10 Ways Nintendo Were Almost COMPLETELY Different

1. The Nintendo PlayStation

Jumpman Carpenter
Sony

It's common knowledge that Nintendo and Sony were originally meant to make the PlayStation together. After the two companies disagreed about key issues, they parted ways and Sony decided to create their own console. However, this story is a gross oversimplification.

In 1988, Nintendo made a deal with Sony to manufacture a CD-Rom add-on for the Super Nintendo. Three years later, Sony unveiled a console that accepted SNES cartridges or SNES-CDs.

Since Sony developed the SNES-CDs, the company believed they should have more control over the software licensing. They also believed cartridges were dated and Nintendo should only use CDs for their games. As a result, the Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, scrapped the deal, forcing Sony to work on the PlayStation alone.

Yamauchi then crafted a deal with the Philips company to make a CD-based system. Not only did this system fail spectacularly, Sony's PlayStation became the first console to sell 100 million units; nearly triple the amount as the Nintendo's console at the time, the N64.

Sony's successor, the PlayStation 2, sold 155 million units, making it the most successful console ever. It's ironic how Nintendo worrying about Sony gaining too much power turned the company into Nintendo's biggest rival.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows