Burying the Hatchet: A Nintendo/Sega TL

TMS isn't owned by Sega and OTL wouldn't be owned by Sega until 2005. Marza was technically already part of Sega before the buyout. It was formed from Sega's CG division.
Well well, maybe they just break partnership later on and someone other buy TMS...still Ward idea sucks.
 
April Fools 1st Anniversary / A Different Universe. A Different Era. A Different Partnership.
With the success of the soft launch in October, the NES launched nationwide February 25 1985. The NES was sold in two bundles, The Deluxe Set which was the set sold in October was priced at $180.00, while The Basic Set came with a Control Deck and Two Controllers was priced at $90.00. The games available were Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Crystal Castles, Duck Hunt, Exitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pac - Man, Ms. Pac - Man, Pinball, Saboteur, Stack-Up, Star Wars, Tennis, and Wild Gunman.

He’s lost his Marbles
Marble Madness was released in arcades in December 1984 and was later released on the NES on April 5 1985. Unlike OTL’s NES version which was outsourced to Rare, ITTL the NES version was made by Mark Cerny himself and contained twelve levels in comparison to the Arcade versions three levels. Because of this the NES version is better received than the arcade version which saw initial success in arcades before players became disinterested in it. The NES version sold over 1,000,000 copies in its lifetime.

A mother is pacing the floor with a worried expression on her face, and then a doctor comes in through the door. “Oh Doctor thank goodness you’re here. I just don’t know what to do about my son.” Laughter is heard in the living room. “Well I better take a look.” The Doctor goes into the living room finding a kid wildly playing NES. “Oh, my, Gosh!” “What is it Doctor?” “He’s lost his marbles.” “What do you mean Doctor?” “I mean he’s lost his marbles for Marble Madness for the Nintendo Entertainment System! With over 12 challenging levels, you’ll roll, whirl and leap.” The mother looks at the TV screen. Her face explodes into a crazed look on her face and starts laughing and playing NES. “MARBLE MADNESS!” The doctor stares at the viewers while the mother and son laugh manically. “Will you lose your marbles?”

“The Nintendo Entertainment System! Your parents help you hook it up. Marble Madness sold separately.”

Commercial for Marble Madness

List of Video Game Releases & NES Sales in 1985
Clu Clu Land - February 25
Ice Climber - February 25
Exitebike - February 25
Kung Fu - February 25
Marble Madness - April 5
Soccer - June 5
Wrecking Crew - August 16
Super Mario Bros. - October 15
10-Yard Fight - October 28
Total NES Consoles Sold - 1,000,000

“When I first saw Super Mario Bros I was impressed. I had seen nothing like this before, I knew it would be a big hit.”
Howard Scott Warshaw - Interview with IGN 2009

Atari Inc. has their first profitable year since 1982. Having been bought by Japanese company Nintendo in 1984, Atari has downsized heavily and is finally turning a profit.
Excerpt from New York Times, January 5 1986
 
Happy April Fools! This Timeline is one year old today. I know not a lot of people read this but if people enjoy it I’m gonna keep writing.
What you just read was a little piece from another timeline that I had wrote but never posted. It was about the infamous partnership between Nintendo and Atari that never happened in OTL. I actually have a lot more written about it, but it’s subpar compared to this timeline. One example being that despite the fact that this Atari Timeline covers about 5 years, Burying the Hatchet is over twice the length.
 
So new? i always thought was older but yeah happy anniversary/Feliz Aniversario Burying the Hatchet, still was a nice idea for a new tl..

Great work buddy, nice for this update
I have thought about going back to that TL. But one issue I had was that it was the 80s and the NES has no meaningful competition so things got a little boring. Which is why I kinda breezed through most of the 80s. Though the 90's was going to be a lot more interesting. For one Don Bluth was actually going to be quite a success in that TL. Perhaps making it a collaborative TL would help but I'm not too sure if I want to work on more than 1 Timeline at a time.
 
I have thought about going back to that TL. But one issue I had was that it was the 80s and the NES has no meaningful competition so things got a little boring
There SEGA..But yeah would take a while to SEGA to get his shit together, the same NEC(maybe they got better luck ITTL, i got a soft spot for them over the years) but yeah things would be easier till 87-88 the earliest, still would be a nice idea to work, not now, maybe in the future, you can always count with my support buddy.

Still amazing update, fitting the day and anniversary, waiting for next update buddy
 
Smashing The Servers
Sega HQ Tokyo, Japan - June 28, 2002 3:00 PM JST June 28 / 11:00 PM PT June 27
Sega President Hideki Sato sat in his chair. He and Yuji Naka had a meeting with Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto later today, something about collaborating on a Nintendo property. His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Come in” Sato exclaimed. Coming in was one the Nintendo Netcast technical engineers. “Sato-san.” The engineer bowed “We have a major problem with Nintendo Netcast” “What do you mean a problem with Nintendo Netcast? I’m fully aware of Nintendo’s fighting game that is releasing today. We have already prepared for this.” Hideki Sato felt slightly frustrated that the technical team would bother him with this. “It’s worse than we initially thought. The servers for Super Smash Brothers are all down. There are simply too many players trying to access the servers.” The engineer said nervously. “Alright so how many are trying to access the servers?” Hideki Sato asked. “Before the servers were overloaded there were at least 40,000 players attempting to access the servers.” The answer shocked Hideki Sato, that number was astounding for a single day. He expected those kind of numbers when Phantasy Star launched not Super Smash Brothers. “And what about the core servers for managing accounts? Are they still up?” Hideki Sato asked. “They’re still up but they’re close to being overloaded. I request your permission to change some of the lesser used servers to Smash Brother servers.” The technician asked. “Permission granted. Anything else?” Hideki Sato asked “You may want to contact Nintendo of America later, Super Smash Bros is launching there today as well and if what’s happening in Japan is any indication. It will be much worse in North America.” The technician said. “Thank you for the warning.” Hideki Sato thanked the technician as the technician bowed and quietly left his office.

“We apologize for any connection issues players are facing. We are working hard to resolve these connection issues as soon as possible” - Press Statement by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, June 28 2002

Nintendo of America HQ Redmond, Washington USA - June 28 9:00 AM PT / 1:00 AM JST June 29
Peter Moore was panicking “Are you sure there’s really nothing we can do about it?” Moore asked. “Unless we take an entire game offline, we’ve already taken servers from Half-Life and Sonic Adventure 2 but people trying to play those games will start to have trouble connecting once more people get off school and work. It’s also a Friday so the entire weekend will likely be plagued with connection issues.” The technician responded. Peter Moore sighed, this was going to be quite a weekend.

“Mam listen please it’s not your internet that’s the problem. It’s not on our end you need to call Nintendo.” - A Comcast Customer Service Employee trying to explain things to an Angry Mother, June 28 2002

“I undertand Mam and I but we’re experiencing high traffic today. We’re doing everything we can to” - A Nintendo Customer Service Employee before being interrupted by an Angry Mother, June 28 2002

Nintendo has formally announced that their online service Nintendo Netcast now has over one million users. The culprit is Nintendo’s recent game, Super Smash Brothers Melee which has caused a massive spike in new accounts created. Despite this celebration Nintendo also apologized for the connection issues plaguing players who attempt to connect to Nintendo Netcast. - Excerpt from IGN



Nintendude87: So anyone else unlock Falco yet?

1337H@Xx: nah 100 man melee is a bitch

Sonicfan1991: Try using DKs down b. Just be careful during the last 20 so opponents.

1337H@Xx: k

Justkaleb: Who is Sakura? Game says she’s from Sakura Wars?

Sonicfan1991: Sakura Wars is a Japanese only Sega Saturn game.

Nintendude87: Yeah. I remember seeing the trailer for the remake at E3.

Justkaleb: Oh Yah. Now I remember! Btw where’s Pikafan?

Nintendude87: Dunno. He should be out of school by now. If I remember his time zone right.

Pikafan: Hey guyz just got back from the store mom made me help put groceries away.

Pikafan: Anyway I got Melee we all ready to play?

Justkaleb: Can’t for some reason.

1337H@Xx: yea can’t even play quake. findin a match takes forever

Nintendude87: I’ve had one online match after trying multiple times. It was a Kirby that just ran away and taunted the whole time.

Pikafan: Wait really? What are you guys doing then?

Justkaleb: Just talking and trying to unlock all the characters.

Pikafan: Who’s the secret characters?

Sonicfan1991: Wario, Shadow, Marth, Falco, Sakura. At least that’s who I got so far.

Pikafan: Who the hell r Marth and Sakura?

Justkaleb: They’re from Japan only games.

Pikafan: Kewl. Any new Pokemon?

Nintendude: Mewtwo and Pichu

Pikafan: MEWTWO! Awesome1 How u get him?

Nintendude: Play 20 hours of vs battles

Sonicfan1991: How you know that? You unlock him?

Nintendude87: No. Just looking it up online.

Pikafan: That’s gunna take forever! Guess I’ll just have to leave my game on all night.

1337H@Xx: guyz I herd u get tails by getting 10 kos in cruel smash

Justkaleb: That’s impossible.

Nintendude87: Also not true.

1337H@Xx: u don’t know that

Sonicfan1991: Whatever you need to tell yourself to help you sleep at night.

Pikafan: Alright guys I guess I’ll just go play with my little brother. I gotta get the good controller before he does.

Justkaleb: See you man.

Nintendude87: We’ll all play some other time. Not sure when though.



Nintendo of America HQ Redmond, Washington USA - June 29 4:00 PM PT
Peter Moore sighed, even after taking preemptive measures things were still bad into Saturday. People we’re still having trouble connecting in Super Smash Brothers, Customer Service phones were ringing off the hook, it was reportedly taking almost a half hour for new users to make accounts, he couldn’t imagine things getting any worse. A technician came in his office. “Moore I got good news and bad news.” The technician said. “Give it to me straight.” Peter Moore tried to look composed but his frustration showed. “Well good news is Nintendo Netcast has hit over one million individual users. Bad news is the massive influx of new accounts has completely shut down the servers. Nintendo Netcast is effectively shut down, at least here in North America.” “And when will user account creation be back online?” Moore asked. “Likely later within the day around 8 or 9 but it could potentially shut down again tomorrow during peak hours if we don’t do anything, but I do have a saving grace from Japan. Apparently Sega is working on creating a special web page for Nintendo Netcast users to manage and create new accounts on. They didn’t say when it would be up though I was told by Monday at least.” The technician responded. “I don’t care anymore shut down a game that nobody plays, but keep me updated and bring that game back online as soon as possible.” Peter Moore said. “Right away sir.” The technician said, leaving the room. Peter Moore rubbed his forehead sighing. He thought Bernie Stolar was a pain but this was a whole new level.


“Why can’t I get a connection?” The Innocent Bomberman Online Players just trying to play their game.


You get what you pay for!
Don’t settle for anything less!
X-BOX LIVE

Advertisement for X-Box Live



There’s nothing faster and more reliable than X-Box Live!
Don’t settle for a Cube, get a Box!
X-Box!

Advertisement for X-Box



On June 28 2002 Super Smash Bros Melee released in both Japan and North America and it was a disaster. This was the first Super Smash Brothers game to have an online vs mode and Nintendo was woefully unprepared.

This actually wasn’t anything new. When Nintendo Netcast first launched in November 2001 there were still a few hiccups. Some games were unexpectedly high in traffic compared to others leading to slight connection issues, but these were fixed very quickly as servers were reallocated based on their active playerbase. But for Smash Bros things didn’t go so well.

This was the first Super Smash Brothers game to have an online vs mode and Nintendo was woefully unprepared. When Super Smash Brother Melee first launched on June 28 2002 almost immediately the servers were under extremely high traffic. While there was nothing wrong with actually playing the game online, trying to find a match in Solo Melee would take anywhere from 5 Minutes to a half an hour and in Group Melee players found themselves waiting to connect to their friends for up to 12 Minutes. Nintendo and Internet Service Providers were flooded with calls about the connection issues. In fact there was such high traffic that some servers had to be shut down so that they didn’t overheat.



So why did Melee have these connection issues? Simply put there weren’t enough servers. You see in order to keep the cost of running Nintendo Netcast down Nintendo and Sega only had as many servers as they thought they needed. While they did add more servers for when Super Smash Bros Melee launched it simply wasn’t enough, there were just too many players trying to connect at the same time.

And it wasn’t just Super Smash Bros Melee having connection issues but Melee had a ripple effect that affected nearly every aspect of Nintendo Netcast. Nintendo and Sega scrambled to fix Melee’s connection issues. This meant the reallocation servers from more popular games like Quake 3 and Half-Life leading to connection issues for people trying to play those games and while it’s never been confirmed, it’s been reported that Bomberman Online was completely shut down for almost three days straight because of the server reallocation. In fact so many people that bought Super Smash Bros where making new accounts that the servers for account creation went offline due to the high traffic.
This event was a disaster for Nintendo and Sega, even though they had fixed the issues within the week the PR damage was already done and their competitor Microsoft capitalized on this event by increasing their ads for X-Box Live. For their next big online game Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, Nintendo and Sega were better far better prepared the launch of that game went off flawlessly.
Excerpt from Gaming Historian Youtube Channel - History of Nintendo Netcast, September 2018
 
Last edited:
Still waiting to see how those servers are smashed....
Wait no more!

Anyway I was busy painting this weekend, but now that I'm finished I got this out as soon as I could.

Next Chapter: Gaming News Summer 2002
Upcoming Chapter: Gaming News Fall 2002 / A Merger draws near! Command?
Upcoming Chapter: Dinosaur Planet / Can’t let you be in this game. Star Fox!
Upcoming Chapter: Gaming News Christmas 2002 - Winter 2003
 
Wait no more!

Anyway I was busy painting this weekend, but now that I'm finished I got this out as soon as I could.
Yeah and nice worth the wait, seems the game break all their estimates..just like OTL, just with the downside of colapsing the server for Netcast...

So basically it was a mess.
Just like OTL with Brawl..just here we don't have to wait for a new console to it to solve it.

Very nice update @Gaminguy010 , hope the others don't take that long, thanks for it
 
Mr.Gates, you had the chance to do Rareware the same way Nintendo did, but you only made a remake of Conker and made Banjo fat , the only good thing you made with them was Sea of Thieves.
Rare is about to get pretty busy. Dinosaur Planet is coming at the end of the year. Diddy Kong Pilot and Grabbed by the Goulies next year. Banjo 3 and Perfect Dark by 2004-2005. Conker showing up fashionably late in 2006. Not to mention Banjo-Kazooie Grunty's Revenge and Donkey Kong Country remakes on GBA. I don't know where Killer Instinct falls into all of this yet. (On top of how many other canceled projects Rare had in development like Donkey Kong Racing.)

Don’t settle for a Cube, get a Box!
Thanks for making me realize how silly this line is without context.
 
Gaming News Summer 2002
Nintendo released Super Smash Brothers Melee to much fanfare, unfortunately Smash Bros Melee caused exceptionally high traffic on Nintendo Netcast. Causing problems not just for Smash players trying to connect but the influx of new accounts shut down all of Nintendo Netcast, giving Nintendo bad PR on the stability of its online system. Despite this setback Nintendo bounced back by dropping the price of the GameCube by 50 Dollars putting the price at 150.00 Dollars and with the release of the long awaited Super Mario Sunshine. Despite a miserably slow start the X-Box was finally gaining traction thanks to aggressive advertisements that took advantage of Nintendo Netcast’s failure during Super Smash Bros Melee’s launch and gaining exclusives like Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Morrowind was a critical exclusive to Microsoft that helped beef up the X-Box’s slim library of exclusive games. Things were rather quiet for PS2 owners as they awaited the release of Kingdom Hearts in September and Ratchet and Clank in November but a 100 Dollar price drop back in late May had boosted sales.


To Archie Comics
As discussed in our meeting in August 2001 with Senior Nintendo of Japan staff concerning the continued publication of Sonic the Hedgehog under the united Nintendo/Sega banner, Nintendo is open to proposals involving the adaptation of its many franchises to the comic medium.
Nintendo of Japan has received and reviewed your multiple proposals for a comic based on various Nintendo franchises. Upon their review Nintendo of Japan has rejected all proposals from A to Zelda. The sole exception is the proposed Metroid comic. While the proposed comic was not rejected, Nintendo of Japan wishes to have a meeting discussing the comic in more detail with Senior Metroid Staff and the Head Writer Karl Bollers and Co-Writer Kenneth Penders.
Despite this meeting Nintendo of Japan has already demanded that all storyboards be reviewed by Nintendo of America. This is not to inhibit creative freedom but to ensure that Nintendos high standards on quality and development of its franchises are upheld. We await a response to set up a proper meeting.

From
Peter Moore, President of Nintendo of America

E-Mail sent to Archie Comics from Nintendo of America, June 2002



I hate the new Legend of Zelda because:
It’s a baby easy kiddie game
It’s a cartoon
It’s clearly a bad game
It’s not “dark”
It’s different from the N64 games
It’s not what I expected
I might not buy it! I don’t like it this way! Change it back!
Many (but not all) NP Readers via Everything
We’re sorry you don’t like the new cel-shaded graphical style of the Legend of Zelda for GCN, and we would recommend giving the game a chance. The Legend of Zelda series has changed a lot over the years, but we think the changes Mr. Miyamoto has made have always improved the gameplay and added to the experience. You can bet that we’re very excited to see the finished game. We fully expect it to be the very best Zelda of them all.

Several people have criticized the new Zelda game for the Nintendo GameCube because of its different graphics. Well at the E3 event at Nintendo.com, I got my first look at the new Zelda and was amazed! These graphics aren’t “kiddie” -they’re more distinguished and though provoking. One in particular captured more of Link’s emotions than ever before! I mean his eyes are wide open, his mouth is gaping, and these things are sneaking up behind him! This is way better than the other Zelda’s. I also wondered why Olimar didn’t have more emotions in Pikmin. That would’ve made the game even more realistic.
Erik Voss via the Internet

Excerpt from Nintendo Power Newsletter, August 2002


Major Games June - August 2002
The House of the Dead III - Developer: Sega AM1 / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: Arcade / Release Date: June-1

Bomberman Generation - Developer: Hudson Soft / Publisher: Majesco Entertainment / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: June-3

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Developer: Bethesda Game Studios / Publisher: Bethesda Softworks / Platforms: PC, X-Box / Release Date: June-6

Mega Man Battle Network 2 - Developer: Capcom / Publisher: Capcom / Platforms: GBA / Release Date: June-12

Neverwinter Knights - Developer: BioWare / Publisher: Infograms / Platforms: PC / Release Date: June-18

The Pinball of the Dead - Developer: Sega AM1 / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GBA / Release Date: June-18

Wipeout Fusion - Developer: SCE Studio Liverpool / Publisher: BAM! Entertainment / Platforms: PS2 / Release Date: June-18

Disney’s Stitch: Experiment 626 - Developer: High Voltage Software / Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment, Disney Interactive Studios / Platforms: PS2 / Release Date: June-19

Eternal Darkness - Developer: Silicon Knights / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: June-23

Super Smash Bros Melee - Developer: HAL Laboratory, Sega / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: June-28-2002

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - Developer: Blizzard Entertainment / Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment / Platforms: PC / Release Date: July-3

Virtua Tennis 2 - Developer: Sega AM3 / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: July-30

Touhou Project: Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - Developer: Team Shanghai Alice / Publisher: Team Shanghai Alice / Platforms: PC / Release Date: August 11 (Japan)

Duke Nukem Advance - Developer: Torus Games / Publisher: Take-Two Interactive / Platforms: GBA / Release Date: Aug-12

Madden NFL 2003 - Developer: EA Tiburon, Budcat Creations / Publisher: EA Sports / Platforms: GCN, PS2, X-Box, PC, PS1 / Release Date: Aug-12

NFL 2K3 - Developer: Visual Concepts / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: Aug-12

Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse - Developer: Capcom / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: Aug-13

Super Monkey Ball 2 - Developer: Amusement Vision / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: Aug-25

Super Mario Sunshine - Developer: Nintendo EAD / Publisher: Nintendo / Platforms: GCN / Release Date: Aug-26

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny - Developer: Capcom / Publisher: Capcom / Platforms: PS2, GCN / Release Date: Aug-27

Turok: Evolution - Developer: Acclaim Studios Austin / Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment / Platforms: GCN, PS2, X-Box / Release Date: Aug-28


Current Nintendo Netcast Users: 1,076,598

Most Played Online Games August 2002
1. Super Smash Brothers Melee
2. Half -Life
3. Quake III Arena
4. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
5. Sonic Adventure 2


Nintendo Power Players Choice August 2002
1. Super Mario Sunshine / Metroid Fusion
2. Animal Crossing / The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
3. Metroid Prime / The Pinball of the Dead
4. Super Monkey Ball 2 / Mega Man Zero
5. Battlefield 1942 / Guilty Gear X
6. Eternal Darkness / Advance Wars
7. Phantasy Star Online / Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
8. Resident Evil / GT Advance 2: Rally Racing
9. Dinosaur Planet / Diddy Kong Pilot
10. Bomberman Generation / Mega Man Battle Network 2


Nintendo Power Most Wanted August 2002
1. The Legend of Zelda - GCN
2. Soul Calibur II - GCN
3. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire - GBA
4. Counter Strike - GCN
5. Sakura Wars - GCN
6. Golden Sun: The Lost Age - GBA
7. Skies of Arcadia Legends - GCN
8. Shantae 2 - GBA
9. F-Zero GX - GCN
10. Star Fox - GCN
 
Last edited:
Top