Dreamcast.

This news became public via Dreamcast Live, a fan site dedicated to the Sega Dreamcast. In a post on X, Dreamcast Live said, “Sad news, guys. Google has discontinued support for Dreamcast web browsers.

However, the end of support for Sega Dreamcast’s PlanetWeb 3.0 isn’t an isolated incident. Google’s latest update has affected numerous legacy browsers and aging hardware that struggle to meet today’s web standards, such as advanced CSS, encryption requirements, and heavy JavaScript.

The Sega Dreamcast is now 27 years old, reminding us of how quickly technology becomes obsolete. Despite this, it’s pretty impressive that PlanetWeb 3.0 lasted as long as it did in the first place, given the underlying hardware’s limitations.

There’s still a silver lining for players wanting to boot their Dreamcast and surf the web. That’s where FrogFind pops into the picture. Created by retro techie and YouTuber Action Retro, FrogFind is a search engine that supports older hardware and dial-up-era services by pulling results from DuckDuckGo and cleaning them up into text-based HTML.