Welcome to Massively Multiplayer!
This is a joint video game/popculture alternate history timeline written by Nivek and myself, with contributions from many different members!
What is Massively Multiplayer?
Massively Multiplayer is the sequel to the timeline Player Two Start, with the basic POD being: “What if Nintendo and Sony had decided to work together in the video game business?” The POD is in 1991, just before Nintendo was set to go behind Sony's back and strike another deal to create a CD-ROM console with Philips. This timeline is video game focused, but with ramifications for pop culture, sports, politics, business, and beyond.
I didn't read Player Two Start.
Well, go back and read it then!
Player Two Start can be found here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/player-two-start-an-snes-cd-timeline.280151/
It is highly recommended that you read it first before reading this TL. However, it being incredibly long (1,800 pages give or take a few), I don't blame you for wanting a summary instead. So here it is.
In 1991, Hiroshi Yamauchi gets second thoughts about going behind Sony's back with Philips and decides to take one last look at Nintendo's contract with Sony. Instead of ditching Sony, he instead renegotiates the contract with them to have more favorable terms, giving more control over the new SNES CD-ROM format to Nintendo, but making concessions on certain things such as content censorship and third party licensing. Sony and Nintendo create the SNES-CD console attachment (and also a combined SNES/SNES-CD), which is the most powerful home video game console created to date, more powerful than the Sega CD and comparable to the capabilities of the later 3DO and Jaguar. The SNES-CD launches in late 1992 to initial slow sales, but sales are boosted by the release of the killer app Super Mario World 2, and boosted even further by the release of a controversial but highly lucrative uncensored Mortal Kombat port, along with the critically acclaimed (and vastly expanded from OTL) Secret of Mana. This, combined with a massive price cut in late 1993, breaks the back of the Sega CD and makes the SNES-CD the best selling video game peripheral of all time.
Sega, with its back to the wall, makes a key decision. Instead of releasing the 32X peripheral, it releases a device called the Mega Charger. Based on the lock-on technology from OTL's Sonic and Knuckles, which ITTL is built into the original Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (at the cost of delaying its release for two months), the Mega Charger is like a Super FX chip on steroids, and at a very low cost compared to OTL's 32X, it's a hit. Along with Sonic 3, which is an even bigger hit than it was IOTL, it bolsters Genesis sales past those of the SNES and its CD peripheral for several months. During this time, the most important game released for the SNES-CD is Snatcher, which was released in obscurity on the Sega CD IOTL. Here, it sells enough copies to be considered a success, and is a notable influence on pop culture during the remainder of the decade and beyond. At the same time, Nintendo's relaxed censorship policies on games lead to a more permissive attitude toward children's entertainment that will also have ripple effects in the years to come. At the end of 1994, the releases of Squad Four (a game developed by the Star Fox team starring human characters instead of anthropomorphic animals that becomes the most successful non-OTL franchise to arise from the POD) and Donkey Kong Country put the SNES back in the lead over the Genesis to stay.
1995 sees even more huge games for the SNES-CD, including Final Fantasy VI, The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Dreams, Doom (a near perfect port, unlike OTL's disaster), Super Mario World 3, Tales Of The Seven Seas, Ballistic Limit, and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The SNES and its peripheral become dominant, but there's a silver lining for Sega, who doesn't botch the release of the Saturn. The Saturn is released on its original intended date in September 1995, and without the Playstation to steal its thunder, it's not a failure at launch. It's more powerful than OTL's Saturn, as Sega has teamed up with Silicon Graphics and the system has much of the OTL Nintendo 64's internals, with a CD-ROM drive. The Saturn lacks an early killer app, but in 1996, those begin to trickle in: Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Virtua Fighter 2, and the biggest one of all: Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Though Nintendo has a slate of quality games to keep the SNES-CD strong, including an increased focus on RPGs like Tale Phantasia and Chrono Trigger, Sega once again takes the lead in market share by the end of the year.
Nintendo roars back in 1997 with the launch of the Ultra Nintendo. Despite doubts as late as 1995 whether Sony would even work with Nintendo on another console, the two companies ultimately decide to keep working together, and in November the Ultra Nintendo is launched to massive sales that dwarf any game console before it. Bolstered by a wave of hype and a spectacular launch lineup (including Super Mario Dimensions, Ultra Mario Kart, Star Fox 2, and Final Fantasy VII), the Ultra Nintendo remains sold out in most stores for more than a year, and the Saturn, despite a lower price and continued quality games (and Enix and Namco exclusivity), begins to plunge in sales. The Ultra Nintendo surges through 1998 with more quality titles, particularly The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time and Goldeneye 007, and by 1999, it's clear the Sega Saturn is on its last legs. Meanwhile, the usually brilliant Tom Kalinske makes a series of marketing blunders, most notably declining to reveal the upcoming Sega Katana at E3 1999. He would ultimately be forced to resign from the company in April 2000. Nintendo continues to have a strong 1999 as Pokemon fever takes over the world just as it did IOTL. The company gets ready to launch its long awaited Game Boy successor, the Game Boy Nova (it had previously released the Game Boy Color in 1996, two years earlier than IOTL), and in March 2000, the Nova is released to stellar sales.
But just when it seems that nothing can go wrong for Nintendo, tragedy strikes. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, Zelda, and so many other classic franchises for the company, is killed in a car accident (ironically, as he was bicycling home from purchasing Dragon Quest VII for the Sega Saturn). Now, with Sega's new game console set to launch in 2001, and Microsoft joining the fray as well with the mysterious Xbox, Nintendo is left in a cloud of uncertainty, forced to select a new champion just as a promising new player enters the game...
Why end Player Two Start there? Why start a new timeline?
Massively Multiplayer represents the beginning of a new era. The name of the TL refers to the fact that some new companies are about to join the console wars, and not just ones you'd expect. With Nintendo's greatest genius gone, the company is about to start off on a new creative direction, and the video game industry is going to change in ways that will make this story different from the one we told in Player Two Start. Also, the format is changing a bit.
Format change?
While the writing style will remain basically the same, the updates will get somewhat shorter. General “monthly” updates are no more. Instead, they'll be replaced by shorter snippets, vignettes, and single-focus posts. Updates should be more frequent because we'll have less stuff to write. We'll do a sort of “recap” for every three months of time that will include descriptions of major hit games and maybe some sales info. Instead of describing only the really major games in out-of-universe style and other games with in-universe articles or quotes, we'll be describing every game we cover in out-of-universe style (this will also make it easier to draw comparisons to OTL games). We won't be covering every North American game either, we'll be doing it the same way we've done with the Saturn games: only the important ones will get descriptions, though we may mention a few others in terms of sales figures or quotes (for example, the annualized sports titles will be mentioned if something about them stands out, but otherwise will only be mentioned in terms of sales, which around 2000 or so were starting to really pick up).
Will stuff besides games be covered?
*M. Bison turns his head* Of course!
And hopefully more often since the format lends itself to posting about stuff whenever I get the inkling to do so.
Can I contribute?
Shoryuken!
Er, sure you can!
Just send Nivek or myself or both of us at once a PM stating your intentions and what you'd like to contribute and we'll let you know if it fits into the timeline! If we give the OK, you can either post it yourself or let us post it for you! Plenty of interesting events in Player Two Start were fan contributions, and we'd like that to continue here! Plus, there's a lot of stuff that you guys know about better than us.
So how long will this timeline be?
We're hoping to take Massively Multiplayer right up to the present day and perhaps beyond, it all depends on how we're feeling about the project and if we want to keep it going. We have no plans for a sequel to this TL, so this will be it as far as this timeline goes.
Brittany or Lyssa?
Brittany.
-
“I work with the most brilliant people in the world. I learn everything I can. That is the greatest benefit of my job.”
-Masahiro Sakurai, director of Nintendo EAD, in a January 11, 2016 interview with Time magazine
“Steve Wozniak once told me that these things are the new cocaine. 25 years later, I have learned that not only was he right, but that this business is twice as cutthroat.”
-Steve Jobs, in the August 2003 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
“You've gotta be outta your freakin' mind to take a job like this! The e-mails I've gotten, I mean, it comes with the territory, but it's still pretty jarring to see what people say to me because of basically video games. I understand the passion. The vitriolic rage, no. The passion, yes.”
-Barbara Dunkelman, North American Director of Community Engagement at Samsung, in a July 13, 2014 interview with Kotaku.com
“Sega is changing, but we are still here.”
-Reggie Fils-Aime, E3 2003
“It's time to suit up or get out.”
-Master Chief, The Covenant
“Through all the successes, the missteps, the heartbreaks, the triumphs, the one thing that remains is my love for innovation. Knowing how far we've come in 25 years and knowing how far we'll go in the next 25 is what keeps me working. I can't wait to see what comes next.”
-Ken Kutaragi, translated from an interview in the January 2016 issue of Famitsu
-
May 17, 2000
Nintendo executives were meeting in Kyoto for the first time since Shigeru Miyamoto's death to discuss plans for the company's immediate future. From a creativity standpoint, Miyamoto was irreplaceable, and it was clear that the ultimate creative direction of the company would change from this point forward. Still, someone had to fill his shoes. A few names were floated. Masahiro Sakurai was probably the closest from a general creative standpoint, but he was far too young. Miyamoto had mentored Satoshi Tajiri, who was currently heading up Game Freak. Presumably he could be hired away from Sony, but his body of work was a bit too narrow, with Pokemon being the only real hit under his belt. Yamauchi wanted someone whose resume was a bit more diverse.
The two names that Hiroshi Yamauchi had been mulling over were Hideki Konno and Katsuya Eguchi. Konno was the more talented of the two, but Eguchi had been working under Miyamoto for some time, and seemed to be the natural choice as the next man up. Yamauchi had also been considering Gunpei Yokoi, but Yokoi had divulged to him his intention to retire from Nintendo at the end of the year to pursue other avenues of work. The choice between Konno and Eguchi was a difficult one. Both had advocates amongst the senior executives. Eguchi seemed to be the safer choice, but Konno had the potential to take Nintendo in a more dynamic direction. He'd met with both men privately to discuss replacing Miyamoto as the head of EAD. Now, he was announcing his decision to the gathered executives, having already told his intended choice that he had selected them to replace the irreplaceable genius.
“It is with a heavy heart and an eye toward the future that I have made my selection to succeed Shigeru Miyamoto as the director of our Entertainment Analysis and Development team,” said Yamauchi. “I have selected Katsuya Eguchi. He will begin immediately.”
Eguchi, who, along with Konno, was seated at the table, gave his boss a gracious nod.
“Thank you for this opportunity,” said Eguchi. “I know what a great burden and responsibility it is to be asked to succeed someone as brilliant as Mr. Miyamoto. I will work hard to continue to lead Nintendo down its current path of success.”
Eguchi had spent a great deal of time working on the Star Fox games, Miyamoto's brainchild and a technological showcase for Nintendo. His most recent game had been Yoshi's Story, and he was currently at work on another game for Nintendo, though it was not the game he most wanted to create. He'd been tasked with making an updated Ice Climber game, one that would take the beloved Famicom classic in a modern direction. In order to make Ice Climber, he'd been asked to put his real pet project, a game involving a village of animals that worked and lived together in real time, on the back burner. Now, as director of EAD, he might be able to make his vision come to life...but perhaps it would be a vision best realized on a future Nintendo console.
And interestingly enough, the next order of business was just that.
“How is development coming on our newest project?” asked Yamauchi to one of the executives sitting at the table.
“Sony is fully on board and initial designs are being conceived as we speak,” said the executive.
“I'm pleased to hear that,” replied Yamauchi. Unlike the difficulties Nintendo had had with Sony concerning the Ultra Nintendo, with a number of compromises and snags along the way, Sony had expressed significantly more enthusiasm about helping to develop Nintendo's next generation console. The Ultra Nintendo's radical success meant huge profits for both companies, and Sony wanted the transition to the next generation to be as smooth as possible. “I would like to have a target launch date some time in 2003.”
As successful as the Ultra Nintendo still was, the imminent release of the Katana and the Xbox necessitated that Nintendo already begin working on its successor, as the hottest game console ever made was on the verge of being technologically eclipsed.
“The new console should have native DVD capabilities,” said Yamauchi, drawing quick nods from the others at the table. Indeed, Nintendo's creatives had even been brainstorming ways to add some kind of DVD peripheral to the Ultra Nintendo, but ultimately decided against it, instead resolving to make sure that the new system, like both of its rivals, could play DVD movies. It was also a given that the new console should be significantly more powerful than both the Katana and the Xbox. “The modern game consumer demands a multipurpose device.”
This was a philosophy that Yamauchi had picked up from Sony. Shigeru Miyamoto had never fully subscribed to it, but Miyamoto was now gone.
Nine years after making the fateful decision to partner up with Sony, Nintendo was still the #1 video game company in the world.
But so much else had changed. And as time went on, those changes would grow and multiply.
-
“But the future refused to change...”
-Chrono Trigger
“The future is always changing.”
-Steve Jobs, E3 2003
This is a joint video game/popculture alternate history timeline written by Nivek and myself, with contributions from many different members!
What is Massively Multiplayer?
Massively Multiplayer is the sequel to the timeline Player Two Start, with the basic POD being: “What if Nintendo and Sony had decided to work together in the video game business?” The POD is in 1991, just before Nintendo was set to go behind Sony's back and strike another deal to create a CD-ROM console with Philips. This timeline is video game focused, but with ramifications for pop culture, sports, politics, business, and beyond.
I didn't read Player Two Start.
Well, go back and read it then!
Player Two Start can be found here: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/player-two-start-an-snes-cd-timeline.280151/
It is highly recommended that you read it first before reading this TL. However, it being incredibly long (1,800 pages give or take a few), I don't blame you for wanting a summary instead. So here it is.
In 1991, Hiroshi Yamauchi gets second thoughts about going behind Sony's back with Philips and decides to take one last look at Nintendo's contract with Sony. Instead of ditching Sony, he instead renegotiates the contract with them to have more favorable terms, giving more control over the new SNES CD-ROM format to Nintendo, but making concessions on certain things such as content censorship and third party licensing. Sony and Nintendo create the SNES-CD console attachment (and also a combined SNES/SNES-CD), which is the most powerful home video game console created to date, more powerful than the Sega CD and comparable to the capabilities of the later 3DO and Jaguar. The SNES-CD launches in late 1992 to initial slow sales, but sales are boosted by the release of the killer app Super Mario World 2, and boosted even further by the release of a controversial but highly lucrative uncensored Mortal Kombat port, along with the critically acclaimed (and vastly expanded from OTL) Secret of Mana. This, combined with a massive price cut in late 1993, breaks the back of the Sega CD and makes the SNES-CD the best selling video game peripheral of all time.
Sega, with its back to the wall, makes a key decision. Instead of releasing the 32X peripheral, it releases a device called the Mega Charger. Based on the lock-on technology from OTL's Sonic and Knuckles, which ITTL is built into the original Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (at the cost of delaying its release for two months), the Mega Charger is like a Super FX chip on steroids, and at a very low cost compared to OTL's 32X, it's a hit. Along with Sonic 3, which is an even bigger hit than it was IOTL, it bolsters Genesis sales past those of the SNES and its CD peripheral for several months. During this time, the most important game released for the SNES-CD is Snatcher, which was released in obscurity on the Sega CD IOTL. Here, it sells enough copies to be considered a success, and is a notable influence on pop culture during the remainder of the decade and beyond. At the same time, Nintendo's relaxed censorship policies on games lead to a more permissive attitude toward children's entertainment that will also have ripple effects in the years to come. At the end of 1994, the releases of Squad Four (a game developed by the Star Fox team starring human characters instead of anthropomorphic animals that becomes the most successful non-OTL franchise to arise from the POD) and Donkey Kong Country put the SNES back in the lead over the Genesis to stay.
1995 sees even more huge games for the SNES-CD, including Final Fantasy VI, The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Dreams, Doom (a near perfect port, unlike OTL's disaster), Super Mario World 3, Tales Of The Seven Seas, Ballistic Limit, and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The SNES and its peripheral become dominant, but there's a silver lining for Sega, who doesn't botch the release of the Saturn. The Saturn is released on its original intended date in September 1995, and without the Playstation to steal its thunder, it's not a failure at launch. It's more powerful than OTL's Saturn, as Sega has teamed up with Silicon Graphics and the system has much of the OTL Nintendo 64's internals, with a CD-ROM drive. The Saturn lacks an early killer app, but in 1996, those begin to trickle in: Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Virtua Fighter 2, and the biggest one of all: Sonic the Hedgehog 4. Though Nintendo has a slate of quality games to keep the SNES-CD strong, including an increased focus on RPGs like Tale Phantasia and Chrono Trigger, Sega once again takes the lead in market share by the end of the year.
Nintendo roars back in 1997 with the launch of the Ultra Nintendo. Despite doubts as late as 1995 whether Sony would even work with Nintendo on another console, the two companies ultimately decide to keep working together, and in November the Ultra Nintendo is launched to massive sales that dwarf any game console before it. Bolstered by a wave of hype and a spectacular launch lineup (including Super Mario Dimensions, Ultra Mario Kart, Star Fox 2, and Final Fantasy VII), the Ultra Nintendo remains sold out in most stores for more than a year, and the Saturn, despite a lower price and continued quality games (and Enix and Namco exclusivity), begins to plunge in sales. The Ultra Nintendo surges through 1998 with more quality titles, particularly The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time and Goldeneye 007, and by 1999, it's clear the Sega Saturn is on its last legs. Meanwhile, the usually brilliant Tom Kalinske makes a series of marketing blunders, most notably declining to reveal the upcoming Sega Katana at E3 1999. He would ultimately be forced to resign from the company in April 2000. Nintendo continues to have a strong 1999 as Pokemon fever takes over the world just as it did IOTL. The company gets ready to launch its long awaited Game Boy successor, the Game Boy Nova (it had previously released the Game Boy Color in 1996, two years earlier than IOTL), and in March 2000, the Nova is released to stellar sales.
But just when it seems that nothing can go wrong for Nintendo, tragedy strikes. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, Zelda, and so many other classic franchises for the company, is killed in a car accident (ironically, as he was bicycling home from purchasing Dragon Quest VII for the Sega Saturn). Now, with Sega's new game console set to launch in 2001, and Microsoft joining the fray as well with the mysterious Xbox, Nintendo is left in a cloud of uncertainty, forced to select a new champion just as a promising new player enters the game...
Why end Player Two Start there? Why start a new timeline?
Massively Multiplayer represents the beginning of a new era. The name of the TL refers to the fact that some new companies are about to join the console wars, and not just ones you'd expect. With Nintendo's greatest genius gone, the company is about to start off on a new creative direction, and the video game industry is going to change in ways that will make this story different from the one we told in Player Two Start. Also, the format is changing a bit.
Format change?
While the writing style will remain basically the same, the updates will get somewhat shorter. General “monthly” updates are no more. Instead, they'll be replaced by shorter snippets, vignettes, and single-focus posts. Updates should be more frequent because we'll have less stuff to write. We'll do a sort of “recap” for every three months of time that will include descriptions of major hit games and maybe some sales info. Instead of describing only the really major games in out-of-universe style and other games with in-universe articles or quotes, we'll be describing every game we cover in out-of-universe style (this will also make it easier to draw comparisons to OTL games). We won't be covering every North American game either, we'll be doing it the same way we've done with the Saturn games: only the important ones will get descriptions, though we may mention a few others in terms of sales figures or quotes (for example, the annualized sports titles will be mentioned if something about them stands out, but otherwise will only be mentioned in terms of sales, which around 2000 or so were starting to really pick up).
Will stuff besides games be covered?
*M. Bison turns his head* Of course!
And hopefully more often since the format lends itself to posting about stuff whenever I get the inkling to do so.
Can I contribute?
Shoryuken!
Er, sure you can!
Just send Nivek or myself or both of us at once a PM stating your intentions and what you'd like to contribute and we'll let you know if it fits into the timeline! If we give the OK, you can either post it yourself or let us post it for you! Plenty of interesting events in Player Two Start were fan contributions, and we'd like that to continue here! Plus, there's a lot of stuff that you guys know about better than us.
So how long will this timeline be?
We're hoping to take Massively Multiplayer right up to the present day and perhaps beyond, it all depends on how we're feeling about the project and if we want to keep it going. We have no plans for a sequel to this TL, so this will be it as far as this timeline goes.
Brittany or Lyssa?
Brittany.
-
“I work with the most brilliant people in the world. I learn everything I can. That is the greatest benefit of my job.”
-Masahiro Sakurai, director of Nintendo EAD, in a January 11, 2016 interview with Time magazine
“Steve Wozniak once told me that these things are the new cocaine. 25 years later, I have learned that not only was he right, but that this business is twice as cutthroat.”
-Steve Jobs, in the August 2003 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
“You've gotta be outta your freakin' mind to take a job like this! The e-mails I've gotten, I mean, it comes with the territory, but it's still pretty jarring to see what people say to me because of basically video games. I understand the passion. The vitriolic rage, no. The passion, yes.”
-Barbara Dunkelman, North American Director of Community Engagement at Samsung, in a July 13, 2014 interview with Kotaku.com
“Sega is changing, but we are still here.”
-Reggie Fils-Aime, E3 2003
“It's time to suit up or get out.”
-Master Chief, The Covenant
“Through all the successes, the missteps, the heartbreaks, the triumphs, the one thing that remains is my love for innovation. Knowing how far we've come in 25 years and knowing how far we'll go in the next 25 is what keeps me working. I can't wait to see what comes next.”
-Ken Kutaragi, translated from an interview in the January 2016 issue of Famitsu
-
May 17, 2000
Nintendo executives were meeting in Kyoto for the first time since Shigeru Miyamoto's death to discuss plans for the company's immediate future. From a creativity standpoint, Miyamoto was irreplaceable, and it was clear that the ultimate creative direction of the company would change from this point forward. Still, someone had to fill his shoes. A few names were floated. Masahiro Sakurai was probably the closest from a general creative standpoint, but he was far too young. Miyamoto had mentored Satoshi Tajiri, who was currently heading up Game Freak. Presumably he could be hired away from Sony, but his body of work was a bit too narrow, with Pokemon being the only real hit under his belt. Yamauchi wanted someone whose resume was a bit more diverse.
The two names that Hiroshi Yamauchi had been mulling over were Hideki Konno and Katsuya Eguchi. Konno was the more talented of the two, but Eguchi had been working under Miyamoto for some time, and seemed to be the natural choice as the next man up. Yamauchi had also been considering Gunpei Yokoi, but Yokoi had divulged to him his intention to retire from Nintendo at the end of the year to pursue other avenues of work. The choice between Konno and Eguchi was a difficult one. Both had advocates amongst the senior executives. Eguchi seemed to be the safer choice, but Konno had the potential to take Nintendo in a more dynamic direction. He'd met with both men privately to discuss replacing Miyamoto as the head of EAD. Now, he was announcing his decision to the gathered executives, having already told his intended choice that he had selected them to replace the irreplaceable genius.
“It is with a heavy heart and an eye toward the future that I have made my selection to succeed Shigeru Miyamoto as the director of our Entertainment Analysis and Development team,” said Yamauchi. “I have selected Katsuya Eguchi. He will begin immediately.”
Eguchi, who, along with Konno, was seated at the table, gave his boss a gracious nod.
“Thank you for this opportunity,” said Eguchi. “I know what a great burden and responsibility it is to be asked to succeed someone as brilliant as Mr. Miyamoto. I will work hard to continue to lead Nintendo down its current path of success.”
Eguchi had spent a great deal of time working on the Star Fox games, Miyamoto's brainchild and a technological showcase for Nintendo. His most recent game had been Yoshi's Story, and he was currently at work on another game for Nintendo, though it was not the game he most wanted to create. He'd been tasked with making an updated Ice Climber game, one that would take the beloved Famicom classic in a modern direction. In order to make Ice Climber, he'd been asked to put his real pet project, a game involving a village of animals that worked and lived together in real time, on the back burner. Now, as director of EAD, he might be able to make his vision come to life...but perhaps it would be a vision best realized on a future Nintendo console.
And interestingly enough, the next order of business was just that.
“How is development coming on our newest project?” asked Yamauchi to one of the executives sitting at the table.
“Sony is fully on board and initial designs are being conceived as we speak,” said the executive.
“I'm pleased to hear that,” replied Yamauchi. Unlike the difficulties Nintendo had had with Sony concerning the Ultra Nintendo, with a number of compromises and snags along the way, Sony had expressed significantly more enthusiasm about helping to develop Nintendo's next generation console. The Ultra Nintendo's radical success meant huge profits for both companies, and Sony wanted the transition to the next generation to be as smooth as possible. “I would like to have a target launch date some time in 2003.”
As successful as the Ultra Nintendo still was, the imminent release of the Katana and the Xbox necessitated that Nintendo already begin working on its successor, as the hottest game console ever made was on the verge of being technologically eclipsed.
“The new console should have native DVD capabilities,” said Yamauchi, drawing quick nods from the others at the table. Indeed, Nintendo's creatives had even been brainstorming ways to add some kind of DVD peripheral to the Ultra Nintendo, but ultimately decided against it, instead resolving to make sure that the new system, like both of its rivals, could play DVD movies. It was also a given that the new console should be significantly more powerful than both the Katana and the Xbox. “The modern game consumer demands a multipurpose device.”
This was a philosophy that Yamauchi had picked up from Sony. Shigeru Miyamoto had never fully subscribed to it, but Miyamoto was now gone.
Nine years after making the fateful decision to partner up with Sony, Nintendo was still the #1 video game company in the world.
But so much else had changed. And as time went on, those changes would grow and multiply.
-
“But the future refused to change...”
-Chrono Trigger
“The future is always changing.”
-Steve Jobs, E3 2003
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