Lychnus Aeneas: Alternate Console Wars

I am proud to present Part Five of Lychnus Aeneas!

Part Five: 1991

After the fiasco that was the GlitchBoy, Nintendo started 1991 with a big bang, re-releasing the GameBoy in February 1991, slightly less then a year after the recall, along with a stepped-up advertising campaign.

The GameBoy also came with Super Mario GameBoy ReVamped and Tetris as a pack-in. There was now less limited color, and the color was said to be on par with ColecoVision, even, some say, better implemented. The GameBoy could display up to five colors on screen at a time, eight with bank-switching. In addition the GameBoy also had a calender and watch built-in. With all these new features came a new price tag: A steep $159.99.
------
Meanwhile Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog on it's Sega Genesis along with a new advertising campaign comparing it to the NES. With that the NES started losing popularity and Nintendo was still working on the 16-bit successor. The entire console wars were going badly for Nintendo.
------
Atari also continued work on it's platformer for the Lynx, using the tentative title Levi the Lynx. Atari also released a new deal (pardon the FDR-related pun) for the Lynx.

The deal currently on the market, the Deluxe Lynx Pack, included:
The Atari Lynx
One ComLynx Cable
One AC Adaptor
California Games
One Carrying Case.
The Deluxe Lynx Pack costs $130.99.

The new pack for the Lynx, called the Simple Lynx Pack, consisted of the Lynx, The AC Adaptor, a catalog for the Lynx, and several random coupons for several popular Lynx games. The Simple Lynx Pack costs $80.99.

In addition Atari released the Lynx in Europe where it became the most popular handheld, second most popular console as a whole to the Sega Master System. Lastly, to counter the new GameBoy, Atari did what Sega did and compared the two game systems. Seeing as both systems had Klax now, Atari mainly used Klax in the comparisons.
-------
Sega started work on a handheld to counter Nintendo's GameBoy and Lynx. They called this Project Mercury. Sega made an official announcement in August 1991, stating it would be ready for release by 1992.
-------
Atari itself also began working on a redesign of the Lynx, as they were losing customers to Nintendo's Game Boy, and also began work on a secret project known to insiders as "Project ComDisc".

Atari also begins contacting several Japanese companies on the prospect of releasing the Lynx in Japan, as well as developing and translating games for it. By October this would fail, and Atari sets out on establishing Atari Japan.
----
Nintendo gradually started getting more customers, however Nintendo still had few third-party developers.
----
To readers: Below you see a timeline of all events during this Part, to help continuity.
----
February 1991:
Nintendo rereleases the GameBoy. The price tag: $159.99.
April 1991:
Atari releases the Simple Lynx Pack. Atari also steps up the advertising campaign. IN addition Atari began contacting Japanese developers on the prospect of releasing the Lynx in Japan, as well as several games for it.
June 1991:
Sega releases Sonic the Hedgehog for their Genesis, which instantly becomes the new pack-in game. A new advertising campaign for the Genesis is also used.
August 1991:
Sega releases an official statement regarding rumors on a handheld console, stating the console, tentative title "Project Mercury", would release in 1992.
October 1991:
Atari begins work on establishing Atari Japan.
The entire year:
Atari works on Levi the Lynx, a redesign for the Lynx, and a 16-bit console called Project ComDisc.

Atari of Japan Did exist... was the one who created Pac-man, but Bushell and other in their own capital rise action sell it to Namco... with the ultra profit pac-man rights....

And for 1991 the SNES was released in USA, my grandfather bought in Miami in Decemeber... so unless you're European...

Umm, The SEGA GAME GEAR, Even if a little priced was better than was Lynx can offer an become their killer(if the Gameboy Competed in Price, GG in quality), how will avoid that bullet? Sega Sufering similar to Nintendo IN LATL?(that will be hard)

And this one will do wonder with Gumpei Yokoi Career, In OTL after the dominance of Gameboy he presented the pet project of Virtual Boy... here with a Rocky Gameboy he will focus in finish metroid first and them maybe do other thing?

This one how will affect Sony & Nintendo Relationship?
 
Last edited:
Atari of Japan Did exist... was the one who created Pac-man, but Bushell and other in their own capital rise action sell it to Namco... with the ultra profit pac-man rights....

And for 1991 the SNES was released in USA, my grandfather bought in Miami in Decemeber... so unless you're European...

Umm, The SEGA GAME GEAR, Even if a little priced was better than was Lynx can offer an become their killer(if the Gameboy Competed in Price, GG in quality), how will avoid that bullet? Sega Sufering similar to Nintendo IN LATL?(that will be hard)

And this one will do wonder with Gumpei Yokoi Career, In OTL after the dominance of Gameboy he presented the pet project of Virtual Boy... here with a Rocky Gameboy he will focus in finish metroid first and them maybe do other thing?

This one how will affect Sony & Nintendo Relationship?

i did not know an atari of japan already existed,i thought the entity ended after the 2800. for now,we're going on that one ended and atari established a new one.
 
i did not know an atari of japan already existed,i thought the entity ended after the 2800. for now,we're going on that one ended and atari established a new one.

Yes with a Different Brand... and how is the thign in the Handled market, both Atari/Nintendo have like 60-4o% share now(even with a rocky start, the people bought Nintendo product for Nintendo games)

And how are some of the other fates so far?
 
i did not know an atari of japan already existed,i thought the entity ended after the 2800. for now,we're going on that one ended and atari established a new one.

I did a bit of research on Atari Japan.

And with it, I am presenting the very first...

O.T.L. History Lesson!!!
On this Lesson...
Atari Japan!

In 1973 Japanese-American business man Kenichi Takumi joined Atari to establish and serve as President of the new subsidiary, Atari Japan, based in Tokyo. HIdeyuki Nakajima, previously of Japan Art Paper Company, joined Atari Japan as general manager. The Japanese subsidiary would manufacture and sell Atari coin-operate video games (arcade games from here on out) in the Japanese market.

In 1974 Nakamura Manufacturing agreed to help sell game machines for Atari Japan.

In Winter/Spring 1975, Atari Inc. agreed to sell their Atari Japan Corporation, or Atari Japan, to Nakamura Manufacturing (dba Namco since 1971) for 296 million Yen, Atari Japan pres. Kenichi Takumi departed.

October that same year, Nakamura Manufacturing purchased Atari Japan from Atari for US $500,050. Nakamura Manufacturing would be the exclusive representative for Atari products in Japan for ten years.

Besides manufacturing and selling Atari arcade games in Japan, Namco would go on to purchase rights to produce and sell video games by other developers, operate its own arcades, and would later become a developer of it's own original video games.

In 1977, Nakamura Manufacturing became Namco Ltd., reflecting the brand name it had been using for six years.

In 1978, Hide Nakajima was deployed by Namco to establish a new Namcosubsidiary in the USA. The office for Namco America Inc. was in Sunnyvale, California.

Namco would tap other, established companies for sales, marketing distribution, and support of Namco-developed arcade/video games in the US. One such company was Atari.

On February 6th, 1985, Namco Ltd. of Japan, through Namco America, purchased the tangible assets and intangible assets (patents, trademarks, and copyrights) associated with the Atari Coin-Operated Games division of Atari Games, Inc. from Warner Communications Inc.

Around Winter 1987, A group of Atari Games employees purchased Namco America's controlling interest in the company. Atari Games became independent of any corporate parent. Namco America remained a significant minority investor.

Then on June 26th, 1990 Atari Games on behalf of Time Warner announced it would repurchase the entire 43.8% share of the company held by one of its two largest outside shareholders, Namco America. In return, Namco received ownership of Atari Games' Atari Operations subsidiary, which operated more then 40 arcades in the Western and Southeastern United States.

With the discontinuation of Namco's relationship with Atari Games, Namco America commenced direct sales, marketing, distribution, and support of Namco-branded coin-operated arcade games in the United States.

Such is the story of Atari Japan.

Next time, on OTL History Lesson... The History of the former Atari Adventure Corp!!!
 
Yes with a Different Brand... and how is the thign in the Handled market, both Atari/Nintendo have like 60-4o% share now(even with a rocky start, the people bought Nintendo product for Nintendo games)

And how are some of the other fates so far?

Other fates? I don't know what you mean. However, your a bit off on the handheld market share.

Atari holds 55% and Nintendo holds 45% as of the end of 1991.

With the consoles, Sega pretty much holds 55% with the Sega Genesis, Nintendo holds 40% with the original NES, and NEC holds the remaining five percent with it's TurboGrafx-16. As of the end of 1991.
 
Other fates? I don't know what you mean. However, your a bit off on the handheld market share.

Atari holds 55% and Nintendo holds 45% as of the end of 1991.

With the consoles, Sega pretty much holds 55% with the Sega Genesis, Nintendo holds 40% with the original NES, and NEC holds the remaining five percent with it's TurboGrafx-16. As of the end of 1991.

Other Fates means the NEC and i think that pirate asian gameboy...

You know have started to study for the timeline, that is pretty nice, in general manage to give new feelings...

And what will Atari do? in OTL Japanese Publisher were pretty wary with non Japanese(much say that is with the Xbox never take fly in japan), and even the handled market was pretty niche outside japan... in Japan atari will face more competition(and much of their game are very 'american)

Atari will return to Console or Stick With Handled in ITTL? I liked what Thande do in their Timeline, but those were better butterflies
 
Other Fates means the NEC and i think that pirate asian gameboy...

You know have started to study for the timeline, that is pretty nice, in general manage to give new feelings...

And what will Atari do? in OTL Japanese Publisher were pretty wary with non Japanese(much say that is with the Xbox never take fly in japan), and even the handled market was pretty niche outside japan... in Japan atari will face more competition(and much of their game are very 'american)

Atari will return to Console or Stick With Handled in ITTL? I liked what Thande do in their Timeline, but those were better butterflies

Ah, that. NEC is pretty much unchanged from OTL, right now anyway, that pirate Asian GameBoy, the Watara Supervision? Ho ho, now its a clone Lynx, and nothing is changed from OTL except its a clone Lynx, released in 1992 just like OTL.

Also, look forward to 1992, cause it is going to be another year almost as big as 1991. It'll be a whirlwind of chaos.
 
Bughuntertf Alt-Hist Productions are proud to present...

Part Six: 1992

June of 1992 saw the establishment of the new Atari Japan subsidiary, which would sell Atari games. Atari began contacting Japanese developers on the prospect of developing Lynx games.

In July of the year Nintendo released their 16-bit answer to Sega's Genesis, which by that point had 65% of the market share.

August that year saw the release of the Atari Lynx in Japan, or the "Ataru Riikusu". Atari had previously had a few Japanese employees, they were transferred to Atari Japan and started hiring as well. Game releases for the Lynx were slow, as the translation from English to Japanese was difficult and in Japan Nintendo's GameBoy was king.

Nintendo's Super 16 System sold greatly and started capturing marketshare from the Genesis, however it was compounded by the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on November 21st.

Atari also released it's own magazine that year, called Atari Go! which would cover new Atari releases for all Atari systems, at the time just the Lynx.

Meanwhile Sega released the Mega-CD add-on in Japan. The peripheral would be released the next year in the U.S.

The Nintendo Super 16 System had the pack-in game Super Mario Bros. 4, along with launch games F-Zero, Gradius III, and SimCity.

"Atari is working on a port of Mortal Kombat II for the Lynx. Completion is scheduled for March 1993, and packing it in with the redesigned Lynx, along with Levi the Lynx. The old Lynx will also have Levi the Lynx packed-in, along with Klax and Chip's Challenge. Atari is also working on a secret project..." ---Atari Go! Issue One"

Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog 2 got a massive ad campaign, leading Sega to recapture the marketshare it lost to Nintendo's Super 16 System and then some.

Throughout the year Atari continued work on the Lynx redesign, Project ComDisc, Levi the Lynx, and Mortal Kombat II.
-------- Timeline:
June 1992:
Atari Japan is established. Japanese employees are transferred to the new subsidiary. Atari Japan contacts developers to develop for the Atari Lynx.
July 1992:
Nintendo released the Super 16 System, with pack-in game Super Mario Bros. 4. Other launch games were F-Zero, Gradius III, and SimCity.
August 1992:
Atari Japan releases the Lynx in Japan as the "Ataru Riikusu". Game releases are slow.
November 1992:
Sega releases Sonic the Hedgehog 2, leading to the Genesis re-capturing the marketshare Sega lost to the Super 16, in the U.S.
Atari releases it's new magazine, called Atari Go!
The entire year:
Atari works on the Lynx redesign, Levi the Lynx, and Mortal Kombat II.
-----
Major Releases:
Nintendo Super 16 System - console -1992
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - game - 1992
Atari Go! - magazine - 1992
Ataru Riikusu - japanese Lynx - 1992
 
Revised Part Six: 1992

Bughuntertf Alternate History Productions are proud to once again present Part Six of Lychnus Aeneas ReVised!

I'm really sorry I got 1992 wrong, to make up for it the revised version.

Revised Part Six: 1992

May 1992 had Sega release their handheld, the Sega Mercury with launch games Columns, Sonic the Hedgehog, Psychic World, Revenge of Drancon, Super Monaco GP, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, and G-LOC: Air Battle. Pack-in was Columns and Sonic the Hedgehog.

June saw the establishment of the new Atari Japan subsidiary, as well as the transferring of Japanese employees and hiring. Atari also began contacting developers for the Lynx.

In July Nintendo finally released their successor to the NES, the Nintendo Super-16-Entertainment System. It came with the pack-in game Super Mario Bros. 4, and the launch games F-Zero, Gradius III, and SimCity.

Atari Japan that October released the Atari Lynx in Japan, or "Atari Riikusu". Game releases were slow and it only came with Klax as a pack-in and WarBirds as a launch.

The Super-16-Entertainment System sold much at first, however November 21's release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Genesis. Atari also released it's own magazine that year, called Atari Go! covering Atari systems.

Meanwhile throughout the entire year Atari worked on Levi the Lynx, a redesign of the Lynx, Mortal Kombat II, and Project ComDisc, now referred to as the "Cougar" inside of Atari.
 
Part Seven: 1993
After several dealings, a small company called Game Freak made a deal with Atari to release it's games for the "Riikusu". Game Freak would get 25% profits from all game sales of it's games. It began working on a secret project. This happened in March.

Meanwhile in the America's Nintendo and Sega's consoles were gaining ground but Atari's Lynx was still a clear leader. Atari began recruiting top game programmers from Atari itself, Epyx, and several other companies to form Fedora Developments. They began work on a Lynx revival Project, comprising of California Games 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Daemon's Gate, and an unknown project at the time. April.

Finally, Atari had in May ready Levi the Lynx, Mortal Kombat II, and the Lynx redesign ready. This was meant to be a bit of a time-turner while Fedora Developments worked on it's project, called internally as the "Bond Package."

In June Atari released the Lynx ReVamped, as the redesign was called, with an AC Adaptor, Levi the Lynx, and Mortal Kombat II.

The old Lynx got Levi the Lynx, Klax, and Chip's Challenge as the pack-ins. Atari also began ramping up hype for the Atari Cougar, previously Project ComDisc.

Reviews started coming up on Levi the Lynx and Mortal Kombat II, the following are from Atari Go! In the style of Nintendo Power, Atari made the decision to have Atari Go! be an independent magazine not controlled by itself, allowing the reviewers to be 100% truthful.

"Levi the Lynx is the next big platforming franchise. The sound, the graphics, the control... All of it is perfect. Levi the Lynx is the best platformer I have played for a long time."

"Mortal Kombat II is the best arcade port to the Lynx, a killer title. The backgrounds are arcade-perfect, there is nothing in the arcade that isn't perfectly replicated on the Lynx. It is simply that good - literally arcade-perfect. As a plus, it can be ComLynx in an eight-player contest! All Lynxes are Com-Lynxed, and two players a randomly matched up. Four matches take place. The winners go on and two matches take place, the losers black out and return to the title screen. Finally the winners of those go on in one finale match. The last man standing is the winner." ---Atari Go! July

Atari later revealed they would release the Cougar in 1994. The system would use CD's. Sega began development of a CD add-on for the Genesis.
 
After a Long Hiatus...

... I present Part Eight!

8: 1994
Game Freak continued work on it's game for the Riikusu (Japanese Lynx) and it went unsaid, unhyped. Atari was the only one funding it, a big gamble on their part. (ALL)

Sega and Nintendo's consoles continued gaining ground and speculation began running that Atari may have only had an early lead. This would become nonsense when Fedora Developments Bond Package was released. California Games 2, Daemonsgate, Wolfenstein 3D, and what was rumored to be Levi the Lynx 2. (ALL)

Atari released their Cougar to much fanfare with several titles, Cinder the Cougar, Klax, and the second most popular of them all, a stange game called only "CK FD" (FEBRUARY)

Sega made it known their little thing was called the "Sega GeneCD".

"Atari has release, to heavy hype, the Cougar! It came packed-in with Cinder the Cougar (inside sources tell us Carry, Sally, and Cindy were considered), and the other games Klax and CK FD. Cindy the Cougar is a great platforming adventure, it's like a console Levi the Lynx. Wonderful. However, the Go! team has been more focused on the odd CK FD, which is a compilation of sorts. So far we've found a small platformer, shooter, puzzler, and drawing one. From what we can tell, the game is FULL of secrets. We love it." --Atari Go!

"Hmm. We are puzzled. Puzzled, not by Cougar, Cinder the Cougar, or Klax. The rumors in the team are quiet as we all puzzle over the odd CK FD. You play a character known only as 'C.' He, in turn, has a large, open-ended world to explore. There are many doors. You start with one door and a small area. As you complete each door, you unlock more doors and the area gets bigger. It's amazing." --Electronic Gaming Monthly."
 
Nine (9) Ninth /ˈnaɪn/ 九 ⑨

Part Nein!
Game Freak released as much information: the game is called Capsumon, and you're a young boy looking to catch 'em all.

Atari Cougar games continue to be released, less and less poor quality games due to the "Atari Game Quality Checking Service" and a seal of approval. CK FD continued to astound users as the game continues to be huge.

Meanwhile, Fedora Developments completes California Games 2, and the game "Puzzle"

Nintendo and Sega continue to gain ground in the handheld field, as Lynx game releases continue to slow down, but are losing ground in the console realm, and it's stacked like this for handhelds:

Lynx: 40%
GameBoy: 35%
Game Gear: 25%

So the question was becoming: Who will win the handheld wars?
----
Sega, Nintendo, and Atari are duking it out on the console side, each trying to release new versions of their game franchises, trying to out-sell, out-advertise the other. However, game-wise, most everyone recognizes that Atari's Cougar is the most advanced, and clearly, the best.

So the question there is: Can Nintendo and Sega get their games back together?
 
Pokemon and CK FD?

Hum... Is it possible that Pokémon would be released to Atari Lynx/Cougar rather than Nintendo Gameboy? Because if it happens, and the Pokemon games were the juggernaut success as in OTL, then Atari would get a big advantage.

Is the game CK FD the ITTL equivalent of which game?

I wonder how PC games will do in this TL.
 
Hum... Is it possible that Pokémon would be released to Atari Lynx/Cougar rather than Nintendo Gameboy? Because if it happens, and the Pokemon games were the juggernaut success as in OTL, then Atari would get a big advantage.

Is the game CK FD the ITTL equivalent of which game?

I wonder how PC games will do in this TL.

CK FD is not an equivalent to any game. It is purely original of my own making.

And yes, Pokemon (Capsumon in LATL) is on the Lynx.
 
CK FD is not an equivalent to any game. It is purely original of my own making.

And yes, Pokemon (Capsumon in LATL) is on the Lynx.

Ah OK.

I'm glad that there will be a equivalent of Pokemon in this TL (Yes, I'm a fan of it :p). i hope that this affect the anime, allowing Ash (the anime's main character evolve :p like he was supposed to do, and not stuck for all the seasons... maybe the anime would be more like the Pokemon Special/Adventures manga, with Ash as the Red-equivalent) OK, end of the rant now ;):p
 
Ah OK.

I'm glad that there will be a equivalent of Pokemon in this TL (Yes, I'm a fan of it :p). i hope that this affect the anime, allowing Ash (the anime's main character evolve :p like he was supposed to do, and not stuck for all the seasons... maybe the anime would be more like the Pokemon Special/Adventures manga, with Ash as the Red-equivalent) OK, end of the rant now ;):p

Hey - I LIKE rants. And yep, big affect on the anime - but that isn't the focus of this TL. It's all on the LYNX!
 
bumping it...

I wonder how simulation games (SimCity, Flight Simulator, The Movies, Idolmaster) and Visual Novels (Steins;Gate) will fare in this TL.
 
Top