Video Game History What If's?

[IHatedSega]

I think this is a cool thread idea which could go on for a long time. Basically, whats a thing in video gaming history youve thought of, and you maybe have an alternate history idea for? Someone may have been thinking how Atari could have stayed ontop the console sales, up to nowadays even. Heres the big what if Ive always thought of:

How could Sega have stayed in the console business?
To me, it all started going downhill when they made the Sega CD and got all those horrible FMV games on it. After that they released the 32X and those didnt sell well at all, which together can be seen as a big misstep. Then the Saturn being released early made Sega so unpopular with developers and stores they lost to the PS1 and N64 as a distant 3rd place console. The Dreamcast came out, but not having the confidence back of many parties they burned bridges with the Saturn, and it not having a dvd drive, it was too late for Sega especially after Microsoft announced they would enter the console war.

But lets say Sega didnt put any energy and money into making Genesis addons, what if they had instead focused all that wasted money and time on their next console? Virtua Fighter was a big hit so obviously 3D was the next big step for gaming, and they would make sure they released a quality console for it. The Saturn would be released on time, and not early so then stores wouldnt have been angry with Sega for rushing everything after two failed addons, and developers would have enough time to make their games for it. The Saturn wouldnt have been rushed and enough time would have been focused on doing things right with 3D processing. Then another big thing wouldnt happen. Lets say Bernie Stolar wasnt hired to be in charge of Sega America, so then all those great RPG and 2D Japanese exclusive games would have been given a North American release. The Saturn would have a better library and a ton of games which were also on the PS1 and N64, making them a possible number 1 or 2 company in the 3 way race. Dreamcast production would also start later, giving it a later release with a dvd drive. Microsoft seeing the console market being a strong 3way race decides against releasing the Xbox as a TV gaming console and have it be a cross between computer gaming and console gaming, it fails as hard as the CD-i. The Dreamcast having a very diverse library and great sales numbers would allow Sega's next console to have enough strength in the business to get all the companies they lost in the Saturn era to come back and allow them to keep going strong.


Whats something youve thought of? It doesnt have to be a big thing like this, what ifs can cover a ton of ground.

[XYXZYZ]

I really don't know what to think about video game marketing in the 90s. I really wanted more Japanese stuff (ie, "stuff that looks like anime"). But the whole industry in the US seemed to be hell-bent against it, we know how the cool Japanese box art was always replaced with some dull looking airbrushed crap. I always wonder "what if they had marketed the same art and games from Japan?" Would that really have been more successful? Or would it have made the target demographic even smaller?

I also don't know what to think about the directions Sega went in. They were always the first to come out with the latest technology, and they were always surpassed by the competition, as though the competition was letting Sega dip it's foot in the water to see if it gets bit, then charging over them when it doesn't. But as far as stuff like the Sega CD and 32X, who knows? Sega always took risks. What if they hadn't focused on marketing the FMV games? Would they have been seen as "The same thing as SNES, with better music and twice as expensive"? The FMV stuff really set the Sega CD apart, I think the wow factor of FMV really sold a lot of units to people who were excited about the new technology and didn't think much about the games sucking. And I think we all agree that the 32X was a bad idea, to me it was just a premature 3D gimmick when you know the "true" 3D machines will be out soon. Personally I think they should have been focusing on providing better games for the Sega CD at that time, but hindsight is 20/20... you never know unless you take the risk. And let's not forget Virtual Boy, Nintendo had it's share of flops as well.

[retroguy]

On that note, what if the Virtual Boy had succeeded? As time went on and developers learned what they could do with the hardware, we might have seen more first-person pov games. Then, 3 or 4 years later, they would have released the Virtual Boy 2 with improved graphics and a full-color display. The end result is that today, full 3D virtual reality would be common and just about everyone would have their own headset, used for everything from gaming to virtual visits to famous landmarks and theme parks. If only...

[IHatedSega]

The FMV thing brought interest to it, but then after a few hours of excitement playing the first day you wake up the next morning and its worn off, then you put in Sonic CD :D I dont think I can come up with a way to think of how FMV would get stronger and take the industry forward. hahaha

Thats weird you bring up those things about the Sega CD, I downloaded a ton of nonFMV games a few hours ago, and I was thinking of if Sega hadnt focused on FMV, but on making better sounding and looking games for it. I noticed there were some computer games ported to it, maybe they could have gotten more DOS or such computer games for it? Maybe DOOM should have been on it instead of the 32X. Or what if NEC hadnt made the Turbo CD, and all those companies that eventually left them when they made the PC-FX had made those games for the Sega CD instead?

Oh, and yeah, I wish that original Japanese covers were used on a ton of games back then. Way better covers than what the American boxes have.

[7th lutz]

The FMV thing brought interest to it, but then after a few hours of excitement playing the first day you wake up the next morning and its worn off, then you put in Sonic CD I dont think I can come up with a way to think of how FMV would get stronger and take the industry forward. hahaha

Thats weird you bring up those things about the Sega CD, I downloaded a ton of nonFMV games a few hours ago, and I was thinking of if Sega hadnt focused on FMV, but on making better sounding and looking games for it. I noticed there were some computer games ported to it, maybe they could have gotten more DOS or such computer games for it? Maybe DOOM should have been on it instead of the 32X.

I don't think Sega CD and Doom would be a great fit. The graphics are almost identical to the Sega Genesis. That is a problem since the SNES was graphically better than the Genesis and the Snes had a bad port of Doom. The Sega CD is even faster than the Genesis, but still it wouldn't have been that great. 32x was more High Tech than the Sega CD for Graphics and had a more advanced graphics processor. The other problem is 3DO had Doom with a better processor and is regarded the worst version of Doom out there and that is an issue Since 3DO and Sega CD were CD based Systems.

[IHatedSega]

It would have at least sounded better than the 32X port. haha

[gepeto]

What if the Ps3 released at $299.00 / $399.00

[7th lutz]

It would have at least sounded better than the 32X port. haha

True enough, but rest of the Sega CD version would have made the 3DO version list a masterpiece. The 3DO version is considered worse port of Doom of all time.

[BricatSegaFan]

What if SNK never went under? What if Atari and SNK actually went through with thier deal to make a cheaper AES?

What if Gunpei Yakoi lived to see the wonderswan thrive and knock gameboy down a peg?

[chrisbid]

Sega's glut of hardware wasn't their problem, it was their lack of a compelling "killer app" to push hardware sales. The SNES continued to sell well into the 32-bit era thanks mostly to Donkey Kong Country and its sequels.

Virtua Fighter 2 was a huge hit in Japan that made the Saturn the most successful Japanese Sega console, but the VF series was flat in the US. Had Sega had a game that pushed systems like Sonic the Hedgehog pushed the Genesis, that game would've made its console (32X or Saturn) a hit.

In fact, the early 32 bit market was wide open in 95 and 96. Sony had the lead, but they could've been overtaken by Sega or Nintendo had either one of them hit a home run software title.

[Jorpho]

I think this is a cool thread idea which could go on for a long time.

You don't say?
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...etical-What-if
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...om-nes-what-if
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...t-What-IF-quot
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...xpansion-drive
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...?28642-What-if

[Collector_Gaming]

You don't say?
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...etical-What-if
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...om-nes-what-if
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...t-What-IF-quot
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...xpansion-drive
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/show...?28642-What-if

Well looking at those really quickly sounds like the big question is What if Nintendo actually kept with sony on partnership. What would have happened?

The short answer would be microsoft probably would have never even made console knowing they would never have even stood a chance. And probably sega would have saw the numbers pulling in from this alliance and not even bother releasing the dream cast making Nintendo/sony the ultimate ruler of the console market with no one to challenge them.

[IHatedSega]

Well looking at those really quickly sounds like the big question is What if Nintendo actually kept with sony on partnership. What would have happened?

The short answer would be microsoft probably would have never even made console knowing they would never have even stood a chance. And probably sega would have saw the numbers pulling in from this alliance and not even bother releasing the dream cast making Nintendo/sony the ultimate ruler of the console market with no one to challenge them.

Monopolies are never good for industries, just look at Pro Wrestling in America.

Sega would have been better off if Sony hadnt made the Playstation, it caused them to rush a lot of things and then Bernie Stolar came from being in charge of the American Playstation to being in charge of Sega America and he made it not have 2D games or RPGs, then ultimately killed the Saturn. Sega would have been a strong number 2 to Nintendo after the the N64 would have been a 3D cd based console since the Saturn wasnt originally going to be a 3D machine. In fact the N64 may not have been a 64 bit system, and the Dreamcast may not have been a 128 bit system. Microsoft would have entered the console market because then it would have been only Nintendo and Sega against each other. Sony would have only have made the cd attachment and hardware for Nintendo, it wouldnt have been an equal joint venture. It all rested on Sony not wanting to be a major player in the video game world, they did, so we got the Playtstation and here we are now.

[Berserker]

What if Infocom hadn't been bought by Activision and left for dead shortly thereafter? Would the text adventure genre have survived and advanced in the mainstream as opposed to being revived by hobbyists years later?

What if Looking Glass hadn't gone under? Would they be making new awesome or would people just be lamenting that System Shock 5 just ain't the same?

What if John Romero and Tom Hall hadn't been ousted from Id Software?

What if Chris Crawford had stayed in the gaming industry and tried implementing his interactive storytelling ideas gradually from within instead of seperating from it completely?

And this is a minor one, but what if the source code for Daggerfall hadn't been lost and was instead released as open source when Bethesda put the game out for free a few years ago? Would there be shiny modern ports of it with modern features, perhaps even a modding community like there are for the later Elder Scrolls games?

[BricatSegaFan]

Knowing Atari they would have fucked it all up (especially with Jack Tramiel in charge of Atari by then), we would have never recovered from the Crash of 83, and the console industry in the U.S. might not even exist, or at least certainly wouldn't be the billion-dollar business it is today.

Whoa man dropped the f bomb. You must have some strong opinions about Atari lol

[retroguy]

I guess he hasn't played Atari today.

[wiggyx]

While I wasn't a "Sega guy" during he 8 & 16-bit eras, I was very much on board with the Saturn and VERY much with the DC. What saddens me more than Sega bowing out of the console market when they had finally nailed the fuck out of it, is that their best franchises have either gone untouched, molested to the point of total irrelevance, or given only enough attention to whet the appetites of us devoted fans ever since. I think a return to the console market could potentially revitalize Sega, especially if they played the game differently than Microsoft or Sony. Less is more is the new more is more. There's no reason for them to spend 9 figures developing a console at this point. I think jumping on the open source bandwagon could both give their brand a boost AND help put a name to what is an otherwise generic new platform.

It's sad to see a company fall so hard just when they hit their absolute peak (in terms of great ideas).

[Greg2600]

Monopolies are never good for industries, just look at Pro Wrestling in America.

Sega would have been better off if Sony hadn't made the Playstation, it caused them to rush a lot of things and then Bernie Stolar came from being in charge of the American Playstation to being in charge of Sega America and he made it not have 2D games or RPGs, then ultimately killed the Saturn. Sega would have been a strong number 2 to Nintendo after the the N64 would have been a 3D cd based console since the Saturn wasn't originally going to be a 3D machine. In fact the N64 may not have been a 64 bit system, and the Dreamcast may not have been a 128 bit system. Microsoft would have entered the console market because then it would have been only Nintendo and Sega against each other. Sony would have only have made the cd attachment and hardware for Nintendo, it wouldn't have been an equal joint venture. It all rested on Sony not wanting to be a major player in the video game world, they did, so we got the Playtstation and here we are now.

SEGA was just a horribly managed company, always were, and STILL are. They got incredibly lucky with the Genesis, in that they were the first big competitor to the exploding NES, and had a far advanced system. In many ways they stood on Nintendo's shoulders on that one. SEGA, unlike Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, did not have the billions and billions of revenue/cash behind them to be able to make mistakes. They were kind of like a mid or small market baseball franchise, if they got it right, they had the flexibility to win, but if they had missteps it would hurt bad. And it did. For a Japanese company I really am shocked at how they allowed Sega of America to make so many important decisions or at least go with their calls.

They are dead for good in the console making business. They don't have the capital to get back in.

Knowing Atari they would have fucked it all up (especially with Jack Tramiel in charge of Atari by then), we would have never recovered from the Crash of 83, and the console industry in the U.S. might not even exist, or at least certainly wouldn't be the billion-dollar business it is today.

Ray Kassar was running Atari at the time for Warners, and it's unlikely they would have been able to just dump the home division onto Tramiel's lap with the Nintendo contract signed in 1983. Part of what derailed the deal was that Atari stalled and stalled waiting to see the capabilities of the MARIA chip (7800). It's possible that had the deal been signed, Atari's financial fiasco may have taken the NES with it before it ever got to US stores. Really no way of knowing. Plus it would have begun by Christmas '83, two years before Super Mario Bros. came about. Both Atari, regardless who owned them, and Nintendo, would be getting destroyed by the crash after effects. Famicom in 1984 didn't have much of a lineup different from Colecovision or any other system. I don't know if they would have lasted 2 years under that scenario. The deal was supposed to be 4 years, with a re-eval for another 4 year period. So again Nintendo could have dumped Atari by 1987 if they so choose.

[wiggyx]

They are dead for good in the console making business. They don't have the capital to get back in.

I really don't think it would require the amount of capital that you're thinking of. With indie and casual becoming so big, it seems like there is most definitely a way back into the market as "the small guy". Honestly, I think it could be the best time ever for a smaller company like Sega to make a splash.

[Rob2600]

What if Sega makes a Kickstarter page for a new game console?