Sega re-entering Console Market with the Sega Catalyst???? (Rumor)

[TheApprentice]

One of the biggest players in 3rd party software and publishing, Sega Corp. today revealed details of their plan to reenter the videogame console hardware business which they dropped over 6 years ago. Sega have said that due to recent financial stability found in the dropping of hardware and moving exclusively toward the software side of gaming, they have reached a point where they are solid enough to give it “one last go”.

Details are obviously scarce this early in the game, but we can tell you that the console has been officially dubbed “Catalyst”, which we assume is what they hope the console to be in this risky venture. Sega have even shown what will be the official logo for the console, but unfortunately nothing more could be pried.



“We’re extremely excited to be reentering the hardware business”, said Simon Jeffery, President of Sega of America. “We know our fans have missed playing their favorite Sega franchises on a Sega made console, so it’s very exciting to be able to bring that feeling back to them.”

As far as system specifications go, little is known in what to expect, but Sega have said that the console will in fact feature an HD-DVD drive, and an NVIDIA graphics processing unit.

“I’m very pleased to be working with Sega on their new Catalyst video game system” explains Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO and president of NVIDIA Corp. “We’ve worked well with them in the past on their arcade hardware, and this will only aid in further strengthening our relationship. We’re very happy Sega decided to reenter the hardware business and bring us along in what we know will be a great success.”

Production schedule's for current announced and due to be announced games will remain in tact. Also support for Virtual Console, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade games will continue in hopes that it will drive the Sega brand into a new generation of gamers.

As far as what we can expect to play on the new console, Sega have been very tight lipped, but we have been told to expect versions of Virtua Fighter, Sega Rally and a new Sonic The Hedgehog game. Simon also gave us this very tasty tease, "...[Don't] be at all surprised to see a few "cult" classics in the launch lineup, we've been listening to the fans, we know they want the classics. I can't say much, but you won't be wondering where the kidd inside you has gone for much longer."

…Wondering where the kidd inside you has gone for much longer? I think that really speaks for itself! As soon as we know more about Sega’s exciting return to form we’ll let you know!

Source: http://www.mygen.com.au/article.php?page_id=76868888110181101&se_id=29&site_id=11018&format=2

If this is true and not an April Fool's Joke...
IMO I would see Sega killing their own company...

By the launch of the system... Too many PS3's 360's and Wii's would have been sold...

[rb]

WEAK ISH HERE BRING

[Czar]

Looks like a big April Fool's joke to me...jus look at the time of the post... 01/04/2007 12:03 am

And there's nothin on the Sega or NVIDIA websites to support it.

I call bullsh!t...a big steaming pile of it.

[New Era Outlaw]

I second that.
I pretty much doubt that if SEGA made an announcement like this, the first site to get a hold of it would be an Australian one. It would have been more believable had it been a Japanese or an American site.

Well, since Czar already checked the official sources to verify, I'll just point out a couple of things.
The first would be the logo. Doesn't it strike out as a bit.....primitive? You could generate something like it on Microsoft Word in like, two seconds. Believe you me, if SEGA was attempting a comeback, they would have put a lot more effort into the final logo.

Speaking of which....where is the SEGA logo?
One would think that a logo like this would have a hint of it somewhere. Most of the time, you'd see something like a "© SEGA" at the bottom right hand corner of the screen when something like this is advertised.

Also, if SEGA was planning to compete with the other consoles again, then why would it lease out Sonic for the new Sonic and Mario game coming up? One would think that they would know better than to divert attention towards other consoles with a new one of their own coming out soon. Then again, I guess they could always try to barter for Mario to appear in their version, but I'm sure that's not going to happen.

....happy April Fool's Day, everybody!


EDIT: The site's updated the article stating that it was, in fact, an April Fool's Day joke. Yah....they'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on me.

[TrinireturnofGamez]

 There is probably a niche in the market for a 4th console  , something like the Phantom for under 200 USD that can run PC games and previous gen console games , and it won't really cost that much to repackage a budget PC .
    But april fools...

[TrinireturnofGamez]

     It won't make much profit though and only a company like Intel/AMD could pull it off and be more of a competitor for the PC and TIVO market than anything else . I'm thinking a 'Box that turns your TV into a PC' basically , using parts they have lying around or can be designed for minimum cost.
   The idea would be just for AMD to take a laptop dual core sempron , make a motherboard that integrates an goodish gpu ( x1600?) that they have lying around , add some ram and a hard drive , DVD drive and see if they can get the cost below like 300 US and make a profit.
   Take a stripped down version of XP or Vista and add integrated functionality for TV recording , a PS1 /PS2 /Xbox? emulator (playing discs) , and functionality to run PC games , surf the net etc.
     Functionality for PC gaming will be limited but  if people can make games to run on intel integrated graphics , they can make a patch or a profile for it to run on this box..

[Synchronomyst]

April Fool's joke.