Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sega Dreamcast 2: I Have No F'n Idea...

Oh, hello.  This is a YouTube video posted on April 30, 2011.  Some guy is talking about speculation of the Dreamcast 2.  Now this video really doesn't contain anything other than text and a song from Metropolis Street Racer, so I'm just gonna write down what the video says.

The Story So Far...

In August 2007, SEGA filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark company to protect the Dreamcast trademark.  The details of the patent included devices that the original Dreamcast didn't use such as "flash memory cards" and "interactive controllers with handheld pads and floor pads or mats."  Sega also filed two new controller patents which were approved in 2009.  One of them is a motion-sensing remote, and the other is a Saturn-like controller with added motion sensors. 
(These controller patents are true...at least the '09 ones anyway.)

According to the website "FGNonline," SEGA made the following statement shortly afterwards; "With Nintendo Wii hitting retail and gaining worldwide superstardom of the likes never witnessed, SEGA once again got to work immediately on a new system, with orders from the boss himself, Satomi-san.  This system shall be an HD casual console and is designed to compete with the successor to the Wii."
(Actually, this is COMPLETELY FAKE, FGNonline is a phony website, see the details here.)

*two pictures of Sega-Sammy Dreamcast 2, first is presumably fake, second is fan-made concept; both are flat white boxes with trays on the side that suck in the disc like the Nintendo Wii*

In January 2009, SEGA also filed two new hardware patents for the arcade boards "Ringwide" and "Ringedge."  In the patents, it states that these boards are designed "for use with video game software and stand alone video game machines."  This suggests that SEGA is planning to develop a new console based off these arcade boards. 
(Suggests, my ass, it's pure speculation that we'll get a home console out of it.)

*picture of Ringwide and Ringedge hardware in glass case* 
(These really do exist.)

This makes sense, as the Dreamcast was also based off an arcade board called "Naomi."  In 2008, SEGA of America CEO Simon Jeffrey made a statement saying that SEGA had "no plans for a Dreamcast 2."  He was released shortly afterwards.  All of this coincides with a statement made in October 2010 by Sonic the Hedgehog creator, Yuji Naka, saying that he wishes to work on Dreamcast 2." 
(Yuji Naka doesn't directly work for Sega anymore...he started his own side studio in 2006 called Prope.  And Simon Jeffrey getting canned, no one knows...maybe because he had a bad habit of leaving the men's toilet seat down so the board of directors took him out.)

The latest rumors are that the Dreamcast 2 will be launched on 12/12/12 and revealed later this year or sometime in 2012.  While this is just rumors and speculation, there is strong evidence to suggest that a Dreamcast successor is in the works.  Stay tuned for more details in the future! 
(12/12/12...damn, only nine days to the Dec. 21 party.)

"You kiddin' me?"

Lots more info about Ringedge and Ringwide boards here.  It says this on the "About" page:

This blog is all about the new upcoming sega ringedge and the sega ringwide They are both consoles that are by sega that are going to be released in the holiday season of 2010. The ringedge will be a HD console, and the ringwide will be a portable arcade board which is a computer that plays arcade video games. The first game thats going to be on the ringedge is Border break, border break is a 10 vs 10 arcade robot game when theres a red side, blue side, 10 robots on each side and the goal is to destroy all the robots in the oppoite team.This is a blog, created at www.blog.com, if you wish to make your own blog just make an account at www.blog.com And is about Sega info

But really, that page has more information to keep you occupied.  Very insightful blog from a guy who couldn't piece together a paragraph with proper capitalization and grammar.

These are the RingEdge and RingWide consoles.
Click here for the RingEdge/RingWide specs.

For the record, Sega Racing Classic runs on the RingWide board so that's nothing new.  That and some weird Japanese Robot/Fighting games that I've never heard of.  The RingEdge board is more powerful than the RingWide.  See Border Break for arcades, released in 2009 that doesn't take full advantage of the RingWide's capabilities.  Supposedly, Sega's just using the boards to revive the arcade business although I haven't seen crap come from those boards yet.  They have Microsoft Windows embedded within them to make programming for said boards easier.

I claim to know very little about the subject, but other than Sega patenting a few iPod thingies here and there, I don't think there's much going on...that blog hasn't mentioned much in the last year or so.

I'm not buying it until I see it.  New hardware doesn't mean new consoles.  Remember Shenmue 3?  Nagoshi talking about Daytona 3?  Eighteen XBL Dreamcast ports?  Also, I think it would be silly to name the console "Dreamcast 2" when the only Sega consoles with a "2" are the SG-1000 and Master System, both of which are over 25 years old.  But that's just fan speculation.

Will the "Dreamcast 2" live?  WHO THE HELL KNOWS.

But really, I said this from the beginning and I still believe it...it's probably a bad idea.  Nostalgia is good but don't pick fights you can't win.  Sega doesn't seem to exert much energy on "good" games anymore.  Like why do we see all these crap Sonic games and flimsy DC ports with no extras?  Sega may have lots of money, but that's a huge hill the climb if they want to make their own console, release a bunch of new Sega games, and actually make long-term profits off it.  Really, they better damn well roll out the red carpet with new Sega games, like uh...a new Daytona USA???  You know what I'm talking about.  But if it ain't happening, work with the Xbox 360--it doesn't bother me too much as long as you release the GOOD games first and foremost...

Damn, I know this topic is OLD'D but now that you know already just to get the gist of it, let's not go any further or I'll lose all track of everything.

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