Board Thread:Timeline Disscussions/@comment-78.69.12.247-20121220131920/@comment-665531-20121220141816

I'm thinking this could potentially have been released in either early 2000 or sometime in 2001; Sega would want to avoid being to close to the 2000 Dreamcast launch. Launch titles could easily include a couple of Genesis ports, like the original Sonic, and honestly, a mixture of Sonic ports and an alternate version of Dimps's Sonic Advance series could have been a mainstay.

The main problem, of course, is that making any more games would have cost resources that Sega could invest much more safely into the console market. I suppose Sega could use the new money they get Generation 5 to make or buy a studio or two, but as it is, Sega is having trouble matching Nintendo on consoles later in this timeline. ESPECIALLY since Rare remains a part of Nintendo without Microsoft to buy it.

Anyway, let's think, which 3rd parties would support Sega's Titan? Western devs are useless at handheld games, and Square and Enix stick with Nintendo, so that leaves Capcom, which is moving towards Nintendo by that time anyway, Konami, Namco, Bandai, and maybe Tecmo. Konami would release a Frogger or two, and maybe even an original 2D MGS like they did for the GBC IRL. Plus, Castlevania. Bandai brings Digimon and those Tomogatchi things, and Namco brings... I dunno. Tecmo...

The problem is, handheld gaming only became a 3rd party place of prosperity later in the GBA's life, and into the early life of the DS and PSP. Handhelds were sold by the weight of their 3rd parties until everybody jumped on the PSP-bandwagon and did Sony's work for them. And I just don't think that Sega would have had a great handheld lineup unless they sacrificed their console support.