To Be This Good - An Alternate History of SEGA, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Console Wars

[TheDoofusUser]

So, I have decided to write an interesting TL where Nintendo never releases the N. E. S. as Donkey Kong doesn't exist, Miyamoto joins SEGA but also serves as a Mangaka for them for a couple of years as well, SoA remains the main holding of SEGA instead of SoJ, SEGA takes control of the Home Console market by themselves following Atari's collapse. There are two PoDs here : 1) Service Games never gets into problems with the government, so the American branch of SEGA stays in control instead of SoJ becoming the main holder of it. How does Service Games still becomes SEGA then? Well, in the late 60s, the CEO who is unnamed decides to rename the Company to be more catchy, shortening Service Games to SEGA and they continue to be a major Arcade maker going into the 1970s. 2) Shigeru Miyamoto goes to Tokyo where SoJ is stationed and meets the director of Games of SoA, a 47 year old man who will be the "Main Character" for a large part of this TL and they will form the power house for the SEGA consoles as Nintendo largely stays out of the console market without the success of Donkey Kong. This means that SEGA is likely to be the dominant console on its own. If anyone would be interested in helping me make the consoles, much appreciated. Now, let's begin.

---

Prologue
A Summer's Day in Tokyo

July 27th, 1977
​

Neil Martin Roland sighed as he sipped his coke bottle while looking over the paperwork that he needed to finish today. It hadn't been an easy day for him, the man was 41 year old and yet he felt he didn't have any real influence here in the company he worked for despite having dedicated the last few years to it, having graduated High School in 1954 and College in 1959 before he briefly volunteered for the Army in between the years of 1963 to 1967 to serve in Nam before being given leave, where he would join up at SEGA. For the last decade, he's been working for this company and only last year was he given the position of director of Game Development. As it turned out, the new Chairman wanted SEGA to enter the gaming market with original arcade and even console games and consoles of their own. Personally, he did see the appeal of Arcades and Consoles, but Atari had a stranglehold on the market and the market itself was getting saturated. There was going to be a crash at some point, he just knew it.

Then, there was also the fact that the team tasked with coming up with consoles and games were small, incredibly so. Neil expected that a team of at least thirty people would be needed. The higher-ups gave him eleven. Despite the understaffed and under-resourced team, they expected results and they expected them soon. The man sighed as he thought fondly about his wife, Melinda, just 29 years old and two months pregnant with their first child, back home in San Francisco waiting for him. He had been sent here for a short week long business meeting to speak with SEGA of Japan and get them to help out with the project (and fortunately they seemed largely on board) and on his last day, he had been told that there was a young man looking to speak with him about potentially helping out with what he was doing. Miya-something was the kid's name. So he decided to agree and scheduled a meeting with him for Wednesday, which was right now, then on Thursday, he'd be on his way back home. A sudden knock on the door grabbed his attention. Think of the devil and ye shall appear. "Come in." He said while looking up from his paperwork.

In walked in a single Japanese man, around his mid twenties, with long black hair and a nervous smile on his face. This must be the guy who wanted to speak with him. "Roland-senpai, I am honored to meet you." The kid said while bowing his head. "I am Miyamoto Shigeru."

Neil gave a small smile, this kid was showing him the respect he hadn't seen since 'nam. Hell, he was being given more respect then his own company was showing him. "Please kid, your just sixteen years younger than me.I don't want to feel any older, so drop the senpai. You can call me Roland-san or just Neil. Now please, take a seat." Miyamoto nodded and took the seat that was gestured to him. With introductions out of the way, Neil looked at the resume before him. Interesting resume, he had a love of art and manga and a degree in industrial design, apparently. "Says here you want to be a Mangaka...?" Miyamoto nodded.

"Yes, ever since I was young, I have always had a love for art, specifically Manga." The man had a small smile on his face as he spoke. "The stories it can tell, the worlds it can create. The possibilities are endless with it."

"You seem to really love it." Neil chuckled at the man's eagerness before he looked at him a bit more seriously. "So why did you want to come talk to me and not try and be a mangaka?" Shigeru looked down and let out a small laugh.

"My mother didn't like the idea. She wants me to have a stable job, one that pays well consistently. Manga is a very...fickle business and I heard you were open and in Tokyo, so I wanted to take my chances with you." The director of games nodded, that was a well enough statement.

"Well, we need artists and the more the merrier."

"So I have it? the job, I mean?"

"Well, we need to see how good you can draw..." He was handed some papers, drawings from the Japanese man as well as some toys. After looking at them for a few minutes, Neil spoke up. "...You're on. Book a flight to San Francisco Tomorrow, you're coming with me to America to help me make SEGA a successful brand in gaming."

"Thank you, Roland-san. I promise, you won't regret this." And with that, the kid was dismissed.

"Poor kid," Neil began, "doesn't know the sorry mess he's signed up for." Unknown to Neil, and Shigeru, this meeting and moment would lead to perhaps the most successful gaming company in history. Of course though, that was eight years from the present moment. As of right now, SEGA was a tiny fish in a large ocean, an ocean that was about to experience a massive drought.

 

[TheDoofusUser]

September 25th, 1979
​

"You want what?!" Neil Roland exclaimed in shock, standing up from his chair as he processed what had been asked of both him and his team. It had been two years since his business trip to Tokyo and his first meeting with Miyamoto that had created a strong partnership. There wasn't much that he and his small team of twelve people could do. There were secret negotiations and meetings with hardware companies to help create and manufacture the best console possible, because he knew how cheaply made other consoles at this time were. Hell, what Atari was doing at this moment was a prime example of that and their sheer hubris will be the end of them, he kept on telling SEGA and his team and funnily enough, Miyamoto and the CEO of SEGA agreed with him. So, when he was called in to this meeting with the CEO, Clifford Elias Wolfe, who had been made CEO and Chairman in 1975 after a brief power struggle with his predecessor, he expected to be asked and report on the progress of the console, currently code named Project Mercury, not what this meeting was actually about.

"You heard me." Wolf responded, taking a puff from his cigar before looking at Neil again. Cliff was a grizzled old man, sixteen years Neil's senior, he had served in the war, fighting in the Pacific and especially at places like Guadalcanal, Okinawa, and other battles in that theatre, he then served in Korea for the entirety of that war and then served to 1969 in Vietnam before he retired and was able to get a position in SEGA higher management while Neil had to work his way up. This man was fifty nine years old and viewed business as another war to fight and another way to destroy the enemy, especially now that he was, in effect, the general for his "army". Still, it didn't make what he was calling for any less insane. "I want you and that Jap to come up with some games for us to launch on the consoles, seven in total. I don't care if they are family friendly or not. The board also wants a mascot and their game in that lineup, so that one has to be family friendly I suppose. Finally, negotiate with some companies of cartoons and other groups to get licensing rights to make games based on their products. I don't care who you negotiate with, just get their game licenses. At least four." He then put the cig in the ash tray and clasped his hands together. "Think that can happen?"

"Cliff..." Neil was flabbergasted at the demands he was being given. Did he think that his team had endless resources? That they didn't need sleep? That they were miracle workers? "This is impossible, especially with such a small team that you've given me! Jesus, Cliff, I'm not a miracle worker!" Neil put a hand to his forehead, feeling the veins pounding as he realized the task he had been given. So much to do, so little resources to do it with, and he might have to face a severe crunch which would make everything of sub par quality. God, he needed a drink.

"I know that, Neil." Clifford sighed and looked down in a bit of shame. He saw Neil like a little brother so it hurt for him to be doing this. "I tried to get the board to see reason but they weren't having it. Says they want to get in to the market with as many games as possible to start making cash and returns in a year." He shrugged in defeat. "Best I could do is convince them to give you til 1983. If they like the progress you're making by 1981, they'll give you an extra two years if needed and expand your team to at least twenty nine, forty-one is the maximum." The CEO and Chairman of SEGA's face became apologetic when staring at his friend. "Sorry, Neil."

A sigh came from the younger man before he nodded in understanding. "It's fine, Cliff. Those asshats on the board don't know how difficult this situation is for me already, they just see the dollar signs and want to follow. Did you warn them about the crash that I think will come?" A nod. "What did they say?"

"That you're fear mongering and that gaming will never die."

"Of course they did." A breath was let out as he admitted defeat before Neil slowly stood up. "I'll try and meet the 1983 deadline. A lot can happen four years from now so who knows if it can happen between now and then. Keep fighting for me though."

"I will, Neil. You can count on that."

"Thank you." And with that, Neil left the office and began to make his own branch of the company, giving a call to Miyamoto and his team to prepare for a meeting on Thursday. In the meantime, he needed to prepare everything and plan them out as well. If the meeting went well, they would have their games planned out and the brands or titles they were seeking to license into SEGA console exclusives and if all that looked like it was going swell, he could be making the board really happy and that could only benefit him and his team.

---

September 27th, 1979
​

Now, the team was together, Neil, Miyamoto, and the other thirteen people working to make Project Mercury a success with good ideas for games, a company wide mascot, and games that could license. When Miyamoto was told about the work put on them, the poor man yelled in shock at how much pressure was being placed on them. If they didn't succeed and meet the deadline...Neil shuddered at what he knew would come for everyone involved here. Thankfully, Miyamoto did say he would work on making five mascots for the meeting before being asked what would be best. Neil had answered with "Cute and Cuddly, but with a cool factor too, to wow and hook teenagers." and so Miyamoto got to work and now, there was a rough draft of five potential mascots to choose from : Alexander the Antelope, Baxter the Buffalo, Sebastian the Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Willy the Wombat, all with unique quirks and ideas with their drafts. First things first, the mascot had to be decided. Then, everything else could be looked at. "Alright everyone, please take your seats." He gestured to the small team before him as he stood at a board with the five drawings Miyamoto and a board with "GAME IDEAS" written in marker at the top and a final board with "BRAND SUGGESTIONS" at the top as well, with the two other boards to be used to determine games and what brands to get licenses from. Once he was sure everyone was seated, he began speaking. "Now, we all know why we're here today. We've been given a nigh impossible task by Clifford and the Board and I want to do the impossible and make a miracle out of this. It will be hard, it'll be difficult, but nothing in life is easy and we didn't sign up to this job thinking it would be an easy pay day. Remember, Atari would try to destroy us if word of this ever leaked out, so we need to keep it hush hush and quiet for now. Are we all up to this task?" A loud chorus of 'Yes sir"s followed. "Good. Now then, onto our first order of business." He tapped the board with the drawings.

"The board wants a mascot to be the face of SEGA going forward. Fortunately, they're letting us decide what they look like and their personality. I tasked Miyamoto with making some rough sketches of five ideas and these five are the ones he came up with." He then turned to his Japanese friend, who smiled as the team applauded the drawings. "Miyamoto-san, think you can come up and give a brief description of each one?"

"I would love to, Roland-san." Shigeru then approached the board as Neil took a seat to give his good friend the opportunity to speak. "So first thing is that I am honored to know my drawings are liked by you guys and that we'll be deciding on who will be the face of this company going forward. Truly, I am so honored to know that." And with that, his attention turned to the board, starting with Alexander first as he began to describe the abilities and personalities of each potential mascot. "Now, before I begin, I would like to say I have more ideas I'd like to give for each one of these potential mascots, but picking the best one will really allow me to focus on them. So, let's start with Alexander the Antelope. As you can see, he has the body plan of an antelope with horns and everything and his personality is to fit the speedy and flighty nature of them. As for mechanics, he tends to jump high and run fast but only for short distances, so we might need to add some kind of mechanic for exhaustion to get him to work more efficiently. Then we have Baxter the Buffalo, who's a rough and tumble fighter and uses his horns to damage and destroy anything in his path with a charging motion. Next is Sebastian the Snake, who is slippery and sneaky and uses his body to get into crevices and do things others can't. Second to last is Sonic the Hedgehog, who can go really fast while collecting rings, which serves to give him lives as long as he has at least one on him and his personality is one that can get anything done while also being extremely laid back unless the situation calls for seriousness. Finally, we have Willy the Wombat, who can curl into a ball and use his claws to destroy things while having a calm and perceptive personality. Now, I know all five of these ideas seem rushed, but I made them within twenty four hours and so once we've picked, I'll be able to develop them further." And with that, Miyamoto took a seat and Roland went back up to the board.

"Alright." He clasped his hands together as he looked over the team. "Let's hold a vote to decide SEGA's mascot. Miyamoto and I won't vote in our first round so we don't influence anyone else to vote outside of how they'd like to vote. If a tie-breaker is needed, Miyamoto will vote next. Understood?" The team, Miyamoto included, nodded. "Alright. If you back Alexander the Antelope, raise your hand." No hands were raised. "Alright, no votes for him." He took the antelope down from the board. "Baxter the Buffalo, anyone?" Again, no hands. "Alright, so he's out. Sebastian the Snake" No hands were raised for him either. "Geez, no one here are a fan of snakes, eh? Understandable, though I do think that he had some good concepts behind him. Sonic the Hedgehog, if you back Sonic, raise your hand." Five hands were raised. Neil tallied the votes under Sonic's design before moving on to the final candidate. "So five votes for Sonic, any votes for-yep, I saw that one coming." Five hands were raised for Willy the Wombat and so Neil tallied his votes as well. "Alright, so Miyamoto, since you'll break the deadlock, who do you want to win this?"

"While I do like what I made for Willy, I have a feeling the board might like Sonic better and he'd be easier to market, so him." And with that, the official winner of the SEGA mascot vote was Sonic the Hedgehog as Neil drew only final vote under his drawing and then circled him. He could only imagine Cliff and the Board's reactions when they heard a Hedgehog was going to be their mascot.

"Now, with the mascot decided, let's head to our next one : Original SEGA Games that we can make. This will be all SEGA's IP so we can do whatever we like with it when we want. So ideas, hit me with them." One hand was raised and Neil pointed to him.

"How about a fighting game with about eight to ten fighters to choose from? The objectives in story mode is to beat the other fighters and be crowned tournament champion."

"Interesting, what should we call it?" Silence as the man thought before answering with a shrug.

"I don't know. Virtual Fighter, I guess." And with that, Neil wrote down the name and basic idea for the game. As he looked up,a few more hands were raised. He pointed at the one closest to him.

"A racing game with about seven tracks and the goal is to place in the top three out of fifty-seven racers on each track to win the story mode. Virtual Racer for the name." Neil nodded and wrote it down before looking up and pointing at another hand that was raised.

"How about a grimdark sci-fi game set in the far future of the 4700s where all galaxies are now interconnected. We follow the journey of a bounty hunter named Jessica Petria who grew up an orphan from infanthood and learned to fend for herself on a rural, almost abandoned human colony world. During a mission, she finds a young girl and has to fight her from the alien terrorists looking to enslave the poor girl while Jessica tries to save her. Name of the game can be Kranzel, after the name of the alien race that the terrorists are a part of." Neil nodded, he definitely liked that idea quite a bit, after all, while dark,it being that way would get teens and adults who had no families yet interested in purchasing the SEGA console and its games just to try it out.

"I like it, I like it a lot. We need to hammer it out some more, iron out the edges, but that could be a great idea going down the line." He said, writing it all down before looking at the board. Already, three ideas were going with Sonic. "Four ideas have now been made when we put Sonic in the mix. I think we can only do about nine games at the moment because the market is likely to crash soon and when that happens, gaming will be small and niche again. Focus small, focus light, and focus on quality will be our motto. So, what shall be our last three game ideas. Any suggestions?"

"How about an epic fantasy that has a knight restoring an exiled princess to her rightful throne to rule as queen of her kingdom while fighting a great evil. We can include some European, Chinese, and Japanese mythos in it as well as add in ideas from Tolkein and Lewis to bring in more ideas but we continue to put our own spin to it. For the name, The Tale of Emilia, after the name of the princess, Emilia von Wickten, a beautiful half-elf." Yet another wonderful idea. A fantasy game with fun and unique mechanics, enemies, and a gripping story while taking influence from some of the best fantasy stories of all time and the greatest myths of certain cultures would hook in players for a long time as well.

"Love that idea, I really do. This is really shaping up to be a good library." Neil said, writing up The Tale of Emilia before turning back to the crowd. "Alright, we got four more slots open. Any ideas on what can fill those slots?"

"How about two sports games, one for Baseball and one for Football. We can come up with random team names and have players be unnamed just to keep things fun and simple for us." Neil wrote down those ideas, titling each as 'SEGA Baseball League' and 'SEGA Football League' before turning back to the team where he pointed at two final hands being raised.

"How about a game being set in the trenches of the Great War in 1917 and you have to fight to take the enemies trench until the end of the war. Call it Trench Warfare." Neil nodded before looking at the final guy.

"How about a game where you play as a dog trying to save his boy and its just a regular world so your enemies and obstacles are stray dogs, cats, etc with bosses being cars and dog catchers. Maybe make a swarm mechanic where when you beat other dogs they join your pack and act as extra lives and attacks but you lose them of you get hit and at the end when you save your boy how many dogs you have changes the ending art and you and your pack and your boy live a hood happy life in the end? For a title, maybe Man's Best Friend?" The last man suggested and Neil wrote it down before speaking.

"Alright, we now have nine game titles that belong to us as original ideas and are exclusive to SEGA and SEGA alone. That will help us beef up our profits. Before I continue on, I need to ask this : Miyamoto, do you think you're up to the task of being the lead designer for all of these games? Levels, Characters, Abilities, Stories, Bosses, all that?" A nod.

"As long as I am given the proper time, resources, and support, I believe it can be possible. Just don't expect anything quickly." That caused the elder American to smile.

"I want quality, not quantity. We're not going to be like Atari and shit out shitty games and consoles every year just to make a quick buck, we're instead to focus on quality, enjoyment, and affordability, understood?" Nods from the team indicated he was heard clearly. "Good, now licensed games. I already have eight ideas and I think that will be enough. The games I'm suggesting is a Super-Man Game, a Star Wars Game, a Godfather Game, a Jaws Game, a Looney Tunes Game that focuses on the stories of Bugs Bunny, Speedy Gonzalez, and Tweetie Bird, a Scooby Doo Game, A Tom & Jerry Game, and a Flintstones Games. This way, adults and children have licensed games to play." He directed attention to the final board that had the licensing plans and ideas. "If that is fine with everyone, you can begin to leave. I'll be handling licensing negotiations on my own for the console and the games, you just get to work designing and planning for the games and the console itself. If we do well enough by 1981, the Board will gave us more resources, so do your best everyone." And with that, the meeting ended and Neil began to schedules dates to try and meet with the necessary people to get the rights. He knew it would be an uphill climb from the very start but if he didn't push hard, SEGA would likely stay away and he would be out of a job, something he didn't want one bit.

He just hoped that the board liked his team's ideas for games and the Mascot they had voted on together.

---

And with that, Chapter I is finished covering the events of 1979 and what Neil Roland is tasked with doing. Hopefully, the Timeline seems enjoyable at the moment and the games seems interesting enough that you would like to play it on your own ittl too. Chapter II will cover 1981, Chapter III will cover 1983, and Chapter IV will cover 1985 and the release of the console. Hope you all will enjoy what is to come overtime.

 

[TheDoofusUser]

December 18th, 1981
​

Neil was slightly trembling as he waited to be called on for his meeting with SEGA's board of directors. This was a meeting that was long overdue after months of delays and rescheduling throughout the last two years as constant events got in the way of him speaking with the people who, for all intents and purposes, owned SEGA. By the end of 1979, he had been able to sign an agreement with the companies that he was in talks with to produce parts of the console that would allow for SEGA to make the consoles and name it and only give away a small portion of its profits to the other companies until they had the proper experience and team to do it. Then, with that settled, Roland focused on getting the eight game licenses and after long talks with all the IP owners, he would finally achieve what was needed with the final one being Martin Scorsese giving the Godfather in October. At the same time, Cliff gave the Board Sonic the Hedgehog and the other original SEGA game ideas and while they didn't like it, they did somewhat approve of it and when reports of the successful licensing came in, they gave Roland to grow his team from a pathetic twelve to a strong and robust forty-five and with the console figured out, as well as graphical capacity, Roland placed Miyamoto in command of game design and had multiple people organized for the games with notes and stuff being written down. His hope was for a 1983 release, but judging by how difficult some of the games were being, he might have to delay it all to a 1985 release though.

"Neil Roland?" He looked up to see a young secretary, a young brunette with blue eyes that was probably in her late twenties, that was staring at him from a door. "The board will speak with you now." Neil nodded before standing up from his chair and following the secretary to the room with SEGA's board. As the woman left him alone in front of the door that had the name of the company on it. Neil took a few calming breaths to steel his nerves before knocking on the door.

"Come in." Came Cliff's voice. Neil grabbed the handle and twisted it, entering the room with a loud creak before shutting it behind him. Then he saw the nine individuals in business attire sitting before him and looking at him curious. There was Clifford Wolfe, the Chairman of SEGA for six years at this point and somewhat of a friend to Neil, flanked by eight other individuals dressed in the same attire. The director of SEGA Gaming Studios, as Neil's branch had been titled last year, gulped audibly in anticipation as this meeting would determine if he still had a job and if the board was truly happy with what he had planned. "Neil, it's great to see you again. How's Phil?" Cliff started off with a friendly tone, bringing up Neil's three year old son Phil, who was the light of his life and had given him motivation to work harder on this project. Neil smiled at the attempt to lessen the tension.

"He's doing good. Making me and Melinda proud each day at how much he grows and learns." A nod as Clifford took in the information before he began to speak.

"That's good to know, but I think we both already know what this meeting is about. How goes the progress for SEGA Games?" He asked while raising a brow at Roland, who gave a shrug in reply.

"I mean, it's going pretty smoothly in my opinion, though I wish we could be given more resources and manpower for this. Games are going along just fine, Sonic is looking really good and we think he'll be a smash hit, we've created some decent story ideas for Tale of Emilia and Kranzel that gamers could get invested into, and I've gotten the licenses to all the IP owners for the titles that we haven't made. I inked an agreement, the last one, with Scorcese a few months ago to make a Godfather film." Neil spoke candidly, hoping that none of them would realize that he was avoiding the big, and important, elephant in the room on purpose so he wouldn't have to explain why he wasn't bringing it u-

"And what of the console?" one of the directors asked and Neil visibly sagged. Yeah, he was afraid of that, the whole console thing. Bringing that up and talking about it was not something he was looking forward to.

"That...is going places." Neil tried to regain his cool and nerves so he could speak more on the console. "We already have three name ideas for it when we officially unveil it and announce its release date when given approval and we already have scripts for the marketing team as well as a basic design for the console, which is this." He then gave each of the Directors, and Cliff, a paper that had the basic design of the console they wanted on it. "I think it will go quite well with families and gamers." He hoped that was the extent of their questioning.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. "And what of the pricing?" another director asked, hands clasped together while holding his chin in them. Neil sighed and braced himself for the worse.

"We were hopeful at the start, but as we put more resources into it and made new tech, as well as making new tech, we're thinking the most likely price will have to be $400 if we want to break even." the moment his answer finished, the room not only went dead silent, it also got extremely chilly and Neil visibly shuddered as the entire board looked at him furiously.

Cliff cleared his throat, causing Neil to flinch, before speaking. "Neil, you do know the 2600 is at least $190, right?" A nod. "And what is 400 when 190 is subtracted from it?"

"...210, sir."

"Why does our console cost $210 more than the 2600, which we're competing against?"

"I mean, the technology a-a-a-" A slam on the table ended Neil's stuttering and caused him to jump.

"That doesn't mean anything!" The director who had done said action barked angrily. "that amount will severely hurt our bottom lines and families will be less willing to buy it!"

"Well, I said it is the most likely price, it doesn't have to be the final price." Silence before Clifford began to whisper with the other directors. After a few minutes, the huddle broke as the discussion ended and Clifford looked up to him.

"Neil, I'm using up the last of my good will here. The board and I agree that we should give you to March of 1985 to find a way to lower the price of the console or we'll can it and start from scratch. Don't waste this opportunity." Clifford spoke strictly and sternly, directing a harsh point in Neil's direction to emphasize his point. "You've done good for this so far over these last few years but a big mistake can end that. After this, the board will consider you a lost cause if you don't fix it, understood?"

Neil nodded. "Yes, sir! Thank you sir! I promise you won't regret this, none of you will!" And with that, he was waved off and Neil began to head to the team to tell them the news. His team lived another day, barely.

---

December 3rd, 1982​

"I got one!" In came the voice of a team member who Neil had sent out to purchase the latest game to come out for the Atari, E. T. the video game. Based on Spielberg's movie, the game was all on the shelves and had the team, and the board, worried if this would lead to Atari being truly undefeatable. They already had an Atari 2600, so now they just needed the game to test it out. Neil just had a gut feeling that this game was going to be totally awful, just a hunch. If proven wrong though, well, there goes SEGA gaming. The team member took out the game and popped it into the Atari to begin playing it...and almost immediately, the problems started. The constant pits, the disorienting movements, the lack of anything from the movie outside of a vague similarity. It was all awful.

"This...this is going to hurt the industry, really, really badly." Miyamoto said in a thick Japanese accent as he watched the gameplay as the playing team member cursed and yelled at the game for falling into a pit for the umpteenth time. Neil couldn't help but nod his head in agreement, grateful that his contracts had been ironclad and so none of the people he has signed with could legally leave them until 1987 at the latest.

"Bright side, I don't think Atari will be a threat to our console." He cheekily responded and Miyamoto chuckled in response. Thankfully, this would convince the board that he was moving on the right path and give him a few more years to plan out the idea and develop it so that they come out clean and polished. "$250 says this was made in three months."

"¥40,000 says it was made in seven weeks." The two shared the bet, one that would ultimately be paid in full in 2015, long after the aftermath of E. T. In the moment, however, they were just basking in the soon to come victory as years of patience, planning, and hard work would hopefully pay off in the end.