Nintendo - Project Atlantis

Truth be told the next chapter will be the last chapter which will be a summary of the console and the world it’s in. My aim was to cover the console from start to its finish which I now have and the last chapter will be a look back at that timeframe with an eye on what might be in the future.

I’ve now moveed onto my next project and begun researching and writing it. But that’s still a whiles away.
Aw, man. It was a great TL while it lasted! This world was really interesting.
Can’t wait to see what your new TL is about!
 
The GameBoy Fold ended production in the middle of 2005, a few months before the launch of the Ultra GameBoy. Nintendo wanted to throw everything at its brand new handheld and it was anticipated that the Super Gameboy wouldn’t sell as many units once the Ultra GameBoy was launched. The last stock of the GameBoy Fold was sold by the end of the year despite the new consoles launch as people saw it as a cheap entrance to a now large cheap library by comparison to the newer more expensive console which didn’t have the same depth in library.

In many ways the Super GameBoy was initially a flawed product with many issues that Nintendo were able to see through into a compelling release. Nintendo learnt many from the many issues from the ordeal and put the solutions into the Super GameBoy Pocket, and the Fold which many would later criticize as an unnecessary addition. But importantly Nintendo took these mistakes and learnt from them for the next platform the Ultra GameBoy which for many was much more important in the long run. Likewise however Sega also watched the Super Gameboy launch and delayed purposely to ensure issues could be ironed out and whilst its Home Console market share crumbled was able to release a handheld that would go on to sell 28 million units, its second best selling console. Although they had withdrawn from the Home Console arena they carried on competing in the handheld market with the third party support they had yearned for in its home console days, Microsoft rather than create its own hardware continued to support Sega seeing it as crucial to maintaining a strong base in Japan as they had begun having Sega joint publish titles from the Microsoft teams it also diverted Nintendo’s resources from what Microsoft saw as the real battle, the home console market.

Nintendo also learnt some painful lessons following the releases of Pokemon Platinum and Yoshi Island 2, as one was completely rejected for not changing enough and the other demonstrated the problems with allowing a young team with little experienced oversight to take on a project. Nintendo revolutionised its play testing departments ensuring fun gameplay was at the centre and was done throughout the games lifetime in creation to ensure it could be changed as needed. Many of the games on the Super GameBoy and GameCube would stand as very polished titles as they avoided this happening again and the lessons strengthened them for the next generations slate of titles which were to become ever more complex especially on the home market with even more powerful graphics hardware coming to the front. Nintendo also became much more conservative with sequel titles as the Pokemon series switched from once a year to once every two years and the same trend followed the Mario titles. However this later paid dividends for Nintendo by allowing different franchises to come forward for their chance with Nintendo pushing them heavily such as Fire Emblem whilst a known quantity in Japan became a hit in the west overnight and Animal Forest a moderately successful game on the Ultra Nintendo and Gamecube would get future opportunities.

The Super GameBoy during its lifetime would maintain a strong collection of games, with new entries in the Mario and Zelda franchises whilst putting new ones like Pokemon on the map. The top selling game on the console would remain Pokemon Gold which sold 26 million closely followed by Pokemon Silver. Mario Castle did well with 14 million sold as did the Triforce Trilogy with 21 million sold between the numerous titles. Games in general on the platform sold well, and the high reviews and feedback from fans over the years does support this trend. The games also sold well into 2007/8 as the Ultra GameBoy was backwards compatible with both the Super GameBoy and the original GameBoy, as Nintendo now saw this as a crucial part especially in the early days of a consoles life when games are sparse at keeping players invested a tactic that Sega would also deploy to success with the Sega Prometheus.

Sales for the console stood at 98 million easily outselling Sega and producing a very strong result. But many would argue had the issues been resolved, price being the very important issue initially it could have gotten beyond 100 million and Sega might not have managed to create a foothold in the handheld market to begin with but Sega took a huge risk entering the market which remarkably paid off for them as the company was evolving as its home market crumbled. They would not enter another console into the home market but continued a policy of releasing quality handheld releases and having its larger studios effectively make games for the highest bidder between Sony and Microsoft as well as money being made from publishing Microsoft titles in Japan.

For the next generation Nintendo would seek a handheld that tried to do what they thought realistic, a console that wasn’t too powerful nor a push over. Sega as well learnt lessons and took this approach forward whilst on the horizon Sony stood preparing to enter the market hoping for the same success on the handheld front that they had managed in the home console business for the past decade. E3 2005 introduced three new handheld consoles, the question was if the market was big enough for three consoles like the home market. Nintendo had the history and the franchises to go forward with upgraded internals over those proposed in 2003. Sega had Microsoft backing as well as good franchises themselves whilst Sony had a very strong hardware centred on a new disc format for handhelds and would bring with it real third party support beyond what Nintendo or Sega had thus far achieved.
 
So it is the final update or another one Will come later on? Still this TL was a Nice ride, good job buddy, waiting to see next one from you
 
Yes it is, I have left it open ended for a potential sequel focused on an Ultra GameBoy but I never intended to go that far.

I have switched over and begun writing another gaming timeline focused on the start of this decade but I've got plenty of research to work through before its in a good place to start posting so I'm guessing late spring.
 
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