N64 Link Cable?

Greetings faithful monkeys and welcome to the first installment of my (semi)weekly column! What am I going to talk about you ask? This column will serve as an outlet for the ideas that are floating around in this little noggin o' mine. They do not have to be gaming related, but I'm sure many of them will be. So with this lame intro past us, onward we go...

The Sony Playstation has come a long way in its relatively short life span. Early in its life span, it was considered a simple upstart that would eventually crumble under the enormous pressure of the "Big Two", Sega and Nintendo. But now the Playstation is the supposedly "premier" next generation platform, easily outselling Sega and Nintendo. However, the current crop of systems are becoming dated, and the now "Big Two" of Nintendo and Sony are hard at work on new systems. Sony recently released the mammoth specs of their Playstation 2 hardware and Sega recently released Dreamcast in Japan, but where does that leave Nintendo? Nintendo 64 is the most recently released system, so it is safe to say that they will be the last to release their next system. But with Sony's foothold on the market and the extra launch time for Sega to establish Dreamcast, how can Nintendo hope to maintain the portion of the market they currently have? I was thinking about this, and I came to the conclusion that Nintendo should take a cue from Sony this time. Sony's only "true" failure was their lack of support for their link cable. Hardly any developers(first and third party) supported it, and hardly any gamers bought it because it was simply too much of a hassle to get two TV's, two Playstations, and two copies of the game together. Because of this, Nintendo has benefited greatly from the lack of killer multiplayer games on the PSX. It is almost certain that all of the new systems will come equipped with modems and networking capabilities, but much of the attraction of the N64 hardware is the standard four controller ports. So how will Nintendo compete when Sega can network games of Sega Rally 2 and Virtua Fighter 3?

Let's compare two separate link cable experiences. We'll start with the Playstation. Let's say I want to play multiplayer Wipeout. Please note that Wipeout allows for two players to compete against each other only through the use of a link cable, two TV's, two Playstations, and two copies of the game. That is way too much stuff for two people to get together. Now let's look at the N64 link cable experience(hypothetically speaking). Nintendo's system provides enough controller ports for eight players to participate. A greater number of players means a greater chance of getting all of the components that are needed together. Also, Nintendo's meager software library means that almost every N64 owner has a copy of the "marquee" games(who owns an N64 without owning Goldeneye?). Imagine playing 4v4 team Goldeneye or Perfect Dark on two separate televisions. You could only see what you and your teammates do. No more looking at the opposite corner of the television to see where your opponent is hiding. People could camp out in hiding spots, and open areas would be much more dangerous. Players will think twice before running through areas with floors or ramps above them. Winning would require much more precision and teamwork. As you can see, a link cable for Nintendo 64 would provide a far superior experience than its Playstation counterpart.

So what would Nintendo stand to gain from releasing this peripheral? Well, it would take some of the steam away from Sega's Dreamcast and Sony's PSX2, and it would help sway some of the Nintendo faithful to wait on purchasing a Dreamcast or Playstation 2. This would provide Nintendo with more time to focus on their next machine, and it would help them appeal to the more "mature"(18-24) bracket of gamers that Sony and PC games have relied upon. Also, it would give the hard core Nintendo faithful reason to stay with the system. In my opinion, Sega alienated many of their faithful when they decided to not release amazing games such as Shining Force scenarios 2 and 3, Radiant silvergun, Metal Slug, Fire Pro Wrestling, and any of Capcom's 2-D fighters along with the RAM expansion. If the Nintendo 64 hardware is equipped to handle link cables, it seems like a great idea, especially if Nintendo throws their whole hearted support behind it. This means that Nintendo or Rare should release a killer app that would be compatible with and take full advantage of the cable's capabilities(ahem...Perfect Dark anybody?). Then surely third parties would take notice and support the link cable as well(Turok 3?). Besides, Nintendo needs to figure out some way to take the steam away from Sony. What do you guys think?

P.S. I know that Nintendo might release a modem add-on, but nothing beats the feeling of triumph when you kill your friends in Goldeneye and get to wiggle your @$$ right in their faces...