Will Sega, Atari, or Panasonic ever return to the gaming console market?

Even though Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft pretty much dominate the gaming industry (as far as hardware goes, anyway) nowadays, it wasn't THAT long ago when there was far more competition around.

Panasonic delivered the 3DO and Atari released its last console, the Jaguar, during the fifth generation of game consoles, while Sega exited the scene after its Dreamcast flopped during the sixth generation.

Even today, Sega and Atari are still publishing titles, even if they are no longer creating hardware. So is there any chance that any of these companies (or another, wanting to test out the gaming console waters) could make a return with a brand new console to give Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft some seriously unneeded competition?

To me, it would be completely unnecessary as far as the consumer is concerned. With games costing so much to develop, third-party publishers almost have to release all of their AAA titles on as many systems as possible in order to make a profit. It's not like in the past, when anyone could make a 16-bit game and simply "try again" when it failed to sell. Nowadays the risk of high-budget games flopping isscaring game publishers from taking risks altogether.

My point is, with so many third-party games already slated for release on all three platforms (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U), a trend that pretty much started with this generation of consoles and will likely continue on indefinitely, is there even any point in Sega or Atari or anyone else joining in the console race?

Seems like it would just be dividing up the same amount of pie between four or five guys instead of three, and consumers would still simply stick with one or two consoles. Because honestly, are first-party exclusives really enough of a reason to buy every piece of hardware possible nowadays?

Never say never!

I highly doubt any of them will ever make another console though.

Please god no, if the quality of Atari's games are anything to go buy, I think there should be a court order banning them from making video games, and another court order saying they can not come 100 feet of a games publisher, programmer, shop, console, arcade machine, etc, etc.

(the irony of saying this while using a Ghostbusters logo on my PSN ID is not lost on me, lol)

Please god no, if the quality of Atari's games are anything to go buy, I think there should be a court order banning them from making video games, and another court order saying they can not come 100 feet of a games publisher, programmer, shop, console, arcade machine, etc, etc.

(the irony of saying this while using a Ghostbusters logo on my PSN ID is not lost on me, lol)

OmenUK

I wouldn't want to see any more consoles. I think 3 major consoles is enough for right now.

I certainly don't see any new consoles being made by those retro companies; especially Atari - they're not even the same company any more. I don't think you can really rule out a console made by a different company in the future.

I wonder if the iOS or Android platforms will have any impact on console gaming in the future.

[QUOTE="OmenUK"]

Please god no, if the quality of Atari's games are anything to go buy, I think there should be a court order banning them from making video games, and another court order saying they can not come 100 feet of a games publisher, programmer, shop, console, arcade machine, etc, etc.

(the irony of saying this while using a Ghostbusters logo on my PSN ID is not lost on me, lol)

Black_Knight_00

Wasn't Panasonic going to come back into the market with the "Jungle" handheld but pulled the plug on it? These three companies have bad history with gaming even if they did do some preety revolutionary things. Sega and Atari are bearly staying open and Panasonic does not seem interested anymore in the business. As much as I would love SEGA to return and make a big impact, I just don't see it happening in this day and age.

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]

[QUOTE="OmenUK"]

Please god no, if the quality of Atari's games are anything to go buy, I think there should be a court order banning them from making video games, and another court order saying they can not come 100 feet of a games publisher, programmer, shop, console, arcade machine, etc, etc.

(the irony of saying this while using a Ghostbusters logo on my PSN ID is not lost on me, lol)

OmenUK

I'd buy a PHILIPS CDi 2

Excellently written SummerHillard, and a great topic for discussion! :)

I wouldn't worry about those manufacturers returning to hardware development. Atari already suffered the gaming industry's supposed end until Nintendo came later to resurrect it. Atari attempted to come back later with the Jaguar, but failed again. I would say Atari is not going to come back yet again. They tried and failed.Panasonic 3DO came in along with Neo Geo as CDs emerged as a new type of media. They tried to be the first to create large capacity games on that media, but their success was short lived as Sega and Nintendo looked to adapt the same media.

The PlayStation and PS2 made Sony a BIG player in the console market, but they didn't plan on being a console maker at all. Originally the PlayStation was supposed to be an add-on device to the Super Nintendo to compete with Sega CD. Concerned about piracy, Nintendo decided to go with a cartridge based system (The N64) and left Sony with a device they had no use for. Eventually, Sony decided to put a lid on it, complete development and blew out N64 with the PlayStation. :)Microsoft introduced itself into the console market in the following generation, and Sega flopped with the Dreamcast, giving way once again to a major three manufacturers.

In the games industry, casual games actually have higher risk than AAA titles. High cost productions with large development teams typically succeed. They also have stronger potential to become franchise which continue to ring in cash flow. Casual games however do not continue to entertain after a short period of time and are released so frequently, they get lost in the mix. Casual games are found in bargain bins in just a few short weeks, leaving people that didn't purchase your game at launch, to forget about completely.

Another console maker emerging at this point in time wouldn't make a lot of sense. The games industry as a whole is losing money, and (specifically) Sony's philosophy to lose per console sold for several years just to create an install base is not an enticing market for companies to get into. I'd say, we won't see new manufacturers for several generations unless one of the manufacturers stops development.

I had a 3DO and what a waste of money, Mind you, 'Need for Speed' and 'Road Rash' were excellent. Killing Time aswell which had full motion actors in-game at the time I thought was amazing.

I believe Sega won't ever return to the console market after the Saturn and Dreamcast flopped. They don't have the money to do so.

Atari is also a pretty forgotten name in the console scene. The Atari 2600 was their only real success while the Jaguar was their last attempt at trying to reclaim some of the former fame.

Panasonic, on the other hand, did try to enter the console market again just recently with their cancelled portable console Jungle. But luckily they realized that a portable console that would run only MMOs is a pretty bad idea.

The only serious fourth competitior could be Apple but I doubt they'll go head-to-head with Nintendo and co.

Frankly we don't really need a fourth player in the console bussiness. Three consoles and two portables are more than enough imo.

It would be difficult to see where a new console could find a market. Sony and Microsoft already have the "conventional" games consoles covered, while Nintendo have the "unique" console.

Maybe a retro console? One designed to handle powerful 2D graphics rather than 3D, really get a super-crisp high-pixel image going on. Like 120fps or something crazy like that.

Or maybe include a lot of pre-installed emulator software, so that companies can release games PSN style without having to do any conversions or coding to make it work?

Just some comments on each of those prospects:

Sega: I would love a new Sega console, like the Dreamcast 2

Atari: The Atari that exists today is NOT the same Atari that made the 2600, Infogrames bought the name 10+ years back and changed their name tto Atari.

Panasonic: No just...no