User blog comment:Salnax/Ohga Shrugs: Fictional Articles/@comment-5883269-20130402201803/@comment-665531-20130402212008

Thanks! While you're here, I'd like to bring something up.

We've largely overlooked Hudson Soft in this timeline. Now, if they had a similar fate as IRL, that wouldn't be a real problem. But several things make it seem unlikely that Konami will be able to purchase them.

For one thing, Konami's lead brand, Metal Gear, is significantly smaller in Ohga Shrugs than in real life. MGS 1 through 4 sold about 15 million copies in Ohga Shrugs, versus about 22 million in real life. Likewise, Pro Evolution Soccer seems to have only sold about 60% as well in Ohga Shrugs on the Dreamcast as it did on the PS2 in real life.

Besides that, there is no indication that Konami would be much better off than in our timeline. Yu-Gi-Oh would be a big series in the latter 5th and early 6th generations, but is unlikely to be very profitable after 2004 or so. Castlevania is a critical hit, but has never been a big seller even in real life. Music games will likely be hindered by the lesser popularity of the Saturn compared to PlayStation and by the small size of Generation 6's discs. Frogger lost any relevance in 1997 or so, Contra is niche, etc.

In short, Konami in Ohga Shrugs would be a significantly smaller and less successful company. It wouldn't be in danger of dying out, but would be much smaller.

That's fine, but without Konami in the picture, what happens when Hudson Soft starts losing money?

The way I see it, there would be several companies interested in investing in Hudson circa 2000:

Nintendo: Already has Hudson making mario Party games, would benefit from Bomberman exclusives, etc.

Sega: Unlikely in my opinion, since they would already have the arcadey games niche filled, but still big enough to consider investing.

Capcom: A major player in both Ohga Shrugs and real life, rich from Resident Evil, Dreamcast fighters, Devil May Cry, etc. Would be looking for ways to expand and establish themselves as a leading publisher.

...that's about it.

Based on that information, I'm considering having Nintendo buy Hudson Soft, or at least acquire some of it via THQ-style bankruptcy. That would add Bomberman to the Nintendo arsenal, provide a studio or two to make party games, and maybe add a bit more weight to the Game Boy library. The only problem is, I'm not sure if Nintendo would be able to afford it. Plus, I don't want Nintendo to grossly outsize Sega. Any ideas?