If Sony did not exist: In 1995, the Saturn launched to some mediocre succuess in Japan for the first year, only to be toppled by Nintendo. Had Sony not of taken the market so brutally, and quickly, we would of had the 2-tier race. However, unlike the MD-SNES era, I do believe Sega would of come out on top. The Saturn was a pretty decent piece of hardware , and would of ending up out-selling the N64 18/10m Units. The major issues would be that Nintendo wouldn't of changed their horrible anti-3rd party business practices. Nintendo was by far, the worst company to work for as they had brutal business practices concerning 3rd parties, that led them to be the suck-fest they were from 1995-2005. However, with only Sega to garner sales, some of the lost 3rd parties would of stayed with N64. I predict that Capcom would of gone with Sega stronger, and we might of even seen SE stay with Nintendo, who knows. In the US, the N64 would of led with pretty strong sales. The N64 did pretty well, whereas the Sat was pretty weak. With no Sony, the Saturn would of done a bit better, but not quite to N64 levels. I would assume around a 30/20 split between N64 and Saturn, with other smaller 3rd parties out there. Europe would of gone Sega at some point, as Nintendo didn't have an ultra-strong base. We probably would of seen 20/10 between Sega and Nintendo. Overall, Sega and Nintendo would be locked in an eternal battle, with neither really coming out on top. If MS never came about with Sony and Nintendo just doing battle, Sony would of been in a far better position with the PS2, as it was (imo) a bigger competitor with Sony than Nintendo. Overall, the market would be much smaller, as Sony was able to sell a $300 optical driven console. During the N64/PS1 era, we saw sales of 105/35/20, I doubt the Sega/N64 market would of been much stronger than 110m units. I can't even fathom what the PS2 era would of been like without Sony. If MS would of launched, in lieu of no Sony, I do believe MS would be in a much stronger position, if not nearing the lead with a large share of US and European markets, and maybe a slightly better market in Japan. Also, Phantasy Star Online launched on DC. MS merely stole alot of work Sega didn't have the cash to implement, and ended up being succuessful with it.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
