Worlds of What If: A Series of Video Game Alternate Histories

[F0X]

Salnax said:

F0X said:

What if the DS was never made?

Despite experimentation with a dual-screen handheld design, Nintendo scraps plans for the DS due to concerns about how the dual-screen feature will be recieved, along with the cost and potential battery drain. Instead, in late 2005, Nintendo releases the GameBoy Touch - a handheld similar in design to the GBA and PSP, featuring a single Circle Pad on the upper left side, a built-in camera, and a single-touch screen with an included stylus. It would be roughly as powerful as the PSP and be the first Nintendo system to have a major, integrated online infrastructure. Players will complain about Friend Codes, but the system's first true killer app, Mario Kart: Ultra Circuit, is heralded as a great online experience upon release in March 2006.

Launch Price: $199
Notable Launch Titles: Super Mario 64 DX, Madden NFL 2006, WarioWare: Touched!, Kirby Canvas Curse, Trace Memory, Yoshi Touch & Go, Ridge Racer Touch.

Super Mario 64 DX is seen as an excellent remake with spiffed up graphics and decent analog control. The best 3D platformer on a handheld, critics say at the time. Kirby Canvas Curse is well-recieved for demonstrating how well touch gameplay works. An impressive tech demo at launch. WarioWare is similarly praised, and Trace Memory is a pleasent surprise for some.

Notable Titles for 2006:
Nintendogs
Mario Kart: Ultra Circuit
Castlevania: Tears of Silence (I am good at coming up with Castlevania titles, no?)
Advance Wars: Fusion Strike
Sonic Rush
Nanostray
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Resident Evil: Retouched
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Touch Tetris
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Brain Age
New Super Mario Bros.
Yoshi's Island DS
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
Lego Star Wars II
Me and My Katamari

Of the games released in 2006, Mario Kart, NSMB, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, and Brain Age come out on top in sales. Mario & Luigi, Metroid Prime: Hunters, NSMB, Mario Kart, Castlevania, and Advance Wars are very warmly recieved by critics. Ace Attorney, Nanostray, and Trauma Center find a sizable niche audience.

To be continued. Consider this a tag for future editing.

Any ideas as to how this would affect DS and PSP sales?

DS sales would be nonexistant. I'm going off the premise that Nintendo never made the DS and instead decided to focus solely on the GameBoy line. A GameBoy-branded handheld one screen (a touchscreen), graphical capabilities comparable to the PSP (though not quite on par), a built-in camera, a Circle Pad and a greater online focus. I'm assuming that the second screen really wasn't essential in the first place for most DS games, which is probably true...

PSP sales would be overtaken almost instantly as both systems are to be released in late 2005, and the existence of Monster Hunter on Nintendo portables would steal some of the PSP's thunder in Japan. The "GBT" wouldn't compare in terms of Western support from developers like Rockstar, though. I can imagine PSP sales of about 65 million. Would be lower if Nintendo put a good deal of effort into making their handheld into more of a multimedia device, but I don't expect that.

Lifetime sales of the GBT, however, will be lower than the DS because of a higher initial price and a slightly shorter lifespan. I think somewhere around 125 million would be reasonable.