I'm currently researching Sega for at least one new Timeline idea when I came across some interesting information, mentioned in
this article, and
this one.
Namely, when Sega was contemplating what to do in terms of consoles after the Genesis, there were talks with Silicon Graphics Inc. for Sega to purchase a chipset that Silicon Graphics thought would make for a good console and Sega of America was interested. Sega of America contacted Sega of Japan and had SoJ's hardware guys take a look at the chipset, however they ultimately found the chipset unsatisfactory. That chipset would later be sold to Nintendo and become the basis for the Nintendo 64.
SoA also was in talks with Sony after the whole "Nintendo Playstation" fiasco to possibly (before or after the Silicon Graphics chipset thing, the two articles seem to disagree on this) work together to create a new CD-based console. Agreements were made on what such a joint venture would look like, and SoA and Sony were in agreement that this was a good idea. SoJ wasn't and so without friends already in the console business, Sony made the console themselves.
So here are two PoD's I want to think about. First, what would be the affects of Sega buying the chipset from Silicon Graphics? What kind of console might be produced from this, and would it be successful? What sort of hardware might the future Nintendo Console have now that it's deprived of its OTL hardware?
Second, if Sega did work with Sony and created a "Sega Playstation," what would this mean for the console wars? What might this console look like? It'd at least be CD-based, surely. What about games?
Is it possible to actually have both of these PoD's at the same time, and if so, what would
that console look like?