Portable Dreamcast infringes upon Sega property

Regular readers of gi.biz may remember that we reported on a thoroughly illegal portable Dreamcast console a couple of months ago. "Treamcast", as it's known, is said to be widely available in Hong Kong, and features a redesigned casing with built-in LCD monitor and speakers, as well as on-board software for MP3 and VideoCD playback.

At the time, importers were said to be steering clear of the system for fear of reprisals from one-time platform holder Sega, "several" of whose copyrights and patents the Treamcast was said to infringe.

Sadly for fans of such things (including us), Sega of Japan has now concluded, as expected, that creation and sale of the Treamcast infringes upon the company's property, and that the publisher will take steps to prevent its distribution.

In a statement to popular Hong Kong-based importer Lik-Sang (recently the subject of a platform holder-backed lawsuit to prevent the sale of modding materials), who supplied a watered down Treamcast unit to Sega of Japan for evaluation, a legal representative described the system as "an infringement upon our company's property irrespective of whether it may contain certain Sega original components."

"It is the Company's unanimous decision not to allow this nature of product," he continued. "This may be an unexpected disappointment to you, but you are kindly asked to understand our decision and drop the item(s)."

All of which seems to spell the end of the Treamcast's honeymoon period. As Lik-Sang puts it, pictures of the unique console are as close as you will ever get to it. We hope Sega won't mind if we link those, but of course we can't tell you where you might be able to get hold of it. If anybody has one though, consider yourself lucky.