Pre-orders were available beginning February 25, 1995. Though Nintendo was in a slump due to falling Super Famicom game sales and the Virtual Boy's failure, its management remained confident in Satellaview's success and would help calm any consumer concerns company president Hiroshi Yamauchi expected to sell roughly 2 million Satellaview units each year. The peripheral was designed by Nintendo Research & Development 2, the same team that had designed the Super Famicom. Several third-party developers, such as Capcom, Taito, Konami, Seta, and Squaresoft, then announced plans to produce Satellaview games. Nintendo officially announced Satellaview on December 21, 1994, at a retail price of ¥14,000, or US$150 (equivalent to $260 in 2020). Nintendo stressed to video game publications that much of Satellaview's content, specifically St.GIGA broadcasts, were primarily for adults, with video games constituting only a small portion of airtime. St.GIGA would provide the necessary satellite and broadcasting services, and host many of its older music and Tide of Sound broadcasts, and Nintendo and other third-party developers would create games and other content for the service. While Nintendo was producing the peripheral, St.GIGA revamped its broadcasting schedule to include a new programming block, the "Super Famicom Hour" providing gameplay tips and news for Nintendo's upcoming Super Famicom games. Satellaview development began shortly after the acquisition, reportedly in production alongside the Virtual Boy and Nintendo 64. Nintendo purchased a 19.5% stake in St.GIGA in May, as a way to "rescue" the company and help to successfully restructure it. By 1994, St.GIGA struggled financially due to the Japanese Recession affecting the demand for ambient music, and made consumers reluctant to invest in satellite antennas and tuners. It later began releasing albums featuring its own music as well as foreign music such as Hearts of Space and various compositions by Deep Forest, and various pieces of merchandise such as program guides and "sound calendars".
The company was initially a success, and is recognized for its innovative concept and nonstandard methodology. Credited as the world's first digital satellite radio station, it was maintained by Hiroshi Yokoi and best known for its "Tide of Sound" broadcasts, which were high-quality digital recordings of nature sounds accompanied by a spoken word narrator known as the "Voice". In recent years, it has gained a strong cult following due to much of its content being deemed lost, with video game preservation groups recovering and hosting its games and other services online.įounded in early 1990, St.GIGA was a satellite radio subsidiary of the Japanese satellite television company WOWOW, Inc, based in Akasaka, Tokyo. Retrospectively, Satellaview has been praised by critics for its technological accomplishments and its overall library quality, particularly of the Legend of Zelda series. However, St.GIGA reported more than 100,000 subscribers by March 1997. Nintendo withdrew support for Satellaview in March 1999, with St.GIGA continuing to supply content until June 30, 2000, when it was fully discontinued.Ĭonsumer adoption of Satellaview was complicated by the rise of technologically-superior fifth-generation consoles such as the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64, and by Satellaview's high cost, especially due to its exclusive availability via mail order and specific electronic store chains. By 1998, Nintendo's relationship with St.GIGA was beginning to collapse due to St.GIGA's refusal of a debt-management plan and failure to secure a government broadcasting license. Satellaview was produced by Nintendo Research & Development 2, the same team that designed the Super Famicom, and was made for a more adult-oriented market. By 1994, St.GIGA was struggling financially due to the Japanese Recession affecting the demand for its music Nintendo initiated a "rescue" plan by purchasing a stake in the company. Satellaview is the result of a collaboration between Nintendo and St.GIGA, the latter known in Japan for its "Tide of Sound" nature sound music. It attaches to the expansion port on the bottom of the Super Famicom. To use Satellaview, players purchased a special broadcast satellite (BS) tuner directly from St.GIGA or rented one for a six-month fee, and paid monthly subscription fees to both St.GIGA and Nintendo. Its heavy third-party support included Squaresoft, Taito, Konami, Capcom, and Seta.
Saturn wii emulator wii u pro controller support 2017 download#
Containing 1 megabit of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through satellite broadcasts provided by Japanese company St.GIGA. The Satellaview is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom in 1995.