What IF Nintendo and Sony....

[baby_bytes]

Ok so we all know the story, Nintendo was planning with Sony on the Playstion for some kind of an addon to the Super NES dropped them and went to Phillips, then Sony decided to come out with the Playstation on their own and SUCCESS for them they even managed to get Sega out of the console business b/c their cd-roms couldn't compare to Playstations, so Sega decided to dedicate themselves to only cartrigdes. While Nintendo's reign slowly went down...so this question dawned on me after I saw this program on the Game Show Network last night a 2 hour show, don't know the name of it, but they were talking about the history of the video game business from begining to present...so what do YOU think, would have happened if Nintendo and Sony had not parted ways?? What would have been of Sega and the present day Playstation and games??? Would Nintendo still be on top now? Would Nintendo have come up with the N64 afterwards??? Would the Gamecube and XBox even come out and exist today??? What would be of the gaming industry today?? You know all those pondering questions...So I just want to know what all of you think in your own mind would have happened...I think this would be a pretty interesting topic and would really like to read all the reply's

[RetroYoungen]

I saw that GSN video game documentary (I recorded it so I could watch it again later). It was actually pretty good, I thought. Tony Hawk didn't butcher it like I seriously thought he would.

As for the Nintendo Playstation, I think some sort of other turn of event would have come up for Nintendo or Sony to break up their arrangement anyway (fate maybe?), so I think we'd be in much the same sitation we're in today.

If not, then maybe the N64 would have been the NCD or something. Or, also as likely, Nintendo would be in the same situation that Sega is in right now: strictly software. Remember, it was what happened to and after the Sega CD that hurt Sega further on. So the Gamecube may have never come to be, and we might not havebeen playing Eternal Darkness, or Animal Crossing, or any other great GC games that we have today.

[Dr. Morbis]

what if, before any of this, Atari had agreed to release Nintendo's famicom technology in the US??? The 3 great (read: popular) systems so far are all linked in this way. I wonder if the next company to come out of left field and dominate the industry will result from an idea/proposal rejected by Sony?

[§ Gideon §]

I wonder if the next company to come out of left field and dominate the industry will result from an idea/proposal rejected by Sony?

Perhaps, the next big company will be based upon reliable hardware, the permitance of 2D graphics, fun games...? Joking. Actually, I'm getting a little sick of the company-bashing lately.

Seriously, though, I never knew that Nintendo proposed Famicom technology to Atari. That's interesting.

And, if Nintendo had stuck with Sony, perhaps Sega would still be making hardware. I would enjoy that...

[whoisKeel]

we'd all be paying $70 for new games

[Sylentwulf]

Ahh yes, the good old atari cdstation 2 game - mario kart double dash with a pac man cameo.

I played that in an alternate universe just the other day, good times, good times.

[Jorpho]

Seriously, though, I never knew that Nintendo proposed Famicom technology to Atari. That's interesting.

The story goes that Atari Chairman Ray Kassar saw Donkey Kong running on a Coleco ADAM at CES. As he was under the impression that Atari had exclusive rights to computer (not console) versions of Donkey Kong, he became quite upset and distrustful of Nintendo, and the rest is history.

In this way did the Coleco ADAM change the industry forever...

[Lady Jaye]

Well, the world of videogames and of computers is filled with these little "what if?" moments...

What if Atari, HP or Commodore had accepted to buy Apple in its infancy (yes, Atari was not the only company approached by Jobs and Wozniak to buy Apple... HP turned it down because they didn't see a future in computers (!) and Commodore, well...)

What if Atari had released the 7800 on schedule, in 1984 instead of 1986?

What if Nintendo had succeeded in getting the Famicom out in North America in 1983?

What if Apple had cancelled the Macintosh project?

What if Atari had released the Cosmos holographic handheld console?

And so on, and so forth...

[Oobgarm]

What would happen if Sony and Nintendo actually had made a joint effort?

I think that ManekiNeko would explode.

[§ Gideon §]

Fascinating tidbit, Jorpho.

What if Sonic and Mario had a baby?

[sisko]

they even managed to get Sega out of the console business b/c their cd-roms couldn't compare to Playstations, so Sega decided to dedicate themselves to only cartrigdes.

What? Sega was the first of the then big three to go to the primary CD format, abandoning the cartridge....not dedicating themselves to it.....

[ManekiNeko]

What would happen if Sony and Nintendo actually had made a joint effort?

I think that ManekiNeko would explode.

Tee hee!

JR

[baby_bytes]

they even managed to get Sega out of the console business b/c their cd-roms couldn't compare to Playstations, so Sega decided to dedicate themselves to only cartrigdes.

What? Sega was the first of the then big three to go to the primary CD format, abandoning the cartridge....not dedicating themselves to it.....

Nintendo had thought about it with Sony, then pulled out of Sony...I think at this time Sega was contemplating on the CD-Rom and that's when they were going to come out with the DreamCast (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong, I never played Sega so I never payed much attention to their systems), that's when Sony was left on it's own from Nintendo. So Sony decided to go on their own with the Playstation, which was in CD-Rom format, a few months earlier than Sega, so they beat them to it. Sega did eventually come out with their own CD-Rom's but it didn't work out for them, since Playstation was a bit more advanced...so they quietly stoped the console business to concentrate on video games....

[sisko]

they even managed to get Sega out of the console business b/c their cd-roms couldn't compare to Playstations, so Sega decided to dedicate themselves to only cartrigdes.

What? Sega was the first of the then big three to go to the primary CD format, abandoning the cartridge....not dedicating themselves to it.....

Nintendo had thought about it with Sony, then pulled out of Sony...I think at this time Sega was contemplating on the CD-Rom and that's when they were going to come out with the DreamCast (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong, I never played Sega so I never payed much attention to their systems), that's when Sony was left on it's own from Nintendo. So Sony decided to go on their own with the Playstation, which was in CD-Rom format, a few months earlier than Sega, so they beat them to it. Sega did eventually come out with their own CD-Rom's but it didn't work out for them, since Playstation was a bit more advanced...so they quietly stoped the console business to concentrate on video games....

I believe the Saturn launched before the Playstation (and I may very well be wrong). I also believe the Sega developed the CD before the original SNES Playstation was being planned. Meaning Sega was an early adopter of the CD format, and didn't dedicate themselves to the cartridge format. Regardless, these systems take years and years to design. Just because one console launched slightly early by a month or two, doesn't mean Sega never had the idea.

Nintendo was the company that stuck to the cartridge format far longer than any one else with the N64.

[spoon]

What about the Sega CD?

Anyhow, didn't Nintendo win a lawsuit against Sony? They were to recieve a certain amount for Sony's profits from the "Playstation" name since they helped them develop it?

[spooie]

The REAL question is... what would Atari be doing if they hadn't sat on the Contract and actually signed what would have given them full rights to the Nintendo outside of Japan and 80% profits on all systems sold. Just think... the REAL Atari would still be around, probably own Nintendo by now, and be a mutli-billion dollar partner with Sony.

[baby_bytes]

they even managed to get Sega out of the console business b/c their cd-roms couldn't compare to Playstations, so Sega decided to dedicate themselves to only cartrigdes.

What? Sega was the first of the then big three to go to the primary CD format, abandoning the cartridge....not dedicating themselves to it.....

Nintendo had thought about it with Sony, then pulled out of Sony...I think at this time Sega was contemplating on the CD-Rom and that's when they were going to come out with the DreamCast (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong, I never played Sega so I never payed much attention to their systems), that's when Sony was left on it's own from Nintendo. So Sony decided to go on their own with the Playstation, which was in CD-Rom format, a few months earlier than Sega, so they beat them to it. Sega did eventually come out with their own CD-Rom's but it didn't work out for them, since Playstation was a bit more advanced...so they quietly stoped the console business to concentrate on video games....

I believe the Saturn launched before the Playstation (and I may very well be wrong). I also believe the Sega developed the CD before the original SNES Playstation was being planned. Meaning Sega was an early adopter of the CD format, and didn't dedicate themselves to the cartridge format. Regardless, these systems take years and years to design. Just because one console launched slightly early by a month or two, doesn't mean Sega never had the idea.

Nintendo was the company that stuck to the cartridge format far longer than any one else with the N64.

i didn't say sega didn't have the idea...i know they had the idea, but sony beat them out to it for a few months when they decided to launch on their own, (which was nintendo pulled out) thats when sega came out with their new console just a bit too late and from what i've heard a lil crappier than the playstation, i just dont know the names of the sega consoles cuz i never payed atten. to them....