Sega Dreamcast out sells PS2

You'd have to get someone else is charge for that. And probably have it match the price of the PS2 which was really the kick in the teeth.
 
If the Dreamcast outsold the PS2, that may keep Sega in the game. We might see a Big Four instead of a Big Three. The Dreamcast had a lot of popular games and we may also see a greater presence of Japanese games in the North American market (as opposed to now where the North American game developers pretty much kicked out Japan).

Sonic won't suffer the string of bad games he has in OTL.
 
Maybe it will keep Gro$oft out of consoles market *at all*. Or I am confusing dates a bit - when came out X-Box, the planing in fact?

Wild card. Nintendo. Maybe faring better? A niche may open?
 
Maybe it will keep Gro$oft out of consoles market *at all*. Or I am confusing dates a bit - when came out X-Box, the planing in fact?

IIRC, the plans for a Microsoft console began in all the way back in 1998. Bill Gates finally became convinced that a console was viable and gave the go ahead. It just so happened that Sega and Microsoft became close during the Dreamcast's brief lifespan (in fact, Microsoft was one of the potential buyers when Sega went belly up c. 2001/2002, actually). In a scenario where the Dreamcast somehow keeps Sega in, I don't see how long they can last. The Atari era proved that a market saturated with many consoles is untenable. The weakest link will sooner or later bite the dust, which sadly happens to be Sega.

As for outselling the PS2...I don't think it's possible, to be honest. One of the big selling points for the PS2 was its DVD capabilities. Unless Sega can wise up to including one earlier, which there were actually plans to eventually release an add on that would in OTL, it'd remove a lot of the earlier draw of Sony's PlayStation successor. Not to mention, bootlegging games was also what really, really hurt Sega. GD-ROMs were very easy to rip from. Loss of sales is something that Sega desperately needed to avoid at this point. Ultimately, though, Microsoft and Sony have the muscle to shrug off setbacks (especially Sony); Sega, however, does not.
 
Given the close MS/Sega relationship, you may not see an Xbox, but a joint console. I can't see it being as successful as it would end up suffering the usual compromises that afflict joint project's design-by-committee approach. Of this happens, then Sega still disappears and MS either step away with burned fingers, or design an X-box 2 equivalent, maybe using poached Sega staff.
 
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