What if the crash never happened.

[briskbc]

Where would our hobby be if the crash of the 80's didn't happen? In my opinion, video games would be very close to being a mainstream collestible. There woudl also be less resitance to US released hardware. Granted I don't know how the X-Box is doing now. The last sales figures I saw from Japan were from earlier in the year and they showed the PS1 and Dreamcast doing better numbers.

Well, thats the question I pose to you this evening. All answers are welcome.

[Sothy]

Much like Beta and the neo geo pocket I believe unless the X BOX gets some good quality and quantity games soon its only got a little over a year left to go.

Im admitting this as an X box owner and convert.


The Gamecube stacks up pretty close.. but the childish games..lack of dvd player nahhh.

And PS2? well put any dual platform game on an x box and ps2 and compare. The ps2 graphics look muddy now and on the titles that are done right X-box graphics are super froody.

Alot of people are bragging and talking shit ahah the xbox wont win...... if it doesnt its our loss cuz the neo geo pocket color kicked gameboys ass too. But nooooooo we want to play POKEMON. fucking idiots.

What was this post about? Oh yeah. Beta tapes were better.

[GENESISNES]

I agree with sothy. neo-geo could kick gameboys ass in a round in the ring.

anyway, back to the main point, video games would probobly be a savior if that little crash didnt happen.

[Raedon]

...The C64 wouldn't have sold in the Millions...

[Aswald]

In a previous post, I argued that the Crash of 1984 was NOT caused by a "glut" of games, since a flood of television channels, movies, videotapes, Playstation games, NES games, etc. did not cause any of these industries to collapse. Why would third-generation American gaming be an exception, even though I and all of my friends (and we were typical!) were still VERY much into home gaming, in spite of what the "experts" claimed.

The crash was caused primarily by Baby-Boomer aged "experts" and marketers who, rather than admitting that there was now a younger generation (the "Nameless" generation) which formed the bulk of the videogame consumer base, instead based their theories and opinions on themselves. Remember, these are the same people who also said that videogaming was dead, that the future was strictly in home computers, etc. Well, if they were wrong about that (Gamecube or X-Box, 2002, anyone?), why do people still buy into that "glut" theory, in spite of all of the evidence against it? Unfortunately, the videogaming companies DID buy into it (which is why Coleco dumped the Supergame Module and rushed out the ill-fated ADAM computer instead), and so the prophecy fufilled itself.

Therefore, in order for the Crash NOT to have occurred, none of this could've happened- in other words, the companies would've actually listened to the CONSUMERS, and NOT the "experts."

This would have meant that the fortunes of the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision would've been quite different.

For one thing, both Lord of the Dungeon and Tunnels and Trolls would've been released for the CV, because that's WHAT WE WANTED!! To this day, on any list of "ten most wished-for list" for the CV, Tunnels and Trolls is always near the top. Seeing the popularity of these games, Coleco would've put more of them out there, maybe even getting the rights to popular games such as Questron and Ultima. Since the 1983 LOTD already had battery-backup, this would've been quite possible.
As Atari had the computer rights to a number of RPGs, they no doubt could've gotten at least a few on the 5200. Didn't Adventure, Haunted House, and the SwordQuest games do well on the 2600?
In short, there would've been a number of RPGs for these consoles.

Existing games probably would've been better. Those companies would've known that we wanted arcade-to-home versions as close as reasonably possible. If we had to wait a bit longer, or pay a bit more, then schedules be damned, so be it! Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Missile Command, Congo Bongo, Mr. Do!, CV parker Bros. games, etc...all would've been complete and very nice looking (imagine CV Q*Bert with the cosmetics of Q*Bert's Qubes, or Mr. Do! looking as good as Mr. Do!'s Castle...).

As a result of all of this, Nintendo would've had second thoughts about releasing the NES here. NES versions would've only been somewhat better-looking versions of the games found on the American systems, and no-one will buy a new system just for that. What's more, the "learning curve"- the ability to better use a system's abilities as time goes on- would've ensured some truly excellent games in the mid-to-later 1980s; just check out the MSX versions of Nemesis 3, Arkanoid, and others at Raccoon Lad's website- these could easily have been ColecoVision games (by then, adding memory to a cartridge would've been fairly economical- no need for a Supergame module?).

With the 5200 and ColecoVision so well-supported, with at least as good a variety of games as the NES and SMS, and with their abilities truly used, with a loyal and big consumer base...well, it's not likely the NES would've done so well. And if they didn't really do well, then the SMS might never have even been released here.

Take it from there.