If Sony's going solo ITTL, Ballistic Limit should be a launch title for TTL's PS1.
'Minus World: New Game Plus' — A Successful Philips SNES-CD Timeline
- Thread starter RandomDSdevel
- Start date
Especially as the Sega-CD even if fucked up b Sega of Japan, was by inertia more popular outside of Japan than in japan itself , Seems Sega was a mess and once they were unable to beat NEC, they enter into panic mode. T
Does TTL's SNES-CD receive the first Mortal Kombat, and if so, is it uncensored or censored? ITTL, Mortal Kombat II is uncensored on both SNES cartridge and SNES-CD.
Mortal Kombat's SNES port came out in 1993 in our world, so it could conceivably be on the CD, however given Nintendo's policies it's most likely going to be censored either way. Fortunately for everybody, the Genesis version should still have the blood and the signature Fatalities unlockable via cheat code.
It could be uncensored via code if either one push for it, regardless the congress will fuck with this per tradition
ITTL, Philips asked Nintendo add the blood code to the SNES-CD version, and they accepted. The cartridge version is still censored.
That could be a butterfly, another Phillips Publishing the CD version themselves in that regard.
Maybe NEC turns their PC Engine into some sort of distribution label, with Hudson Soft remaining as their top games supplier?
That, and they actually support and give it their all with the console line as well.
Mortal Kombat also comes to TTL's Sega CD, and is uncensored there as well.
Snatcher is released outside Japan on both SNES-CD and Sega CD.
TTL's Sega CD gets a port of The Town with No Name.
Snatcher is released outside Japan on both SNES-CD and Sega CD.
TTL's Sega CD gets a port of The Town with No Name.
https://necretro.org/NEC_Interchannel https://www.mobygames.com/company/interchannel-inc Like Interchannel just they Internalize HudsonSoft once they discontinue the PC-Engine? that could work. Maybe for other TL we could make PC engine more successful(fully stealing all of sega thunder...ummmm) but that would be for another TL.
Back on Topic, NEC becoming a third party is a nice butterfly and could lead some interesting scenarios.
I'm Still Surprised MK have to wait an extra year for it and the Sega CD never got MK2 at all either.
RIP PC/Turbo CD
thanks for reminding me of that meme game, it missed the cut in P2S sadly.
ITTL, the Amiga CD-32 does even worse than in OTL due to the existence of the SNES-CD. Kang Fu (a game where you play as a Kangaroo with a machine gun) is butterflied away ITTL.
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I like the idea that one person here suggested of a truly competitive four-way console war in the 21st century.
As for Sega CD titles, Phantasy Star IV is for the Sega CD ITTL, as was planned during early development IOTL. TTL's version has anime cutscenes that have Japanese audio and are subtitled in the English language versions.
ITTL, all three SNES Final Fantasy titles get released on cartridge in both North America and Europe. Final Fantasy IV is localized as Final Fantasy II as in OTL and P2S, then FFV is localized as FFIII like in P2S, and FFVI gets localized as FFIV. ITTL, Square decides to avoid the huge amounts of confusion that would result from restoring Japanese numbering, and localizes FFVII for the CD-based N64 as FFV, keeping the Famicom FFII and FFIII stuck in Japan ITTL.
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(Sorry this latest post took so long to compose! I may consider not lumping all my replies together in one giant multi-post sometimes from now on.)
The replies in this multi-post aren't all in the same order as the posts they're responding to were originally, but here we go. Hold on to your overall suspenders, paisanos; this one's going to be a bit of a monster!
(…Speaking of which, I need to put a bit more work in on that. That's also one thing, aside from otherwise bouncing around the 'Net, that might explain the occasional minor hiatus from me. I don't plan to leave this thread behind any time soon, though.)
thingsgames!
The SNES-CD's exclusive Mario title will be Super Mario's Wacky Worlds. I don't know what The Legend of Zelda's SNES-CD–exclusive title's going to be yet aside from that I may well not want it to be a port of Player Two Start's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Dreams to this timeline.
(Maybe if I can find any mention of the window when the SNES-CD was originally supposed to launch in our timeline before complications arose, that could give me a better idea of what to use for this timeline's SNES-CD's launch date target… I'm still thinking it'd also get announced at CES in mid-1991 like Sony thought, as in our timeline, but, again, I'm not sure what a reasonable gap between announcement and release would be.)
thingsgames? Certainly; I also favor doing that!
I wonder if there's anything that could push the ratings controversy earlier? Is there a game that could've triggered it early?
Summarizing this thread's current outstanding questions:
Here's what I'm going to work on next:
Ooo-kay, I think I've covered most everything new and relevant since my last post,, though there are a few other things I might comment on later. Let me know if I missed something, by any chance.
Also, finally: congratulations if you made it all the through this giant glob of a wall of text.
The replies in this multi-post aren't all in the same order as the posts they're responding to were originally, but here we go. Hold on to your overall suspenders, paisanos; this one's going to be a bit of a monster!
Thanks. As for the Imgur magazine page scans you linked, I've also found those, and some others besides, in the first post of a ResetEra thread. You should've attached your files to your post, though, instead of using an external file-sharing site, especially one that isn't well-known.
How much do you think that could affect Philips's SNES-CD's development? What else might you have had in mind for its hardware now? Unlike that one other idea I had in the third part of this post in the parent thread, this timeline doesn't insert technological growth spurts anywhere, so I was just going to keep its power in about the same ballpark as our timeline's prototypes and the SNES's contemporary rivals, though I hadn't decided quite where yet — I like the idea of the SNES-CD being powerful, but I also didn't want to be too excessive there. Further timeline divergence will come later.
Someone elsewhere pointing out to me that Player Two Start is a thing that exists was what started the gears turning, and I can think of some places where I can borrow things from it, but:
- Aside from the obvious, I already have ideas on where this timeline can diverge from both our timeline and Player Two Start's; you might even see one or two hints of this already.
- Any material that may end up paralleling any part of Player Two Start is something I'd adapt for this timeline and make its version of it — though with proper attribution, of course.
Also, fun fact that makes obvious sense in hindsight when you consider the third idea in my original post in the parent thread: this all started after I split it out of thinking how video game history could be different for a Sword Art Online fan fic idea I had.
(…Speaking of which, I need to put a bit more work in on that. That's also one thing, aside from otherwise bouncing around the 'Net, that might explain the occasional minor hiatus from me. I don't plan to leave this thread behind any time soon, though.)
Agreed. Another take on a successful Nintendo/Philips team-up could well be interesting, if done right. Besides, you've been a forum member longer than me, anyway; you don't need to ask my permission for anything. (Just make sure to attribute your inspirations correctly, of course.)
I was just going to butterfly them away.
Yeah, Philips isn't going to rush things here, and Nintendo's going to be there every step of the way. Philips will only get to make and release games using first-party IPs if it can come up with good ideas for them, pitch and execute them well, and show that they've taken the requisite care with them during their expansion and development into actual games. I'll have to read more about what little people know about what Super Mario's Wacky Worlds was supposed to end up being in our timeline, but I'll see if I can't at least hint at there being more depth to the game in this timeline.
I think that what'll happen is that Nintendo will encourage developers to try their hardest to fit their games onto cartridges, or at least also have cartrdige releases for them, unless either:
- There's really no way they could do that or
- Their games fundamentally:
- Need the SNES-CD's extra power or
- Require SNES-CD–exclusive functionality
I had some of these in mind/on my backlog of games to add to the list already, but not all of them, so thanks for the reminders, everyone.
Actually, I was thinking this timeline could see the original Puyo Puyo games release internationally as-is. The licensed/re-skinned spin-offs we got here in the West should still come out, too, though. They'd also see release in Japan in this timeline. The re-skins could still be different games, but maybe they wouldn't have to be? For example, they could be bonus content on the main Puyo Puyo games' cartridges or SNES-CD expansions of the original cartridge games. (Or maybe Nintendo could do its own version of Sega's 'lock-on technology,' in the vein of some later N64 cheat devices, and make both, for example, Puyo Puyo and Kirby's Avalanche cartridge games, and then you'd stack the latter on top of the former and get access to both games at once, plus maybe some additional bonus content. I don't know if that could happen without Nintendo running into legal issues with Sega, though. NIntendo wouldn't steal the gimmick's name, but, unless it got used on another SNES game before Sega used it for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, they still wouldn't like the idea getting copied.)
(Nods.) Yeah, I don't see any reason why these wouldn't still be cartridge games.
Yup, let's do that. (Grins.) All the regions get all the
Player Two Start makes Final Fantasy: New Generation, its counterpart to Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, exclusive to the SNES-CD, AFAICR/IIRC, but I don't see any reason why it, too, couldn't also fit on a cartridge; it did in our timeline. Let's make this timeline's Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest a dual release. (Maybe the SNES-CD version has some exclusive content, though? I don't know what that could be, however.)
No, let's keep these cartridge-only.
I haven't played Final Fantasy Ⅵ (or any Final Fantasy game, actually,) so I'd have to do some minor research to see what you're talking about here.
Contra Ⅳ as an SNES-CD release it is, then.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. (Addendum: Oh, wait; never mind, CourtlyHades296 mentioned one possible title: Dark Castle.)
Yup, Ted Woolsey shouldn't have to rush this localization.
I'm not into horror games, but let's still give this to the PC Engine's CD-ROM²/TurboGrafx-CD, but as a timed exclusive.
Let's give Street Fighter all the same releases as it got in our timeline. We can decide which titles get what release platform(s) later.
Super Mario World's original release and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past remain cartridge exclusives. Super Mario All-Stars is a timed cartridge exclusive. Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World is a dual release. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is an SNES-CD exclusive.
The SNES-CD's exclusive Mario title will be Super Mario's Wacky Worlds. I don't know what The Legend of Zelda's SNES-CD–exclusive title's going to be yet aside from that I may well not want it to be a port of Player Two Start's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Dreams to this timeline.
Yeah, I think this'll happen. Now the only question is 'when, exactly?'
Another idea would be to have Sega and SNK team up starting with the fifth generation. Either that, or Sega helps SNK make a better Neo Geo CD first. I haven't definitively settled on whether I really want to have any other companies beside Nintendo and Philips partner up for this timeline yet.
Good catch; I'll add that in.
(Snorts as they break out in raucous laughter.) 🤣, very funny. Of course, we can't possibly know that's where they got the idea, but that would be hilarious.
Those were my sentiments, too.
Why might Pierrot be a good choice for a studio if Star Fox's animation was anime-style? I feel like I'm missing some context here. WB if animation in the style of American cartoons were used is something I could see, though, given Looney Toons/Merrie Melodies. Star Fox isn't really as silly as Looney Toons, but WB had already started airing one or more of its DC animated universe titles, and those can be more serious. Star Fox doesn't get as dark as some DC content, but the latter showed that WB could handle more serious material.
Either of those could work, but I'm leaning towards liking Nivek's idea better.
Yup, I already said as much if you overlooked it:
Quite how this happens is still an unanswered question I need ideas on how to answer.
That this still remains an open question hasn't changed yet. That being said:
As you'll recall, Sega's already going to do better in this timeline with respect to their own hardware (and software) sales and performance, and I'd be open to this happening for NEC, too, while we're butterflying competition back into existence. If NEC could also keep making consoles, then that'd be nice, too. I also don't want to expand this thread's scope beyond what I can handle, though — I'm already in a bit over my head as it is, albeit still having fun anyway! — or otherwise make it too large, so we'll see.
I still don't have a good idea of when the best time for Philips's SNES-CD to launch in this timeline would be. This also depends on how its development cycle goes, which is also something I don't yet have a good-enough grasp of.
(Maybe if I can find any mention of the window when the SNES-CD was originally supposed to launch in our timeline before complications arose, that could give me a better idea of what to use for this timeline's SNES-CD's launch date target… I'm still thinking it'd also get announced at CES in mid-1991 like Sony thought, as in our timeline, but, again, I'm not sure what a reasonable gap between announcement and release would be.)
(Nods.) Ideally, it'd make the peripheral's launch date (or at least its launch window.)
I'll add those as other naming ideas for it.
Ah, now that's a detail I either overlooked or hadn't noticed yet; thanks for pointing it out.
I'll add those to the list, then.
Whether this timeline's SNES-CD might get a Doom port depends on its specs, potentially, but I'll add both as possibilities, at least.
I know, right? Maybe — hopefully — this butterflies the studio's drought, including its audience-alienating era, from 2006 to between 2019, when it started to let up, and now away.
No, I'd like us to try and figure different ways different developers, publishers, and games could handle expansions for SNES-CD games — and maybe even SNES cartridge games, too — out.
Look at what category those titles are under again; both the original X-Wing games' individual releases and their Collector's Edition bundle are exclusive to the SNES-CD.
…Eh-heh, yeah, I probably didn't think that one through far enough. If owners of the original individual releases wanted the updates from the Collector's Edition without buying it, they'd have to get them another way, if they even could.
My comment on those in this post applies here and to them, too; remember, they're exclusive to the SNES-CD. Also, cool; the Enemies of the Empire expansion will see separate release outside the Collector's Edition in this timeline, though players will still need the base game to enjoy it.
(Nods with some enthusiasm.) Localizing all the
I don't know what a SNES–/SNES-CD–exlsuive Street Fighter game would be, but I can keep having one as a bonus on top of all the other Street Fighter releases the console and its peripheral get in mind.
Roger! Those will either start out as SNES cartridge games and get an SNES-CD port later on, be a dual release to start with, or be exclusive to the SNES-CD to begin with, though I haven't decided which yet, not for either of them.
Depends on how large their file sizes are, really.
There were third-party Satellaview games, too, but I get what you're saying.
Fair enough, but is there be any chance that any of those PC ports would see further ports to other, non-Sega consoles?
In a rare case of Philips getting involved in the release of an SNES cartridge game, the company (co-)publishes Mortal Kombat in both its SNES cartridge and SNES-CD release formats.
I wonder if there's anything that could push the ratings controversy earlier? Is there a game that could've triggered it early?
Summarizing this thread's current outstanding questions:
- How does Philips gain as much technical expertise in this timeline as Sony has in ours?
- When does Philips's SNES-CD launch in this timeline?
- What do we do with NEC, if anything different from our timeline?
- What do we do about the Satellaview games to also get them, or at least the good ones, over here in the West in this timeline, too? (Note: I may have some more thoughts on this; I'll add them later in a new post.)
- What are some different ways different developers, publishers, and games could handle expansions for SNES-CD games (and maybe even SNES cartridge games, too.)
Here's what I'm going to work on next:
- Adding Player Two Start's SNES-CD to my specs comparison chart.
- Updating my partial SNES/SNES-CD software lineup listing:
- With decisions on titles' target platforms that we've now finalized.
- By fleshing it out by adding more games to it, starting with:
- Adding the titles you've all put forward.
- Giving the ones I'd already noted down to add proper list entries.
Ooo-kay, I think I've covered most everything new and relevant since my last post,, though there are a few other things I might comment on later. Let me know if I missed something, by any chance.
Also, finally: congratulations if you made it all the through this giant glob of a wall of text.
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