Comments on: Dear Sega: We want a console, not handhelds

Sega is developing a PMP. But as Don Reisinger points out, it needs to start developing a video game console.

[Blacksheep1982]

Word. I miss Sega consoles and their, at the time, amazing first party releases and exclusives like the Sonic series and Eco the Dolphin. I remember the day I bought a Sega as a kid after working all summer part time to save up the $120 or so. I got home, set it all up, plugged in Sonic and as soon as that muse beatifully sang "Sega" I said "wow" and knew I was in for something special. The graphical leap from my old NES to Sega was astounding, nothing, in my mind, had ever looked as good as that. Not to mention my later Game Gear acquisition, those games still have better graphics than DS!

Sega, it's time for another console, you can 86 Xbox and undercut PS3 if you hit the balance between technology and cost properly. And by the time you get in, Blue Ray components will be even cheaper and processor dies even smaller. What are you waiting for? I want Panzer Dragoon on a Sega again.

[vishakha_ate]

Good

[terminalblue]

Atari Jaguar. Thats what ANY console released by sega will be perceived as. When the Jag cam out it was the worst possible market for a new console. This market is worse. Yes rand loyalty is important but unfortunately, every loyal market is taken right now and sega has to know that.

The 360 is covering the hardcore gamers. The ps3 is garnering the High End and media center crowd, and the Wii ha got the casual gamers covered. Save the SUPER hardcore holdouts like me that didnt but PS2 until december 2007 and are just playing XBLive for the first time, A new Sega console i will appeal to no one.

What kind of features will this new console have that will make it the IT thing for, lets say 2010 or 2011 and beyond? Its alot harder to sell "blast processing" to informed and jaded consumers that have been burned by sega hardware in the past. I am not saying Sega Can't produce fine hardware or software, the Dreamcast is a perfect example of Sega potential. But what about support? Not having Madden killed sega, not matter how awesome NFL2K was. Is there any guarantee that will not happen again? Loyalty killed Sega there and it might kill it again.

It comes down to the fact that Nintendo isn't going anywhere, ever. Microsoft will continue to fill Sega's hole for the hardcore gamers, and Sony will hemorrhage money until they move enough consoles to say they are number one. Sega will find a niche, but in this market, there is no room for niches. And some people REALLY need to accept that.

[daedbird]

I would hope Reisinger could be right on this one, but unfortunately, I think when the company killed its hardware division, it meant the end of the company. I have a Dreamcast, and still play it, and it stood up to the first gen XBox or PS2. The device was ahead of its time with online gaming and web surfing (think if you could tune into Hulu at the time). Sega is a fraction of the company it was....it sold off its sports division, has few titles people want. Hey, maybe this PMP could work - I never thought Kindle would sell, and first laughed at the netbook Folio idea. If the tuner works, if the GUI is easy to use, if they can get good games, why cant this challenge the DS and the Touch (the PSP is just a wee too big)

[RAL45]

To me it makes since that Sega won?t spend that kind of money it would take to compete with the big three.
Sega most likely doesn?t have the resource to pull off a new console that would sell will against the competition.
The handheld market has been on fire and I could see why they might try that approach to get back into the hardware side of things.

[4schler]

'Sega is practically nonexistant?' You obviously haven't taken into consideration their still-strong arcade game market in Japan, nor have you been paying attention to the hype surrounding upcoming games like Valkyria Chronicles, Alpha Protocol, and Sonic Unleashed. Sega has definitely NOT failed in the software industry - they've just done ok.

Also, considering the present hardware oligopoly in the industry, it would be a mistake to try to enter the console market anytime soon. That battle for market share would only end in tears. One thing they could do, though, is try to help revive arcade gaming in western markets - one thing sega has ALWAYS done well with. There are far more options than just trying to get back into the console market. Come on, man; get creative.

[Lerianis]

Exactly right. Sega has done pretty well, it's just that jaded gamers are expecting too much from Sega's games since they axed their console business. Sonic the Hedgehog (the 3D version) was awesome. So was Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic Unleashed is looking to be awesome as well.

To be blunt: there is only room for 2 true gaming consoles now, and those are the PS3 and XBox360. The Wii is more a 'casual gamer' system.

[inachu]

How about a console that has keyboard and mouse support as well for multiplayer?

[kelmon]

I think you are thinking of a PC. Unless the console is expected to double as a PC in the living room (something that I strongly advocate against) then there is no point adopting controls designed for something else. For starters, what will the mouse rest on? The coffee table, if you have one?

For many years consoles produced games of the type that you didn't get on the PC and they were good. These days there has been too much convergence and I really think that consoles need to go back to being different.

[Spikezz777]

How's about no more "Sega please release a console articles?" ;-) We appreciate the nostalgia but the console space is pretty crowded as it is. Sega would have a hard time differentiating itself, not mention the investment that it would take to develop a competitive offering.

[benjwah]

Reisinger's columns go like this:
1. Talk down Company X and whatever initiatives they have working at the moment. Disregard facts. Research is for chumps.
2. Suggest crazy move that would essentially amount to betting the company on black.
3. "Back it up" with a re-telling of the past that ignores the ACTUAL past. Buffer that with a wondrous vision of the future that takes little to no heed of reality.

Then he sits back and hopes no one realises how little information or insight his columns actually contain.

[manwalklikebear]

Couldn't have said it better my friend! I hope CNET removes all Reisinger related content soon, he's an embarrassment.

[XKaiminalX]

I wish people would stop attacking SEGA about the 32X, SEGA CD or Mega CD and the Saturn, how long have we all been complaining about SEGA not releasing any new hardware? We get this annoucement of the SEGA vision, you all still moan, atleast SEGA is getting somewhere, just wait another year and we shall see the successor to the SEGA Dreamcast, and no this isn't another rumour towards the 9/9/09 release.

[kuliddar]

Sega should stick to software and nothing else. When they were in hardware, the last console that was properly supported was the GENESIS. Everything else later was poorly supported and, utimately stopped being manufactured. I got caught with the SEGA CD and the 32x. I did not purchase the Dreamcast for that reason alone and I'm glad I didn't because, once again, SEGA proved they couldn't handle marketing hardware when there was already 3 major competiors outthere. It was another story at the time it was them or Nintendo...

In an age where more and more developpers are asking for one console only and where almost nothing is exclusive, SEGA would have a hard time entering the console war game again. IMO there are enough consoles and variations of them outthere...

[brightstarbeing]

It's a very sad thing to say: Sega IS dead. At least in the U.S. I was always a Nintendo fan in Sega's heyday, but I had nothing but respect for the worthy competitor Sega was for Nintendo. Let's face it, bad management killed the company long ago. They don't have the resources to re-enter the hardware market in any meaningful way. Their software titles are mediocre at best, and they've been gone from the console wars so long, there is a whole generation of gamers now that don't even know what Sega is, let alone what a Sega Genesis is. I'm sorry, Sega but I'm writing you off. RIP.

[kelmon]

I'm inclined to suggest that the console market is already crowded enough and that we don't need Sega to produce a new platform. Quality software titles for the existing platforms are all that is required.

[XKaiminalX]

How is it crowded enough? have you seen the amount of consoles that came out in the fourth and fifth generation? the market is incredibly small compared to 10 years ago, and to be honest all the console today arn't as good compared to previous models. SEGA coming back would make a big impact because Nintendo would finally have a rival again.