Dreamcast 2 in the Future?

[Dan]

http://www.videogamer.com/news/06-12-2007-7049.html

SEGA Corporation has filed a new application to protect the trademark Dreamcast - sparking rumours that the Japanese publisher is planning on making a shock return to the console manufacturing market with the Dreamcast 2.

The application, sent to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) dated August 13 2007, relates to:

"Home video game machines; player-operated electronic controllers for electronic video game machines; video game interactive controller, namely, hand held pads, and floor pads or mats; joysticks for video games; computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mouse; flash memory cards; video game software, computer game programs".

Web chatter suggests the proof is in the detail of the application - the original Dreamcast didn't have a floor mat accessory and the Dreamcast's Visual Memory Unit (VMU) is far from the flash memory cards we know and use today - although we'd say that the VMU is pretty similar to the modern day memory cards.

The filing could, of course, simply be a further effort from SEGA to protect the Dreamcast name. According to the USPTO the original Dreamcast trademark is still active. However, the two descriptions are very different. You can see the original trademark description here.

I'm a doubter being that Sega doesn't have the capital or real desire to try the console market again. They probably just want to protect the name for future use of the name. Interesting though that they found some things in the new trademark that weren't there before..

[DarkXero]

Sega couldn't handle two legitimate competitors. How in the hell would they handle three? No, no...as much as I'm sure Sega fanboys get wet at the thought, it's not happening.

Good thing, too. The Dreamcast worship is ridiculous enough as is. A second one would ensure it goes on for another 50 years, I'm sure.

[Dan]

^ why I <3 DX.

[sonic88]

...crazy. Plain and simple. I mean come on, the console war is WAAAY to crazy right now. How do they think they'll survive?

[Justin]

Sega would have to be seriously brain dead to bring in a new console now. They could never survive in a hardware market as saturated as it is now.

[Dan]

[UPDATE] Sega of America PR Director Charlie Scibetta is currently looking into the trademark issue and why it was updated. In the meantime he told us that Sega "has no plans to get back into the console business," adding, "We're very happy being a platform agnostic company and have moved up the ranks the past three years from #11, to #9, and now stand at #6 in terms of our market share by units among third-party publishers. We like our current strategy and have no plans to change in the middle of this outstanding growth."

So sega's not so stupid afterall.

[Justin]

Its amazing that they can continue to make some garbage software and still sell so well.