WPTV and WSM to become ABC affiliation in the 80s

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 2-5, 1989

On the Nintendo booth, we unveiled the new Game Boy, which was already out in Japan, and new accessories for the NES, including the Game Boy TV Adapter, which plays Game Boy in full color for your home, developed and engineered by Sony, and the new Nintendo Compact Disk System, as well as the new games Dragon Warrior, Cobra Triangle, Barker Bill's Trick Shooting, Short Order, To the Earth and the NES Play Action Football, as well as the four-player NES Satellite, and the new Cassette System title Cyberhead. Regarding of licensees, Absolute would get A Boy and His Blob and Shredder, and Acclaim had the accessories Acclaim Remote and Double Player, and new games Airwolf and Knight Rider, while there are four new games, one planned for 1990, Cybernoid, Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, and heading for 1990, Bigfoot. One other Acclaim title was Headaway High, a new FMV title for the Nintendo Cassette System and the Nintendo Compact Disk System. Activision would have the new titles Archon, Ghostbusters II, Hot Rocks, Stealth ATF, The Three Stooges and Tombs and Treasures. Bandai would get the new Power Pad titles Athletic World and Street Cop, while we have the Zapper title Shooting Range, as well as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Monster Party, and Xybots, a title licensed from Atari Games, as well as Wild Boys, and the new licensed properties Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Gilligan's Island. Broderbund had the U-Force, the hands-off controller, as well as Guardian Legend, King of Chicago and The Battle of Olympus. Capcom had the new titles Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, DuckTales, Mega Man II, Strider and Code Name: Viper. Sony Interactive Entertainment America would get Super Dodge Ball, Super Rescue, Super Sushi Pinball, Championship Soccer, and the new FMV title Haunted Ghost. Culture Brain would have Baseball Simulator 1000, Flying Dragon I, Kung Fu Heroes and The Magic of Scheherezade. Data East's upcoming titles were Bad Dudes and RoboCop. FCI would have Hydlide, World Championship Wrestling and Phantom Fighter.

GameTek showed Wheel of Fortune: Family Edition and Wheel of Fortune: Silver Anniversary Edition, as well as the Fisher-Price line, which are Perfect Fit and I Can Remember, as well as the titles later in 1990 are My Grand Piano, Fun Flyer, School Bus Driver, Firehouse Rescue and Little People Bowling Alley. HAL America showed Adventures of Lolo, Air Fortress and Rollerball. Hi-Tech Expressions showed Sesame Street titles, as well as The Chessmaster, Win, Lose or Draw, Remote Control, Muppet Adventure: Chaos at the Carnival, Fun House and The Hunt for Red October. Hudson Soft had the Adventures of Dino-Riki, Starship Hector, Joycard Sansui SSS, a new accessory, and new titles were Xexyz and Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom. Jaleco USA had Hoops and Goal!, while the company is heading up Bases Loaded II: The Second Season, and Bashi Bazook: Morphoid Master. Kemco-Seika would have Spy vs. Spy II, Desert Commander and Shadowgate, while heading newly announced CES titles Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular, Rocket Ranger and Rescue: The Embassy Mission. Koei would have its first title Nobunga's Ambition, as well as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Genghis Khan. Konami would have Top Gun II: The Second Mission, as well as Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf. LJN would get a new version of A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as new titles Who Framed Roger Rabbit, NFL Football, Back to the Future and Marvel's X-Men. Matchbox would obtain a new Nintendo licensee with Tune-Up Rallye, Monster Truck Rodeo, Urban Convoy and Web World. Mattel would have Power Glove and the Bad Street Brawler, as well as the FMV title Hero Brotherhood. Milton Bradley would got new games Jordan vs. Bird: One on One, Cabal, Captain Skyhawk, Time Lord and the Cinemaware title Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon. Mindscape would have the arcade title Roadblasters, 720, Infiltrator, The Last Starfighter and Road Runner. Nexoft would have CastleQuest, and wireless remote NES controllers. Romstar would got its first release Twin Eagle.

Seismic Software, with the licensing agreement with Sega, became the new Nintendo licensee with After Burner, Fantasy Zone, Shinobi and Alien Syndrome, to both Master System fans who enjoyed the SMS versions. SNK would have Baseball Stars, Guerrilla War and P.O.W., while Seta's first release would be Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Sofel would get its first new title Casino Kid, Square Soft would get its new Nintendo licensee King's Knight, and Sunsoft would have Fester's Quest, as well as the new Disk System titles Terminator and Batman. At Tengen, it showed Tetris, as well as Final Lap, Super Sprint, Vindicators and Police Academy. Tengen also licensed other titles to Mindscape, as well as Bandai, both of them got Nintendo licensees. Taito got its new NES game with Sky Shark, Target Renegade and Demon Sword. Taxan showed its existing titles while showing new title 8-Eyes. Tecmo would have Tecmo World Wrestling as the next game, while Toho got Godzilla. Tradewest took the attention of the NES Satellite with Magic Johnson's Fast Break and Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road. Ultra Games would have Silent Service and the NES Satellite game Kings of the Beach. Vic Tokai would have Golgo 13, Kid Kool, Clash at Demonhead, Terra Cresta and All-Pro Basketball and WEA New Media would have home versions of The Black Onyx, Ballblazer and Toobin'. Color Dreams debuted Street Football, as well as Raid 2020, Baby Boomer, Crystal Mines and Metal Fighter (its unlicensed status and shovelware has been butterflied away in order to fit as a simple Nintendo license).

At Sega, it unveiled the new Sega Genesis, a 16-bit game with newer games Altered Beast, Super Thunder Blade, Space Harrier II, Ghouls'n Ghosts, Super Hang-On, with other games planned were Last Battle, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and Forgotten World. Sports games were Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and Golf, as well as the new Telegenesis game, which was called by phone. Third-party developers identified were Namco Ltd., Tengen, Sun Electronics Sorp., Sigma Enterprises Inc., Techno Soft Company Ltd., Micronet Company Ltd., Treco Ltd., Dempa Publicaton, Inc., HBS Company, Ltd. and Spectrum HoloByte, and the first title was Falcon, will be playable with the TeleGenesis Modem. The Genesis Power Base Converter allows you to play 8-bit Master System titles. Sega also had new action games Cloud Master, Captain Silver, and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, while Sega featured Dead Angle, Dynamite Dux, Scramble Spirit and Golden Axe, while Sega had a RPG in Ultima, and a Western game Wanted with the Light Phaser, sports titles included Basketball Nightmare, World Games, Tennis Ace, and Super Golf and new FMV game Ultimate Challenge.

For the handheld, Nintendo and Atari displayed the handhelds, and the Game Boy featured a monochrome display (the color screen can be found in the NES Game Boy TV Adapter), with four new titles were Alleyway, Baseball, Tennis and Super Mario Land, and the Game Boy was packaged with Tetris. Konami showed Gridiron Gladiators, Ultra had Motocross Maniacs, and new licensees produced were Ghostbusters II by Activision, Super Pinball and Shanghai by Hal America, and R.B.I. Baseball GB, Badlands and Gauntlet by Tengen. Other companies with available Nintendo licensees were Absolute Entertainment, Acclaim Entertainment, American Technos, Bandai, Capcom, FCI, GameTek, Hi-Tech Exprressions, Hot-B USA, Jaleco, Koei, LJN Toys, Mindscape, Rare Coin-It, Sega, SNK, Software Creations, Taito, Tecmo and Vic Tokai. Atari had the Lynx in cooperation with Epyx with Monster Demolition, Impossible Mission, Blue Lightning, Time Quests & Treasure Chests and The Gates of Zendocon.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 8, 1989

Tengen, the long-standing Nintendo licensee since 1986 was dedicated to commitments to develop R.B.I. Baseball 2 (which is based on Pro Yakyuu: Family Stadium '87 by Namco) for the NES, which was to be published this fall.

Tengen said they would recently announce three Nintendo Game Boy titles R.B.I. Baseball GB, Badlands and Gauntlet, three of the Atari Games-licensed titles, and it was among the licensees who supported Tetris for the Game Boy. It currently has the console rights to the Tetris games.

Bandai is planning on to do a line of Xybots action figures, made under license from Atari Games, based and revolved around the characters Rock Hardy and Ace Gunn, and a planned NES adaptation made to tie-in on the Bandai figures.

New presentation is hoped for the Nintendo Game Boy and the NES Game Boy TV Adapter, which plays Game Boy games in full-color.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 12, 1989

A new generation of games began when the Game Boy and the Game Boy TV Adapter on the Famicom hit so many sales that Game Boy cartridges are required to be sold and decided to be the fastest-growing project.

The new handheld iteration of Tetris would be out in the next two days or so.

A new generation of gamers would welcome the announcement of TurboGrafx-16 and the Sega Genesis at the Summer CES 1989.

EGM: The Show takes the new generation up to an level of game show viewers who successfully had to watch the show.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 14, 1989

The Game Boy adaptation of Tetris is finally out to stores, and helped them to save the Game Boy themselves. Tetris is a title that was licensed from Academysoft-Elorg, Andromeda Software Ltd., Mirrorsoft Ltd., Sphere Inc., Tengen Inc. and Bullet-Proof Software Inc.

Here's the original monochrome version (as shown on the original Game Boy):

Here's the full color version (as shown on the Game Boy TV Adapter):

Tetris was derived from a original concept by Alexey Pazhitnov and from a original design and program by Vadim Gerasimov. It will soon to be a success that the Game Boy would earn major players worldwide.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 16, 1989

Tengen, Inc. is saving their reputation by getting Tetris the most awarded and best-selling Nintendo Disk System game of the year, beating Super Mario Bros. 2, which quietly starting to became Tengen's first best-selling title since R.B.I. Baseball.

Nintendo liked Tetris' gameplay for having simple and fun addiction and having the multiplayer mode the best (the official OTL Nintendo version of the game on the NES has been butterflied away, so Game Boy TV Player was made instead).

Our EGM score: The Mark of Excellence

Tetris became the fastest-growing NES title, and go on to sell 3,000,000 copies (in contrast to OTL, where sales are quickly pulled after a lawsuit), and promised that they liked the mechanics, even by Nintendo themselves.

Nintendo Power, who covered Tetris gave them a chart of 20,503 on the June 1989 issue, the best of all Tengen games on the Nintendo Disk System.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 19, 1989

European-based Argonaut Software is signing on to develop vector games for the Famicom Vector System, which went on to be scheduled for release in Japan in 1989, and had high hopes for a Western release in 1990.

Argonaut is also planning on to develop a 3D processing chip for the Nintendo Entertainment System with the high hopes of releasing it early next year.

At the same time, LJN Toys came close to signing a licensing agreement with the National Hockey League to develop a NES game based around the NHL hockey stadium. The title NHL Hockey would be out in the early of 1990.

Tengen had high hopes for a sequel to the critically-acclaimed Tetris, which had expected that they will be out early next year in order to program the game in an AmigaBASIC. The NES version by Tengen went on to be a best seller as of now (like OTL's Nintendo version, and unlike OTL's Tengen version)

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 22, 1989

The new Fox shows like Open House, Totally Hidden Video, Hockey Night in Canada and Alien Nation are promising even though some stations like WLVI-TV in Boston had ever carried the show, and decided that Fox would make it into a bigger hit.

The Game Boy saw promotion in North America where it was promoted as "portable power", and we have the advanced Game Boy TV Adapter.

The Game Boy TV Adapter was a full-color implementation of the Game Boy for the Nintendo Entertainment System as an adapter to play Game Boy games. (By the way, TTL's Super Famicom is backwards compatible with the original Famicom, meaning that the Game Boy TV Adapter enhancements would be used on Super Game Boy, and on the Game Boy Color).

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"Right around the deep, Game Boy was in pure monochrome, but the Nintendo Cassette System and even the Nintendo Disk System was a catch-on among game console collectors, and Sony had adapted the Game Boy into a widespread full-color television system for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and June 1989 was the month to catch it on for Nintendo, as we already previewed it for the Summer CES 1989. The Game Boy was in monochrome, whereas the Game Boy TV Adapter was in full color. The next Game Boy was out three years ago, and we already had full color support"
-from an interview with Howard Lincoln on the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Game Boy.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

June 26-30, 1989

And now, here's a recap of a NES game from the July 1989 issue of Computer Entertainer:

When Dolphins Attack (Rating 5): Another spectacular full-motion video title from Sony Interactive Entertainment, it was in the vein of the movie Jaws, it was required to use the Zapper to shoot all the dolphins in order to get a contested high score, and even getting a continue feature in order to save our progress via battery backup. Available for the Nintendo Cassette System. Recommended.

And a recap of a SMS game from Computer Entertainer:

Street Night (Rating: 3/3/1/2). A full-motion video title from Sega that brings us the excitement and the power of all full-motion video, with a gang of streets beating all throughout the night, and we can beat us with the Power Controller. Available for the Master System Cassette Adapter. Recommended.

Sachen would became the first Taiwanese developer to offer a Nintendo licensee, developing games for the NES with our "Seal of Quality" for Western and Japanese gamers, thus butterflying all unlicensed cartridges away.

The Game Boy is far off from a month away for Western audiences, so we have some fun and excitement to bring the first four games in both black and white on the handheld, and in full color on our TV adapter for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Sony was pleased of the full color screen found on the Nintendo Game Boy TV Adapter, for the NES, with a $129.99 launch price, so developers are required to use the full color adapter for programming.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

(The death of Rebecca Schaeffer has been completely butterflied away, and the year before Judith Barsi and Heather O'Rourke's death has been also butterflied away)

"EGM: The Show is gaining clearance from all of the stations, which reached about 80% of its coverage. This included were WPIX in New York, KCOP in Los Angeles, WGN in Chicago, WTXF in Philadelphia, KTVU in San Francisco, WBFF in Baltimore, KTXA in Dallas, KTXH in Houston, WCGV in Milwaukee and WDCA in Washington, D.C. We are promising to be the next number one show from the same creative team as Fun House."
-excerpted from a print ad, Broadcasting, July 1989

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"The Game Boy is here in North America, and the full color, Game Boy TV Adapter, for the NES is here! Consisting of a full 56-color experience that allows you to play Game Boy games on a TV screen. We have built its four launch titles on the success Tetris, Super Mario Land, Alleyway, Tennis and Baseball. We built on the pack-in with Tetris. We also have a new NES unit featuring three cartridges Super Mario Bros. and the Game Boy TV Adapter comprising two cartridges Super Mario Land and Tetris, plus the amazing Disk System, Cassette System and the upcoming CD-ROM adapters. We have played the original Game Boy in monochrome, and we have played the same games in full color on a full TV set on the NES."
-Howard Lincoln, on an interview with the Game Boy American launch

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"Our console rights of Tetris is the most addictive. We have gotten our rights on behalf of Tengen and Atari Games, who sublicensed those to Bullet Proof Software in Japan and Nintendo for the handheld rights, plus Sega for the additional rights. We also distributed Namco titles, as well as licensing agreements with Bandai, Mindscape, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic and Taxan, to coordinate with the Namco and Atari rights for home consoles, like Xybots, Xevious, Road Runner, 720, Mappy-Land and Blasteroids. Tetris is the fast-selling Nintendo title of the year, so we have hope for more sequels."
-Tengen producer Bill Hindoroff, in an interview with IGN.com in 2004

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Quick review on the July 1989 NES titles from the August 1989 issue of Computer Entertainer:

Street Football, the game where our football takes you to the streets, was the first ever title from Color Dreams. There's going on that the game of football is overrun by the street corners, with hip-hop action on the beat, and decided that they will play by play per team.
Our Score: Recommended

Game Boy TV Adapter, the full color TV adapter of the Game Boy, from Nintendo. Plays all the current and future Game Boy titles, from right now and the future, even for the gaming's 21st century, in complete full color as opposite to the original monochrome Game Boy. The pack-in title Tetris is challenging, with easier players to play, via two NES controllers for challenge.
Our Score: Recommended

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Quinty to make sales

After a strong debut showing by Sony Interactive on June 27, 1989, Quinty became the fast-selling console game to be run on the Famicom Disk System by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., a division of Sony Corporation of Japan. It will grow that they received 1,000,000 copies. The first title from Game Freak, it was meant to be one or two players co-op, and the players were boys that were to avoid the enemy dolls.

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"Ken Kutaragi and Satoshi Tajiri were great friends. We pitched the Quinty concept to Namco, but executives didn't like it because they were too cute. One day, Ken Kutaragi of Sony met Tajiri while working on the game and Sony was impressed with the concept, and hopefully met its summer 1989 deadline. We can grew into the sales that Sony impressed with his Game Freak company. Sony is the right publisher and the right way to do Quinty, because we have a spectacular concept."
-Quinty designer Satoshi Tajiri, from an interview with IGN.com, June 6, 2003

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"Bringing the Game Boy and the Game Boy TV Adapter to North America is a great concept, and it was the right way to have the pack-in title everybody could play, Tetris, we are the new number one Game Boy title. We have eight different licensees, among them Tengen offered the console rights, and we sublicensed it to Nintendo for the handheld rights. Sony developed the Game Boy TV Adapter on behalf of Nintendo, who developed accessories for the NES and SNES, most notably the Super Nintendo CD."
-Howard Lincoln, in an interview with GameSpot.com, June 7, 2011

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Game Boy to make triumphant debut

The Game Boy is heading for a triumphant debut in the North American market. There's also a separate adapter that fits well into your Nintendo Entertainment System to play games in full-color, the Game Boy TV Adapter.

Although the Game Boy is in monochrome, with only four colors within the portable screen, the Game Boy TV Adapter is in full color and can easily be fit into your Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge. Although the Game Boy is the brainchild of Gunpei Yokoi, the Game Boy TV Adapter was Sony Interactive's brainchild, and could be an independent second-party developer for Nintendo. We can survive into a newer portable console that has four colorful screens in stereo, while the Game Boy TV Adapter takes you up to 56 colors.

-excerpted from an article in the 20th Anniversary July 2009 issue of GamePro

(BTW, the Super NES is backwards compatible with the NES. This means we use the Game Boy TV Adapter's enhanced palettes in the Super Game Boy and the Game Boy Color ITTL)

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Sega's incredible launch

The Sega Genesis received its launch incredibly by Sega of America, in cooperation with Atari on August 14, 1989 in New York City and Los Angeles, with hopes to release later that year in other areas. The pack-in title was Altered Beast. Some upcoming accessories include a VHS-based adapter, and the Telegenesis Modern. We hope that Sega Genesis would get more sports titles by the fall of 1989.

The VHS-based adapter was originally developed by Hasbro, and redeveloped by Sega, hoping it for a chance of the success.

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"The Sega Genesis is the most exciting and breakthrough concept of the new fourth generation. We have the new VHS adapter and the Telegenesis Modern. A new generation for 16-bit gaming is pure fun, and forever. Sega has an incredible launch library, like Space Harrier II and Capcom's Ghouls n' Ghosts, as well as Super Thunder Blade, Tommy Lasorda Baseball and its launch game Altered Beast. We changed gaming forever, and we have newer 16-bit technology, and we have the addict of pure fun, combining with the magic of the new Atari power."
-Jack Tramiel, head of Atari Corporation, from an interview with IGN.com on January 27, 2007

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The Rise of Broderbund

The King of Chicago, the Nintendo adaptation of the computer game, licensed from Cinemaware hits stores this month, putting out Broderbund Software on the map. The gameplay has been censored to fit the Nintendo censorship guidelines. It is out for the Nintendo Disk System, which is the commonplace for disk based games, and also Broderbund found its way to success.

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"We have an Australian-based studio Beam Software, whose mission is to convert The King of Chicago for both Cinemaware and Broderbund Software to the Nintendo Disk System. We previously put them on the map with our R-Type port from Irem, and already hitting stores were Deadly Towers and The Guardian Legend, two of the best-selling Nintendo titles that also had to put Broderbund on the map. We also got the U-Force, which is a hands-free controller."
-Alan Weiss, Broderbund producer, from an interview with GameSpot.com on March 28, 2006

Computer Entertainer's game review (from September 1989):

The King of Chicago (Rating: ★★★★/★★★★ ), a newer computer game adaption of the hit Cinemaware game from Broderbund, is a throwback to the classic 1930s type-genre, in which the player could follow the controller with a certain date in order to form a syndicate, and decided to murder in order to take care of the city. Available for the Nintendo Disk System.
Recommended.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

TurboGrafx-16 made spectacular debut

NEC Technologies' and its new console TurboGrafx-16 is rolling out in New York and Los Angeles on August 29, 1989 with nine launch titles Alien Crush, China Warrior, Dungeon Explorer, Power Golf, R-Type (an arcade game by Irem that was ported a year earlier to Sega for its Master System and for the NES courtesy of computer software publisher Broderbund Software), The Legendary Axe, Victory Run, Vigilante, and the console's pack-in game Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, which had high hopes in order to become a hit title for the system, and had a decision to do sports games in the near future, as well as CD-ROM and VHS adapters.

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"We changed gaming forever. We had the Atari/Sega Genesis, the 8-bit NES, and now we're going the 16-bit power, pure computer power with TurboGrafx-16, with its more powerful 16-bit software and newer graphics compared to subpar Nintendo, with 8-bit graphics. It took the power and advantages in order to take cure of the pure 16-bit GPU with the fourth generation. So it all begins."
-Keith Schaefer, on the 20th anniversary of the launch of the TurboGrafx-16, on IGN.com, August 29, 2009

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Super Famicom be backward compatible with the Famicom

The Super Famicom, a console developed by Sony announced that they will go for release next year, will be backward compatible with the Famicom, but Sony Interactive Entertainment, a longtime third-party Nintendo developer, was pleased of the backward compatibility idea, and has plans to develop a new 8-bit adapter for the SNES, similar to what Sega did with the Mega Adapter, for playing old SG-1000 and Mark III/Master System games. Ken Kutaragi was proud of the new unnamed 8-bit adapter idea. Subsidiary Sony Interactive Entertainment America already had Super Dodge Ball, on now for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

EGM: The Show made its debut

EGM: The Show was debuting to stronger ratings, on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, at a margin rating of 13.5, compared to another video game-focused show Computer Entertainer: The Television Show, from MGM/UA Television, which had steadily low ratings. Electronic Gaming Monthly: The Show will be sanctioned by the magazine itself, which had just released its issue several months earlier. It was produced by the same team who provided the award winning Fun House, who had just finished its run for the 1988-89 season. Warner Bros. had high hopes generating from the program.

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BEAU WEAVER: Welcome to the world of video games, quick reviews, and the next waves, what do you want to do every week on ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY: THE SHOW! And now, here's our reviewer and master of EGM, ALEX DESERT!

DESERT: Thank you, Beau. Welcome to EGM: THE SHOW, and here's our quick review on the first video games. Our first video game story was a recap on one of the highly successful game show P.O.W., the smash Nintendo game. Now here are the four players who took advantage of recapping.
-opening from the premiere episode of EGM: The Show, on September 8, 1989

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New FOX games!

Four new Fox game shows are heading the way to premiere. These are Jackpot, a revival of the 1970s game show, from Bob Stewart, hosted by Geoff Edwards, Celebrity Secrets, a game show, and a revival of All-Star Secrets, hosted by Bob Eubanks, The Last Word, Merrill Heatter's new game show, hosted by Wink Martindale and Jennifer Lyall, and a new Canadian game show Talkabout, hosted by Wayne Cox, produced by CBC. Speaking of CBC, FOX also brought in the newer game show Hockey Night in Canada, which had play-by-play simulcast.

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3rd Degree on the way

Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution is launching a new game show, 3rd Degree!, hosted by Peter Marshall in its new hosting gig, and Don Morrow serving as announcer. The game format follows was they made a four panel of celebrities. The producing team of Win, Lose or Draw is making the series. The premiere week on WNBC hit well a series high, thanks to the performance of Peter Marshall.

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Other weekly game shows

Three new weekly game shows arrived again with RollerGames, a new game show in the Super Roller Dome, which is about a sport of roller derby, hosted by four teams, American Gladiators, a show about a cast of amateur athletes to compete against its own gladiators, and a syndicated version of the MTV hit series Remote Control. all debuted to stronger performing ratings on various television stations.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

And now, a recap of kids' TV in TTL's 1989, and how successful they are currently as of the end of 1989. Video game cartoons had just entered the picture.

NBC: In 1989, NBC is resurrecting their own Saturday night lineup, hoping to be number one. First off there's the return of ALF Tales, which was on the air a year ago, followed by three DIC/Saban cartoons Camp Candy (based around comedian John Candy), Captain N: The Game Master (centered on Nintendo games) and The Karate Kid (an adaptation of the Columbia Pictures film franchise), followed by two long-time staples The Smurfs (which has been on the air since 1981) and NBC's long-standing The Chipmunks (which has been on the air ever since 1983), and the two new live-action shows directly aimed at teenagers, Saved by the Bell (a retooled version of Good Morning Miss Bliss), and Team Defense Force (a DIC/Saban joint project, an adaptation of Toei's Choujuu Sentai Liveman), a retooling of Saban's original plans to adapt the Bioman show in 1986, which was seen as a precursor to Saban's later Power Rangers (adaptation of the Super Sentai shows) which has been on the air since 1993 on FOX Kids, and reruns of ALF: The Animated Series. Though Brandon Tartikoff initially turned down, Andy Heyward liked the project and appealed to NBC themselves. The two new live-action shows could repeat the success of the cartoons themselves.

CBS: CBS went around its new direction with merchandise-heavy shows. One of the merchandise-heavy is the new Ruby-Spears show Dink, the Little Dinosaur, followed by Jim Henson's Muppet Babies (a longtime staple ever since 1984), Pee-wee's Playhouse (also a longtime staple since 1986), the new cartoon The California Raisins Show (based on toylines from the California Raisin Advisory Board) and then last year's big hit Garfield and Friends, followed by the new Marvel Productions cartoon Rude Dog and the Dweebs, and then a brand-new cartoon Xybots (produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, based on the hit Atari arcade game, developed by David Wise, who also wrote episodes of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and CBS Storybreak. Xybots had high hopes to repeat the same success CBS is doing with their Garfield and Friends and Muppet Babies shows.

ABC: ABC had high hopes for a brand new direction. ABC first kicked things off with A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Disney's Gummi Bears/Winnie the Pooh Hour (a one-hour block consisting of Disney's The Adventures of the Gummi Bears, which was picked off from NBC, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters (which had been a longtime staple ever since 1986), Beetlejuice (an adaptation of the 1988 Warner Bros./Geffen Pictures motion picture of the smae name) The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (which also had been on the air since 1986), Animal Crack-Ups, only to be replaced in January 1990 by The Adventures of Alex Kidd (an adaptation of the Sega game franchise, produced by DiC Enterprises) and the ABC Weekend Special. The Adventures of Alex Kidd has been just delayed from the fall 1989 start is because that the animation would not be rushed, so it would be completed.

Syndication: There are a little things about their first-run syndication market. Disney gave them a one-hour block with The DuckTales/Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Hour, which was been moved off from FOX to several Chris-Craft stations, namely WOR-TV in New York and KCOP in Los Angeles. Next up, a new syndicated cartoon and a one-hour block The Super Mario Bros. Power Hour, from DiC Entertainment (which revolved around Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Castlevania, California Games, Double Dragon and The Legend of Zelda, both of them were based on video games), which was designed for stripping by Viacom Enterprises for a total of 65 episodes. DIC also had five-episode miniseries runs on Ring Raiders, on behalf of syndicator Bohbot Entertainment, and a new version of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, on behalf of Sunbow Productions and Claster Television, and a English-dubbed version of the Japanese Transformers shows, produced by DIC, using the 1984 cast, also from Sunbow and Claster. World Events also debuted a new cartoon Vytor: The Starfire Champion, and a new original Robotech show from Harmony Gold. Hanna-Barbera also added a new syndicated Paddington Bear animated cartoon. Group W also offered a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon that eventually went to stripping by 1990. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. had the existing Fun House live-action children's game show, now in tis second year.

Nickelodeon: Nickelodeon is giving them the first ever original kids show Hey Dude, which was promising to be a major hit. Nickelodeon, the kids network also had a game show Think Fast!, which was hosted by Michael Carrington, and two teams were competing in various events, and Make the Grade, a show hosted by Lew Schneider, and decided to answer trivia questions to make the grade, both of them also promising to be hits. Nickelodeon also has highly profile reruns of Heathcliff, Doctor Snuggles, Inspector Gadget, Star Trek: The Animated Series and Looney Tunes, plus the first original cartoon (later to be designed a Nicktoon), Tattertown, developed by Ralph Bakshi.

The Disney Channel: The Disney Channel is offering newer family-friendly programming, like The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, a revival of the 1950s staple The Mickey Mouse Club, as well as existing family-friendly programming like Kids Incorporated, a continuation of the program that was originally on syndication, that laid the foundation of talent actors and actresses.

The ten most popular currently running kids shows at the end of 1989.
1. The Smurfs (NBC)
2. The Chipmunks (NBC)
3. ABC Weekend Special (ABC)
4. Jim Henson's Muppet Babies (CBS)
5. Robotech (Syndication)
6. CBS Storybreak (CBS)
7. The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (ABC)
8. Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters (ABC)
9. DuckTales (Syndication)
10. Garfiield and Friends (CBS)

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Seismic to release first title

Seismic Software, Inc. is releasing their first title, Alien Syndrome, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Produced in cooperation with Sega Enterprises, this game faithfully followed the plot of the arcade version. The launch price Seismic got was $49.99, a price more valuable than any other Nintendo game. The other three titles proposed by Seismic, to be out later this year, also licensed from Sega was Shinobi, After Burner and their own version of Fantasy Zone. Seismic was based in 3375 Scott Boulevard, Santa Clara, California, and will be the next Nintendo licensee, guarantying the new standard of Nintendo licensees.

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Computer Entertainer's review:
ALIEN SYNDROME (★★★/★★★) is a translated version of the Sega game for Seismic Software is another extremely fast action game. We must run around and decided to shoot the captives and then the time bomb explodes as time run out, and face down the mother alien. Like with Metroid, all players were extra-terrestrials and we are friendly. As a one or two player game, we must capture all the explosions to be challenging.
Recommended.

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Atari Lynx is here!

The 16-bit handheld Atari Lynx is here! Developed by the Epyx as the Handy, the new powerful portable Atari Lynx is a 16-bit handheld system, and the launch price was $179.95, hoping that Atari could save the industry, and decided that the best console launch. Comes with a pack-in game, California Games, the other launch titles on the Atari Lynx were Blue Lightning, Chip's Challenge, Electrocop and Gates of Zendocon, with the intent of Atari to license more titles.

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"The Atari Lynx was just as superior as the new Sega Genesis. We are Epyx's pet project. We have a pack-in game, California Games, and four other launch titles, also happened to be from Epyx. With the superior graphics and sound compared to the Genesis, we have exciting features to go all the way with sports titles coming out also to be in the near future for you. But the Game Boy is in monochrome, the handheld is in straight color."
-Jack Tramiel, head of Atari Corporation, from an interview with IGN.com on January 27, 2007

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Sega offers two new titles

Sega of America is offering two newer Sega Genesis titles for home play in the United States. The two newer titles on the Genesis were Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf and the Capcom arcade title Ghouls 'n Ghosts, with the ability to ship by future play. Sega promises that a videocassette adapter was to be in the works, possibly by early 1990 and have high hopes for the anticipated new title. The title World Championship Soccer was already out last month, and the initial Sega Genesis launch titles was believed to be out two months ago, with Altered Beast as the pack-in title.

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ShareData officially makes first new Nintendo titles

ShareData, a newer Nintendo licensee has officially announced its first three Nintendo Entertainment System titles. These were all three licensed from Exidy, Chiller (a Zapper-compatible game), Death Race and Crossbow, which was originally released as arcade's bestsellers. ShareData proves that the excitement for Nintendo Entertainment System was thought to be everything but fun.

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"ShareData was a proud Nintendo licensee. We previously offered titles to Tengen, who decided to retain their Nintendo licensing status, and we had high hopes for licensing agreements with Exidy. Hopefully, there are some Nintendo games that would hoped to be the next Tetris. Our bestseller, Tetris, was at Tengen, became the number one Nintendo video game of the year, and became a big smash hit, so it has high hopes to become more successful."
-Richard Frick, in an interview with IGN.com, March 14, 2009

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Nintendo to open West Coast development team

Nintendo of America is planning on to open a West Coast development team, based in Sacramento, California, backed by former Atari Games programmer Peter Thompson and artist Debbie Hayes, who previously helped them as the design team of Peter Pack-Rat, which already received a NES port in 1987. The new team would be called Nintendo American Research Team, and it will provide development tools for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Game Boy.

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"We are proud that Nintendo had its own Western development team. We initially got the first West Coast team, Rare Ltd. of England in 1986. Now there are more developers going on and on. Now, we have its own office in Sacramento, and we have all received the research to launch their own North American development studio of Nintendo. We have the old Peter Pack-Rat friends here and there, and now we are pleased with their own American-produced games."
-Howard Phillips, in an interview with the NES and the Nintendo Power, May 15, 2005

(BTW, some of the deaths on the fall of the Berlin Wall has been butterflied away)

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

The Berlin Wall fell

The Berlin Wall officially fall in East Berlin, East Germany and West Berlin, West Germany. It was torn down and officially dismantling and decided that demolition could continue. The latter event went down and opening the gates between the orders, and the Wall is starting to be removed. Most of the people has been died due to the ongoing Berlin Wall event. The inner German border has also been fell at the same time. Germany would be reunited later.

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Mindscape releases two new games

Mindscape is releasing two new games for the Nintendo Entertainment System this month. These games were 720° and Road Runner, under license from Atari Games via Tengen. These two games originally came out in 1986 for the arcades, but the NES incarnation is the most accurate compared to the two games that was originally for the arcades. Mindscape secured the rights for both the computers and consoles.

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Nintendo Compact Disk System goes official launch

The Nintendo Compact Disk System, a new CD-ROM add-on for the Nintendo Entertainment System has been officially launched to great fanfare, costing $149.99. The project, developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is the most ambitious project ever created. The first games were conversions of titles were originally developed for the Nintendo Cassette System, and the third was a original new title that came from Sony Interactive Entertainment's hands.

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"To great fanfare, we have both the Disk System and the Cassette System, and now we have the Compact Disk System, which was officially launched this month, and we have a more expensive prize to sell. We have the most money advantages to pay, and decided that Nintendo wanted to be a bigger community license by holding out all the advantages in order to pay their cash for the new CD-ROM system. We had high hopes in order to do well by the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping seasons."
-Howard Phillips, on the official launch of the Nintendo Compact Disk System, November 14, 1989

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

LJN to launch two new games

LJN Toys Ltd., once a struggling toy company who developed the NES games, is launching two new properties NHL Hockey Challenge (a title licensed from the NHL), and an original intellectual property Happy Land, both of the two titles expected from the Nintendo Entertainment System. NHL would expected to join in the ranks of the Major League Baseball and the NFL, with a potential title pending, NBA Basketball, which was also discussed as a licensee agreement by LJN Toys Ltd., for the Game Boy. Glen Rock, N.J.-based Imagineering Inc. said that NHL Hockey Challenge is a good pitch, even though for LJN. The company is also looking for a new business.

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"We have great developing teams, such as Rare Ltd., and Beam Software, and now we have a US-based developer Imagineering, who wanted to develop a hockey game, not unlike that of Nintendo's Ice Hockey, which was a great-selling title. Our business is struggling, and now we have their new business with their own creative content and their business is yours."
-Jack Friedman, chairman of LJN Toys, Ltd., from an interview with GameSpot.com, April 15, 2008

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NBA signs with NBC

The National Basketball Association is signing a new $600 million contract with the NBC, ending NBA's tenure with the CBS, hoping that they would go into effect beginning with the 1990-91 season. Hopefully, NBC is proud with their relationship. The current CBS-NBA relationship would end in the spring of 1990, and decided that NBA would go to the number one network, but the primetime lineup is not dying.

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Sony to extend support with Nintendo

Sony Interactive Entertainment, who was with Nintendo Co., Ltd. is extending their support agreement with Nintendo, in which was optioned to develop a full-on Famicom backward compatible adapter for the Super Famicom, in which the Famicom allows you to play 8-bit games, as well as a floppy disk adapter, consisting of the original Famicom Disk System cartridges, and TTL's alternative vision of Super Famicom CD, will be backwards compatible with the original Famicom Compact Disk System discs, thanks to the power and backwards compability with the old Famicom. Sony is currently developing the Game Boy TV Adapter for the Famicom.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Game Boy became the seller of Christmas

Both the Game Boy, as well as the NES adapter Game Boy TV Adapter (play Game Boy games in its entirely in full color, 56 colors at a time) is becoming the best-selling title by Christmas, with the anticipation that Tetris became the most-played out of all Game Boy games everywhere, and also Super Mario Land became the title that boys could everybody play. Game Boy was now the top handheld system of all time and a best-selling game system by Christmas, having high hopes that both the Game Boy and the Game Boy TV Adapter would sell well.

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"The Game Boy is the most pleasing console of all time. We have Gunpei Yokoi to design and direct the monochrome Game Boy, and third-party contract developer/designer Sony Interactive Entertainment and friend Ken Kutaragi is developing the separate full-color Nintendo television adapter for the Famicom, in which they allow them to play Game Boy TV games in full color. We are in store by worldwide, by Christmas, to become the fastest-growing console of all time."
-Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo, on an interview with GameSpot.com on the 10th Anniversary of Game Boy, April 18, 1999

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Genesis became fast-selling by Christmas

The Sega Genesis became the fastest-selling 16-bit video game console by Christmas. As Sega is extending their contract with Capcom, they will hope to develop more arcade ports by 1990, including Bionic Commando, Strider, Street Fighter, and a title originally conceived for the NES, Codename: Viper. Sega is currently releasing their newer games for both the 16-bit Genesis and the 8-bit Master System cartridges, with the anticipation of going to be a smash hit, by dealers for all regions of the U.S., with the fastest-growing net reach.

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Western developer enters Nintendo scene

As Westwood Associates is already entering the Nintendo scene with a conversion of Vindicators, Westwood is looking to develop a original action platforming pitch for LJN Toys, Ltd., which was meant to be for the Nintendo Disk System. LJN realized it was a struggling toy company that was owned by MCA, but there are high hopes and pitches that would ultimately go well by 1990, even by the Disk System, as floppy disks became the standard for the gaming industry, and cartridges are obscure in the end of the video game industry.

 

[Duc4AlternateHistory]

Tengen looks to develop the Game Boy

Tengen, with the outstanding success of Tetris and its merchandise, is looking to develop the Game Boy, as well as the 56-color Game Boy TV Adapter. Where it developed, Tengen would start working on a Game Boy and a NES version of the hit 1989 arcade smash Badlands, helmed by Bill Hindorff, as well as Game Boy adaptations of Gauntlet and Marble Madness, two of the top-selling arcade titles Atari Games retrieved. The company also completed work on the Nintendo adaptation of Toobin', which was scheduled for release as early as 1990, as predictors observed.

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"As Atari Games already reverse engineered the NES, we already reverse engineered the Game Boy. We granted a licensing agreement from Nintendo of America to help and improve the sales of Tengen's own games. One of the own games Tengen obtained the rights is for Pac-Man, as well as the console iterations of Tetris, who had just became the number one title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and spawned iterations for Sega platforms, and the Game Boy."
-Steve Calfee, Tengen employee, at an interview with IGN.com, March 10, 2002

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EGM's Best of 1989
Game of the Year Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Sega Genesis)
Genesis Game of the Year Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Sega Genesis)
Master System Game of the Year Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Sega Master System)
Nintendo Game of the Year: Tetris (NES)
TurboGrafx Game of the Year: The Legendary Axe (TurboGrafx-16)
Best Hardware: Sega Genesis
Most Challenge: Tetris (NES)
Best Graphics: Tetris (NES)
Best Music/Sound: Fighting Street (TurboFrafx-16)
Developer / Software House: Sega, Konami, Acclaim, Sunsoft, Tecmo, Tengen
Best Character / Hero: Mega Man (Mega Man 2)
Best RPG: Ultima III: Exodus (NES)
Best Sports Game: World Class Baseball/Tommy Lasorda Baseball/Baseball Simulator 1000
Best Video Game Controller: Joycard Sansui SSS
Coolest Boss / Best Group: Loki (Ghouls 'n Ghosts)/Jagu (The Legendary Axe)
Best Movie to Game: Batman: The Video Game
Best Ending in a Video Game: The King of Chicago

VG&CE's Best Games of 1989
Video Game of the Year: Legendary Axe (TurboGrafx-16)
Best Sports-Simulation Video Game: Tommy Lasorda Baseball (Sega Genesis)
Best Action Video Game: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
Best Simulation Game: Alien Crush (TurboGrafx-16)
Best Strategy Game: Tetris (NES) and A Boy and His Blob (NES) (tie)
Best Action-Strategy Game: Mega Man 2 (NES)
Best Adventure Video Game: Zelda II: The Adventures of Link (NES)
Best Sound and Graphics in a Video Game: Thunder Force II (Sega Genesis) and Tetris (NES) (tie)
Best Coin-Op to Video Game Translation: Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (Sega Genesis)
Most Innovative Video Game: A Boy and His Blob (NES)
Computer Game of the Year: Populous (Multiplatform)
Best Computer Sports Simulation: Zany Golf (IBM PC, Amiga)
Best Computer Action Game: Captain Blood (Multiplatform)
Best Computer Simulator: Vette! (IBM PC)
Best Computer-Strategy Game: SimCity (Multiplatform)
Best Action-Strategy Game: Lords of the Rising Sun (Amiga, IBM PC)
Best Computer Adventure: Manhunter: New York (Amiga, Atari ST, IBM PC)
Best Computer Game Sound & Graphics: David Wolf: Secret Agent (IBM PC)
Best Coin-Op to Home Computer Translation: Arkanoid (Multiplatform)
Most Innovative Computer Games: Star Saga One (IBM PC)
Best Arcade Game of the Year: S.T.U.N. Runner (Arcade)
Most Innovative Arcade Game: Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters (Arcade)
Best Driving Simulator: Hard Drivin' (Arcade)
Best Flying Game: Metalhawk (Arcade)
Best Multiplayer Game: Crime Fighter (Arcade)
Best Combat Game: Dynamite Duke (Arcade)
Best Sports Simulator (Futuristic): Cyberball 2072 (Arcade)

Top 10 Video Games:
1. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
2. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link (NES)
3. Tetris (NES)
4. Tetris (Game Boy)
5. A Boy and His Blob (NES)
6. Altered Beast (Genesis)
7. Alien Crush (TurboGrafx-16)
8. Mega Man 2 (NES)
9. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
10. Rolling Thunder (NES)

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MGM cancels show

MGM/UA Television is officially stopping production on Computer Entertainer: The Television Show, and it was officially cancelled due to lack of competition from upstart hit EGM: The Show. The second season brought in poorer ratings, and the magazine officially reached its final issue on January 1990, known simply as The Video Game Update, and led EGM to be the top show.