What If the Nintendo Play Station was actually released?

The N64DD - not the kind of discs we were thinking of

What about today?

So, where does this scenario bring us to when it reaches 2019? It's, obviously, impossible to say for absolute certainty. But we've come this far, so we might as well

Surprisingly, I actually picture Sega still making hardware, even now - provided that Nintendo releases their... whatever their version of the N64 is in this timeline... at the same time as Sony releases theirs. It's a pretty good possibility, since they both just finished designing hardware together a generation earlier. I'm guessing that two competitors in 1994 instead of one would be enough for even the hard headed executives at Sega of Japan to reconsider the Saturn's early U.S. launch. That should have at least given them the chance to improve the U.S. launch and be competitive.

It's always possible that Nintendo and Sony actually wind up enjoying working together... or at least see continuing to be partners more profitable for them both than competing. I find that highly unlikely. Even though Nintendo's snub at the CES was what got them motivated to release the Play Station (two words), I have a feeling we would have eventually seen the PlayStation (one word).

Nintendo, on the other hand, would have more than likely adopted the CD format - although whatever new system they used it with would still be weird somehow. This is Nintendo we're talking about here. Chances are they still would have used Silicon Graphics's 3D technology they used in the N64 - combining that with the improved memory that CDs have over cartridges - and you could have had something special.

It would have certainly fared better than the 64DD, that's for sure.