AHC: Make a failed game console successful

Your challenge, should you decide to accept it, is to create a plausible scenario where a failed of a game console ends up as a success. It could be notorious, obscure, or anything in between. I'd love to see what you come up with!
 
Define failure. I'm not sure the first xbox ever generated a profit (or at least not much).

As for the rest; better advertisement (especially ads actually relevant to the product) couldn't hurt.
 
Define failure. I'm not sure the first xbox ever generated a profit (or at least not much).

As for the rest; better advertisement (especially ads actually relevant to the product) couldn't hurt.

Would setbacks in the development/distribution of the PS2 make the Dreamcast survive? I'm sure everyone thinks a surviving Sega console market would make for an interesting possibility.
 
Define failure. I'm not sure the first xbox ever generated a profit (or at least not much).

As for the rest; better advertisement (especially ads actually relevant to the product) couldn't hurt.
By "failure", I mean a console that failed to turn a profit. And I looked it up: the Xbox turned a significant profit.

It can also include a console that was garbage. But it has to have been considered bad by the standards of its release date.
 
hmm, will start with the Saturn

Sega doesnt release the 32x and Knuckles Chaotix is a launch title

No Sega of America/ Sega of Japan feuding

Sega of America doesnt kill the Saturn when they told the press, the Saturn was not the future

On a software note, release sonic x-treme and more importantly money hat enix for a exclusive Dragon Quest bundled with the graphics enhancer plus
maybe money hatting Konami

And most importantly no stealth release as otl

Does N64 and Gamecube count from a financial perspective and marketshare disaster?

Will do them anyways

Gamecube
Goal at least 33 million (same as n64)
OTL sales 21.74 million

A few ideas

Lets start with Nintendo manages to retain Rareware buy purchasing an extra 2% of stock, thus securing Banjo, Conker, Perfect Dark etc

This should enhance it by at least 5 million sales as less market share loss to Microsoft and less drought with Donkey Kong Racing, Banjo 3 and a good Perfect Dark Zero

So were at roughly 27 million with that

Next phase, Sega accepts Nintendo's bid to acquire them in 2000 while before the Gamecube's release mainly effects the Gamecube as the Dreamcast dies as otl if not earlier and begins working on gamecube launch titles (interestingly the gamecube and xbox could run Dreamcast code which partially explains why Sega went nuts with ports to both systems in otl)

So Shenmue II is never released on the Dreamcast or is Crazy Taxi 2 and are both Gamecube exclusives as is Fighting Vipers 2, Sonic Adventure 2 is a Gamecube launch title.

Lets say 80% of the sega Dreamcast owners eventually get a gamecube 8 million more, plus less lost marketshare to Microsoft and Sony

So at least 35 million sales with this and in theory if the gamecube had a regular disk drive and not mini discs it is feasible Dreamcast backwards compatibility could get worked in if the pod is in 2000

With bigger discs or dual layer discs like wii, can hopefully get Namco to make Xenosaga multiplat and with Nintendo in arcades could try and persuade them to get some more support for it and possibly some more support from Square Enix

Nintendo 64

Easy have the 64 DD be bundled at launch and have FFVII stay a Nintendo exclusive, this should lead to Mother 3 remaining on the 64 and staggering loss of Japanese marketshare is much less with Square staying with Nintendo.
 
Would setbacks in the development/distribution of the PS2 make the Dreamcast survive? I'm sure everyone thinks a surviving Sega console market would make for an interesting possibility.

Not in the end. I think what finished of the Dreamcast was its inability to play DVDs. Playstation 2 came out when DVD players were still rather pricey. Thus, quite a few consumers in Japan chose it because it was a cheaper alternative to dedicated players. If it happened to play games as well, that was just a bonus.
 
Not in the end. I think what finished of the Dreamcast was its inability to play DVDs. Playstation 2 came out when DVD players were still rather pricey. Thus, quite a few consumers in Japan chose it because it was a cheaper alternative to dedicated players. If it happened to play games as well, that was just a bonus.

No, Sega killed the Dreamcast after a litany of issues, Sony didnt kill Sega

The following killed Sega
-Departure of Kalinske
-32x debacle
-Sonic X-Treme Vaporware
-Saturn and abandonment of it
-Dreamcast Piracy
-Pissing off Japan by abandoning the Saturn (it did pretty well in Japan)
-Angering their second parties espicially Camelot (and to a lesser extent Treasure) to going to other companies in particular Nintendo
-Lack of coherent leadership
-Most importantly the Sega of Japan and Sega of America fight with the victim being the Saturn, 32x and Sega CD

Dreamcast isnt impossible to save but difficult; unless Microsoft buys Sega and rides it out til 03 with a slightly better Sega Xbox releasing with backwards compatibility
 
Why only Sega?

What about all the 3D or near 3D handhelds such as the GP32, Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac and Gizmondo which tried to capitalize on eating sales from people who couldn't wait for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP? Also if any of these succeeded would it alter the chances of Panasonic not canceling the Jungle?
 
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What about all the 3D or near 3D handhelds such as the GP32 Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac and Gizmondo which tried to capitalize on eating sales from people who couldn't wait for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP? Also if any of these succeeded would it alter the chances of Panasonic not canceling the Jungle?
I've heard of the N-Gage and the Gizmondo, but not the Zodiac.
 
The Dreamcast went with "GDs" instead of DVDs, and they gambled witht he 56k modem for online gaming. If they were a straight DVD system with no 56k modem, out a year before everyone else, it gives the system a shot.'

Panasonic's game system could have done better if it was not ridiculously expensive and they gave more support to third part developers.

Jaguar could have done better if their game controller was not crap and it came with CDs right away instead of that being an "upgrade."
 
The Dreamcast went with "GDs" instead of DVDs, and they gambled witht he 56k modem for online gaming. If they were a straight DVD system with no 56k modem, out a year before everyone else, it gives the system a shot.'

Panasonic's game system could have done better if it was not ridiculously expensive and they gave more support to third part developers.

Jaguar could have done better if their game controller was not crap and it came with CDs right away instead of that being an "upgrade."
The Jaguar part is true,Panasonic....no.


For the Dreamcast part,the console is GODLY and awesome,but Sega is already dying at that point.
 
Atari vs Commodore consoles?

Jaguar could have done better if their game controller was not crap and it came with CDs right away instead of that being an "upgrade."
There is an ounce of irony that most people feel the Jaguar should have closer resembled Atari's arch rival and lesser known Commodore Amiga CD32.:rolleyes: The CD32 never stood a chance IOTL as Commodore went bankrupt less than a year after its release. If Commodore had more secure assets maybe they could have figured out the right formula after the CDTV and CD32 to re-introduce the Amiga OS and chipset into TV rooms.

The Jaguar part is true.

The Jaguar was a decent system plagued with launch issues and inept marketing, as the 16+16+32= 64 bit false advertising didn't appeal let alone make sense to most people. When I first played the Jaguar in the dark corner of a Macy's home theatre isle the title I had played shared less than a flattering resemblance to Star Fox for the SNES. Sure Tempest 2000 had CD stereo quality techno but perhaps if a game like Battlemorph (rather than its more memeable prequel Cybermorph) was in its launch lineup they could have showcased its specs better.
 
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There is an ounce of irony that most people feel the Jaguar should have closer resembled Atari's arch rival and lesser known Commodore Amiga CD32.:rolleyes: The CD32 never stood a chance IOTL as Commodore went bankrupt less than a year after its release. If Commodore had more secure assets maybe they could have figured out the right formula after the CDTV and CD32 to re-introduce the Amiga OS and chipset into TV rooms.



The Jaguar was a decent system plagued with launch issues and inept marketing, as the 16+16+32= 64 bit false advertising didn't appeal let alone make sense to most people. When I first played the Jaguar in the dark corner of a Macy's home theatre isle the title I was played shared less than a flattering resemblance to Star Fox for the SNES. Sure Tempest 2000 had CD stereo quality techno but perhaps if a game like Battlemorph (rather than its more memeable prequel Cybermorph) was in its launch lineup they could have showcased its specs better.
Where did you learn to fly?

Where did you learn to fly?

Where did you learn to fly?
 
LOL

Where did you learn to fly?

Where did you learn to fly?

Where did you learn to fly?

Exactly, so many games at that time went overboard to showcase they overcame their exclusive reliance on MIDIs and other minute features.:p On the other hand I have no idea how many people thought the original Playstation's less than stellar draw distance for 3D objects (worse than Jaguar) was a realistic graphics feature. Its like how the late Steve Jobs convinced people that missing plug-ins on the iPhone web browser was a big plus (which I suppose it is for those that insecurely surf warez).
 
How could the PSP have been more successful in taking Market Share away from Nintendo?
The PSP was impressively successful. It was the only non-Nintendo handheld which managed to become a globally-recognised brand. Sony dumping it and going for a non-descript New Age moniker for its successor was a mistake.

Now, as to how could it have become more profitable? Make it harder to pirate. Modify the PSP software to only accept running games directly from UMDs. People didn't buy digital games back then (in fact, those barely existed), and by the time they would start, the PSP would've had its run (and, at any rate, it was something they could've simply implemented via firmware at a later date; you don't need to put everything and the kitchen sink in your device from the start). Put protection shields on UMD read ports to keep them from getting busted (Sony skimped on them due to penny-pinching).

A console I wish had a better life is the Game Gear. Its biggest sin was ambition. It tried to do too much given the state of contemporary technology. Sega should've removed the light from its final design. The colour screen was enough of a differentiator. It would've allowed them to drop the price a bit (and maybe cut some of the batteries; the handheld needed six AAs). Also, they should've looked into selling an optional rechargeable accumulator pack (IIRC the Game Gear launched around the time the first commercially viable NiCd packs were hitting the market).
 
The PSP was impressively successful. It was the only non-Nintendo handheld which managed to become a globally-recognised brand. Sony dumping it and going for a non-descript New Age moniker for its successor was a mistake.

Now, as to how could it have become more profitable? Make it harder to pirate. Modify the PSP software to only accept running games directly from UMDs. People didn't buy digital games back then (in fact, those barely existed), and by the time they would start, the PSP would've had its run (and, at any rate, it was something they could've simply implemented via firmware at a later date; you don't need to put everything and the kitchen sink in your device from the start). Put protection shields on UMD read ports to keep them from getting busted (Sony skimped on them due to penny-pinching).

A console I wish had a better life is the Game Gear. Its biggest sin was ambition. It tried to do too much given the state of contemporary technology. Sega should've removed the light from its final design. The colour screen was enough of a differentiator. It would've allowed them to drop the price a bit (and maybe cut some of the batteries; the handheld needed six AAs). Also, they should've looked into selling an optional rechargeable accumulator pack (IIRC the Game Gear launched around the time the first commercially viable NiCd packs were hitting the market).
Yeah, the PSP was far from a failure.
 
No, Sega killed the Dreamcast after a litany of issues, Sony didnt kill Sega

No, the PS2 was the cheapest DVD player, even if it wasn't designed exclusively as one. If Dreamcast was able to utilize DVDs and do so a year before Sony released its new console, Sega would own a good chunk of the market.
 
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