What if Sega Were Still Rivalling Nintendo?

[Jon-Erich]

pbroy said:

Puppyroach said:

SEGA should have gone into business with MS. With MS´s marketing abilities and SEGA´s vision, they would have been unstoppable together.

They did. Dreamcast used WinCE.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1998/may98/segagmpr.aspx

Dreamcast failed because it was pirate heaven.

Pirating was an issue but it wasn't the one thing that killed Dreamcast. Sega Saturn and pretty much everything Sega did between Genesis and Dreamcast is what killed Dreamcast. That system had no chance. Sega was broke by that point. Had Sega been an American company, they would have pulled out of the hardware business after the Saturn, but being a Japanese company based on hornor, they felt that if they were to leave the console business, they would go out honorably by doing everytihng right with the Dreamcast that they did wrong with the Saturn. Even when developing Dreamcast, the executives at Sega knew that system would most likely be their last, even if it were a success. 

Also consider that DVD's were a big selling point for the PS2 in the beginning. Had the Dreamcast used DVD's, Sega could haved owned the market and many often question why they didn't. The answer is because they simply couldn't afford it. DVD technology was expensive in the late 90's. Had they gotten everything right before with the Saturn and not bankrupt themselves with the Saturn, the Dreamcast would have ad DVD playback.

 

To answer the what if question, yes, the industry would be in much better shape had Sega still been in the console business.