Plausibility Check: Sony enters videogame industry early with Betamax addon

Plausibility Check: Sony enters videogame industry early with Betamax addon
What if Sony decides not to concede defeat to VHS in the format war and decides to release a Betamax VCR with video game capability?

Betamax GameStation VCR-VGC
Released:
Japan: Mid 1985
North America: Mid 1986

...
Rather than the cartridges used in other video consoles of the period, the Beta GameStation used video game cassettes, which were adapted versions of the usual Betamax video cassettes. Thus it took time for each game to load, even at a 'fast forward' speed. The larger the game, the longer it took...
...

Is this plausible?
If it is what would the effects be?


(Would it be enough to save Betamax in North America?)
 
Plausibility Check: Sony enters videogame industry early with Betamax addon
What if Sony decides not to concede defeat to VHS in the format war and decides to release a Betamax VCR with video game capability?

...

If it is what would the effects be?

It would probably herald the onset of the Age of Aquarius, during which time the nation state would be abolished and all of humanity would live in peace and tranquility. I mean, what WOULDN'T be the effects?
 
Depends on the quality, price and longevity of the games made for it.

That's a good point.

And if the console isn't another Virtual Boy.

It wouldn't require VR, and it would have similar graphics to the NES.


It would probably herald the onset of the Age of Aquarius, during which time the nation state would be abolished and all of humanity would live in peace and tranquility. I mean, what WOULDN'T be the effects?

Serious answers only, please...
 
As Sony are using video tape as the data storage medium, the temptation would be too much for some developers to try for an early version of something like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Trap

Which would not be a good thing, as the weaknesses of this genre, such as repetitive gameplay and too much FMV distracting from the playable part of the game, would be made even worse by the very linear nature of videotape play back.
 
By referencing the Virtual Boy, I mean a product that's heavily hyped and... well... shit. Like the SEGA 32X too.

Even if it flops, it could have the same legacy as the Dreamcast if it has some revolutionary features.

It could save Betamax IF:


  • It's sold at a decent price
  • If the games are decent and sold at a good price
  • It has the right marketing
 
Serious WIs only please ...

Given the crazy number of jury-rigged videogame systems in the early '80s -- from the aforementioned Night Trap to laserdisc "games" to the Atari Cosmos to... well, pretty much anything you might imagine, I would say this WI is serious. Unlikely, perhaps, but definitely interesting.
 
Given the crazy number of jury-rigged videogame systems in the early '80s -- from the aforementioned Night Trap to laserdisc "games" to the Atari Cosmos to... well, pretty much anything you might imagine, I would say this WI is serious. Unlikely, perhaps, but definitely interesting.

I totally agree. Exploring different gaming technologies has lead to some interesting discussions and timelines like Thande's https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=142101Cronus Invictus.
 
I think that will not fare well in the long term for Sony, unlike CD-ROM who allow standard games alongside the FMV, the betamax will mostly only allow FMV because unlike Mask-ROM, the game are not in continue data with the CPU.

The thing will be like the Cdi, some early awe but at the end a failure.

I'm wondering how this will butterfly Sony collaboration with Nintendo for the APU(Audio Processor Unit) of the Super Nintendo
 
As Sony are using video tape as the data storage medium, the temptation would be too much for some developers to try for an early version of something like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Trap

Which would not be a good thing, as the weaknesses of this genre, such as repetitive gameplay and too much FMV distracting from the playable part of the game, would be made even worse by the very linear nature of videotape play back.

Good point.

Maybe Sony would find developers who would be willing to use it for 'traditional games'.

"Save Betamax and compete against Nintendo..."

Serious WIs only please ...

This is serious...
 
The result is that Sony not only fails to sell people on its Betamax tapes but its video game system completely flops in that market. Similar attempts to break in by large electronics companies like Philips and Panasonic also fail. Sony, having lost a lot of money, avoids the video game industry for a long time and Nintendo and Sega dominate for many more years with the possibility of Atari making a limited comeback as well.
 
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Any kind of tape medium, unless specifically designed for the purpose, is hopelessly unreliable for digital storage. I tried a VHS interface for backing up PCs once, back in the day. Total POS :mad:
 
The result is that Sony not only fails to sell people on its Betamax tapes but its video game system completely flops in that market. Similar attempts to break in by large electronics companies like Philips and Panasonic also fail. Sony, having lost a lot of money, avoids the video game industry for a long time and Nintendo and Sega dominate for many more years with the possibility of Atari making a limited comeback as well.

As before wondered how that will change OTL Nintendo and Sony Relationship for the SNES Audio Chipset, so a Sony burned will not change the 3DO? but still with the tech, the japanese will ever try to enter the market(Atari is Doomed, Sam Tramiel is a people who never knew the market and a douche who action bite him back)

So wondering, maybe the failure of Sony will kill prematury the FMV genre, those 'games' were taking a few exception pretty bad.
 

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It would probably herald the onset of the Age of Aquarius, during which time the nation state would be abolished and all of humanity would live in peace and tranquility. I mean, what WOULDN'T be the effects?
The world is full of small minded twits.

Please don't add to their teeming legions.
 
If you never played a video game that was on a tape based medium, you never have known what a chore it was to load the game. I used to have a VIC-20 years ago. It could take 30 minutes to load a game. That doesn't lend itself well to a sudden desire for many to jump into a game and play it. At that time, cartridges would load much faster, allowing people to play right now, versus 30 minutes from now. This would cause Sony's game console to fail, I think.

Torqumada
 
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