If Sega Didn't Leave The Console Business When They Did?

[Moonface]

I recently remembered this video I watched by Gaming Historian on YouTube about some huge mistakes Sega made that played a big part in their withdrawal from the console manufacturing business, and it's been on my mind a lot lately wondering what gaming could possibly look like if Sega hadn't dug their own grave with the Saturn and then got kicked in the hole by the Dreamcast.

Do you think Sega would have ended up falling out of the console business eventually anyway? If they had maintained making consoles into the Wii era would they be the opponent to Nintendo like how Sony and Microsoft are to each other?

I think that if the Dreamcast released at a better time than it did then it would maybe stand a better chance up against the PS2, especially if the mistakes made with the Saturn were avoided to give the Dreamcast a stronger start and keep Sega as a brand strong with consumers, outlets and developers. Considering a lot of Sega's games are of a graphical fidelity above what Nintendo consoles achieve I don't think they would have made a console with the intent to directly compete with what Nintendo does but just be putting their hat in the ring with Sony and Microsoft (assuming the latter still enters the console business if Sega doesn't leave, but I expect Xbox would still come about). If anything, I'd guess they might try to appeal to both sides since Sonic and their other colorful titles like Samba De Amigo or Jet Set Radio lean more towards the sort of things Nintendo puts out while stuff like Yakuza is more in the Sony/Microsoft camp of games.

I'm not sure yet how far they would actually get since I don't know every single IP Sega actually has to figure out if they have enough first party stuff to support a console in every generation, plus it's hard when a lot of Sega's downfall in the console business came from their own hand rather than solely losing to a competitor.