Did Nintendo help make PlayStation?

In 1989, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to begin development of a CD-ROM-based system known as the SNES-CD (also known as the "Nintendo Play-Station", with separated words) to be an add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that would allow for FMV and larger games. However, Nintendo broke the agreement and instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, which caused Sony to spin off their add-on into its own console called the PlayStation (with "PlayStation" as one word due to a copyright issue with the trademark "Play-Station" owned by Nintendo). Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega Mega-CD, Nintendo scrapped the idea of making an add-on entirely. As part of dissolving the agreement with Philips, Nintendo gave them the license to use five of their characters, including Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, for games on Philips's console called the CD-i, after the partnership's dissolution.

CD-i games from The Legend of Zelda series

Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure are action-adventure games produced by Philips for the CD-i as part of Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda" video game series. Not designed for Nintendo platforms, the games owe their existence to negotiations related to Nintendo's decision not to have Philips create a CD add-on to the Super NES. During these negotiations, Philips secured the rights to use Nintendo characters in CD-i third-party developer games. "The Faces of Evil" and "The Wand of Gamelon" were developed by Animation Magic and were both released in North America on October 10, 1993, and "Zelda's Adventure" was developed by Viridis and was released in North America on June 5, 1994. The games were given little funding or development time, and Nintendo provided only cursory input. None of the games are canonical to the "Zelda" franchise.

The Philips CD-i did not sell well and the games saw relatively small sales figures. Though the games initially received largely positive reviews, they have been universally criticized since the mid-2000s. This is attributed to the reaction of many gamers to the obscure games' full motion video cutscenes when they first became widely available through video-sharing websites such as YouTube. The cutscenes are perceived to be of poor quality. Because the aging early 1990s visual effects of the titles failed to live up to the graphic effects of the 2000s, and because for many fans this was their first experience of the games, the CD-i "Zelda" titles have developed a critical reputation as particularly poor based largely on animation quality and to an extent awkward controls. In the eyes of "devout" hardcore gamers, according to "Edge", the games are now considered "tantamount to blasphemy".

"Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon" are played using the side-scrolling view introduced in "", while "Zelda's Adventure" has a top-down view reminiscent of the original "The Legend of Zelda". All the CD-i "Zelda" games begin with animated FMVs to illustrate the capabilities of the CD-ROM format, save "Zelda's Adventure", which begins with a live-action video.

The first two games were showcased at the 1993 CES and surprised audiences with their degree of animation. All the CD-i games in The Legend of Zelda series were released after "Link's Awakening" but before "Ocarina of Time", as illustrated in the timeline with the relevant games marked with asterisks.

Paired with "Zelda: Wand of Gamelon" in a simultaneous release, "Link: The Faces of Evil" represents the first of the "Zelda" games to be released by Philips for the CD-i. Following the traditional Link-saves-Zelda plotline, "Faces of Evil" was patterned most closely upon Nintendo's previous side-scroller, "". The game broke new ground in the video game industry by using outsourced Russian animation to create all cutscenes, and the game received largely positive contemporary reception. Modern criticism is almost universal in its harsh negativity toward the game and the animated cutscenes have become particular targets of derision.

Reversing the traditional Link-saves-Zelda plotline, "Wand of Gamelon" stars Zelda as she adventures to rescue Link and her father the king who have not returned from their quest. As with "Faces of Evil", the game was patterned most closely upon Nintendo's previous side-scroller, "", and again features outsourced Russian animation for all cutscenes. Despite the game's similarly positive contemporary reception along with "Faces of Evil", modern critics have almost unanimously derided and ridiculed the game for its inability to live up to modern expectations with the animated cutscenes again having become a particular target of negative reception.

Released nearly 8 months after the first two "Zelda" CD-i games, "Zelda's Adventure" was created by a different third-party developer, Viridis. The game again follows a nontraditional Zelda-saves-Link plotline, but it uses a different game engine than "Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon". Whereas the first two CD-i games were patterned on the side-scrolling "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link", "Zelda's Adventure" took the top-down "The Legend of Zelda" as its model. "Zelda's Adventure" featured FMV cutscenes, but rather than using drawn animation, the game used live-action scenes. Reception for the game was poor, and whereas some modern critics have given more nuanced reviews of the first two games, modern criticism for "Zelda's Adventure" is unanimously negative.

In 1989, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to begin development of a CD-ROM-based system known as the "Nintendo PlayStation" or the SNES CD to be an add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that would allow for FMV and larger games. However, Nintendo broke the agreement and instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, which caused Sony to spin off their add-on into its own console called the PlayStation. Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega Mega-CD, Nintendo scrapped the idea of making an add-on entirely. As part of dissolving the agreement with Philips, Nintendo gave them the license to use five of their characters, including Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, for games on Philips's console called the CD-i, after the partnership's dissolution. Contracting out to independent studios, Philips subsequently used the characters to create three games for the CD-i, with Nintendo taking no part in their development except to give input on the look of the characters based on the artwork from Nintendo's original two titles and that of their respective instruction booklets. Philips insisted that the development studios utilize all aspects of the CD-i's capabilities including FMV, high-resolution graphics, and CD-quality music. Because the system had not been designed as a dedicated video game console, there were several technical limitations, such as laggy controls (especially for the standard infrared controller), and numerous problems in streaming-audio, memory, disc access, and graphics.

Zelda's Adventure

Zelda's Adventure is an action-adventure fantasy video game developed by Viridis Corporation and released for the Philips CD-i console system. Set in the land of Tolemac, the game follows a non-traditional Zelda-saves-Link storyline, in which Link has been captured by the evil lord Ganon, and Zelda must collect the seven celestial signs in order to rescue him.

Released nearly 8 months after the first two "Zelda" CD-i games, "Zelda's Adventure" uses a different game engine from. Whereas the first two CD-i games were patterned on the side-scrolling "", "Zelda's Adventure" took the top-down "The Legend of Zelda", "", and "" as its models. "Zelda's Adventure" is the only "Legend of Zelda" game to feature live-action cutscenes. Reception for the game was poor, and whereas some critics have given more nuanced reviews of the first two games, modern criticism for "Zelda's Adventure" is unanimously negative.

Unlike the previous two CD-i "Zelda" games, which take the side-scrolling view from "", "Zelda's Adventure" is played with the overhead view found in "The Legend of Zelda". Playing as Princess Zelda, the aim is to fight through the Seven Shrines of the Underworld to collect the celestial signs, and bring the land of Tolemac to an Age of Lightness.

Unlike the other two games, "Zelda's Adventure" was created by Viridis, an entirely different company, with a change in style and gameplay. Level design is very much like the original "The Legend of Zelda" and "", with an overworld that allows access to individual dungeons. The FMV sequences that present the plot are live action instead of animated.

Ganon has kidnapped Link and stolen the seven celestial signs, creating an "Age of Darkness" in the kingdom of Tolemac. Princess Zelda is recruited by the court astrologer Gaspra (played by Mark Andrade) to collect the signs to defeat Ganon and save Link.

Guided by the words of Shurmak, Zelda must first travel through the forest to the Shrine of Rock, where she encounters Llort, a greedy minion of Ganon who protects the first celestial sign. Gaspra appears to congratulate Zelda and direct her to the Shrine of Illusion where she faces Pasquinade to earn the second celestial sign. Guided by the inhabitants of Tolemac, Zelda then makes her way to the mountains to conquer the Shrines of Air and Destiny before crossing the great south sea to challenge Agwanda at the Shrine of Water for the fifth sign. Gaspra directs Zelda once more to the Shrine of Power in the southeast where her strength is tested, before travelling to the Shrine of Fire where she will face Warbane. As Zelda reaches to collect the final celestial sign Ganon's claw stops her, and she is drawn into his lair for the final battle.

In the game's final scenes, peace returns to Tolemac. Link is revealed to be safe, holding hands with Zelda where the entrance to Ganon's lair once stood, the land now thriving with new growth.

The backgrounds for "Zelda's Adventure" were created from videos of scenery near Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A., footage of Hawaii taken from a helicopter, and the developers' vacation photos. This decision was responsible for much of the game's RAM usage, causing backgrounds to scroll slowly and causing extreme frustration to the game's developers. The CD-i's technical abilities were so limited that the use of one or two kilobytes of system RAM caused arguments amongst the developers. Photos of the characters were shot using mirrors mounted on the ceiling, which was so low it precluded mounting the camera. All of the game's human characters were played by the in-office staff. The characters sprite walking animations were done by having the actors walk on a motorized treadmill. The game's music composer Mark Andrade also played the part of Gaspra in the game's cutscenes, while his voice was provided by Hal Smith. Zelda in the game's cutscene was played by office receptionist Diane Burns, while her sprite was played by Annie Ward. The houses and interiors built for the cut scenes were built as scale models. The model artist was Jason Bakutis, who had worked in Hollywood on movies like "Critters 3" and "". Developers have stated they were not influenced by the first two CD-i Zelda games. "Zelda's Adventure" spent two years in testing, longer than it took to develop the game. Much more music was composed for the game than was used. Developers had difficulty making sure all the areas of the game had proper background masking. There were plans at one point to hire Echo & the Bunnymen to do the music.

Intending to push the capacities of the CD-i to its limits, development initially progressed with a goal of 600 screens and 160 NPCs. At this early stage, Viridis president Lee Barnes suggested that playthrough time might take as much as 300 hours. These development figures were reduced in the final product which had only a handful of NPCs and whose playthrough time has been placed by one commentator at only 12 hours.

The majority of the game's programming was done by one person - Randy Casey. Randy was responsible for programming all of the game and all associated tools. Additional programming for the inventory system and game progress tracking, dubbed "FRP engine" was done by Gavin James. There is conflicting information about the game's budget—one developer claims there was "no budget at all" while Bakutis claims (possibly facetiously) it had "at the time, the biggest budget "ever" for a video game".

Like the other two CD-i Zelda games, "Zelda's Adventure" was widely panned by critics. The graphics of "Zelda's Adventure" were called "blurry and digitized". "Wired" magazine said that the graphics were some of the worst ever encountered. The game's acting was criticized as unprofessional. Another flaw that has been identified is that the game could not produce both sound effects and music at the same time. Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com called the box art of "Zelda's Adventure" one of the 15 worst ever made. "Zelda's Adventure" was released as the Philips CD-i was being discontinued and has become very rare over time, as have the first two Philips Zelda games; "Zelda's Adventure" is regularly sold for over $100. "Zelda's Adventure" appeared in a bracket poll of "The Greatest "Legend of Zelda" Game" along with "". It lost in the first set of rounds to "".

Despite giving positive reviews for "Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon" neither Danny Cowan of "1UP.com" nor "RetroGamer" John Szczepaniak would extend them to "Zelda's Adventure", which Szczepaniak described as demonstrating arbitrary and illogical design, sloppy visuals, nearly non-existent music, excruciatingly high difficulty and cumbersome loading and controlling. Gameplay for "Zelda's Adventure" has also been portrayed as a trial-and-error effort to guess which items can be used to defeat which enemy. Cowan called "Zelda's Adventure" "practically unplayable" due to the jerky frame rate, unresponsive controls and long load times, summarizing his review with a warning to "avoid this game at all costs." In discussing the popular online conception that "Zelda's Adventure" is superior to "Wand of Gamelon" and "Faces of Evil", "RetroGamer" pointed to the top-down perspective as fomenting misinformation regarding the game's similarities to the original "Zelda" when, according to "RetroGamer", the game is actually not worth playing.

Joining Nintendo in the motion market, Sony Computer Entertainment released the PlayStation Move in September 2010. The PlayStation Move features motion sensing gaming, similar to that of the Wii. Microsoft joined the scene in November 2010, with its Kinect (previously announced under the working title "Project Natal" in June 2009). Unlike the other two systems (PlayStation 3 and Wii), Kinect does not use controllers of any sort and makes the users the "controller." Having sold eight million units in its first 60 days on the market, Kinect claimed the Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device". While the Xbox 360 offers wired as well as wireless controllers as a standalone product, all PlayStation 3 controllers can be used in wired and wireless configurations. Starting with handheld consoles, the seventh generation began in November 2004 with the North American introduction of the Nintendo DS as a "third pillar", alongside Nintendo's existing Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles.

Seventh generation of video game consoles

In the history of video games, the seventh generation of home consoles began in late 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360, and continued with the release of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii the following year. Each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough in technology. The Xbox 360 offered games rendered natively at high-definition video (HD) resolutions, the PlayStation 3 offered HD movie playback via a built-in 3D Blu-ray Disc player, and the Wii focused on integrating controllers with movement sensors as well as joysticks. Some of the Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, which enabled players to simulate real-world actions during gameplay (e.g., in the Wii sports tennis game, the user swings the controller to hit the on-screen image of a tennis ball). Video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure. It is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the world's general-purpose computational power in 2007.

The Nintendo DS (NDS) features a touch screen and built-in microphone, and supports wireless IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards. Additionally, the revised version of the NDS, the Nintendo DSi, features two built in cameras, the ability to download games from the DSi store, and a web browser. The PlayStation Portable (PSP) released later the same year on December 12, 2004, followed a different pattern. It became the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage media. Sony also gave the PSP robust multi-media capability, connectivity with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, other PSPs, as well as Internet connectivity. The Nintendo DS likewise had connectivity to the internet through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo DS Browser, as well as wireless connectivity to other DS systems and Wii consoles. Despite high sales numbers for both consoles, PlayStation Portable sales have consistently lagged behind those of the Nintendo DS; nevertheless, the PlayStation Portable has the distinction of being the best-selling non-Nintendo handheld gaming system.

A crowdfunded console, the Ouya, received $8.5 million in pre-orders, launching in 2013. Post-launch sales were poor, and the device was a commercial failure. The business was wound down due to financial problems and sold to Razer Inc. Razer discontinued the Ouya in July 2015. Additionally, microconsoles like Nvidia Shield Console, MOJO, Razer Switchblade, GamePop, GameStick, Ouya, and even more powerful PC-based Steam Machine consoles are attempting to compete in the game console market; however, even though some of these machines are theoretically powerful on paper, they are seldom referred to as "seventh generation" consoles.

The generation slowly began to wind down when Nintendo began cutting back on Wii production in the early 2010s by discontinuing the original Wii model within the Western world in 2011, discontinuing the system altogether in Japan in October 2013 and ceasing production of its Family Edition around the same time, leaving the Wii mini as its only surviving variant by 2014. Shortly afterwards, Sony announced that they had discontinued the production of the PlayStation Portable worldwide that year, following an earlier announcement from Nintendo that it had discontinued its original line of the Nintendo DS family devices to move onto the Nintendo 3DS line, while continuing to support the Nintendo DSi. Microsoft also announced in 2016 that they would discontinue, but continue to support, the Xbox 360 at the end of April that year, making it the first seventh-generation console to cease production altogether. The following year, Sony announced that it would soon discontinue its PlayStation 3 line in Japan, and eventually in the rest of the world within a matter of months. Around that time, the Wii mini and the Nintendo DSi were also discontinued, spelling the final end of the Wii, DS and by extension, the seventh generation.

Nintendo entered this generation with a new approach embodied by its Wii. The company planned to attract current hardcore and casual gamers, non-gamers, and lapsed gamers by focusing on new gameplay experiences and new forms of interaction with games rather than cutting edge graphics and expensive technology. This approach was previously implemented in the portable market with the Nintendo DS. Nintendo expressed hope that the new control schemes it had implemented would render conventionally controlled consoles obsolete, leading to Nintendo capturing a large portion of the existing market as well. This strategy paid off, with demand for the Wii outstripping supply throughout 2007. Since Nintendo profited on each console right from the start unlike its competitors, it achieved very positive returns. With only a few exceptions, monthly worldwide sales for the Wii were higher than those of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, eroding Microsoft's early lead and widening the gap between its market share and Sony's. On September 12, 2007, it was reported by the British newspaper "Financial Times" that the Wii's sales surpassed those of the Xbox 360, which had been released one year previously, and became the market leader in worldwide home console sales for the generation.

As in previous generations, Nintendo provided strong support for its new console with popular first-party franchises like "Mario", "The Legend of Zelda", "Metroid", and "Pokémon", among others. To appeal to casual and non-gamers, Nintendo developed a group of core Wii games, consisting of "Wii Sports", "Wii Play", "Wii Fit", and "Wii Music", where players make use of the motion-sensing abilities of the console and its peripherals to simulate real world activities. With the exception of "Wii Music", the games and their sequels have all been highly successful.

Publishers such as Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Capcom, and Majesco Entertainment continued to release exclusive titles for the console, but the Wii's strongest titles remained within its first-party line-up. Analysts speculated that this would change in time as the Wii's growing popularity persuaded third-party publishers to focus on it; however, some third party developers expressed frustration at low software sales. Goichi Suda, developer of "No More Heroes" for the Wii, noted that "only Nintendo titles are doing well. This isn't just because of the current situation in Japan, as this is happening outside Japan. I am very surprised about the reality about Wii, because before I was making this game, I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only for non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers. The reality is different to what I expected." Conversely, the PAL publisher of "No More Heroes" Rising Star Games were greatly impressed with the game's sales. Goichi Suda later retracted his comment, saying his "point was that "No More Heroes", unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available is the kind of product that will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware, "i.e." gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products that have been successful on this platform thus far."

In early 2008, the NPD Group revealed sales data showing that, while the Wii's life-to-date attach rate was low, in December 2007, it reached 8.11—higher than the attach rates for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in that month. The Wii's low overall attach rate could be explained by reference to its rapidly increasing installed base, as financial analysts have pointed to the Xbox 360's high attach rates as indicative of an unhealthy lack of installed base growth, and warned that what actually benefits third-party developers is "quicker adoption of hardware and a rapidly growing installed base on which to sell progressively more game units," which tends to lower the attach rate of a product.

On September 23, 2009, Nintendo announced its first price drops for the console. In the United States, the price was reduced by fifty dollars, resulting in a new Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $199.99, effective September 27, 2009. For Japan, the price dropped from ¥25,000 to ¥20,000, effective October 1, 2009. In Europe (with the exception of the United Kingdom), the price of a Wii console dropped from €249 to €199. On May 3, 2010, Nintendo announced that Wii consoles sold in the Americas now would include Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus, effective May 9, 2010. Since May 15, 2011, the Wii Console is US$149.99 and comes bundled with "Mario Kart Wii".

Microsoft Xbox 360 gained an early lead in terms of market share, largely due to its established Xbox Live online gaming system, and its early launch date, which was one year before its rivals. Sales in North America and Europe have continued to be strong, even after the release of the Wii and PlayStation 3. Like its predecessor, the Xbox 360 received a muted reception in Japan, attributed to the lack of content aimed at Japanese gamers.

This early launch did come with some trouble, as technical problems appeared in a portion of Xbox 360 units sold. The most well-known problem is the "red ring of death" and Error E74, which received a great deal of attention due to some users having to replace their consoles multiple times. Microsoft attempted to address this by offering a three-year warranty on all affected consoles and repairing them free of charge. It also retroactively reimbursed owners of affected systems who paid for repairs. According to "The Mercury News", new models of the console featuring 65-nanometer technology will address this and other issues; the new technology is expected to reduce heat production, which will lower the risk of overheating and system failures; although, this has never been officially confirmed by Microsoft.

As they share many cross-platform games and compete for the same audience as their predecessors, frequent comparisons are made between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The PS3 uses the Blu-ray format, while the Xbox 360 uses a standard DVD9. The Xbox 360 is less expensive to produce, and analysts expect that a mid-revision will allow Microsoft to break-even on manufacturing costs, while industry consensus is that the Xbox 360's conventional architecture is easier to develop for.

At the end of first half of 2007, the console stabilized at 11.6 million units shipped as sales dropped 60% while its rival, Wii, gained momentum and Sony announced a competitive price drop on the PlayStation 3. Microsoft's strategy to boost sales with the release of the highly anticipated "Halo 3" in September 2007 paid off, outselling the Wii that month in North America. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division experienced a huge increase in revenue, largely driven by the release of "Halo 3", and posted a quarterly profit for the first time in two years.

The Xbox 360's advantage over its competitors owes itself to the release of high-profile games, such as additions to the Halo franchise. The 2007 Game Critics Awards honored the platform with 38 nominations and 12 wins – more than any other platform. By March 2008, the Xbox 360 had reached a software attach rate of 7.5 games per console in the US; the rate was 7.0 in Europe, while its competitors were 3.8 (PS3) and 3.5 (Wii), according to Microsoft. At the 2008 Game Developers Conference, Microsoft announced that it expected over 1,000 games available for Xbox 360 by the end of the year. The Xbox 360 has managed to gain a simultaneous release of titles that were initially planned to be PS3 exclusives, including "Devil May Cry", "Ace Combat", "Virtua Fighter", "Grand Theft Auto IV", "Final Fantasy XIII", "Tekken 6", "", and "L.A. Noire".

In August 2007, the first price drop was announced for all Stock Keeping Units (SKU's) of the Xbox 360. The Core system's price was reduced in the United States by $20, the Premium by $50, and the Elite model by $30. Also, the HDMI port, previously exclusive to the Elite system, was added to new models of the Premium and Arcade systems; the Core system was discontinued.

At E3 2010, Microsoft revealed a new US$299.99 Xbox 360 SKU known officially as the Xbox 360 S and referred to as the "Slim" by various media outlets. It replaced the Elite and comes with an integrated 802.11n WLAN adapter, integrated TOSLINK port, 5 USB ports and a 250 GB HDD. It also does not require an additional power supply to make use of Microsoft Kinect motion control accessory. A US$199.99 version was released on August 3, 2010 in the US which replaced the Arcade model. It has 4 GB and a 250 GB model of internal memory, it has a matte or glossy finish and it comes with a headset. At E3 2013 Microsoft revealed the Xbox 360 E, the final iteration of the Xbox 360 series, to be succeeded by Xbox One. The Xbox 360 E was originally priced at US$199.99 for a 4GB model, and US$299.99 for the 250GB model. The 360 E featured a new square design with a simplified exterior akin to the Xbox One.

Sony Computer Entertainment PlayStation 3 was released on November 11, 2006 in Japan and November 17, 2006 in the US and Canada. The system's reliance on new technologies such as the Cell microprocessor and Blu-ray format caused difficulties in manufacturing, especially the Blu-ray diode, leading to shortages at launch and the delay of the PAL region launches; however, by early December 2006, Sony announced that all production issues had been resolved. Market analysts and Sony executives noted that the success of the PlayStation 3 and the Blu-ray format were dependent on each other; Rich Marty, VP of New Business Development at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment stated that the "PS3 is critical to the success of Blu-ray," while Phil Harrison stated that the PlayStation 3's success would be ensured because "the growth of the Blu-ray Disc movie market... is a positive factor which will play more into the consumer psyche... as more consumer electronics firms launch standalone disc players, as more Blu-ray Disc movies become available, and as more shelf space is dedicated to the category at retail."

Sony would provide support for its console with new titles from acclaimed first-party franchises such as "Gran Turismo," "Team Ico", and "God of War", and secured a number of highly anticipated third-party exclusive titles, including "", "Yakuza 3" and "Valkyria Chronicles". Titles that were originally exclusive or recognized with the platform, such as "Devil May Cry", "Ace Combat", "Virtua Fighter", and "Monster Hunter", have been released on other platforms. The previous "Grand Theft Auto" titles were originally timed exclusives on the PlayStation 2, before making their release on other platforms, such as the Xbox, months later; however, "Grand Theft Auto IV", the latest installment, was released simultaneously on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Announced exclusives titles for the PlayStation 3 such as "Assassin's Creed"; "", and "Fatal Inertia" were released on Xbox 360 as well, with the latter making its release on Xbox 360 before the PlayStation 3 version.

The "Katamari" series, which has long been PlayStation 2 exclusives, found one of the more recent installments, "Beautiful Katamari", exclusive to Xbox 360. These releases fueled rumors and fear that "Final Fantasy XIII" and "Tekken 6", two highly anticipated exclusive PlayStation 3 games at the time, would also be available for Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3's primary competitor and at E3 2008, it was announced that "Final Fantasy XIII" would be simultaneously released on the Xbox 360 in Europe and North America; later on October 8, 2008, it was announced that "Tekken 6" would also be releasing on the Xbox 360. After the multiplatform releases of these games, the fifth installment of the "Metal Gear" series, "", has also been announced for the Xbox 360; "L.A. Noire", which was announced as an exclusive since the beginning of its development, has also been released for the Xbox 360; "Dark Souls," the spiritual successor to "Demon's Souls", has also been released on Xbox 360; the "Persona" series, which has a long history of being PlayStation exclusive, found the seventh generation installment, "Persona 4 Arena" multiplatform; however, "Metal Gear Solid 4", "Yakuza 3", "Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection ONLINE", and "Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice" still remain PlayStation 3 exclusives. Sony has blamed lower-than-expected sales, loss of exclusive titles in the PlayStation 3 software library, its higher price, and stock shortages.

The high launch price of the PlayStation 3 was considered a major drag on its popularity. In July 2007, Sony announced a drop in the price of the console by $100. This measure only applied to the 60 GB models and was exclusive to the United States and Canada, where those models are no longer in production. On October 18, 2007, Sony announced a US$100 price drop for the 80 GB model and a new US$399 40 GB model to launch on November 2, 2007 with reduced features such as the removal of backward compatibility with PS2 games. Within weeks, Sony announced that sales of the 40 GB and 80 GB models by major retailers had increased 192%. In November 2008, Sony launched a $499 160 GB model, and on August 18, 2009, Sony announced the PS3 Slim. The PS3 slim sold 1 million in under a month. It was then announced that a 250GB slim model was to be released. It was released on September 1 (or 3 depending on country) and costs $299, £249 and €299. In Australia the console will cost A$499, which is A$200 less than the standard PS3. In September 2009, a $299 120 GB Slim Model was released. A $349 250 GB Model was later released later in 2009. In August 2010, the 160 GB Slim Model was released for $299. The same price for a 120 GB PS3 slim Model. In Japan, the 160GB slim model is also available in white. On September 17, 2010, Sony released the 320 GB Slim Model, but it only sold with the PlayStation Move for US$399.99.

In September 2012, Sony announced a new slimmer PS3 redesign (CECH-4000), commonly referred to as the "Super Slim" PS3. It was released in late 2012 it became available with either a 250 GB or 500 GB hard drive. The "Super Slim" model was the last model to be produced by Sony before the system was slowly discontinued around the world. Shipments of new units to the United States were terminated in October 2016 and Sony officially discontinued the system in Japan on May 29, 2017, the last territory where it was selling new units up until then.

Worldwide figures are based on data from the manufacturers. The Canada and the United States figures are based on data from the NPD Group, the Japan figures are based on data from "Famitsu"/Enterbrain, and the United Kingdom figures are based on data from GfK Chart-Track.Early models of the Wii are fully backwards compatible with GameCube software and most of its accessories; the Wii Family Edition and the Wii Mini iterations lack GameCube support. Early versions of the PlayStation 3 and all models of the Xbox 360 only offer partial support and use software emulation for backwards compatibility. Current versions of the PS3 do not offer PlayStation 2 compatibility, though PS1 compatibility is retained. Some models of the first generation of the PS3 offered full backwards compatibility for PS2 games. The Xbox 360's compatibility is increased through game-specific patches automatically downloaded from Xbox Live or downloaded and burned to a CD or DVD from the Xbox website and the PS3's compatibility is expanded with firmware updates.

All three consoles provide titles from older consoles for download; the Xbox 360 through the Xbox Originals service, the PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Store, and the Wii through the Virtual Console. When purchased, the game is saved to console's internal memory or, optionally on the Wii, to an inserted SD/SDHC card. Initially the Xbox 360 also provided Xbox Live support for backwards compatible games, but the service has since been discontinued for original Xbox games. No more games will be added to the list of backwards compatible games for the Xbox 360. In response to the lack of backward compatibility for most PS3s, many popular games have been released for download as PlayStation 2 Classics and other popular series have been updated with gameplay/graphics as high-definition remasters for PlayStation consoles and have been released on Blu-ray Disc or are available for download on the PlayStation Network.

Both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 support 1080p high definition video output. However, the output signal may be protected by digital rights management and may require an HDCP-compliant display if HDMI is used. The Xbox Live Marketplace service and the PlayStation Store offer HD movies, TV shows, movie trailers, and clips for download to the console's HDD. Other regional PlayStation Stores only allow download of movie trailers and short segment clips. As of November 2009, the Video Download service present on the American PlayStation Store will be available for select European countries.

While only a small number of games render video in native 1080p, many games can be automatically scaled to output this resolution. The Wii is capable of outputting 480p for the Wii Menu and most games through a component cable, which must be purchased separately.

In the September 2009 issue of "Game Informer" magazine, survey results were published in which among nearly 5000 readers who responded, 54.2% of those who owned an Xbox 360 had experienced a console failure for that system, compared with 10.6% for PlayStation 3, and 6.8% for Wii.

In August 2009, warranty provider SquareTrade published console failure rate estimates, in which the proportion of its customers reporting a system failure in the first two years is 23.7% for Xbox 360, 10.0% for PlayStation 3, and 2.7% for Wii.

For video game handhelds, the seventh generation began with the release of the Nintendo DS on November 21, 2004. This handheld was based on a design fundamentally different from the Game Boy and other handheld video game systems. The Nintendo DS offered new modes of input over previous generations such as a touch screen, the ability to connect wirelessly using IEEE 802.11b, as well as a microphone to speak to in-game NPCs. On December 12, 2004, Sony released its first handheld, PlayStation Portable. The PlayStation Portable was marketed at launch to an above-25-year-old or "core gamer" market, while the Nintendo DS proved to be popular with both core gamers and new customers.

Nokia revived its N-Gage platform in the form of a service for selected S60 devices. This new service launched on April 3, 2008. Other less-popular handheld systems released during this generation include the Gizmondo (launched on March 19, 2005 and discontinued in February 2006) and the GP2X (launched on November 10, 2005 and discontinued in August 2008). The GP2X Wiz, Pandora, and Gizmondo 2 were scheduled for release in 2009.

Another aspect of the seventh generation was the beginning of direct competition between dedicated handheld gaming devices, and increasingly powerful PDA/cell phone devices such as the iPhone and iPod Touch, and the latter being aggressively marketed for gaming purposes. Simple games such as Tetris and Solitaire had existed for PDA devices since their introduction, but by 2009 PDAs and phones had grown sufficiently powerful to where complex graphical games could be implemented, with the advantage of distribution over wireless broadband.

Sony announced in 2014 that they had discontinued the production of the PlayStation Portable worldwide, this follows Nintendo's announcement in 2014 that it had discontinued its original line of DS family devices to move onto the 3DS line.

There were also other consoles released during the seventh generation time period. Generally, they are either niche products or less powerful.

Released in China only
Released in South Korea only

In 1989, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to begin development of a CD-ROM-based system known as the "Nintendo Play Station" (or the "SNES CD") to be an add-on to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that would allow for FMV and larger games. However, Nintendo broke the agreement and instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, which caused Sony to spin off their add-on into its own console called the PlayStation. Witnessing the poor reception of the Sega Mega-CD, Nintendo scrapped the idea of making an add-on entirely. As part of dissolving the agreement with Philips, Nintendo gave them the license to use five of their characters, including Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, for games on Philips's console, the CD-i, after the partnership's dissolution.

Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon are two action-adventure video games developed by Animation Magic and published by Philips Interactive Media for the CD-i. The two games were released on the same day, were developed simultaneously, and look and play similarly because they use the same graphic engine. A third "Zelda" game released for the CD-i, "Zelda's Adventure", featured a different developer and perspective than its predecessors.

"Link: The Faces of Evil" puts the player in control of Link, who goes on a quest to defeat Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. "Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon" reverses the roles and has the player control Zelda, who goes out to save Link and defend her kingdom from Ganon. Both travel to a new world (Korodai and Gamelon, respectively) to thwart Ganon's plans. At the time of their release, the games received mixed to positive reviews. In later years, however, both games, along with "Zelda's Adventure", have become infamous with modern critics, which has led to the three games to be considered among the worst video games ever.

Players take control of Link in "The Faces of Evil" and Zelda in "The Wand of Gamelon". In the beginning of both games, players have access to only three areas which are accessed through an in-game map. The two characters only have their swords and shields at this stage. The sword can be used to attack enemies either by stabbing or shooting "Power Blasts" while the shield can deflect attacks. The shield is used whenever the player-character is standing still or crouching. They gain new items later on in the game including lamp oil, rope, and bombs which can be purchased at a shop. Rubies (Rupees in canon Zelda games) can be obtained by stabbing them with the sword after defeating an enemy; after which they can be spent at the shop.

The player's health is measured in "Life Hearts". Although the player begins the game with only three hearts, there are ways to earn more. Each time the player-character is injured, they will lose at least one-half of a heart. The first two times the player-character runs out of Life Hearts, the player will be given the option of continuing from near the point where their last heart was lost. When the player-character loses their hearts for a third time, they will be returned to the map and the player will have to start the level from the beginning. Returning to the map replenishes their Life Hearts and lives and they will retain any items and rubies they picked up.

The story begins in Hyrule Castle, where a bored Link (the series' protagonist) discusses the prospects of new adventure with King Harkinian. Soon, Link's hopes are fulfilled, as a wizard named Gwonam arrives on a magic carpet, telling them that Ganon (the series' antagonist) and his minions have taken over the island of Koridai. Although King Harkinian immediately offers aid, Gwonam explains that according to a prophecy, "only Link can defeat Ganon". Link is transported to Koridai and Gwonam shows him the fabled island's giant stone statues, known as the Faces of Evil, which Link must conquer. During Link's time in Koridai, Princess Zelda is kidnapped by Ganon and imprisoned in his lair.

Questing to rescue the Princess and to liberate Koridai, Link is sent by the Ice Queen to Fortress Centrum to retrieve the Treasure of Death. At the fortress, Link finds what appears to be a sleeping Zelda. Once awakened, however, the figure transforms into Goronu, a shape-shifting necromancer who works for Ganon. After defeating Goronu, Link retrieves the Crystal of Reflection, which allows his shield to reflect curses.

Link then proceeds to defeat Ganon's minions, which include the revived Goronu, the anthropomorphic pig Harlequin, the armored pyrokinetic Militron, the three-eyed wolf Lupay, and the gluttonous cyclops Glutko, the last from which the Book of Koridai is retrieved. A translator named Ipo reveals that the book itself is enough to defeat Ganon.

After trekking through Ganon's lair, Link finally reaches him. He attempts to recruit Link with the promise of great power (and the threat of death upon refusal). After the ensuing battle, Link imprisons him in the Book of Koridai and then awakens the sleeping Zelda. Gwonam appears and congratulates Link on imprisoning Ganon. He shows the two a rapidly recovering Koridai and declares Link the island's hero. However, Zelda refuses to kiss him as a reward.

King Harkinian announces his plan to aid Duke Onkled of Gamelon (possibly named after Camelot with the first and last letters changed) when the latter falls under attack by Ganon, and orders Zelda to send Link for backup in case she does not hear from him within a month. A month passes without word from the King, so Zelda sends Link to find him.

Unfortunately, he too goes missing, so Zelda ventures off to Gamelon (accompanied by her elderly nursemaid Impa) to find both Link and the King. During Zelda's time in Gamelon, Impa discovers that King Harkinian has been captured, and that Link has engaged in a battle, the outcome of which is unclear. As she adventures across the island, Zelda meets many friendly characters and battles with many monsters and enemies including the villains Gibdo, a mummy, and Iron Knuckle, a heavily armoured knight. Along her travels, Zelda battles the sorcerer Wizzrobe to free Lady Alma, who gives Zelda a canteen that she claims Link gave her in exchange for a kiss.

On reaching Duke Onkled's palace, Domodai Palace, it is revealed that Duke Onkled has betrayed the King and is working for Ganon. Zelda storms the palace, kills Ganon's minion Hectan, and saves an imprisoned Spaniard named Lord Kiro (sometimes known as Fari) who used to work for King Harkinian. Kiro reveals the secret entrance to Onkled's chamber, and when they confront him he reveals the entrance to Reesong Palace, where Ganon has taken residence.

Zelda travels to the Shrine of Gamelon to defeat the head-switching chimera Omfak and obtain the Wand needed to defeat Ganon, and she also visits Nokani Forest to obtain the magic lantern needed to clear the darkness around Ganon. Finally at Reesong Palace, Zelda fights Ganon, incapacitates him with the Wand, and rescues her father. Back at Hyrule Castle, Duke Onkled is turned over to the king, begging for mercy. He is arrested and the King orders him to scrub all the floors in Hyrule as punishment. Although Link's whereabouts are still unknown, a comment by Lady Alma prompts Zelda to throw her mirror against the wall, and as it smashes, Link magically materializes, seemingly having been trapped in the mirror. They begin laughing, as all is well once again.

Contracting out to independent studios, Philips subsequently used the characters to create three games for the CD-i, with Nintendo taking no part in their development except to give input on the look of the characters based on the artwork from Nintendo's original two titles and that of their respective instruction booklets. Philips insisted that the development studios utilize all aspects of the CD-i's capabilities, including FMV, high-resolution graphics, and CD-quality music. Because the system had not been designed as a dedicated video game console, there were several technical limitations, such as unresponsive controls (especially for the standard infrared controller), and numerous problems in streaming audio, memory, disc access, and graphics. The first two games were showcased at the 1993 CES and surprised audiences with their degree of animation.

"The Faces of Evil" and "The Wand of Gamelon" were the first two Nintendo-licensed games released on the Philips CD-i. They were given the relatively low budget of approximately $600,000 and the development deadline was set at a little over a year—time which would have to be split between the two games. It was decided by Animation Magic, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based development team led by Dale DeSharone, that the two games would be developed in tandem and would share the same graphics engine to more efficiently use the budget.

The rest of the development team included three programmers (all previous employees of Spinnaker Software), one musician (Tony Trippi) and freelance writer Jonathan Merritt, who created the scripts and designs. Under DeSharone's direction, game development progressed similarly to that of his earlier-directed title, "Below the Root", a game which "Retro Gamer"s John Szczepaniak has suggested may have served as a forerunner of sorts. Background designs were created by local Cambridge artists.

IGN's Peer Schneider claimed that the decision to star Zelda in "The Wand of Gamelon" was based on the fact that the CD-i's library was directed at women. However, he felt that they failed at this due to Zelda playing the same role as Link.

The animated cutscenes were created by a team of four animators from Russia, led by Igor Razboff, who were flown to the United States for the project. These games marked the first time that Russian outsourcing had been utilized by an American company – a move that was only possible due to the somewhat thawed political climate after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For voice acting, Animation Magic auditioned local AFTRA actors. This section contains the voice actors with their identified characters.At the time of its release, contemporary criticism was largely positive to mixed for both games. "SNES Force" magazine described the animated sequences as "breathtaking" and praised the game for its high-resolution graphics and its "brilliant" use of sound and speech. Highly anticipated by the French video game press,'s development preview of "The Faces of Evil" described it as a veritable arcade-quality game with stunning graphics and "perfect animation". They gave "The Wand of Gamelon" similar praise and gave it additional praise for its use of voice acting, its plot, and its backgrounds. The same magazine would ultimately score "The Faces of Evil" 79%, a few months later, giving particularly high marks for music, sound effects, and play-through time.

Other publications gave more negative reviews. "CDi Magazine" rated "The Faces of Evil" 65%, stating that the game was a poor relation to the original Nintendo games, and singling out the perfunctory storyline, the lack of graphical features like parallax, and the slow and repetitious gameplay. Another reviewer for the magazine gave "The Wand of Gamelon" a higher 75% and called it a "reasonably good game" for its puzzles and animated sequences. He however criticized its plot and controls. In 1994, "Edge" reported that as CD-i sales began to suffer, criticism sharpened and the games were described as low-cost, low-risk ventures that had failed to excite any interest in the platform.

"Wired" magazine said that the animation in both games was extremely simple and stilted and that the graphics had several glitches. The designers were criticized by IGN's Travis Fahs for using a style similar to "" for the games and for "insufferable" controls and the designers' poor understanding of "The Legend of Zelda" franchise. He noted, however, that the backgrounds looked decent considering the poor design of the CD-i's hardware. IGN's Peer Schneider criticized "The Wand of Gamelon" for not doing well to indicate when a platform begins or ends, and also said its controls were "sloppy".

The games' animated cutscenes and voice acting in particular drew criticism. "The Star Tribune" described the voice acting as "laughable" and it was also criticized by Zelda Elements as "jarring". IGN described the cutscenes as "infamous" and "cheesy"; other reviewers described them "freakish" and "an absolute joke". IGN's Peer Schneider felt that the cutscenes in "The Wand of Gamelon" were "entertaining... for all the wrong reasons."

The games' soundtracks drew mixed responses. Zelda Elements felt it was "average" and not up to the usual Zelda quality, while IGN described the soundtrack as "redbook audio CD pop." However, this has been contested by other reviewers, who described it as diverse, high-quality, and superb with an adventurous upbeat tempo blending "delicious '80s synth", electric guitar, panpipes, marimbas, and other unusual instruments.

Despite the largely negative reception that the games have received, there have been a few positive reviews as well. Both Danny Cowan of 1UP.com and John Szczepaniak of Hardcore Gaming 101 praised "Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon" as among the best games on the CD-i. Szczepaniak in particular suggested that several of the magazines that had rated and reviewed "Wand of Gamelon" and "Faces of Evil" had engaged in hate campaigns having never even played the game. Their praises drew from the games' detailed, well-drawn in-game backgrounds (which was described as both Gigeresque and Monet-esque) and "pretty decent" gameplay, although both criticized the controls. According to Szczepaniak, the games' controls work best when played with a hardwired three-button CD-i control pad, as opposed to the CD-i's "cruddy infra-red remote".

In a periodical for "Retro Gamer" magazine, Szczepaniak identified the natural comparison of the games by reviewers to the quality of games in the rest of the "Zelda" series as an improper comparison to make, and suggested that when reviewed in their own right, the games were actually excellent. Contrary to what were described as "lies perpetuated about ["Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon"]," "Retro Gamer" described the games as "astoundingly good" and rated them together as number ten in its "Perfect Ten Games" for CD-i. While acknowledging that they lacked canonicity, they were praised for exhilarating pacing and superb gameplay design.

In 1994, "Edge" reported that both "Faces of Evil" and "Wand of Gamelon" had sold a "respectable number of units". However, IGN claimed that sales of CD-i games (including these two) were poor and caused them to be readily available years later.

IGN's Peer Schneider ranked the two games among Nintendo's biggest failures (despite the games not being made by Nintendo). "Electronic Gaming Monthly" contributor Seanbaby ranked "Zelda: Wand of Gamelon" the sixth worst game of all time, while GameTrailers rated it fifth worst game of all time.

"The Wand of Gamelon" appeared in a bracket poll of "The Greatest "Legend of Zelda" Game" along with "Zelda's Adventure". It lost in the first set of rounds to "".

In 1989, Nintendo and Sony agreed to develop a CD-ROM-based add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), known as the SNES-CD or Nintendo Play-Station, that would allow for full motion video (FMV) and larger games. However, Nintendo instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, and Sony redesigned their console as the PlayStation. By 1993, Nintendo had abandoned plans for the add-on. As part of dissolving the agreement, Nintendo licensed Philips to use some Nintendo characters for their CD-i console, resulting in three "Legend of Zelda" games as well as "Hotel Mario". Another "Mario" game, "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds", was canceled at the prototype stage. Nintendo had no part in the games' development; they were instead created by inexperienced developers.

Hotel Mario

Hotel Mario is a puzzle video game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media for the Philips CD-i in 1994. Players control Mario, who must find Princess Toadstool by going through seven hotels in the Mushroom Kingdom; each hotel is divided into stages, and the objective is to close all doors on each stage. Each hotel ends in a boss fight with one of Bowser's Koopalings, culminating in a battle with Bowser.

"Hotel Mario" was one of four games featuring Nintendo characters published for the CD-i; the others were three "Legend of Zelda" games. Another "Mario" game, "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds", was never released. Nintendo licensed the characters after reneging on a deal for Philips to create the Super NES CD-ROM, an add-on for the Super NES.

"Hotel Mario" initially received mixed reviews; critics believed it was fun but did not have lasting appeal. It has since been described as one of the worst "Mario" games, receiving criticism for its door-closing game mechanic, unresponsive controls, voice acting, and full motion video cutscenes.

"Hotel Mario" is a single-screen puzzle video game. Controlling Mario, or his brother Luigi in two-player mode, the player must search the "Klub Koopa Resort" for Princess Toadstool (Peach), who has been kidnapped by Bowser.

The game comprises seven hotels, which each feature 10 stages. The player must shut every door in the stage by moving up and down elevators and avoiding enemies. Mario can step on most enemies as in previous games, but some must be avoided by changing floors or entering an open door. At the end of each hotel, the player engages in a boss fight with a Koopling (one of Bowser's children); in the final hotel, the player battles Bowser. The game features various power-ups: the Super Mushroom allows Mario to take multiple hits, the Star Man makes him temporarily invincible, and the Fire Flower allows him to throw fireballs.

"Hotel Mario" was developed by Fantasy Factory. The developers and testers tended to be older in age; background artist Trici Venola noted one tester was "well past retirement". Since the target audience of children would have faster reflexes, the game was designed to play well for the testers, then sped up. "Hotel Mario" uses FMV cutscenes to tell its story. Feeling an early version was "mechanical" and "visually no fun", Venola and art director Jeff Zoern used elements from Disney and J. R. R. Tolkien to enhance the visual style. Illustrations of the stages were composed of several blocks, each with one detail. The first item Venola created for all hotels was the door. Each building took a week to complete and was designed with a specific theme; for instance, Bowser's hotel uses a gothic design.

"Hotel Mario" initially received mixed reviews. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" praised its gameplay as simple yet addictive. "GamePro" said the game was fun but quickly grew boring, awarding it a "fun factor" of 2.5 out of 5. "GamePro" rated "Hotel Mario"s graphics 3.5 and sound 4 out of 5, writing, "the only intriguing aspects of this game are the well-fashioned animated sequences". "Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine" gave the game 7 out of 10, but acknowledged its difficulty. Spanish magazine "Super Juegos" gave it 87.

"Hotel Mario" has since been described as one of the worst "Mario" games. "IGN"'s Levi Buchanan said that while it was superior to Philips' "The Legend of Zelda" games, closing doors was not "a strong enough hook for an entire game", and J.C. Fletcher of "Joystiq" ridiculued the plot: "Apparently Bowser has nefariously plotted to have his underlings open doors in... his own hotels, thus wasting air conditioning and increasing his own electric bill. Mario and Luigi must heroically latch all the doors and save their archenemy from having his hallways get too cold." "GamesRadar" described it as "craptastic", and "Eurogamer" as "little more than a really rubbish version of "Elevator Action"". The controls have been criticized as unresponsive.

The cutscenes have been widely criticized. "1UP.com" described them as "outright terrifying", and "IGN" called them "abysmal", resembling "a bad flip-book of images printed out of Microsoft Paint". "Joystiq" described them as "amateurish, garishly colorful, shaky, randomly zooming animation". The voice acting was also criticised; both "1UP.com" and "IGN" found it ill-fitting for the characters and lacking the playfulness of Mario's current voice artist Charles Martinet. Danny Cowan of "1UP" wrote: "Mario (voiced in the game by Marc Graue) sounds more like someone's ex-smoker grandpa trying to imitate a Mafia hit man... The dialogue is meant to sound playful, but the character voices imply acts of menace and hate." In 2008, "IGN" named "Hotel Mario" one of the ten worst Mario games.

The relationship between Sony and Nintendo started when Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi became interested in working with video games after seeing his daughter play games on Nintendo's Famicom video game console. He took on a contract at Sony for developing hardware that would drive the audio subsystem of Nintendo's next console, the Super NES. Kutaragi secretly developed the chip, known as the Sony SPC 700. As Sony was uninterested in the video game business, most of his superiors did not approve of the project, but Kutaragi found support in Sony executive Norio Ohga and the project was allowed to continue. The success of the project spurred Nintendo to enter into a partnership with Sony to develop both a CD-ROM add-on for the Super NES and a Sony-branded console that would play both SNES cartridges, as well as titles released for the new Super Disc format.

Super NES CD-ROM

The Super NES CD-ROM System (commonly shortened as the SNES-CD), also known as the Super Famicom CD-ROM Adapter, is an unreleased video game peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The add-on built upon the functionality of the cartridge-based SNES by adding support for a CD-ROM-based format known as Super Disc.

The SNES-CD platform was developed in a partnership between Nintendo and Sony. The platform was planned to be launched as an add-on for the standard SNES, as well as a hybrid console by Sony called the PlayStation (nicknamed the "Nintendo PlayStation" to distinguish it from the later Sony console of the same name). Another partnership with Philips yielded some poorly received Nintendo-themed games for the CD-i platform instead of the SNES-CD. Sony independently furthered its developments into their own stand-alone console of the same name, which served as the chief competitor of the Super NES's cartridge-based successor, the Nintendo 64.

Development of the format started in 1988, when Nintendo signed a contract with Sony to produce a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. The system was to be compatible with existing SNES titles as well as titles released for the Super Disc format. Under their agreement, Sony would develop and retain control over the Super Disc format, with Nintendo thus effectively ceding a large amount of control of software licensing to Sony. To counter this, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi sent Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa and executive Howard Lincoln to Europe to negotiate a more favorable contract with Philips, Sony's industry rival. At the June 1991 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony announced its SNES-compatible cartridge/CD console, the "PlayStation". The next day, Nintendo revealed its partnership with Philips at the show—a surprise to the entire audience, including Sony.
While Nintendo and Sony attempted to sort out their differences, between two and three hundred prototypes of the PlayStation were created, and software for the system was being developed. In 1992, a deal was reached allowing Sony to produce SNES-compatible hardware, with Nintendo retaining control and profit over the games, but the two organizations never repaired the rift between them and by the next year, Sony had refocused its efforts on developing its own console for the next generation of consoles.

In November 2015, it was reported that one of the original Nintendo PlayStation prototypes had been found. The prototype was reportedly left behind by former Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson during his time at Advanta. A former Advanta worker (Terry Diebold) acquired the device as part of a lot during Advanta's 2009 bankruptcy auction. The system was later confirmed as operational and the unit plays Super Famicom cartridges as well the test cartridge that accompanied the unit, although the audio output and CD drive were non-functional. The prototype came with a Sony/PlayStation-branded version of the standard Super Famicom controller (model number SHVC-005). In March 2016, retro-gaming website RetroCollect reported that they (and influential members of online emulation communities) had received (from an anonymous source) a functional disc boot ROM for the SNES-CD.

In July 2016, a homebrew game titled "Super Boss Gaiden" was developed for the add-on. Later that month, Benjamin Heckendorn posted a teardown of the device to his YouTube channel, "The Ben Heck Show", and repaired the CD-ROM drive to the point of getting CD audio output, but games could only be played from the top cartridge slot. On May 5, 2017, Heckendorn published a video of a fully functional version of the console to his channel, where he described the procedure by which he repaired it, and played a couple of homebrew games from the console's CD-ROM drive.

In July 2016, Benjamin Heckendorn documented a teardown of the only known prototype of the SNES-CD and published the specs of the console. He said the system would have probably been as powerful as a standard Super NES, but not as powerful as the Sega CD. The standalone unit has the following connectors: two Super NES controller ports, a cartridge slot, a dual-speed CD-ROM drive, RCA composite jacks, S-Video, RFU DC OUT (similar to the PlayStation SCPH-1001), a proprietary multi-out AV output port (the same one featured on the Super NES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube), headphone jack on the front, a serial port labelled "NEXT" (probably for debugging), and one expansion port under the unit.
After the original contract with Sony failed, Nintendo continued its partnership with Philips. This contract provisioned Philips with the right to feature Nintendo's characters in a few games for its CD-i multimedia device, but never resulted in a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. The Nintendo-themed CD-i games were very poorly received, and the CD-i itself is considered a commercial failure. The main game in development for the SNES-CD platform launch was Square's "Secret of Mana", whose planned content was cut down to the size suitable for cartridge and released on that medium instead.

Ken Kutaragi and Sony continued to develop their own console and released the PlayStation in 1994. The CD-based console successfully competed with Nintendo's cartridge-based Nintendo 64 and other CD-based console systems such as the PC-FX, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and the Sega Saturn. The broken partnership with Sony has often been cited as a mistake on Nintendo's part, effectively creating a formidable rival in the video game market. Nintendo would not release an optical disc based console of its own until the release of the GameCube in 2001.

Super NES CD-ROM