Player Two Start: An SNES-CD Timeline

[Roger Redux]

I just remembered something!
Did Stargate still come out in 1994? If so did Stargate SG-1 still premiere on Showtime in '97, or did Devlin & Emmerich actually make their Stargate sequel?

I apologize if I actually did ask that before, and forgot.

 

[TheAngryMan]

I suppose that depends on whether or not your parents were gamers before you were born. If they weren't, you're probably safe; if they were, then it is our sad duty to inform you that your parents were too busy playing Secret of Mana to have sex that night. You no longer exist, but thank you for playing.

Also, happy belated birthday!

That actually makes me a bit more confident in my chances, as the closest my parents ever got to gaming was my dad owning an original Gameboy with Tetris, the model of which I still have in my possession.

Thanks for the belated birthday wishes and giving me confidence in my existence TTL. Now I can focus on the real dilemma, which Pokemon game will get me into gaming !

 

[RySenkari]

Wasn't Daikatana that game where the most useful weapon in stage one was the gun that wastes all of its ammo in one shot, because at least it didn't kill you half the time?

Yeah, it was such a mess of a game IOTL.

Now THAT is what I call an update. I'm really glad to see that the Ring, while still not making the Saturn even with the UNES, is still capable of bringing quality games to the system. Ultimately, I think the Ring's ability to keep up with the Ultra really comes down to when Sega plans to put out the Katana. If it comes out in 2000, then I have little doubt that the Ring can hold the line, but if it doesn't show up until 2001, then I'll be worried for Sega (though they're still far better off than they were OTL, not that the people of TTL have any way to know that. ). It so weird how I really want to see Sega stay strong, since I've never been into their work.

The next update will reveal some of the Saturn's plans for 1999, rest assured they'll still be going somewhat strong.

(This is also presuming that I was actually born TTL, my birthday was on November 8th, 1994, and I know you guys said earlier on the Butterflies started to majorly affect whether or not people from OTL are conceived in late 1993, so I'm kind of on the razor's edge here

Well, initially yes, we were initially going to have strict butterflies about whether or not people both IOTL post-POD are still born. But, this isn't really a Type 1 alternate history timeline anyway, it's more like a Type 2 or even hard-Type 3, so we can go ahead and preserve some people from after the PoD. So yes, you can be born, especially if you're that close to 1993.

What memes would the TTL games of this generation have ended up spawning?

And what were the "my uncle who works at nintendo" rumors?

Given the better texture capabilities of the Ultra over the OTL N64, "L is real 2401" probably wouldn't have happened.

Would people be trying different ways to get into the light temple / get the triforce in ToT?

There would be a TON of new memes for sure, but it's hard to say exactly what and how many. I figure games like Tales Of The Seven Seas and Fairytale might spawn a few memes, Raigeki would be a meme factory for sure and some of the shitty original games that barely get a passing mention in the TL would be meme hotbeds. Pokemon would be a hotbed for rumors as IOTL, but other than that I'd really have to spend some time thinking. ToT would have sequence breaking potential for sure, it's a pretty game but not a perfectly programmed game so I'm sure certain things could be broken with it. I imagine the Temple of Summer/Gerudo Valley could be accessed somehow before the second half of the game.

Is there deicide in the sequel, I sure hope so.

Well, you'll be fighting the Archangel Michael in the sequel, so there's that. I see the sequel actually being LESS controversial.

Clinton not getting impeached is the single most significant thing to happen this update, politically and culturally, but it's sort of strange how it only got a paragraph. Then again, this is a pop culture TL. Guess that means Gore will probably win the election in 2000 against whatever Republican opponent is picked given the hints of a VP Lieberman in '06.

I tried to come up with more to say about the Clinton impeachment, then again I've been slowly building it up over the course of the story, so instead of infodumping I went the route of just sprinkling small updates throughout the TL.

I wish I could comment more on Parasite Eve or Shenmue other than saying 'awesome, but well, awesome. I actually haven't played either game OTL but even from what you've written I'd like to. PE comes off like a Japanese attempt at aping John Carpenter's The Thing or David Cronenberg and I'm guessing that probably wasn't too far off for the source material (it's based on a book, right?). Regardless I do hope that Yu Suzuki at least gets to continue the Shenmue franchise and doesn't have to resort to alt-Kickstarter to fund it past the first sequel.

OTL Parasite Eve is a bit worse than TTL's, OTL Shenmue is probably a bit better, though it'll probably get a proper trilogy without having to Kickstart anything. Parasite Eve is way more well known for being a video game than a book these days, I'd never even heard it was based on a book until way after the game came out!

Arbiter of Sin's reception not being seen as more widely offensive does puzzle me, though. Even with the neutering of much of the current crop of evangelical conservatives' power in media at the moment it seems to me like it really wouldn't sit well with many people. I suppose that the general consensus is naturally "It's just a game," but I'm sure it's touched quite a lot of nerves with people even outside of the usual suspects for this kind of thing. That said, I really like the concept and I think that Romero has a lot of his work cut out for him with DOOM: Inferno. AoS seems like a pretty logical 'perfection' of the DOOM formula from a story standpoint (to me anyway) that I'm not quite sure where they could go to differentiate themselves. Sounds like trouble for Ion Storm.

Arbiter of Sin kicked up a shitstorm, true, it got more media coverage than was portrayed in the timeline. It pissed a good number of people off, but no more so than Marilyn Manson was doing at the time.

Also, when is Dragon Quest VII set for release? That might help Sega's fortunes in Japan for a spell.

2000 in Japan, 2001 in North America.

Should Degrassi: The Next Generation be coming in 2 years? The first episode was on October 14, 2001; I think butterflies shouldn't affect it too much, unless certain actors get changed or something.

Yes, it's coming. If someone wants to cover it for us, that would be awesome since I barely know anything about Degrassi except that it's Canadian

Did Stargate still come out in 1994? If so did Stargate SG-1 still premiere on Showtime in '97, or did Devlin & Emmerich actually make their Stargate sequel?

It did come out in 1994, but SG-1 was butterflied away and still no sequel. Down the road, however, Stargate could be back. Stay tuned.

 

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

Yes, it's coming. If someone wants to cover it for us, that would be awesome since I barely know anything about Degrassi except that it's Canadian

I admit I used to watch it. I blame Chasing Amy, Banky makes a reference about it and I started watching it until the later seasons. I always imagine Drake in a wheelchair now.

 

[Fardell]

Well, initially yes, we were initially going to have strict butterflies about whether or not people both IOTL post-POD are still born. But, this isn't really a Type 1 alternate history timeline anyway, it's more like a Type 2 or even hard-Type 3, so we can go ahead and preserve some people from after the PoD. So yes, you can be born, especially if you're that close to 1993.

I'm still going to think that my sister who was born in 1999 OTL, would still be born. (The biggest difference for us will be the lack of SG-1 and the presence of an Ultra instead of a 64.)

 

[Miss Teri]

Well, initially yes, we were initially going to have strict butterflies about whether or not people both IOTL post-POD are still born. But, this isn't really a Type 1 alternate history timeline anyway, it's more like a Type 2 or even hard-Type 3, so we can go ahead and preserve some people from after the PoD. So yes, you can be born, especially if you're that close to 1993.

I assume I'm still born. My parents never cared much about gaming, or general pop culture until after I was born, so butterflies wouldn't have affected them. Most of the media in my early childhood is also preserved, interestingly enough.

 

[woweed]

I have a question: As the 90s come to an end, i'm asking about a different type of gaming: Tabletop. Namely, how is the company White Wolf doing?

 

[RySenkari]

Uhhhh... We may have to have someone else cover tabletop stuff, or I might have to do some extensive research on the subject.

 

[VariantAberrant]

I have a question: As .the 90s come to an end, i'm asking about a different type of gaming:: Tabletop, namely, how is the company White Wolf doing?

Uhhhh... We may have to have someone else cover tabletop stuff, or I might have to do some extensive research on the subject.

I can do that. I've already had some thoughts about White Wolf, starting with them doing a better job of promoting Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game.

 

[Unknown]

Just curious: will a certain sketch air on SNL ITTL?

Hint: "I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

 

[RySenkari]

“To say that 1999 is going to be a make-or-break year for Sega is a massive understatement.”
-Dan “Shoe” Hsu, in an editorial for the January 1999 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly

“And as the anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft continues to make its way through the courts, a lot of Nintendo fans, noting the company's recent dominance, are wondering if it could happen to their beloved gaming company. While Nintendo did draw the government's ire back in the late-80s with its anti-competitive software licensing practices, an anti-trust suit similar to the one Microsoft is currently fighting is unlikely.”
-from an article on IGN.com, posted on January 12, 1999

“The venerable old Super Nintendo CD might be ancient, but there were some great games to come out for the console this year, and here to give out the award for Super Nintendo CD Game of the Year is another beloved old-timer...here's Methuselah!”
-Kevin Smith, introducing an actor dressed as “Methuselah” to give out the award for the best Super Nintendo CD game at the MTV Video Game Awards on February 16, 1999

“We all knew: the game of 1998 was Temple of Time. Nearly every major game outlet named that game as the Game of the Year, and deservedly so. The BIG debate that year was, who's #2? Everybody had an opinion. Goldeneye emerged as the consensus, but Tekken 3, Shenmue, Parasite Eve, The Dreamers, Gran Turismo, even outsiders like Commander Keen, Fairytale, and Spare Parts emerged as potential #2s. Even Pokemon was named by a few fan polls.”
-Jeff Gerstmann, discussing 1998's top games in a 2005 Gamespot round table

“Sega To Begin Layoffs In Wake Of Rough 1998”
-an article on Gamespot.com, March 27, 1999

-

Top Selling Ultra Nintendo Games Of 1998 (pack-in sales included, North American sales only)

1. Super Mario Dimensions
2. Ultra Mario Kart
3. Goldeneye 007
4. The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
5. Gran Turismo
6. Killer Instinct Ultra
7. Ballistic Limit 2
8. The Dreamers
9. Final Fantasy VII
10. Resident Evil

Top Selling Sega Saturn Games Of 1998 (pack-in sales included, North American sales only)

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 4
2. Tekken 3
3. Virtua Fighter 3
4. Resident Evil 2
5. Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil
6. Quake
7. Tomb Raider II
8. Virtua Fighter 2
9. Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
10. Spare Parts

-

“When GameTV became the biggest show on MTV in 1997 after the finale of Beavis and Butthead and the soaring popularity of the fifth-generation game consoles, it seemed inevitable that the network would put together a video game awards show to match its music video and movie spectacles. The MTV Video Game Awards were born, and the very first ceremony, celebrating 1998's best games, took place on February 16, 1999. Hosted by Kevin Smith, who at the time was probably most famous for his film Mallrats, the ceremony was a star-studded affair, with guest presenters such as Busta Rhymes, Neve Campbell, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (who would go on to host 2000's ceremony), to name a few. The Game of the Year trophy was handed out by Robin Williams, who looked even more overjoyed when Temple of Time was named Game of the Year than Shigeru Miyamoto did when he went up to receive the trophy. Of course, the GameTV influence on the ceremony was strong, and the six hosts at the time (Ted Crosley, who also produced the first two ceremonies, Alex Stansfield, Brittany Saldita, Gary Westhouse, Lyssa Fielding, and Adrian Fry) all got to present awards (with Ted/Alex, Brittany/Lyssa, and Gary/Adrian presenting the Saturn Game of the Year, the Best Soundtrack, and the Babe of the Year awards respectively). The ceremony, like the Video Music and Movie award ceremonies it borrowed heavily from, featured plenty of skits and comedy, and the 'Parasite Beavis' short, created by Mike Judge as a parody of Parasite Eve that saw Beavis and Butthead teaming up with Aya Brea on one of her missions, only to end up getting her killed with their stupidity, was the most memorable. The MTV Video Game Awards were a BIG deal at the time, the ceremony generated nearly five million viewers the first year it was broadcast, and it featured a great mix of serious game commentary and hilarious comedy. The ceremony has declined since the first few years it was put on, but it remains a staple of the MTV awards season even now, going into its 17th year of handing out the coveted trophy (which still depicts MTV's Moon Man sitting in front of a TV with a game controller in hand).”
-from an article on Kotaku.com, posted on January 29, 2015

MTV Video Game Awards 1998 Winners List: (nominees chosen by MTV committee including the GameTV hosts and about seven or eight others, winners voted on by MTV viewers both online and with mail-in cards, initially the awards ceremony only honored console games, PC games were added for 2002's ceremony)

Game Of The Year:

Goldeneye 007
The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Parasite Eve
Shenmue
Tekken 3

SNES-CD Game Of The Year:

Lufia III: The Ancient Tower
Madden 99
SaGa Frontier
Sphere Soldier
The Three Caballeros

Ultra Nintendo Game Of The Year:

Ballistic Limit 2
Goldeneye 007
Killer Instinct Ultra
The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Parasite Eve

Saturn Game Of The Year:

Arbiter of Sin
Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Shenmue
Tekken 3

Handheld Game Of The Year:

The Legend Of Zelda: The Mystic Mirror
Pokemon Red and Green
Rotocandle
The Three Cabelleros
Wario Land 2

Sports Game Of The Year:

1080 Snowboarding
Ken Griffey Jr.'s Ultra Grand Slam
Madden 99 (Ultra Nintendo)
NBA Live 99 (Ultra Nintendo)
NHL 99 (Sega Saturn)

Racing Game Of The Year:

Gran Turismo
Hard Charge
Ultra Road Rash
Road Storm: Burning Rubber
San Francisco Rush

RPG Of The Year:

Fairytale
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Parasite Eve
Pokemon Red and Green
Tale Lemuria

Fighting Game Of The Year:

Killer Instinct Ultra
Mortal Kombat 4
Street Fighter III
Tekken 3
Virtua Fighter 3

Shooter Of The Year:

Arbiter Of Sin
Daikatana
Goldeneye 007
Quake
Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil

Scariest Game Of The Year:

Fallout
Nightsyren
Parasite Eve
Quake
Resident Evil 2

Best Soundtrack:

The Dreamers
Ecco: Blue Dream
Fairytale
Killer Instinct Ultra
The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time

Villain Of The Year

Alec Trevelyan (Goldeneye 007)
The Archdeacon (Arbiter Of Sin)
Eve (Parasite Eve)
Ganondorf (The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time)
Gruntilda (The Dreamers)

Babe Of The Year

Aya Brea (Parasite Eve)
Claire Redfield (Resident Evil 2)
Claris (Fairytale)
Nina Williams (Tekken 3)
Princess Lindsay (Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted)

-

Billboard Number One Songs Of 1998:

January 3: Been Around The World by Puff Daddy and the Family
January 10: Been Around The World by Puff Daddy and the Family
January 17: Been Around The World by Puff Daddy and the Family
January 24: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden
January 31: Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden
February 7: Nice & Slow by Usher
February 14: Nice & Slow by Usher
February 21: Nice & Slow by Usher
February 28: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
March 7: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
March 14: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
March 21: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
March 28: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
April 4: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
April 11: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
April 18: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
April 25: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
May 2: All My Life by K-Ci & Jojo
May 9: Silly Boys by Brandy
May 16: Silly Boys by Brandy
May 23: Silly Boys by Brandy
May 30: My All by Mariah Carey
June 6: My All by Mariah Carey
June 13: My All by Mariah Carey
June 20: Godzilla by Tupak Shakur and The RZA
June 27: Godzilla by Tupak Shakur and The RZA
July 4: My All by Mariah Carey
July 11: You're Still The One by Shania Twain
July 18: You're Still The One by Shania Twain
July 25: You're Still The One by Shania Twain
August 1: You're Still The One by Shania Twain
August 8: You're Still The One by Shania Twain
August 15: I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith
August 22: I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith
August 29: You Can't Kill What You Don't See by Tupac Shakur
September 5: I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith
September 12: You Can't Kill What You Don't See by Tupac Shakur
September 19: You Can't Kill What You Don't See by Tupac Shakur
September 26: I'll Be by Edwin McCain
October 3: How About Me And You? by Brandy
October 10: How About Me And You? by Brandy
October 17: One Week by Barenaked Ladies
October 24: One Week by Barenaked Ladies
October 31: One Week by Barenaked Ladies
November 7: Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill
November 14: Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill
November 21: Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill
November 28: Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauryn Hill
December 5: Take Me There by Blackstreet and Monica
December 12: I'm Your Angel by R. Kelly and Selena
December 19: I'm Your Angel by R. Kelly and Selena
December 26: I'm Your Angel by R. Kelly and Selena

-

Electronic Gaming Monthly Editors' Choice Awards 1998:

Game of the Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runners-up: Goldeneye 007, Tekken 3

The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time set new standards for what an adventure game should be. Indeed, it set new benchmarks for all video games. Believe it or not, this wasn't entirely unanimous. There was one editor who picked Goldeneye 007, and we don't completely blame him, its incredibly addictive multiplayer mode sucked us all in for weeks.

Super Nintendo CD Game Of The Year: Kartia: Word Of Fate
Runners-up: The Three Cabelleros, Sphere Soldier

There wasn't nearly as much competition for this award as there was in the SNES-CD's heyday, but Kartia proved to be perhaps the best strategy RPG of the year. The Three Caballeros came in a close second, its Western adventure stylings were a perfect way for the SNES-CD to ride off into the sunset.

Ultra Nintendo Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runners-up: Goldeneye 007, Gran Turismo

This really wasn't a close vote. Temple of Time was our near unanimous favorite, breaking new ground for all video games.

Sega Saturn Game Of The Year: Tekken 3
Runner-up: Shenmue, Panzer Dragoon Saga

Saturn's killer fighting game Tekken 3 dominated the category, but Shenmue and Panzer Dragoon Saga were both epic, worthy contenders in this race.

Handheld Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: The Mystic Mirror
Runners-up: Pokemon Red and Blue, Samurai Shodown

There couldn't be any other choice but Zelda. Pokemon did make quite a run, and Samurai Shodown on the new Neo Geo Pocket was an excellent handheld adaptation of a fighting favorite.

Best RPG: Panzer Dragoon Saga
Runner-up: Parasite Eve, Fairytale

It was a great year for RPGs, but in the end, the epic Panzer Dragoon Saga took a narrow victory over Squaresoft's excellent efforts.

Best Fighting Game: Tekken 3
Runner-up: Killer Instinct Ultra, Virtua Fighter 3

We spent a lot of time beating the crap out of each other this year, but Tekken 3 proved to be the king of the ring when it comes to great fighting games.

Best Adventure Game: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runner-up: The Dreamers, Shenmue

While Shenmue gave us a living city to roam around in, and The Dreamers touched our hearts, neither of them approached the sheer perfection of the latest Zelda epic.

Best Action Game: Goldeneye 007
Runners-up: Spare Parts, Arbiter Of Sin

Spare Parts was a surprisingly good platformer, but Goldeneye's precision-perfect shooting and action packed Bond fun made this a pretty easy pick.

Best Graphics: Gran Turismo
Runners-up: The Dreamers, Virtua Fighter 3

Gran Turismo broke new ground for realism with its lifelike cars and tracks. The Dreamers was typical Rare excellence and Virtua Fighter 3 delivered incredible arcade fidelity to the Saturn, but Gran Turismo crosses the finish line first here.

Best Music: Fairytale
Runner-up: Panzer Dragoon Saga, The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time

Fairytale's gorgeous score by the composer of Chrono Trigger filled the quest with lovely song, and was a pretty easy pick for our favorite soundtrack of the year.

Electronic Gaming Monthly Readers' Choice Awards 1998:

Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runners-up: Shenmue, Parasite Eve

Super Nintendo CD Game Of The Year: Lufia III: The Ancient Tower
Runners-up: The Three Cabelleros, Brigandine

Ultra Nintendo Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runners-up: Parasite Eve, Goldeneye 007

Sega Saturn Game Of The Year: Shenmue
Runner-up: Tekken 3, Virtua Fighter 3

Handheld Game Of The Year: Pokemon Red and Blue
Runners-up: The Legend Of Zelda: The Mystic Mirror, Wario Land 2

Best RPG: Parasite Eve
Runner-up: Pokemon Red and Blue, Fairytale

Best Fighting Game: Killer Instinct Ultra
Runner-up: Tekken 3, Virtua Fighter 3

Best Adventure Game: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runner-up: Shenmue, The Dreamers

Best Action Game: Goldeneye 007
Runners-up: Arbiter Of Sin, Resident Evil 2

Best Graphics: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Runners-up: Gran Turismo, The Dreamers

Best Music: Fairytale
Runner-up: Tekken 3, Pokemon Red and Blue

-

Sony's Online Game “Pirate Quest” To Debut In April

While Sony Interactive has been responsible for some of the year's biggest console hits, including Ballistic Limit 2, the company has also been making a foray into online PC games as well, and this spring, their highly anticipated massively multiplayer online game Pirate Quest is ready to enter production. The game will put the player in charge of his or her own pirate ship, where they'll be able to sail across uncharted waters and hunt for treasure. Players can team up with other pirates to claim loot or battle it out in massive player vs. player melees. Sony's Pirate Quest is said to be partially inspired by their hit Tales of the Seven Seas series, though don't expect any characters from those games to make an appearance in this one, Sony's already debunked those rumors. It's one of the most massive online multiplayer undertakings in history, though it has yet to be seen whether Pirate Quest can knock Ultima Online from its throne.

Peter Molyneux Working On Top-Secret Game Set To Be Released By The End Of The Year

Peter Molyneux, creator of the hit Populous game series and part-time freelance writer for a variety of publications, is working on a game described as “part-RPG, part-life sim” that is set to be released for Windows PCs by the end of the year. The game is being touted as a highly ambitious role-playing game where you'll need to carefully micromanage your player character's inventory and relationships in order to gain enough power to venture out into a massive world and battle a variety of enemies. Though Molyneux is only too eager to give out small tidbits of information on the game, many aspects of the game's world are still being kept close to the chest. We'll surely learn more about the upcoming game at E3 later this year.

Ken Levine's “Junction Point” Nearing Completion

One of the year's most highly anticipated games is Ken Levine and Irrational Games' Junction Point, an RPG/action thriller which is coming out sometime later this year. The game involves an assassination mission on a derelict space colony, and numerous reports have noted plot similarities to the classic novella Heart of Darkness and the Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now. Junction Point is being published by Microsoft for Windows PCs, and the gameplay looks to be somewhat of a cross between the classic RPG System Shock and the hit FPS from last year, Half-Life. The gaming press is already referring to Junction Point as one of the most anticipated titles of the year, even considering highly anticipated console games such as Soul Calibur and Final Fantasy VIII.

-from a series of PC game reports on Gamespot.com, published in January and February 1999

-

NEW POKEMoN!!! Pokegods Confirmed?!?!

So appparntly in Japan they had this thing about the new pokemon games. and they showd off some new Pokemons and one of them was this which was Houhou like in the 1st episode of the show. And there was new Gameboys too!!!! With awesoum graphics and new pokemon games. So in 1999 we will definately b gettin new Pokemon. Watch out!!!

Also make sur 2 votez for my page!!! Just click button below to get us up in da top viewz!!!

-from “DJ Carl's Awesome Pokemon Page” on Angelfire.com, update posted January 4, 1999

Pokemon Sun And Moon Confirmed!

Yes indeed, there is a brand new pair of Pokemon games coming to Japan! The Spaceworld show back in October recently revealed that Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will be coming for the new Game Boy Nova system later this year. The Nova features some truly amazing graphics that will definitely bring the world of Pokemon to life like never before! We've got all the coverage of the big announcements down below!

-from an update on Pojo.com, posted January 4, 1999

> Any exact tech specs on the Game Boy Nova just yet? Will it really be more powerful than the SNES-CD was?
>> The 3-D graphics looked really smooth, so....I think so.
>> No way, it uses cartridges instead of CDs so it can't be more powerful.
>>> Most storage space on CDs is used for anime scenes and music, not the game graphics. Super Mario Nova looks a lot better than Super Mario World 2.
>>>> Eh, they looked about the same to me.
>> It's hard to tell, Super Metroid looked a bit better on the Nova than the Super Nintendo but Ballistic Limit looks better on the SNES-CD than Super Metroid on the Nova.
>>> It's hard to tell anyway because the screenshots aren't that great.

> Sega's done for! Aside from Sonic 5, what's coming out next year? I'll tell you...NOTHING!
>> Fuk off.
>> Soul Calibur, the new Keen game, Soul Reaver, Earthworm Jim...
>>> Soul Calibur sucks, Killer Instinct is better, Keen is stupid, Soul Reaver looks dumb, Earthworm Jim sucks.
>>>> Soul Calibur sucks? Have you even played it?
>> Yeah seriously, Nintendo's gonna kick Sega's ass into the ground next year, I can't wait for Metal Gear Solid.
>> Quit trolling!
>>> I'm not trolling, I'm stating facts.

> Okay, Game of the Year?
>> Half-Life.
>>> PC games suck
>>>> Your mom!
>>>>> No your mom
>>>> Just because you're too stupid to set up your PC to play Half-Life doesn't mean Half-Life sucks.
>>>>> No, Half-Life sucks because it sucks. Goldeneye is better.
>>>>>> BLASPHEMY
>> No contest, it's Temple of Time. Best Zelda game I ever played.
>>> U must not have played Ocarina then
>>> Or Zelda II
>>>> Ewwwwwwwwwwww
>>> I agree with this man, Temple of Time was awesome.
>> Temple of Time, hands down! Hyrule was huge, the bosses were tough, and the music was great. Utterly fantastic game.
>> Goldeneye, it has to be
>> Fairytale
>>> That game's for girls
>>>> Yeah because that part where Claris was naked was totally for girls
>>>>> Oh yeah I forgot that WAS pretty hot
>>>>>> Speaking of hot, Aya Brea, you guys
>> Tekken 3
>>> Killer Instinct was better.
>> Spare Parts was surprisingly good if anyone has the Ring here.
>>> Yeah but the last part was a ripoff of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.
>>>> No it wasn't, it had a happy ending.
>>>>> Which makes it a WORSE ripoff.
>>>> I have no Ultra Nintendo and I must play Temple of Time

-from various threads on an InsideTheWeb.com video game message board, as accessed on January 6, 1999

-

Ted Crosley: And the time's come once again to count down the year's best console games!

Lyssa Fielding: That's right, but this year there were SO many great games that we can't just do a top 10!

Alex Stansfield: Instead, we're counting down our top 25 games of the year.

Brittany Saldita: Starting with number 25, Pokemon Red and Green. While some here at GameTV may not have liked it... *glares at Ted* catching all those Pokemon was super addictive and the game's big world made it one of the year's best RPGs.

Ted: Hey, I have valid reasons for not liking Pokemon! But this game, our number 24, The Three Caballeros, was simply fantastic and a really big old-school Disney platformer for the SNES-CD.

Adrian Fry: Number 23 was Madden 99. Both the Sega Saturn and Ultra Nintendo versions were great, but we preferred the smoother graphics and expanded modes of the Ultra Nintendo version, which introduced some of the series' most robust roster editing options.

Gary Westhouse: And at number 22 was another SNES-CD game, Sphere Soldier. This tricky but lovely game may have taken its time coming to the West, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Lyssa: And at number 21, Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted! One of the funniest games of the year, both for its silly main storyline and its multiplayer mode which gave us all sorts of funny little diversions including the many hours we spent killing Hitler.

Ted: At number 20 comes Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil. While not as big and epic as the original games, Turok 2 was still a thrill with its huge selection of weapons and its shiny new multiplayer option.

Brittany: Number 19 was Tale Lemuria. Another sequel that didn't quite live up to the original, it was still a huge quest through an epic world, filled with memorable characters and challenging gameplay.

Alex: Gran Turismo comes in at number 18. Maybe the most realistic racing game ever, we loved Gran Turismo for its lifelike graphics and huge selection of cars.

Adrian: The werewolf hunting action game Shadows of the Moon takes 17th place on our list. This creepy hunt through a huge city for terrifying werewolves featured some of the best combat we've ever seen in a 2-D platformer.

Lyssa: And number 16 was Virtua Fighter 3! Sega's hit fighting game series once again broke new ground for graphical innovation and added a slick new dodge button to expand the strategy.

Gary: Our number 15 game of the year was Ultra World of Color. Maybe the best four player puzzle game ever, we spent countless hours matching colors and dropping blocks in this Ultra Nintendo puzzle sensation.

Brittany: Our number 14, Resident Evil 2, introduced us to Claire and Leon as they fought to stay alive in a city overrun.

Ted: And our number 13 pick, The Dreamers, touched our hearts with the epic story of a boy questing to find his missing little sister.

Gary: The little handheld that could, the Game Boy Color, gave us our 12th favorite game of the year with The Legend Of Zelda: The Mystic Mirror, which introduced the very first Hero of Hyrule as he fought to save the three beautiful goddesses.

Alex: And finally at number 11, Radiant Silvergun, Treasure's very challenging but brilliantly made shooter. We gave it a perfect score and we're still playing it today, as frustrating as it is.

Ted: And now we're down to our top 10. When we get back from the commercial break, we'll start counting down the ten best games of the year!

(…)

Ted: And we're back, and we're ready to reveal our GameTV Top Ten Games of 1998! This was an incredible year, and it was incredibly tough narrowing it down to just ten games, but in the end, these are the games we could all agree were some of the year's very best.

Brittany: At number ten, Panzer Dragoon Saga. The skyfaring series entered the RPG realm for the first time, and we're hoping it returns.

Alex: This epic quest spanned four discs, with some of the best graphics ever seen on the Saturn. The innovative battle system required both daring and cunning, and kept us coming back for more.

Gary: In Panzer Dragoon Saga, the shooting and RPG genres perfectly mixed to create a brilliant RPG epic for the ages.

Adrian: Our number nine game of the year was Ballistic Limit 2. Ash Beckland and his crew returned with some new recruits, and not all of them were as they seemed.

Ted: The run and gun gameplay of the original translated perfectly to 3-D, while the Ballistic System came back better than ever.

Brittany: This game was full of huge bosses that required every bit of effort and strategy from the player and showed off just what the Ultra Nintendo could do.

Lyssa: And the top notch voice acting gave this sci-fi thriller a Hollywood feel!

Ted: Speaking of top notch voice acting, Fairytale, our number 8 game of the year, was a treat for both our ears and our eyes, with some of the year's best music.

Brittany: Square's RPG of fairies and humans both awed us with its beauty and chilled us to the bone with some of the darkest and most horrifying creatures ever featured in a video game.

Gary: Yeah, this game wasn't for the faint of heart, but those who endured were rewarded with a magical quest.

Alex: And another magical quest made it to seventh place on our list. Spare Parts showcased the power of Saturn's new Ring with huge, open areas and gorgeous animation.

Lyssa: The game featured a quest both whimsical and melancholy as you played two robots who explored the Earth after the fall of humanity.

Ted: The game's story was littered with twists and turns, and the surprising last few areas are not to be missed.

Adrian: Spare Parts lived up to the legacy of its creators, the team behind the hit Saturn game Nights, and this game was just as fun and beautiful.

Ted: Coming in sixth place was one of the best arcade fighting games ever, which got a perfect port on the Saturn in the form of Tekken 3.

Adrian: Filled with tons of characters and featuring some of the best fighting action around, Tekken 3 blew us all away and showed why the Saturn is the system to get if you've gotta have the best fighting games.

Brittany: The graphics and fighting mechanics were a quantum leap over previous Tekken titles, and the game's storyline, while a bit convoluted, still showcased this game's cast, giving them real personality and motivation.

Alex: All right, it's time to reveal our top five, and I've gotta tell you, each and every one of these games can safely be considered among the best games of all time.

Gary: Yeah, and we're starting with our number five title on the list, Parasite Eve.

Ted: Holy crap, was this game scary. And it was scary in large part because Square pulled out the full potential of the Ultra Nintendo, producing incredible cutscenes that hammered home the horror of Aya Brea's mission.

Brittany: Meanwhile, the battle system was incredibly fun, meaning fights were rarely repetitive and keeping your eyes on the enemy was of crucial importance.

Alex: Parasite Eve showed that Squaresoft is brilliant at making both great RPGs and cutting edge technical masterpieces, of which this game is definitely one.

Lyssa: Well, number four is another technical showcase for the Ultra Nintendo. This time, it's Killer Instinct Ultra!

Ted: Yeah, we all liked the first game but didn't really LOVE it...that didn't happen with Ultra.

Adrian: The game was full of ULTRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA combos that looked great and were a hell of a lot of fun to pull off.

Lyssa: *laughing* And there were plenty of characters on the roster so just about everybody could pick someone they really identified with!

Brittany: The exciting new single player mode was plenty of fun, but what was really fun about this game was picking up a controller and fighting your friends.

Alex: We've certainly done a lot of that on the Ultra!

Ted: Hey, we gotta take another break. But when we come back, we're revealing our top three games of the year!

(…)

Ted: And we're back, and now, we're counting down the year's top three video games. Two of these games were on the Ultra Nintendo, while one of them, the one we're about to reveal, was on the Saturn.

Brittany: Yeah, and that game is Shenmue. While not a graphical masterpiece, the game's huge open world runs circles around games like Race'n'Chase in featuring lots of stuff to do. Literally, you lived your whole life in this game!

Adrian: Go to work, go to school, punch bad guy face...

Gary: You could even date girls in the game and it had a direct impact on the final missions.

Ted: Pretty much everything you do in Shenmue has a direct impact, which is what makes this game so innovative and fun.

Alex: Even on four discs, Shenmue's one of the most impressive technical feats we've ever seen from a game. To pack a living, breathing city into just four discs is truly amazing and a real demonstration of the Ring's capabilities. We all had trouble pulling ourselves out of the world of Shenmue, and it easily got a perfect score when we reviewed it.

Gary: And speaking of a game we had trouble pulling ourselves away from, Goldeneye 007 was one of those games that sucked us in and never let us go. We spent weeks playing the multiplayer deathmatch mode, and can you blame us? It's one of the most well put together multiplayer modes in video game history.

Brittany: Hey, aren't movie games supposed to suck?

Ted: Well, this one came out nearly three years after the movie, and it just goes to show that with time, you can accomplish great things.

Alex: Getting to retrace James Bond's steps was fun enough, but yeah, it was the multiplayer that REALLY hooked us. Whether you were running around slapping your opponents silly or blowing them away with the Golden Gun, Goldeneye's multiplayer mode kept us coming back for more, and more, and more...

Ted: And now for the year's #1 game, and...well, you probably already know what it is.

Lyssa: We thought about holding back to build up some suspense, but come on, guys! Everybody knows our #1 game of the year was Rugrats: A Baby's Gotta Do What A Baby's Gotta Do! You could be Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, or Lil...or you could be everybody's favoritest person in the whole wide world...Angelica! And that's why Rugrats was our #1 game of 1998...you dumb babies!

Alex: Yeah, okay, you guys are REALLY dumb if you honestly believed it was anything else but The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time as our #1 game of the year. What more can we say that hasn't already been said by pretty much everyone who's played it? The massive expanse of Hyrule across two periods of time. The challenging dungeons. The epic music.

Brittany: There's really nothing like riding your faithful horse Epona across Hyrule Field in mid day, enjoying the sights and sounds of the beautiful countryside.

Adrian: Or finally getting that tricky solution to a tough puzzle to open up the way to the boss in one of the game's dungeons.

Gary: Or BEATING that boss and seeing them fall and disintegrate into puffs of smoke.

Ted: Or seeing Link and Zelda cross paths once again, the two fated heroes of time.

Lyssa: Yeah, all joking aside, all six of us chose Temple of Time as our unanimous Game of the Year choice. It wasn't even a debate!

Alex: Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, Koji Kondo, and everyone at Nintendo who worked on this game have succeeded in creating a masterpiece for the ages, and a game worthy of not only being called our best of the year, but maybe the greatest video game of all time.

Ted: And that's our show.... *cough*Sonic3*cough* but join us next week when we'll take a look at some of the very first games of 1999!

-excerpted from the January 5, 1999 episode of GameTV

-

1998 might have been all about the games, but some megaton announcement bombs got dropped on gamers' heads this year as well. Here are the top ten stories in video games from the past year.

#10: SNES-CD Rides Into The Sunset

This was probably the final year to see any major SNES-CD titles (okay, a Pokemon game is coming), but with some great RPGs and The Three Caballeros, the old peripheral got a nice little sendoff.

#9: Arbiter Of Controversy

The mega-violent and somewhat irreverent Arbiter of Sin had conservatives and the media up in arms, which, as these things usually do, only served to drive more sales for the contentious FPS.

#8: Cinematic Gaming

From Parasite Eve to Shenmue, games approached movie-like storylines more than ever, bringing them ever closer to emulating the silver screen.

#7: Sonic 5 Is Coming

It was somewhat expected, but the announcement of Sonic the Hedgehog 5, a fully 3-D platformer, made huge waves at E3 and brought renewed interest in the Saturn in the wake of Nintendo's huge year.

#6: All Zelda, All The Time

From two massive games to a new hit animated series, The Legend of Zelda has never had a better year, and for the second time in four years, is claiming the title of the year's best game.

#5: A Supernova Announcement

When Nintendo revealed the Game Boy Nova at Spaceworld earlier this year, it surprised some, but to others it was a long time coming. It's still a long ways off from North America but should debut in Japan by the end of the year.

#4: Saturn Gets Its Ring

Like the Mega Charger back in 1994, the Ring is a boost for its home console, and in the Saturn's case, a sorely needed one. Sales spiked on its release, though only time will tell if it can give the Saturn a fighting chance against Nintendo's surging Ultra.

#3: Rare-ified Air

Perhaps the only entity to have a better year than Zelda was the British game company Rare. With three of the year's biggest hits (Goldeneye 007, The Dreamers, Killer Instinct Ultra) the company is proving to be Nintendo's biggest weapon in the console wars and maybe the best software company in the industry.

#2: Sega Acquires Bandai

When Sega snapped up Bandai toward the beginning of last year, it was one of the biggest corporate acquisitions in Japanese history and gives Sega access to a huge library of lucrative intellectual property as well as one of the most prolific toymakers in the world.

#1: Pokemania

Simply put, it was the Year of Pokemon. The collectable monster craze that's been sweeping Japan for the past two years finally made it over to the States, and now it's everywhere. Games, a TV show, toys, a soon to be card game... Pokemon fever is now a global pandemic, with no signs of letting up anytime soon.

-excerpted from the March 1999 issue of Next Generation Magazine

-

Game Watch

Ultra Nintendo:

Beetle Adventure Racing- Winter '99
The Curse Of Monkey Island- Winter '99
Dead Midnight- Winter '99
Metal Gear Solid- Winter '99
Need For Speed: High Stakes- Winter '99
Prince Of Persia: The Jade Queen- Winter '99
Shadow Man- Winter '99
Tomb Raider III- Winter '99
Ultra Deadman Sam- Winter '99
Ultra Harvest Moon- Winter '99
Ultra Phineas And Ferb- Winter '99
Ultra SimCity- Winter '99
Ultra Valis: Knight Of Light- Winter '99
Ultra World Championship Boxing- Winter '99
Andrekah: Witches Brew- Spring '99
Ape Escape- Spring '99
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes- Spring '99
Crash Bandicoot 2- Spring '99
Cyringe- Spring '99
The Darkest Night- Spring '99
Dino Crisis- Spring '99
Doom: Inferno- Spring '99
Drakkhen II- Spring '99
Duke Nukem Forever- Spring '99
F-Zero: Ultracharged- Spring '99
Grim Fandango- Spring '99
Hybrid Heaven- Spring '99
Rock- Spring '99
R-Type Delta- Spring '99
Sailor Moon: Another Story Retold- Spring '99
South Park- Spring '99
Star Wars: Episode I Racer- Spring '99
Super Smash Bros.- Spring '99
Supercar World Circuit- Spring '99
Ultra Klepto- Spring '99
Ultra Triple Play- Spring '99
Vanguard Bandits- Spring '99
WCW Nitro- Spring '99
Weyricht- Spring '99
You Don't Know Jack- Spring '99
Candyworld- Summer '99
Dog Dash 3- Summer '99
Gauntlet Legends- Summer '99
Gex 3- Summer '99
Hakendo- Summer '99
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete- Summer '99
Mario Golf- Summer '99
Mega Man Zero- Summer '99
NBA Showtime: NBA On NBC- Summer '99
Operation Zero 2- Summer '99
Outfoxed- Summer '99
Pokemon Safari- Summer '99
Primrose Soldier- Summer '99
Rise A Knight- Summer '99
Soulqueen 2: The Beyond- Summer '99
Starcraft- Summer '99
Tom Clancy's Secret War- Summer '99
Twisted Metal 3- Summer '99
Ultra Bust-A-Move- Summer '99
Ultra Populous- Summer '99
Warcraft- Summer '99
Welcome To Magicka- Summer '99
X: Tactics- Summer '99
Dragonball Z- Fall '99
Emergency- Fall '99
Extreme Go-Karting 2- Fall '99
Final Fantasy VIII- Fall '99
Fire Emblem- Fall '99
Half-Life- Fall '99
Squad Four 3- Fall '99
Starblade- Fall '99
Ultra Donkey Kong Country- Fall '99
Ultra Kirby- Fall '99
Ultra Trapmine- Fall '99
Umjammer Lammy- Fall '99

-as shown in the January 1999 issue of Nintendo Power

-

While Sonic the Hedgehog 5 might be the elephant in the room when it comes to the Sega Saturn's lineup for this year, the Saturn has plenty more games to make players' mouths water, and here are a few of the year's biggest upcoming hits.

Needless to say, fighting game fans won't be disappointed next year. Soul Calibur is coming this summer and looks to be one of the most anticipated arcade ports of all time, but Raigeki II is another port that should prove to be among the year's best fighting games as well. In 1997, Raigeki was a surprise hit, and the sequel improves significantly on the original, with graphical upgrades and an even bigger cast of zany characters. Duelists: Swift Strike is also generating some buzz by promising story-focused gameplay, where the outcomes of single player fights aren't necessarily pre-determined, and losing a fight could set you on an entirely different path.

Horror game fans are also going to have plenty to love next year. Konami's highly anticipated Silent Hill is coming to the Saturn, and Resident Evil: Code Veronica will be a Saturn exclusive. There's also Imprisoned, where you choose one of five characters and then you'll have to escape the lair of a sadistic madman while choosing which of your fellow prisoners to bring along with you.

The Saturn will be boasting a strong lineup of action platformers. Tick And Tock Too and Troublemakers 2 join Sonic 5 as some of the most anticipated sequels of next year, but don't sleep on Zodiac World, which has sold extremely well in Japan and will be landing on the Saturn in January. In Zodiac World, you must explore a huge series of levels, gathering the 12 mystical Zodiac Stones to defeat an ancient evil. And then there's Earthworm Jim, making his long anticipated return in what looks to be one of the year's funniest quests.

While the Ultra Nintendo may boast some of the most talked about RPG franchises, the Saturn will be seeing some excellent RPGs next year, including ActRaiser Valkyrie and Virtua Quest 2. There's also Agni Solemn, and for those who like to rock it old school, a compilation of Dragon Quest IV-VI will be appearing on the Saturn sometime next year as well.

We're expecting a new entry in the Commander Keen series next year, with more details coming at E3. Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver looks to be one of the year's best sequels, and we've heard great things about a game called NYPD: Narcotics Squad, which puts you in the shoes of a beat cop who has to train a young rookie while busting one of the most vicious drug lords in the city. Finally, we'll see if Virtua Racing Reality can match up with Gran Turismo and show off the best of what the Ring can do.

The Saturn may be down, but it's certainly not out, and with some of the year's potentially best exclusives, there's plenty of reason to believe that Sega can roar back with its best year ever.

-from the editorial to the January 1999 issue of Official Saturn Magazine, with a cover story previewing Saturn's biggest upcoming games of the year

-

Interactive Entertainment Awards 1998:

Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Console Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Computer Game Of The Year: Half-Life
Action Game Of The Year: Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted
Adventure Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Family Game Of The Year: Ultra World Of Color
Massively Multiplayer Game Of The Year: Ultima Online: Ages of Britannia
Racing Game Of The Year: Gran Turismo
Role Playing Game Of The Year: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Shooter Game Of The Year: Half-Life
Strategy/Simulation Game Of The Year: Gran Turismo(Simulation), Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri(Strategy)
Sports Game Of The Year: Madden 99
Fighting Game Of The Year: Killer Instinct Ultra
Outstanding Art Direction: Fairytale
Outstanding Vocal Performance: Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye 007(Male), Kath Soucie as Commander Keen/Billy Blaze in Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted (Female)
Outstanding Animation: Parasite Eve
Outstanding Game Design: The Legend Of Zelda: Temple Of Time
Outstanding Gameplay Engineering: Shenmue
Outstanding Online Gameplay: Ultima Online: Ages of Britannia
Outstanding Sound Design: Goldeneye 007
Outstanding Story: Shenmue
Outstanding Visual Engineering: The Dreamers

(The list of OTL's winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academ...s_%26_Sciences)

-

“1998 remains in the eyes of many gamers the greatest year in the history of the industry, and the lion's share of that year's great games were on the Ultra Nintendo. While the Saturn certainly had a strong year, perhaps its best year yet from a quality perspective with hits like Tekken 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Spare Parts, Shenmue, Virtua Fighter 3, and Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, the system's sales declined steadily throughout the year in the face of the juggernaut that was the Ultra Nintendo. Despite continued supply shortages, the Ultra Nintendo's 1998 saw more units sold than any other system ever had in a single year before. A list of the Ultra Nintendo's 1998 hits reads like a who's who of the greatest games of all time: Gran Turismo. Parasite Eve. Ballistic Limit 2. Goldeneye 007. Killer Instinct Ultra. Fairytale. And of course, The Legend Of Zelda: Temple of Time, which is still considered by many to be the greatest video game ever made. While the launch of the Ring provided a small sales spike for the Saturn, it was quickly overwhelmed by Nintendo's massive holiday sales, and the company, which had trailed Sega as recently as 15 months before, now had its biggest lead in market share since 1992. Meanwhile, the PC gaming train chugged right along, its advocates largely unaffected by the continuing console wars, too busy enjoying classic games like Half-Life, Starcraft, Grim Fandango, and River Guardian to care. Bill Gates and Microsoft's Windows platform still cornered the market on some truly excellent PC games, and as the hits continued to fill CD trays throughout the world, the Microsoft mogul, who at the time was fighting in court for the future of his company, would only grow more and more tempted to jump into the home console fight, especially if Sega continued to show signs of weakness. Of course, the biggest ace in Nintendo's hand might not even have been its Ultra Nintendo, but instead, its 150 Pokemon now being hunted for on Game Boys and Game Boy Colors across the globe. Pokemon had finally left Japan to seek its fortune in North America and Europe, and the gaming landscape would never be the same. That year's Spaceworld saw the announcement of a new Pokemon game and even a brand new handheld, a joint venture from Nintendo and Sony called the Nova, that would launch in Japan the very next year and show just how powerful a tiny little handheld gaming device could be. For the time being, Nintendo reigned supreme. And while the world's richest man began peering in from the shadows, Sega had to think very long and hard about its next move... and about a new way to challenge Nintendo and Sony's technological superiority.”

-”The History Of Console Gaming: Year-By-Year (Part 7)”, Wired.com, June 26, 2012

 

[Ingwaz92]

Peter Molyneux Working On Top-Secret Game Set To Be Released By The End Of The Year

I'm assuming it will be incredibly disappointing. With Molyneux, ALWAYS assume it can't deliver everything. That's a multiversal constant.

One of the year's most highly anticipated games is Ken Levine and Irrational Games' Junction Point [...] Final Fantasy VIII.

I C wot U did thar.

 

[Golden Darkness]

I see Super Smash Bros. was already confirmed for a release outside Japan. OTL, there was no news on an American release until after the game was out in Japan.

Duke Nukem Forever listed for Spring '99? Will it actually not take forever to get released?

StarCraft and WarCraft? StarCraft I'm assuming it's the original game and Brood War. But WarCraft? It's too early for 3, so is it an enhanced version of the first two games/expansion pack, or is it the ill fated adventure game featuring Thrall?

There's Star Wars Episode I Racer as in OTL, but where's Factor 5's Rogue Squadron?

Half Life for Ultra... I'm assuming this is a Gearbox port like OTL?

And another Prince of Persia game? Is this one going to be tied to the first two games, or not? Or is it going to be a reboot? Is it this timeline's attempt to shift to 3D?

So... I guess anything with 3Dfx is not going to be mentioned for now?

Oh... something I should have asked earlier, but is Taito going to bring Bubble Symphony and Bubble Memories?

 

[RySenkari]

I'll try to answer the latest questions as best I can sometime tomorrow, for now here's the list of 1998's original franchise games!

-

SNES-CD:


World Championship Boxing '98- A slightly updated sequel to the previous game, with a bit more complex engine and more editing options. It's a bit better received than the previous WCB game but doesn't sell as well.


Hacker Jack 2- Jack returns in this puzzle/platforming sequel that puts a heavy emphasis on the puzzles. It's known as a decent action game and the puzzles are quite challenging.


Flame Squad 2- A sequel to the hit game from 1996, this title sees the squad and their flamethrowers infiltrating an enemy nation and fighting lots of giant robots. It's really cheesy and out there but the game is considered fun and one of the last really good games on the SNES-CD.


Coney Island Kid- A standard action platformer about a kid who has to navigate the Coney Island theme park while it's being overrun with monsters and baddies. It features fun and colorful graphics but mediocre to poor gameplay.


Star Of Light- A fairly generic RPG featuring outdated graphics, about a group of heroes who must make their way to a star in the sky made of pure magical enemy. The excellent soundtrack makes it a cult hit.


Accelerati: A strange and difficult puzzle game that features arcane rules and very fast moving pieces. Not very well received.


Rapido!: A fast-paced action platformer with lots of projectile weapons. A bit on the short side but considered a decent game.


Matsuki Zanna: A visual novel/adventure game that appeared in Japan in 1996, the game stars a schoolgirl named Matsuki who has to recruit her fellow classmates to go into dungeons and on adventures with her. A VERY quirky game that doesn't sell well but is remembered as a good game.


Sphere Soldier: An action/shooter game featuring very colorful and rapidly moving graphics, another Japanese export that's reminiscent of games like Gunstar Heroes. It has anime cutscenes, big bosses, and some low quality voice acting and is remembered as one of the year's best games.


Jack: The Dark Mercenary: A first-person shooter about a character named Jack tasked with hunting down and killing people. It's really dark, both graphically and on a storyline basis and is seen as being a really edgy ripoff of Doom. It doesn't do well.


Cardarc: An isometric adventure game about a hero who is seeking to gain power and protect his kingdom. It has an interesting soundtrack but the gameplay itself is fairly confusing and dull.


Hoppity Rabbit: A fairly simple action platformer about a rabbit who collects carrots. The game has a heavy Easter motif. It doesn't do well.


Digman: A game where you have to dig deeper and deeper tunnels, avoiding enemies and collecting power-ups along the way. The gameplay is simple but the game is pretty fun to play.


Winged Wonder: A game about a butterfly character who flies around stages doing complex tricks (that you can score points for). The graphics and sound are quite good and the game itself is considered quite fun, one of the better received action platformers on the SNES-CD of the year.


Extreme Go-Karting: A really fast-paced realistic go karting game where you race on a variety of tracks with very fast go karts. It's a decent, if very hard game, and the last racing game released on the SNES-CD. It's not beloved like Mario Kart but it has a decent amount of fans.



-


Ultra Nintendo:



Ballistic Limit 2: This sequel to Ballistic Limit features fully 3-D characters and environments and retains the first game’s FPS/third-person shooter hybrid system as Ash Beckland, Danny, Sara, and several new characters launch a new mission to a planet said to harbor an alien virus that threatens the recolonization of Earth. In search of the virus, the crew finds that they may have bitten off more than they can chew. This is positioned as one of the year’s biggest releases and performs extremely well, a hit just like the first game.


Strange Seed: The Tree Of Life: From Telenet Japan, this is a hybrid sci-fi/fantasy RPG that features the characters from the original game searching the galaxy for a tree said to bring prosperity to those who find it. It’s a decent RPG, though it doesn’t perform as well as Tale Lemuria.


Twinblade III: This game brings the hit arcade series into the third dimension with excellent graphics and a big cast of characters. While it’s considered a good fighting game, it’s compared unfavorably to the Saturn hit Tekken 3.


Jewels Of The Realm 3: This third game in the series brings back the kids from the first two games on another adventure, this time they are trying to help a king and queen (who later become their adoptive parents). The series retains its 2-D platforming roots but with 3-D graphics, it’s considered better than the second game but not quite as good as the first (it’s the easiest of the three thus far).


Mysteria 2: The Four Princesses: This RPG sequel from some former Game Arts staffers takes place across four great realms ruled by four benevolent (mostly) princesses who must be visited by the heroes in order to unite them and save the world. It’s considered a somewhat generic but still quality RPG.


Ultra World Of Color: This brings the Game Boy Color puzzle hit to the Ultra Nintendo. It’s a super addictive puzzle game with a great single player mode and is also considered one of the best four player games on the system, making it a major hit and a huge seller.


Major Hazard: Blitzkrieg: Major Hazard makes the jump to the Ultra and while it’s not a bad game, it is considered somewhat of a disappointment, with inferior gameplay to the first two games in the series.


Road Storm: Burning Rubber: This game brings back most of the characters from the original Road Storm, adds a few new ones, and sends them on a cross-country race with much better graphics than the original game. Big things are expected of the game, and it too disappoints, though it gets decent reviews regardless.


Logjam 2: This game tries to capitalize on the original Logjam, making it into a 3-D style platformer. The transition isn’t received well and the game is poorly reviewed.


Ultra Monster Wars: This RTS game brings the Monster Wars series to the Ultra Nintendo, featuring a slightly smaller cast of monsters but bumping up the presentation big time. Reviews are pretty good and sales are what Koei expect.


Fatal Strike: Golden Fist: Notukaga returns in this 3-D brawler, exploring a series of towns and realms to chase down the evil warrior Shamballa. It’s a decently received game though it doesn’t quite match up to the cult classic appeal of the first two.


Dragon’s Destiny III: This game is a 3-D installment of the dragon dueling series Dragon’s Destiny, with a four player multiplayer option. The game is ugly and glitch and it tries to imitate Panzer Dragoon fairly poorly.


Brave Fencer Kyuriadan: This game is the TTL equivalent of Brave Fencer Musashi, though it stars Kyuridan instead and has a mostly different plot (though Princess Fillet shows up as a love interest). It gets good reviews, becomes a cult classic, and is a decent seller for Squaresoft.


Chifighters II: This 3-D sequel to Chifighters builds on the first game by adding more characters and some spectacular attacks, making it one of the Ultra’s best received fighting games of the year.


Bikerz 3: Appearing on the Saturn and the Ultra, this takes the kid friendly bike gang series into the fifth generation. Reviews are mediocre but the series is popular with kids and so this gets good sales.


Urban Raiders: An action/shooter game about a group of young adventurers in a post-apocalyptic setting who raid old destroyed cities for treasure and must battle monsters and other raiders in the process. The characters and storyline are quite fun and the graphics receive a lot of praise, making this a fairly popular game.


Metal Clash: A Nintendo original franchise that’s sort of a hybrid between OTL Custom Robo and Battlebots, the game involves putting mechanical parts together to build your own combat robot, Battlebots-style. The game is very colorful, stylized, and fantastical and has a robust single player mode and multiplayer arena combat as well. Made at a time before robot combat caught on in the mainstream, this game gives Battlebots a popularity boost, enabling it to last for several more seasons.


Fairytale: A Squaresoft RPG about a fantastical world of fairies and other mystical creatures who come into contact with an encroaching human civilization and must unite with the humans to stop a threat to both of them. The game is very light-hearted at times but it also has some dark moments, it features a soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda and is rather traditional in its gameplay, though combat relies more on magic spells than on physical weaponry. It’s probably Squaresoft’s #2 most hyped game of the year behind Parasite Eve and its first major Ultra Nintendo RPG after Final Fantasy VII. It sells and reviews extremely well.


God Bless The Ring: This is Ehrgeiz essentially, but stripped of Final Fantasy VII characters (replaced with more original characters) and its dungeon mode (which is expanded in another entirely separate game), and given a more robust storyline. It isn’t as highly praised as Bushido Blade but the dark sci-fi motif does win some fans over.


Deepground: This is the dungeon mode of OTL Ehrgeiz, but greatly expanded with a much larger dungeon and more characters and storyline. It’s known as one of Square’s lesser action RPGs, reviews are mediocre to above average.


Bulbix: The Forest Adventure: This is a 3-D platforming/collection game, one of the many developed in Mario Dimensions’ wake, about a plant hero named Bulbix (an onion who walks around on vine legs). Despite the game’s silly motif it’s considered one of the better 3-D platformers of the year.


Construct-It: A game about a construction crew assigned to various empty lots who has to construct different kinds of structures while dealing with hazards and mishaps along the way. The characters are fairly silly and the game is actually quite fun, especially with a free construct mode that expands as you beat more of the main game.


Ultra Spinout: A racing game somewhat less realistic than Gran Turismo, with an emphasis on destruction and insane tricks. Fairly well received among those who like arcade-style racers, also has a pretty good musical soundtrack.


DynaMomo!: A quirky Japanese action/puzzle game involving a cute little blob character named Momo who has to clear different stages by the player clearing puzzle blocks. It’s got an interesting artstyle but the game itself is mediocre at best.


Dust To Dust: A spooky RPG about the denizens of the dead returning to try and overrun Earth, who can only be stopped by a group of slayers specifically trained to take them down. It’s a rather generic RPG in terms of gameplay, the horror motif makes it interesting but it’s unfavorably compared to the other RPGs that year and isn’t a big seller.


The Nest: A third-person horror shooter that’s somewhat of a Resident Evil imitator, with a bit more action. It involves the main character discovering a house of horrors where weird experiments are taking place. It’s considered mediocre in most aspects and isn’t nearly as good as the games that inspired it.


Sunshine Schoolgirl: A very obscure, very weird visual novel anime game about a girls’ school council that has an iron grip over a school and the player’s character must infiltrate them and make as many friends as possible, all the while trying to find romance. While very popular in Japan, the game itself gets only mediocre reviews here and very poor sales.


Shadows Of The Moon: A 2-D adventure game starring a female werewolf hunter in a big city. The game heavily emphasizes action but also has lots of puzzle and exploration elements, as well as a highly complex storyline. The game is a big hit and the main character becomes almost as popular as Lara Croft.


Phasewar: A space shooting game that features a lot of 3-D combat, it’s sort of a three-dimensional Gradius/Axelay type game with lots of bullet hell elements and branching pathways, as well as huge bosses. There’s a huge debate over whether this game or Einhander is better, the general consensus is Einhander but only just barely, and this game ends up selling better (at least in the West)


Quixsters: A game about a group of four kids who explore various 3-D worlds, battling enemies and collecting treasure. Of all the Super Mario Dimensions-style 3-D platformers to be released in 1998, this one is considered the best, with excellent graphics, excellent music, huge worlds and fun characters, it sells extremely well and is hyped up long before release.


Laser Tag: The Arena: An FPS laser tag video game, meant to capitalize on the popularity of the actual game. It’s a pretty poor game and real life laser tag is considered a lot more fun.


Armed And Dangerous: A game about a pair of badass soldiers who happen to be named Hank Armed and Jack Dangerous. It’s a Contra-styled game, but in 3-D, with big levels to roam around in and lots of buildings to enter and battle soldiers in. The tongue-in-cheek humor is pretty well received and the game itself, while not revolutionary, is still fun enough to score decent reviews.


Aquaria: A Sony original RPG that takes place in an underwater world, in big domes where the human population lives, as they combat a threat that puts their homes in jeopardy. It’s somewhat like Legend Of Dragoon in graphical style, but isn’t nearly as well received as that game was IOTL (essentially, if Legend Of Dragoon is made ITTL, this game would be considered a “trial run” for it). Decent reviews, all right sales, but nothing special.


Danger Danger!: A VERY fast-paced and colorful four player puzzle game involving a large arena where players must compete to gain territory by matching colored stones and using items. It also has a single player mode but this is mostly considered a multiplayer game. Probably the second best Ultra Nintendo puzzle game of the year behind Ultra World Of Color.


Cave Crew: The Stoneland Chronicles: A really generic 3-D platformer starring a group of cavemen. The graphics are rather poor and the combat is really not fun (enemies take a LOT of hits to kill, even weak ones). One of the poorer action games of the year.


Lost And Found: A 2-D adventure game where the main character explores a series of dungeons, finding colorful artifacts while dodging enemies and solving puzzles. A fairly straightforward game but considered somewhat of a cult hit.


Star Angels: A colorful anime-styled fighting game starring magical girls, which became a major hit in Japan. Think OTL’s Skullgirls but with higher production values (at least for the time). It’s a 3-D fighting game but with 2-D-esque movement and a really quirky original soundtrack, it’s very well reviewed but sales are mediocre.


Bonecrusher: A really violent 3-D fighting game with fierce creatures dueling it out. It’s fairly generic in terms of gameplay and reviews are decent at best, but with lots of advertising and hype it’s still a pretty high selling game.


Breaker Ride: A watersports racing game, sort of like Wave Race but focusing on racing rather than stunts. Graphically beautiful but quite challenging, the game gets decent reviews but isn’t as polished in terms of gameplay as Wave Race.


Rumor: A 2-D platformer/collecting game starring a boy named Rumor who journeys through a mysterious land. The gameplay is fairly generic but the graphics and characters are quite creative and the game does have some degree of charm.


Despair: The Seven: An RPG about a young man who must acquire runes to defeat dark lords that are the embodiment of the seven sins. It’s an action RPG and the graphics and gameplay are somewhat average, sales are pretty low due to the dark source material.


Strike Team: A 3D beat-em-up game about a group of special operations police officers who hunt down criminals. The plot of the game involves the team infiltrating and taking out a gang. The combat is somewhat repetitive and the storyline is fairly predictable. The game gets a mediocre critical reception but it does get a good deal of pre-release hype.


Serratopia: A fast paced 2-D platformer with a focus on combat and three protagonists, two boys and one girl, that players switch between over the course of the story as the three of them explore seven different worlds and more than 40 levels. Praised for its graphics and storyline, it’s released the same month as Yoshi’s Story and is significantly better received, providing the challenge and level variety that Yoshi’s Story lacked.


Critical Incident: An FPS taking place in a huge lab after a science experiment leads to mutated beasts taking over a facility. Compared somewhat to Half-Life on the PC, but the comparisons are mostly unfavorable. Sells decently well because of pre-release hype but is considered a disappointment compared to games like Goldeneye 007.


Knights Of The Round Table: A 3-D platformer starring a young knight trying to make it into King Arthur’s round table. Not a collectathon like other 3-D platformers of the time, it’s actually a task-based platformer and has a pretty good combat system, along with decent voice acting. The game is pretty fun and though it’s somewhat kiddy, it does get good reviews and good sales.


Monkey Shines: A 3-D platformer starring a playful monkey. The game is somewhat short and the levels are uninspired and repetitive.


Blue Nexus: A sci-fi themed RPG about a starship crew who gets caught up in a mysterious intergalactic war when their ship is attacked and they are left as the only survivors among thousands of dead. The game is full of plot twists and is indeed quite storyline-heavy, the game is considered among the better RPGs of the year.


Aeroboy: Another Nintendo franchise starter, this game is a combination action/flying game somewhat of a hybrid between Star Fox and NiGHTS. Your character is a boy who is given the ability to fly via the use of various implements (wings, jetpacks, balloons, etc.) and he swoops down to protect civilians and attack enemies, getting stronger through defense (blocking and absorbing enemy attacks charges Aeroboy’s own attacks). Designed by Satoru Iwata, the game takes advantage of the Ultra Nintendo’s graphical capabilities to show beautiful landscapes, while the gameplay itself is very easy to pick up and fun. Gets a very good critical and commercial reception.


-

Saturn:


Nightsyren: A Kenji Eno directed game about two young women who are trapped in a city undergoing a hideous attack from demonic forces. The women must work together to survive. This game is a bit more conventional than some of Eno’s other releases, it plays somewhat like Resident Evil, though there’s a greater emphasis on cooperation between the two characters and it has a complex battle system.


King Crab: A 3-D platformer starring an anthropomorphic crab who must explore a sea-based land in order to defeat bad guys and protect his friends. It’s regarded as one of the year’s best 3-D platformers and the main character becomes a mascot of sorts for Sega.


Hard Charge: A racing game with an emphasis on speed, focused on cars that are a hybrid of NASCAR stock cars and exotic supercars. Somewhat less realistic than Gran Turismo but also a bit more accessible in terms of difficulty, it’s a more “outlaw” alternative to Gran Turismo and becomes a very popular racing game for the Saturn.


Song Of Spring: An anime-styled RPG somewhat like OTL’s Grandia, starring young elves in a forest that’s slowly dying, who must travel the world. A cult classic and a high quality game featuring a beautiful score, full voice acting, and three full discs.


Z-Stomper: A very strange 3-D platformer that plays like a straight-forward action game, there are very few collectibles. It stars a main character with massively oversized feet who hops around stomping on foes and terrain. While it’s a weird game it gets a lot of praise for its unique mood and is regarded a lot like Toejam and Earl back on the Genesis.


Tokyo Detective: Unforgivable Crimes: A noirish detective game that combines stealth, third person shooter gameplay, and detective/visual novel style puzzles and mystery solving as you investigate a series of murders and other unspeakable crimes in a dark version of Tokyo. Another cultish game but reviews are fairly decent.


Hunters Of The Borderlands: A western-themed RPG somewhat like Wild Arms, though the Western themes are a bit more subtle in this one. It’s a unique RPG in that there are very few towns, most of this game is spent hunting, fighting, and exploring and the game is fairly open ended, though there is a definite final boss.


Drillin’: An action/adventure hybrid where you’re an explorer sent into the holes created by gigantic drills that pierce the ground in uncharted lands. As you explore the various drilled dungeons, you collect weapons and treasures while piecing together the game’s puzzling storyline. A generally lighthearted game.


Skylein II: The World Beyond: A sequel to 1995’s original Mega Charger RPG Lords Of Skylein, this game spans three discs and takes place 50 years after the original game with an entirely new cast of playable characters (and maybe one or two old ones).


Angels: An action-RPG exclusive to The Ring, the game stars angelic characters as they battle a threat to their heavenly world. Showcases spectacular graphics and incredible combo moves, it’s considered a far superior game to MagiQuest and possibly on par with Elements Of Mana.


Spare Parts: A 3-D platformer exclusive to the Ring, featuring some excellent graphics and huge worlds, it features young robot children who have to explore giant scrap cities to collect parts and build machines to rebuild society. Considered possibly Saturn’s best game of the year.


The Oceanfarer: A Ring-exclusive game about an ocean exploring pirate captain, known for its incredible water graphics. This game is actually considered a bit of a disappointment, it was supposed to be the Saturn’s answer to the Seven Seas series but ultimately comes across as too dark and too short. Still gets decent reviews.


Cat Attack!: A puzzle/adventure game somewhat like Bomberman where you have to evade lethal but cute cartoon cats. Sort of a precursor to Chu Chu Rocket, though there’s less emphasis on scoring, multiplayer, and fast moves and it’s more of a maze game.


Swordslayer: A side-scrolling action/beat ‘em up about a brutal ninja who’s out for revenge. Somewhat simplistic gameplay but features beautiful graphics and is quite popular for its dark and gritty mood and badass main character.


Brawl Balls: A sports game where teams combine elements of ball sports with vicious combat. Has a heavy emphasis on multiplayer with 4-way matches that can have four players competing at once.


Arbiter Of Sin: A very dark FPS for the Ring, where a gun wielding soldier is given demonic powers to go back to medieval times and wipe out the members of a Templar-like religious order who have been given access to futuristic technology of their own. Features a very popular multiplayer mode and is extremely controversial but also extremely well received critically and sells very well.


Prismaclash: A 2-D fighting game focusing on beautiful, anime-styled women and cute bishounen men. Very colorful with lots of combos, it plays extremely well though it doesn’t sell quite as well as other fighting games because of its niche appeal.


Air Warriors: A Top Gun-styled Ring exclusive aerial combat game. It’s prettier than Ace Combat but doesn’t play quite as well, one of the more underwhelming early Ring games, though it sells fairly well.


Adventures Of The Jungle Pals: A 3-D platformer taking place in the jungle, allowing you to pick between five anthropomorphic animal characters each with different abilities. Though not regarded as a great game, it’s very popular among families.

 

[Nivek]

Peter Molyneux Working On Top-Secret Game Set To Be Released By The End Of The Year

I'm assuming it will be incredibly disappointing. With Molyneux, ALWAYS assume it can't deliver everything. That's a multiversal constant.

One of the year's most highly anticipated games is Ken Levine and Irrational Games' Junction Point [...] Final Fantasy VIII.

I C wot U did thar.

Hey at least he tried, fable have his flaws but were enjoyable and other games too, again he needs to promoted the games, still don't belive him till you play it

Jejejeje,well some butterflies and people would see that relationship with the name in the same paragraph, wait ry for more details.

I see Super Smash Bros. was already confirmed for a release outside Japan. OTL, there was no news on an American release until after the game was out in Japan.

Duke Nukem Forever listed for Spring '99? Will it actually not take forever to get released?

StarCraft and WarCraft? StarCraft I'm assuming it's the original game and Brood War. But WarCraft? It's too early for 3, so is it an enhanced version of the first two games/expansion pack, or is it the ill fated adventure game featuring Thrall?

There's Star Wars Episode I Racer as in OTL, but where's Factor 5's Rogue Squadron?

Half Life for Ultra... I'm assuming this is a Gearbox port like OTL?

And another Prince of Persia game? Is this one going to be tied to the first two games, or not? Or is it going to be a reboot? Is it this timeline's attempt to shift to 3D?

So... I guess anything with 3Dfx is not going to be mentioned for now?

Oh... something I should have asked earlier, but is Taito going to bring Bubble Symphony and Bubble Memories?

Well this time the game have a budget and this properly place rather 'sakurai self project become a megahit' and as OTL already ruined the fun, that certain game lacked a cameo characther was completely intentional, again wait for Ry for more details on it.

Depend if they're not Piggyback each other like otl and we keep George Broussard focus rather wanting copy other games But again Who say would come in time?

About other games, Warcraft is first two games and expansion and Starcraft is like otl one, here perfect port even better in ultra. The rest let's way Ry.

About 3DFX...that is a big butterfly, wait how unfold

 

[Pyro]

“And as the anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft continues to make its way through the courts, a lot of Nintendo fans, noting the company's recent dominance, are wondering if it could happen to their beloved gaming company. While Nintendo did draw the government's ire back in the late-80s with its anti-competitive software licensing practices, an anti-trust suit similar to the one Microsoft is currently fighting is unlikely.”
-from an article on IGN.com, posted on January 12, 1999

I'm no legal expert, but would Nintendo/Sony's dominance of the market warrant an anti-trust suit? They no longer use those anti-competitive licensing practices.

“Sega To Begin Layoffs In Wake Of Rough 1998”
-an article on Gamespot.com, March 27, 1999

Something tells me 1999, going into 2000, will be an even rougher year for Sega. Possibly more layoffs.

“1998 remains in the eyes of many gamers the greatest year in the history of the industry, and the lion's share of that year's great games were on the Ultra Nintendo. While the Saturn certainly had a strong year, perhaps its best year yet from a quality perspective with hits like Tekken 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Spare Parts, Shenmue, Virtua Fighter 3, and Commander Keen: Mars' Most Wanted, the system's sales declined steadily throughout the year in the face of the juggernaut that was the Ultra Nintendo. Despite continued supply shortages, the Ultra Nintendo's 1998 saw more units sold than any other system ever had in a single year before. A list of the Ultra Nintendo's 1998 hits reads like a who's who of the greatest games of all time: Gran Turismo. Parasite Eve. Ballistic Limit 2. Goldeneye 007. Killer Instinct Ultra. Fairytale. And of course, The Legend Of Zelda: Temple of Time, which is still considered by many to be the greatest video game ever made. While the launch of the Ring provided a small sales spike for the Saturn, it was quickly overwhelmed by Nintendo's massive holiday sales, and the company, which had trailed Sega as recently as 15 months before, now had its biggest lead in market share since 1992. Meanwhile, the PC gaming train chugged right along, its advocates largely unaffected by the continuing console wars, too busy enjoying classic games like Half-Life, Starcraft, Grim Fandango, and River Guardian to care. Bill Gates and Microsoft's Windows platform still cornered the market on some truly excellent PC games, and as the hits continued to fill CD trays throughout the world, the Microsoft mogul, who at the time was fighting in court for the future of his company, would only grow more and more tempted to jump into the home console fight, especially if Sega continued to show signs of weakness. Of course, the biggest ace in Nintendo's hand might not even have been its Ultra Nintendo, but instead, its 150 Pokemon now being hunted for on Game Boys and Game Boy Colors across the globe. Pokemon had finally left Japan to seek its fortune in North America and Europe, and the gaming landscape would never be the same. That year's Spaceworld saw the announcement of a new Pokemon game and even a brand new handheld, a joint venture from Nintendo and Sony called the Nova, that would launch in Japan the very next year and show just how powerful a tiny little handheld gaming device could be. For the time being, Nintendo reigned supreme. And while the world's richest man began peering in from the shadows, Sega had to think very long and hard about its next move... and about a new way to challenge Nintendo and Sony's technological superiority.”

-”The History Of Console Gaming: Year-By-Year (Part 7)”, Wired.com, June 26, 2012

That does not fill me with much confidence for Sega's future. While I do know that the company as a whole is doing much better than OTL there seems to be little solace for me in that fact. Granted, part of the reason I keep following this TL (other than contribute comic book-y stuff) is the hope that Nintendo and Sony will succumb to victory disease. In some ways, one of my main criticisms of the timeline is they have not been making any noticeable mistakes so far and everything they touch turns to gold. Well, Kid Icarus: Guardian notwithstanding.

I'm guessing that if Nintendo is going to decline ITTL (though not to the degree of OTL), it will have to be a gradual one. With the mention of Pirate Quest, I wonder if the burgeoning online gaming market may be a potential fissure between Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo was a very late adopter OTL and if they decide to take that path TTL, then Sega (and Microsoft) may have an opening to take market share from Nintendo.

 

[Crunch Buttsteak]

Nintendo and online is kind of a complex topic. Nintendo very much had a severe case of "Not Invented Here"-itis with the OTL gamecube.

Hiroshi Yamauchi was actually a very big proponent of getting the consoles online all the way back to the Famicom days. And in Japan, both the Famicom and the N64 had a form of online connectivity with he famicom modem and RANDNet for the N64. (The OTL SFC had a satellite broadcast that it could receive game data from. No idea of nintendo would have still done the Satellaview ITTL).

OTL with the Gamecube, Nintendo actually wanted to have the system online, but at some point, around late 2000 / early 2001, Nintendo quietly did a 180 on online play and let their online plans flounder until they had to suddenly play catch-up by partnering with Gamespy to do NWFC for the DS and Wii.

The ethernet adapter for the Gamecube did get released OTL, but only a handful of games like Mario Kart Double Dash used it for LAN play, and only the Phantasy Star Online games for the GCN were actually over the internet.

As for WHY Nintendo 180'ed on online for the Gamecube, my best guess is that Nintendo has a very conservative and very traditional corporate culture, and with companies like that, any decision the company makes has to be unanimous. If one VP says no, then whatever it is usually gets shelved.

EDIT: based on my research, I would say that Iwata was very much a skeptic of online gaming in the GameCube days.

 

[Nivek]

Nintendo and online is kind of a complex topic. Nintendo very much had a severe case of "Not Invented Here"-itis with the OTL gamecube.

Hiroshi Yamauchi was actually a very big proponent of getting the consoles online all the way back to the Famicom days. And in Japan, both the Famicom and the N64 had a form of online connectivity with he famicom modem and RANDNet for the N64. (The OTL SFC had a satellite broadcast that it could receive game data from. No idea of nintendo would have still done the Satellaview ITTL).

OTL with the Gamecube, Nintendo actually wanted to have the system online, but at some point, around late 2000 / early 2001, Nintendo quietly did a 180 on online play and let their online plans flounder until they had to suddenly play catch-up by partnering with Gamespy to do NWFC for the DS and Wii.

The ethernet adapter for the Gamecube did get released OTL, but only a handful of games like Mario Kart Double Dash used it for LAN play, and only the Phantasy Star Online games for the GCN were actually over the internet.

As for WHY Nintendo 180'ed on online for the Gamecube, my best guess is that Nintendo has a very conservative and very traditional corporate culture, and with companies like that, any decision the company makes has to be unanimous. If one VP says no, then whatever it is usually gets shelved.

I think the reason is more simple rather stubborn and this more the cost of internet specialy after two sound failures in that area and unlike others, were not willingly to loss leading(yamauchi might have, but iwata was not him)

About Satellaview...That still happen ITTL, like otl, allow remix and remake of games, but the advantage of havign a cd-system become a bonus later, when the service closed, Nintendo launched CD version with the satellaview audio of those games(all japan only and all collectors items). So Nintendo is still running Satellaview at this point.

People forgot who was sega parent company and how that shaped why they pushed online so easy(they have the service just need the wilingess to do it and Isao Okawa pushed it hard before he died), and for all internet online fans...looks a sony presentation of 1999-2000 about it, is something explain a lot of it.

 

[Crunch Buttsteak]

I'm kinda mixed about calling RanNET a failure. Technically it was a flop, but it was popular among people who bought a 64DD, which was already a limited audience.

Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but I'd chalk Randnet's failure up to being tied into the flop that was the N64DD

But financially, this Nintendo is a LOT healthier, since they aren't tied up in expensive failures like the Virtual Boy and 64DD, and they don't have the high overhead of cartridge manufacturing like the OTL N64 had.

That meme of Iwata and Minamoto holding a DS and a Wii and saying "IT PRINTS MONEY!" is definitely applicable to TTL Nintendo right now. (and honestly, I could see something like that existing ITTL right now, but with Minamoto and Kutagari holding a UNES and a GBC)

EDIT: Am I right in picturing the TTL GBC looking like it's OTL counterpart, but with the color options of the OTL Game Boy Pocket? The translucent plastic trend would only have just been starting now, and this timeline's GBC would have been too early for that. But the GB Nova would DEFINITELY have been hit by the translucent plastic trend (which, OTL starts with the iMac and starts a trend for consumer electronics starting in 1999 and into the early 2000s.

 

[Pyro]

As for WHY Nintendo 180'ed on online for the Gamecube, my best guess is that Nintendo has a very conservative and very traditional corporate culture, and with companies like that, any decision the company makes has to be unanimous. If one VP says no, then whatever it is usually gets shelved.

That might be one possibility, though the partnership with Sony might change things.

I believe I must apologize somewhat for getting a bit defensive on the subject of Sega, especially with them getting trounced in '98 and Microsoft eyeing the market. This TL has awakened the dormant Sega fanboy within me so my emotions get the better of me, hence the "RARGH! Nintendo must fall!" reaction when I hear about Sega's troubles. It does not change my sentiment that I believe that Nintendo and Sony need to make a miscalculation to make things a bit more believable, in my opinion.

Adding to this sentiment is the Tom Kalinske vignettes, one of the things I love about this timeline (along with Polly Klaas) is how they bring a human element to it. Especially how Tom and Sega are trying so hard but constantly coming up short, especially in 1997-8. I really want them to succeed and expect some sort of payoff. Conversely, Whenever I read the Ken Kutagari, Howard Lincoln, other anyone associated with Nintendo or Sony, they come off as invincible heroes that Sega can't even touch. Though I consciously know that the successes of Goldeneye 007, the Dreamers, Temple of Time, and Pokemon are good things. I find it hard to believe it on a visceral level hence why I keep agitating for a setback. Sega's like Rocky Balboa and the Mighty Ducks from the original film and Nintendo Apollo Creed and the Hawks. That is how I see it as a reader.