Beyond the Genesis-An Alternate Video Game History

“The original idea was to release several add-ons for the Genesis, such as one that would allow CDs to be played and another that would boost the processing power. I suggested that we just invest these technologies into a successor to the Genesis. At first, I think Mr. Nakayama was hesitant, but I’m glad he gave this plan a chance. Who knows where we would be otherwise?” –Tom Kalinske

By the end of 1991, Sega was at the top of their game. Their rise was sudden and provided a real threat to Nintendo. Behind the rise of Sega, was Tom Kalinske, the CEO of Sega of America. Kalinske had joined just a year before and already made his mark on the industry with a new marketing campaign, a price cut for the Genesis and the pack-in debut of Sonic the Hedgehog. It was all just in time to compete with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. And though Sega President Hayao Nakayama and the board of directors were once skeptical of Kalinske’s ideas, he proved himself and now looked to him to decide the future of Sega.

In 1992, Sega of Japan was interested in developing an upgraded version of Genesis. It later became a pitch as an add-on for the highly successful Sega Genesis that would give it more power. Already upset with the recent release of the Sega CD add-on, Tom Kalinske did not believe this was the way to go either. Kalinske believed that this research should go toward a successor to the Genesis, not an add-on or an update. Kalinske convinced Sega of Japan not to go through with the add-on, but Sega of Japan also had a new console in development. The console in development had a disastrous early development already. Thankfully, Kalinske had a plan. He and American R&D head, Joe Miller met with Jim Clark at Silicon Graphics, who were building a chipset for a video game machine.

“We called the guys from Japan to take a look. They seemed uninterested and I was worried that they would not take the deal. We were getting an amazing deal. I’m glad they realized what we were getting.” –Tom Kalinske

So, basically, no Sega CD, no 32X, and the Saturn using the SGI Ultra 64 (the chip which ended up in the N64)?

It's gonna be a bit difficult to handwave the Sega CD away. It seems baffling now, but at the time people actually wanted FMV games (up until the point they got them and discovered they were crap and ugly). It could have been argued by Kalinske that there simply wasn't anything worth putting on a CD yet and software development needed another 2-3 years to catch up in order to fill a CD with something more meaningful that D-tier movie clips and audio tracks, but it'll probably be a hard sell.

There's also the issue of the fratricidal war being waged between SoJ and SoA (plus SEE) regarding primacy. It could've been cut short had Nakayama and Isao Okawa (Sega's Chairman) issued an internal joint statement that SoA becomes lead branch. Of course, this would've played merry hell with the Japanese execs, since they felt Sega became a serious contender under their guidance (SErvice GAmes had been founded in the USA, but was later incorporated in Japan).

Additionally, there's the Hitachi issue. Unbeknownst to Kalinske, Nakayama had signed a long-term contract for parts, making it all but impossible to switch the supplier. Kalinske needs to pre-empt this move somehow (were SoA to get primacy, the issue would disappear on its own; otherwise, it's going to be pretty difficult, given the general lack of transparency between the two).

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about giving primacy to SoA and in terms of CD games, I was not sure if I would get rid of the Sega CD completely or just get rid of the 32x and have a better Saturn as a follow-up.

Due to the chaos at Sega of Japan, in 1993, Hayao Nakayama and Sega Chairman, Isao Okawa made the decision to make Sega of America equal with Sega of Japan. The decision resulted in a bit of a fallout on the Japan side, but Sega of America was determined to prove it was the right decision. The next console immediately went into development.

1993 Headlines:

3DO Announces New Consoles
January 7, 1993
Trip Hawkins took the stage at CES to reveal brand new CD-ROM based, 32-bit entertainment systems. Unlike its competitors, 3DO will not manufacture its own consoles, but instead they have partnered with Sony and Panasonic. Both models are expected to launch sometime in 1994.

Sega Confirms New Console in Works
In response to the 3DO reveal, Sega of America CEO, Tom Kalinske confirmed that Sega has something more powerful in the works.

Atari Releases the Panther
November 15, 1993
The Atari Panther launched today in the United States. The Panther is the first 32-bit game system on the market and it retails for $199.

Slowpoke said:

So, basically, no Sega CD, no 32X, and the Saturn using the SGI Ultra 64 (the chip which ended up in the N64)?

It's gonna be a bit difficult to handwave the Sega CD away. It seems baffling now, but at the time people actually wanted FMV games (up until the point they got them and discovered they were crap and ugly). It could have been argued by Kalinske that there simply wasn't anything worth putting on a CD yet and software development needed another 2-3 years to catch up in order to fill a CD with something more meaningful that D-tier movie clips and audio tracks, but it'll probably be a hard sell.

There's also the issue of the fratricidal war being waged between SoJ and SoA (plus SEE) regarding primacy. It could've been cut short had Nakayama and Isao Okawa (Sega's Chairman) issued an internal joint statement that SoA becomes lead branch. Of course, this would've played merry hell with the Japanese execs, since they felt Sega became a serious contender under their guidance (SErvice GAmes had been founded in the USA, but was later incorporated in Japan).

Additionally, there's the Hitachi issue. Unbeknownst to Kalinske, Nakayama had signed a long-term contract for parts, making it all but impossible to switch the supplier. Kalinske needs to pre-empt this move somehow (were SoA to get primacy, the issue would disappear on its own; otherwise, it's going to be pretty difficult, given the general lack of transparency between the two).

Click to expand...

Yeah OTL the SGI MIPS 4000i become the hearth of OTL N64, that chip have some issues but well made can do wonders(Goldeneye,Turok2,Zelda,Perfect Dark) and was 3 times stronger that his counterpant in PS1(why Resident Evil 2 was possible in N64), SEGA lost and invaluable thing with that.

Sega CD was mainly a japanese thing to compete against PC-ENGINE CD(who was beating sega for the second place in japan) and was in paper a good idea, would allow good Shooter, more pc ports and oriignal games..but Sega have worst third party support that both company and the cost of making the whole thin IN-HOUSE make the add-on pretty cost prohibitive...was a shame better made would have been amazing.

You already explore well the frictional wars of sega..and the idea of givign more autonomy(that lead, remember sega is a japanese company, they will allow be equal with their former american mainhouse but never superior) and cooperation with hardware, remember the trans-sega jealouse were that SEGA machines were popular in other region that japan, the saturn was always a japanese console(who fare amazing in japan) but lost worldwide for that, here the next generation consle war will be interesting.

That contract was because Hitachi President was Nakayama brother in law and was useful because Hitachi lose a big client(I don't recall it) and that vital to avoid a collapse. here with more cooperation betwen branch, that contract can cost Nakayama carrer..would be interesting what happened to him and later hitachi

Confortius said:

Due to the chaos at Sega of Japan, in 1993, Hayao Nakayama and Sega Chairman, Isao Okawa made the decision to give primacy to Sega of America. The decision resulted in a bit of a fallout on the Japan side, but Sega of America was determined to prove it was the right decision. The next console immediately went into development.

1993 Headlines:

3DO Announces New Consoles
January 7, 1993
Trip Hawkins took the stage at CES to reveal brand new CD-ROM based, 32-bit entertainment systems. Unlike its competitors, 3DO will not manufacture its own consoles, but instead they have partnered with Sony and Panasonic. Both models are expected to launch sometime in 1994.

Sega Confirms New Console in Works
In response to the 3DO reveal, Sega of America CEO, Tom Kalinske confirmed that Sega has something more powerful in the works.

Atari Releases the Panther
November 15, 1993
The Atari Panther launched today in the United States. The Panther is the first 32-bit game system on the market and it retails for $199.

Click to expand...

that black thing is big? what HAPPENED TO OTL PS1? THAT IS MAYBE BIGGER BUTTERFLY THAT SEGA itself(you should mention that, that is bad tradition not mention other vital butterflies before the discussion), please tell me about it, the impact will be mothra size

What is atari doing? maybe a jaguar that not sucks? but again if they can look NEC FOR HELP, they can become maybe the third player alongside Nintendo and SEGA

and the billon yen question? and Nintendo? the butterfly take away OTL N64. Miyamoto is still wanting to bring mario to 3D(Starfox how 3D was possible) and which hardware will use here? if need help i've some ideas(either NEC based or Intel based) and Donkey Kong Country will be the big game next year.

Anyway nice timeline, was pretty intersting to see one(as mine is in hiatus until my partner comeback) and which other surpise did youy have?

As a lot of Sonic fans know, Michael Jackson was a fan of the series and was going to work on the soundtrack for Sonic 3, although whether or not he did is a topic of debate. Listening to the "Lore" series on Youtube, it said the reason Jackson chose to remain uncredited was that he was unhappy with the sound reproduction of the Genesis.

With a higher quality console capable of higher or possibly CD quality sound reproduction, I would wonder if he'd be more open to working on the soundtrack for said console's Sonic game.

Emperor Norton I said:

As a lot of Sonic fans know, Michael Jackson was a fan of the series and was going to work on the soundtrack for Sonic 3, although whether or not he did is a topic of debate. Listening to the "Lore" series on Youtube, it said the reason Jackson chose to remain uncredited was that he was unhappy with the sound reproduction of the Genesis.

With a higher quality console capable of higher or possibly CD quality sound reproduction, I would wonder if he'd be more open to working on the soundtrack for said console's Sonic game.

Click to expand...

Umm, acording some other people was because the first scandal(but again that was bullshit, those happen a year later) but again, Michael Loved OTL Moonwalker in genesis(well, that was before snes was released) so again that sound reproduction of the genesis have some lack of foundament too.

Umm but again he made for Sega Space channel 5 and the sequel.

The sound thing is a bit of a contentious issue between Sega and Nintendo fans. The Mega Drive's main sound chip was a Yamaha synth, not a sampler, meaning that music was primarily composed of beeps and boops (with the drums being sampled IIRC) modulated to resemble real instruments (with... varying accuracy). OTOH, it had higher frequency and boost, making techno tracks sound absolutely amazing. The Sony sampler chip in the SNES had reasonably good fidelity for the era, and a far wider array of actual instruments (making it better for 'operatic' pieces like the ones in jRPGs), but its output was somewhat washed out and muffled. This is why a sizable minority maintains that, while the SNES may have been technically superior at the time, the Mega Drive's sound aged better (due to sampler technology advancing faster than synth).

You needed a good electronica composer to squeeze the most out of the Mega Drive's sound generators, whereas any halfway competent soundman could arrange an orchestra on the SNES.

Back to the issue at hand, from the stuff I read it seems Nakayama was part of the "good ol' boy" network that wanted to keep Sega Japan on a "more equal than others" footing. In order to counteract this one needed to make a solid case for expansion outside Japan. In my view, the main way one could've done it in the early '90s is by constructing an argument around the Japanese economic slump during board meetings. Basically, to put forth an "argumentum ad cupiditas", try to appeal to their desire for profits in order to make them agree on catering primarily to a Western audience. Okawa sort of wanted to back this plan, but his ambivalence, desire to not appear as playing favourites and general distaste for boardroom politics meant he dithered during the crucial 1990-1991 period. If I'm not mistaken, Nakayama signed the Hitachi contract in 1993; any meaningful action had to be taken a good deal of time before that (to preempt the start of negotiations).

Oh, and then there's the Game Gear issue...

Slowpoke said:

Back to the issue at hand, from the stuff I read it seems Nakayama was part of the "good ol' boy" network that wanted to keep Sega Japan on a "more equal than others" footing. In order to counteract this one needed to make a solid case for expansion outside Japan. In my view, the main way one could've done it in the early '90s is by constructing an argument around the Japanese economic slump during board meetings. Basically, to put forth an "argumentum ad cupiditas", try to appeal to their desire for profits in order to make them agree on catering primarily to a Western audience. Okawa sort of wanted to back this plan, but his ambivalence, desire to not appear as playing favourites and general distaste for boardroom politics meant he dithered during the crucial 1990-1991 period. If I'm not mistaken, Nakayama signed the Hitachi contract in 1993; any meaningful action had to be taken a good deal of time before that (to preempt the start of negotiations).

Oh, and then there's the Game Gear issue...

Click to expand...

Let me throw my two cents to the conversation and make remark in black :

More than that, Sega of Japan always was ultra jealous that their console were popular in any market but japan(Master system rules in UK and part of europe, Genesis in America) and that make the Saturn being thing mostly for japanese games(RPG,Shot the ump, Figthing games,etc) rather generals..a costly mistake(even bigger that hitachi, those PC can do wonder when knew how to program in those bad boys)

Okawa was more neutral, he wanted sega only being profitable but again won marketshare against Nintendo and NEC(later sony), but he was to old and sick to rule directly..and he decided support Nakayama over kalisnke..who were..made trans sega friction even bigger.

Well the POD is 1992 and would that deal be butterfly away...Hitachi need a partner or will crash and burn even worse that otl(maybe Toshiba or panasonic will take the pieces?)

The problem with game gear was marketing, price and batery life, was popular in europe and sold the not bad 6 millon in life, should have been redesigned, put some batteries long as least 10 hours and would be decent rival to Gameboy, but again, rememeber, western hate handleds and Nintendo dominated those...Maybe if Sega buy Bandai will have the Licenses to fight against it?

In general i want to know more butterflies, what is sony doing? what is trip hawking doing? what is nintendo doing? that would allow better coments.

IIRC Okawa admitted a short while before his death that going with the "Japan-first" option was what led to Sega's ultimate exit from the console business. To change this you'd need Kalinske to be more persuasive (maybe convince David Rosen to lean a bit on Okawa, and in turn both of them lean more than a bit on Nakayama).

Game Gear's biggest problem was terrible battery life compared to the Gameboy. It needed 50% more batteries (6 compared to the Gameboy's 4) it for about a quarter of its playtime (~4 hours compared to ~15). It desperately needed to be shipped with a rechargeable pack. Trouble is, those were very expensive at the time.

Its biggest advantage was full compatibility with Master System software (since it was almost identical hardware-wise). In fact, that was also Mega Drive's advantage (which is why I consider the Power Base adaptor to be the only really good MD add-on). This means Sega could effectively recycle the entire Master System development infrastructure into supporting the Game Gear for little to no extra cost. Their failure to do so greatly baffles me.

The reason I'd want an earlier PoD is because by 1992 Sega effectively had to support 3 different systems and were starting to creak at the hinges. I don't think they could've ever managed to support more than 2 simultaneously (and they basically didn't, with most Mega CD titles being MD titles + FMV and/or audio tracks). A late 1990 PoD could potentially go for dumping the Mega CD (launched late 1991), but have the Game Gear exist (launched late 1990) and be supported properly (with the money that OTL went into the Mega CD).

Regarding Hitachi, were they really in such a bad shape that the Sega contract was their primary lifeline? I sort of want them to stick around for a potential BlackbeltPlus Dreamcast (DVD, SH4+3dfx Avenger, 24 MB RAM+12 MB VRAM, a 50% increase over OTL).

EDIT: Tweaked my post a bit.

Nivek said:

that black thing is big? what HAPPENED TO OTL PS1? THAT IS MAYBE BIGGER BUTTERFLY THAT SEGA itself(you should mention that, that is bad tradition not mention other vital butterflies before the discussion), please tell me about it, the impact will be mothra size

What is atari doing? maybe a jaguar that not sucks? but again if they can look NEC FOR HELP, they can become maybe the third player alongside Nintendo and SEGA

and the billon yen question? and Nintendo? the butterfly take away OTL N64. Miyamoto is still wanting to bring mario to 3D(Starfox how 3D was possible) and which hardware will use here? if need help i've some ideas(either NEC based or Intel based) and Donkey Kong Country will be the big game next year.

Anyway nice timeline, was pretty intersting to see one(as mine is in hiatus until my partner comeback) and which other surpise did youy have?

Click to expand...

Thanks. Originally I was only going to post details from Sega's point of view and then the headlines and details in Sega's story would talk a little bit about the competitors, but I'm thinking I will turn it more into a timeline where you can get the full picture. In my mind it started a little more Sega focused but I'm enjoying writing this and I will expand the story.

Atari working with NEC is a brilliant idea and definitely will look at that as a possibility. They each have what the other doesn't. It's almost a perfect match.

As far as Nintendo goes, I will reveal that in a future update. I have a few things in store.


Thanks everybody for the feedback and suggestions. I will update soon with more details.

Slowpoke said:

IIRC Okawa admitted a short while before his death that going with the "Japan-first" option was what led to Sega's ultimate exit from the console business. To change this you'd need Kalinske to be more persuasive (maybe convince David Rosen to lean a bit on Okawa, and in turn both of them lean more than a bit on Nakayama).

Game Gear's biggest problem was terrible battery life compared to the Gameboy. It needed 50% more batteries (6 compared to the Gameboy's 4) it for about a quarter of its playtime (~4 hours compared to ~15). It desperately needed to be shipped with a rechargeable pack. Trouble is, those were very expensive at the time.

Its biggest advantage was full compatibility with Master System software (since it was almost identical hardware-wise). In fact, that was also Mega Drive's advantage (which is why I consider the Power Base adaptor to be the only really good MD add-on). This means Sega could effectively recycle the entire Master System development infrastructure into supporting the Game Gear for little to no extra cost. Their failure to do so greatly baffles me.

The reason I'd want an earlier PoD is because by 1992 Sega effectively had to support 3 different systems and were starting to creak at the hinges. I don't think they could've ever managed to support more than 2 simultaneously (and they basically didn't, with most Mega CD titles being MD titles + FMV and/or audio tracks). A late 1990 PoD could potentially go for dumping the Mega CD (launched late 1991), but have the Game Gear exist (launched late 1990) and be supported properly (with the money that OTL went into the Mega CD).

Regarding Hitachi, were they really in such a bad shape that the Sega contract was their primary lifeline? I sort of want them to stick around for a potential BlackbeltPlus Dreamcast (DVD, SH4+3dfx Avenger, 24 MB RAM+12 MB VRAM, a 50% increase over OTL).

EDIT: Tweaked my post a bit.

Click to expand...

Again the history is not clear, Okawa want sega to sucess but the whole collapse during saturn and nakayima/stollar era was so big, i think he was forced to cover his based OTL. maybe here with better hindsight would be better giving more support to SEGA of America(David Rosen can be vital, he was co chairman until 1996)

of course but should have work, maybe more expensive but the bonus of(not need of buy batteries) and ion-lithium start to drop in price allow tactical price drop, plus keep the system in advantage

In fact SEGA DID TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SHARE ARCHIECTURE, the problem was Master system was only sucessful in europe and a utter bomb in japan and America(except brazil) and that would allow few developer(and frankly few people developed to handled in the west) to used it.


Ummm the problem with Hitachi was their market was mostly computer for airline, automatic teller machine,etc, they only enter console to sold..sorry i confuse hitachi with ricoh, Hitahci was far healthier, sorry fe de erratas.

as mention did sega have nice idea and potential, as always say: Sega worst enemy was itself.

Confortius said:

Thanks. Originally I was only going to post details from Sega's point of view and then the headlines and details in Sega's story would talk a little bit about the competitors, but I'm thinking I will turn it more into a timeline where you can get the full picture. In my mind it started a little more Sega focused but I'm enjoying writing this and I will expand the story.

Atari working with NEC is a brilliant idea and definitely will look at that as a possibility. They each have what the other doesn't. It's almost a perfect match.

As far as Nintendo goes, I will reveal that in a future update. I have a few things in store.


Thanks everybody for the feedback and suggestions. I will update soon with more details.

Click to expand...

That wasn't any wrong, in fact you can keep it sega focused, but reveal very important butterflies, example no playstation, even if the support 3do(who sadly was pretty doomed unless major butterflies) would change radically the market, heck would allow otl saturn being sucessful or have at least more breathing room that otl, so please reveal those detail carefully(yeah you need surpises and those are good).

Yeah, i've that idea to use in other TL, again that should have happened before the panther, to have both enterprise better room of maneavre and developt a better system for 1994-1995.

I'm waiting what the Big N will do next, with that change..maybe looking for 3DFX or other 3d chip company(NEC, ATI?)

that was a pleasure waiting the update

I have a file with the title Sega Lives in my virtual notebook

Most of the basics have been covered but as the guy that came up with the Atari/NEC team-up idea AFAICT I'm tickled pink it's still being brought back up. I believe my original premise was something along the lines of an alt-Atari Jaguar surviving based on PC games + NEC selling it in Japan.

That would give the *Jaguar a niche in the USA (computers were much more expensive, especially in relative value) and a bigger one if they could get in on the UK PC gaming scene. It would give it two niches in Japan, the old NEC one of being the otaku machine and a new one introducing Western style games to Japan vastly earlier and with more impact than ever really happened IOTL.

That said, I don't believe Atari management (or NEC, for that matter) could pull such a thing off in that timeframe. With perhaps a touch of wiggle room for NEC being bold and wanting to launch the PC Engine in the USA in 1988 and needing a partner.

Confortius said:

Unlike its competitors, 3DO will not manufacture its own consoles, but instead they have partnered with Sony and Panasonic. Both models are expected to launch sometime in 1994.

Click to expand...

Sony had to be forced into the game market via Krazy Ken and even then it was a series of hilarious low odd events (you can thank Sony Music, for example). The 3DO was a suckers game, as you can see by the people that made hardware for it. Sony, if indeed pushed into the game hardware market somehow, would very likely not go 3DO (I can just imagine Kaz Hirai smacking people in the face as he, not-that-oddly, was at Sony Music at the time).

That said if the 3DO company cuts a different deal and cuts all hardware makers in on the royalties based on how much they sell you could see it happening. That, however, just means the 3DO is a traditional console made by multiple vendors with 3DO itself needing to become (basically) first-party EA. I don't think Trip's heart was in becoming EA again though, as you can see by the quality of 3DO's software releases post-3DO console.


Various other stuff can wait until you re-gather yourself from the info and do more of the timeline but I agree the best PODs here are business ones: either Kalinske remains close friends with Nakayama or Rosen et al mount a coup and SoA/SoE take over. For a coup I imagine something big would have to happen since SoA was pretty independent prior to 1993-4. And squabbling over hardware probably isn't big enough, it would have to be big. Which could be an *3DO or *Jaguar: SoJ screws around with add-ons, Kalinske becomes desperate enough earlier to bitch when he still has some power.


(And fun random aside Sega was not only offered what became the N64's chip, but also the Panasonic's M2 chip but turned it down as well)

Nivek said:

I'm waiting what the Big N will do next, with that change..maybe looking for 3DFX or other 3d chip company(NEC, ATI?)

Click to expand...

Buy the M2? Lol. Although, they probably could get it out in 1996 for a not half bad price.

PC 3D graphic cards actually lagged behind consoles in this era, however briefly. 3DFX, ATI, Nvidia, S3, Matrox, PowerVR: all released 3D cards either in mid-to-late 1996 and thus likely too late/expensive for a console, or simply weren't that good even against say the Playstation (S3 ViRGE, in 1995).

Rendition's Vérité V1000 is nice: faster than anything but Voodoo, plus 2D capability unlike the Voodoo (which would rule out the Voodoo for console). But that's 1996 and certainly too expensive as well.

No, they'd have to go to a CPU company and have the 3D chip be part of it... unless they could get something going.

Slowpoke said:

Regarding Hitachi, were they really in such a bad shape that the Sega contract was their primary lifeline? I sort of want them to stick around for a potential BlackbeltPlus Dreamcast (DVD, SH4+3dfx Avenger, 24 MB RAM+12 MB VRAM, a 50% increase over OTL).

Click to expand...

They were not. In this alternate timeline with SoA on top any similar-ish to Dreamcast system would certainly go with a pure American solution (i.e. PowerPC + 3DFX, or related) rather than the Hitachi/PowerVR option. And a good thing as well, since PowerVR had major problems transitioning nodes and their delays wiped out hundreds of thousands of Dreamcast sales in Japan, a key factor in killing the Dreamcast.

Electric Monk said:

Most of the basics have been covered but as the guy that came up with the Atari/NEC team-up idea AFAICT I'm tickled pink it's still being brought back up. I believe my original premise was something along the lines of an alt-Atari Jaguar surviving based on PC games + NEC selling it in Japan.

That would give the *Jaguar a niche in the USA (computers were much more expensive, especially in relative value) and a bigger one if they could get in on the UK PC gaming scene. It would give it two niches in Japan, the old NEC one of being the otaku machine and a new one introducing Western style games to Japan vastly earlier and with more impact than ever really happened IOTL.

That said, I don't believe Atari management (or NEC, for that matter) could pull such a thing off in that timeframe. With perhaps a touch of wiggle room for NEC being bold and wanting to launch the PC Engine in the USA in 1988 and needing a partner.

Click to expand...

the problem is timing, market perception and other.

If the console is not strong enoug..will be eaten alive when other(ultra nintendo, sega giga drive,etc) come and will put the company in bad situation, consumer would fell abadoned and not buy the sucessor.

I've an idea but need more info for the author.

for me NEC buying atari for the brand and picking good managment would do wonder for both companies.

Your idea of niche machine is excellent, as the playstation is still to be born and saturn is not released yet.

As you say, a previous POD would help better the relationship, but the current butterflies, i've giving ideas how to work.

Electric Monk said:

Sony had to be forced into the game market via Krazy Ken and even then it was a series of hilarious low odd events (you can thank Sony Music, for example). The 3DO was a suckers game, as you can see by the people that made hardware for it. Sony, if indeed pushed into the game hardware market somehow, would very likely not go 3DO (I can just imagine Kaz Hirai smacking people in the face as he, not-that-oddly, was at Sony Music at the time).

That said if the 3DO company cuts a different deal and cuts all hardware makers in on the royalties based on how much they sell you could see it happening. That, however, just means the 3DO is a traditional console made by multiple vendors with 3DO itself needing to become (basically) first-party EA. I don't think Trip's heart was in becoming EA again though, as you can see by the quality of 3DO's software releases post-3DO console.

Click to expand...

Remember that today..nobody knew what really happen between the fallout of Sony and Nintendo(a friend read me a little of the original 1988 contract and tell me the idea was tho share both hardware and software cost and production but still is not mention which responsabilities will have either company) thus that Krazy ken was simple saving a pretty advance project of being cancelled al together(remember PS1 was based of Sony Reality Engine used for SFX in 80's and 90's and MIPS hardware) for me...the project have a lot of similarities with SNES...meaning both company work together to an extent.

If sony enter OTL 3D0 mess..well their idea, otl was a good idea but Hawking and his arrogance killed it so quick.

Electric Monk said:

Various other stuff can wait until you re-gather yourself from the info and do more of the timeline but I agree the best PODs here are business ones: either Kalinske remains close friends with Nakayama or Rosen et al mount a coup and SoA/SoE take over. For a coup I imagine something big would have to happen since SoA was pretty independent prior to 1993-4. And squabbling over hardware probably isn't big enough, it would have to be big. Which could be an *3DO or *Jaguar: SoJ screws around with add-ons, Kalinske becomes desperate enough earlier to bitch when he still has some power.


(And fun random aside Sega was not only offered what became the N64's chip, but also the Panasonic's M2 chip but turned it down as well)

Click to expand...

that is the idea, again with some hindsight(convice the bigwigs is always brutal..read my timeline, kalisnke fought hard to convice to use the MIPS4000i and barely won thanks to Sonic team support). Let see what confortius do.


The M2 was made when the Saturn was already released and that was an arcade board..sega have already their Model series with Lockheed-Martin thus not need of M2(Who was pure vaporware, barely stronger that n64, konami spend to much money for nothing)

Electric Monk said:

Buy the M2? Lol. Although, they probably could get it out in 1996 for a not half bad price.


PC 3D graphic cards actually lagged behind consoles in this era, however briefly. 3DFX, ATI, Nvidia, S3, Matrox, PowerVR: all released 3D cards either in mid-to-late 1996 and thus likely too late/expensive for a console, or simply weren't that good even against say the Playstation (S3 ViRGE, in 1995).

Rendition's Vérité V1000 is nice: faster than anything but Voodoo, plus 2D capability unlike the Voodoo (which would rule out the Voodoo for console). But that's 1996 and certainly too expensive as well.

No, they'd have to go to a CPU company and have the 3D chip be part of it... unless they could get something going.

Click to expand...

Umm M2 is too overpriced for Nintendo Standard(they kicked out Nvidia of 3DS because that) and they liked to do thing in house, thus will looks other partner.

as the companies i know(Voodoo,Ati,Nvidia and other) are still to small..rule out...will wait to the ULTRA sucessor for that.

Maybe working with SGI too as otl or with AMD instead IBM?

Electric Monk said:

They were not. In this alternate timeline with SoA on top any similar-ish to Dreamcast system would certainly go with a pure American solution (i.e. PowerPC + 3DFX, or related) rather than the Hitachi/PowerVR option. And a good thing as well, since PowerVR had major problems transitioning nodes and their delays wiped out hundreds of thousands of Dreamcast sales in Japan, a key factor in killing the Dreamcast.

Click to expand...

Depend, in fact dreamcast suffer ironically because Saturn was STILL popular in japan when was released and the PS2 killed any momentum, thsu those are butterflies rule out thanks to the POD.

And that would make the thing a gamecube with voodoo/Nvidia hardware...let0s way to see, is stil to early to call anything and we will intimidated Confortius.

In 1993, Hayao Nakayama and Sega Chairman, Isao Okawa made a joint decision to give more power to Sega of America and Europe, balancing all divisions of Sega as equals. Several points that they included as reasoning were that they held the biggest market share in those regions and that Kalinske was right about what the Genesis needed and was proven right in his warnings about releasing the Sega CD. This also led to the official deal with SGI to produce the chip set for Sega’s next-generation gaming system.

While Sega was getting their next-gen console prepped, they had many other immediate things to get done. The Game Gear was able to compete with Nintendo’s handheld to a certain extent, but it was clear that the Game Gear had its problems and Sega needed to find a way to make it more competitive with the dominant Game Boy. The Game Gear had short battery life and used 6 batteries which made it less appealing as a portable system. So Sega redesigned the system with emphasis on increasing the battery life. The redesign would use 4 AA batteries and run for 10 hours.

Another problem that Sega faced was their CD-ROM add-on. To boost sales of the device, Kalinske ordered a $100 price cut, bringing it down to $199 U.S. dollars and it was to be packed with Sonic CD, similar to a strategy we saw with the Genesis. However, Kalinske significantly cut American and European first-party development support from the device. This further caused certain members of Sega of Japan to become more unsettled, but Okawa believed the westernization was exactly what Sega needed to profit.

The cuts from the Sega CD meant more teams to work on Genesis, Game Gear, and their next console.

1993 was a big year for Sega, but it was also a big year for its competition. Nintendo had released the groundbreaking Star Fox on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The cartridge featured a “SuperFX” chip that allowed the game to produce 3D polygonal graphics. The heads at Sega wanted a response to this, so they created the Virtual Processor and as for the games that would use it, they already had arcade games in the pipeline that they could port to the Genesis with the Virtual Processor in the cartridges.

Also that year, competitors Atari and 3DO showed their new consoles. Atari revealed the 32-bit Panther. Inside the Panther was a Motorola 68000 running at 12 MHz and a stereo synthesizer chip with 32 channels. It would be Atari’s first home console since the 80s. The system would launch at $199 in November 1993.

The other competitor was 3DO. 3DO’s system was a little different. Instead of 3DO directly manufacturing their console, they partnered with Sony, Panasonic, and Goldstar to design their own versions of the machine. Inside of the 3DO was an ARM610 based processor at 20 MHz, two graphics processors, 2 MB RAM, and a CD-ROM drive. It would be the first announced console with a built-in CD drive. The 3DO was touted as a multimedia system, but the company also clarified that it would be first and foremost, a video game console. Several games for the platform were revealed such as Gex, Crash n’ Burn, Alone in the Dark 2, Road Rash, The Need for Speed, and John Madden Football with all of the shown titles available at launch. 3DO’s CEO, Trip Hawkins announced that the first line of 3DOs would be released in 1994.

Buzz about the 3DO pushed Sega’s Tom Kalinske to publicly confirm that Sega had a successor to the Genesis in development and that it “is more powerful than the 3DO”.

As 1993 came to a close, Nintendo announced that had reached a deal with MIPS Technologies for their next console and that it would be shown in the first half of 1994.

Pretty Standard Stuff, you take well our advice, so some ideas to improved it:

Allow more Mega-CD game, even if Genesis port at cheaper price with better sound, and allow development, that will be vital, as Sega next console will use CD, will allow better knowledge and use, and more important, mega-cd owner will not fell cheated.

Umm that Game Gear Redesing with some extra improvement can be relaucnh and enjoy more support if well made, pokemon is still into production(year 2 of 5) and the second Gameboy explosion will wait until Pokemon is released.(now improved battery life...someone with electronic knowledge can help me?)

Atari Panther is doomed, is only a Neogeo without direct arcade port,maybe will recived game from Amiga and other, even Capcom because is a dumbledown Xsharp 60000. but again Atari have bad future

Will Sony and other make 3DO sucess or will crash and burn and abandon consoles?

So Nintendo is going directly to MIPS instead SGI, so will be interesting if they use the PS1 CPU(who was a dumbledown of the N64 one with a H.264 decoder added.

Nivek said:

Pretty Standard Stuff, you take well our advice, so some ideas to improved it:

Allow more Mega-CD game, even if Genesis port at cheaper price with better sound, and allow development, that will be vital, as Sega next console will use CD, will allow better knowledge and use, and more important, mega-cd owner will not fell cheated.

Umm that Game Gear Redesing with some extra improvement can be relaucnh and enjoy more support if well made, pokemon is still into production(year 2 of 5) and the second Gameboy explosion will wait until Pokemon is released.(now improved battery life...someone with electronic knowledge can help me?)

Atari Panther is doomed, is only a Neogeo without direct arcade port,maybe will recived game from Amiga and other, even Capcom because is a dumbledown Xsharp 60000. but again Atari have bad future

Will Sony and other make 3DO sucess or will crash and burn and abandon consoles?

So Nintendo is going directly to MIPS instead SGI, so will be interesting if they use the PS1 CPU(who was a dumbledown of the N64 one with a H.264 decoder added.

Click to expand...

The Sega CD will continue to get support. It will just get less exclusive first-party support from American and European studios. There are still first-party games and exclusives from Japan as well as third-party support. Most of Sega's American and European CD titles are up-ports outsourced to other developers to strengthen third-party partnerships. I will post a list of important releases of 1993 before moving on to 1994.

The Game Gear relaunch will happen in 1994. There will be some big titles and it can still directly compete with the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color when it comes along.

The Jaguar does seem doomed. Expect to see a price cut and a wave of games trying to save the platform in 1994-1995, especially as the 3DO and other competition are around the corner. Atari also has more money in this timeline than in OTL, so with some restructuring and good deals they could maybe just survive the generation. We shall see.

Nintendo's tech specs will be revealed in 1994, so stay tuned.

Confortius said:

The Sega CD will continue to get support. It will just get less exclusive first-party support from American and European studios. There are still first-party games and exclusives from Japan as well as third-party support. Most of Sega's American and European CD titles are up-ports outsourced to other developers to strengthen third-party partnerships. I will post a list of important releases of 1993 before moving on to 1994.

The Game Gear relaunch will happen in 1994. There will be some big titles and it can still directly compete with the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color when it comes along.

The Jaguar does seem doomed. Expect to see a price cut and a wave of games trying to save the platform in 1994-1995, especially as the 3DO and other competition are around the corner. Atari also has more money in this timeline than in OTL, so with some restructuring and good deals they could maybe just survive the generation. We shall see.

Nintendo's tech specs will be revealed in 1994, so stay tuned.

Click to expand...

Umm well, but again i hope Sega wester studios survive, OTL STI and other were pretty high quality, heck an early Sonic Team USA would be vital to avoid Sonic OTL hiatus.

This possible, specially if Sega manage to obtain enough game to stimulate the system(OTL gameboy have good influx, even before pokemon boom), let's hope, maybe would they collaborate with Bandai for a 'wonderswan' that is not eat alive by GBC and GBA

(Big butterfly, Sega and Bandai try a merger in 1997-1998 but fail,before nintendo do it and after a first try of nintendo during 1993-1994)

(other big, with not Playstation, Virtual Boy will not be rushed to christmas..that not only save yokoi live but make big impact into the power organization inside nintendo, and no wonderswan too)

Umm let's hope, heck even NeoGeo being a niche machine was profitalbe, maybe here would attrack some 'transitional games' who maybe are not full 3d or Donkey Kong Country but can keep money(heck atari won money even with OTL 7800)

That will be nice to see, which other surpise the system have? will be nice to see, next generation will be big.

Nivek said:

Umm well, but again i hope Sega wester studios survive, OTL STI and other were pretty high quality, heck an early Sonic Team USA would be vital to avoid Sonic OTL hiatus.

This possible, specially if Sega manage to obtain enough game to stimulate the system(OTL gameboy have good influx, even before pokemon boom), let's hope, maybe would they collaborate with Bandai for a 'wonderswan' that is not eat alive by GBC and GBA

(Big butterfly, Sega and Bandai try a merger in 1997-1998 but fail,before nintendo do it and after a first try of nintendo during 1993-1994)

(other big, with not Playstation, Virtual Boy will not be rushed to christmas..that not only save yokoi live but make big impact into the power organization inside nintendo, and no wonderswan too)

Umm let's hope, heck even NeoGeo being a niche machine was profitalbe, maybe here would attrack some 'transitional games' who maybe are not full 3d or Donkey Kong Country but can keep money(heck atari won money even with OTL 7800)

That will be nice to see, which other surpise the system have? will be nice to see, next generation will be big.

Click to expand...

Well, the support was cut but not completely. It was just refocused. As for Sega and Bandai, I actually have plans for that already

The Virtual Boy will be brought up in the 1994 update and then it will likely be the last you ever hear of it.