Internally they’re jokingly calling it “Project Totem,” but Phil refers to it by another name: “SH-3.” Yes, it’s a nod to Sega’s dual Hitachi SH-2 CPUs that powered the 32X. He even told one engineer, “They were ahead of their time. We just need to finish what they started.”

Supposedly he wants the module to add enhanced ray-tracing cores and AI-based texture reconstruction — think of it like a modern DLSS box that physically attaches to the console. It’s technically feasible (AMD’s working on small external RDNA5 units for OEM partners), but everyone knows what it really is: a desperate play to extend the gen if the next one gets cancelled.

In recent meetings, he’s been describing it in increasingly strange language. One person said he’s gone “full Colonel Kurtz” — long monologues about “blood, guts, and mayhem,” about wanting to bring back “real games for real men.” He specifically mentioned Corpse Killer, Mortal Kombat II, and Night Trap as “expressions of untamed hardware freedom.”

The engineers are trying to translate that into something practical — like a performance mode that removes all content filters and pushes maximum particle effects, gore toggles, etc. Someone even floated an internal dev tool codenamed “Mayhem Pipeline,” a physics sandbox that showcases the new co-processor’s raw throughput.

The plan, if you can call it that, is to unveil the add-on in mid-2026 as a “Series X+ Performance Expansion.” Marketing’s early phrasing: “Extend the Power. Extend the Generation.”

To most of the staff, it feels like déjà vu — a doomed accessory meant to buy time. But Phil, apparently pacing in meetings, keeps repeating one line:

“They laughed at the 32X because they feared what it represented — evolution.”

It’s equal parts tragic and mesmerizing. A man trying to resurrect a ghost from 1994 to save 2026.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5784300&forum_id=2Reputation#49333816)