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[camineet]

I'm not posting this because of these silly rumors that Sega is going to supposedly launch its own HD console in 2010 -- I just don't believe that. I'm posting this because it contains interesting details about what Sega was working on after Dreamcast, some things I knew about, but I've never read so many specifics, and I find it kinda interesting

http://fgnonline.webs.com/

SEGA SAMMY CONSUMER HARDWARE ROADMAP (WORLD EXCLUSIVE REPORT PART 1)

- 05/11/09

Today we would like to present to you part 1 of our world exclusive report in which we shed light on SEGA SAMMY's plan for a HD casual system in development since 2007 and scheduled for worldwide release for the holiday season of 2010.

History

At the end of 1999 SEGA held a press conference where they laid out their hardware ambitions and talked extensively about broadband and a whole host of future technologies. Shoichiro Irimajiri was stated here as saying that SEGA would strike back with a vengeance in the next millenium. By Spring 2000 Irimajiri-san was already tasked with heading the development of SEGA's next console, Irimajiri was stated as saying that it would be a joint venture with numerous companies because the future box would do more than just play videogames thus they had to partner with cable companies, telecommuncation companies and Hollywood conglomerates. The aim for the design was a single chip solution measuring in at 250 million transistors ready for a Q4 2004 worldwide release. What is not known by the mainstream is that SEGA at this time was also in early stages of development for a 3D handheld which was to be based on the chip that went on to be known as the MBX developed by Imagination Technologies PowerVR division. The PowerVR MBX hit silicon in 2002 about the time SEGA had initially planned on launching a new Game Gear. This device would have beaten the PSP to market by 2 years. All of these plans where scrapped however by Isao Okawa who foresaw a software future for the company, the rest of the company however where vehemently against the idea of software only.

Fast forward a few years to early 2003 when Hideki Sato and the rest of SEGA's high level executives were desperately in search for either a merger or even a sale of the company. The discussions where being held with Sammy, Namco, EA and Microsoft. Again what is not known to the general public is that the reason for SEGA's desperation was that at this very moment SEGA had yet another system in development which had a worldwide target ship date of Q4 2005. This system would have competed against what went on to be known as the XBOX360 and Sony's PS3. The system was designed around a PowerVR Series 5 GPU and an unknown CPU, using standard DVD it was to be a cost/performance solution targeting a $300 launch price tag whilst simultaneously incorporating equal 3D throughput as the higher priced offerings by the competition. SEGA and Imagination Technologies on the 18th of March 2004 released a press release regarding the development of the chip for arcade use. Come Jamma 2005 when the world was expecting SEGA to unveil it's PowerVR based arcade board everyone was shocked to learn of the LINDBERGH which was basically a PC tower with an nVidia 6800GT and a Intel Pentium 4 3GHz Prescott. Whatever happened to the PowerVR based integrated silicon arcade board? Simple, the console that was to be based on the arcade board was scrapped by the newly formed SEGA SAMMY. With no console counterpart for the arcade board it wasn't financially feasible to spend tens and indeed hundreds of millions of dollars on integrated silicon thus SEGA quietly without telling anyone just took a mother board and slotted in components from a mid range PC from 2004 and called it "LINDBERGH". The PowerVR Series 5 whose development SEGA funded lived on however as the PowerVR SGX series of mobile GPU's. The Series 5 architecture was designed to be highly scaleable, low end parts for mobile phones and high end parts for arcade boards and consoles, unfortunately the world never got to see the performance of the higher end variants.

So to recap -

There was a next gen system in development in 2000 which was scrapped by owner Isao Okawa and there was a next gen system in development in 2003/2004 which was scrapped by Isao Okawa's friend and new owner Hajime Satomi.

Present and Future

With the Nintendo Wii hitting retail and gaining worldwide superstardom of the likes never witnessed SEGA SAMMY once again immediately got to work on another system with orders from the boss himself Satomi-san. This system shall be a HD casual console and is designed to compete with the successor to the Wii. The design of the system FGN can officially confirm was finalised in late 2008, it's arcade variant goes by the name "RINGEDGE" the specifications of the system are as follows.

The chosen CPU is the Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz Dual-Core Processor, the GPU of choice is the Shader Model 4.0 compliant 9600GSO with 384 MB GDDR3 RAM, System memory measuring 1GB DDR2-800. Other features include an onboard HD audio DSP, 32GB SSD, standard DVD, and WiFi connectivity. SEGA SAMMY plans on shipping the system with two controllers, a motion sensing remote and one which looks similar to the Saturn 3D controller. One for casual gaming the other for non-casual. To top this off SEGA SAMMY shall be using a stripped down version of Microsoft's Windows Embedded Standard 2009 for ease of development. This particular version differs from the standard version where only the DirectX functionality is included, the standard edition costs $90 per shipping device. As SEGA SAMMY's version doesn't include the non gaming features SEGA SAMMY has managed to get a hold of the OS for less than half of that cost.

SEGA SAMMY plans on launching the system in time for the holiday season of 2010 for no less than $200 and no more than $250. The company doesn't plan on publically acknowledging the project this year, thus an official announcement won't take place until 1H 2010.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our world exclusive where we shed light on SEGA SAMMY's consumer plans for the "RINGWIDE"

I'm more willing to believe (the 'History' portion of the article) the details regarding Sega's past efforts at more consumer gaming hardware beyond Dreamcast that was canceled, than I am about anything like this supposed upcoming HD casual console based on "Ringwide", which I believe will not get further than arcade use.

p.s. I predict this will be a pretty big thread

SEGA Force Assemble!

 

[Threi]

I BELIEVE


SAVE US SEGA

 

[MikeE21286]

....so it begins....

 

[gofreak]

Hmm. Why should we believe all this?

I mean I was sort of going to take their word for it all up until the bit about them working on yet another home console for release next year.

 

[gcubed]

day 1

 

[Totobeni]

SEGA SAMMY plans on launching the system in time for the holiday season of 2010 for no less than $200 and no more than $250. The company doesn't plan on publically acknowledging the project this year, thus an official announcement won't take place until 1H 2010.

HOLY MOTHER OF ALL SHITS

Hajime Satomi I belive in you

plz be true plz be true plz be true plz be true

 

[camineet]

Hmm. Why should we believe all this?

I mean I was sort of going to take their word for it all up until the bit about them working on yet another home console for release next year.

Same here, basicly.

I believe the 'History' portion of the article, not the 'Present and Future' part.

 

[Apharmd Battler]

I so desperately want to believe...but this would be bad for my therapy...............

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Silly question perhaps, but would the massive spending on R&D etc. required for this not be reflected in their public figures? If there's nothing unusual there, does that not hammer a nail into this particular coffin?

 

[camineet]

Silly question perhaps, but would the massive spending on R&D etc. required for this not be reflected in their public figures? If there's nothing unusual there, does that not hammer a nail into this particular coffin?

SEGA operates much like the Pentagon and the U.S. military.
Sega has

Spoiler

a huge black budget for funding a new console.

:lol

 

[gofreak]

Silly question perhaps, but would the massive spending on R&D etc. required for this not be reflected in their public figures? If there's nothing unusual there, does that not hammer a nail into this particular coffin?

This:

The chosen CPU is the Intel Pentium E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz Dual-Core Processor, the GPU of choice is the Shader Model 4.0 compliant 9600GSO with 384 MB GDDR3 RAM, System memory measuring 1GB DDR2-800.

Sounds like about a $1000 worth of r&d

Although I guess a 3d motion control thingie might require some more original r&d of their own, perhaps, and thus more cost.

 

[$h@d0w]

9/9/9 reveal?

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Sounds like about a $1000 worth of r&d

SEGA DEVELOPING NEW CONSOLE IN CONCERT WITH NEWEGG CONFIRMED!

 

[Rekwest]

Sega has a huge black budget for funding a new console.

 

[R0nn]

I'll give them the story about Dreamcast's successor. All the rest sounds like made up bullshit to me. There's no way SEGA could've afforded all that considering their financial shape at the time.

Nice going on the 'will not be announced until 2010' part btw. That way they can string along desperate SEGA fans for quite a while to come, and you can bet everyone will be asking about the project to any SEGA exec for months to come.

 

[camineet]

Sega has a huge black budget for funding a new console.

Hey!

Spoiler

that's what I said!

:lol

 

[Operations]

Satomi bought Sega to save the company from bankruptcy, it's silly to think he'll lead the company back to the hardware practices that had them in the red.

 

[Brobzoid]

If they don't do anything on 9/9/09 I'm gonna be mad.

If they do anything on 9/9/09 I'm gonna go insane.

 

[MikeE21286]

9/9/9 reveal?

10/10/10 Live Again!

 

[Like the hat?]

sega and nintendo should merge and become the single best game company ever

 

[camineet]

Part of the 'History' portion of that article sounds VERY similar to this Gaming-Age article on Dreamcast 2.


http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2000/6/12-69

Brief: Some very interesting plans may be in the works at Sega. Including Dreamcast 2.

The Asian Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sega is in talks to license Dreamcast technology to other companies. Also, Sega is negotiating with various semiconductor companies to to form a joint venture that would build an advanced chip to power the next incarnation of the Dreamcast, as well as other devices. The JV could open as soon as October of this year.

"The future game box will be an all-in-one, set-top box," Sega Vice Chairman Shoichiro Irimajiri said in a telephone interview. "In that case, Sega's role is one part of many functions, so we cannot do it alone. We need very good alliances or a joint venture."

Apparently, Sega is already talking to potential licensees, including automobile companies, hardware makers, and satellite-television and cable-TV providers. These talks have been confirmed by Mr. Irimajiri.

The AWSJ reports that Mr. Irimajiri traveled last week to the U.S. and this week to Europe, to meet with up to 15 companies to discuss Sega's plan. He emphasized that the discussions are preliminary and he declined to identify the companies involved. "Everything is still unclear," he said. It looks like Sega is approaching NEC Corp., Hitachi Ltd., Philips Electronics NV; chip maker STMicroelectronics NV, who is making their own next generation graphics chip based on the PowerVR technology that powers the Dreamcast, and Imagination Technologies, the Company behind the PowerVR technology itself.


Chip makers are the likely partners because Sega hopes to build a complex processor for use in Internet appliances, the people familiar with the plans said. Sega appears to be looking to put many functions of a game machine onto one piece of silicon, making it easy to integrate advanced computer graphics into other products.

 

[thelurkinghorror]

SIGN THIS TO YOUR PDA: 13/13/13...ops, WTF?!?!

 

[Totobeni]

sega and nintendo should merge and become the single best game company ever

meh

SEGA true fans don't want anything from their old rival , and we are hardcore gamers anyway

 

[gofreak]

Satomi bought Sega to save the company from bankruptcy, it's silly to think he'll lead the company back to the hardware practices that had them in the red.

But look at those profits Nintendo is making on hardware..hmmm...profit..

Wii has shown you don't have to compete technologically to have a wildfire success. Sega got themselves into trouble by trying to keep up on that end..they were playing a game they couldn't afford to play, but this - the game of making cheap hardware with some marketable novelty - is a game they could play. It's a model they probably hadn't even considered back in the DC/PS2 days, but it's one Nintendo's proven now to be completely viable. Selling even 10m units of such a system could be a money maker for Sega vs the financial hole the 10m-unit Dreamcast was.

On a general note I would be unsurprised if we have a new hardware entrant next time around based on how Nintendo broke the model of escalating R&D costs and so on, and has basically lowered the technical barrier to entry in the industry. Maybe not Sega, but someone? The tougher part is now managing your platform successfully rather than the upfront cost of competition (something, btw, Nintendo possibly hasn't handled quite as well).

 

[Stumpokapow]

camineet yes/no do you actually care about anything that actually exists in the present tense

50% of your post history is "oh what a wonderful world it could have been if only this ridiculous failed hardware project had come true! M2 would have been a gamechanger!" stuff

and 50% of your post history is "oh what a wonderful world it's going to be when this ridiculous implausible hardware project manifests itself! DREAMCAST 2 090909 BERIEVE!!!"

 

[K' Dash]

So, almost a year after 09/09/09 :lol

I'd buy it.

 

[Totobeni]

But look at those profits Nintendo is making on hardware..hmmm...profit..

Wii has shown you don't have to compete technologically to have a wildfire success. Sega got themselves into trouble by trying to keep up on that end..they were playing a game they couldn't afford to play, but this - the game of making cheap hardware with some marketable novelty - is a game they could play. It's a model they probably hadn't even considered back in the DC/PS2 days, but it's one Nintendo's proven now to be completely viable. Selling even 10m units of such a system could be a money maker for Sega vs the financial hole the 10m-unit Dreamcast was.

true , they don't need to spend billions on R&D like Sony , ....

I personally think there is place in the market for a handheld system from SEGA more than a console , in japan anyway ..

SEGA first party can support it awesomely , fill it with JRPG and remake or SEGA's good IPs and it will be huge in Japan .

 

[ThatObviousUser]

I BELIEVE


SAVE US SEGA

Sonic and the Black Knight 2 to be Dreamcast 2 launch title. 9/9/09 believe.

 

[Fersis]

I BELIEVE


SAVE US SEGA

Save us from what?:lol

It would be nice to see a 'healthy SEGA' on the next generation :3

 

[Gagaman]

Sonic 4 to be Dreamcast 2 launch title. 9/9/09 believe.

Fixed.

 

[Vgamer]

Hmm interesting to be sure but If they really had a new console coming out next year I think we would have heard something. Plus they would already have to be making games for it to get ready for the launch and third parties would have to have the specs to make games for it as well. Somebody would have slipped up by now and leaked it to the press I think with all those companies involved.

 

[Totobeni]

Save us from what?:lol

It would be nice to see a 'healthy SEGA' on the next generation :3

the evilenss of N.M.S


SEGA is the gaming savior n_n

Spoiler

I'm Not Even Kidding here

 

[chocomarker1]

i will buy it day 1.

 

[mikekennyb]

OMG if a new Sega console was announced I think the GAF servers would explode.

 

[dreamcastmaster]

Sega copying the Wii console model, yes it sounds plausable.

However..........

All of Sega software talent has been broken up and spread with the winds. Hardware is nothing without software.

 

[maniac-kun]

a new sega console sounds awesome but...
"This system shall be a HD casual console and is designed to compete with the successor to the Wii."

 

[Vgamer]

If they did release a new system do you think they would go back to just releasing SEGA games on the SEGA system or would they keep releasing their games for other systems too? The reason I ask is they have been partners with Nintendo on a few games for WII even having Sonic characters in Mario games. So would be interesting to see if they continue to do that if they have a new system?

 

[Pachael]

I believe all their failures but none of the hopefuls :lol Sega

 

[Blueblur1]

I'm interested in reading the next part of the story. I feel the same way many of you do; the history portion sounds legitimate and the new console stuff sounds cagey. I'd love another Sega console if it meant we'd get some AAA games from Sega themselves once again.

 

[fanboi]

Now we just need EA and Apple to also release a console.

Then we all be set.

 

[Fersis]

the evilenss of N.M.S


SEGA is the gaming savior n_n

Spoiler

I'm Not Even Kidding here

:lol

I dream of : Nintendo casual greatness + Sony hardcore greatness = Best game company ever.
I hope that SEGA does well if they enter on the hardware market again.

 

[mikekennyb]

I'd love another Sega console if it meant we'd get some AAA games from Sega themselves once again.

While Sega has been releasing their B level titles to the public since the demise of the Dreamcast, at the same time they have been secretly producing and hoarding AAA titles for the past eight years for their new console launch.... it will be glorious.

 

[Alpha_eX]

Why do people want a Sega console? It's only going to have Sega games on it, as of late, they've all been shit, just because it's on a new console, won't mean Sonic games will be good again and they'll finally get round to making Shenmue 3. If anything, they'll lose so much they won't be able to fund big games like that and have to resort to party games.

 

[Totobeni]

Sega copying the Wii console model, yes it sounds plausable.

However..........

All of Sega software talent has been broken up and spread with the winds. Hardware is nothing without software.

SEGA first party front is fine these days ( it's not just Sonic team ya know ) , also SEGA now a much better publisher than ever , they hired some 3rd party devs like Prope , Platinum games , Tri-ace and work better than 90s SEGA in the western market ( movie license games , new western IPs like condemned , the club ..ect ) .

I think they can do fine to support a new system as first party

 

[Operations]

The tougher part is now managing your platform successfully rather than the upfront cost of competition (something, btw, Nintendo possibly hasn't handled quite as well).

Exactly and that's why I still think its rather implausible for Sega to back to hardware. Despite being the market leader by a wide margin, Nintendo has struggled to get quality third party support for the Wii since it deviates so much from the standard. Sega would again have to somehow get third party support back on an already saturated market (and on a Wii-like platform to top it off). Finally, consider that their first party efforts would not suffice to keep it alive (specially not in Japan) and it'll be easy to see why this just won't happen.

 

[gofreak]

Sega copying the Wii console model, yes it sounds plausable.

However..........

All of Sega software talent has been broken up and spread with the winds. Hardware is nothing without software.

Again, Nintendo points the way. You don't need massive teams and budgets to produce such popular titles as brain puzzlers, fitness games and mini-game collections. They can sell millions over extended periods!

E Sega would again have to somehow get third party support back on an already saturated market (and on a Wii-like platform to top it off).

It could, however, unlike Wii, be within 'porting range' of other systems in a next generation..like Nintendo's perhaps, and maybe even Sony's or Microsofts if they also go the 'cheap and cheerful route'. That could help mask mismanagement of a platform, from a content provision/third-party POV, by hitching a ride alongside others.

 

[pswii60]

Most of the talent left Sega after the 2002 restructure. It hasn't been the same company since.

Even if they did release a new piece of hardware, it wouldn't mean Sega would suddenly return to their former first party glory.

I miss the old Sega software, not the hardware.

 

[dreamcastmaster]

SEGA first party front is fine these days ( it's not just Sonic team ya know ) , also SEGA now a much better publisher than ever

Bollocks.

they some 3rd party devs like Prope , Platinum games , Tri-ace and work better than 90s SEGA in the western market ( movie license games , new western IPs like condemned , the club ..ect ) .

I think they can do fine to support a new system as first party

Truth.

 

[GoutPatrol]

I still believe Sega. I still believe.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

WE WERE ALL WRONG! IT WASN'T 9/9/09 WE WERE LOOKING FOR, IT WAS 10/10/10! HOW COULD WE HAVE BEEN SO BLIND, GAF?!

Spoiler

Believe.