64DD

    Today, the topic is going to be about one of Nintendo’s only add-ons to ever release on any of their systems. The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive, or 64DD for short, was an attempt to increase the storage space of the Nintendo 64’s cartridges. However, it was a complete failure in its implementation.

    When the Playstation released in 1995, its CD based format took the gaming industry by storm. Although there were CD based consoles before, the extra space was usually used for videos and cutscenes as the games themselves tended to take up very little space. The PlayStation, with its 32-bit graphics, introduced a way to use the extra space of the CD to create gaming experiences with better graphics. Contrarily, the Nintendo 64 could hold far less data.  Developers saw this, and quickly started switching from Nintendo to Sony.

    Nintendo wanted to up its storage space to stop developers from switching to Sony. In 1995, Their answer was revealed to be the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive.  The new system latched underneath the existing Nintendo 64, and could now hold 64 MB of extra data in its cartridges. The system also included an online service titled RANDNet, that allowed users a host of online features that are taken for granted today. These included online competitive play, beta testing, surfing the Internet, exchanging messages, and more. Such features were important to the Japanese market, where the Internet had not yet become widespread.  The system promised great software releases as well, including Mario 64 2, Zelda 64, Mother 3, Pokemon Stadium, and many more.  

    Yet, years passed, and soon gamers began to wonder why games that were planned for the disk drive ended up being normal cartridge releases for the Nintendo 64. Almost four years after the original announcement, the 64DD was actually released in Japan as a mail-order subscription. Boasting only a few significant standalone titles such as Mario Artist and Doshin the Giant, its niche market was geared toward its online features.  Only 15,000 systems were ever released in Japan, and these lackluster sales prevented it from reaching any international market.

    The question remains whether the 64DD would have sold well if it was released on time. Due to many of the Nintendo 64’s big name hits such as Paper Mario, Zelda:Ocarina of Time, and Donkey Kong 64 all being planned games for the system, it would have at least gained the hardcore Nintendo audience. It also may have kept some of the third-party developers from switching strictly to Sony, as the 64DD’s cartridges held more space than the traditional ones. If people were willing to subscribe to the online service, it could have definitely caught on.

    In short, the Nintendo 64DD is one of the most undersold console add-ons ever released, and I hope you enjoyed learning why today.

Super Smash Bros.

        Today we’re going to talk about one of the most popular gaming franchises in video game history. Yes, the iconic Super Smash Bros. Its multiplayer appeal is unrivaled to this day. Like always, there is a story behind its creation.

        In 1998, Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai wanted to create a fighting game that had universal appeal. At this point in time, the fighting game scene was dominated by games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat that were primarily geared towards competitive play. This made casual gamers not want to attempt them. Utilizing the 4-player capabilities of the Nintendo 64, Sakurai developed a gameplay mechanic that had players rack up damage rather than lose health. The higher the damage percentile, the farther the characters fly and eventually meet their demise. He created a prototype called Dragon King: The Fighting Game, which simply used stick figures as characters.

    However, Sakurai quickly realized the potential of the application of this gameplay mechanic. Since this game was to be planned for the Nintendo 64, a home console, it needed strong characters to serve as the image of the game. So, without asking Nintendo, he added characters from Nintendo’s various franchises. This included iconic characters like Mario, Link, and Kirby, and lesser known characters such as Ness and Samus. After building a more polished prototype, Sakurai proceeded to show it to Nintendo, who greenlit it for an initial Japanese release. However, sales outrageously surpassed expectations, and the game’s release was soon expanded into the worldwide hit that we know today.

    Now, what if Nintendo’s characters weren’t added to the game? Would the game be still as big of a hit as it is today? To figure this out, we must analyze  the appeal of Super Smash Bros. The characters may have been what brought people to the game, but what kept them playing was the gripping multiplayer gameplay. For this reason alone, I feel that it would have still done well without Nintendo’s characters as a multiplayer game on the sidelines. However, without Nintendo’s characters, there would be no way to build hype for a second game. New characters are always what drives the popularity of the next Super Smash Bros. game, and there would be no way the series would reach such mass appeal without the help of its sequels.

    Super Smash Bros. remains my favorite video game series to this day, as it is unmatched when it comes to playing with friends. The inclusion of Nintendo’s characters has given the series far more substance than gameplay alone, and has been one of the reasons why the series keeps selling to this day. I hope you enjoyed learning about its creation.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Today we will be discussing the sequel to one of the first games featuring Mario, the plumber that we know and love today. The game Super Mario Bros., packaged with the NES, became a craze all around the world. Everyone was waiting for its successor.

    Work was started on the new game in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. It was essentially the same game as the first, but with new features that added a bigger challenge. For example, a poison mushroom was added along with the normal mushroom that made Mario smaller. The stages themselves were also much harder, including wind that made Mario harder to control and red piranha plants that would still attack when Mario was on the pipe.  This was also the first game where Luigi got his characteristic high jump and slippery movement, which carried on to the rest of the series. However, the game was essentially an expansion pack to the original Super Mario Bros. Still, it went to sell millions of copies in Japan, so plans started to be made to release it to the US.

    Howard Phillips, a Nintendo employee who frequently tested Famicom games before they released in America, played the new game and realized how difficult it was. He told Nintendo’s president that the game would not be well received in America, who then realized alternative plans had to be made. The answer came when Doki Doki Panic, a separate game, was developed by Nintendo. The game was similar to Mario in many aspects, although the core gameplay was different. Now, instead of stomping on enemies, vegetables that were picked up from the ground were thrown at them. A simple palette swap was all that was needed to turn Doki Doki Panic into America’s Super Mario Bros. 2.  American gamers never knew the original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, so this led them to wonder why Super Mario Bros 3 went back to the mechanics of the original game.

    Now, this leads many to wonder, what if Super Mario Bros 2 was released in America in its original form? To start with, Shy Guy would have never entered the Mario universe as the character originated from Doki Doki Panic. If Phillips’ prediction was right, perhaps the Mario series would not have succeeded very well in America. This would make it a Japan exclusive series, much like Fire Emblem. In addition, after the video game crash of 1983, the industry depended exclusively on Nintendo. If one of the most hyped successor to one of the best selling game of all time failed to deliver, maybe people would start losing interest in games again.

    Super Mario Bros 2. Is one of the only games to be completely revamped for fear of it being too hard for Westerners, and I hope you enjoyed learning why today.

Virtual Boy

Virtual reality and 3-D technology is all the rage now in video games, with new advents such as Oculus Rift and the 3DS. However, one of the first forays into video game virtual reality was not so successful. Dubbed the Virtual Boy, it is widely regarded as one of Nintendo's biggest failures.

The idea for the Virtual Boy came about when the company Reflection Technologies wanted to find a use for its LED display technology. After many attempted applications for the technology failed to come to fruition, the company decided to set its sights on the video game industry. It showed its technology to Gunpei Yokoi, the creator of the famous Game Boy. He was very intrigued by the technology, and thought he could use it to create a gaming environment that was not bound by the confines of the television screen. In addition, Reflection's demonstration included a feature that could detect movements in the head, which was initially also part of Yokoi's vision. The project was now a go, and development started on a prototype.

However, problems came in early on. The original idea for the system was wearable goggles, but this idea ran into complications. Research had yet to have been done on whether having such high radio emissions that close to the head was detrimental to one’s health. Further health concerns resulted in changes in the design and degradation of the technology. This forced the final product to be limited to resting on the table, which removed any chance for the head-tracking feature from the original tech demo. At this point in time, the project should have been scrapped as these limitations forced the final product to be far worse than Yokoi’s original vision.  However, Nintendo still decided to release the product, and in 1995 the Virtual Boy launched in Japan to little enthusiasm. The Japanese media were still concerned about the health risks, which limited any sales. Although the situation was a little better in America, demand quickly diminished and the product was considered a commercial failure worldwide by 1996.

For one moment, let’s imagine a reality where the health controversies associated with the Virtual Boy did not exist. This means Reflection Technologies’ original vision could have come to fruition. Since the original tech demo could claim to be some form of Virtual Reality, I believe this version of the Virtual Boy could have been at least a niche success. The next question is whether or not this would have caused virtual reality to make any impact on the industry. This depends on whether further applications of the technology could be conceived, potentially involving multiplayer play. If that could happen, virtual reality could very well have been accepted as a standard in the gaming industry far earlier than it has today.

The Virtual Boy is a system that was truly one of Nintendo’s biggest mistakes, and I hope you enjoyed learning what it could have been.

Nintendo Playstation

This time, the blog will feature a very pivotal moment in video game history. The emergence of Sony, one of the current leaders in the video game market, was one that could have very easily gone another way.

Sony actually never intended to enter the video game console market on its own. Nintendo, the leading console manufacturer in the 90's, was exploring options for CD technology after its floppy-disk add-on to the Famicom was lackluster. It turned to Sony, who was a key player in the CD market. Surprisingly enough, Nintendo and Sony decided to collaborate and make a 32-bit CD add-on to the Super Nintendo. Dubbed, the "Playstation", it was a surefire way at extending the lifespan of the Super Nintendo.

From the beginning of this relationship, there was disagreements. Nintendo wanted the CDs to be encased in plastic with a lockout chip, so the company could have full control of software licensing. However, Sony wanted the lockout chip to be on the console itself so the CDs could be open to any developer. Regardless, Sony went ahead and announced the new system at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1991. The very next day, Nintendo announced it was going with Philips to create an alternative add-on. This humiliated Sony and it even tried to sue to get Nintendo to change its mind. Eventually, the companies did reconcile and the final version of the Nintendo Playstation was to be jointly developed by Nintendo, Sony, and Philips. However, development issues and legal wrangling led the project to its demise. Sony would go on to create its own version of the Playstation, and Nintendo would release its competing N64.

Now, what might have happened if the Nintendo PlayStation actually did release to the market? Well, since Nintendo and Sony would no longer be competitors, it is easy to see the Nintendo PlayStation completely defeat its sole 32-bit competitor. The Sega Saturn would have stood no chance to the combined forces of Nintendo and Sony. Whether a 64-bit successor to the Playstation would have been created is another story altogether. The main reason why many software developers left Nintendo during the 64-bit era was due to the N64's cartridges having limited memory compared to Sony's Playstation. However, if Nintendo embraced disc technology in the 32-bit era itself, I feel it would have realized its potential and stuck with it for the following generations. Therefore, the combined forces of Sony and Nintendo would have continued Nintendo's success from the 16-bit era. The Sega Dreamcast would have failed a lot sooner than it did, leaving Microsoft as the only competitor to Nintendo.

Complicating the deal with Sony is widely regarded as one of Nintendo's greatest mistakes, and I hope you enjoyed learning why today.

Rare, a developer with a great history...

    Today’s blog is going to be about Rareware, a software company that has a unique history with the video game industry. Founded by brothers Tim and Chris Stamper, Rare began its days in the video game industry in the mid 1980s as an independent developer. Developing many classic games for the NES, including Slalom and Battletoads. Nintendo was happy with the company’s progress and bought a minority share in the company.  

    This gave Rare the capital to produce hits that remain classics to this day.  Due to the success of the company, Nintendo gave Rare the option to pick one of Nintendo’s franchises and create a new game. In 1994, the Stamper Brothers picked Donkey Kong, and the resulting game Donkey Kong Country became the Super Nintendo’s highest selling standalone title. This success prompted Nintendo to increase their share in the company to 49%, making Rare a second-party developer for Nintendo and expanded the company tremendously. This led to the Nintendo 64 era, where Rare created titles that gave importance to the console against its biggest competitor, the Sony Playstation. It revolutionized the multiplayer first person shooter genre with Goldeneye 007, and continued with solid platformer hits like the Banjo-Kazooie series. With such a great success on the N64, it was almost certain that Rare would continue as a key developer for Nintendo’s next console. However, it was not meant to be. Surprisingly, in 2002 Nintendo refused to give Rare the extra money it needed to cover new development costs. This led Rare to look for a new buyer, and Microsoft decided to buy it for a hefty sum. Nintendo IPs remained with the company, but all of Rare’s IPs were now tied with Microsoft. Rare failed to adapt to the business culture of Microsoft and many of their key employees, including the Stamper brothers, left in frustration. Although the company did create somewhat decent sequels to their classic N64 games on the Xbox and Xbox 360, these titles failed to create a significant impact as Microsoft preferred to focus on their mass-market titles. Today it is slowly regaining its strength on the Xbox One, but it is still nothing compared to its days under Nintendo.

    This leaves one to wonder, what would have happened if Rare stayed with Nintendo? For one thing, it would not have affected the sales of the Xbox as Rare’s titles were not the driving factor of the console’s success. However, the GameCube would have been much more of a success. Unlike its predecessor, the GameCube was severely lacking in mature titles, and this is one of the reasons why it lost out to the PS2 and Xbox. In addition, many of the sequels that made it to the Xbox and Xbox 360 were originally planned for the GameCube. Although they were not the driving factor for Microsoft’s systems, it could have easily boosted sales for the GameCube. If Rare was still under Nintendo’s wing, the Wii would have been a much bigger success than it was as it would have retained the mature market. Today, the Wii U might be in a much better place with Rare as a key developer.

    In conclusion, Rare is a developer that has impacted the industry tremendously, and today remains a shadow of what it once was.

Dreamcast's Demise...and what the industry could be like if SEGA was still in the hardware business

            Today we’re going to talk about the demise of one of video game history’s greatest hardware icons, SEGA.  In the 16 bit era SEGA was nearly neck and neck with Nintendo with its classic Sega Geneisis system.  Unfortunately, after a slew of unsuccessful Genesis add-ons and the failure of its successor, the Saturn, SEGA was unable to make any mark on the 32/64 bit market.  Yet in 1999, SEGA was about to be the first on the market with a 128-bit console.

            Titled, SEGA Dreamcast, with this new system the company introduced many new innovations to the video game industry. Its controller had a miniature screen that interacted with on-screen gameplay, almost like a precursor to the modern-day Wii U.  In addition, the system boasted something that was truly ahead of its time – a built in modem for online play.  When it launched in 1999, it was a huge success selling over 400,000 units. Gamers were drawn to it due to its stellar lineup of games and online connectivity. However, there was one thing that worried SEGA – the Sony PlayStation 2. Although the PS2 had a slow start, its technological power and the added capability to play DVD movies really helped sell the system. In addition, the Dreamcast was falling to piracy as the system lacked any copy protection thereby enabling the games to be copied on any computer with a CD Drive. These factors and more eventually caused the Dreamcast to suffer in sales, and by the time Microsoft and Nintendo entered the market the Dreamcast was already discontinued.

            Now, one question remains – what would the market be like today if the Dreamcast had not failed? Well, here comes my theory. If the Dreamcast remained strong even when the Microsoft Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube came in, it would have been an interesting sight to see the market split four ways.  Dreamcast’s main competitor would have had to be the GameCube, due to both systems selling to roughly the same demographic with software titles that were franchises with long histories. The sixth generation would’ve ended with the Dreamcast as a distant fourth unless something major happened to upset the market. Now coming to the seventh generation, it really depends on what kind of console Sega would’ve came up with.  Had Sega tried to compete with Microsoft and Sony, I truly think they would’ve fallen rapidly as the company did not have as much technological prowess as the other two companies. However, throughout its history SEGA had always been innovative, bringing new concepts to the industry that were ahead of their time. Had SEGA released a console before Nintendo’s Wii with the new trend of motion control, the company could’ve easily gained enough market share to be sustainable.  Although Nintendo would have still survived due to its handheld sales, it’s fair to say it could’ve lost to SEGA due to how big of a factor motion control was during that generation.  In today’s eighth generation SEGA’s next system might have been in the same place as the Wii U is today, and Nintendo may have been relegated to its handheld business.

            All in all, SEGA’s run in the hardware business will be remembered by all, and I hope you enjoyed my theory on what it could be like if SEGA was still making consoles.