@cstross Sega never stopped making home consoles…but they also never moved to 3D. Things were dicey for ~15 years, eking out on the strength of 2D MMO Sonic platformers that sold to a highly dedicated audience—an audience so obsessed with doing what Nintendon’t that they managed to keep The Sega Channel service viable indefinitely.
By 2020, the AAA gaming industry was so bloated, Sega was able to bounce back on the strength of the retro trend. Sega Channel is now the most used Roku app.