SuperSega boss Alejandro Martín has put his Lamborghini Gallardo up for sale for 99.900 Euros to cover "damages, losses and legal cost" relating to the bungled venture.
As you'll know if you've been following the saga, Martín is the project lead on an FPGA-based console built around the concept of playing Sega games across multiple hardware generations.
The project has been beset with issues almost from day one, with video demonstrations failing to convince customers, pre-order confusion and – most recently of all – legal action from Sega itself over the use of its copyright.
SuperSega has now issued a press release which claims that Sega is refusing to accept the projects new name – SuperSPGA – and that the Japanese company is asking for all existing products to be destroyed.
We have verified the communication from Sega and can confirm it is legitimate.
Martín claims that all of the pre-order cash is in the process of being refunded.
"To be clear, we did not scam anyone," says the press release. "Soon we will release a vídeo, to thank you for your inconditional support, and to let you know what our plans will be, stay tune by Early January 2025."
Iain Lee, who recently interviewed Martín, has also backed up claims that Sega is seeking a "five-figure fee" in relation to the venture:
From what Time Extension can gather, Sega has no issue with the product itself but rather the use of the Sega trademark. It argues that 'SuperSPGA' still represents an infringement, as the 'S' in SPGA clearly denotes Sega. However, Sega appears to be willing to allow the project to proceed if 'Sega' is removed from the external casing and the website is substantially modified to remove all references to the company.
When asked by Time Extension why the product cannot simply be renamed to something completely different – something Sega appears willing to accept – Martín replies:
Why cannot call it SuperSPGA according to SEGA? why we cannot say anywhere on our website the word SEGA even showing the TM (trademark related to SEGA)?
SEGA is not friendly with us. We processed all refund payments. We must wait, and see whats next.
Nothing more to add on this stage, see whats next on 2025.