Cronus Invictus: An Alternate Console Wars (Something a bit different)

Nevermore

This just occurred to me today, so I hope it isn't too late for suggestions...

What exactly is the status of Enix ITTL? Unless you're going to parallel OTL some and have Squaresoft and Enix, Co. merge into Square-Enix, I think it would be interesting to see what possibilities could happen with Enix still on their own. If Sega is looking for their non-in house RPG series to flagship their consoles (seeing as how that seems to still be the case ITTL with Nintendo and Final Fantasy), perhaps Sega signs an exclusive deal with Enix to make sure only Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior games come out on Sega consoles?

That could perhaps Nintendo to try its hand at its own in house RPG development independent of Squaresoft. Or perhaps in response, Nintendo approaches Capcom or Konami with the offering of a merging. Hell, if Nintendo was willing to look overseas (similar with Silicon & Synapse), they could always look into singing something with a little fledgling company called Bungie Software Products Corporation...

Also, since Atari still needs some IPs - perhaps they buy out Activision and Eidos Interactive ITTL? Luis Cruz could very well be the face of the Atari company (you hinted at least with the Leopard that was true), similar to Nintendo and Mario and Sega and Sonic. Electronic Arts joining Atari could very well be interesting; a much more disastrous eCD, along the lines of TTL's WarpStryke 128, could very well give Atari that chance. Plus, it might be fun to strangle the powerhouse that EA became in OTL. :D
 
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jmberry

I second Micropose/Firaxis, Enix, the Zelda franchise, Maxis, and EA, and would like to throw in Bioware, Paradox, Obsidian, Bethesda, more of Sierra, Lucasarts, and the Oregon Trail franchise.
 

crackersncheese

jmberry said:
Lucasarts
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I second that. OTL there were a few halfway-decent games in the 90s, along with the awesome Rebellion/Supremacy, but most of it was crap, and then we got the crappier Episode I tie-ins. But Lucasarts seems to do very well when it licenses to companies with real skill (EaW, KOTOR, etc.), so it'd be interesting to see your take on that.
 

Nevermore

Bumping the thread again because the TL is fun and I had some more thoughts to contribute:

If the TurboGrafx-16 was anything like OTL's development, then this means that Hudson Soft was part of the developers for it. In such a scenario, might it be possible, Thande, that Bomberman (or a rough analog of him) could become NEC's/Hudson's mascot for their consoles? I think it might be something worth exploring.

You also briefly mentioned that SNK still made the Neo Geo consoles and handhelds ITTL; however, I'm curious as to whether or not SNK will still be making stuff up to the present day. Considering the ominous rumblings Sony and NEC/Hudson Soft had had, I think you're planning on them teaming-up. Four major console manufacturers might be pushing things a bit (market over-saturation, like the Video Game Crash of '83...) but I think a still kicking SNK would be fun to see as well. :)

I'm also curious as to how exactly NEC/Hudson Soft still managed to stay in the console race in this world. How exactly did they manage to pull that off? The TurboGrafx-16, if I've read right, sort of just fell into obscurity in non-Japanese markets (largely a reason that the NEC PC-FX was only released in Japan in OTL); how'd they avoid that bullet here?
 
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OwenM

OwenM

truth is life said:
I'd like to know what "Firaxis" gets up to (Sid Meier, basically).
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Yes, I'd like to know what happened to Civilization, one of the first computer game series I ever played, and still a favourite. Also one I started playing around the same time, Age of Empires.
Also, what are cuvettes and why was Thande waving them in a German's face?
 
OwenM

OwenM

Also, though I agree Tomb Raider went downhill from 3 onwards OTL, Legend (the latest) is the best of the lot IMO. Maybe because they changed developer, bringing back most of the original staff?
 

von kressenstein

Banned
Could you maybe get some real leadership at Commodore starting early after the Amiga is launched. That system should have ruled the computing world.:D

<goes to dig his A1000 out of mothballs>
 

Faralis

Please Thande, when you remade this ( awesome ) TL don´t forget about mentioning what happens with NWN Might and Magic and it´s Heroes spin off
also please please save Psygnosis ( what sony made of them makes EA look a sister of mercy ... damn )

EDIT: This thread has made me remember those stupid but wonderful discussions between Mario and Sonic fanboys ... good times, and those awfully retarded magazines sniff ...
 

Nevermore

Since this timeline hasn't been updated in quite some time, I figured I'd give it a bump, with some questions that hopefully will be answered...

In our world, Nintendo was rather fanatical about trying to keep piracy at bay for its consoles - for example, there were several unlicensed games, probably by the most prolific company in OTL (Tengen) that were published; the SNES fixed this problem with a special lock-out chip, which was put in every game officially licensed by Nintendo. Granted, Tengen seems to have been shut down quite early ITTL but I'm still interested as to how piracy is handled by the Big N...which leads me to my next point.

What exactly has been up with Apple in Cronus Invictus? Anything from Microsoft's largest competitor seems to have been quiet, for the most, which we can assume means it's gone similarly to OTL. However, two things, the first involving Nintendo: might it be possible that Nintendo's search to prevent piracy leads them to using the Macintosh OS to program instead of Windows-based stuff? Perhaps a relationship akin to something IOTL was the one between Sega and Microsoft with the Dreamcast. While this would obviously artificially jack up the price of Nintendo's product (which is harmful from an economic standpoint for the company), it almost certainly would make hacks much harder than it is for the other consoles.

If not that, then perhaps, somehow, Apple could actually grow into a worthwhile gaming competitor with Microsoft ITTL? I suppose that'd require getting rid of Steve Jobs, however, though...

And as an aside - is Atari still making computer hardware ITTL, ala Dell or Intel OTL?
 
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bornagainpenguin

/BUMP to remind people of this awesome thread. Won't add any questions since there are so many unanswered ones above my post I too would like to see the answers to.

--bornagainpenguin
 
Umbric Man

Umbric Man

:D

I remember this thread and joyfully read through it all once more!

How apropos gaming's coming into my life again between this, the new Pokemon games, and pondering on which game system to buy come my new paycheck...
 

Klisz

Subscribed. I wonder if Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, or analogues thereof, will make appearances ITTL?
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
I must get back to this. I was just reminded of it the other day when I was watching a Youtube video where some bloke was showing there was a secret unlockable mode in one version of NiGHTS into Dreams where you can play as Sonic. Which meant Sega basically made a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn similar in capabilities to Mario 64, and despite having been programmed in five minutes on the back of a fag packet, the controls were actually less glitchy than most of the 'proper' 3D Sonic games they've released over the years. Seriously, Sega, WTF?!
 

FDW

Banned
Thande said:
snip
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Please do this get back to this brilliant work Thande. Especially right now with the release of Pokemon Black and White in addition to release of the 3DS, I'm finally starting to get back into gaming again for the first time in a while. And we could always use more cultural based TL's on this site.
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
FDW said:
Please do this get back to this brilliant work Thande. Especially right now with the release of Pokemon Black and White in addition to release of the 3DS, I'm finally starting to get back into gaming again for the first time in a while. And we could always use more cultural based TL's on this site.
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OK, though I may need to consult for anything about Pokemon because I'm completely unfamiliar with it. (I remember when it first came out and I just thought it was Nintendo's latest faddy take on the Tamagotchi BUT WITH FIGHTING).
 

FDW

Banned
Thande said:
OK, though I may need to consult for anything about Pokemon because I'm completely unfamiliar with it. (I remember when it first came out and I just thought it was Nintendo's latest faddy take on the Tamagotchi BUT WITH FIGHTING).
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Now would be a good time start getting into pokemon, because the latest generation (black and white) in the first pokemon game to take place in america AND be in 3D (kinda). And 5th gen pokemon look awesome compared to previous games.
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
FDW said:
Now would be a good time start getting into pokemon, because the latest generation (black and white) in the first pokemon game to take place in america AND be in 3D (kinda). And 5th gen pokemon look awesome compared to previous games.
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Nah, I was never a fan of any numbers-based combat in any form of game (hence why I've also never been attracted to D&D or RPGs).
 

FDW

Banned
Thande said:
Nah, I was never a fan of any numbers-based combat in any form of game (hence why I've also never been attracted to D&D or RPGs).
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Whatever floats your boat then. But if do end doing a 2.0 version of this TL, a fun fact to know would be that Pokemon IOTL started development around 1990. The game didn't come out until it did OTL because game freak was working on another nintendo game during the early 90's, I think it was called "Yoshi" staring, well it's obvious who the star of the game is…
 
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