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."

Relientk774145d ago

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

jaggernaut254145d 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.

Relientk774145d ago

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

theBAWSE4145d ago

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

hellvaguy4145d ago

"PlayStation family"

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

dirthurts4144d 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?

hellvaguy4144d 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.

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NukaCola4145d 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.

jaggernaut254145d 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.

DarkBlood4145d ago

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

jaggernaut254145d ago

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

Thatguy-3104145d ago

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

Tsar4ever014140d ago (Edited 4140d 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.

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Godmars2904145d 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.

rainslacker4145d 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.

strigoi8144145d ago

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

jc485734145d ago

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

BitbyDeath4145d ago

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

rainslacker4145d 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)
150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers1d 7h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken18h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g1d 4h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing1d 3h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H91d 4h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola1d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6691d 2h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle1d 2h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 19h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 19h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola1d 14h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

Show all comments (8)
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."