Line #20 Literature/TheLeapfroggedConsoleWars


1	"In the year 1990, Nintendo would receive a mysterious package that would change the trajectory of gaming and pop culture forever. Inside the package was a blue handheld gaming console with two screens and a clamshell design. It was marked as a Nintendo DS. Along with the console itself came three game cartridges: Pocket Monsters Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the first two words were also formed into a portmanteau: Pokémon. Copyrights and trademarks on the items indicated that they were from anywhere between fourteen and eighteen years in the future."
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3	[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-leapfrogged-console-wars-2-0-a-video-game-and-pop-culture-timeline.536906/ The Leapfrogged Console Wars 2.0]] is a Pop Culture Timeline on Platform/AlternateHistoryDotCom that posits "What if the DS and the Sinnoh games were transported back in time?"
4	----
5	!!This timeline contains examples of:
6	* AllohistoricalAllusion: IOTL, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' began life as a Super-FX Enhanced SNES game before being moved to the Saturn and [=PlayStation=]. Here, the game is released on SNES and bombs hard.
7	* BoxOfficeBomb: In-Universe, Creator/JamesCameron's Spider-Man doesn't even make back half of its budget due to the film's R Rating.
8	* CartwrightCurse: Cloud Strife lost both Aerith and Tifa in TTL's version of ''Final Fantasy VII'', with the latter having been killed by Kefka.
9	* CelebrityCasualty:
10	** George R.R. Martin dies of a heart attack in 1996, butterflying ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' and its adaptations.
11	** Prince Charles and Prince William are among the 50 killed by an IRA car bomb in March 1996.
12	** J.K. Rowling would die in an IRA bomb, butterflying the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' series.
13	* CompilationRerelease: In 1997, ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa2'' and ''[[VideoGame/RomancingSaga3 3]]'' are localized in a updated DS compilation that features enhanced pixel art.
14	* CreatorKiller: In-Universe, Spider-Man ended up being this for James Cameron.
15	* DeathByAdaptation: In the ''Espers and Madness'' quest in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Kefka ends up killing Tifa.
16	* DeathOfAChild: Prince William is only thirteen when he and his father die.
17	* DivorcedInstallment: In-Universe, The game that OTL knows as VideoGame/MegaManLegends was reworked to be an original to TTL continuum called ''Halcyon''.
18	* GuestStarPartyMember: In ''Espers and Madness'', Kefka joins the playable roster only to leave the party by betraying them.
19	* InSpiteOfANail:
20	** Nintendo still works with Silicon Graphics for their successor console to the Platform/SuperNintendo, but they use the DS hardware to inform the design decisions of the Ultra Nintendo's architecture. The Ultra Nintendo also still uses ROM carts, but this time they can reach 1 gigabyte in max capacity, negating one of the big weaknesses of OTL's Platform/Nintendo64.
21	** The initial pair in the ''Pokémon'' franchise still contains 151 Pokémon in the game, 150 of which are catchable in-game and one of which is an event-exclusive Mythical.
22	** ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}}'' still jumps to [=3D=] as a [=PlayStation=] exclusive that ends up killing the ''Bubsy'' franchise.
23	* NoExportForYou: In-Universe, ''Front Mission 2'' for the DS is Japan-only.
24	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Paul Tsongas is the President Personable type, being able to work with both parties to create jobs.
25	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Queen Elizabeth II outlives her son Charles and grandson William.
26	* PointOfDivergence: The presence of the DS and the technology to reverse engineer it in the past changes the world forever:
27	** Soon after the Gift arrives in the past, Nintendo acquires Game Freak.
28	** Nintendo is more focused on investing their capital into exploiting the advanced technology of the DS. Because of that, Nintendo opts not to purchase the Seattle Mariners in order to keep them in the city, which means the team does end up moving to Tampa Bay. This incidentally also butterflies away Nintendo's ''Ken Griffey Jr.'' baseball games.
29	** The Super FX chip uses ARM technology, resulting in ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' having better graphics than OTL.
30	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' is a launch title for the DS, being moved from the Game Boy mid-development, releasing with the DS in 1996.
31	** The DS port of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' gets localized as a launch title.
32	** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' are launch titles for the DS, and release worldwide in 1996 with the only Pokémon in the game being the 151 Pokémon in the D/P Sinnoh Pokédex.
33	** ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'''s main protagonist is Dawn, whose starter is a Piplup. This results in Pikachu being nowhere near as prominent as OTL and as a result ends up butterflying Plusle and Minun.
34	** ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' is a launch title for the Ultra Nintendo, and becomes one of the earliest 3D role-playing games.
35	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' are DS titles ITTL.
36	** ''Pokémon Platinum'' is based on TTL's ''Pokémon'' anime, and as a result the ability to play as Lucas is removed.
37	** Because Nintendo revealed the nature of the DS processors at CES 1993, Sony and Sega chooses to delay the release of their consoles another year in order to improve their designs as much as possible. The delay of the [=PlayStation=] in particular prevents it from being shared with interested third-parties, resulting in ''Resident Evil'' not being moved from the Super Nintendo, and Namco using Nintendo hardware for ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' and ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}''. Sega on the other hand, scraps the plans for the Platform/Sega32X when they reassess Atari not being a threat.
38	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' are SNES titles that get DS ports ITTL.
39	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is released for the Ultra Nintendo, with the international version having a quest titled ''Espers and Madness'' that is a crossover with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' featuring the return of Kefka.
40	** The [=PlayStation=] bombs hard due to a lack of third party support, being discontinued in March 1998.
41	** TTL's successor to VHS and Laserdisc is a format designed by Toshiba called the SD.
42	** Namco and Square merge in 1998.
43	** TTL's equivalent of 9/11 is an Al Qaeda attack in mainland China.
44	* StillbornFranchise: In-Universe, ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' is this trope due to the game failing.
45	* {{Superboss}}: In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', [[MonsterClown Kefka]] is a superboss that concludes the ''Espers and Madness'' quest unlocked by linking the game with a cleared save of the DS port of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.
46	* TimelineAlteringMacGuffin: A Platform/NintendoDS, along with it development kits and design documents, as well as copies of ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl and Platinum'', are sent to Creator/{{Nintendo}} at the beginning of 1990. This leads to Nintendo forming an alliance with Creator/{{Apple}} and [=ARM=] to develop the technology to release the DS in 1996.
47	* UpdatedRerelease: ''Sonic Blast'' for the Saturn is TTL's equivalent to ''Sonic Jam'', including the ability to play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy in any of the five included games, and an expanded mode that has 16-bit versions of the Game Gear exclusive zones of Sonic 1 and 2.
48	** The DS port of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' contains enhanced pixel art and the ability to fight Kaiser Dragon.

Context Literature / TheLeapfroggedConsoleWars