An alternate history I've always thought of is, what if Dreamcast lasted a few more years, Gamecube released in 2000 and if Xbox didn't come out until 2003. This may seem like multiple what if scenarios but in this specific timeline they all go together. The Dreamcast's first year would be unaffected, selling about 1.5 million units during the launch window and sales slowing down throughout the year until it got its first price cut to $150 in Aug of 2000. The Gamecube is this timeline would be released in Sept 2000 and priced at $250 with Luigi's Mansion and Wave Race being 1st party launch titles. It sold about 500,000 units in September and about 1.2 million by the end of the year. In Oct Playstation 2 was released, its history would remain the same in this timeline, selling out through the holiday season. In 2001 DC faced stiff competition but sold well due to PS2 still being hard to find and GC being more expensive, plus it had a much larger catalog of games to play. In June, Sega and Nintendo released games starring there lead mascots. Sonic Adventure 2 and Super Mario Sunshine went head to head, releasing in the same week and quickly becoming the highest selling games for there respective systems. In the latter half of the year, PS2 and GC sales began to surge with FFX, MGS 2, GTA 3 releasing for PS2 and Rogue Squandron 2, Perfect Dark and Smash Bros for GC. By the end of the year DC sales had reached 6 million in North America compared to 8 million for PS2 and 4.5 million for GC. In May 2002 all consoles cut there price, DC to $129, GC to $199 and PS2 to $249. DC sales decrease throughout the year but was able to release some high profile 1st party titles such as Shinobi, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Super Monkey Ball 2. Top games of the year for GC were Metroid Prime, Wind Waker and Star Fox Adventures. Top PS2 games were Vice City, Kingdom Hearts and Ratchet & Clank. Sales by the end of the year were DC-7.8 million, GC-8.2 million and PS2-17 million. In early 2003 Sega announced that they had made a deal with Microsoft to create the hardware for there new home console, the XBOX to be released at the end of the year and be price at $299. DC sales plummeted due to the announcement and received a price cut to $79. Most of the releases of the year from Sega were sequels such as Power Stone 3, Crazy Taxi 3 and Super Monkey Ball 3. In Sept PS2 and GC cut there prices by $50. The XBOX in this timeline is smaller due to coming out 2 years later and its key launch titles are Sonic Heroes and an enhanced port of the PC game, Halo. By the end of the year DC sales had reached 8.5 million, GC-10.5 million, PS2-25 million and XBOX-1.5 million
When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.
