In an interview with Mega Visions magazine, Tectoy president Stefano Arnhold answered several of the magazine's questions. Two particularly interesting questions concerned the possibility of Tectoy exporting its new Mega Drive and the possibility of something fans have often requested: a rerelease of the Sega Saturn or Dreamcast.
The company's president gave the following answer about the possibility of exporting it:
Mega Visions: There has been a lot of excitement about this from SEGA fans outside Brazil. I am sure you see many people asking Tectoy to release the new Mega Drive outside Brazil. Is there any possibility of that? You know, from a business standpoint? Do you have plans to sell it online outside Brazil?
Stefano Arnhold: Well, under our agreements, we have the rights for our markets. So we have not really discussed the possibility of exceptions with SEGA. In the past, we have produced the Master System for some SEGA distributors in countries such as Portugal and Egypt.
We would have to ask SEGA for a waiver, and they would give us a letter allowing us to ship a specific volume to specific customers and territories where we do not hold the rights. Maybe we can solve this problem.
MV: From our perspective, it would be very cool to see a new Mega Drive in the United States or Europe, because what you do is very different from what we currently see here with these microconsoles that are generally not very good.
Arnhold: OK. We will make a note of it. I will write to them tonight!
Then we will see if they agree, because what is really important to us is that we are a company that always respects third-party publishers' rights. We have released more than 1,000 software titles in Brazil for several platforms and over 50 different publishers. So we could only export the Mega Drive to, say, England if and when SEGA gives us a letter saying we can do so.
Below, see what Arnhold said about a rerelease of the Sega Saturn or Dreamcast:
MV: I am sure you know that online communities around the world in America, Europe, and Japan have immense love for the Dreamcast, and that there are developers who continue making games for it even 15 years after SEGA discontinued the console. Has Tectoy ever considered manufacturing or licensing its own version of the Dreamcast? Have you ever approached SEGA to discuss it?
Arnhold: Well, we have never approached them because the economic feasibility of such an undertaking seems very limited right now.
In theory, yes, we can do it. But at the moment, we are a very small company, and the business side of it would not make sense. We are losing a few hundred thousand dollars on the Mega Drive. That is all right. It is not the end of the world, and we still exist, right?
And the communities love it so much that it has been worth every cent. But we will not do the same with the Dreamcast or Saturn, because they would require a truly enormous investment.
