I think that would have been a good move, if done properly. But they should have bought them early enough and continue the dreamcast, because releasing another Sega console so short after the last would have destroyed Sega's name as a hardware manufacturer completely, while buying them as a software only company wouldn't have helped much.
If they had done this, Microsoft would have gone a completely different way first, but that'd may have given them the foothold in japan they are desperately trying to get now.
However, it'd have been better for Sega one of the hardware manufacturers had bought them, they could have kept up the quality in their games better I think. From Sega's point of view, Nintendo would have been the best owner I think because Sega games would have sold better on a Nintendo platform and The Cube would have sold better too.







