It's been quite some time since I've had so many replies to make!
Thank you all so much for your outpouring of enthusiasm, both in response to this thread reaching the million-view milestone and to the latest update! The time has finally come for me to clear the backlog, so please bear with me...
Bet this cycle will be a big wham episode, on the scale of Breaking Bad's "Ozymandias" and Lost's "The Candidate."
I'm sure if I'd seen either of those episodes (or shows, for that matter), I would appreciate the reference. (I have an...
ambivalent relationship with 21st-century television.)
(On that note, the Golden Age of Television was in the
1950s. Don't let anyone else tell you any different.)
Congratulations on 1 million views and beyond. This is amazing.
Congratulations on 1,000,000 views BB - here's to the next million!
Congrats on reaching a million views, Brainbin! You definitely deserve it with all the hard work that went into this!
Congrats on the 1,000,000 views Brainbin!
You definitely deserve it! Keep up the good work!
Thank you all so much for the congratulations!
(Also, congrats on your thread now being the most popular post-1900 TL that's not about a world war.
)
A distinction I wear with pride
(I'd even change my signature to include it if I weren't already right up against the character limit.)
DTF955Baseballfan said:
Of course, if it is made now (1985) there's no question about who the President is - John Glenn is at least a plausible name compared to OTL's Ronald Reagan.
John Glenn's term expires on January 20, 1985. He has to win re-election in 1984, and I've not even established that he's chosen to run again. Not to mention that he's been elected in
1980, which means he is suspectible to the Curse of Tecumseh (which is eight-for-eight at this point in history, I remind you). Maybe
that's one of my big surprises for this coming cycle! Not to mention that Doc Brown would have no idea who John Glenn was in 1955. I'm reminded of Sam Baines' classic line from the OTL film: "
Who the hell is John F. Kennedy?"
DTF955Baseballfan said:
However, Doc Brown could ask "Where were the 1984 Summer Olympics" and give a similar sarcastic retort when told where.
"I suppose the Winter Olympics were in Siberia? And Butte, Montana won the World Series."
The 1952 Summer Games were held in Helsinki - and it was already known by 1955 that the 1956 Summer Games would be held in Melbourne. Tehran wouldn't have been that big a stretch.
I have just finished reading this timeline from beginning to end.
This is probably the best timeline I have ever read and I look forward to the next update.
Thank you for the kind words, KingofArkham, and welcome aboard! And skipping ahead a bit, I'm glad you enjoyed that latest update as well
My thought is that
Jack Wrather - a local TV/Media/Hotel magnate (he built the Disneyland Hotel) gets involved in
Queen Mary from the start. Jack and his wife apparently had good memories of the ship from having travelled on her.
Perhaps Jack can bring Disney onboard for their Disneysea Experience right from the start, or even his own chain and experience can be utilised to stop some of the destruction
Queen Mary experienced in the 60's/70's by using QM as a set for TV shows, better development as an museum and resort etc esp if Disney are involved?
I'm not going to say such a thing is
impossible - even IOTL some scenes in
The Poseidon Adventure were shot aboard the
Queen Mary - but it's hard to see sustained profitability from such a venture without a
Love Boat-type show coming along - which would necessitate a refit to meet the needs of that production, followed by tourists coming on board expecting a
*Love Boat experience, as opposed to a
Queen Mary experience. I also think it's telling that most shows set aboard cruise ships - including OTL's
Love Boat - have been primarily set-bound.
Someone do their research with nintendo and sega, awesome braibin, for that your timeline is the top notch of pop culture.
Thank you, Nivek, I'm really pleased that you enjoyed my update!
Hopefully those of you who are interested in video game timelines are already aware of Nivek and RySenkari's delightful
Player Two Start. If not, you really
should make yourself aware!
Nivek said:
I want to play that pokemon TCG, the idea is too good i want to use for other timeline, can you borrow that?
Why don't you send me a PM with what you have in mind and we'll discuss it further.
Nivek said:
Wonder what is up miyamoto, making playset of N&B blocks?
No, he still makes video games ITTL.
Gunpei Yokoi continues to make toys for Nintendo, though.
Nivek said:
Interesting for Sega,a nd yeah, that was weird why gulf and western not used sega more, but Isao Okawa did loved sega that much
I'm really not sure what purpose SEGA served Gulf+Western IOTL beyond diversifying their portfolio, to be honest. It was only toward the end of the Second Generation that they decided to actually have SEGA start cranking out consoles - but by then it was too late. Fortunately, they sold to CSK Holdings (who also bought them ITTL, BTW) with Okawa-san at the helm, as you say.
Pokemon in the 80's!
And as an RPG!
... I'm speechless
The 1980s just aren't the 1980s without collectible fads. And the Japanese love their children's card games!
Although I feel obliged to note that technically,
Pokemon is an RPG IOTL, as well
...so, what you are telling me is that, in spite of almost 20 years worth of butterflies, the Sega SG-1000 and Pokemon are still things ITTL?
As Mr. E says, IBM and SEGA, and their lines of work having a logical extension into microcomputers and video games respectively, both predate the POD. As for Pocket Monsters, recall that Tajiri's inspiration was his
childhood experience of collecting and fighting stag beetles, which
also (most likely) predate the POD (or at least were able to withstand what minor butterflies could have affected him).
I do not think that this update was great. I think the problem is that you make changes because you can. But what speaks against events happening in TTL as they happened in OTL? Just because of one decision years back not every decides to act differently! Not everything must be different!
Why I am writing this? I am angry about your treatment of Apple.
Ah, so you're an Apple then, are you? Unfortunately, both my co-writer for this update and I are PCs
(Speaking of which, I find it funny that nobody has mentioned the complete omission of Bill Gates and/or Paul Allen from this update.)
Ah good, the modern Thomas Edison got his ATL comeuppence. I don't care much for Jobs.
Neither do I, and neither does
e of pi, and we were both very happy to take the opportunity to see him put in his rightful place. He was a great salesman, no doubt about it, and he was great at stealing the ideas of and taking the credit for others. Which is what makes him a
perfect infomercial pitchman. (Fun fact: in a previous draft, he actually
was going to be a used car salesman, as a direct nod to
the famous AH trope, but when we played out his "pitch", we realized it was much better suited for 1980s-style infomercials.)
jpj1421 said:
Really enjoyed the update. I like how things that we are familiar with are coming about with slight variations.
Thank you! It's been both fun and challenging for me as a writer.
Too divergent bad, too convergent, bad. we should leave that well, just criticez ultra idiocy or obvious troll timelines.
It's a
very delicate balance. That there
is a debate currently going on as to which side of the fence my timeline in general and this update in particular can be found is probably a good thing.
If you don't mind me making a request for this timeline...please keep Transformers, Centurions, GI Joe, He-Man, She-Ra, Battle Beasts, Gundam, Robotech/Macross, and Voltron largely intact, and hopefully with better video game adaptations!
That's... quite the laundry list you've got there
JJohnson said:
I do hope Nintendo can still give us some actual video games though. I can't imagine a world without Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and the rest.
I'm sure you're aware that one man is responsible for all three of those properties. So it's not so much that
Nintendo make the games, but rather that Shigeru Miyamoto does...
I like it. Apple won't be able to create the practically religious zealotry that they have in our timeline.
Definitely another advantage to strangling Apple in the cradle, yes.
JJohnson said:
I'm just hoping that computers as a whole in this timeline will still evolve quickly to GHz processors and TB HDD, and maybe this timeline's Windows 8 will be a success in some fashion.
Well, it won't be happening before September 20, 1986. Sorry
Given the intensity of teh arguments over things 30 years ago and beyond, it's no wonder he's ending it in 1986. Fans can have whatever ending they like then for things that have come out since 1986.
By Jove, I think you've got it!
Part of the problem is that the Sega SG1000 was, hardware wise, a ColecoVision with a different cartridge pinout and standard controller. Its GPU was the Texas Instuments TMS9918/19/28/29 (Depending on exact geographical market).
Since the Texas Instruments TI99 computer series didn't happen (because Syzygy began using the TMS9900 in 1978, so there was no need to showcase the CPU in a project all its own), its support chips didn't happen either. Until the advent of the Motorola 68000-based Sega Out Run/System 16 Arcade Board of 1986, Sega stuck with off-the-shelf audio and video hardware.
In the absence of the TMS9918 and derivatives, Sega would probably be stuck with something along the lines of the Intel 8275, Motorola 6845/6/7/8, or Thompson EF936x, and would have to supplement it with a custom sprite generation chip.
Thanks for keeping us honest, Kalvan. You're absolutely right, of course.
Given butterflies I see no guarantees for anything. As for Robotech, I would hope with a little more respect for the source material that we have seen (only slightly) we won't have that grotesque Frankenstein's monster of three different shows cobbled together.
I've mentioned 1980s anime and its reception stateside before, so that might provide some clues as to whether a
Robotech would even exist ITTL.
Even as a nongamer I am excited
Thank you, Professor!
The Professor said:
Oh and BTW Pokémon fans ITTL I'm pretty sure it's Pocket Monsters instead
Indeed, although I will note that the ongoing debate between
Pocket Monsters and
Pokemon has even spread to the TWR backchannels...
Pocket Monsters is its OTL Japanese name. It was shortened to Pokemon when it came to the US. It's just easier to say.
It's also easier to mispronounce.
Also to prevent confusion with
Monster in My Pocket.
Which isn't a consideration ITTL, thank goodness.
Awesome Sauce! I'm glad the Woz found out what a jerk Jobs is earlier ITTL, I think he'll be happier at Desilu-Syzygy* anyway. I was wondering when/if Nintendo & SEGA were going to show up. So *Pokemon in the '80s, and the card game came first? Cool. How common/likely is it for there to be a manga/anime made about a card game? (Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn't count, I believe the manga/anime came first and the card game tie-in afterwards; I could be wrong about that though.)
You are correct that the
Yu-Gi-Oh manga was the original property, first released in 1996, and was followed by the
defictionalized children's card game three years later. (The anime premiered in 1998.) As far as I know, a card game being adapted into a manga (and then an anime) is unprecedented ITTL - but there's a first time for everything!
Well, the Garbage Pail Kids got a few movies out of it so isn't entirely uncommon
Well,
one movie (though with a second in development, apparently) and a 13-episode cartoon, anyway. But yes - an excellent point.
That's a pretty innovative idea, there's no reason why the Pokémon concept couldn't predate videogames and be primarily a card game. One would assume that it would probably outrage fewer moral guardians in the US as a result (well, I suppose there's the tarot comparison...) which would have repercussions later on.
You know the moral guardians - they can make hay of just about
anything. But you're right -
Pocket Monsters isn't
too big a threat to their false sense of security.
Thande said:
And any TL with a place for Sega has to be a good place in my book!
I had a feeling you would enjoy that part
Thande said:
To a lot of you early Sega stuff is probably something you've only maybe read about years later, but I grew up playing my friend's Master System (AKA the SG3000), it was the first console I ever played. Of course in TTL some of the most iconic Sega stuff may not come about, seeing as they were created in response to Nintendo successes. Will Nintendo enter the console market themselves, or perhaps they will just move into making games for Sega... (irony meter explodes)
And I suppose
this is the part where I finally drop the bomb. Remember Shigeru Miyamoto? Well, guess who he works for!