I've noticed we've had some video game threads here, implying we have gamers on this forum. I'm no different but I'm more into the older consoles like the Atari and the NES - newer consoles like the Wii U, PS3 & 4, etc aren't my cup of tea. But I digress.
For those of us who are into the retro consoles or old enough to remember, the Great Video Game Crash of 1983-1984 really changed the face of the video game industry. It not only ended the Golden Age and killed many of the classic consoles (Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Intellivision, and so on), but ended American dominance in the industry. Enter the Famicom from Japan or, as we knew it here in the USA, the Nintendo Entertainment System. When this was being shopped around to vendors, there was a lot of hostility to video games due to the losses taken from the crash. Nintendo of America got them to take the equipment by offering to buy back unsold merchandise (a risky move). After being released through Worlds of Wonder, it was successfully test-marketed in New York City in 1985 and then released nationwide in 1986. The rest is history.
Given vendor reluctance to stock video games and the above fact about buying back unsold merchandise, here comes the big question - what if the NES flopped here?
Buying back unsold merchandise was risky for NOA and may have simply ruined them. Had this console failed, there may be some likely results:
1. Computer gaming replaces console gaming.
2. Another system comes along later, succeeds and resurrects the North American video game industry.
The first scenario may not be far-fetched. The crash was partly caused by the proliferation of home computers which were popular for playing games on. In the UK, this did happen - the NES failed, the Sega Master System had limited success and cheap home computers like the Sinclair Spectrum was the choice for many who wanted to play video games.
But what about the second scenario? Would anyone have even tried to sell another console if the NES flopped?
Thoughts?