A Keen Eye: A Nintendo Ultimate Timeline

[Jaiken]

Yamauchi, head Preisdent of Nintendo, has one request to those running the company: Make Nintendo the best it can ever be.

To do this Yamauchi instructed his company to further expand into game development by investing profits into Nintendo itself to ensure growth. As long as profits were good then more money is to be invested into the company.

Sony had the right idea when it came to disc formats; regardless, thanks to their hit franchises the Nintendo 64 turned profitable. Titles like the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 were huge hits, but what if titles from F-Zero and Custom Robo also became huge hits? It was too late to course correct the Nintendo 64 but with some billion dollars in the bank Nintendo could definitely make a major impact in the gaming scene.

Point of Divergence: Yamauchi gets even more serious about running his company to the point of making them the top contender in video games by reinvesting more money into the company itself.

 

[Jaiken]

First Thing was to stop Sony. Nintendo had learned Sony's PlayStation would use DVDs amongst rumors and decided there had to be a way to kill the DVD before it took off. The Nintendo 64 may have used Cartridges but the successor would use SDD or Super Density Discs 8.5 GB (7.92 GiB) dual layered single sided discs. To do this Nintendo would invest money into Toshiba to create and push SDDs in a bid to get rid of DVDs; thus, the Technical Working Group of 1995 voted to boycott both formats unless the two camps agreed on a single converged standard. The MMCD and SD groups agreed to adopt proposal SD 9, specifying that both layers of dual-layered discs can be read from the same side.

The TWG almost voted to make DVD the standard until Toshiba pressed matters, stating that compromising the single layered single sides discs would only reach a storage capacity of 4.7 GB (4.38 GiB) instead of the dual layered single sided discs of 8.5 GB (7.92 GiB). Toshiba was head strong on promoting the Super Density Discs stating that having dual layered sided discs were possible. Thus a consensus was reached. Super Density Discs would be used in favor of DVDs due to the higher storage capacity.

Nintendo was thrilled to hear the news and would create a patent for a console that only allowed Super Density Discs. With Nintendo's connections with Toshiba they could mass produce such discs with great efficiency. Nintendo would get to work on their latest console the Nintendo GameCube SP (Server Protocol).

Hardware Specs of the GameCube SP were similar to OTL GameCube Panasonic Q except the storage capacity that allowed for better memory.

Processor​

485 MHz PowerPC 750CXe

Memory​

40MB Internal Memory
Nintendo GameCube Memory Card (16MB max. capacity)

Resolution​

480I/480P

Media​

8CM 8.5 GB SDD
4MB GameCube Memory Card
8.5GB to 17.08GB SDD Video
MP3 CD, Audio CD, VCD

After losing the format wars Sony would need to find a different format for their upcoming PlayStation 2.

What further was Nintendo's Yamauchi planning?

Butterfly Effects: The PlayStation 2 and DVDs are stopped dead in their tracks of becoming the standard for Discs and optimal ways to watch movies. Toshiba has taken over Sony as a huge disc manufacturer. Sega is not sure what to do to counteract this situation.

Next Time: We learn more about Nintendo's plans going forward with their games and company.

 

[Jaiken]

Having killed the DVD and securing the Super Density Discs as the standard form of media distribution, Yamauchi stated to his company and his successors what needed to be done:

1. Expand Domestic R&D facilities to other major Japan cities (Osaka and Yokohama):

Nintendo's internal research and development based in Japan was a nice thing to have but so much more could be done with extra development teams.

2. Expanding international R&D facilities throughout US, Canada, UK, China

Having Subsidiaries in different regions made sense to secure more resources from said developers in different parts of the world. Nintendo Software Technology was a promising team and Nintendo was thinking more could be done with said team had they secured teams in Canada and the United Kingdom.

3. Securing contractors/affiliates into full blown subsidiaries

Not only would Nintendo intend to secure more development teams internally and to expand them they would also try to find and fund more contractors and business partners into subsidiaries. Not all members would be added despite their skill as developers and bringing in money would determine whom got allocated and internally committed to Nintendo's internal developers.

4. Pushing more classic IPs for remasters or remakes through contractors to flesh out larger catalog of games.

Lastly Nintendo would browse through its catalog of games to determine what was best for each given franchise in its catalog.

As of now Nintendo's internal development teams and subsidiaries would undergo heavy changes to increase its developmental schedule of games and consoles.

Nintendo would break all of its internal development teams into multiple teams each with a differing functioning goal.

Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 1	Goal is to focus on development of externally developed games by Nintendo's partners such as Hal Laboratory and Game Freak
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 2	Funding and helping externally developed games by Nintendo's partners mainly the Mario Party series and other spin offs
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 3	Focus on the Legend of Zelda series developed by internal studios
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 4	Come up with New Intellectual properties and franchises to help Nintendo catch any outliers and popular franchises
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 5	Focus on Miyamoto's understudy who is making the Animal Forest games and see if any promising new development leaders are a standout
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 6	Search and Find externally development partners to become full blown subsidiaries
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 7	Focus on bringing Nintendo's back catalog of games and finding new ways to breathe life into them
Nintendo Entertainment Planning Development 8	Focus on the Mario series developed by Internal Studios

This process would take time but as of now, 1998, things would come to full fruition in due time. With no objections at the full front Yamauchi would issue Nintendo Software Technology for developing their own games and focusing on new partners in the USA to bring under its fold.

Sega would still release the Dream Cast in Japan first despite the popularity of the Saturn in said region same as OTL using GD ROM discs.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo's internal teams get formed earlier than IOTL and have differing functioning goals than OTL.

Next Time: We learn what Sony plans to do to combat losing the Disc Format wars.

 

[Jaiken]

With losing the format wars Sony was forced to concede to the use of Super Density Discs. Sony would need to go to their rivals Phillips to make the Multi Media CD ROM a reality. This would require game discs to be flipped over to play the rest once a certain portion of said game was reached. Luckily Sony had some money to moneyhat developers to making games for its console.

The PlayStation 2's CPU and GPU specs would be the same as OTL; however, for the lack of storage capacity, developers had to rely on storage such as memory cards. The 3.7GB storage capacity of the Multi Media CDs would produce way better audio sounds. Primary advantages of backwards compatibility with PlayStation 1 games are compromised due to the lack of storage which also leaves third-party developers to make additional efforts in optimizing games to span multiple discs.

Sony knew it needed a killer app to combat Nintendo's upcoming GameCube.

Level-5 was a studio lead by founder Akihiro HIno in 1998. Originally developing games for third parties it was approached by Sony to make a video game that would rival that of Nintendo's Zelda franchise.

credited to world of long plays.

The game would focus on restoring the world to its proper state after the main antagonist the Dark Genie destroyed it. Focusing on building the world back together the game would use a Georama system that would allow players to rebuild the ingame towns how they saw fit.

What irritated fans of Dark Cloud, like many other gamers and game developers alike, was having to turn over the disc to continue playing due to its limited space capacity.

Butterfly Effects: The backwards compatibility of the PlayStation 2 is negated and game developers are starting to look for greener pastures without having to have their games span multiple discs.

Next Time: We finally see what Nintendo’s EPD team is up to and what their first course of action is.

 

[Jaiken]

The year was 2001 and the Hit Title Super Monkey Ball had just come out for the GameCube SP. Talks of Sega going under were sadly true as Nintendo said goodbye to their long term rival; however, there was one course of action that the NEPD 7 team was curious about. Could Sega's Amusement Vision subsidiary breathe life into F-Zero? Nintendo was recently working with their long term rival for quite a while and was curious to see what the future of F-Zero could be. Nintendo's Miyamoto approached the head of Sega for an idea.

Why not contract Sega's Amusement Vision to make a new entry in the F-Zero franchise? With a supped up Super Monkey Ball engine the game would prove to be fun and addictive. Plus with the Super Density Discs F-Zero would allow for more courses and gameplay side modes such as building your own race track to share with friends via the GameCube SP memory card. If Nintendo liked the team's work they would contract them for more jobs and projects.

While NEPD 7 was focusing on bringing old franchises back NEPD 4 was on the prowl for new and exciting ideas that would come with developing new franchises. They laid eyes on a particular developer. Silicon Knights was contracted by Nintendo to develop a title called "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem" to attract an older audience for the GameCube SP system. Silicon Knights was an interesting developer to have having worked on the Legacy of Kain games for the PlayStation, they had a falling out with Crystal Dynamics over who owned the rights to develop the Legacy of Kain franchise. Having a rival studio to one of Sony's partners would prove beneficiary in the long run of developing games.

Nintendo's Chinese subsidiary and newest team, iQue, would try to let games come into the Chinese market produced by Nintendo which were on heavy lock down by the Chinese Government itself. iQue would also try to find any outliers for game developers in the region that would make good subsidiaries.

Nintendo's European Team would look for subsidiaries in the area that would help with hardware and manufacturing consoles and other technologies that the big N needs. ActImagine was one said subsidiary that would prove big help to the Japanese company alongside the Mobi Clip development studio. Both would help Nintendo in their DRM technologies and emulator for their upcoming online stores.

Nintendo of Canada was keeping an eye open for any stand outs of game developers to add to Nintendo's fold. A newly founded studio in Next Level Games, as of 2002, looked promising to develop sports games for the big N.

Nintendo's own acquisitions started with the game company "Noise" who was credited towards the Custom Robo series. Brownie Brown from the former SquareSoft after their debacle of 'Final Fantasy the Spirits Within' movie. Argonaut Software for developing the Star Fox games who was with a exodus of staff leaving the company. Retro Studios with their making of Metroid Prime and Nintendo Software Technology for their work on the Wave Race series.

Yamauchi would retire shortly afterwards and hand over control of his company to Satoru Iwata.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo is eyeing some early acquisitions from former Rival Sega and other game developers to bring into its fold.

Upcoming Chapters

A Dark Chronicle Approaches
A Magical Vacation
Western Studios Oh My

 

[Jaiken]

Level-5 was a developer that attempted to help Sony usurp Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series; however, Nintendo saw promise in the studio. So with some investments from Nintendo a new game was made.

Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Rogue-Like Dungeon Crawler

Gameplay video:

provided by 10 min gameplay

Controls:
Control Stick: Move character
A Button: Action/Interact
B Button: Block
L Button: Use secondary weapon
R Button: Toggle Map
Z Button: Lock On/ realign camera
Y Button: Use selected item
X Button: Switch Character
C-Stick: Move Camera
D-Pad: Toggle between selected items
Start Button: Pause/Unpause game

Dark Chronicle was a spiritual successor to Dark Cloud in ever way possible minus the Dark Genie final boss. The game centers around Maximillian whom is trying to find his mother that has mysteriously disappeared. To do this he must set foot out of his home town Palm Brinks which has been blocked off from the outside world. Main villain, Griffin, has been destroying points of origin from time to weaken the heroes and his enemies which the player must restore by using the games Georama system.

The Georama system was the main focus point that interested Nintendo as it encourages players to rebuild the town's origin points the way they see fit. Using the GameCube's Memory Cards players could visit each other's towns to find the locals and pick up on rare items.

Thanks to the GameCube SP's extra gigabyte storage there existed extra modes for Dark Chronicle:

Co-Op Mode: A mode where two players could team up and play through the game together. This would have added a new level of strategy to the game as players could work together to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
Endless Dungeon Mode: A mode where players could traverse through an endless maze of dungeons, fighting enemies and collecting loot. This would have added a lot of replayability to the game, as players could continue to challenge themselves with increasing difficulty levels.
Boss Rush Mode: A mode where players could battle through all the bosses of the game in succession, without the need to progress through the story. This would have been a great way for players to hone their combat skills and compete for high scores.
New Game+: A mode where players could replay the game with all of their previous progress intact. This would have allowed players to explore different story paths and try out different approaches to the game without worrying about starting from scratch.
Co-OP mode for Dark Chronicle:
Two-Player Adventure: Players can team up and play through the game's story mode together. Each player controls one of the two protagonists, Max and Monica, and work together to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and rebuild the world.
Building Mode: Players could team up to build and design their own customizable homes and towns in the game's world. Players could gather resources, build structures, and decorate their homes with items collected throughout the game.

The biggest competitive mode for players was the Fish Frenzy mode where players would race caught and raised fish against each other for more prizes and loot.

Dark Chronicle was a Smash Hit amongst Nintendo fans and Dark Cloud fanatics alike which also used the GameCube SP's Modem. Nintendo would end up acquiring the game developer Level-5.

Butterfly Effects: Level-5 is now a Nintendo subsidiary and will be making games only for the Big N now.

Upcoming Chapters:

A Magical Vacation
Western Studios Oh My
Taking things to the Next Level

 

[Jaiken]

The year is 2001 and Nintendo Subsidiary, Brownie Brown, has just released their own original franchise 'Magical Vacation'.

Developer: Brownie Brown
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Japanese Role Playing Game

Most JRPGs encourage players to conserve resources and save items, but Magical Vacation flips that concept on its head. The default attack option is Magic which, depending on the amount of magic you use, unleashes powerful magic attacks. Magic recovers every turn so you don't need to rely too much on consumables. Enemies have 'spirits' that can cancel yours sort of like rock paper scissors. Players can combo the Spirits a total of 7 times for maximum damage and would choose their character's spirit.

gameplay provided by MEGABLADEJ

The game centers around a huge war that took place in the land of Kovomaka. The war lasted for 3 days, but major casualties took place. A lie was given to the townspeople saying an experiment had gone awry killing thousands. One man watched over the land making sure another war did not break out. Game takes place where the player character is a member of the Will-O-Wisp magical school.

Nintendo would release this game to the West not just Japan and would reach moderate sales of 450,000 copies world wide. The game would be a cult classic amongst Nintendo fans and gamers would be eagerly awaiting the next entry in the Magical franchise.

Butterfly Effects: Brownie Brown's first game is made well known world wide and sells moderately well.

Upcoming Chapters:
Western Studios Oh My
Taking Things to the Next Level
Super Smash Brothers Melee
The Pixel PlayGround

 

[Jaiken]

With Nintendo securing the Super Density Disc rights to their GameCube Server Protocol is the attention of third party developers mainly those from the west. Electronic Arts, Activision and Ubisoft were the biggest players of the 6th generation of consoles west side and all had saw something interesting in the GCSP.

Electronic Arts: The extra development space and faster loading times will help our sports games flourish.

Activision: The modem port that exists on the GCSP is interesting wonder what Nintendo plans to do with the online capabilities. Call of Duty would likely flourish on this console.

Ubisoft: Most of our PC games would find a great home on the GCSP with its internet capabilities. Ghost Recon would benefit greatly from being introduced on a home console audience.

These three companies would help Nintendo push the GCSP to new heights; however, there still existed the issue of bringing online to the GCSP. For that Nintendo would look towards Sega subsidiary Visual Concepts and Sega.Com. For a price of $243 Million Nintendo would acquire the rights to both studios and further secure a better relationship with their old rival Sega.

Sega.Com would become Nintendo Server Protocol and Visual Concepts would bring the long awaited sports titles to Nintendo's console.

Yamauchi would say in an interview at E3 2001: "You see our GameCube Server Protocol runs on internet technology being the first of its kind to popularize online capabilities for the average consumer."

Yamauchi holds up a black device

"This is the Nintendo GameCube modem adapter that will release alongside the GameCube Server Protocol for a total of $230. The modem is included with the console to give consumers the full experience of online."

IGN reporter: "What games will use the adapter?"

"The majority of titles that will use the modem are still under wraps but we will reveal a few: F-Zero GX, Star Fox Assault, Super Smash Brothers Melee, Dark Chronicle, Mario Kart Double Dash and Activision's newly anticipated Call of Duty."

Yuji Naka chimed in: "The titles Super Monkey Ball, Crazy Taxi and Virtua Fighter will also use online."

IGN Reporter: "At what time will games come out that fully use the Adapter?"

Yamauchi: "The majority of titles will come out in due time and will fully show the capabilities of the modem, but when consumers see it they will fall in love with what our friends over at Nintendo Server Protocol have come up with."

With that E3 was over.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo now owns Sega.com, now Nintendo Server Protocol, and Visual Concepts subsidiaries of Sega and have included the modem alongside the console.

Upcoming Chapters:
Taking Things to the Next Level
Super Smash Brothers Melee
The Pixel PlayGround
Revival of Old Classics

 

[Jaiken]

With the investment in Nintendo Server Protocol Nintendo had big plans for its franchises in the upcoming GameCube SP. Most titles both first and third party would utilize the Modem and internet connectivity to bring new experiences to gamers around the world.

One of the first titles to release for the GameCube SP was Wave Race Blue Storm:

video provided by Universo Games

The game's water physics were phenomenal for the time and showed off what water physics could look like on Nintendo's Cubic device. The biggest change to the series was the online mode were players would race each other to get better times and compete online.

Fifa 2002 from EA sports was a major hit for gamers in European regions.

video provided by igcompany

Another huge hit was Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2 made by Factor 5.

video provided by LongplayArchive

The major difference from OTL was an online mode where players could choose between the Alliance Forces or the Empire in a space dogfighting showdown with up to 8 players in a 4 v 4 death match.

Nintendo also invested $100 Million dollars into its own studios to expand its development teams. The biggest to benefit from this was the Nintendo Software Technology team and an upcoming new studio.

The GameCube SP's opening console sales for the end of 2001 equaled to 9 Million consoles thanks to Rogue Squadron, Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race Blue Storm and Fifa 2002.

Nintendo also had upcoming games that would blow gamers socks off.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo's GameCube SP is selling a little better than OTL in its opening year and has more titles on the way to come.

Upcoming Chapters
Super Smash Brothers Melee
The Pixel PlayGround
Revival of Old Classics
Over and Beyond

 

[Jaiken]

The room goes quiet as Shigeru Miyamoto is about to show gamers the latest entry in the Super Smash Brothers series.

The crowd goes wild seeing Ridley expecting him to be playable, but not at the kiosks that Nintendo had set up.

Shigeru Miyamoto: "For those wondering who got into Super Smash Brothers Melee we have something to announce. Here is a full roster update for anybody who wants to know."

The lights came on and a diagram came up showing the characters.

Although Microsoft may have bought Rare earlier last year the two characters Banjo and Jago were here to stay for this round of fighting before being hauled off to the XBox.

Bill Trinen: "Thank you Mr. Miyamoto. This game also includes online play using the GameCube SP Modem."

"Speaking of the Modem all Game Boy Advance games are playable on the GameCube SP and are able to play online through the connectivity on the bottom of the console itself."

As for characters all are the same except for Wario whose moves are based off of his Wario Land games and Jago.

^Jago's Series Icon
Jago's special moves are:

B: Endokuken - Jago shoots a fireball from his left hand.
Side B: Laser Blade - Jago slashes twice with his sword knocking his opponents off balance.
Up B: Tiger Fury - Jago does a rising uppercut which has startup invincibility (cannot be countered).
Down B: Wind Kick - Jago does a roundhouse kick that bypasses all projectiles and closes the distance between his opponents.

Butterfly Effects: The GameCube ITTL is able to play Game Boy Advance Games online with little to no issue once inserted to the bottom connectivity of the console. Ridley, Wario, Diddy Kong, King Dedede, Banjo, Jago and Snake are in Super Smash Brothers Melee.

Upcoming Chapters:
The Pixel PlayGround
Revival of Old Classics
Over and Beyond
You Got a Power Boost

 

[Jaiken]

Nintendo's desire to increase growth internally had reached fruition. From a group of developers from both Intelligent Systems and other developers under the Big N's watch was Pixel Playground.

One of the Pixel Playground's first assignments was to help iQue develop a sequel to Panel De Pon and help it become popularized with modern audiences.

The pack in title came alongside with Dr. Mario.

gameplay provided by TheVideoGamesMuseum

iQue would over see development of the games that Pixel PlayGround would make and would attempt to bring more original titles into the market.

As of now, Nintendo knew that it had something special with Panel De Pon; especially, when it hooked up with the GameCube SP allowing for 2 player play offs from around the world.

Butterfly Effects: Panel De Pon and Dr. Mario gets released three years earlier than our own timeline and is made from a new Subsidiary.

Upcoming Chapters
Revival of Old Classics
Over and Beyond
You Got a Power Boost
Sanity's Requiem

 

[Jaiken]

Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Wrestling

The first game that Nintendo had Visual Concepts work after being acquired was a remake of the hit classic NES Pro Wrestling. Unlike the original game a career mode was added where players would take on multiple different opponents and build up their reputation and having to defend their title from those who wish to take it.

Controls:

Analog Stick: Used for movement and controlling your wrestler's direction.
A Button: Used for Striking or attacking your opponent.
B Button: Used for Grappling your opponent, initiating holds, throws and suplexes.
X Button: Used for running towards your opponent and executing running attacks and grapples.
Y Button: Used for performing signature moves or finishers.
Z Button: Used for reversing on opponent's strike or grapple if timed correctly.
L Button: Used to taunt your opponent or activate your wrestler's special ability.
R Button: Used for blocking or holding your opponent's strike or grapple.

Advanced Controls:
Control Stick + B Button: Used for executing different types of throws or submissions based on the direction you press while holding the B button.
Control Stick + A Button: Used for executing running strikes, dropkicks or clotheslines based on the direction you press along with the A Button.
Control Stick + Z Button: Used for performing ground grapples or positions on a grounded opponent.
Control Stick + X Button: Used for performing turnbuckle attacks or diving attacks from the top rope based on the direction you press with the X Button.
Control Stick + Y Button: Used for performing different types of signature or finishers based on the direction you press with the Y Button.

Playable Characters:
Fighter Hayabusa
Star Man
Kin Corn Karn
Giant Panther
The Amazon
King Slender
The Great Puma
The game also featured a create a character mode where players would fight other wrestlers in an attempt to become the best and the claim the crown of World Champion amongst the other wrestlers.

Other Modes included:
Exhibition matches: Players choose between 2-4 wrestlers and fight it out to see who is the strongest among the cast.
Championship Tournaments: An escalating difficultly challenge match where opponents get tougher after every consecutive match win.
Special Match types: Cage Matches and Ladder Matches are executed here.


The game was met with roaring reviews amongst wrestling enthusiasts and fans alike. What surprised most gamers was the action figures that were sold alongside the game.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo has brought back, with the help of Visual Concepts, NES Pro Wrestling now just called Nintendo Pro Wrestling.
Next Time: We Learn what other title Nintendo is bringing back to audiences.

Upcoming Chapters
Over and Beyond
You Got a Power Boost
Sanity's Requiem

 

[Jaiken]

The same year NES Pro Wrestling was coming out for the GameCube SP another title was hitting west side for the first time.

Famicom Tantei (Detective) Club was another series that the Big N was bringing over. It involved a mystery were players would help discover Ayumi Tachibana's friend whom was murdered and the culprit of said crime.

The game was unlike most gamers had seen from Nintendo at the time with its grizzly scenes of death and murder when looking at autopsies. In fact, this series was the inspiration of Visual Novel games from the world over.

Attaching the game to the GameCube SP would allow players to compete for best time in completing the mystery and how many guesses it took to find the culprit.

Many gamers recognized the still images about the girl and deduced it was the girl from Super Smash Brothers Melee whom was a trophy.

The game was a roaring success for Nintendo, selling about 750,000 units it its life span and introducing the western world to one of Nintendo's most gruesome series.

Butterfly Effects: Ayumi Tachibana's titular home series game is released to the rest of the world where gamers would get a first taste of where Ayumi came from.

Over and Beyond
You Got a Power Boost
Sanity's Requiem
Sony's Predicament

 

[Jaiken]

With the GameCube SP modem showing off what online games were capable of many developers were rushing to develop games that hit the online itch. Activision was one of those game developers with a certain title in development.

Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Genre: First Person Shooter

The game was a block buster hit amongst first person shooter enthusiasts and had team death matches just like the leading First Person Shooter Halo.

gameplay video provided by unLeashed_FPS

The game's controls were as followed for the GameCube:
Left Analog Stick: Movement
C-Stick: Aim and move camera
A Button: Shoot/Interact
B Button: Melee Attack
X Button: Reload
Y Button: Switch Weapon
Z Button: Crouch/Prone
L Button: Aim Down Sights
R Button: Throw Grenade
Start Button: Pause Menu
D-Pad: Change equipment/class

Although the game did not bring in the numbers on the GameCube SP like Activision had hoped it had shown Nintendo that a market for the First Person Shooter Genre existed and they would be on the lookout for any sellers.

Butterfly Effects: Call of Duty is released for the GameCube SP and allows for online team death matches. The First Person Shooter Person shooter had piqued the interest of Nintendo and the Big N was found sniffing around for any sellers.

Upcoming Chapters:
You Got a Power Boost
Sanity's Requiem
Sony's Predicament
Searching for that FPS

 

[Jaiken]

After having seen the engine for Super Monkey Ball, Nintendo had contracted Amusement Visions to make another game.

gameplay video provided by N0obMaster

F-Zero GX was the latest entry in the F-Zero franchise and its reviews were splendor; especially, with the online aspect of the game being included. Players would try to take out other racers or use their shields to withstand upcoming attacks.

The game was seen as the best racing game for the GameCube SP even beating out Mario Kart Double Dash according to critics of the day.

Controls:
Control Stick: Steer your vehicle.
A Button: Accelerate
B Button: Brake
X Button: Change the Camera Angle
Y Button: Use the spin attack (useful for knocking out other racers.)
Z button: Use the side attack (also useful for knocking out other racers.)
L Button: Drift Left (useful for sharp turns.)
R Button: Drift right (useful for sharp turns.)
Start Button: Pause the game and access the options menu.

Nintendo knew it had a good partnership with Amusement Visions and offered Sega to acquire them.

Butterfly Effects: F-Zero GX now has a dedicated studio to run the game.

Upcoming Chapters:
Sanity's Requiem
Sony's Predicament
Searching for that FPS
Puzzling Adventures Await

 

[Jaiken]

With Nintendo's newest machine taking a while to be made, game developer Silicon Knights had an extra year to fine tune the graphics on their latest game for the Big N.

gameplay video by DARTHVR

Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem was a game that welcomed Lovecraftin horror like no other. Alexandra Roivas wakes up one day to investigate what happened to her uncle in the Roivas mansion. Her fate becomes intertwined with the Tomb of Eternal Darkness, a book made of human flesh and bound by human bone.

Controls:

	Move character	Select Option
	Attack with the currently-equipped weapon, or punch if one is not equipped.	Confirm
	Context-sensitive action button (i.e. open doors, climb ladders, etc.)	Cancel
	Creep/sneak
	Quickcast assigned spell
	Quickcast assigned spell; four different spells can be assigned to correspond with , , and
	Hold to make the character sprint; duration depends on the character's stamina	Cycle through menu screens
	Target function; can be used in conjunction with to target specific body parts and/or direction of melee attack	Cycle through menu screens
	Reload equipped weapon; must be held down to fully reload revolvers and shotguns (only works with projectile weapons and if there is spare ammunition)

Silicon Knights' Dennis Dyack would congratulate Nintendo for making the game a bigger and better hit with the advertisement they did for the game showing off the insanity sequences that were included in the game. Dennis Dyack was on board with how Nintendo was running things behind the scenes and immediately became a prolific second party developer for the Big N.

As for Nintendo, it would invest in HD game development after seeing the game done in its fruition that had shown what direction the future of gaming was headed. Nintendo's investment in HD game development would show its pay off in the 7th generation of consoles.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo is now investing in HD game development earlier than OTL thanks to Silicon Knights.

Upcoming Chapters
Sony's Predicament
Searching for that FPS
Puzzling Adventures Await
Subsidiaries and Future Plans

 

[Jaiken]

Sure the Japanese tech giant Sony got what it wanted with Multi Media CDs, but it lost when it came to games. Besides some loyal third party developers, many of them moved to Nintendo those including Level-5 and Nippon Ichi Software. Square Enix was one of the only third party developers that stayed because of Sony's stake in the company. Konami was eyeing Nintendo's partner Silicon Knights to remake Metal Gear Solid into the Twin Snakes. What exactly Sony could do to counter act Nintendo's Super Density Discs was questionable. Sure the discs were easier to scratch and did not play media back as well as MMCDs, but the extra space on the discs allowed for more extra content that would wow gamers.

Sony's partners of game developers were not small though. Bandai Namco believed that the PlayStation 2 would fit well as a multi media device since the GameCube Server Protocol did not read movies and thus could make games that included such features. Capcom was another game developer that preferred the PlayStation's controller scheme rather than Nintendo's rectangle.

The main issue was that Nintendo's system was selling around 30 million copies as of now and the main games attributed to the success were made by Nintendo themselves. Nothing could be done to stop the momentum. There was the matter of Nintendo snatching up developers that made Nintendo's first party games such as Pro Wrestling and F-Zero GX. What other developers would Nintendo snatch up? Who could tell. But Sony knew it needed to figure out what to do regarding Nintendo and now Microsoft entering the ring of online gaming.

Sony's next console would have to be brander and offer more for game developers. That new console would have to compete against Nintendo and Microsoft's latest gaming machines. Sony would ensure they would not come in last.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo's GameCube Server Protocol is selling well thanks to the included modem and online capabilities of games.

Upcoming Chapters:
Searching for that FPS
Puzzling Adventures Await
Subsidiaries and Future Plans

 

[Jaiken]

It was true that Call of Duty had some popularity to it and was bringing in some good sales thanks to the online play of the GameCube Server Protocol; however, it wasn't the only game that was drawing shooters to the Nintendo console:

Game Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: First Person Tactical Shooter

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 was a game making big strides in the First Person Shooter scene. It involved a battalion of American soldiers pushing through German territory during World War 2. The biggest difference between it and other first person shooters at the time was the tactical aspect of the game.

gameplay provided by ToughGamingGuy

BIA: RTH30 was a huge success and showed that first person shooters were capable of more than just the run and gun gameplay.

Nintendo saw notice of this and immediately took a 51% stake in GearBox Software. Maybe if they were this good at making a FPS, who knows what else they could come up with in the near future?

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo has shown interest in a FPS game developer and has invested heavily into them. Who knows what future games Gearbox Software will be making in the near future?

Upcoming Chapters:
Puzzling Adventures Await
Subsidiaries and Future Plans
Starsigns Noticed

 

[Jaiken]

With the deal done concerning GearBox software, Nintendo knew it had a good studio to make first person shooters. What came next was not a surprise to anyone concerning the future of Nintendo's big puzzle series.

gameplay video provided by BCG Timers & Gamers

Developer: Pixel Playground
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Puzzle

Controls:
Control Stick: Move Cursor
A Button: Switch Blocks


A simple yet addictive puzzler, the game included four player online play where the junk blocks would fall on particular competitor's pieces. It was a smash hit amongst puzzle fans and those who like to out wit their opponents. Panel De Pon was here to stay and made into a huge series for Puzzle Fans. Sales of PDP stopped at 1.5 Million and was amongst the top 20 games sold for the console for Nintendo's first party games. The Panel De Pon series had bright days ahead of itself concerning how Nintendo was treating the series.

What other series would Nintendo bring back fans began to wonder.

Butterfly Effects: Panel De Pon is a smash hit amongst GameCube SP gamers and sells 1.5 million copies solidifying it as a huge series for Nintendo for their puzzle genre.

Upcoming Chapters:
Subsidiaries and Future Plans
Starsigns Noticed
GCSP/GBA Total Sales and Top 10 Games

 

[Jaiken]

Nintendo knew it had a winning console in the GameCube Server Protocol. With a total of 47 Million consoles sold that left Nintendo with a total of $10,810,000,000 dollars it knew it had some big plans up ahead.

Nintendo owned these subsidiaries:
Amusement Visions
Brownie Brown
EPD
Gear Box Studios
iQue
Level 5
NDCube
Nintendo Protocol
Nintendo Software Technology
Pixel Playground
Retro Studios
Visual Concepts

Nintendo knew what it needed to do. Get into the entertainment industry. Oriental Light and Magic was one of the studios that Nintendo had in mind absorbing as they were good with the Pokemon movies and other original anime titles. Next would be buying a company to make a TableTop Role Playing game with Nintendo miniatures to further solidify Nintendo in popular culture. Nintendo also needed a dedicated Role Playing Game studio and they figured they found one in Camelot.

Satoru Iwata called a meeting to discuss the next console to be made concerning the ideas of more potential mergers. No big acquisitions had been made and they did not want to lose anymore ground to Sony. The Big N would recruit Toshiba and Panasonic to make some 25 Gigabyte Blu-Ray discs and add HD to their next console.

The goal was as follows:

1. Buy Namco to get access to a fighting game franchise and Role Playing Studios, buy Camelot if the deal doesn't work out.
2. Establish Nintendo World Table Top Role Playing Game to venture into a new market.
3. Work with Panasonic and Toshiba to make a competitive HD console.
4. Continue to Establish more franchises that could be big hits amongst Mario Zelda Pokemon and Metroid.
5. Expand preextising studios with more staff.

Butterfly Effects: Nintendo has made tons of money and plans to invest some of that money into acquisitions.

Upcoming Chapters:
Starsigns Noticed
GCSP/GBA Total Sales and Top 10 Games
Gunning for Namco