Video Game "What IF?"

[GrandAmChandler]

Everyone who knows Marvel Comics has heard of the "What IF" series. If not, basically it portrays what it would be like if a major event in history changed. In this case, we will be doing Video Game History. So, one Person will Post a "What If....?" Then the next Person posts an answer, then another "What IF??" question.

I will start!

What IF Nintendo had partnered with SONY to make the SNES CD Add-on?

[Dangerboy]

What IF Nintendo had partnered with SONY to make the SNES CD Add-on?

The world as we know it would be an entirely different beast.

1. Sega would have gone under faster
2. Microsoft might not have made the plunge, since the Xbox was merely a cock block to Sony's "Computer Entertainment" aspect.
3. Mario would have been the hidden character in Tekken 3, not Gon.
4. Three words: Final Fantasy CD
5. Ken Kutaragi is removed from Sony as the then still president Yamamuchi (sp?) wouldn't have taken shit / ego from him.
6. Reggie keeps his old job, and Nintendo fans never get to cheer about taking names and weeping at a delayed Zelda.
7. 3DO merges with Atari, creates the ADO, and then fold since there was much ADO about nothing.

The Next Question:
What if Street Fighter II has been a failure?

[MrSparkle]

the nintendo 64 would have been based on optical media

what if they released the n64 DD in north america

[Oobgarm]

The Next Question:
What if Street Fighter II has been a failure?

Another huge difference.

1. Violence might not have been a huge focus, since Mortal Kombat probably wouldn't have come out either. I dare say we might not have had an ESRB if it wasn't for Street Fighter.

2. Tournaments for gaming might not have really materialized.

3. Not to mention the complete change in the gaming landscape, and less of a focus on beat-em-ups and their ilk.

Next question:
What if Nintendo had dropped out of the console biz after the N64?

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

Next question:
What if Nintendo had dropped out of the console biz after the N64?

Then we would be playing games like Grand Theft Mushroom, where Mario has free run of a 3D environment in which he has to retrieve whatever it is that Bowser has stolen this time.

We would be playing Nintendo Game & Watch mini-games on our PSPs, (Assuming that they also dropped the GB & DS lines).

Next question: What if HDTV had not been invented?

JY

[InsaneDavid]

Next question: What if HDTV had not been invented?

"Current" gen would have much better market penetration as it would matter less about your setup (a reason most of us got away from PC gaming) and more about the games themselves.

Next Question:
Since it was in the last issue of RTM, what if Atari ended up accepting the offer to release the Famicom in the USA?

[theoakwoody]

If Atari distributed the famicom I don't believe much would have changed. The only thing I can think of is that Atari may not have paid as much for PR and advertising which may have effected sales but it all came down to Mario anyways. Any money Atari received would have been pumped into their home computer division which in turn may have funded an ST revolution. Instead of everyone using PC's today that are all "IBM compatible" we may all be using STs. This in turn could have effected Microsoft as I don't see the Tramiel's being interested in outsourcing their Operating System. At least Atari would have given Apple more competition. Perhaps the STs could have found a niche as a gaming computer especially with access to the entire Nintendo library.

Next Question:

What if the crash of '83 never happened?

[udisi]

We may still have had Intellivison and Colecovision in the console market.
We may have had more of the early third party developers survive too.

along the lines of an earlier question.

What if the N64 was a CD based system?

[j_factor]

It would have been more expensive, which would mean that for most of its life it wouldn't have had price parity with PSX. But the games would've been cheaper.

I think some of Nintendo's "flagship" games of that era wouldn't have been as big as they were because some things would've had to be cut/changed for the worse, considering CD drive speeds at the time. However, N64 games overall would have benefitted from the increased storage and better audio. But, I remember reading that there was something to do with the way N64's processor worked that meant it would've had a difficult time with CD-ROM media without also having more memory.

It would've had better third party support, but probably not by that much. As I recall, developers weren't crazy about the N64's overall hardware and some of the features like the antialiasing. Also, Nintendo still charged a higher licensing fee than Sony and Sega at the time.

In the end, N64 would've had a higher price tag, some more games; a few games would be worse, a few would be better; and overall I don't think much would've changed in terms of market share.

What if Neo Geo Pocket Color had been a big success?

[ssjlance]

SNK would still be in the console business and we would've seen a home version of the Hyper 64.

What if the TurboGrafx reigned in the 16-Bit generation?

[parker619]

then the wars would have been all different,
turbografx might of went on to another gen and released a handheld meaning earlier forms of xbox/boy handhelds

what if sony , microsoft and nintendo failed to produce the ps2,xbox,and gamecube?

[Cryomancer]

We'd still be playing Dreamcasts, Asia would still be watching VCDs.

What if the Sega CD / 32X CD focused more on animated cutscenes and the like instead of live action?

[DeputyMoniker]

We'd still be watching Phantom previews.

What if Gunpei Yokoi were alive today and remained a big shot at Nintendo?

EDIT: Oop...Cryo beat me to it.

[Oobgarm]

What if Gunpei Yokoi were alive today and remained a big shot at Nintendo?

Metroid wouldn't have gone first-person. Maybe we'd see a new R.O.B.

What if the NES wasn't a huge success? (not a failure, mind you)

[DeputyMoniker]

Metroid wouldn't have gone first-person. Maybe we'd see a new R.O.B.

What if the NES wasn't a huge success? (not a failure, mind you)

We did see a new R.O.B. It's called the Wii-mote. Or nun chuck...whatever the real name is. It's a toy that sold the system. Only difference is that ROB sold the NES to retailers while the nun-chuck is selling the Wii to consumers. I don't think that's so different. They're both gaming hardware that put Nintendo on the map.

Answer: You mean like how the Xbox fared? Not a failure but not the big show of the generation. Umm...I think the 7800 would have done much better. We would have missed out on the first great RPG's. Mario would probably be no more a part of our life today than Sonic is.

What if R.O.B never existed?

[Oobgarm]

What if R.O.B never existed?

Nintendo might not have gained a foothold in the market. R.O.B. was important since most toy retailers didn't want to mess with video games, but R.O.B. kinda helped disguise them somewhat.

And I may not have gotten an NES for Christmas (I got the deluxe set)

What if Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead had never split from Atari and formed Activision?

[8bitgamer]

What if human beings did not have opposable thumbs? Imagine the controller configurations.

[blissfulnoise]

What if Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead had never split from Atari and formed Activision?

Third parties were innevitable so that wouldn't have been impacted necessarily, just somewhat delayed. But perhaps the great number of crappy titles wouldn't have flooded the market due to this delay and it could have postponed our outright avoided the crash.

Secondarily, quality titles for the VCS would probably have diminished since Activision really raised the bar for everyone designing games at the time.

I suspect it would have had little long term impact, but it certainly would have shaken up the early history of the VCS.

Question: What if Final Fantasy bombed and Square went under (FFVII never happened). Particuarly in terms of their current impact on the US market?

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

Enix would have reigned supreme with Dragon Quest and Square-Enix would not be around. There would be a lot more in the DQ series than there are now... I feel RPG's really livened up the scene and has a huge fan base that would have latched onto something eventually.

What if SNK got back into manufacturing NEW NEO-GEOs for home use?

[Steve W]

They'd be able to fill a niche with a new modern 3D console like the original Neo-Geo did. I don't see them taking over the console industry or anything, but they could easily get their little percentage of the game world and stick it out in the long run like the old days. But it might be a hell of a lot more difficult nowadays than back in the early '90s. Instead of four or five guys programming a great 2D game in six months, you now have to have a forty person team and take a couple of years to get a so-so 3D title out. SNK might be able to do it, but that kind of thing's better left to the multinational corporations with deeper pockets.

Next question:
What if the Tramiels were never ousted from Commodore, and didn't buy Atari after the video game crash?

[theoakwoody]

Next question:
What if the Tramiels were never ousted from Commodore, and didn't buy Atari after the video game crash?

The Tramiels might not have bought the Amiga idea from Michel and gone with their own vision. So the Amiga would have been shopped around and probably picked up by somebody else such as Texas Instruments. Warner would have still sold Atari to somebody who may or may not have kept the computer, console, arcade business together. Regardless of who bought Atari it would have been solely for the computer division as video games were dead at that point. I can't think of a scenario where Atari ever succeeded in the console market in the 80's unless the crash didn't happen.

Two part question.

What if Sega had not released the Sega CD or the 32X but had pushed up the release of the Saturn to the end of '94 AND the system was basically a consolized version of Sega's model 2 arcade hardware with less memory with a slower processer?

[Flack]

What if the princess Mario was looking for HAD been in 1-4?

o_O

[noname11]

What if the Saturn ran bootlegs due to a cheap chip?


More consoles sold? Bigger fanbase?

[Steve W]

What if Sega had not released the Sega CD or the 32X but had pushed up the release of the Saturn to the end of '94 AND the system was basically a consolized version of Sega's model 2 arcade hardware with less memory with a slower processer?
Sega would probably still be in the hardware business, for one thing. The Saturn would have all the 3D graphics that the easily amused casual gamers are entertained by, and Sony stepping into the market with the Playstation and it's 3D capabilities wouldn't have been such a drastic shift in the marketplace. Sega has traditionally not done all that well in Japan, and the Japanese worship Sony products it seems like, so I don't see the Playstation falling behind the Saturn in that regard. They would have probably been pretty neck-and-neck. The N64 would have pretty much been too late on the scene to make a dent, and would have flopped worse than it seemed like it did in the market. Sega had loads of money from the Genesis, and with easy to program hardware (unlike the Saturn that came out), they could have churned out loads of software to get a good grasp of the market.

Either that, or Sega would have poured heaps of money into FMV games, and self-destruct in the marketplace.

Here's my question:
What if Ray Kassar hadn't been a total douchebag (or never hired in the first place) at Atari and Nolan Bushnell had stayed on? Do you think they would have leaned on the Atari 2600 for so long, and would the 5200 even have come out?

[Tron 2.0]

What if the TurboGrafx reigned in the 16-Bit generation?
The question should be what if,NEC/TTI manage the TG16 in the u.s the right way.

[bazariah]

Here's my question:
What if Ray Kassar hadn't been a total douchebag (or never hired in the first place) at Atari and Nolan Bushnell had stayed on? Do you think they would have leaned on the Atari 2600 for so long, and would the 5200 even have come out?

i believe that atari would've ramped up R&D and focused more on developing new games and hardware as opposed to promoting it..
it would have been a fun place to work instead of a corporation pandering to the suits


what if:
pac man was never an arcade hit?

[j_factor]

We'd have about a hundred variations of Rally-X.

What if Nintendo had discontinued the Game Boy after releasing the Virtual Boy?

[bazariah]

What if Nintendo had discontinued the Game Boy after releasing the Virtual Boy?

pokemon would have never been released.. the revenue that wouldnt have been gained from pokemon's release wouldnt have saved nintendo during the psx's dominant era

basically during that time nintendo need pokemon and pokemon symbiotically needed the gameboy.. game boy hardware and software increased during pokemons release, and as such the marketing blitz and earnings would have never happened


what if:
konami and capcom never signed with nintendo back in the eighties?

[j_factor]

I think NES still would've been a success, but not the monolith that it was. Capcom and Konami themselves would've done okay with their games on other systems, but they perhaps wouldn't have had the sales that they did. Then again, they could've easily licensed their games out for NES porting anyway. The original Street Fighter II probably wouldn't have come out on SNES, though, and that would've made a difference.

What if Donkey Kong Country never existed?

[Jorpho]

I guess that means Konami and Capcom would have released their games on the Master System instead (and Nintendo's exclusivity policy would have kept them from releasing games on the NES, at least until Nintendo decided - too late - to change their policy). And though people will undoubtedly disagree with me, I for one thought the Master System's marketing absolutely sucked. Thus, both the NES and SMS would have never achieved great success, and I guess we'd all be playing a lot more computer games.

What if Sega never hired Tonka to do the marketing for the SMS?

[Jorpho]

What if Donkey Kong Country never existed?

Oops, I guess I'll take that one too.

I don't think the lack of DKC would have made too much difference in the end. The likes of Killer Instinct and Super Mario RPG would still have come along to show the coolness of rendered graphics on the SNES.

So, what if Sega never hired Tonka to do the marketing for the SMS?

[j_factor]

Not that much, most likely. The Master System might've had a 20-25% market share instead of 6%. But I don't think it ever had any chance to be a threat to the NES in North America. I suppose Master System could've also achieved greater third-party support from American developers, but there weren't that many American developers working on NES anyway.

What if the Amiga had been the #1 computer of its time in the US?

[digitalpress]

What if Ray Kassar hadn't been a total douchebag (or never hired in the first place) at Atari and Nolan Bushnell had stayed on? Do you think they would have leaned on the Atari 2600 for so long, and would the 5200 even have come out?

Bushnell stays on. There's nothing he can do about the market, and it crashes because there are too many systems, games, and computers for the average consumer to "consume"... and Atari as well as the entire home console market suffer a serious setback.

He does what he can to keep Atari on top. The 7800 sells better than the 5200 did (it's released nearly two years earlier than our alternate future would have it) yet some upstart in Japan called NINTENDO seems to have a better grasp of what KIDS want. The industry eventually sways away from Atari and by the 90's practically forgets what Atari even did. Bushnell finally resigns in 1990 after releasing multiple upgraded arcade classics and even original games like Dark Chambers, Midnight Mutants and Dusk Adventures. He opens "Chucky Cheese" to a mid-90's audience that's already engrained in the Bennigan's/Casey O'Toole's/Houlihan's experience and not as connected with the idea that a kid's restaurant is any different than a family restaurant. Timing is everything and once again, Bushnell fails.

Seeing this all too clearly, Bushnell hangs himself in a hotel in Santa Clara, California.

Don't make me do this again.

Next up: WHAT IF: Nintendo's "Stanley" became the face of Nintendo, at least equalling Mario's popularity after Donkey Kong 3?

[Kitsune Sniper]

What if the Amiga had been the #1 computer of its time in the US?

We would probably be using Apple Macintosh computers right now, since Windows never really caught on and Microsoft was eventually bought piecemeal by several companies.

What if Nintendo hadn't been the corporate bully it was back when the NES was released and allowed more companies to release different games / stores to sell more stuff than they wanted?

Edit: Sorry, Joe, but you didn't follow up on the other question. >_>

[Jorpho]

Next up: WHAT IF: Nintendo's "Stanley" became the face of Nintendo, at least equalling Mario's popularity after Donkey Kong 3?

If Stanley caught on, it might have occured to someone at Nintendo to start promoting other characters that are now obscure (like Foreman Spike, maybe?) and adding in other related characters. And then perhaps someone would try to weave together some sort of bizarre official connection between Donkey Kong and the Mushroom Kingdom, and eventually Nintendo would have wound up with some bizarre twisted continuity with a mess of forgettable characters, much like Sonic the Hedgehog today.

Next!


What if Nintendo hadn't been the corporate bully it was back when the NES was released and allowed more companies to release different games / stores to sell more stuff than they wanted?

[Zap!]

Everyone who knows Marvel Comics has heard of the "What IF" series. If not, basically it portrays what it would be like if a major event in history changed. In this case, we will be doing Video Game History. So, one Person will Post a "What If....?" Then the next Person posts an answer, then another "What IF??" question.

I will start!

What IF Nintendo had partnered with SONY to make the SNES CD Add-on?

The world would be a better place today, because there would never be a PS dedicated system, and Sega would still be around in the console business.

What if the Jaguar had been at least a moderate success?

[Juganawt]

What if the Jaguar had been at least a moderate success?

Atari would most probably still be in the console race today, controllers would have more buttons than you can even count in a 10 second time frame, and we'd see yearly updates of Tempest and Defender.

What if Street Fighter 2 was never made?

[tmc]

What if Street Fighter 2 was never made?

It is 1991, and SF2 never existed. The writing is on the wall for arcades, while there is and will be exciting games released in the arcades there will be nothing to come out to truly draw people into the public arena to compete against one another.
The one-on-one fighter genre is dead. People lost interest months ago, nobody saw the point in waggling the joystick left and right and hitting the buttons randomly anymore. A few die-hards have dreamt of a having a fighter where the charactors arn't just different colors but the technology isn't ready yet right?
The roaming beat-em-up seems to have cornered the fighting market right now. And anyway, i can just play games that look nearly as good as these at home, and platformers are where its at.

It is now 2002 and SF2 still never existed. This weird gamer at work keeps going on about a competative videogame tournament scene, but hell, i'm into games and i've never heard about a tournament where people go to play eachother. He says they play soccer and FPS games. It sounds alright but games where people play each other just never get a look in these days. I'm just happy with developers making solid one players. I guess it's gonna be sometime in the next few years when internet gaming finally gets going that a two player game could really make waves and change the industry model. Hey - imagine if they updated that Street fighter game - yeah, screw the game, one-on-one fighters are crap -but if they could just put those pressure sensitive buttons into a soccer game.....


NEXT UP: WHAT IF VIDEOGAMES WERE PROVED BEYOND DOUBT TO BE THE CAUSE OF A HANDFULL OF MURDERS AND VIOLENT ATTACKS ACCROSS THE WORLD?

[Oobgarm]

NEXT UP: WHAT IF VIDEOGAMES WERE PROVED BEYOND DOUBT TO BE THE CAUSE OF A HANDFULL OF MURDERS AND VIOLENT ATTACKS ACCROSS THE WORLD?

A handful? Probably not that much more than you see today. Maybe tighter restrictions and a more widely-enforced ESRB.

Many people think that anyway, no matter what research is put forth.

Q:

What if Joe had decided to collect thimbles and Digital Press never came to be?

[Videogamerdaryll]

I play a lot of WWII FPS /War Games..

So what If we didn't win the War/s..What would we be playing,.
Shoot,would we be playing Video Games at all?

[rbudrick]

What if human beings did not have opposable thumbs? Imagine the controller configurations.

Yeah, what if they were fins! No wonder dolphins are always getting it on...no hands!

I hear dolphins are bullshit that they can't play videogames too, btw.

What if dolphins played videogames...what would they be like?

-Rob

[Cryomancer]

Blue. And lots more sex.

I'm going to re-submit my question that was skipped then, What if the Sega CD had focussed more on animated cutscenes like in Popful Mail and Sonic CD and less on live-action FMV? Think that could have made any difference?

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

What if Phoenix Wright and Harvey Birdman had a crossover game?

[PingvinBlueJeans]

What if Ray Kassar hadn't been a total douchebag (or never hired in the first place) at Atari and Nolan Bushnell had stayed on?
It was the Warner bosses (Manny Gerard and Steve Ross) who wanted Bushnell gone. Everyone loves to rag on Kassar, but he really had no say in the matter one way or the other.




Next up: WHAT IF: Nintendo's "Stanley" became the face of Nintendo, at least equalling Mario's popularity after Donkey Kong 3?

Ha!

[8-bitNesMan]

Blue. And lots more sex.

I'm going to re-submit my question that was skipped then, What if the Sega CD had focussed more on animated cutscenes like in Popful Mail and Sonic CD and less on live-action FMV? Think that could have made any difference?

It would have had shitty animated cutscenes instead of shitty FMV and still would have been a colossal failure LOL

[chrisbid]

what if hypothetical questions had a point?

[Dangerboy]

Overlooked question:

"What if the Sega CD had focussed more on animated cutscenes like in Popful Mail and Sonic CD and less on live-action FMV? Think that could have made any difference?"

This would have had several small ramifications:

a. It would have forcefully fed more Anime into the American home, possibly jump starting the anime revolution several years earlier than originally scheduled. Where the PS2 was once the true harbinger of big-eyed, non-changed Anime love, the SNES and Sega CD get their true Ranma 1/2 games, 3x3 Eyes are brought over, and Macross is brought home to the Turbo Duo.

The single act brings the Turbo Duo from the grave, as the once obscure, non-Mario/Sonic platform has the "in thing" that the kids want. Because of it's bountiful imorted Anime library, TTI is able to secure real translators and smaller dev teams to bring over the goodies. Instead of games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter taking over the US shores, multiple Macross shooters and TBSs, Cosmic Fantasies, begin to take over. TTI rekindles the flame with Midway, and the true version of Mortal Kombat I + II are released to Turbo CD along side Super Street Fighter II: CD Version.

b. Sega, now realizing they have screwed up with all the full motion video and taking it up the ass from Digital Pictures, decides to hold off the launch of the Saturn for a little bit longer (rather than in real life rushing it) to prepare their anime games like Blue Seed and the like for a US launch.

b2. Laseractive actually secured real laserdisc games like Dragon's Lair I + II, home versions of Sega's Virtual Coloseum games, and becomes the next generations Neo Geo.

c. Sony sees who the movers and shakers are, decide to try and strike a deal with NEC / TTI since they already have the CD programming mindset going, and go on to create the equally owned NEC TurboStation. Namco signs on and the rest is history. Konami ends up porting all 4 player arcade games to the multi-tap based system and players enjoy the likes of Bucky O 'Hare, TMNT Compilation, and the real version of Martial Champions.

d. Nintendo, too focused on cartridge formats still, releases the Ultra 64 to mixed reviews. Despite the amazing 3D graphics of Mario, the world is not ready for it and continues to enjoy the Saturn's amazing Anime games, AM2 software, and all hail the coming of Final Fantasy Trilogy on the TurboStation, in which Square is now a developer exclusively for NEC / Sony's machine.

e. In 2005 Jason wins the "Biggest TurboStation Fan" award as voted by gamers alike thanks to his love of all things TTI / Sony and his complete collection of all TurboStation games. He goes onto become the TTI equivalent of Nester and becomes a teen idol.

He still ends up being screwed by the Virtual Boy incident. ^__-

[CosmicMonkey]

What if Street Fighter 2 was never made?

My personal view:

Some things are inevitable, 1on1 fighters would still have come about. SNK would have captured the market with their fighting games instead. Following on from the success of Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury series, Samurai Shodown and The King of Fighters series would have become the games that everyone talks about. In fact, any 1on1 fighters would have been known as 'SNKlones' ;) instead of 'SF2 Clones'. Capcom would still have made their 'SNKlone' Street Fighter 2, but I don't think that it would have even nearly reached the popularity it has today, or indeed the multiple versions.

I think it would have possibly resulted in a switching of the positions each company is in today. SNK wouldn't have gone bust and we'd still have the original SNK, no Playmore anywhere to be seen. Capcom would have stuck to console franchises like Rockman/Megaman and certainly wouldn't be the company they are today.

God only know how else this could have affected the resulting future. Maybe SNK would still be in the arcade market with a 2nd/3rd generation Neo Geo system that was hugely popular. That would have left SNK in a position to release an entirely different (i.e. good) version of the CD system that really did challenge the Playstation and Saturn. And the Neo Geo Pocket would have been an entirely different beast. Much more powerful, bigger screen and buttons. A proper portable Neo Geo, and a real threat to the Gameboy.

But most importantly, Last Blade 3 and Garou 2 are released on the Neo Geo Hyper 64 arcade hardware (an alternate version of what exists today: i.e. - good, popular and not shit) which I'd have in one of my cabs. And I'd be sat here going on about how good Rumble Fish 2 is on Hyper 64 (Atomiswave, what be that?).....

One last thought: the Marvel Super Heroes vs. King of Fighters series and Marvel vs. SNK series would all be on Neo Geo hardware. And there'd be a full blown arcade version of the SNK Gals' Fighters game....

[blissfulnoise]

What if Joe had decided to collect thimbles and Digital Press never came to be?

Sothy's location would change to "IM IN UR BOBBINS, THREADEN UR T0B0GG@NS!!1!"

[shawnbo42]

No next question posted, so....

What if all TV's were still black & white?

[Dangerboy]

What if all TV's were still black & white?

EVerything color based would now have to be shaped based. Games like Guitar Hero would have circle, square, triangle, etc buttons....all the bubble bobbles, astro pops, etc of the world would need patterns / shapes to tell each object apart.

...

...

And the Virtual Boy would have been torn apart because everything is dripped in BLOOD RED...

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

my ? was passed over

[Dangerboy]

Charlie,

I think only because it wasn't a time line altering "What if?" type question. It was simply a cross-over question, and having been done (Marvel Vs, Capcom Vs, Snk vs., etc), it' snot that earth shattering.

[Zap!]

What if Alex Kidd in Miracle World came out 6 months earlier and was the original pack-in game in 1986 for the Sega Master System? Would the SMS have been a success, and if yes, would Alex Kidd be where Mario is today?

[Jorpho]

I'm not all that familiar with the Alex Kidd games, but as I recall the original still seemed like a pretty bad hack-job of the Japanese game. Plus it still had singularly awful box art. So, no, I think the SMS would have needed a lot more than just that.

I still don't have a new question, so...

What if Nintendo hadn't been the corporate bully it was back when the NES was released and allowed more companies to release different games / stores to sell more stuff than they wanted?

[theoakwoody]

I don't think making Alex Kidd the pack-in would have done much. I guess the real question should be do pack ins make a difference. If Mario wasn't packed in the nes would the nes have sold less? Would the Wii sell less without Wii Sports? Most systems have not had pack ins in the last 10 years. Why is that? The only system that did originally is the Wii.

Alex Kidd is definitely a great franchise and I would love to see it revived but its not about the mascot, its about the game. There was nothing groundbreaking about Alex kidd like what Mario did with Super Mario Bros. Sonic really showed that a great pack in can sell systems and I think its because it was so different than anything on the Snes. If Sega would have launched their "Sega does what Nintendon't" earlier I think the Master System could have had a shot at being successful. Imagine screenshot comparisons of Double Dragon and other Arcade classics. Lots of Master System games look as nice as PC Engine games which could have helped them launch their "Sega is what Turbo grafx sixtaint".




Question: What if the Snes was released simultaneously with the TG16 and Genesis?

[Zap!]

I'm not all that familiar with the Alex Kidd games, but as I recall the original still seemed like a pretty bad hack-job of the Japanese game. Plus it still had singularly awful box art. So, no, I think the SMS would have needed a lot more than just that.

I still don't have a new question, so...

What if Nintendo hadn't been the corporate bully it was back when the NES was released and allowed more companies to release different games / stores to sell more stuff than they wanted?

I strongly disagree. In playing games for almost 30 years, I'd put Alex Kidd in Miracle World as the greatest Mario-type 2-D 8-bit game in history, over even SMB 3.

To answer your question, I don't think it would have made a huge difference. Nintendo seemed to be smarter and have better marketing. They also jumped out to a huge lead before the real good 3rd party games became available.

[Zap!]

I don't think making Alex Kidd the pack-in would have done much. I guess the real question should be do pack ins make a difference. If Mario wasn't packed in the nes would the nes have sold less? Would the Wii sell less without Wii Sports? Most systems have not had pack ins in the last 10 years. Why is that? The only system that did originally is the Wii.

Alex Kidd is definitely a great franchise and I would love to see it revived but its not about the mascot, its about the game. There was nothing groundbreaking about Alex kidd like what Mario did with Super Mario Bros. Sonic really showed that a great pack in can sell systems and I think its because it was so different than anything on the Snes. If Sega would have launched their "Sega does what Nintendon't" earlier I think the Master System could have had a shot at being successful. Imagine screenshot comparisons of Double Dragon and other Arcade classics. Lots of Master System games look as nice as PC Engine games which could have helped them launch their "Sega is what Turbo grafx sixtaint".

Yes, pack-in games make a huge difference. SMB is the main reason for the NES' success. NEC deciding to put Keith Courage in Alpha Zones as the pack-in, and Atari putting Cybermorph are PART of the reasons they failed too. Companies need to realize this.



Question: What if the Snes was released simultaneously with the TG16 and Genesis?

Genesis would have likely either failed or been a lot less popular. As for the TG-16, it would have pretty much been the same, or even less popular.

Question:
What if the Neo-Geo was $300 and games were $50 each instead of $600 and $200 each?

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

Since when did this thread become the big changing questions and not the little guys?

[theoakwoody]

Yes, pack-in games make a huge difference. SMB is the main reason for the NES' success. NEC deciding to put Keith Courage in Alpha Zones as the pack-in, and Atari putting Cybermorph are PART of the reasons they failed too. Companies need to realize this.




Genesis would have likely either failed or been a lot less popular. As for the TG-16, it would have pretty much been the same, or even less popular.

Question:
What if the Neo-Geo was $300 and games were $50 each instead of $600 and $200 each?

The only major change I see is that the Neo-Geo would have become more of a console than an arcade machine. SNK would have started putting more effort into find third parties to support their hardware and be more diversified in the categories of games they offered. Sega would have come out with the 32x a lot sooner to soup up the Genesis in order to compete. Now that I think of it, SNK would pretty much become Sega. Supporting the console with mostly arcade hits but supplementing it with original console games such as Crystalis and Samurai Showdown RPG. Can you imagine the Baseball Stars that the NES got being released on the NEO GEO with customizable players and free agents?

How much did the Neo-Geo CD cost when it was released? I know it was too little too late but it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the system would have been originally a cd based system to save on cartridge costs. Obviously a single speed drive was horrible back then but maybe if they actually spent time developing the system around cd technology they could have figured something out.


Question: What if Nintendo had dominated Europe in the late 80s and early 90s?

[parker619]

then it would of dominated every where>?

ok what if sega had mario as there main item and nintendo had sonic as their main item??

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

What rpg franchise would be the first to be successful if there was no Final Fantasy Dw/dq or phantasy star?

[Three-P]

What rpg franchise would be the first to be successful if there was no Final Fantasy Dw/dq or phantasy star?

Shining Force or Lunar, probably.

What would the most common enemy in Dragon Quest be if it weren't one of those Hershey's Kiss-shaped slimes ?

[Jack7]

Shining Force or Lunar, probably.

What would the most common enemy in Dragon Quest be if it weren't one of those Hershey's Kiss-shaped slimes ?

probably the bats they were pretty common, but ive only played a couple dq/dw games.


What if atari released the panther instead of the Jaguar

[o.pwuaioc]

probably the bats they were pretty common, but ive only played a couple dq/dw games.


What if atari released the panther instead of the Jaguar

Probably the western equivalent to the slime: the rat (http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=34285).

[Rickstilwell1]

We may still have had Intellivison and Colecovision in the console market.
We may have had more of the early third party developers survive too.

along the lines of an earlier question.

What if the N64 was a CD based system?

Final Fantasy VII would have come out for Nintendo 64; the system it was originally being designed for and Sony's playstation would have had to try to survive without any of Square's help. Still doable with Konami and Working Designs handling the RPG releases, but not as amazing without all those other games Square developed for PS1 besides FF7. We still may have had Legend of Dragoon later on as a direct response to FF7.

[hellraiser]

What if nintendo went with blood on mortal kombat 1? And never started gearing towards the younger crowd?

[Rickstilwell1]

What if nintendo went with blood on mortal kombat 1? And never started gearing towards the younger crowd?

Maybe there would have been a role reversal and Sony or Sega would have geared toward the younger crowd. Maybe the Pico would have been a bigger success. hahaha

Oh and maybe Pokemon would have been for Pocket Station first.

[substantial_snake]

I really think one of the single biggest changes that could of happened to the industry would be if Nintendo didn't embarrass Sony at CES 91' by instead announcing that they would be partnering with Phillips for the SNES-CD. Without that single easily avoidable event on Nintendo's part it would of been very unlikely that Sony would would of ever gotten into the hardware business. This could of lead to many of today's big franchises being significantly altered or just cease to exist entirely having to either be developed on the hard to program and relatively weak Sega Saturn or limited storage medium N64. This could of had much wider implications too as a Nintendo without a dark period would of probably never of had to go back to the drawling board on console and game design, leading to things like the wii never existing. Not to mention the hard push that Sony gave to attract older gamers could of never happened, leading to Nintendo continuing to focus on its younger demographic and Sega to go after the teenager crowd since it had worked for them so well in the console generation before.

Alternative histories are fun. :)

What if the Gameboy had never gotten tetris?

[SirPsycho]

What if the Gameboy had never gotten tetris?

It still would have sold a crapton of units because of its super low price, excellent battery life, and the strength of Super Mario Land (sold more than SMB3, probably would have been the bundle game) and later on the first generation of Pokemon.

WHAT IF SEGA HAD NEVER MADE THE 32X AND FOCUSED ON MARKETING THE SATURN?

[Jack7]

WHAT IF SEGA HAD NEVER MADE THE 32X AND FOCUSED ON MARKETING THE SATURN?

the saturn would have been more polished, gamers wouldnt have lost their trust in sega and the system would have sold better. now in that case, the fate of the dreamcast kinda relied on the failure of the 32x/cd/saturn, and might not have been as good. however its still possible that it would have come out fine and sega would be in the place microsoft has been and no sonic mario olympics or sonic in brawl.

WHAT IF NINTENDO HAD BOUGHT THE REST OF RARE BEFORE MICROSOFT?

[Jorpho]

It still would have sold a crapton of units because of its super low price, excellent battery life, and the strength of Super Mario Land (sold more than SMB3, probably would have been the bundle game) and later on the first generation of Pokemon.Super low price? That thing was pretty expensive when it came out. And Pokemon came out pretty late in the system's life. (The better question is, what the heck would they have done with the link cable? Anything?)

But what's this about SML outselling SMB3? Do you have a source on that?

[SirPsycho]

http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-units_sold_sales.htm
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/4436/super-mario-land/
http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Mario_Land

My Googlefu is legendary.

[homerhomer]

What if arcades where still around with new 4-5k dollar games?
What if the Wii was a failure and Nintendo went bankrupt? Mario on Xbox and Sony?
What if video games were really considered art? (Whops too late http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/ )
What if there's a mame console released with dvd style boxed games with manuals and memorabilia? ( I want the one that comes Ikari Warriors with a special controller! )


Man I really miss the arcades. I'm glad that Nintendo is still around, I'm glad that video games are at the Smithsonian and I would love if someone would make a console for use classic arcade retro people. I know there's xbox arcade, but I want something made specifically for old arcade games. I also know there's ways of just playing this on a computer with MAME, but I enjoy the art, history and controls of them old quarter eaters.