Player Two Start: An SNES-CD Timeline

[eldandythedoubter]

WHile I'm glad that Owen's alive and he finally gets the big one he so rightlfully deserves, do you think Vince is putting the belt on him to try and mend fences with Bret?

 

[Unknown]

Trying to mend fences with Bret could be part of the reason for the title's going on Owen (and another reason is that I think Owen was underrated, and a healthy Austin would have carried on a good feud with him, IMO) especially since Owen is still alive; assuming Bret avoids his concussion (he nearly quit WCW on several occasions, IIRC), his return to the WWF might be more likely ITTL...

I see Oklahoma City had a worse tragedy than OTL, too.

Waiting for more...

The part with Earthworm Jim was funny, though.

 

[KamuiArchetype]

“I didn't even know they'd started showing Sailor Moon there again! Can they handle Haruka and Michiru this time around?”
-Naoko Takeuchi, on a Japanese talk show, when asked if she'd heard that Sailor Moon S was airing in North America, on May 5, 1999

Eh, this part is a little too blunt for a Japanese person in a public forum like a talk show. Generally you'd see qualifiers and wording to make even the smallest things that can be possibly seen as insulting to be more ambiguous on public interviews like this. Sometimes they'll even add an explanation aimed at making it seem less offensive (even if it winds up being useless and the original statement still seems insulting).

 

[TheAngryMan]

Thoughts on the Katana

This update had a lot of great parts, but I'm mostly hyped because we finally get some solid information on Sega's 6th Gen Console. From the Dino Crisis section, we know the Katana is available in some capacity in 2001. We also know from the little E3 Sneak Peak at the end that it is far enough in development that it's ready to be shown to the public, but not far enough along that they can release it in a timely fashion. All in all, it seems that I was right about the Ring carrying 1999 with the Katana releasing 2000-2001 (not that it was a difficult prediction to make )

As always, great stuff. It still amazes me how you guys are making me care so much for a company I have no OTL interest in and whose products I most certainly wouldn't be buying TTL.

 

[Nivek]

This update had a lot of great parts, but I'm mostly hyped because we finally get some solid information on Sega's 6th Gen Console. From the Dino Crisis section, we know the Katana is available in some capacity in 2001. We also know from the little E3 Sneak Peak at the end that it is far enough in development that it's ready to be shown to the public, but not far enough along that they can release it in a timely fashion. All in all, it seems that I was right about the Ring carrying 1999 with the Katana releasing 2000-2001 (not that it was a difficult prediction to make )

As always, great stuff. It still amazes me how you guys are making me care so much for a company I have no OTL interest in and whose products I most certainly wouldn't be buying TTL.

You're a pretty keen person and got all details on spot, yeah just wait E3 post, there will be a lot of debate in and out universe about sega actions on it.

umm why your lack of care abotu sega? otl never called attention or enter the videogames after sega folded? otl genesis was interesting but how dropped the ball post is still this...ASB, dreamcast was too little to late.

 

[Pyro]

I kind of wonder how powerful the Katana will be compared to OTL consoles of the same generation. If I had to speculate, it would either be equivalent to the PlayStation 2, the Gamecube, or somewhere in between. It would probably be too much to hope that it would be as powerful as the X-Box.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself. Ry and Nivek don't need to comment on this. I just wondered what the other readers were thinking.

As always, great stuff. It still amazes me how you guys are making me care so much for a company I have no OTL interest in and whose products I most certainly wouldn't be buying TTL.

I think it's because, Tom Kalinske's struggles give Sega a more "human" element to TTL's Console Wars. Though it's merely my opinion, many of the Nintendo vignettes give me this sense of decadence and complacency. As more than a few here know, I am a Sega fanboy at heart, always will be, so I am hoping for Nintendo to suffer a bit of a shock so that they are not as impervious as they seem.

Granted, I find myself tempering my inner DC fanboy though I pretty much butterflied the Marvel Cinematic Universe away...

*Dodges a brick*

But I do hope the readers will like the TTL Marvel films. One of the things that bugged me was how the Fantastic Four films got screwed OTL. Hopefully, my Fantastic Four entry (coming after the pop culture update) will help rectify it. Granted, FF has a lot going against it... namely big blockbusters like the Matrix, Star Wars: Episode 1, Batman Triumphant, and Superman: Man of Tomorrow. If I had to speculate, FF might make the Top 10 this year though how well it does will be up to Ry and Nivek. On the bright side, 1999 looks to be a great year for cinema TTL.

Oh, and what did you guys think to the tease for a Justice League movie? (Not going to reveal any more because SPOILERS!)

 

[RySenkari]

Hey, just a quick reply, haven't read the whole update yet, only the Star Wars bit so far.
I think that even with Jar-Jar gone and Padme being more of a character the film won't be great. The ITTL reaction seems to be positive, and I get that: one won't immediately scream 'betrayal' at a plot like this. However, I still think that it'll be more criticised as time goes on for lacking that thematic cohesion that made the OT so great IMO. After all, a little kid blowing up a Trade Federations mothership is rather silly and derivative compared to Luke destroying the Death Star.

I guess it can't be helped though: Lucas is going to be Lucas, and even ITTL he struggles with letting other people influence 'his' franchise. Curious if episode 2 will be better, with Anakin being the kind of tragic hero that Obi-Wan could call 'a good friend', rather than the hate-filled teenager of OTL.

Well yeah, I didn't say it was "great", quite a few of the problems from the OTL Phantom Menace are still there, but it's not regarded as a mess either, I see it ending up around the high 70s on Rotten Tomatoes when all is said and done. Still a disappointment for the really hardcore fans, but it's not anathema to the fanbase like in OTL. As for Episode II, we'll cover that when we get to 2002

In other news, this timeline itself is doing great as ever. Maybe a bit too good in parts! I don't mind the occasional utopia, but the Brainbin maxim of 'I'm not writing a utopia' got us a great TL, so keep that in mind Nonetheless, keep up the good work!

Yeah, I have noticed that this timeline is a bit more utopic than most, we've tried to keep it from being a COMPLETE utopia but thus far TTL has gone better than OTL. Guess that's how much of a difference the SNES-CD made but there are some things worse than IOTL, obviously.

Also as far as Another Story goes. The original SFC game was written with only the first 3 seasons to go off of, so there's some stuff that contradicts with SuperS and stars. I'd expect that the UNES remake would rename stuff to match.

Also I hope to god they cut down the Nabu bossfight in the Ami/Mercury section because holy shit, fuck that bossfight.

I am sad that Pluto's time stop is not gamebreakingly powerful anymore.

It would rename the things that needed renaming, yes. The Nabu fight is a LOT better since Mercury can deal more damage at that part. As for Pluto's Time Stop, they take THAT gamebreaker out but enterprising gamers do find a couple new ones. It takes some work though.

That's true. Bad shit has happened TTL. The Olympics Bombing, for one. Bob Marley and Bernie Burns in early graves, for another.

Bob Dylan, not Bob Marley (though Bob Marley is still dead ITTL since he died way pre-POD ). Also Eminem, Celine Dion, and Lisa Lopes (though she died IOTL anyway, it's just earlier this time around).

Trying to mend fences with Bret could be part of the reason for the title's going on Owen (and another reason is that I think Owen was underrated, and a healthy Austin would have carried on a good feud with him, IMO) especially since Owen is still alive; assuming Bret avoids his concussion (he nearly quit WCW on several occasions, IIRC), his return to the WWF might be more likely ITTL...

Righto, and yeah, Vince realizes Owen's talent and pushes him into the main event ITTL. So Austin and Owen will be feuding for a good part of 1999, and history between them will definitely come into play later on. Their rivalry won't reach Austin/Rock levels, but it'll get pretty fierce. As for Bret, he does avoid his concussion and we'll be hearing more about him later on.

I see Oklahoma City had a worse tragedy than OTL, too.

Well, not as bad as OTL's bombing, but worse than the OTL Bridge Creek tornado which took place two days earlier IOTL.

Eh, this part is a little too blunt for a Japanese person in a public forum like a talk show. Generally you'd see qualifiers and wording to make even the smallest things that can be possibly seen as insulting to be more ambiguous on public interviews like this. Sometimes they'll even add an explanation aimed at making it seem less offensive (even if it winds up being useless and the original statement still seems insulting).

Ah, thanks for letting me know, I'll try to go back and change it sometime soon.

This update had a lot of great parts, but I'm mostly hyped because we finally get some solid information on Sega's 6th Gen Console. From the Dino Crisis section, we know the Katana is available in some capacity in 2001. We also know from the little E3 Sneak Peak at the end that it is far enough in development that it's ready to be shown to the public, but not far enough along that they can release it in a timely fashion. All in all, it seems that I was right about the Ring carrying 1999 with the Katana releasing 2000-2001 (not that it was a difficult prediction to make )

Slowly but surely, Katana information is leaking out. The 1999 Tokyo Game Show is likely to be a substantial info dump (it's when Sega plans to formally reveal the console).

So we're going to see if Sega retains SGI/SGI related people as their tech partners or look at someone else during the Katana reveal?

I kind of wonder how powerful the Katana will be compared to OTL consoles of the same generation. If I had to speculate, it would either be equivalent to the PlayStation 2, the Gamecube, or somewhere in between. It would probably be too much to hope that it would be as powerful as the X-Box.

We've been discussing the Katana specs with someone over PM, believe it or not! So we've got a pretty concrete idea how powerful it'll be and who Sega works with to make it. No spoilers yet though!

But I do hope the readers will like the TTL Marvel films. One of the things that bugged me was how the Fantastic Four films got screwed OTL. Hopefully, my Fantastic Four entry (coming after the pop culture update) will help rectify it. Granted, FF has a lot going against it... namely big blockbusters like the Matrix, Star Wars: Episode 1, Batman Triumphant, and Superman: Man of Tomorrow. If I had to speculate, FF might make the Top 10 this year though how well it does will be up to Ry and Nivek. On the bright side, 1999 looks to be a great year for cinema TTL.

Also Twister 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean! And the Ballistic Limit film comes out in 1999 too, but will it break OTL's trend of crappy game movies? We'll see...

 

[woweed]

I kind of wonder how powerful the Katana will be compared to OTL consoles of the same generation. If I had to speculate, it would either be equivalent to the PlayStation 2, the Gamecube, or somewhere in between. It would probably be too much to hope that it would be as powerful as the X-Box.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself. Ry and Nivek don't need to comment on this. I just wondered what the other readers were thinking.



I think it's because, Tom Kalinske's struggles give Sega a more "human" element to TTL's Console Wars. Though it's merely my opinion, many of the Nintendo vignettes give me this sense of decadence and complacency. As more than a few here know, I am a Sega fanboy at heart, always will be, so I am hoping for Nintendo to suffer a bit of a shock so that they are not as impervious as they seem.

Granted, I find myself tempering my inner DC fanboy though I pretty much butterflied the Marvel Cinematic Universe away...

*Dodges a brick*

But I do hope the readers will like the TTL Marvel films. One of the things that bugged me was how the Fantastic Four films got screwed OTL. Hopefully, my Fantastic Four entry (coming after the pop culture update) will help rectify it. Granted, FF has a lot going against it... namely big blockbusters like the Matrix, Star Wars: Episode 1, Batman Triumphant, and Superman: Man of Tomorrow. If I had to speculate, FF might make the Top 10 this year though how well it does will be up to Ry and Nivek. On the bright side, 1999 looks to be a great year for cinema TTL.

Oh, and what did you guys think to the tease for a Justice League movie? (Not going to reveal any more because SPOILERS!)

Question: Do you like Time-Warner?

 

[Crunch Buttsteak]

With the Katana, it's not out of the realm of plausibility for Dr. Wei Yen and the rest of the SGI team that made the TTL saturn's RCP to strike out on their own and found ArtX like they did OTL. So perhaps the Katana could have a variant of the OTL GCN's "Flipper" GPU.

 

[MightyMatilda]

I see it ending up around the high 70s on Rotten Tomatoes when all is said and done.

It's odd how the fan reaction to the prequels range only from 59-65%, yet the critics consensuses go from 56% to 65% to 79%.

 

[Golden Darkness]

Well this just came up: http://serenesforest.net/2015/12/09/the-making-of-fire-emblem-64/

Yeah, basically some tidbits on what the N64 Fire Emblem was like before some of the material was used for Binding Blade.

Granted, there may be serious divergences for this timeline's Ultra installment if Shouzou Kaga remains with Intelligent Systems.

Though I guess we'll find out what it'll be like this E3, and the state of other big Nintendo RPGs. Mother 3, for example (apparently, if Wikipedia is accurate, the planning for the sequel in OTL began in 1994 for the Super NES).

 

[Nivek]

Well this just came up: http://serenesforest.net/2015/12/09/the-making-of-fire-emblem-64/

Yeah, basically some tidbits on what the N64 Fire Emblem was like before some of the material was used for Binding Blade.

Granted, there may be serious divergences for this timeline's Ultra installment if Shouzou Kaga remains with Intelligent Systems.

Though I guess we'll find out what it'll be like this E3, and the state of other big Nintendo RPGs. Mother 3, for example (apparently, if Wikipedia is accurate, the planning for the sequel in OTL began in 1994 for the Super NES).

I'm the one working on fire emblem and this one, we were just short of finisha discussion about it...did again TL are merging or something? still thank you very much for the link, just from nowhere, thanks

 

[The Walkman]

I could literally hug you for saving Owen Hart. I think I read somewhere he was going to retire when his contract expired around the end of 1999, and then...well, Over the Edge '99 happened. A true tragedy of the highest order.

But then again, will this mean that another, even bigger accident will happen? In WCW, Sting used to descend from the rafters, too...

 

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

I could literally hug you for saving Owen Hart. I think I read somewhere he was going to retire when his contract expired around the end of 1999, and then...well, Over the Edge '99 happened. A true tragedy of the highest order.

But then again, will this mean that another, even bigger accident will happen? In WCW, Sting used to descend from the rafters, too...

As I've stated, I used to be a huge pro-wrestling fan because of my late uncle... we were watching on pay-per view when it happened. I believe he may have met Owen at some point so he was pretty shaken up by it.

 

[Pyro]

Question: Do you like Time-Warner?

Not terribly. I'm still a bit better at the New 52 and how it made a new universe, or multiverse, that was a confusing mess. Convergence was a missed opportunity and I really, REALLY hate how muddled it was. All we had was Dan DiDio's word that it restored the Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths multiverse. It's still unclear if the Post-CoIE universe from 1986-2011 still exists, though pre-New 52 Superman's comments in Superman: Lois and Clark seem to indicate it's gone. Again, lack of clarity.

I terribly impressed with their theatrical offerings so far. Man of Steel was... okay. I liked Henry Cavill and Amy Adams' performances, but wasn't terribly fond of the writing or the drab colouring. The trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn't leave me with much confidence either

I think I averted that ITTL.

 

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

Granted, I find myself tempering my inner DC fanboy though I pretty much butterflied the Marvel Cinematic Universe away...

*Dodges a brick*

But I do hope the readers will like the TTL Marvel films. One of the things that bugged me was how the Fantastic Four films got screwed OTL. Hopefully, my Fantastic Four entry (coming after the pop culture update) will help rectify it. Granted, FF has a lot going against it... namely big blockbusters like the Matrix, Star Wars: Episode 1, Batman Triumphant, and Superman: Man of Tomorrow. If I had to speculate, FF might make the Top 10 this year though how well it does will be up to Ry and Nivek. On the bright side, 1999 looks to be a great year for cinema TTL.

Oh, and what did you guys think to the tease for a Justice League movie? (Not going to reveal any more because SPOILERS!)

Don't worry I have some ideas that will save the Marvel films from your DC-centric grips.
Mostly I have plans for X-men 2 and you already made the first one better than OTL. Though I am not a fan of the casting choices for Captain America and IronMan already stated ITTL but I can work with it. Trust me the Super Hero Film War will be just as epic as the Console Wars ITTL. DC just got a headstart. Can't wait to see what you do for F4 though.

 

[Pyro]

Don't worry I have some ideas that will save the Marvel films from your DC-centric grips.
Mostly I have plans for X-men 2 and you already made the first one better than OTL. Though I am not a fan of the casting choices for Captain America and IronMan already stated ITTL but I can work with it. Trust me the Super Hero Film War will be just as epic as the Console Wars ITTL. DC just got a headstart. Can't wait to see what you do for F4 though.

Could you PM me those ideas? I do have "X2" and "X3" on the slate I gave to Ry and Nivek, but I'm happy to let someone take a crack at X-Men because I didn't think really think that far ahead for the franchise other than a rough adaption of (Dark) Phoenix Saga. As for Casper Van Dien as Steve Rogers/Cap, I thought he was a decent choice because of his previous role in Starship Troopers. Tom Cruise as Tony Stark/Iron Man came from Cruise's OTL interest in playing the role before he backed out. It didn't have anything to do with me WANTING to put him in the role.

I wish I could comment on Spider-Man, but I can't. As with Batman, I'm leaving him to Ry and Nivek.

 

[Nivek]

I could literally hug you for saving Owen Hart. I think I read somewhere he was going to retire when his contract expired around the end of 1999, and then...well, Over the Edge '99 happened. A true tragedy of the highest order.

But then again, will this mean that another, even bigger accident will happen? In WCW, Sting used to descend from the rafters, too...

As I've stated, I used to be a huge pro-wrestling fan because of my late uncle... we were watching on pay-per view when it happened. I believe he may have met Owen at some point so he was pretty shaken up by it.

Well, his death was the mother of all bizarre accidents(in a sport-entretaiment when people hit each other with chair and all other props) just a bad harness was just(i didn't watch it live, here PPV were not existance but that raw special) and here he got bigger profile time ago, alwatys thanks ry that, his feud will have a good payout in the company.

Anarchy when your uncle died? he will be enjoy all of this if he double duty with both companies or just with wwe that will be insane what come

About the superhero wars, what a tease, as people say...ironically i prefer DC movies(except that awful green latern one) over marvel as we got here more dc comics and cartoon over marvel, still otl both have their niches.

AND Yeah what come is big, otl looks so one sided and so playing safe what come for the future ITTL

 

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

Well, his death was the mother of all bizarre accidents(in a sport-entretaiment when people hit each other with chair and all other props) just a bad harness was just(i didn't watch it live, here PPV were not existance but that raw special) and here he got bigger profile time ago, alwatys thanks ry that, his feud will have a good payout in the company.

Anarchy when your uncle died? he will be enjoy all of this if he double duty with both companies or just with wwe that will be insane what come

About the superhero wars, what a tease, as people say...ironically i prefer DC movies(except that awful green latern one) over marvel as we got here more dc comics and cartoon over marvel, still otl both have their niches.

AND Yeah what come is big, otl looks so one sided and so playing safe what come for the future ITTL

My uncle passed away in 2006... and yeah we watched both WWF/WCW even TNA when it came out, though it was mostly WWF. Actually I recently found some old tapes that he recorded of PPV events.

Again don't worry I will do my best to keep DC from overshadowing Marvel too much, if I can that is. I love both franchises, Batman and X-Men being my favorites equally. But I will focus on saving Marvel ITTL besides that DC thing I have been working on you know.

 

[woweed]

Not terribly. I'm still a bit better at the New 52 and how it made a new universe, or multiverse, that was a confusing mess. Convergence was a missed opportunity and I really, REALLY hate how muddled it was. All we had was Dan DiDio's word that it restored the Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths multiverse. It's still unclear if the Post-CoIE universe from 1986-2011 still exists, though pre-New 52 Superman's comments in Superman: Lois and Clark seem to indicate it's gone. Again, lack of clarity.

I terribly impressed with their theatrical offerings so far. Man of Steel was... okay. I liked Henry Cavill and Amy Adams' performances, but wasn't terribly fond of the writing or the drab colouring. The trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn't leave me with much confidence either

I think I averted that ITTL.

As a massive Disney, Marvel and Nintendo fanboy, I think I just found my diametric opposite