What if Sega had made a 32bit portable system

deadly_duck

deadly_duck

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I've been playing through some PSP titles and couldn't help but wonder what the Sega equivalent of the PSP would be like.
If things were different and Sega had actually become successful in the console market instead of biting the dust, I could be playing Seaman portable (you'd look insane in public) or a continuation of the Nights series (mostly a possibility if Sega wanted to indirectly make decent Sonic games).

I mostly imagine a portable Dreamcast.

The truth is even if it did come out, Nintendo would probably still crush it and continue its reign of the handheld market.
 
DragonmasterDan

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deadly_duck said:
I've been playing through some PSP titles and couldn't help but wonder what the Sega equivalent of the PSP would be like.
If things were different and Sega had actually become successful in the console market instead of biting the dust, I could be playing Seaman portable (you'd look insane in public) or a continuation of the Nights series (mostly a possibility if Sega wanted to indirectly make decent Sonic games).

I mostly imagine a portable Dreamcast.

The truth is even if it did come out, Nintendo would probably still crush it and continue its reign of the handheld market.
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There's a whole lot of "what ifs" tied to Sega if they had done things differently. The years of 2001-present have not been kind to them from an overall software quality perspective IMO.

With that said, if Sega say for example did things differently in the 90s (didn't move forward with the 32X, used the development resources they wasted on 32X software on Saturn games to be ready at launch so they had a first party Football game, maybe a competent Sonic game by 96, while not having the aura of another failed platform around the Saturn's Western release) the Dreamcast probably wouldn't have happened as it did, the Playstation wouldn't have been as successful and the entire console game market might be entirely different today.
 
deadly_duck

deadly_duck

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DragonmasterDan said:
There's a whole lot of "what ifs" tied to Sega if they had done things differently. The years of 2001-present have not been kind to them from an overall software quality perspective IMO.

With that said, if Sega say for example did things differently in the 90s (didn't move forward with the 32X, used the development resources they wasted on 32X software on Saturn games to be ready at launch so they had a first party Football game, maybe a competent Sonic game by 96, while not having the aura of another failed platform around the Saturn's Western release) the Dreamcast probably wouldn't have happened as it did, the Playstation wouldn't have been as successful and the entire console game market might be entirely different today.
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Yeah, when I was trying to think of all the things that would have had to change for Sega to even be around as a prominent force in the console market, the list quickly became very long.

I also realized that technically the type of handheld I described would have been a portable Saturn in the midst of a post-dreamcast Console (which is a whole other topic i.e., Dreamcast 2).
 
DragonmasterDan

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deadly_duck said:
Yeah, when I was trying to think of all the things that would have had to change for Sega to even be around as a prominent force in the console market, the list quickly became very long.

I also realized that technically the type of handheld I described would have been a portable Saturn in the midst of a post-dreamcast Console (which is a whole other topic i.e., Dreamcast 2).
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I think a few adjustments in critical periods might have had a huge impact on the console market as a whole in previous generations and in all sorts of ways that would have cascaded into today.
 
shadowkn55

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If Sega made a 32-bit portable system, it would be running off 6 D-cell batteries with an operating time of 30 minutes.
 
HeavyMachineGoob

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They should have just cost reduced the Game Gear as soon as possible (1994 maybe?) and cancel the Nomad. A battery efficient Game Gear with a better screen would have easily gotten Sega through the rest of the '90s. That is if they hadn't screwed up their home console strategy.
 
Renmauzo

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A portable Dreamcast would have been AMAZING! Any way I think about it though, I can't imagine that scenario ending any differently for them than it did for Sony.
 
wyndcrosser

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Their handheld was the NGPC, they should have put more effort into the redesign than simply making it color. By "They" I mean SNK in support of themselves and their third-party designers. Still holding out for a windjammers NGPC demo or rom dump if someone finds one. I'm waiting for NCI to "continue coding" Magical Lord 2, like they did with Treasure of the Carribean and make a mess out of it.
 
O

oliverclaude

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shadowkn55 said:
If Sega made a 32-bit portable system, it would be running off 6 D-cell batteries with an operating time of 30 minutes.
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Exactly. They should've made the Saturn backwards compatible to the 32X instead. The cart port will always remain a sweet temptation to use it this way. Of course, this would have been an inconsequential decision back then... but it's not like SEGA was consistent with their decisions anyway.
 
DragonmasterDan

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oliverclaude said:
Exactly. They should've made the Saturn backwards compatible to the 32X instead. The cart port will always remain a sweet temptation to use it this way. Of course, this would have been an inconsequential decision back then... but it's not like SEGA was consistent with their decisions anyway.
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They should have NOT MADE THE 32-X AT ALL.
 
bryan

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You are right, the games were just to close to regular Genesis games. Although I did get one in 95 and still love the thing, it was not the best idea. And yes when I got a Saturn in 97 I dreamed of sticking my 32x into the cart slot.
 
GregN

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wyndcrosser said:
Their handheld was the NGPC, they should have put more effort into the redesign than simply making it color. By "They" I mean SNK in support of themselves and their third-party designers. Still holding out for a windjammers NGPC demo or rom dump if someone finds one. I'm waiting for NCI to "continue coding" Magical Lord 2, like they did with Treasure of the Carribean and make a mess out of it.
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This all day long. Imagine Zombie Revenge or Dynamite Cop on a portable!
 
GohanX

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If Sega had made a portable system, it would have failed just like every other system they made failed that wasn't a Genesis.
 
itsofrustratin

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deadly_duck said:
I've been playing through some PSP titles and couldn't help but wonder what the Sega equivalent of the PSP would be like.
If things were different and Sega had actually become successful in the console market instead of biting the dust, I could be playing Seaman portable (you'd look insane in public) or a continuation of the Nights series (mostly a possibility if Sega wanted to indirectly make decent Sonic games).

I mostly imagine a portable Dreamcast.

The truth is even if it did come out, Nintendo would probably still crush it and continue its reign of the handheld market.
Click to expand...

A portable 32bit system would have basically been a portable 32x with smaller carts, which would have had a 2 hour battery life. A handheld saturn would have been cool, would have been tricky to do since handhelds in the 90s all used catridges. They would have had to invent some funky new format like the PSP did.

A portable dreamcast would have been cool too, that was technically 128 bits thought. Back when people still cared about bits for whatever reason. I still remember the "bit wars" ..ahh the 90s.
 
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