The Battle for the 16-bit Throne
During the Second Console War, probably the most bitter of them all, Sega and Nintendo fought a battle that could have gone either way. It’s true that the Nintendo NES had, as everyone knows, saved the video game industry from its own disgrace, offering not only a console superior to anything else, but also a guarantee that every game bought would meet a minimum standard of quality.
But Sega, which was much cooler back then, made the jump to 16-bit long before Nintendo and, for a moment, was the king of the scene. The joy didn’t last, of course. Nintendo took its time, but when it struck back, things got really heated. Each of you can decide who won that legendary 16-bit battle (Sega, ahem ahem). What is undeniable is that both companies did everything possible to gain an edge in such a complicated, hyper-competitive market.
Satellaview: Gaming via Satellite
The first to try its hand at digital distribution of content was Sega, with its Sega Meganet. The big N would take five long years to follow in its main competitor’s footsteps. It did so with a service called Satellaview, which distributed content in scheduled time slots via satellite. Yes, via satellite!
Put simply, to play Satellaview games, users had to buy not only a new accessory for their SNES, but also a subscription to the service. The BS-X cartridge, inserted into the SNES, allowed storing information and served as the system’s main menu. It’s worth noting that games could only be played during a specific, pre-defined time slot, like TV shows. That is, only while the signal was being transmitted, so that the information sent was in sync with the running game. Despite the outlandishness of it all, Satellaview was a success in Japan. The game BS Zelda no Densetsu Kodai no Sekiban (BS for “Broadcast Satellaview”) was partly responsible for that success.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fCX8vfUDSWUThe Lost Zelda Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets is the translation and reconstruction of that game, whose broadcasts until recently were lost somewhere in space. As a novelty, Ancient Stone Tablets doesn’t feature Link as the protagonist, but rather the BS-X cartridge’s own avatar, male or female. That is, us! We play as a child from another dimension who, of course, must save Hyrule from the hordes of Ganondorf. The game was divided into four chapters of one hour each, where we played through a kind of theatricalization that narrates the story. BS Zelda no Densetsu Kodai no Sekiban was “broadcast” only five times, in amazing events where prizes were even offered to those who got the best scores. A hybrid between game, TV series, radio drama, and gaming tournaments. Absolutely brilliant! Only in Japan!
Download and Play
The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets had been lost until very recently, but thanks to the efforts of some geniuses who, for years, worked to reconstruct the Satellaview work, today we can play it with any fairly decent SNES emulator. You can download the ROM and the recommended emulator at the creators’ site. If you’re a fan of Link and Zelda’s adventures, you’re obligated to play this extremely rare gem. Right now!
