DBWI: What if the Sony PlayStation was more successful?

Yes, but Nintendo did absorb the Game Freak staff and did attempt a revival with the Pokemon World MMORPG to some success a few years ago. The Pokemon craze was a flash in the pan for sure but it had some serious competition from Digimon on all fronts from the video games to the animated shows to the card games. Most of the characters from the Pokemon anime (especially the protagonist Ash Ketchum) were flat and static, the main cast of Digimon experienced considerable character growth by the end of the season. The fact that Ryo Akiyama, the main protagonist from the games, became a regular character in the second season helped too. Granted, Digimon sputtered out by its fourth season, the animated series is more fondly remembered than Pokemon's.

In the end I believe that Pokemon 3: Ruby and Emerald failed because it felt like one step forward two steps back for the series. They removed much of what made Gold and Silver a leap ahead of Red and Green. The day/night cycle ate up the battery backup, which made the games useless in four years (give or take), so Game Freak had to remove it in the end. Another reason is that I do not think Pokemon survived because the technology to take the series to the next level was just not quite there yet. Imagine what Pokemon could have been if the Game Boy Advance had Wi-Fi and online capabilities. Maybe we would be playing Pokemon 4 (or 5): Black and White instead of Digimon: Chrome and Titanium Tamer now.

Oh, and Sega, are they still not cheeky towards their competition?

OOC: I guess Monster Rancher is still doomed to abscurity, if not more so.

IC: The Digimon games are alright but I still think they got way out of control with the monster selection and when they threw in Pinacle stage which made it completely off balance for anybody who wasn't hardcore to play. I guess it did make for more movies though that seem to be a hit with the kids.

I hear Microsoft and Sega want to partner for smartphone considering their relationship dating back to Windows CE embedded in the Dreamcast. Its a win win as Sega can break into the mobile market while Microsoft will have a first rate game selection for their Windows Mobile devices.

All this is probably going to mean the final nail in the coffin for the Panasonic Jungle portable game system which imo was more of an oddity then their 3DO.:confused:
 
The Digimon games are alright but I still think they got way out of control with the monster selection and when they threw in Pinacle stage which made it completely off balance for anybody who wasn't hardcore to play. I guess it did make for more movies though that seem to be a hit with the kids.
I stopped playing Digimon because, well, my life was getting too hectic to devote myself to taming teams from over 700 Digimon. I blame it on the Pokemon fans the series absorbed after Game Freak shuttered up. :p

I hear Microsoft and Sega want to partner for smartphone considering their relationship dating back to Windows CE embedded in the Dreamcast. Its a win win as Sega can break into the mobile market while Microsoft will have a first rate game selection for their Windows Mobile devices.
Rumors at his point, but I would not be surprised if Sega and Microsoft made a joint announcement at E3 2013. The Game Gear Omni is practically a smartphone without the phone function, unless you count the Skype app. Maybe the two are building an updated model and will do what Sega did when they transitioned from Game Gear Max to Omni back in 2010: give customers a trade-in option.

It makes me wonder if Nintendo would give a collaboration with Sony another go, though there might still be some hard feelings over the SNES-CD debacle. There is still Samsung and LG. ;)

All this is probably going to mean the final nail in the coffin for the Panasonic Jungle portable game system which imo was more of an oddity then their 3DO.:confused:
Well, Nintendo still rules the portable roost with the 3DS, with Sega in a respectable second, and the Zodiac is struggling but has some solid support. The Jungle did not have much of a chance, to be honest. Maybe because it was overpriced like the 3DO was? :p

Getting back to my OP, I was looking up the development of Sonic Xtreme and saw that Yuji Naka actually quit Sega because the management in Japan let STI use the Nights Into Dreams engine without his consent. So I suppose I was mistaken there but I think it worked for the best because Sonic Xtreme turned out pretty good for all the production troubles it went through. It was not quite the Super Mario 64 "killer" Sega wanted (partly because of the glitches that plagued the first game, and the shoddy camera that also plagued it and Xtreme 2) but many Sonic fans like to say it was the silver bullet that killed the PlayStation. Personally, I thought the Adventure reboot released for the Dreamcast launch in 2001 was more polished and enjoyable. Mostly because it blended elements from the old SatAM animated series, the comic based on it, and even elements from the UK comic for the tenth anniversary. :eek:

It was the closest thing the nirvana that I experienced from the Sonic series.
 
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Getting back to my OP, I was looking up the development of Sonic Xtreme and saw that Yuji Naka actually quit Sega because the management in Japan let STI use the Nights Into Dreams engine without his consent. So I suppose I was mistaken there but I think it worked for the best because Sonic Xtreme turned out pretty good for all the production troubles it went through. It was not quite the Super Mario 64 "killer" Sega wanted (partly because of the glitches that plagued the first game, and the shoddy camera that also plagued it and Xtreme 2) but many Sonic fans like to say it was the silver bullet that killed the PlayStation. Personally, I thought the Adventure reboot released for the Dreamcast launch in 2001 was more polished and enjoyable. Mostly because it blended elements from the old SatAM animated series, the comic based on it, and even elements the UK comic for the tenth anniversary. :eek:

It was the closet thing the nirvana that I experienced from the Sonic series.

I always remember Sonic Adventure for the Dream Cast being the first Sonic game I ever played so for me a 3D sonic is actually what I saw as standard. I am intrested to see if the Sonic team has anything new coming down the pipe, it feels like they've been making the same game for a while now. Don't fix what ain't broke I guess.

Hearing about all these old IPs that Sony had though makes me wonder what happened to them. Their in house stuff couldn't have been so bad that no one wants to see new squeals made.
 
Rumors at his point, but I would not be surprised if Sega and Microsoft made a joint announcement at E3 2013. The Game Gear Omni is practically a smartphone without the phone function, unless you count the Skype app. Maybe the two are building an updated model and will do what Sega did when they transitioned from Game Gear Max to Omni back in 2010: give customers a trade-in option.

For some reason I really can't see this happening. I'm thinking that royalty issues will probably scupper the agreement. That or the announcements are unrelated.

Well, Nintendo still rules the portable roost with the 3DS, with Sega in a respectable second, and the Zodiac is struggling but has some solid support. The Jungle did not have much of a chance, to be honest. Maybe because it was overpriced like the 3DO was? :p

That and the fact that unlike the 3DO, Jungle didn't have a big library of games, and the games it had were mostly awful. Crash n' Burn: Portable anyone?

Getting back to my OP, I was looking up the development of Sonic Xtreme and saw that Yuji Naka actually quit Sega because the management in Japan let STI use the Nights Into Dreams engine without his consent. So I suppose I was mistaken there but I think it worked for the best because Sonic Xtreme turned out pretty good for all the production troubles it went through. It was not quite the Super Mario 64 "killer" Sega wanted (partly because of the glitches that plagued the first game, and the shoddy camera that also plagued it and Xtreme 2) but many Sonic fans like to say it was the silver bullet that killed the PlayStation. Personally, I thought the Adventure reboot released for the Dreamcast launch in 2001 was more polished and enjoyable. Mostly because it blended elements from the old SatAM animated series, the comic based on it, and even elements from the UK comic for the tenth anniversary. :eek:

It was the closest thing the nirvana that I experienced from the Sonic series.

I never was much into the Sonic games, although I do agree that Adventure was one of the better games to get with the Dreamcast. I rank it up there with Megaman 9 and Final Fantasy X for the system.
 
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