Ah, but would they have the money for it? This is more or less a decade before the late 90's-early 2000s anime boom that pokemon, dbz and sailor moon ushered in and Nintendo while having a few good hits is still the new kid on the block and a small fish in a big pond when stacked against shonen jump who at this moment is going through their golden age with manga like kochikame, ring ni kakero, kinnikuman, Dr slump, captain Tsubasa, cat's eye, fist of the north star, kimagura orange road, dragon Ball, city hunter, sakigake!! Otokojuku, Saint seiya, jojo's bizarre adventure, rokudenashi blues, bastard!!, magical*taruruuto-kun, dragon quest: the adventures of Dai and by the 90's they're already gonna have slam dunk and yuyu Hakusho added right out the gate.
Changing Industries: Nintendo pursues Manga instead of Video Games
- Thread starter Jaiken
- Start date
No a chance as both were arcade rivals and their hardware were very different too( mega drive was a stripped down system 16, neo Geo was a literal home version of the arcade).
Sega must be studying what Hudson did right to break into ittl apathetic north America market, as TurboGrafx took 5 extra year to replicate the Famicom sucess from otl.
Who built the PC engine? Hudson alone? NEC? Someone else?
Forgot to mention that NEC helped Hudson Soft make the PC Engine.
@Sonny912 I will mention what happens to the Neo Geo and what happens when it comes to market. As for your other questions they will be answered in due time.
Last edited:
Chapter 5: An Unfortunate Turn of Events Year 1990
The year was 1990 and NEC and Hudsonsoft's Turbo Graphx 16 was returning handsome profits. Another game was released for the system called 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Hyperstone Heist'. One of the few two player games but one that had less buttons to work with than the ones in the arcade. Many game developers were wondering when HudsonSoft and NEC would upgrade their console, but with how profits was rolling in they had little to no reason to upgrade. That all changed when a new challenger entered the ring.
S.N.K. was one of the few players in the arcade business that had yet to throw their hat into the console ring. Now seemed like a good time with the Turbo Graphx 16 hogging the market. So S.N.K. decided to release their console that could play big titles from the actual arcades. Introducing:
S.N.K.'s Neo Geo. The console was an arcade beast and introduced the use of arcade sticks for video games. The game console could play arcade like video games such as Metal Slug and Fatal Fury.
The Neo Geo looked like a promising console, the only issue? The price tag was $649.00. Few gamers were willing to pay top dollar for such a console. Despite the higher price tag it was attractive to customers that wanted more powerful hardware than what Hudson Soft and NEC were providing at the time. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Hyperstone Heist proved to be more popular on the NEO GEO. SNK would later lower the price once they realized the cost was too much for consumers but for now they would try to release games for the console that could compete with the likes of the Turbo Graphx 16.
Game developer Hal Laboratory was struggling to make ends meet, but nobody was willing to foot the bill for their games. The game studio would go under not to be seen again. (This means no Kirby ITTL).
Not only did the NEO GEO get arcade perfect titles, but they also got some home video game console ports from Square, Konami and Capcom. And with SNK lowering the price of the console to $300 the console wars had officially begun.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nintendo had another success with F-Zero. It was a high octane series that focused on bounty hunter Captain Falcon whom would travel the globe to get rare bounties and fight off intergalactic threats. The series was just what Nintendo needed considering the majority of their manga were not dark and dreary. F-Zero fit that niche that Nintendo needed to showcase the more dark and daring side of their works. Super Mario Bros also entered its second season with Journey to Dinosaur World which introduced Bowser's generals the Koopalings and new Mario Bros ally Yoshi. The Mario Bros failed to save Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser last time in the original Mario Bros iteration but now they tracked down the King of Koopas to a remote island in the Dinosaur World region. Toad and Yoshi were along for the ride and with Yoshi's ability to eat anything they had a potential ace up their sleeve against the Koopa menace.
In terms of popular manga Nintendo's franchises were as follow:
S.N.K. was one of the few players in the arcade business that had yet to throw their hat into the console ring. Now seemed like a good time with the Turbo Graphx 16 hogging the market. So S.N.K. decided to release their console that could play big titles from the actual arcades. Introducing:
S.N.K.'s Neo Geo. The console was an arcade beast and introduced the use of arcade sticks for video games. The game console could play arcade like video games such as Metal Slug and Fatal Fury.
The Neo Geo looked like a promising console, the only issue? The price tag was $649.00. Few gamers were willing to pay top dollar for such a console. Despite the higher price tag it was attractive to customers that wanted more powerful hardware than what Hudson Soft and NEC were providing at the time. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Hyperstone Heist proved to be more popular on the NEO GEO. SNK would later lower the price once they realized the cost was too much for consumers but for now they would try to release games for the console that could compete with the likes of the Turbo Graphx 16.
Game developer Hal Laboratory was struggling to make ends meet, but nobody was willing to foot the bill for their games. The game studio would go under not to be seen again. (This means no Kirby ITTL).
Not only did the NEO GEO get arcade perfect titles, but they also got some home video game console ports from Square, Konami and Capcom. And with SNK lowering the price of the console to $300 the console wars had officially begun.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nintendo had another success with F-Zero. It was a high octane series that focused on bounty hunter Captain Falcon whom would travel the globe to get rare bounties and fight off intergalactic threats. The series was just what Nintendo needed considering the majority of their manga were not dark and dreary. F-Zero fit that niche that Nintendo needed to showcase the more dark and daring side of their works. Super Mario Bros also entered its second season with Journey to Dinosaur World which introduced Bowser's generals the Koopalings and new Mario Bros ally Yoshi. The Mario Bros failed to save Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser last time in the original Mario Bros iteration but now they tracked down the King of Koopas to a remote island in the Dinosaur World region. Toad and Yoshi were along for the ride and with Yoshi's ability to eat anything they had a potential ace up their sleeve against the Koopa menace.
In terms of popular manga Nintendo's franchises were as follow:
- Super Mario Bros Dinosaur World
- Legend of Zelda
- Metroid
- Punch Out
- F-Zero
- Detective Club
Last edited:
No kirby? Damn! I love that pink puffball, both in the anime that aired on foxbox and the games.
Hey what helping with rare right now? Now that Nintendo’s out of gaming they won't redesign Donkey Kong right? Will they still make battletoads? And what's the status on street fighter?
Street fighter has a year to go before anything huge happens with the series. And yeah Rare doesn’t redesign Donkey Kong because they never met Nintendo.
Last edited:
Well what does that mean for Donkey Kong country, banjo Kazooie and conker?
Really unfortunate for Banjo Kazooie and Conker since they never get created. As for me, Diddy Kong is my favorite character and he too does not get created. The Battletoads are all right.
Chapter 6: Fighting in the Streets Year 1991
1991 and gaming had almost returned to a normal state in North America. That was until SNK brought their NEO GEO to market getting rid of any traction that Hudson Soft's Bonk and Bomberman had made. The main titles were arcade games but they were exclusive to the console and it mimicked arcade perfection. There existed one main title that changed everything in the arcade business:
credit to World of Longplays
Street Fighter 2 was a phenomenal hit in the arcade business and pushed fighting games to new heights. The arcade like gameplay of the NEO GEO made Street Fighter 2 even better amongst North American video gamers. Hudson Soft was not sure how to counteract this new found popularity in the NEO GEO. Many video game titles were leaving left and right from the Turbo Graphx 16 console at an alarming right. Many home video game console games were being moved from a home video game console to an arcade like experience at home. One such title was Battle Toads made by a video game developer called Rare.
It was official, gaming had returned to the North American Market and gamers were excited to experience genuine arcade gameplay at home. Not all was happy with the way gaming was heading. Game developers for PC like Microsoft were losing in the little lived PC Market in North America. That is when Microsoft met with Id Software and Trip Hawkins to make a new console that could rival that of the NEO GEO. Surely SNK could not sustain the losses they made with every sale of their console.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metroid was a huge title for Nintendo in the manga business and for their more mature audiences (and kids that bought the Manga without parental permission). Nintendo decided now was a perfect time to make a new entry in the Metroid series.
Metroid II was focused on Samus Aran fighting the titular Metroids to prevent them from being used as super bio weapons for the Space Pirates that used to work under Mother Brain from the first iteration of the Manga series. Metroid II: Samus Returns was a huge hit amongst Nintendo fans and enthusiastic readers.
Street Fighter 2 was a phenomenal hit in the arcade business and pushed fighting games to new heights. The arcade like gameplay of the NEO GEO made Street Fighter 2 even better amongst North American video gamers. Hudson Soft was not sure how to counteract this new found popularity in the NEO GEO. Many video game titles were leaving left and right from the Turbo Graphx 16 console at an alarming right. Many home video game console games were being moved from a home video game console to an arcade like experience at home. One such title was Battle Toads made by a video game developer called Rare.
It was official, gaming had returned to the North American Market and gamers were excited to experience genuine arcade gameplay at home. Not all was happy with the way gaming was heading. Game developers for PC like Microsoft were losing in the little lived PC Market in North America. That is when Microsoft met with Id Software and Trip Hawkins to make a new console that could rival that of the NEO GEO. Surely SNK could not sustain the losses they made with every sale of their console.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metroid was a huge title for Nintendo in the manga business and for their more mature audiences (and kids that bought the Manga without parental permission). Nintendo decided now was a perfect time to make a new entry in the Metroid series.
Metroid II was focused on Samus Aran fighting the titular Metroids to prevent them from being used as super bio weapons for the Space Pirates that used to work under Mother Brain from the first iteration of the Manga series. Metroid II: Samus Returns was a huge hit amongst Nintendo fans and enthusiastic readers.
Last edited:
1991 goes by and no news of sonic, I honestly feel depressed knowing how many gaming icons have been erased.
Chapter 7: To the Stars Year 1992
1992 came and Microsoft and Trip Hawkins were fast at work at designing a new console to combat the NEO GEO. Trip Hawkins figured that only having $3 royalties for developers would give his console the majority of exclusives. The next iteration of Street Fighter 2 was released on the NEO GEO and this time it had more characters than OTL due to the massive push to want video game console sales to be high. Metal Slug was also doing well for itself and rivaled and outdone Contra by a long mile for SNK. Castlevania was a title that stood out amongst the crowd for being the first genre of its kind a 'Vania' type game, which was quoted by fans of the newly discovered franchise. Hudson Soft on the other hand was struggling to sell its console to the majority of audiences and decided a new approach was needed.
Hudson Soft caught wind of how what Microsoft and Trip Hawkins was doing in the console arena and decided to copy them. Knowing Microsoft it would include something akin to online play and other type PC games to help fight off against SNK's share of the market. To combat this Hudson Soft would enlist the help of a man named 'Steve Jobs' to help them develop a console with online capabilities. Gaming would start to get interesting next year for gamers yet to be introduced to online play.
Another game was introduced called Mortal Kombat and it was making parents scream their heads off. The ESRB Rating was born to tell parents of the gruesome violence in video games and to prevent kids from getting inappropriate games. Hint, it did not work. Nonetheless video game companies wishing to sell games in the North American market would need to abide by the ESRB ratings in order to sell their games to the public.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Japan, while visiting a shrine, Shigeru Miyamoto had a new idea pop in his head. The idea was about a Fox and his group of animal friends fighting off against an evil scientist named Andross whom blamed the Lylat Government for the death of his son. This manga series would center around a group of hired mercenaries fighting to protect the world called "Star Fox". Manga sales were through the roof in Japan and Nintendo now had enough money for an Animation studio. Nintendo would end up acquiring animation studio TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) Entertainment granting them the animation rights to Lupin the Third and the movie Akira.
Nintendo would hope that one of their series would be a major hit amongst the anime crowd.
Hudson Soft caught wind of how what Microsoft and Trip Hawkins was doing in the console arena and decided to copy them. Knowing Microsoft it would include something akin to online play and other type PC games to help fight off against SNK's share of the market. To combat this Hudson Soft would enlist the help of a man named 'Steve Jobs' to help them develop a console with online capabilities. Gaming would start to get interesting next year for gamers yet to be introduced to online play.
Another game was introduced called Mortal Kombat and it was making parents scream their heads off. The ESRB Rating was born to tell parents of the gruesome violence in video games and to prevent kids from getting inappropriate games. Hint, it did not work. Nonetheless video game companies wishing to sell games in the North American market would need to abide by the ESRB ratings in order to sell their games to the public.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Japan, while visiting a shrine, Shigeru Miyamoto had a new idea pop in his head. The idea was about a Fox and his group of animal friends fighting off against an evil scientist named Andross whom blamed the Lylat Government for the death of his son. This manga series would center around a group of hired mercenaries fighting to protect the world called "Star Fox". Manga sales were through the roof in Japan and Nintendo now had enough money for an Animation studio. Nintendo would end up acquiring animation studio TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) Entertainment granting them the animation rights to Lupin the Third and the movie Akira.
Nintendo would hope that one of their series would be a major hit amongst the anime crowd.
Last edited:
Would be ironically if they get a break with the Saturn ittl as being one of the affordable CD consoles (that's if they remember to put 3D to run virtua figther (
Chapter 8: Arcades and the Return Year 1993
Microsoft was making big moves in the video game industry. They had acquired game developer ID Software and had brought Doom to home consoles. The console of choice?
The Panasonic Microsoft 3DO was $250 and did not cost Microsoft that much in losses for console sales. The controller would sell for $30. Video game Doom was the leading attraction for the console. Microsoft assumed they could bring the PC market to video game consoles to combat the rise of SNK and their NEO GEO. Truth be told, SNK could not keep up with their console sales since they were losing so much money on each unit sold including video games. SNK would bow out of the console space due to loss on profits and decided they would sell games on other platforms.
Hudson Soft on the other hand was having issues. They may have saved the North American video game market, they could not keep up with the sales of the NEO GEO and now the 3DO. The video game developer would try to find a partner that could help them take on the likes of Id Software and the 3DO. To do this Hudson Soft would partner with Steve Jobs to work on a certain console that would have online capabilities and push games to new heights. Surely that would help Hudson Soft in their current predicament.
In Japanese arcades SEGA has released Virtua Fighter 2 and Daytona USA to audiences. SEGA wanted to continue in the console business and figured their two first 3D titles would make a big splash in the business. SEGA would get to work on a console with 3D capabilities and one that used disks. SEGA however was not expecting to see Hudson Soft and Microsoft in the 3D market place.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nintendo worked hard to bring their manga titles to life. Now it was the Legend of Zelda's turn to go into its next saga of manga. The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past helped bring more action to the series and promote more readers to stay engaged. With Link moving throughout Hyrule and the Dark World to take down Ganon and his forces by saving the seven descendant of the sages. 'Link to the Past' proved to be successful amongst manga readers.
The Panasonic Microsoft 3DO was $250 and did not cost Microsoft that much in losses for console sales. The controller would sell for $30. Video game Doom was the leading attraction for the console. Microsoft assumed they could bring the PC market to video game consoles to combat the rise of SNK and their NEO GEO. Truth be told, SNK could not keep up with their console sales since they were losing so much money on each unit sold including video games. SNK would bow out of the console space due to loss on profits and decided they would sell games on other platforms.
Hudson Soft on the other hand was having issues. They may have saved the North American video game market, they could not keep up with the sales of the NEO GEO and now the 3DO. The video game developer would try to find a partner that could help them take on the likes of Id Software and the 3DO. To do this Hudson Soft would partner with Steve Jobs to work on a certain console that would have online capabilities and push games to new heights. Surely that would help Hudson Soft in their current predicament.
In Japanese arcades SEGA has released Virtua Fighter 2 and Daytona USA to audiences. SEGA wanted to continue in the console business and figured their two first 3D titles would make a big splash in the business. SEGA would get to work on a console with 3D capabilities and one that used disks. SEGA however was not expecting to see Hudson Soft and Microsoft in the 3D market place.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nintendo worked hard to bring their manga titles to life. Now it was the Legend of Zelda's turn to go into its next saga of manga. The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past helped bring more action to the series and promote more readers to stay engaged. With Link moving throughout Hyrule and the Dark World to take down Ganon and his forces by saving the seven descendant of the sages. 'Link to the Past' proved to be successful amongst manga readers.
Chapter 9: The Makings of a New Series Year 1994
Hudson Soft and Apple's meeting had been a success. Both companies had a sneaky feeling that Microsoft would try to push online gaming for their latest console. This tactic of introducing online gaming earlier than OTL to the masses would prove to be beneficial to Microsoft and solidify themselves as a major player in the video game industry. Hudson Soft and Apple were not wiling to take this lying down and decided to bring their own console into the mix that also had online capabilities.
Introducing the Hudson Soft Pippin. It would retail for $345 and the controllers would cost $30 each. One of the major titles released for the title would be the newly made 3D fighter Tekken and 3D racer Tekken. These titles proved to be major hits amongst the gaming crowd.
SEGA on the other hand was trying to put its foot back in the door of video game consoles. It decided now would be a good time to make two video games that would introduced 3D capabilities to the masses and also ship with some impressive SNK fighting games like King of Fighters 1994. Thus, SEGA would introduce their new console:
This console would sell for $299 and the controllers for $35. It would not be able to us online however.
Unlike OTL the SEGA Saturn had no capabilities of playing 16-bit cartridge games; however, what it did have was two major hit titles from the arcades called Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter. SEGA also got big titles released by video game companies Konami Capcom and Square for their console.
Konami: 1. "Castlevania: Bloodlines" (known as "Vampire Killer" in Japan) 2. "Sunset Riders" 3. "International Superstar Soccer Deluxe" 4. "Contra Hard Corps" (known as "Contra: The Hard Corps" in Japan) 5. "Animaniacs" 6. "Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters"
Capcom: 1. "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" 2. "Mega Man X2" 3. "Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors" 4. "Final Fight CD" 5. "X-Men: Children of the Atom"
Square: 1. "Final Fantasy VI" (known as "Final Fantasy III" in North America) 2. "Secret of Evermore" (developed by Square USA) 3. "Romancing SaGa 3" (Japan only) 4. "Live A Live" (Japan only) 5. "Seiken Densetsu 3" (Japan only)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satoshi Tajiri was fascinated with catching insects. He would usually dream of them being bigger and having them fight each other. The young Japanese man would later hatch a brilliant idea for a series were children would catch monsters to do battle. Satoshi would approach game developers like Hudson Soft and Capcom to pitch his ideas; however, the game developers thought his idea would never catch on.
All seemed hopeless for his little idea until he had a happen stance with a Nintendo executive. The Nintendo executive had faith in Satoshi's idea and allowed him to pitch it to the higher ups. If it could not work as a video game maybe it would work as a Manga? Nintendo got to work with Satoshi working out the details of the series that he called Pokemon.
Introducing the Hudson Soft Pippin. It would retail for $345 and the controllers would cost $30 each. One of the major titles released for the title would be the newly made 3D fighter Tekken and 3D racer Tekken. These titles proved to be major hits amongst the gaming crowd.
SEGA on the other hand was trying to put its foot back in the door of video game consoles. It decided now would be a good time to make two video games that would introduced 3D capabilities to the masses and also ship with some impressive SNK fighting games like King of Fighters 1994. Thus, SEGA would introduce their new console:
This console would sell for $299 and the controllers for $35. It would not be able to us online however.
Unlike OTL the SEGA Saturn had no capabilities of playing 16-bit cartridge games; however, what it did have was two major hit titles from the arcades called Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter. SEGA also got big titles released by video game companies Konami Capcom and Square for their console.
Konami: 1. "Castlevania: Bloodlines" (known as "Vampire Killer" in Japan) 2. "Sunset Riders" 3. "International Superstar Soccer Deluxe" 4. "Contra Hard Corps" (known as "Contra: The Hard Corps" in Japan) 5. "Animaniacs" 6. "Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters"
Capcom: 1. "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" 2. "Mega Man X2" 3. "Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors" 4. "Final Fight CD" 5. "X-Men: Children of the Atom"
Square: 1. "Final Fantasy VI" (known as "Final Fantasy III" in North America) 2. "Secret of Evermore" (developed by Square USA) 3. "Romancing SaGa 3" (Japan only) 4. "Live A Live" (Japan only) 5. "Seiken Densetsu 3" (Japan only)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satoshi Tajiri was fascinated with catching insects. He would usually dream of them being bigger and having them fight each other. The young Japanese man would later hatch a brilliant idea for a series were children would catch monsters to do battle. Satoshi would approach game developers like Hudson Soft and Capcom to pitch his ideas; however, the game developers thought his idea would never catch on.
All seemed hopeless for his little idea until he had a happen stance with a Nintendo executive. The Nintendo executive had faith in Satoshi's idea and allowed him to pitch it to the higher ups. If it could not work as a video game maybe it would work as a Manga? Nintendo got to work with Satoshi working out the details of the series that he called Pokemon.
Ah ha! Pokemon lives! Maybe Masahiro Sakurai could find a home at Nintendo too, that way kirby can still exist and super smash bros could become a big crossover uniting all the best manga as part of a shared universe.
Funny thing, Ken Sugimori, the Pokemon art director, his original dream was being a mangaka.
Chapter 10: An Evil Resident Year 1995
The Hudson Soft Pippin had just released to world markets and was fighting against Microsoft's 3DO and online games. Luckily, Capcom had just released the latest entry in its Street Fighter series. The latest entry was called Street Fighter Alpha and it boasted fast gameplay and new characters for players to enjoy. The game perfectly showcased what the Pippin was capable of internet connection wise and drew in a crowd of hardcore tournament players to the console. The Microsoft 3DO boasted great first person shooter games in Doom and Mortal Kombat 3. Concerned parents bought their kids the Hudson Soft Pippin instead of the 3DO because of the ultra violent games.
In the SEGA Saturn side of things, Chrono Trigger was created for the console made by Square. The game involved time travel and had multiple endings depending on character choices and when they faced off against the games main villain. Chrono Trigger was a major success to gamers wanting a great RPG and caused many to not regret their purchase of the console itself.
In the PC market Real Time Strategy games like Command and Conquer were making huge waves. The game centered around Global Defense Initiative (GDI) fighting against an ancient civilization of cult like followers that served The Brotherhood of Nod. Command and Conquer sold exceptionally well for a newly introduced genre in the video game franchise. The Microsoft 3DO would attempt to have the game run on the console but the experience did not equal that of the computer version.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Japan Shigeru Miyamoto was hard at work creating another saga in the Super Mario Bros manga that detailed the past of Mario and Luigi as babies and how a Yoshi saved them from the clutches of Bowser's right hand man Kamek. The manga was called "Yoshi's Island" and was a success amongst Manga enthusiasts pushing Yoshi's popularity to new heights. Nintendo would also sign a contract with newly North American dubbing studio 4kids Entertainment to release their newly released Manga Pokemon to the anime public. It would take a couple of years for the series to come out but Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri had faith it would be popular. Nintendo would also release a sequel to their Mother (Earthbound) manga series called Mother 2 that focused on the descendant of past hero Ninten called Ness who was on a quest to stop the remains of Gigue, Giygas. Ness would have to return to the past to take on the evil alien that wished to take over and wipe out the human race. Mother 2 proved to be popular for Nintendo just like Yoshi's Island.
Due to the popularity of their manga series, Nintendo would sign merchandising deals. Mario Bros and Zelda cereal. Punch Out work out equipment. And many others not mentioned. Nintendo was hoping Pokemon would be their next break out hit amongst the crowd and if successful enough would allow them to break into the North American market for their manga turned anime series.
In the SEGA Saturn side of things, Chrono Trigger was created for the console made by Square. The game involved time travel and had multiple endings depending on character choices and when they faced off against the games main villain. Chrono Trigger was a major success to gamers wanting a great RPG and caused many to not regret their purchase of the console itself.
In the PC market Real Time Strategy games like Command and Conquer were making huge waves. The game centered around Global Defense Initiative (GDI) fighting against an ancient civilization of cult like followers that served The Brotherhood of Nod. Command and Conquer sold exceptionally well for a newly introduced genre in the video game franchise. The Microsoft 3DO would attempt to have the game run on the console but the experience did not equal that of the computer version.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Japan Shigeru Miyamoto was hard at work creating another saga in the Super Mario Bros manga that detailed the past of Mario and Luigi as babies and how a Yoshi saved them from the clutches of Bowser's right hand man Kamek. The manga was called "Yoshi's Island" and was a success amongst Manga enthusiasts pushing Yoshi's popularity to new heights. Nintendo would also sign a contract with newly North American dubbing studio 4kids Entertainment to release their newly released Manga Pokemon to the anime public. It would take a couple of years for the series to come out but Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri had faith it would be popular. Nintendo would also release a sequel to their Mother (Earthbound) manga series called Mother 2 that focused on the descendant of past hero Ninten called Ness who was on a quest to stop the remains of Gigue, Giygas. Ness would have to return to the past to take on the evil alien that wished to take over and wipe out the human race. Mother 2 proved to be popular for Nintendo just like Yoshi's Island.
Due to the popularity of their manga series, Nintendo would sign merchandising deals. Mario Bros and Zelda cereal. Punch Out work out equipment. And many others not mentioned. Nintendo was hoping Pokemon would be their next break out hit amongst the crowd and if successful enough would allow them to break into the North American market for their manga turned anime series.
Last edited: