180°

What If: Sony and Nintendo Hadn’t Cancelled the SNES-CD?

PSUni: "Welcome to the first in a series of hypothetical questions about the history of the PlayStation. This series explore how the video game industry could have turned out differently had a few key details about the development and life of the PlayStation franchise been different.

The first, and most important question has is related to the very invention of the PlayStation console."

Relientk774137d ago

I still wonder this, to this day. What would have happened to the video game industry.

jaggernaut254137d ago

Seriously...things would be SO different in SO many ways. It's really interesting to think about. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a one-system industry at this point that was pretty much all digital.

Alas, it is all speculation, though.

Relientk774137d ago

It's weird to think about the video game industry without Sony and the PlayStation family

theBAWSE4137d ago

Glad they never worked as partners because Sony has given me some of greatest memories in gaming alongside nintendos Zelda 64 and goldeneye

hellvaguy4137d ago

"PlayStation family"

They are your family now? Wow bro, lol just wow.

dirthurts4136d ago

@Hellvaguy
Dude. You don't get it at all.
Family, as in related. As in Related Playstation products (Vita, PS2, PS3, exclusives etc).
Really blew right over you huh?

hellvaguy4136d ago

"Related Playstation products (Vita, PS2, PS3, exclusives etc). "

So by your definition, nearly every company is a "family" because they have similiar lines of products. MS has windows 8 phones, Nintendo has gameboys, etc. Its was a nice attempt to mask fanboyism, but ultimately it wasnt very convincing.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4136d ago
NukaCola4137d ago

I wouldn't want to change history if it meant that we would of never gotten the games that Sony and Nintendo had released since then...but to imagine what they could do together. There would be nothing else. Other than a PC, no console could withstand that force.

jaggernaut254137d ago

Very true, to think that the world would not have gotten so many games is weird. Then again, maybe the games would have been even better? Probably not though, competition spurs innovation.

DarkBlood4137d ago

yeah the legend of dragoon or goldeneye 64 babies wouldnt be born but the famous ff7 probably would of still happen

jaggernaut254137d ago

Thinking of a world without Legend of Dragoon makes me a lot sadder than I think is considered normal and socially acceptable :(

Thatguy-3104137d ago

Crazy how that little choice changed the gaming industry. Wonder how different it will be if Sony and Nintendo had stuck together.

Tsar4ever014132d ago (Edited 4132d ago )

Well 1st of all, Sony wouldn't be in the gaming industry, back then, Sony's boss wasn't the least bit interested in the game console biz. It was all because of ken kutaragi's boss wanting payback for Nintendo betrayal of "the deal" by back dealing with, I think Panasonic. That's when Kutaragi's boss was pissed and gave him the go-ahead to create what we know as the PSX/PsOne console to compete against nintendo and defeat them.

And Microsoft wouldn't have bothered jumping in the CONSOLE gaming biz, after all, they had the PC market. The reason they joined because they were so impressed psone's world-wide popularity wanted in the mega profits Sony was dominating when they quickly phased out the SEGA's sega-cd, which forced Sega to quickly make the SEGA SATURN to no avail. Nintendo's SNES was phased out so they decided to keep the cartridge format while they switched to the N64 which also sealed their fate that generation. Sony made it ALL about the CD format due to 3d poly graphics and far superior CD quality audio.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4132d ago
Godmars2904137d ago

My guess is with Nintendo largely calling the shots even if Sony had positioned themselves to make off with most of the cash, the Playstion name would have been a foot note.

@DarkBlood:
While there would have been a FF7, it wouldn't be the one we know today. No cross dressing Cloud who got gang raped in a men's spa - before putting on a dress - at least. Also no Xenogears.

rainslacker4137d ago

Yeah, Many people love Sony and the PS brand today, but they were being pretty aggressive with Nintendo when it came to revenue's and IP rights. It's not something you hear much about anymore, but Nintendo didn't want to give up their IP's or licensing revenues so easily.

Sony even made the announcement that it was going to happen, only for Nintendo to turn around and say "nope". Was quite a big deal back in the day. The PS almost never happened as many board members didn't see the need for it. It took some persistence on Kutagari's part and moving it over to Sony Electronics(a separate division of Sony), for it to finally get the green light.

I'm glad it worked out the way it did. The PS1/2 years were awesome for gaming, with lots of innovation and fun games. Competition has been great.

strigoi8144137d ago

Then we will never experience HD gaming yet..coz there is pretty much no innnovation and competition

jc485734137d ago

I think Nintendo would've made the same decision then.

BitbyDeath4137d ago

Sega would likely still be around and EA or someone else big would likely have made up for the 3rd.

rainslacker4137d ago

Sega had a lot of issues unrelated to Nintendo on why they went down. They were already working with MS with the DC, and if it weren't for the DC demise MS may not have made the first Xbox as quickly as they did.

There's no rule that there has to be three competitors, but I imagine after the SNES CD-ROM Sony could have branched off anyways to do their own thing. If they made profit off Nintendo's back, then they would obviously see how they could make more going it alone.

Show all comments (35)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1015d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref4d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde4d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19724d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville4d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21833d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos3d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3d ago
isarai4d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref4d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan4d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0073d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19724d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

4d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19724d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

4d ago
4d ago
Zeref4d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde4d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19724d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19724d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier4d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto4d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21833d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto3d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 3d ago
Hofstaderman4d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts4d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts3d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic3d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
90°

Nintendo's War Against Player-Made Content Will Hurt The Company In The End

Danish from eXputer: "Nintendo has historically gone against player-made content and emulation of its games. This has done much to harm the company's image."

XiNatsuDragnel11d ago

I agree nintendo hire some these folks to help in your games it'll help imo.

banger8810d ago

They need to stop announcing these mods and fan remakes until they're finished. Finish it, upload it, and then if Nintendo dmca's it tough shit. Once it's online, people can share it around, even if the original download gets taken down.

Jingsing10d ago

True, but most modders need constant admiration during the process to motivate them.

PRIMORDUS10d ago

Yup, once it's a torrent nothing can be done Nintendo is helpless at that point. But it would be wise if they just had a site on the dark web, it's also easy to use with Tor and no one will bother you.

mastershredder9d ago

This is all coming from the mouth of short-sighted fandom and grifting madness.
No.... it wont. There is a clear defined reason why they don't. This is nothing new. Make your own shi7 from your own original ideas especially if you are trying to capitalize of it it. Duh.

Yeah, hire people that have zero respect or understanding for an established process. Wow. Yep. Totally makes sense.

shinoff21839d ago

Those guys that made that sonic game got a gig from sega or something along those lines and that game was dope as hell. One of the best sonics as of late.