The Killer Apps that could've saved a system

[evildead2099]

List some Killer App games that, based on their inherent strength and drawing power, could've saved a system (or kept it alive significantly longer).

Here are some that coem to mind:

Dreamcast: Messiah (This very fine PC game would've been great for the DC, as was originally planned....)

Saturn: That 3D Sonic title that Sega worked on.

32X: Castlevania (I've heard rumors that Konami intended to port Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo to the 32X, and photos printed in Gamepro magazine hinted at that possibility)

Dreamcast: Castlevania: Resurrection (Unless it turned out like any of Konami's other 3D Castlevania games, based on the review that I've read of them)

NES: Hellraiser (A Wolfenstein 3D-powered FPS on an 8-bit system!)

Nintendo 64: A worthy sequel to Mario 64.

[kentuckyfried]

It's not a killer app, but the M2 might have saved the 3do.

And before anyone argues with me, I said 'might have'.


M2 press release

[Snapple]

When someone says "system that needed a killer ap," it takes my brain about .00001 seconds to say "Saturn" and "Sonic Xtreme."

[shoes23]

Half-Life could have prolonged the life of the Dreamcast IMO. From what I hear it was ready to be pressed and sent out, but sadly was cancelled.

[retroman]

some games..........That might have saved the Jaguar

[exit]

32X: Castlevania (I've heard rumors that Konami intended to port Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo to the 32X, and photos printed in Gamepro magazine hinted at that possibility)

Now they don't seen to even want to re-release it. Which doesn't make sense because it's one of the most wanted games in the series. I hope they do a re-make for the DS, or even a release of a Castlevania collection.

[Skyway_Recreation]

at shoes23, what are you talking about? i own a copy of half life for DC, it came out.

[evildead2099]

at shoes23, what are you talking about? i own a copy of half life for DC, it came out.

You don't own a legit copy, then. If you bought a copy thinking it was legit, you were duped and actually picked up a bootleg.

[GetImOliver]

SMS - Michael Jackson's Moonwalker 2

[evildead2099]

SMS - Michael Jackson's Moonwalker 2

Was Sega ever serious about making a sequel to Moonwalker?

[nik]

NES - Earthbound, River City Ransom II, Super Dodgeball II.

Nuff said, it'd be here until 2050!

[Ed Oscuro]

32X: Castlevania (I've heard rumors that Konami intended to port Akumajou Dracula X: Chi No Rondo to the 32X, and photos printed in Gamepro magazine hinted at that possibility)

Thanks for bringing up two Castlevania games!

This was not a port of Dracula X. It had a dark-haired Alucard and...well, I don't know anything else, really. Nobody does. It appars that development for this was coming up with some of the ideas and graphics that were to be seen eventually on the PlayStation console. Somebody should ask Igarashi about this one.

Dreamcast: Castlevania: Resurrection (Unless it turned out like any of Konami's other 3D Castlevania games, based on the review that I've read of them)

Was being made by a US team. Looked pretty fantastic, actually, except for the stupid giant snakes screenshot, and some of the other stuff wasn't so nice.

The plot - time-travelling vampire killers - would've made Iga choke, St. Germain notwithstanding. For those that care about the series' plot, this and Castlevania Legends seem to have been working on a wholly different timeline that would've seen, among other things, Dracula being a forefather of the Belmont lineage. Sorta turns things into a soap opera, some say.

NES: Hellraiser (A Wolfenstein 3D-powered FPS on an 8-bit system!)

Not just Wolf 3D (I'm not actually sure it used the Wolf 3D engine, did it?), but it would've had a custom chip! That would've been NICE.

Nintendo 64: A worthy sequel to Mario 64.

Frankly, Mario 64 did so well because it was the first platformer, and because it was a pure platformer. Yeah, sounds like I'm bashing it, which would be hypocritical given that I've lumped praise on it. But consider what games you're discounting offhand: Both Zelda titles. Sure, they aren't Mario. Thank goodness!

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

True Fantasy Live Online Could have Defintly Saved the XBOX In Japan.

[goatdan]

Half-Life could have prolonged the life of the Dreamcast IMO. From what I hear it was ready to be pressed and sent out, but sadly was cancelled.

Actually, Half Life for the Dreamcast was pressed and waiting to be distributed when it was cancelled and all of the discs produced for it were destroyed, literally days before it was supposed to be released.

I got the strategy guide that was released like a week before it was supposed to come out, before even that company knew it was canned.

some games..........That might have saved the Jaguar

Actually, I really think the VR unit would've saved the Jaguar. From having played one personally, it is nothing short of amazing and if it came in under Atari / Virtuality's announced price point of $200, it would've been absolutely amazing.

That's the VR unit the magazines declared was running off a hidden computer somewhere because it was too good for Jaguar technology to run, of course.

[evildead2099]

Nintendo 64: A worthy sequel to Mario 64.

Frankly, Mario 64 did so well because it was the first platformer, and because it was a pure platformer. Yeah, sounds like I'm bashing it, which would be hypocritical given that I've lumped praise on it. But consider what games you're discounting offhand: Both Zelda titles. Sure, they aren't Mario. Thank goodness!

Perhaps you're right, especially given the fact that a 3D Zelda game came out so far toward the end of the N64's lifespan.

[Ed Oscuro]

True Fantasy Live Online Could have Defintly Saved the XBOX In Japan.

Nah, the MMO space was already packed. Game-starved Xbox owners would've snapped it up, I'm sure, but that wouldn't have been enough to turn the console around. Anybody's guess whether the experiment would've paid handsomely, though.

[classicb]

sometimes it doesn't matter even if the killer app does come out.

Rifts just came out for the N-Gage and even though its probably one of the best portable games out this year it still can't save the N-Gage as most people have given up on the system some time ago.

Credit to Nokia though for sticking it out and rewarding the diehards with a truely amazing game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Time to get me an N-Gage, eh?

[CosmicMonkey]

Yeah, killer app or not, some systems will still fail.

Mega CD - Ok, so realistically this system did have killer apps: Sonic CD, Final Fight CD and both Lunar games. Had enough decent games been released between Sonic and Lunar, the system may have stood a chance. But people really weren't that interested in spending a few hundered quid/bucks on a system with only a very few good games and too many crap FMV games or MD re-releases. It's sickening looking at all the unreleased games for the Mega CD that could have helped the system:
Castlevania IV
Thunder Force IV CD
Contra Spirits
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Captain Commando
Myst (this and Indy were fully complete, ready to press too)
Etc, etc.....
Add to this all the Sega arcade games that should have got converted, plus Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle CD and the system would be overflowing with good games. Hopefully making it (nearly) as essential as a CD drive for the PCEngine.

Saturn - Again, a system with amazing games. Virtua Fighter 3 and VirtuaFighter RPG/Akira's Quest/Saturn Shenmue would have come too late in the machine's life to save it, by then the world wanted Playstation. And even Sonic Xtreme couldn't have saved things.

Dreamcast - Due to the power of Sony, another Sega machine destined to fail. DC has amazing games but the world wanted a PS2 and it's mystical, magical, fairydust-powered 'Emotion Engine'. Even though the DC's launch line-up was amazing, and SoulCalibur still looks better than most PS2 games. Half-Life and Propeller Arena are indeed killer apps, but still not enough to save a system. Add to this Take the Bullet, Thunder Force VI, Geist Force and several other unreleased games that would have been absolute class.

What it all boils down to is pathetic in-fighting between SoA and SoJ, causing the complete mess that spanned right from the release of the Mega CD, through to 32X, Saturn and even the Dreamcast. Add to that Sony showing the world how to market a console properly, and all the best games in the world couldn't have saved Sega.

[Ed Oscuro]

It's sickening looking at all the unreleased games for the Mega CD that could have helped the system:
[snips]
Castlevania IV
Contra Spirits

These were both SNES/SFC games, so this seems unlikely. However, I have never heard of either of these ports, but Contra Spirits was planned at one time...for the N64. Have a source on that? If that's true, I hail you as a king of research!