Sega producer says high costs are preventing a Dreamcast or Saturn mini console

Sega has suggested that high costs caused by the pandemic are preventing it from producing a Dreamcast or Saturn mini console.

Speaking to Famitsu, Sega’s classic hardware producer Yosuke Okunari said that he had considered producing mini versions of the classic consoles, but claimed that the cost of producing parts for either a Dreamcast or Saturn would be prohibitively expensive.

Sega’s latest mini console, the Mega Drive Mini 2, was announced earlier this week.

“Some of you may say ‘this isn’t a Sega Saturn Mini’ or ‘I wanted a Dreamcast mini’, it’s not that we didn’t think about that direction”, Okunari said of the new Mega Drive console.

“The development of new boards has been stagnant due to the Coronavirus and, of course, it would be a fairly expensive product in terms of cost.”

Dreamcast was Sega’s final home console, marking the end of the Japanese company’s near-20-year stint in the console hardware market.

However, despite its short lifespan the console produced many critically acclaimed game franchises including Shenmue, Soul Calibur, Phantasy Star Online, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and Rez.

The console enjoyed a strong launch in North America backed by a significant marketing campaign, but ultimately sales declined as Sony’s PlayStation 2 arrived on the market.

Further reading Sega Genesis Mini 2 – every game confirmed Find out which Genesis and Sega CD games will be coming to Sega's new console

The Mega Drive Mini 2 will include 50 Mega Drive and Mega CD titles, including arcade ports and what Sega describes as a “mysterious new work”.

The Mega Drive Mini 2 will be released on October 27 in Japan and will cost ¥9,980 ($75). Sega has yet to confirm a western release.

The first Mega Drive Mini was released in 2019 and included 42 games, with the libraries differing per region. It included new ports of Darius and Tetris, which had never been released before.