Alternate history: N64 goes with CDs instead of cartridges

[The_Liquid_Laser]

PortisheadBiscuit said:
A common consensus (myself included) is that FF7 would've made N64 a lot more successful. However playing devil's advocate for a second, how do we know Nintendo would've treated FF7 the same way Sony did? Sony had a HUGE marketing campaign behind the game, it was everywhere, still one of the most hyped games I can remember and the push paid huge dividends for Sony. I dont see Nintendo investing with that same passion as Sony.

Here is my answer

A) It probably would have still sold well even if it didn't sell as much because of the huge marketing campaign.  Perhaps it sells 7m instead of 10m.  Final Fantasy 7 was still a game good enough to be considered the game of the generation (that and Ocarina).  Any game that stands out that much is going to sell.

B) The bigger factor was not how much Nintendo lost in losing FFVII.  Instead it was how much Sony gained.  Sony did not have a major killer app before FF7.  Sure they marketed the hell out of it, but they needed a game worth marketing.  Tomb Raider and Crash were good games, but not good enough to really make Playstation the #1 console.  FFVII was a true killer app.  Nintendo had killer apps like Mario 64.  It ended up losing because it didn't have a large quantity of games.  The quality was fine.  On the other hand Sony was hurting on the quality side until FF7 released.  The console needed a flagship game.

KungKras said:
Nintendo would have won. But it would come at the price of the open worlds in Super Mario 64 and Zelda OoT, which would have been impossible without the fast access speed of cartridges.

I'm sure these games would have still been made, but yeah with modifications.  On the other hand if you use a CD then you can make a game much, much bigger.  Ocarina could have been made 10x bigger (or more), but it would have had slower loading times and it would have to be zoned off like earlier Zeldas.