In the last few years, various gaming companies have been offering fans a variety of ways to play some retro titles. One of the trends that has taken off is the release of miniature consoles that came preloaded with a set of classic games. While this concept was popularized by Nintendo and its releases of the NES and SNES mini consoles, it ended up being a victim of scalping and supply issues that hampered any goodwill that it could have brought. Meanwhile, Sega has released its own set of the company's retro consoles, known as the Sega Mega Drive mini.
This minature console was selling pretty well when it first released in 2019, where it shipped over 1.5 million units within its first year across all regions. This momentum for the mini console production seems to be continuing, as Sega recently announced a successor in the form of the Sega Mega Drive Mini 2. This mini console will not only contain games that originated from the Mega Drive, but also can play games on the Sega CD.
This announcement did see a bit of pushback from some fans, which was acknowledged by Yosuke Okunari, a Sega producer in charge of classic hardware production. He noted that fans might have wanted a Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast Mini console, and not what the company announced. Okunari addresses these requests by noting that the costs of producing the minature hardware would simply be too expensive.
Why More Sega Mini Consoles Are Unlikely
Okunari states that producing the boards for either Sega mini console would be a fairly expensive product, and citing that Sega Saturn games in particular were hard to emulate on the current boards produced. He notes that the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic was also a contributing factor. Considering the complicated architecture of both the Saturn and Dreamcast that is historically difficult to replicate, these concerns are valid.
For the time being, it seems like a Sega Saturn or Sega Dreamcast set of mini-consoles are likely not going to become a reality. This is a real shame considering the Dreamcast's library was one of the best when it launched, with blockbuster hits like Shenmue, Sonic Adventure, Jet Set Radio, and the first Soulcalibur game. The Sega Saturn, while nowhere near the successes of Nintendo and Sony when it released, had a few niche titles that were still highly regarded as well, such as Panzer Dragoon Saga. If Sega could somehow bring both of these libraries onto modern hardware in some fashion, it'd give some of these classics some time to shine again. Sadly, though, mini consoles will not be the way that this happens.