Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium

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Alright, I'm confused.

As the Apple buyout loomed and the Katana got the shaft on multiplatform games (namely GTA), there was a lot of talk in-universe about it being a disaster. "Katana didn't do what we wanted it to do" and such.

But by the numbers, the Katana was a massive success! It sells more than a third more than OTL's Xbox, and Reggie chalks it up as a loss?

Maybe I'm only seeing from our universe. But now I'm more excited to see how the Xbox did, if it's already sold more than the Katana.
The sales fall down Saturn and Xbox sold better...Context plus momentum, the idea was to try to go head to head with nintendo failed and even falled down to a newcomer...that is a disaster for a company as old as nintendo in videogame business(Nintendo is centenary...as a card company)
 
Alright, I'm confused.

As the Apple buyout loomed and the Katana got the shaft on multiplatform games (namely GTA), there was a lot of talk in-universe about it being a disaster. "Katana didn't do what we wanted it to do" and such.

But by the numbers, the Katana was a massive success! It sells more than a third more than OTL's Xbox, and Reggie chalks it up as a loss?

Maybe I'm only seeing from our universe. But now I'm more excited to see how the Xbox did, if it's already sold more than the Katana.

We definitely need at least ttl saturn and ttl xbox's lifetime sales to come to a somewhat concise conclusion. We also need the ultra's, the nova's, and possibly the gen 1 ipod play's to be definitive.
 

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Alright, I have finally managed to catch up through over 300 pages of this timeline with a lot of happiness, despair, and a lot to think and question. To try and narrow it down:

-Weather: As a native New Orlenian, you have just maintained my hometown from hurricanes and saved many memories while consequently giving several disasters (not the least of which afflicted upon Houston); tornadoes like 2004, I think, would have perked my interest in weather over Katrina, but just the sheer power of that disaster....my God.
-Politics: Great to see Gore elected here (as well as his handling of 9/11) as well as his environmental push; interesting pick for Speaker and SenMajLdr (likely trades off the Pro-Tempore post to Hatch with Lugar's spot); surprised that with Gore, you didn't have Bobby Jindal as a potential candidate against Huntsman and Santorum, given that Dems in my state would have likely punished Gore in 2003 rather than give Blanco a leg up; personally happy to see Michael Steele elected in MD over Ben Cardin (personally, the one Republican I felt deserved the victory) and interested in seeing Jillette's potential future in politics
-Media: Interesting take on Spider Man (probably would have been vested in it far more) and stellar effort with Justice League (Marvel going down the route they did tho...); you have completely given me vested reason to continue watching Cartoon Network for years to come while also having me vested quite a bit in Garage Kids; the fallout with Schneider and even the Disney fiasco will certainly be felt IMO
-Business: Blockbuster staying around in any TL is a utopia (the lack of a rental place to interact with humans is quite depressing to this introvert trying to get out); interesting of the ATL Facebook as well as the social media site towards autistic people (given someone more Asperger's/high functioning, this would likely appeal to me and help in my youth); SEGA acquired by Apple is a new thought (given the toys, I am assuming they acquisitioned Bandai, which could help SEGA surviving in other markets) and largely impressed altogether at much of the shift of everything
-Games: Sonic's revival looks quite fun; expanding on the Phantasy Star Universe (being someone that played thru IV on my Dad's old Genesis at the age of 8) is a dream come true for me and would help regenerate my interest (hopefully III and IV get their own 3D remake); Thrillseekers would have been an awesome game to play; the iTwin, Wave and Sapphire all come down to being the three consoles either I or my family would have been heavily vested in.

Now for some issues (including recent events):

-Dudebro/Gamergate: I may get the ire of some on here, but I am no fan of Anita Sarkeesian; her appearance of sex negativity in her critiques of gaming/film, warped view of feminism at the United Nations, and straight up conning of people for this movement of inclusivity (referring to recent events of requesting donations for a largely FREE Discord server) really irk me not only as a gamer, but as an egalitarian and largely whitewashes an entire history of female involvement and strides in gaming for the last 30 years down to "Everything is sexist, everything is racist, everything is misogynistic". Now, Anita moderating her views ITTL and still gaming is something I appreciate, but her views do boil down to quite nitpicking rather than things I could see as consequential or harmful to gaming. Largely, I would happily discuss my broader views to this subject to anybody wanting to talk on another post/PM, but largely, I, a male gamer that found FemShep, Alys Brangwin, Miranda Keyes, and female OC in RPGs to be either common choices or aspiring characters, tend to find the whole issue to be either bloated beyond proportion, distorted for a different, irrelevant battle, or just flat out made up for a different reason.
-Hardwick situation: As I am posting this, I have seen both the report from Dyekstra about mentioning Hardwick w/o name and Hardwick revealing texts pertaining to the situation. Personally, I have my beliefs that it's not out of the realm of possibility (being a comedian, as shown by the late Robin Williams, can be quite taxing), but I do not see evidence that would solidify that (maybe Dyekstra has texts that back up the abuse or shunning; maybe Hardwick is lacking texts or messages that somebody else has, IDK). That being said, I believe retconning him at this point is a "too far, too late" situation and, personally, would find that him having a marriage and focusing on gaming and parenthood early on ITTL may help him (just because somebody is terrible in real life doesn't mean it's automatically uniform in ALL TLs; Hitler had as much shot at being a painter as being Fuhrer if you put the right butterflies up). Regardless, it is your TL and I respect a writer's choice in the end.

As you take time in your hiatus (which I hope you return from in due time), I do hope to hear about the future events in poltics as well as perhaps a great deal of what's going on with Mass Effect (or TTL's equivalent).
Defense of those behind Gamergate is unacceptable here. More than a couple members here have been Banned outright for it. Support for those who face accusation of sexual harassment is equally problematic.

The capper, however, and what pushes this from a warning to a kick is that it is CURRENT POLITICS, and very controversial politics at that. The Mods have been asking nicely for years, asking less nicely for pushing two years, and more or less requiring for the last six months that members follow the rules about current politics.

Since 3 strikes = Yer OUT! you are kicked for a week.

DO NOT repeat.
 
Moving on quickly,
How does Michael Jackson's earlier death affect the music industry?

Well, in OTL, he had already recorded a bunch of new songs and remixed a bunch of his previous hits, and was planning a big comeback tour, that of course never materialized. Looks like he wouldn't have made any of the tracks that would have gone into Michael, leaving "You Rock My World" as his latest new single, unless you count the tracks on that one MTV Halloween Special that came out ca. 2004.

We've probably changed the character of the second wave of Pop Soul, and possibly made for a resurrection of the New Jack Swing sound, as Michael Jackson would be the classic influential Dead ArtistTM. We've probably changed the sound and careers of a bunch of artists on both sides of the pond, from Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson to Cher Lloyd, Amy Winehouse and Adele.

We probably have also radically changed the soundtracks of all Sonic games from 2004 on.
 
Well, in OTL, he had already recorded a bunch of new songs and remixed a bunch of his previous hits, and was planning a big comeback tour, that of course never materialized. Looks like he wouldn't have made any of the tracks that would have gone into Michael, leaving "You Rock My World" as his latest new single, unless you count the tracks on that one MTV Halloween Special that came out ca. 2004.

We've probably changed the character of the second wave of Pop Soul, and possibly made for a resurrection of the New Jack Swing sound, as Michael Jackson would be the classic influential Dead ArtistTM. We've probably changed the sound and careers of a bunch of artists on both sides of the pond, from Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson to Cher Lloyd, Amy Winehouse and Adele.

We probably have also radically changed the soundtracks of all Sonic games from 2004 on.
If that's the case, Katy Perry (probably still known as Katy Hudson ITTL) very likely remains a Christian artist ITTL.
 
I hope the hiatus isn't too much longer...

It'll be at least a month longer. August is the absolute earliest we'll be coming back but don't expect it to be back then either. I'm catching up on a lot of stuff I've needed to get done and I'm also playing a lot more Overwatch, I'm hoping to main Symmetra in the new comp season since her throwable turrets are so much fun :)

Alright, I have finally managed to catch up through over 300 pages of this timeline with a lot of happiness, despair, and a lot to think and question. To try and narrow it down:

-Weather: As a native New Orlenian, you have just maintained my hometown from hurricanes and saved many memories while consequently giving several disasters (not the least of which afflicted upon Houston); tornadoes like 2004, I think, would have perked my interest in weather over Katrina, but just the sheer power of that disaster....my God.
-Politics: Great to see Gore elected here (as well as his handling of 9/11) as well as his environmental push; interesting pick for Speaker and SenMajLdr (likely trades off the Pro-Tempore post to Hatch with Lugar's spot); surprised that with Gore, you didn't have Bobby Jindal as a potential candidate against Huntsman and Santorum, given that Dems in my state would have likely punished Gore in 2003 rather than give Blanco a leg up; personally happy to see Michael Steele elected in MD over Ben Cardin (personally, the one Republican I felt deserved the victory) and interested in seeing Jillette's potential future in politics
-Media: Interesting take on Spider Man (probably would have been vested in it far more) and stellar effort with Justice League (Marvel going down the route they did tho...); you have completely given me vested reason to continue watching Cartoon Network for years to come while also having me vested quite a bit in Garage Kids; the fallout with Schneider and even the Disney fiasco will certainly be felt IMO
-Business: Blockbuster staying around in any TL is a utopia (the lack of a rental place to interact with humans is quite depressing to this introvert trying to get out); interesting of the ATL Facebook as well as the social media site towards autistic people (given someone more Asperger's/high functioning, this would likely appeal to me and help in my youth); SEGA acquired by Apple is a new thought (given the toys, I am assuming they acquisitioned Bandai, which could help SEGA surviving in other markets) and largely impressed altogether at much of the shift of everything
-Games: Sonic's revival looks quite fun; expanding on the Phantasy Star Universe (being someone that played thru IV on my Dad's old Genesis at the age of 8) is a dream come true for me and would help regenerate my interest (hopefully III and IV get their own 3D remake); Thrillseekers would have been an awesome game to play; the iTwin, Wave and Sapphire all come down to being the three consoles either I or my family would have been heavily vested in.

Thanks for checking out the timeline, it's quite a big read (especially if you're reading both topics) so I'm always grateful to new readers who take the time to catch up. With weather, it's always going to be a mixed bag. Overall, I think that TTL will end up about the same as OTL in terms of overall weather issues over time, though some moments might seem worse and others might seem better than others. Bobby Jindal I think just got butterflied a bit, either he sticks to Louisiana or he doesn't get into politics as much ITTL, perhaps he becomes more of a business leader ITTL. Penn Jillette will continue to get mentions throughout the news updates. The comic book stuff can mostly be attributed to Pyro who has done an amazing job so far, but with him possibly taking a break from writing for this timeline we'll be stepping in as much as we can to take over the comic stuff. The next kids' TV update will probably come in 2009, but we'll discuss the Patroka/Disney situation further in the spring TV update. Blockbuster will also continue to be discussed as their digital storefront grows, I can already tell you they'll still be around with a much bigger presence in TTL 2018, though what form that will take still has yet to be determined. Phantasy Star will make an appearance at E3 2008, and Phantasy Star Online will continue to be one of the biggest console MMORPGs out there into the next decade.

Now for some issues (including recent events):

So yeah... let what happened be a reminder, Please don't discuss current OTL politics in this thread! I love writing this TL and would be absolutely crushed if the topic was locked because people couldn't stop talking about politics. If you have something you want to address concerning politics for the timeline, you want to gripe about OTL, etc., PM me and I'll detail some of my future plans for the timeline via a PM (no election spoilers, though after the 2008 election post I'd be more than happy to reveal via PM my future plans for game-related politics for the timeline). I'm really starting to wonder if I should make a separate thread in the Chat forum for the discussion of political issues related to the timeline.

As you take time in your hiatus (which I hope you return from in due time), I do hope to hear about the future events in poltics as well as perhaps a great deal of what's going on with Mass Effect (or TTL's equivalent).

Mass Effect is butterflied away but its "essence" has been divided amongst two games. Necrocracy was the first, and the second (a reader contributed game) will be coming in 2008.

Oh, I was wondering if maybe you could incorporate the rairload consolidation act described here. Or is it too late?

https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-in-north-america.425789/page-8#post-17201977

Uhhhmmm.... it'd probably be something to touch on in a news update if we need some filler for one. The spring 2008 news update is fairly packed, but maybe the summer 2008 news update? It might have to wait until 2009 (a slow year without any big elections).

Alright, I'm confused.

As the Apple buyout loomed and the Katana got the shaft on multiplatform games (namely GTA), there was a lot of talk in-universe about it being a disaster. "Katana didn't do what we wanted it to do" and such.

But by the numbers, the Katana was a massive success! It sells more than a third more than OTL's Xbox, and Reggie chalks it up as a loss?

Maybe I'm only seeing from our universe. But now I'm more excited to see how the Xbox did, if it's already sold more than the Katana.

It wasn't a "loss" per se, but it did sell slightly worse than the Saturn and it finished third behind the Wave and the Xbox. Losing to the Xbox is what Reggie was most disappointed about. Steve Jobs does NOT like finishing in third place.

We definitely need at least ttl saturn and ttl xbox's lifetime sales to come to a somewhat concise conclusion. We also need the ultra's, the nova's, and possibly the gen 1 ipod play's to be definitive.

Saturn sold around 40 million, while Xbox's sales will be detailed in a future post (it's around 50-55 million though). The Ultra Nintendo sold somewhere between 140-150 million units, comparable to OTL's Playstation 2 and still the most successful game console of all time ITTL. The Nova sold around 85-90 million units, comparable to OTL's Game Boy Advance, perhaps a bit better. We'll detail the iPod Play's sales in a future post.

Moving on quickly,
How does Michael Jackson's earlier death affect the music industry?

It's hard to summarize it in a single post. The fact that he was convicted for sexual misconduct does tarnish his legacy somewhat, though many of his fans still doubt that he did anything wrong, and he doesn't end up getting the same treatment that say, Bill Cosby got IOTL (Jackson's music is still frequently played, though not as much).

Well, in OTL, he had already recorded a bunch of new songs and remixed a bunch of his previous hits, and was planning a big comeback tour, that of course never materialized. Looks like he wouldn't have made any of the tracks that would have gone into Michael, leaving "You Rock My World" as his latest new single, unless you count the tracks on that one MTV Halloween Special that came out ca. 2004.

We've probably changed the character of the second wave of Pop Soul, and possibly made for a resurrection of the New Jack Swing sound, as Michael Jackson would be the classic influential Dead ArtistTM. We've probably changed the sound and careers of a bunch of artists on both sides of the pond, from Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson to Cher Lloyd, Amy Winehouse and Adele.

We probably have also radically changed the soundtracks of all Sonic games from 2004 on.

Amy Winehouse's fame is butterflied away, but Adele MIGHT still make it big. Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson (despite finishing third in American Idol) are still big, with both of them having songs in the upcoming Thrillseekers 2 soundtrack. There's still a lingering Latin influence (Genesis Rodriguez is about to become a pop star as of TTL 2008) and J-Pop and K-Pop are starting to filter into the American music mainstream. We'll discuss all of it in a big music update coming in 2009, though we may talk about it in bits and pieces before then.

Also, sorry I haven't been able to catch up on all the PMs yet. I've been waiting for a time to sit down and reply to them, hopefully I can do so this weekend or hereabouts.
 
Uhhhmmm.... it'd probably be something to touch on in a news update if we need some filler for one. The spring 2008 news update is fairly packed, but maybe the summer 2008 news update? It might have to wait until 2009 (a slow year without any big elections).

OK. I was actually asking if it were possible because I imagined it taking place long before most other events in the 1940s.
 
OK. I was actually asking if it were possible because I imagined it taking place long before most other events in the 1940s.

Anything that would have to be changed pre-1991 (the POD) couldn't happen, though we could discuss some railroad stuff during a news update later on.

Oh, here's a tiny bit of a tease for Thrillseekers 2: 12 of the 52 OTL songs that will be appearing in the game's soundtrack (which will also feature 28 original TTL songs). You'll notice first off that for the first time, the game will feature some songs performed by male vocalists. About a quarter of the game's songs will include male vocalists (there will be more prominent male characters in the game's storyline). Here's the soundtrack teaser list!

“People Like Us” by Kelly Clarkson
“crushcrushcrush” by Paramore
“California Girls” by Katy Perry
“Trouble” by Shampoo
“Knights Of Cydonia” by Muse
“Happy Happy Happy” by The Happy Problem
“Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve
“Refugee” by Tom Petty
“Constant Craving” by k.d. lang
“Stuck” by Stacie Orrico
“The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac
“My Favorite Mistake” by Sheryl Crow

A few of the OTL songs appearing in the game will be different from OTL: for example, "California Girls" doesn't have a Snoop Dogg part and in fact doesn't mention him at all. Also, ITTL, "Trouble" wasn't featured in the Power Rangers movie soundtrack, so this will be its first time appearing in a soundtrack for anything ITTL. Another note about "Trouble": it's the unofficial theme song of the game's primary antagonist and according to one of the game's writers, the song's lyrics are basically canon to that character's backstory.
 
Anything that would have to be changed pre-1991 (the POD) couldn't happen, though we could discuss some railroad stuff during a news update later on.

Oh, here's a tiny bit of a tease for Thrillseekers 2: 12 of the 52 OTL songs that will be appearing in the game's soundtrack (which will also feature 28 original TTL songs). You'll notice first off that for the first time, the game will feature some songs performed by male vocalists. About a quarter of the game's songs will include male vocalists (there will be more prominent male characters in the game's storyline). Here's the soundtrack teaser list!

“People Like Us” by Kelly Clarkson
“crushcrushcrush” by Paramore
“California Girls” by Katy Perry
“Trouble” by Shampoo
“Knights Of Cydonia” by Muse
“Happy Happy Happy” by The Happy Problem
“Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve
“Refugee” by Tom Petty
“Constant Craving” by k.d. lang
“Stuck” by Stacie Orrico
“The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac
“My Favorite Mistake” by Sheryl Crow

A few of the OTL songs appearing in the game will be different from OTL: for example, "California Girls" doesn't have a Snoop Dogg part and in fact doesn't mention him at all. Also, ITTL, "Trouble" wasn't featured in the Power Rangers movie soundtrack, so this will be its first time appearing in a soundtrack for anything ITTL. Another note about "Trouble": it's the unofficial theme song of the game's primary antagonist and according to one of the game's writers, the song's lyrics are basically canon to that character's backstory.

Speaking of railroad/railway stuff, would it be possible for me to try and whip up a rail counterpart to TTL's Air Crash Investigation? I've got some ideas and could probably work on it during the hiatus. (Effectively, it would be a Sky 1/Discovery UK program called Danger on the Rails, and would cover mainly British accidents.)
 
Microsoft Xbox Lifetime Worldwide Sales
And here's the Xbox's lifetime sales figures as well as the list of million selling games. This completes the list for generation six, I won't be going back to do lists for other consoles I haven't yet done but I might do some basic sales figures/top games for a few if I get some time.

-

Xbox Total Hardware Sales: 51,344,954
North America: 34,051,615
Japan: 1,750,394
Europe: 14,652,334
Other: 890,611

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: 14,816,425
2. Grand Theft Auto: 13,700,934
3. The Covenant: 12,740,192
4. Cyberwar: 11,735,124
5. The Covenant 2: 10,984,115
6. Grand Theft Auto: Miami: 10,265,728
7. Cyberwar 2: 7,804,815
8. Tom Clancy's Rendition: 5,842,106
9. Tom Clancy's Delta Force: 4,700,598
10. Techno Angel: 4,351,814
11. Tom Clancy's Rendition: Masterminds: 4,104,293
12. Amok: 4,050,721
13. For God And Country: 3,960,581
14. Fated To Rise: 3,825,934
15. Blackheart 4: 3,814,271
16. Madden NFL 05: 3,745,192
17. Divine Wrath 3: 3,740,692
18. Techno Angel: Salvation: 3,715,831
19. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: 3,550,416
20. Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic: 3,485,211
21. Tom Clancy's Delta Force 2: 3,341,227
22. Call Of Duty 4: 3,157,063
23. Project Gotham Racing: 3,060,592
24. Divine Wrath 2: 3,045,216
25. Techno Angel: Finality: 2,917,431
26. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 2: 2,831,857
27. Red Sun: 2,674,923
28. Madden NFL 06: 2,594,442
29. Encounter: 2,561,542
30. Novus Ordo 2: 2,480,531
31. Forza Motorsport: 2,453,924
32. Madden NFL 04: 2,413,183
33. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3: 2,298,213
34. Project Gotham Racing 2: 2,261,588
35. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory: 2,195,316
36. Encounter 2: 2,176,401
37. Red Sun 2: 2,140,196
38. Call Of Duty 3: 2,096,658
39. The Casino Job: 2,081,952
40. Guitar Hero II: 2,031,954
41. Battlefield 2: 1,947,438
42. Rise A Knight II: Imperial Dawn: 1,882,143
43. Disavowed: Blacksite: 1,823,194
44. Eternal Warriors: 1,800,460
45. Call Of Duty 2: 1,750,724
46. Manticore: 1,747,658
47. Turok Evolution: 1,725,443
48. Madden NFL 03: 1,702,857
49. The Dark Tower: 1,681,732
50. Novus Ordo 3: 1,608,674
51. Load 2: 1,598,324
52. Deep Black 2: 1,596,023
53. Turok: Extinction: 1,573,107
54. The Witcher: 1,554,103
55. Twin Cities: 1,543,314
56. Madden NFL 02: 1,504,216
57. Soul Calibur II: 1,494,213
58. Burnout Revenge: 1,486,491
59. Tony Hawk City: 1,486,531
60. Wheelman 3: 1,466,435
61. U.S. Army Rangers: Lead The Way: 1,451,860
62. Need For Speed Unleashed 3: 1,432,140
63. Enter The Matrix: 1,420,298
64. Load 3: 1,390,281
65. Alien vs. Predator: 1,370,814
66. Junction Point: 1,365,391
67. Resident Evil 4: 1,364,917
68. The Pact: 1,354,197
69. Need For Speed: Monte Carlo: 1,306,538
70. WWF Raw: 1,296,534
71. Dead Midnight 3: 1,280,496
72. Ultima X: 1,275,493
73. The Witcher II: 1,248,176
74. Deep Black: 1,206,954
75. The Transporter: 1,206,842
76. Between Two Skies: 1,204,917
77. Gemini: Shadow In The Dark: 1,182,945
78. Deep Black 3: 1,182,754
79. Thrillseekers: Spring Break: 1,172,948
80. Dead Midnight: Fade: 1,157,381
81. Prince Of Persia: 1,115,324
82. Paradigm Shift: 1,087,326
83. Blackheart 3: 1,080,953
84. Duke Nukem XXX: 1,031,642
85. Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: 1,026,374
 
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Interesting how much closer Wave and Xbox are when you take out the Japanese sales. Nintendo's dominance isn't as solid as they'd believe, especially since Apple penetrated through both the East and West 7th gen.
 
Here are the thirteen games that sold at least a million copies on all three sixth generation consoles. It's important to note that the staggered release of the Wave coming out 18-24 months after the other two consoles did hurt some of the 2001/2002 hits' chances of making this list, obviously, since some of the million selling Xbox/Katana games sold a million on the Ultra Nintendo but not the Wave.

Blackheart 4
The Casino Job
Enter The Matrix
Guitar Hero II
Madden NFL 05
Madden NFL 06
Need For Speed Unleashed 3
Resident Evil 4
Soul Calibur II
Thrillseekers: Spring Break
Tom Clancy's Delta Force
Tony Hawk City
Turok: Extinction
 
Be proud, Xbox. For your existence may be but a passing glance, your attacks were the ones that changed the course of the battle.

Also, you were really heavy for TTL me to lug around. Thanks for the added upper body strength.
 
36541806_10155721436994053_6183181759958482944_n.jpg
https://71317829003257.blogspot.com/2018/01/sfc-cd.html
 
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