Rumor: SEGA is preparing a low cost 2D centric handheld device

This week is full of rumors and news, with SEGA being at the center of it all. Aside from the expectation of Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi reveals, SEGA might be planning a low-cost 2D-centric handheld gaming device.

According to SeraphHS on Reddit via GamingLeaksAndRumours, they work for a small specialist electronics manufacturer. They got an RFQ this week from a company “that’s done licensed Sega hardware before (Genesis Mini). Not Sega directly but definitely in that orbit, think Tectoy, AtGames etc.”

The user speculates on what it could be, such as a low-cost handheld gaming device, among others:

• Low-power ARM processor, not x86
• 5″ OLED panel (same form factor as the Vita), aggressive cost-cutting elsewhere to accommodate this
• Seemingly pretty limited internal storage
• Removable game cartridges
• No mention of 3D acceleration beyond basic UI/compositing
• References being designed for “modern 2D titles” and “pixel art presentation”

They also mention the cart design is the most interesting part, as it doesn’t have the usual high-capacity consumer NAND you’d expect of a modern handheld. Looks like a low-capacity industrial eMMC module. It also has smaller storage, which would make sense if this device were targeting 2D indies.

To calm expectations, this wouldn’t be a competitor to something like the Switch . It would be a unique handheld device if it’s true that it would play 2D-style games only. With how SEGA’s success has been with software as of late, it wouldn’t be shocking for them to do something like this.

As usual, we must take this with a grain of salt