We can only Dreamcast

The rumor mill is rumbling with whispers that Sega may make a comeback. It's theorized that the once great rival to Nintendo will be making a successive console to the long-gone Dreamcast - spearheaded by this video:



It's compelling evidence - maybe not much in the way of concrete evidence but it does make a reasonable case for Sega to make a comeback.

However whilst it's a nice idea that Sega can make a comeback, it does raise the question of what can they do? During the Megadrive/Genesis era it offered soemthing of an alternative to the 'kiddy' fare on the SNES. And even the Dreamcast offered something of an opportunity for budding developers to work with. But now? Nintendo are relying their own IP and heeding little attention to fans, Sony are riding high on technical prowess and exclusives and Microsoft seem to have a whole lotta shooters at their command. So what can Sega bring to the table? A lot of their IP are on other consoles, many bedroom developers are finding homes on XBLA and sport games aren't going to get any better.

But here's what I want to know: Are comebacks readily accepted in gaming? Everything happens so quickly in gaming as it's a constant race to produce more powerful technology and utilizing that technology to wow all the potential buyers before they get distracted by something else - a tall order seeing as the people who buy this games have been raised to have ten second attention spans.
Thus, it is far too easy for some IP to get discarded and never returned to. Some titles may sell due to the nostalgia valuer or to entice the interest of those who missed out the first time around. But so often a game that someone loved then can be despised in the now - usually through seeing things with older wiser eyes and accompanied with remarks of "What the hell was I thinking?' and 'Man was I a dumb kid'. Many Sega games I've picked up off the Virtual Console have fallen into this trap so maybe Sega's time has come and gone and it's a fool errand to try and get back into the console race.

Personally, what I would like to see Sega do is dust off some games from the Mega CD and the Saturn and give them a new lease of life. If they seem intent on making some of their Megadrive and Dreamcast games more readily available then they can do the same for their failed consoles - oh wait....