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While this is an entirely "in retrospect this would have been the best plan!". The youtube channel Video games esoterica had an interesting idea on an alternati

While this is an entirely "in retrospect this would have been the best plan!". The youtube channel Video games esoterica had an interesting idea on an alternatives path Sega could have taken. Namely, lean in hard on 32X for about a year or two to try and slow demand for Ps1 with cheaper hardware. Release the Neptune (Genesis with inbuilt 32x). They then take up Panasonics deal and use the M2 platform to be the Saturn. Release that in 1997 with specs far beyond Ps1/N64. Neat idea but this is all just fantasy stuff at this point.

SpecialistK 3y ago
Thanks for the YT recommendation. Sega alt-history is something I've spent more than a few hours thinking about. It's hard to really nail down without knowing about chip prices in the day, but my thinking was to wait on the Sega CD until 92 or 93, include a DSP or two for basic 3D operations (like the Sega Virtua Processor in Virtua Racing) and market the CD as allowing for cheaper, bigger games instead of FMV garbage. Then release the Saturn in 95 as an upgraded version of the same architecture akin to the SMD/Gen being based on the SMS. Add a newer CPU (SH-3 or PowerPC 603), use an upgraded SMD's graphics chip for 2D (like VDP2 on the Saturn), the 68K for audio, and whatever 3D silicon Sega had developed (probably still quads) If this was financially / technically possible, it would have staved off Sega's fear about the SMD/Gen falling behind the SNES in 92-95, allowed backwards compatibility, and been less jank to develop for.