What are things you would change in the history of gaming?

[spydersvenom]

Sega passing on the Playstation. Most people are aware that Nintendo gave Sony the shove-off on the SNES Playstation and instead took the licensing deal with Phillips, but I don't think many know (or remember) that Sega did the same thing. Sega of America's Tom Kalinske met with Olaf Olafsson, who suggested making a new CD console that would be a step up from the Sega CD and made by Sony. Apparently the Sega of Japan board turned down Kalinske and when he went to President Nakayama the same thing happened. I only say this because Sega came damn close to competing with Nintendo in the 16-bit era and I wonder what would have happened if we had the Sega Playstation instead of Sony crushing the Saturn in 1995 (US/Europe only, Saturn lived a long and happy life in Japan).

 

[carlosrox]

-Actually make Half-Life 3
-Include motion free controls for Star Fox Zero
-Let Kojima finish Silent Hills
-Capcom and Konami should find their passion again

 

[Yohane]

Lootboxes and every other highly exploitive practices being used in the industry.

I just want good games without all those bs.

 

[caff!!!]

A heavy, from the start push to promote games to not male boys

I would say to Nintendo that the SNES CD addon is a good idea and that they should embrace that technology.

Click to shrink...

So it can meet the same fate all the other CD devices of the era met: rampant piracy, and a system upgrade that could had burned more nintendo users when momentum went back to carts for the N64

Ditch the entire idea of a video game console being an all-in-one entertainment system. The implementations of it are always too limited. All the apps on the Xbox are either half-assed or completely broken. Just don't. If I want to watch Netflix, I'd get a streaming box. If I want to watch movies or series on disc, I'd buy a blu-ray player. Focus on one thing and do it well. I can't even get Microsoft's own Mixer to properly work and that's something I'd almost accept as a core feature.

Click to shrink...

Microsoft had some grand goals for the Xbox One that never came to be, simply put it would had been an IPTV DVR trojan horse into (at least in the US) homes that would had made up for weaker hardware, that huge NFL deal, and the always online requirement. Cable companies got cold feet at the last moment, leaving Microsoft in a bad place that wasn't helped by poor marketing.

Now sure, application quality aside, the all-in-one system was supposed to be that and not the passthrough box required mess that was shipped.

 

[mrtl]

Ditch the entire idea of a video game console being an all-in-one entertainment system. The implementations of it are always too limited. All the apps on the Xbox are either half-assed or completely broken. Just don't. If I want to watch Netflix, I'd get a streaming box. If I want to watch movies or series on disc, I'd buy a blu-ray player. Focus on one thing and do it well. I can't even get Microsoft's own Mixer to properly work and that's something I'd almost accept as a core feature.

 

[SMD]

.

 

[4859]

I would have made it so the seventh generation would have actually been able to find some standards and say 'No' to horse armor marketing and PR.

 

[Xeontech]

I would go back in time and force all major AAA publishers to continue to make Beat em up style brawlers until today, so we could all be in brawler heaven at this point in time and the genre wouldn't be a forgotten art form.

 

[A Syrian Communist]

1. Prevent consoles/electronics from being marketed primarily towards young boys only back in the 70s.
2. Unionize early.
3. Go to the meeting where someone suggested a "Werehog" for the first time and slap him square in the face.

 

[Cranston]

Microsoft and Rare.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

• Bloodborne 2 released in 2017 being the Sci-Fi-Souls we are all waiting for
• Half-Life 3 being released
• MGS 5 not open world, with actual boss fights and a totally different story
• DMC 5 instead of that awful DmC game
• Final Fantasy 13 and 15 with an improved gameplay of Final Fantasy 12. FF13 not a corridor-simulator and FF15 not open world. Instead both with smaller connected areas like FF12. FF15 with a finished story.
• All Kingdom Hearts sequels/prequels/spin-offs except Birth by Sleep never made. Instead Kingdom Hearts 3 released in 2008 for PS3.
• Warhawk 2 and Mag 2
• Freespace 3

 

[adel]

Assign Tabata to direct FFXV in 2010 and give him 6 years to develop the game.

 

[thelongestj]

I would have never let Jim Ward be hired as president of LucasArts, because they only released mediocre Star Wars games after he became president. I mean I didn't like when Simon Jeffry became president either because they stopped making adventure games and all the good people who had made so many of the classics of the 90's had left. He also cancelled the Sam and Max game and the Full Throttle sequel, but in the latter case that was probably for the best.

 

[ThaNotoriousSOD]

I'd take SOCOM: Confrontation out of the hands of Slant Six and give it to a 2nd smaller team at Zipper led by David Sears. (I'D SAVE SOCOM AND ZIPPER DAMMIT!!!)

 

[Trouble]

I would have made No Man's Sky launch as an early access title for $40.

 

[newgamewhodis]

Stop GG from ever being a thing.

GG set the gaming community back a few years, and eventually dribbled into the mainstream, introducing the world to such "lovely" characters as Sargon and Milo Yiannopolous.

Even today, I meet people who are smart and yet cannot put away the "ethics" angle of GG. Journalistic reform is an important issue regardless of the medium--that doesn't make GG's motives and misogyny any less vile.

 

[Gelf]

A world where arcade style games remained popular which by extension would likely also mean Sega and their former collection of high class development studios would still be going strong, the Dreamcast would have probably done better etc. Would also be good for the likes of Capcom.

 

[Avantgarde]

Help Looking Glass and Ion Storm live longer and make more games.

 

[Rosejamie95]

Keep Bungie at microsoft let them development destiny and halo.

 

[danlher]

A heavy, from the start push to promote games to not male boys

So it can meet the same fate all the other CD devices of the era met: rampant piracy, and a system upgrade that could had burned more nintendo users when momentum went back to carts for the N64

Click to shrink...

Probably that device would have failed, but on the other hand, it would have kept Sony working by Nintendo's side and without the PS1 maybe SEGA would still be alive on the hardware space. The Dreamcast is such a nice console with such a sad short life.

 

[TheMisterManGuy]

* Keep Sega in the console business
* Prevent the Wii U from ever happening
* Make sure the Switch, someway, somehow, was the Wii's actual successor rather than the Wii U

 

[Nairume]

In my alternate timeline, EA never shuts Pandemic and instead gets support to release a more defined and advertised Saboteur. EA sees their formula as an easy way to handle an open world microtransaction/dlc model that manifests as Mercs 3. Meanwhile, the money they get from this gets EA off of Visceral's case for monetizing Dead Space 3, which instead comes out as a great finale to the series.

Pandemic, having actually had experience working on Battlefield type games, is then instead tapped to make Battlefield Hardline instead of Visceral, who is free to start their Star Wars project with a full team. They flounder a little, but support from Pandemic helps them better manage working on Star Wars as a license. They still take a while to work on it.

Pandemic finishes Hardline. EA is starting to want an open world Star Wars game that can be monetized. They initially consider redirecting Visceral's project before realizing that Pandemic has a successful framework for an open world shooter in Mercs/Sabateur. They make what is basically Star Wars Sabateur while Visceral is allowed to finish their game.

Everyone wins.

 

[Indelible]

I would've had Sega not release the 32X and give the Saturn a real release date. They basically handed Sony and Nintendo that generation through terrible decisions. Not saying Sega would've won that gen but they could've at least put up a fight.

 

[FFNB]

For me it's mainly studio closures and franchises being left to stagnate.

Like, in my history, Clover Studios would have never shut down, Team Silent wouldn't have disbanded, Square-Enix would have remained Squaresoft, while Enix continued to be a worthy competitor for JRPGs. My favorite franchises like Silent Hill, Castlevania, Ape Escape, Colony Wars, etc, would still be going strong. That kind of stuff.

But things are what they are, so I don't really dwell on the past too much. Fortunately for me, there is an insane amount of quality gaming content to consume, and I don't think the industry is going to Hell in a hand basket, just dealing with growing pains, and shifting market trends. I hope for it to stabilize, but I can't say my gamer needs aren't being met.

Edit: Oh, and on a personal level, I'd have wanted games and the gaming industry to be more inclusive to women and minorities from the get go. Gaming has never been solely for straight white boys (as myself and other minorities and women who have been gaming for decades can attest to). I think a stronger initiative for inclusivity and diversity at the inception of the industry could have provided a plethora of interesting and unique advancements and contributions to the industry. I'm happy that things have been slowly changing and improving, but I can't help but imagine what the industry would be like if we had more prevalent diversity for the past four decades.