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[fiendcode]

Neo Geo Pocket Color was a special case. They had a partnership with SNK. That system and the Dreamcast were framed as being companions, and that's why the NGPC/Dreamcast link cable existed. What games did they make for the Wonderswan or Game Boy Color? The only Sega-related Color games I know of were the Sakura Wars GB games. Sega didn't actually publish or develop the first one of those. They did publish the second one, but that was released in late 2001, months after their third-party announcement. I checked over the list of Wonderswan and GBC games on Wikipedia just now to make sure there wasn't anything I was unaware of, and they didn't list anything.

Sega licensed a couple of their properties for WS to Bandai for conversions (Puyo Puyo 2 and Golden Axe). Strangely this relationship resurfaced later on GBA when Bandai again licensed Puyo Puyo (based on Puyo 2) for a random Gundam spinoff (Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo).

Sega also had a Columns game on GBC cross-licensed with Tezuka Productions characters (another strange association that'd come back later on GBA Astro Boy) in addition to all the Puyo Puyo titles Compile was doing (Sega acquired the IP outright in 1998). Sega's GBC games weren't all the same deal as Wonderswan as Overworks still had direct production and oversight on at least the Sakura Taisen GB titles. Columns GB does appear to have been a similar simple licensing deal though with Media Factory (they'd also produced a SFC conversion of the Arcade original a year earlier too) and with Puyo Puyo, Compile was still handling all production inhouse (like on home consoles) until the relationship was dissolved in 2001 with Compile's bankruptcy.

Also, Sega's NGPC titles were all still technically published by SNK, and like with Puyo Puyo on other platforms, Sega's involvement with Puyo Puyo 2 was just licensing. It wasn't really a special case or fundamentally different from what Sega was doing on GBC; Sonic Team still oversaw Sonic Pocket Adventure directly (like Overworks on Sakura Taisen GB1-2), Compile handled Puyo 2 (like everywhere else) and the other stuff like Bikkuriman and Evolution were straight licensing deals (like Columns GB or Golden Axe WS).

Regardless GBA support was planned back in 2000 (led chiefly by Sonic Team, though other divisions were interested too) when Nintendo had started briefing 3rd parties on the platform and would have been carried out even if Sega had stuck with console production and not gone 3rd party. You can probably argue (and I'd agree) Sega's support of GBA was expanded because of the 3rd party pivot but it wasn't predicated or dependent on it. The timelines don't support that, ChuChu Rocket GBA was already dev complete when Sega made the Feb 2001 announcement, it would've had to have been to make launch manufacturing.

 

[UnusMundus]

Sega licensed a couple of their properties for WS to Bandai for conversions (Puyo Puyo 2 and Golden Axe). Strangely this relationship resurfaced later on GBA when Bandai again licensed Puyo Puyo (based on Puyo 2) for a random Gundam spinoff (Kidou Gekidan Haro Ichiza: Haro no Puyo Puyo).

Sega also had a Columns game on GBC cross-licensed with Tezuka Productions characters (another strange association that'd come back later on GBA Astro Boy) in addition to all the Puyo Puyo titles Compile was doing (Sega acquired the IP outright in 1998). Sega's GBC games weren't all the same deal as Wonderswan as Overworks still had direct production and oversight on at least the Sakura Taisen GB titles. Columns GB does appear to have been a similar simple licensing deal though with Media Factory (they'd also produced a SFC conversion of the Arcade original a year earlier too) and with Puyo Puyo, Compile was still handling all production inhouse (like on home consoles) until the relationship was dissolved in 2001 with Compile's bankruptcy.

Also, Sega's NGPC titles were all still technically published by SNK, and like with Puyo Puyo on other platforms, Sega's involvement with Puyo Puyo 2 was just licensing. It wasn't really a special case or fundamentally different from what Sega was doing on GBC; Sonic Team still oversaw Sonic Pocket Adventure directly (like Overworks on Sakura Taisen GB1-2), Compile handled Puyo 2 (like everywhere else) and the other stuff like Bikkuriman and Evolution were straight licensing deals (like Columns GB or Golden Axe WS).

Regardless GBA support was planned back in 2000 (led chiefly by Sonic Team, though other divisions were interested too) when Nintendo had started briefing 3rd parties on the platform and would have been carried out even if Sega had stuck with console production and not gone 3rd party. You can probably argue (and I'd agree) Sega's support of GBA was expanded because of the 3rd party pivot but it wasn't predicated or dependent on it. The timelines don't support that, ChuChu Rocket GBA was already dev complete when Sega made the Feb 2001 announcement, it would've had to have been to make launch manufacturing.

As you said, everything mentioned there was licensed out to other companies to publish. Given that, they didn't publish a single game for other handhelds prior to the January 2001 announcement. I think the Sakura Wars GB case is telling. They licensed the first game (which released in 2000) to Media Factory, yet published the second in 2001 themselves. As soon as they opened up to publishing on home consoles, they also switched (even within the same series on the same platform) from licensing to publishing on handhelds.

That's interesting about Overworks overseeing the SWGB games. I always thought those games were made by RED on their own, without Overworks. Given that, I wonder if possibly they started Chu Chu Rocket in a similar way. Meaning they originally intended to develop it internally but have another company publish. Then, when they decided to go third-party, they took on publishing themselves.

As for ChuChu needing to be content complete by the announcement, that was my whole point. That Sega had started third-party development as a backup plan before they officially committed to it and announced it.