This sounds fun, alright what if...

Nintendo went out of business during the fifth generation?

Sega stayed in the console business and became real competition against the ps2?

Multiplayer never became that popular on consoles?

Mobile gaming became as popular as it is now during the gameboy advance days?

MMOs were never made?

The hard part of this history is figuring out who would make this Sonic game, what project(s) it would replace, and how would they get four speedsters on one screen?

Some of these would be tricky to pull off. Remember, the secret to making these things is not having a result in mind, but a turning point. For instance, how would Nintendo have gone out of business? Where would Sega have gotten the funding to compete with the PS2? How would you prevent something as prevalent as multiplayer from becoming a big deal?

Frankly, if you wanted to minimize the importance of multiplayer on consoles, you'd have to go VERY far back. Remember, the first console games EVER were mutliplayer only!

Oh my mistake when I said multiplayer I meant online multiplayer on consoles. But that would be hard to pull off now that I think about it. Maybe a better question would be what if online multiplayer never came to consoles? Or what if people perfered online multiplayer on pc more than on consoles than they already do?

As for Sega I can't really say much 'cause I don't know what really killed their console. Was it just 'cause the ps2 came out and everyone went to go get one? And igoned the dreamcast completely. Or was because they had debts they couldn't pay back and had to stop selling the dreamcast. 

Now for nintendo, what if the gameboy never took off like it did, or if even fewer people went out and got a n64 because the ps1 got more games? I don't really know I'm just thinking of ways that could had progress the situation. 

I think the best way to address the first idea is "What if there never was an Xbox Live for the original Xbox?" That would retard online gaming on consoles.

As for Sega, they failed for a lot of reasons. In fact, that's one of the reasons I haven't written an alternate history about them yet; they failed on so many levels for nearly a decade before ultimately leaving the console business. People ignoring the DreamCast in favor of the PS2 was the straw the broke the camel's back, but the problems go way far back.

As for the GameBoy never taking off, I'd create a history where Tetris wasn't made into a Nintendo exclusive. That sounds simple enough. As for how the N64 could have done worse, I don't see how that would have happened. I mean, other than Rare, Nintendo made the platform by themselves.

Let's say Sonic Team worked on this instead of Knuckles Chaotix, that would give them enough time to have it ready by launch, and STI would be free to keep making Sonic Xtreme.

Because people have mentioned this, here are some of the reasons why Sega no longer makes consoles.

1. Genesis Add-Ons

In the late 4th generation, Sega made a bunch of expensive and unsucessful peripherals for theiraging Genesis, ala Microsoft with the Kinect. Unlike Microsoft, it didn't work. These pieces of hardware cost Sega a lot of money to make, and they ultimately had little support and a poor reception.

2. $399 US Dollars

The Saturn came out a few months ahead of the PlayStation, sure, but at an extra cost of $100. Think about all the flak the PS3 got back in the day for its price. Now imagine a cheaper system with at least as much support coming a few months later.

3. Lame Launch Lineup

The Saturn launched so early, it barely had any games available, especially in the West. In fact, there were only six games at launch, and none of them were huge ala Super Mario 64.

4. Complicated Hardware

Although more powerful than the PS1 in some ways, the Saturn was far harder to program for. Therefore, a lot of games didn't run as well on it, or were only affordable to make for the PSone.

5. Poor Reltaionship with retailers

Retailers felt betrayed by the Saturn's early launch, since they thus didn't have any to sell. Thus, some retailors refused to stock Sega hardware.

6. No Sonic 4 or 3D game

Sonic pretty much skipped the Saturn. That's like a Nintendo platform without Mario. Think about it.

7. Poor American Management

The guys in charge of Sega's American division made some very stupid decisions. Such as not bringing over any RPGs right before Final Fantasy 7 and Pokemon made the genre huge.

8. Abandoning the Saturn early

Sega announced that it was shifting its attention to the DreamCast in 1997. So far two years, Sega had no console in Western markets.

9. The PS2 was a huge deal

For jus $100 more than the Dreamcast, you could play PS1 games, PS2 games, and DVDs. Like the PS3, it was the cheapest DVD player on the market.

10. No money was left

Sega had been losing money since 1993 on their various failures, and unlike giant tech companies like Sony, had no giant resovior of cash. They had to quit while they weren't too far behind.

About the four speedsters on one screen, I guess it would work like Sonic 2 and onwards, except not just Tails, but maybe Amy Rose and Knuckles and perhaps Metal Sonic (Unlockable?) playable as well depending on how many controllers are plugged in.

You also forget that the competition pressure from the very existence of the PS1 hurt the Saturn tremendously.

I'm working on an epic history. The big one: What if the PlayStation was never created?

So far, I've come to a few conclusions, but I'm being held back by my limited knowledge of all things Sega. Does anybody have a concrete reason why the Saturn lacked a real Sonic game? How much did the Saturn cost at what points in time? And what Saturn games should I know more about? Thanks!