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Post by GamerL on Nov 15, 2017 19:03:54 GMT -5
Similarly to the "imaginary sequels" thread, let's imagine the different paths video games an industry could have taken, ideas that never came to fruition or just general "what if" scenarios.
For example, what if the "Nintendo Playstation" actually happened? What if Sony and Nintendo actually kept a close partnership instead of Sony spinning off into it's own thing? The N64 probably would have used disks in that case, would that have helped them stay ahead? And what if with no standalone Playstation Sega managed to continue making consoles and to this day the video game industry was still a battle between Sega and Nintendo? What would that look like?
On the other hand let's say the Playstation still existed, but Microsoft never got into video games with the Xbox and the battle was between Sony, Nintendo and Sega? Microsoft changed the game big time with the Xbox which led to video games becoming a much more "westernized" thing, what would it look like if if video games stayed a very Japanese centric industry to this day?
I feel though that as video games grew in popularity it was only a matter of time until some American company wanted in, but what if it wasn't Microsoft? What if instead it was Apple that released a console in 2001? Or let's say Atari managed to not fuck up so badly and actually stayed a contender in the console market until the 00s? In fact what if the crash of 1983 never happened at all and Atari was video games to this day? Could Nintendo have still had success?
And finally, what if simply Sega didn't call it quits with the Dreamcast and tried one more time, in the market of the PS2, Gamecube and Xbox could there still have been room for Sega?
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Post by X-pert74 on Nov 15, 2017 19:30:06 GMT -5
What if Keiji Inafune never left Capcom, and Capcom went ahead with releasing Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe?
*sob*
I think if Microsoft never entered the console gaming market, Western PC developers like Bethesda and Bioware would have still migrated over to consoles, but it probably would have happened at a slightly later point in time. Japanese companies might have felt less pressure to conform to Western norms though, which might have resulted in more games that maintained their own identity, but at the same time were slower to pick up on the innovations of their Western counterparts. There also might have been fewer Japanese companies that felt the need to abandon gaming for a focus on pachinko, or felt the need to make super otaku-pandering games.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2017 20:03:54 GMT -5
What if...Sega made sequels?
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Post by X-pert74 on Nov 15, 2017 20:07:50 GMT -5
What if...Sega made sequels? They make sequels  They're just quick to abandon promising IP if one particular entry happens to not sell to expectations. |
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Post by chronotigger65 on Nov 15, 2017 20:25:14 GMT -5
What if video games started in the first half of the 20th century (or I'd say our grandparents days?) I imagine the Western genre would be very popular compared to today. But racism would be fairly commen in the games. Too the point that today they wouldn't appear on any rereleases.
Another thing, what if Jack Thompson got his way?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2017 20:32:10 GMT -5
What if...The Punisher killed Konami's CEO?
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Post by GamerL on Nov 15, 2017 21:04:54 GMT -5
I think if Microsoft never entered the console gaming market, Western PC developers like Bethesda and Bioware would have still migrated over to consoles, but it probably would have happened at a slightly later point in time. Japanese companies might have felt less pressure to conform to Western norms though, which might have resulted in more games that maintained their own identity, but at the same time were slower to pick up on the innovations of their Western counterparts. There also might have been fewer Japanese companies that felt the need to abandon gaming for a focus on pachinko, or felt the need to make super otaku-pandering games. I don't know, I feel like it probably wouldn't have happened without the Xbox. The Xbox was originally conceived as the "DirectXbox" which was literally a console that played PC games and even when it became it's own thing it was still perceived as basically being a "PC in a Box" which I think it what drew devs like Bioware and Bethesda. I think honestly that the merger between the console and PC world was the biggest change to video games over the last 15 years, the console and the PC world used to be very, very separate things, I mean was there anyone in the 90s who was say playing Quake on the PC and Zelda on the N64? Probably not many. |
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Post by Weasel on Nov 15, 2017 21:06:37 GMT -5
I mean was there anyone in the 90s who was say playing Quake on the PC and Zelda on the N64? Yes. And sometimes the other way around. |
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Post by GamerL on Nov 15, 2017 21:12:32 GMT -5
Another thing, what if Jack Thompson got his way? You mean as in M rated video games would be classified as literally illegal to sell to minors, thus putting them in the same class as pornoragphy? Because that was the only realistic goal that guys like Thompson or Leland Yee (who hilariously turned out to be a gun runner for a Chinese Triad or something, but no, violent video games was what you should be worried about) could achieve, which would have made mature rated games a lot less financially viable since mainstream retailer like Wal-Mart or Target would probably not want to carry them. Thank goodness it never happened though. |
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Post by soniti254 on Nov 15, 2017 22:34:35 GMT -5
I would like to live in the alternate reality where SEGA still made good consoles and games. I think, had the Nintendo PlayStation been a thing, this probably would've led to that reality and maybe the market would've stayed similar to how it was then: no BS practices like micro-transactions and day 1 patches and DLC. Maybe not, but a man can dream.
I'm not so sure that the Xbox played that large of role of blurring the line between console and PC games, quite a few games were ported from console to PC and vice versa even in the old days. Sonic and Mega Man X games were ported to PC, StarCraft was ported to the N64, and of course DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D were ported to every major console at the time and then some, and there are many others like this; if a game was good and popular enough, it usually found it's way into the other side of the market.
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cacao
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Post by cacao on Nov 15, 2017 23:07:03 GMT -5
I would like to live in the alternate reality where SEGA still made good consoles and games. I think, had the Nintendo PlayStation been a thing, this probably would've led to that reality and maybe the market would've stayed similar to how it was then: no BS practices like micro-transactions and day 1 patches and DLC. Maybe not, but a man can dream. I'm not sure that the existence of multiple competing consoles played that big a role in things like micro-transactions and day 1 patches. The Internet did, in the sense that it made those things infinitely easier to distribute and even allowed games to require even more BS practices like a required Internet connection just to play the game. If a Nintendo PlayStation existed nowadays, we'd probably still see those things. --- I don't remember the PC and console worlds as being that separate in the 90s. It was just a matter of which platforms you owned but the same could be said about the Playstation vs. N64 (where you had a lot of mutually exclusive games). |
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Post by GamerL on Nov 15, 2017 23:11:30 GMT -5
I would like to live in the alternate reality where SEGA still made good consoles and games. I think, had the Nintendo PlayStation been a thing, this probably would've led to that reality and maybe the market would've stayed similar to how it was then: no BS practices like micro-transactions and day 1 patches and DLC. Maybe not, but a man can dream. I can't help but think that the stuff you mentioned is a result of the westernization of games, I just can't see Japanese companies going so whole hog on it like EA has. On the flipside of that though, video games would have probably stayed a niche thing rather than "another Hollywood", which came about due to mega western blockbusters like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, but not like staying a niche thing would be a bad thing, because as we've seen the more gaming's popularity grows the scummier the business practises have become. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2017 23:14:21 GMT -5
Consoles and PCs were definitely separate worlds in the 90s. Sure, you'd get a console port of say, Magic Carpet or Myst, but most games from either ecosystem never crossed over to the other side.
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Post by ResidentTsundere on Nov 15, 2017 23:15:49 GMT -5
What if Konami got its head out of its ass and didn't ruin Silent Hill and Castlevania? What if Silent Hills wasn't canceled and we got the beautiful horror game starring Norman Reedus that P.T. promised?  |
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Post by GamerL on Nov 15, 2017 23:28:25 GMT -5
Consoles and PCs were definitely separate worlds in the 90s. Sure, you'd get a console port of say, Magic Carpet or Myst, but most games from either ecosystem never crossed over to the other side. I've just noticed over the years that whenever someone waxes nostalgic about childhood games it's either something like Command & Conquer or Zelda, it's never both. Seems like PC gamers got the short end of the stick of the blending of the console and PC world, with much PC stuff falling by the wayside or being "dumbed down" What if Konami got its head out of its ass and didn't ruin Silent Hill and Castlevania? What if Silent Hills wasn't canceled and we got the beautiful horror game starring Norman Reedus that P.T. promised? I think about that all the time. What could Team Silent have done with modern technology? Considering how good Silent Hill 2 and 3 still look this day, there's no telling. |
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They're just quick to abandon promising IP if one particular entry happens to not sell to expectations.
