Sega President Discusses Difficulty of Creating Miniature Sega Saturn Console
Sega President and COO, Yukio Sugino, has stated that adapting the Sega Saturn into a miniature console is proving to be a challenging task. In an interview with Famitsu (translated by AsumeTech), Sugino expressed that the Sega Saturn’s high performance adds to the difficulty of miniaturization.
Sugino explained, “I don’t think it’s as simple as saying ‘let’s make another one because it sells well.’ It seems like it will take some time. I would like to consider it when we are in a place where we can openly develop it with people who have always loved the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast.”
Comparison with Other Classic Consoles
The Sega Saturn was released during the same console generation as the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64. While Sony has released a classic PlayStation console, Nintendo has not followed suit with the miniature console trend. If Nintendo were to release one, the Nintendo 64 would likely be the next in line.
The Cost Barrier for Dreamcast and Sega Saturn Minis
In June of last year, Yosuke Okunari, Sega’s classic hardware producer, mentioned that producing mini versions of the Dreamcast or Sega Saturn would be prohibitively expensive due to the high cost of parts. While announcing the Mega Drive Mini 2 console, Okunari acknowledged the desire for other miniature consoles, saying, “Some of you may have wanted a Dreamcast mini, and it’s not that we didn’t consider that direction.”
Potential Future Miniature Console
Sega conducted a survey in October 2022, asking customers in Japan which mini system they would like to see next. This suggests that Sega is open to exploring other options for miniature consoles in the future.
The Legacy of the Dreamcast
The Dreamcast was Sega’s final home console, marking the end of their almost two-decade presence in the console hardware market. Despite its short lifespan, the Dreamcast contributed to the creation of well-regarded game franchises such as Shenmue, Soul Calibur, Phantasy Star Online, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Rez.
Previous Miniature Consoles
So far, Sega has released two mini-consoles. The first was the Mega Drive Mini in 2019, which included 42 games (with different libraries per region). It introduced new ports of Darius and Tetris that had never been released before.
