Of Discs and Drives - A Gaming TL

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One (1991)
8:59 6.1.91 Tokyo, Japan

The day had finally arrived. After months of waiting and developing, it was finally time. It was time to reveal a project almost finished, it was time, to reveal Project Mark 5.5, the SEGA-CD.

Lights came on for the booths, Hayao Nakamaya and Tom Kalinske strolled causally on in, ready to present the fine work that was Tomio Takami’s.

The doors open, and the first guests arrived, easily attracted to all of the new items inside the show - especially the SEGA-CD.

The 1991 Tokyo Toy Show had just begun, and it was to change gaming history.

 

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Two (1991)

New York, Thursday, August 8th, 1991​

“Nintendo v. Sony”
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Sony files lawsuit against Nintendo
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Two months ago, at the 1991 CES, Sony made the announcement of the “Play Station” a SNES-compatible console using both cartridges and CDs.
Just a day later, Nintendo and Philips made the shocking proclamation of a partnership, contradicting what Sony had pronounced a day before.
…
Sony filed a lawsuit against Nintendo, known as “Nintendo Co., Ltd. v. Sony Corp.” or “Nintendo v. Sony”
Their charges were based on the allegations that Nintendo had signed a contract with Sony, so that they were binded by law and that they had to accept that.

 

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Three (1991)

The SEGA-CD is a CD-ROM, CD+G playing add-on to the fourth generation Mega Drive/Genesis console.
CPU: (uses Mega Drive’s)
Sound: (uses Mega Drive’s)
Display: (uses Mega Drive’s)
Memory: 4 Mbit RAM
Media: CD-ROM, CD+G

History
Development
Development began in 1990 by a team led by Tomio Takami, who was assigned with creating a cheap, high quality CD-ROM add-on for the Genesis. Meaning to counter the TurboGrafx-CD.
SEGA had partner with JVC to design the CD aspect of the system. But, after difficulties with designing the hardware, SEGA of Japan begrudgingly contacted SEGA of America for help. After NEC had raised the TurboGrafx-CD’s RAM from .5 Mbit to 3 Mbit, SEGA went two times more to 6 Mbit. SoA had brought it down to 4 Mbit to make it more cost effective.
The SEGA-CD also originally had its own CPU, Sound, and even a built-in DSP to allow for hardware scaling and rotation, all of which were also removed.
Launch Day
The SEGA-CD had originally launched in Japan under the name Mega-CD, on Thursday December 12th, 1991 for a price of 20,000 yen. Launch titles include of Sol-Feace, Heavy Nova, and Road Blaster. By the end of the week, it had sold 7,500 units.

SEGA-CD
December 12, 1991

• Sol-Feace: 8/10
• Heavy Nova: 7/10
• Road Blaster: 9/10

The SEGA-CD had a light launch in Japan, with pretty decent games. Road Blaster is the big one going for me.
Overall, I’d give the SEGA-CD’s launch in Japan a 8/10. Not that bad, but it could’ve done better.
The American launch on the other hand, that was a really memorable day for me.

 

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Four (1991)

1991 was a big year for pop culture.

At the 25th Super Bowl, the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Giants, 24-21.

Bohemian Rhapsody was reissued in order to raise money for AIDS charities. It topped the charts, staying number 1 for 5 weeks.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is released to theaters, having highly positive reviews by critics - being called one of Disney’s most elegant offerings as well as enchanting and romantic.

Meanwhile, James Cameron’s Terminator gains a sequel with the release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Following, the finish of filming T2, James Cameron got the rights to Daniel Keyes’ novel “The Minds of Billy Milligan”.

The first “Nicktoons”, Nick’s animated series, began airing - the Rugrats, Doug, and the Ren and Stimpy Show. The Rugrats being the most praised and popular of the three, although Ren and Stimpy did receive some critical acclaim. Doug, the least popular of the three, would later be quietly cancelled after its first season.

It was also the year Doctor Who came back with Season 27. This was the Seventh Doctor’s last season. Stories include of Earth Aid (where companion Ace departed, being taken to Gallifrey to become a Time Lord), Thin Ice, Crime of the Century (introducing new companion, a catburglar - Furan ), Blood and Iron, Hostage, Night Thoughts, A School for Glory, and the finale the Beginning of the End (begins the Time War). In the Beginning of the End, the Seventh Doctor regenerates into his Eighth incarnation who is played by…

 

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Interim One
Article on the Eurasian Union

The Union of Eurasian Sovereign States is a prominent confederation in Eurasia, it is the official successor to the Soviet Union. It was formed in 1991, following the signing of the New Union Treaty. The Soviet Republics of Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania rejected the treaty, and following its enactment they were given independence.

Quote From Televised Broadcast

In an interview with Andrew Cartmel, script editor for Doctor Who, it was announced that Alan Rickman has been casted as the Eighth Doctor. This is BBC News.