This week, I take a look at what could have, would have, and, maybe, should have been. We all know the story of Nintendo’s ill-fated attempt at creating a CD-based add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with Sony. Sony wanted a whole ass-load of money for every single piece of game software that is sold. Nintendo, while negotiating the contract, went behind Sony’s back to try and form a similar deal with Philips. We all know what happened after that, didn’t we? The Sony PlayStation, the Philips CD-i, and the Nintendo 64. In general, we have two wins and a loss… a loss so big it might actually negate the two wins… But let’s take a look at another what if this week. Let’s take a look at what would have happened if Nintendo and Sony were able to reach an agreement to release the ill-fated Nintendo PlayStation. Are you ready? I’m not sure I am… Were Nintendo and Sony capable of coming together to release the Nintendo PlayStation add-on, our first focus would have to be on Sega. Sega, at the time, had been dealing with some pretty tough luck. A failure of a pair of add-ons of their own in the form of the Sega CD and the Sega 32X would have the company financially reeling. If Nintendo did succeed in the CD add-on with Sony, bet on Sega looking into possible legal action against the rolling Nintendo for patented technology. Now, we have no idea how the Nintendo PlayStation would have looked, interfaced, or acted with the SNES. Would it act as a cartridge on the top? Would it latch onto the bottom? Would it connect like the HD-DVD player on the X-Box 360? Either way, I predict Nintendo would have some kind of legal battle on their hand. I mean, let’s face it, these two got along like Batman and The Joker. Who’d win? Well… for the sake of argument, let’s say the judge threw the case out and appeals court failed. Okay? Okay. With Nintendo still on top of its perch, they would have their developer’s attention, presenting brand new 3D graphics, more audio and visual capabilities, and storage options. SquareSoft would proudly announce Final Fantasy VII for the Nintendo PlayStation (which I’m going to shorten up to the NPS), Capcom would announce Mega Man 8, Enix would start talking Dragon Quest VII, Hideo Kojima would be ready to bring Metal Gear out of hibernation, Shigeru Miyamoto’s next masterpiece would begin to take shape, and Rare-developed Donkey Kong Country would come out out of experiment rather than competition. Whether these games would debut for the NPS is up for debate, but… hmm… well… let’s say that Mega Man 8, Metal Gear Solid, the Ocarina of Time, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Quake 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom CD edition, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 1 & 2, Mortal Kombat 3, Killer Instinct 2, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and (for the heck of it) Super Mario World 3 hit the NPS during this time. But the SNES wouldn’t last forever. Yes, the SNES would gain a few extra years on its lifespan thanks to the influx of games and companies who would want to give the new hardware a shot. Time would come and we’d still have to say goodbye to the SNES and, in turn, the NPS. Nintendo, of course, would be ready and willing to get ready for its next system, the Ultra Nintendo Entertainment System. The UNES would be entirely disc-based and have a styling not unlike what would have been the independent Sony Plastation or the soon-to-be-released Sega Saturn while maintaining some of the never-to-see-the-light-of-day Nintendo 64’s features. But, once again, the stars would be the games. Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Doom 3, Goldeneye 007, Majora’s Mask, Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Donkey Kong Country 4, Banjo-Kazooie, Kirby’s Adventure 2: The Crystal Shards, Perfect Dark, Super Mario 64, Mega Man X4, Street Fighter III, and other games would highlight the UNES’s game library. We’d still get some of the newcomers. Then, with Nintendo maintaining all of this momentum, what would become of the Sega Saturn? I predict that, with Nintendo setting the hardware and software standard, Sega would fold early, realizing just how deep of a hole they fell into. They’d make one last glorious try by trying to come out with a big time Sonic game: Sonic R. Yeah… bye-bye Sega. With Sega going third party to maintain some stature, Sonic would make his debut, for the first time, on the UNES’s next big time AAA title, Super Smash Bros. With Sega now working closely with Nintendo, ideas and concepts from them for what they would have had for the glorious Dreamcast would make it just in time for Nintendo’s UNES successor, the Hyper Nintendo Entertainment System (look, bare with me here). Time would go on. We’d get more sequels of our most beloved and cherished franchises with choice newcomers. With Sega’s help, the concept of online gaming. Today, the NESHD would house some of today’s everyday greats. Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, F-Zero HD, Final Fantasy XIII, Mushroom Kingdom Hearts 3 (wouldn’t be so April Foolish now, would it?), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ratchet & Clank meets Mega Man, Mega Man 15, Mega Man X12, Mega Man Legends 4, Kirby, Ninja Gaiden VI, Earthworm Jim 6, Donkey Kong Country 6 featuring Tiny and Chunky Kong, Banjo-Kazooie 4, Conker’s Tales 3, Pokémon Online, Dragon Quest XI, Star Fox HD, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, and Killer Instinct 4 would be all the rage in glorious 1080p and online co-op and verses in more than a few of these titles… and competing for this year’s Game of the Year title. Oh… and the Brawl roster? 1. Mario 2. Luigi 3. Peach 4. Bowser 5. Wario 6. Yoshi 7. Link 8. Zelda 9. Ganondorf 10. Toon Link 11. Samus 12. Donkey Kong 13. Diddy Kong 14. Dixie Kong 15. Fox 16. Falco 17. Wolf 18. Krystal 19. Ness 20. Lucas 21. Marth 22. Kirby 23. Meta Knight 24. King Dedede 25. Sonic 26. Cloud 27. Tifa 28. Sephiroth 29. Ratchet 30. Mega Man 31. Alucard 32. Pikachu 33. Pokémon Trainer 34. Lucario 35. Captain Falcon 36. Chun-Li 37. Ryu Hyabusa 38. Bomberman 39. Lloyd Irving 40. Sheena Fujibayashi 41. Jak 42. Jago 43. Mr. Game & Watch 44. Ice Climbers 45. R.O.B. 46. Solid Snake 47. Conker 48. Simon Belmont 49. Dr. Robotnik 50. Pit Conspicuous by her absence is Jigglypuff, that singing marshmallow of destruction and death. Why? Who do you think Sonic replaced in the first Super Smash Bros.? But there wouldn’t be all good things coming from a Nintendo PlayStation. First, while some newcomers with new ideas would come along, a lot would not. We might not have gotten Grand Theft Auto at all. Metal Gear Solid might not have become as big of a hit as it was and possibly only spawn one sequel at the most. First Person Shooters? Even less of a hit. With the jock gamers not even taking a peak into an Electronics Boutique or Funcoland, do you honestly expect Call of Duty, Fallout, and Gears of War wouldn’t have as much of a chance of seeing the light of day, let alone becoming the franchises that they are. Online gaming. It’d be a nice feature to have, but in the end it would only be a reason for gamers to be even lazier than before. Not being mainstream, would Final Fantasy XI be an online game? Would we even have World of Warcraft? Maybe, but no way, shape, or form would we be seeing commercials about Mr. T hacking games and becoming a Night Elf Mohawk or seeing people like Kobe Bryant, Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez, or Michael Phelps partying during a sleepover, dressed in pink, and acting like fools over the newest Guitar Hero. Come to think of it, not being mainstream, would we even have Guitar Hero? Or DDR? Well… maybe, but who knows if it’d even be the same. I mean, MTV got into the game scene with Rock Band because gaming was so mainstream and Guitar Hero was enjoying success. So, with no Rock Band to compete, would Guitar Hero be so inclined to unleash more band peripherals such as the drums or the microphones? What about Conker's Bad Fur Day? With no need for an edge, we would have what we originally expected. Conker's Twelve Tales. Speaking of the mainstream, no IGN. No G4. No GameSpot. No Spike TV Video Game Awards… actually, that doesn’t sound too bad. We wouldn’t have to sit through 50 Cent games either and the games based on Max Payne and such wouldn’t even see the light of day because, well, Max Payne probably wouldn’t even have been made. But… now potentially one of the worst things for us here at ScrewAttack.com… would we even have ScrewAttack as we know it? Would we be seeing Jose hump the NESHD? Would the VGVs have as much meaning when the games of old are still the primary influence on the games of what would be today? Would they even be accepting Souja Boy’s challenge? He probably wouldn’t even be gaming to begin with. I don’t doubt ScrewAttack would exist, but I question how big it might actually be. Oh, speaking of Jose humping, his system of choice, the X-Box 360… don’t even bet on it. Microsoft, seeing gaming as simply a niche market, probably wouldn’t even take a look at the market, being a one-pony race catering to the old-school gamers and newly minted child gamers. That means no Halo. No mainstream to feed the fire of FPS games, so the idea of our Halo that we know might not flourish at all. And without competition, would Nintendo bring over some of its Japanese game staples? Would we be playing Fire Emblem here in the states? Would the Mother trilogy be as desired here, having Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest? For better or worse, would Nintendo even have a need to try to cater to casual gamers, having about 100% of the market? No Wii Fit, no Wii Sports, no Wii Music (might be on the better side), and no Wii Motion Controls. That’s right, the concept of Wii motion controls might not even see the light of day, not needing a hook for fans. With no Wii Fit, I might still be pushing 220 lbs, rather than being the fresh 190 lbs I am now. There is more to consider about a lack of mainstream gaming attention. We might be missing out on many of our online gaming comics. We wouldn’t get to pick on Jack Thompson nearly as much as we would in our continuity since games would be relatively tame for the most part in a Nintendo-centric gaming society. Madden Day? What Madden Day? How about children self-esteem? Games would still be niche. We might not get the sheer bonding we see in kids. Yeah, bonding over Mario Party 5 would be better than bonding over Halo 3 (wouldn’t exist either, F.Y.I.), but they’d be playing together. Would we see that? Or would the quiet nerds get stuffed in their lockers as the local bullies break their Game Boys? But you know what the worst thing might be? You may notice one game not even being mentioned. Metroid. With a lack of a mainstream, would the idea of Metroid Prime even come around? If there was no Metroid Prime, would we even get a chance at another console Metroid game, or would the console adventures of Samus Aran be singled out only to Super Smash Bros. and Mushroom Kingdom Hearts? It’s a fate Pit knows only to well. We might still get handhelds, but consoles might be missing out on the first lady of gaming. Okay, I’m starting to spin out of control here with what ifs. But stop to think about that. For the lack of one business deal, the entire gaming landscape and culture was changed. For us long-time die-hards, it might have been a better world since we’d be number one and have all the titles under our umbrella, but there is still more to think about. With no competition, there wouldn’t be any desire to try to better themselves in game quality. The economy today, perhaps we’d see more people willing to not want to see more of the same over and over again. Now, declining sales might be a spark to them, but how much would we deal with before they made a change in what we want? Would they react to some of their long time gamers getting older? Whose to say? But without someone to challenge Nintendo, do we even have a stable gaming culture? Yeah, we miss the classic Blue Bomber and are thrilled to have Mega Man 9, but if we saw in Nintendo Power that Mega Man 16 was on its way, what would we have to say about it? Heck, with no competition, would Miyamoto have the need to work on Animal Crossing or Pikmin? I think that’ll do it for me. I want to get this up sooner rather than later. Yeah, as a hardcore Nintendo die-hard, I wish I had a lot of those franchises that got away and I wish the Wii had a little bit of extras, but you know what? I’m happy with what I have. I love the Wii. It’s not HD, it’s not an online powerhouse, and it doesn’t have some of my long time favorite franchises, such as classic console Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, or Metal Gear. But you know what? We got classic Mega Man back, we’re getting some fresh ideas from the Big N, and some new guys want to spread their wings with games such as No More Heroes and de Blob. I wish I could change some of that, but considering some of the other alternatives, I’m just glad that Nintendo even exists. Of course… if any of those companies are reading this, Capcom, SquareEnix, Namco, Konami? Don’t forget who brought you to the table. A lot of us are still here. How about tossing us some of those bones you’re so eager to share with the other two? Thank you for putting up with my rants for another week and I’ll see you next Monday (hopefully earlier).