New Sega Hardware?

[Atarinvader]

There have been hints and rumours about Sega / Sammy devloping new hardware, least not when the head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, mentioned he was looking forward to working with Sega hardware again:

 

"When Sega is ready to go with its own proprietary hardware platform, I will really definitely want to work on it."

 

Perhaps Sammys Atomiswave arcade hardware maybe coming home?

 

The Stinger Report also claimed 'Merger finalization also supplies news of possible 'unusual' practices that were hidden in a location called the 'Chicken Shed''.

 

Likely?

[Foxy Cleopatra]

http://www.sammyeurope.co.uk/coin-op/atomiswave.html

 

do you mean this ^?

[Atarinvader]

http://www.sammyeurope.co.uk/coin-op/atomiswave.html

 

do you mean this ^?

 

Yes, that's the Atomiswave arcade hardware.

 

Wouldn't it seem logical that Sammys acquistion of Sega was to bring this system to masses with the Sega brand plastered on it? Or another of the Sega / Sammy boards like Naomi 3?

[Adrian M]

It won't happen. Trust me on this.

[Trooper]

It won't happen. Trust me on this.

 

Yup Adrian, I sure will trust you on anything regarding Sega/Sammy. No doubt.....

 

/Troop

[liveinabin]

Is this atomiswave gear any more powerful than any current home system? The biggest stumbling block with arcades today, as I see it, is that the hardware you're putting all that money into is, usually, inferior to the box you've got at home.

[Zaxxon]

The Atomiswave is supposedly just another form of the DC/Naomi hardware.

[JB]

The Atomiswave is LITERALLY a Dreamcast with ROM carts and a coin counter.

 

It's not like the NAOMI, where there was extra RAM, much less the NAOMI 2+ where it had enhanced hardware. It's identical to original DC specs.

Heck, it's even got the modem, replacable with an ethernet adapter.

 

 

It already came home. And was chased out of stores by pitchfork-wielding Sony fanboys.

[liveinabin]

Oh right, well that's settled - we've all got one already then

[Atarinvader]

Admittedly the Atomiswave doesn't seem like a likely candidate. KoF: NeoWave looks a little crap from the screen shots. But Naomi 3 or beyond doesn't seem as silly.

 

I know someone who's very close to Sega Europe and has hinted that Sammys intentions are towards bringing new Sega hardware to the masses.

[moycon]

I know someone who's very close to Sega Europe and has hinted that Sammys intentions are towards bringing new Sega hardware to the masses.

 

Good news indeed.

Lets hope it all works out and isn't just rumor.

When you say"very close" to Sega Europe what does this mean?

Like works for the company?

[Stingray]

When you say"very close" to Sega Europe what does this mean?

 

Lives in an apartment next door.

 

J/K

 

I certainly hope it turns out to be true as well. It would be great to see Sega back in the hardware game.

 

-S

[Adrian M]

It would be great to see Sega back in the hardware game.

 

-S

 

I thought the general concensus here was "games, not hardware that count"....I'm interested to hear why so many feel that Sega returning to the high-loss hardware market is such a fine idea?

 

Explain...I'm listening!

[liveinabin]

Because a lot of us like Sega perhaps? They've produced some really cool stuff over the years.

 

I'd like to see a cheaper, more accessible Neo Geo system. That'd be cool. Still a bit of a niche product though I guess.

I will concede that any company releasing hardware in direct competition with the big 3 right now would be commiting suicide. 3 successful home systems and a couple of handhelds are all the market can support I think (and all it ever has). There's probably still room for someone with some cache (like Sega) to produce a good gaming mobile phone.

[moycon]

Explain...I'm listening!

 

Yup same here ...like Sega. Dreamcast was one of my favorite systems of all time.

Can you imagine??

[Lemmi]

how can any system released be a bad thing???????

 

even tho the 32x and virtual boy were crappy systems/addons, i own the 32x and i knew it was a horrible add on before i bought it

 

all in all anything released is collectable even if it sucks ass

 

gamecon?

Ngage?

plus others

[Zaxxon]

Oh come on, I know it's "cool" to bash the 32X, but the 32X was not bad at all IMO. True, it was overpriced and was a stopgap between the Gen and Saturn but it wasn't crappy and certainly not in the league of Virtual Boy. VB is bad, poorly designed hardware. The 32X has Star Wars Arcade, Shadow Squadron, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Racing, arcade perfect versions of Space Harrier and Afterburner. At the price it was blown out for it was well worth it just for those games.

[DracIsBack]

I thought the general concensus here was "games, not hardware that count"....I'm interested to hear why so many feel that Sega returning to the high-loss hardware market is such a fine idea?  

 

From a business perspective, I question it. I mean, Microsoft has lost almost 2 billion on the Xbox - and counting. While I'd like to see another Sega system, it's a rough market. Gone are the days when you can

"break even" on the hardware and make profit on the software.

 

Not, you've gotta incur big production losses on the hardware and hope game sales get to be large enough to recoup your losses and then eventually generate a profit.

 

It would be weird for Sammy to take Sega from being a profitable software company to a risky hardware venture again.

 

Remember: The Dreamcast didn't fail because "no one bought it." Lots of people did. But Sega was in such rough financial shape and that hardware was expensive to build ... leading the DC to a difficult path when Sony and Microsoft appeared with powerful consoles and deep, deep, deep pockets.

[shep]

...it wasn't crappy and certainly not in the league of Virtual Boy. VB is bad, poorly designed hardware...

 

Hey, back off with the personal attacks!

[JB]

It would be great to see Sega back in the hardware game.

 

-S

 

I thought the general concensus here was "games, not hardware that count"....I'm interested to hear why so many feel that Sega returning to the high-loss hardware market is such a fine idea?

 

Explain...I'm listening!

For the same reason I welcomed MS to the console market.

Competition is good.

[VidGameKing]

I thought the general concensus here was "games, not hardware that count"

 

ha ha!!! that coment was definetly not directed towards me!!! HA HA HA!!!!

[Atarinvader]

I don't see how you think that you have to make massive losses to produce decent profits? Nintendo sells every Cube at a profit / breaks even, and although they aren't making the large dollars they used too, they're still making a tidy profit.

 

People seem to forget that Sega are still producing and developing arcade hardware. How difficult would it be to stick it in a box for home consumption? They have all the in-house designers to create great first party software (something that neither MS or Sony really do on a large scale), so it doesn't seem as stupid as people are making out.

 

I'd have to agree that it wouldn't make great business sense, perhaps, but I don't study the market as closely as you'd have to relise if a next gen Sega console would work.

[Adrian M]

How difficult would it be to stick it in a box for home consumption? They have all the in-house designers to create great first party software (something that neither MS or Sony really do on a large scale), so it doesn't seem as stupid as people are making out.

 

I'd have to agree that it wouldn't make great business sense, perhaps, but I don't study the market as closely as you'd have to relise if a next gen Sega console would work.

 

It's not shrinking down the arcade hardware into a home model that's the difficult part. It's rolling out, distributing, and supporting gaming hardware that makes it such a tough business. Plus, given Sega's track record with its last few systems, I doubt most mainstream gamers would take any Sega home console seriously.

[VidGameKing]

I'll agree with you Adrian, only on that point. the track record of sega dictates that if they create steller hardware, you'll only be able to use it for two years before the shelf it! Nintendo makes scads of money because of the simplicity of their design. Have you ever taken a GCN apart? compare the guts of a GCN to that of the PS2, or XBOX. You'll see why the gamecube only takes about $45 to make per unit.

[Hydian]

I'd like to see it. Sammy is a hardware maker to begin with, so it makes sense for them to want to get hardware into the homes. Sega, for it's part, is historically the company that has been the most innovative in hardware design as well (the success or failure of this design isn't really the point...it still forces the rest of the industry to move forward.)

 

The Dreamcast was a great machine. Considering how much of it is in the Xbox design, you have to appreciate the work Sega did.

 

If nothing else, competition is good.