The Famicom (the Japanese name for the Nintendo Entertainment System) was originally going to be sold in the USA by Atari. At the time in 1983, Atari was still considered the Big Man on Campus for video games, in spite of the industry slowdown just before the 1984 crash. That's why Nintendo considered them to sell the Famicom.
Fate however had other ideas. Just before the deal was finalized around summer 1983, Coleco showed their new ADAM computer playing Donkey Kong. While Coleco owned the US rights to the videogame version of the game, Atari had the computer rights. Atari threatened to sue Nintendo and Nintendo threatened to sue Coleco. This was what delayed the deal. Ray Kassar, Atari's CEO, resigned soon after and the deal was cancelled. Atari started its long decline and eventually collapsed. Nintendo marketed the Famicom as the NES through Worlds of Wonder (the people who gave us Teddy Ruxpin and Laser Tag) - the rest is history.
And now for the $64,000 question - let's say the POD was the deal not being delayed over the ADAM/Donkey Kong debacle - how would the Famicom have done under Atari?
I've wracked my brain with this one. Atari was definitely interested while simultaneously working on their Atari 7800 console.
What would Atari have called the Famicom? Would they have kept its name or given it some other name like the Atari Family Entertainment System, the Atari 10000, etc? How about the pack-in game? Due to cultural differences between the USA and Japan, would Super Mario Brothers have been the pack-in title? And would Atari have allowed titles like Metroid, Castlevania, Zelda, Kid Icarus, Mega Man, etc. to be released stateside?
Thoughts?
Fate however had other ideas. Just before the deal was finalized around summer 1983, Coleco showed their new ADAM computer playing Donkey Kong. While Coleco owned the US rights to the videogame version of the game, Atari had the computer rights. Atari threatened to sue Nintendo and Nintendo threatened to sue Coleco. This was what delayed the deal. Ray Kassar, Atari's CEO, resigned soon after and the deal was cancelled. Atari started its long decline and eventually collapsed. Nintendo marketed the Famicom as the NES through Worlds of Wonder (the people who gave us Teddy Ruxpin and Laser Tag) - the rest is history.
And now for the $64,000 question - let's say the POD was the deal not being delayed over the ADAM/Donkey Kong debacle - how would the Famicom have done under Atari?
I've wracked my brain with this one. Atari was definitely interested while simultaneously working on their Atari 7800 console.
What would Atari have called the Famicom? Would they have kept its name or given it some other name like the Atari Family Entertainment System, the Atari 10000, etc? How about the pack-in game? Due to cultural differences between the USA and Japan, would Super Mario Brothers have been the pack-in title? And would Atari have allowed titles like Metroid, Castlevania, Zelda, Kid Icarus, Mega Man, etc. to be released stateside?
Thoughts?