What Could Have Been / Video Game Systems and Peripherals

What Could Have Been Video Games index
A-F | G-M | N-S | T-Z | Systems and Peripherals

Microsoft

• Xbox:
  • One team at Microsoft, the "WebTV" team, pitched a version of the console that would act as a cheap-to-manufacture device with a custom GPU that runs Windows CE. Bill Gates would choose the "DirectX" team to lead the project instead, swayed by their pitch about the benefits of using existing PC hardware despite the increased cost.
  • Sega and Microsoft were in talks about allowing the console to play Sega Dreamcast games, but talks broke down regarding the implementation of the SegaNet online service.
• Xbox One:
  • The system was originally planned to have always-on DRM, where all games (both digital and retail) were bound to the player's Xbox Live account and required the system to connect to the internet at least once per day in order to validate the license. This idea was abandoned after public backlash, with the removal of always-on DRM also resulting in Microsoft scrapping features such as being able to play physical games without the need for the game disc after the initial install.
  • The ability to trade or resell physical games was planned to be restricted on a publisher-by-publisher basis, with the potential of activation fees for any second-hand copies of games. Similarly, this idea was also abandoned after public backlash.
  • The Kinect 2.0 was meant to be a mandatory peripheral for the system, with the Xbox One not being able to function if it isn't plugged in. After public backlash, the requirement was dropped, though the system still shipped with the Kinect 2.0 at launch.
  • The Xbox One X went under the code name "Xbox One Scorpio", to which Xbox boss Phil Spencer heavily hinted that it was going to be the actual name, but they couldn't get the trademark for the word.

Nintendo

• Nintendo Entertainment System:
  • Prior to being called the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo planned to release the Famicom overseas as the "Nintendo Advanced Video Entertainment System" (or Nintendo AVS), which would have been a computer rather than just a game console. It was greeted with a tepid reception at the 1984 CES^note Computer Electronics Show, the predecessor to E3 and Nintendo, seeing a market already saturated with budget computers (Commodore 64, Atari 800, etc...) but devoid of any new video games consoles decided to scrap the computer functions. Atari would have handled the marketing and sale of the console; the deal with Atari fell apart thanks to a 3 way dispute over Donkey Kong ports between Nintendo, Atari, and Coleco.
  • According to a 1986 issue of Computer Entertainer, the NES was planned to have its own version of the Famicom Disk System release by the end of the year, with one of the launch titles being an unnamed flight simulator game. However, the Famicom Disk System would remain a case of No Export for You, with any games that originally used the peripheral (such as The Legend of Zelda and Metroid) being reworked for cartridges when released internationally.
• Game Boy:
  • The system almost never released at all, as the project was cancelled immediately after the first prototype was shown and rejected by then-company president Hiroshi Yamauchi. It was only after he was presented an improved prototype a few months later that some of Nintendo R&D1 had continued working on in secret — plus the news that the Super Famicom would take much longer to develop than planned — that Yamauchi greenlight the system.
  • Super Mario Land was originally planned to be the North American pack-in title for the system. Tetris was chosen instead after Henk Rogers, who had recently cleared up most of the licensing issues surrounding the Tetris IP, convinced NOA that the puzzle game appealed to a wider range of demographics than Mario.
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System
  • The system was intended to be backward-compatible with NES titles, but the feature was scrapped when they realized how much it would boost the price of the hardware. Some of this is still retained in the final hardware, as the respective buttons share the same input values, which has helped fans create their own adapters that allow for the functionality.
  • The most infamous example of this trope in all of gaming is has to be the fabled SNES CD-ROM, a CD peripheral for the SNES meant to be a joint project between Nintendo and Sony. To put a long story short, Nintendo disliking how the profits would have been split led to them scrapping the contract behind Sony's back, which led to Sony ultimately entering the video game market themselves out of spite, upon the urging of Ken Kutaragi, with the PlayStation, after trying to strike a new partnership with Sega, and second partnership with Nintendo along with Philips.
  • After scrapping their partnership with Sony, Nintendo tried again with Philips, only for that product to fail as well. Nintendo would go at it again with both Sony and Philips, having hatched out a more favorable deal this time, and a more updated spec. Nintendo abandoned the idea completely after Ken convinced the rest of Sony to go at it on their own, with Philips being allowed to take what work had been done and release it as their own console, the Philips CD-i.
• Virtual Boy:
  • The system was originally intended to be a head-worn device with motion tracking, but ongoing concerns about motion sickness and Japanese safety regulations led to the tabletop form-factor of the final product.
  • A full-color display was considered, but as it would have shot the price north of $500 and potentially cause motion sickness, Nintendo instead went with a monochrome display using cheap red LEDs.
• Nintendo 64:
  • Nintendo originally planned to follow-up on the "Super" naming scheme of the SNES by calling the system the "Ultra Famicom" in Japan and the "Nintendo Ultra 64" overseas, announcing the console under the latter name in 1994. The name was changed to simply the "Nintendo 64" in order to establish a single global brand identity for the console.
  • The Nintendo 64 Disk Drive (N64DD) was planned to be released outside of Japan. Its function was to add additional memory and space to allow the Nintendo 64 to have slightly more power and allow more content to be made due to the expanded storage. However, due to the add-on's failure in Japan^note Nintendo knew the add-on was going to flop and released it via mail order from a single internet provider. Only around 15,000 were sold and only 9 games were released, 4 of which were Mario Artist titles, such plans were cancelled, and any games still in development for the add-on were remade into regular N64 titles (such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask) or reworked into GameCube titles. Meanwhile, most of the games that were already completed and released for the disk drive never left Japan. That being said, the peripheral does work on all NTSC Nintendo 64 consoles, meaning one could import one and use it on an American N64 if they so wished; however, it doesn't work on the PAL version of the console due to a lockout chip.
• A touch-panel adapter was considered for the Game Boy Color, but was ultimately scrapped due to the system's lack of a backlight causing the overlay to make gameplay hard to see.
• Game Boy Advance:
  • In 1995, a different successor to the Game Boy was in development, codenamed Project Atlantis. Planned for a 1996 release, the system had similar specs to the GBA, but also featured four-face buttons. Nintendo would delay the system until 1997 before shelving it entirely due to issues with the processor that would have made the system too expensive to produce, in addition to the original handheld seeing revitalized sales and popularity thanks to Pokémon Red and Blue.
  • The GBA was planned to have internet connectively◊ for online play. Video chat via a camera peripheral was also being considered.
• Nintendo GameCube:
  • The console in Japan had a second model by Panasonic that could play DVDs. The poor sales of this iteration^note Likely due to its $500 asking price, significantly more money than it would have cost to just buy a GameCube and a separate DVD player, plus both the American and European branches showing little interest in the device to begin with, meant it was never sold overseas.
  • Nintendo had considered stereoscopic 3D (the final hardware is capable of doing such, and Luigi's Mansion was developed with this function in mind), a touchscreen peripheral, and motion controllers for the GameCube at various points, according to interviews with R&D staffers. All of these features eventually became the core aspects of future hardware, however.
  • An official LCD screen add-on was considered for the system, and even showcased at E3 2002, but was ultimately scrapped. An Iwata Asks interview about the Nintendo 3DS explained this was due to the 3D capabilities of the screen making it more expensive to produce than the system itself.
  • The GameCube was supposed to have a greater focus on online support, but concerns of piracy thanks to an exploit in Phantasy Star Online led to Nintendo pushing online support aside.
  • The system was capable of reading a 2043-block memory card, but Nintendo never released an official one. Third parties eventually did, however.
  • The GameCube service disc, as well as the official SDK, hint that the GameCube was planned to be backwards compatible with the Nintendo 64, or at the very least its controllers and other accessories. Whether this meant the system was going to be cartridge-based as well or simply have an additional cartridge slot is unknown.
  • At one point, Nintendo considered releasing a portable version of the GameCube that could connect to a TV using a docking station. While the idea didn't pan out at the time, they would revisit it during the development of other hardware, before it finally came into fruition with the Nintendo Switch.
• Nintendo DS:
  • A new iteration of the Game Boy was originally planned to serve as the successor to the Game Boy Advance, and developed under the codename "Iris." The project was going smoothly, but when former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi suggested that Nintendo's next handheld should have two screens, it morphed into a new project under the codename "Nitro", which would become the Nintendo DS.
  • Early designs for the Nintendo DSi had two cartridge slots for DS games. The idea was abandoned due to internal distaste for how thick it made the revision, as well as most of the engineering department stating that they'd never personally use such a feature.
• Wii:
  • Prior to Project Revolution (the codename for the Wii), there was Project Vegas. Planned to be a more traditional console, it would have had graphics, a GPU from ATI, and overall specifications comparable to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; however, the low sales of the GameCube convinced Nintendo to take a different approach to designing their next console by going "go off the tech roadmap" to create a system that would appeal to non-gaming audiences.
  • The Wii was going to have more fully-developed motion controls from the beginning, but Nintendo had to scale it back due to the high cost meaning they'd have to sell the system at a higher price point. Improved motion controls were added a few years later through a controller revision, with older controller being able to gain the same functionality through the "MotionPlus" add-on.
  • The Wii hardware is capable of playing DVDs, and unused code, text saying "Watch DVD," and a DVD banner suggest it was originally going to feature DVD playback but was scrapped, likely because Nintendo believed it wasn't worth the licensing fee. Early models can have this enabled with homebrew, with later models being unable to do so due to the drive chip being changed. Similarly, there are also graphics indicating plans to have the Wii Remote act as a TV remote, which was later implemented with the Japan-only TV guide channel TV no Tomo Channel G Guide for Wii, followed by the Wii U's GamePad being able to function as a universal TV remote.
• Nintendo 3DS:
  • Early development for a DS successor saw Nintendo planning to use a Nvidia GPU known as the MG20. This would be scrapped for unknown reasons by 2009, in favor of a modified PICA200 chip from Digital Media Professionals.
  • New Nintendo 3DS wasn't going to feature "super stable 3D", which was an improved facial tracking system that allowed for wider field-of-view in which the handheld's 3D effect could function. Nintendo had originally planned to save the feature for their proper follow-up to the 3DS, however Shigeru Miyamoto was concerned that the other improvements (faster CPU, built-in NFC, ZL and ZR buttons and C-stick) wouldn't be enough of an incentive for existing users to upgrade to the new revision, and pushed for the inclusion.
  • A direct successor to the Nintendo 3DS was in development from 2013 to 2014. Known as Project Indy, it would have not only retained all of the 3DS's features, but also boast GPS & 3G/4G capabilities and the ability to stream (and later dock) to TVs. In addition, it would have used a cut-down version of the Wii U's GPU, easing game development by having both their home and handheld systems share a development platform. By the end of 2014, this iteration of the project was ultimately scrapped in favor of having a single device as the successor to both the 3DS and Wii U; some of its concepts — namely the ability to dock to a television and the suggested "Nintendo Switch" product name — being recycled into the concurrent Project NX.
• Wii U:
  • Early in the console's development, rather than a full-sized screen, the idea was for a much smaller screen akin to the Sega Dreamcast's VMU that would function as an evolution of the Wii's WiiConnect24 service, displaying messages, content update notifications, etc.
  • As seen during the system's initial reveal at E3 2011, there were plans for the GamePad controller to use circle pads just like the Nintendo 3DS. The final version, showcased the following year, would use standard analog sticks.
  • The Wii U is capable of supporting two GamePad controllers at once, but no game was ever made that makes use of this feature, partly because the low install base ultimately disincentivized such projects.
• Nintendo Switch:
  • Early on, the NX was planned to use the Mont Blanc chip developed by STMicroelectronics, which was intended for the 3DS successor known as Project Indy. However, for several reasons — the Mont Blanc chip was less powerful than the Wii U and not being ready for tape-out, and Nvidia also happening to pitch them the use of their existing Tegra X1 chip alongside a new graphics API around the same time, Nintendo would switch to using the latter in early 2015.
  • Nintendo planned internally for the system to release by Holiday 2016, based on documentation discussing the console's proposed manufacturing timeline that was found in the 2020 Gigaleak. The system would end up being delayed to March 2017 for a number of reasons: mainly the OS still being incomplete and launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild needing a few extra months as well.
  • According to Omar Álvarez, who acted as a public relations representative for Nintendo Spain during the 2010s, Nintendo did consider using the Wii branding for a third time by calling the console the "Swiitch".
  • As many have speculated, 1-2-Switch was planned to be a pack-in title for the system similar to Wii Sports, but was instead released standalone to keep the cost down. In the end, the system released with no games included.

Sega

• Sega Genesis:
  • The SVP chip port of Virtua Racing for the Sega Genesis was supposed to be a market test for a standalone SVP lock-on cartridge for other games, with a re-release of Virtua Racing and a port of Virtua Fighter being among the games in development. A combination of expensive production costs and Sega's Japan branch actively objecting the development of the add-on in favor of a new console killed the idea, though Code Masters coincidentally patenting an identical design just days before Sega could definitely didn't help. The version of Virtua Fighter made for the SVP chip would be ported to the Sega 32X, instead.
  • The Genesis/Mega Drive was going to be the first console to receive a VR headset accessory, but Sega's lawyers put a kibosh on the plan after it was found that the beta testers were getting motion sickness due to the system's low power causing constant lag.
  • There were plans for an online multiplayer peripheral called the Edge-16, which was designed with fighting games like Ballz in mind, but it never saw release due to change in upper management at AT&T; the company was partnering with Sega to create the device, but the new executives wanted nothing to do with such projects and pulled support. The company hired to create the peripheral, PF Magic, would use the remaining funding to create the Petz series instead.
• A successor to the Game Gear was planned in the mid-1990s and would have featured a touchscreen. Sega abandoned the idea once it became clear that the development costs would be too high.
• Sega Saturn:
  • The Sega Saturn’s Video Hardware had a compatibility mode that was backwards compatible with the Genesis’ VDP instructions. That, and the presence of a Motorola 68K CPU as a co-processor, as well as the expansion cart slot being vertical and accepting co-processor cartridges, suggested that the Saturn at one time was going to be backwards compatible with the Genesis.
  • Sega was originally developing a low-cost version of the Saturn in a bid to save their standing in the North American market, but the product was scrapped after just two prototypes; likely because it was decided that focus would be better placed on the Sega Dreamcast, which was in parallel development, and Sega of America's Bernie Stolar hated the Saturn anyway.
• Sega Dreamcast:
  • While developing the console, Sega actually trialed two designs for it. One was called "Black Belt," which was designed by Sega of America and used a Motorola CPU and a 3dfx graphics chip. The other was "Katana," designed by Sega of Japan and featured a Hitachi CPU and a PowerVR graphics chip. That said, Sega of Japan never actually planned on using the "Black Belt" design, instead using it purely to get information and software that would improve their own development tools, which led to 3dfx suing Sega and getting an out-of-court settlement.^note (Not that 3dfx lasted long enough to make use of the money; they went bankrupt a few months later and their remnants were bought out by nVidia... who ironically were also in talks to develop the graphics processor for the Dreamcast very early on, before either 3dfx or PowerVR got involved.)
  • One of the peripherals planned for the system before its discontinuation was a pointer-based motion controller.◊
  • The motion-sensing camera peripheral DreamEye was supposed to be released worldwide, but it ended up being Japan-only after the Dreamcast's discontinuation.
  • Sega was actually in talks with Microsoft in allowing the Xbox to play Dreamcast games. However, talks broke down when Microsoft refused to allow Internet connectivity for Dreamcast games. And if that hadn't killed the deal, then the cost of adding in the hardware necessary for the Xbox to emulate the Dreamcast would have done, as the former wasn't quite powerful enough to emulate the Dreamcast purely in software, and Microsoft were taking a big enough loss on the system as it was.

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Other Video Game Systems

• Atari
  • Atari was almost the North American distributor for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The deal fell through in the 11th hour due to a dispute between Atari, Nintendo and Coleco over the porting rights to Donkey Kong delaying finalization of the agreement, just in time for the The Great Video Game Crash of 1983 to hit, Atari's CEO to be fired for management issues and insider trading, and for parent company Warner Communications to sell Atari Inc. to former Commodore head Jack Tramiel to recoup their financial losses. Nintendo of America would end up selling the console themselves, hiring some of the now laid-off Atari employees to assist them.
  • In 1988, Atari Corporation was approached by Sega about distributing the Sega Genesis in the United States. According to Atari Corp. president Michael Katz, the conversations went pretty far, but once again fell through towards the end when Tarmiel and Sega chairman Dave Rosen couldn't agree on the terms.
  • A 32-bit console called the Atari Panther was planned for an Autumn 1991 release, but was canned. The official reason given was that the concurrent development of the 64-bit Atari Jaguar was going so smoothly, Atari decided to focus solely on that system, as its specs would prove to make it even more impressive compared to Nintendo and Sega's 16-bit offerings and future-proof it against their successors.^note Other reports indicate that the actual reason was that the Panther's design was fundamentally flawed in multiple regards — including having less than a quarter the amount of RAM featured by the Genesis or SNES, and various show-stopping bugs in the graphics processor — and that Atari realized that by the time they fixed the issues, the Jaguar would be ready for release anyway. At the time of cancellation, the console was six months away from launch, and at least half a dozen developers were in the midst of making games for it.
• In 1985, Hasbro began work on a game console code-named "Project NEMO", later to be renamed the Control-Vision, that would run games off of VHS tapes rather than cartridges—a predecessor to the Interactive Movie fad of the early 90's. Before the system's cancellation in 1989, several games had been created for the system, including a Police Academy tie-in game and an interactive music video of "You Might Think" by The Cars. Hasbro abandoned the project because the system was far too expensive compared to the NES, and the prototypes were placed into storage in a warehouse never to be seen again. It does have one strange legacy, though: the infamous Night Trap was originally intended to be released on the system.

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