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The is a
satellite modem A satellite modem or satmodem is a modem used to establish data transfers using a communications satellite as a relay. A satellite modem's main function is to transform an input bitstream to a radio signal and vice versa. There are some devices t ...
peripheral produced by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
for the
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
in 1995. Containing 1
megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes o ...
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. Its heavy third-party support included Squaresoft,
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...
,
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
,
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
, and
Seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
. 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. It attaches to the expansion port on the bottom of the Super Famicom. 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. 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 was produced by
Nintendo Research & Development 2 commonly abbreviated as Nintendo R&D2, was a Japanese team within Nintendo that developed software and peripherals. While usually occupied in system operating software and technical support, the team would come back to early development in the 1 ...
, the same team that designed the Super Famicom, and was made for a more adult-oriented market. 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. Nintendo withdrew support for Satellaview in March 1999, with St.GIGA continuing to supply content until June 30, 2000, when it was fully discontinued. Consumer adoption of Satellaview was complicated by the rise of technologically superior fifth-generation consoles such as the
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
,
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
, and Nintendo 64, and by Satellaview's high cost, especially due to its exclusive availability via mail order and specific electronic store chains. However, St.GIGA reported more than 100,000 subscribers by March 1997. Retrospectively, Satellaview has been praised by critics for its technological accomplishments and its overall library quality, particularly of the ''
Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'' series. In recent years, it has gained a strong cult following due to much of its content being deemed
lost media Lost media are pieces of media that are nonexistent, missing, or unavailable to the general public. The term ''lost media'' primarily encompasses visual, audio, or audiovisual media such as films, television and radio broadcasts, music, and video ga ...
, with video game preservation groups recovering and hosting its games and other services online.


History

Founded in early 1990, St.GIGA was a satellite radio subsidiary of the Japanese
satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
company WOWOW, Inc, based in
Akasaka, Tokyo is a residential and commercial district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, located west of the government center in Nagatachō and north of the Roppongi district. Akasaka (including the neighboring area of Aoyama) was a ward of Tokyo City from 1878 to ...
. 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 Nature Sounds is a record label based in Brooklyn, New York, specializing in hip hop and reggae music. The label is independently owned and operated. It was founded by Devin Horwitz in 2003. History Nature Sounds was founded in 2003 by Devin ...
accompanied by a spoken word narrator known as the "Voice".Toop, David & Réveillon, Arnaud.
Ocean of Sound: ambient music, mondes imaginaires et voix de l'éther
'. Editions Kargo. Pp. 164-5. 2000.
The company was initially a success, and is recognized for its innovative concept and nonstandard methodology. It later began releasing albums featuring its own music as well as foreign music such as
Hearts of Space ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...
and various compositions by
Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance b ...
, and various pieces of merchandise such as program guides and "sound calendars". By 1994, St.GIGA struggled financially due to the Japanese Recession reducing consumer spending on ambient music and satellite systems. Nintendo purchased a 19.5% stake in St.GIGA in May, as a way to "rescue" the company and help to successfully restructure it. Satellaview development began shortly after the acquisition, reportedly in production alongside the
Virtual Boy The Virtual Boy is a 32-bit tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was marketed as the first console capable of displaying stereoscopic "3D" graphics. The player uses the console like ...
and
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
. 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. 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. 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. Nintendo officially announced Satellaview on December 21, 1994, at a retail price of , or . Several third-party developers, such as
Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
,
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...
,
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
,
Seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
, and Squaresoft, then announced plans to produce Satellaview games. The peripheral was designed by
Nintendo Research & Development 2 commonly abbreviated as Nintendo R&D2, was a Japanese team within Nintendo that developed software and peripherals. While usually occupied in system operating software and technical support, the team would come back to early development in the 1 ...
, the same team that had designed the Super Famicom. 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 was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being subsequently succeeded by Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a hanafu ...
expected to sell roughly 2 million Satellaview units each year. Pre-orders were available beginning February 25, 1995. Broadcasting services for Satellaview launched on April 1, and the peripheral was released on April 24. It was only sold via mail order, instead of being released into stores. Satellaview was never released outside Japan, which some publications cited as being due to expensive costs of digital satellite broadcasting, and due to a supposed lack of appeal to American consumers. When the service first launched, St.GIGA had a number of issues regarding broadcasting video games and video game-related services through the Satellaview service, such as legal issues with other companies and technical restraints of the time. In June 1996, Nintendo announced a potential partnership with
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
to release a similar service for
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, which would combine St.GIGA's broadcasting services with dial-up Internet; this was never launched. By March 1997, St.GIGA reported that Satellaview had 116,378 active users. By mid 1998, Nintendo's relationship with St.GIGA began to deteriorate. St.GIGA refused a debt-management plan created by Nintendo to reduce the firm's capital, though having ¥8.8 billion in debt, and had also failed to apply for a government digital satellite broadcasting license by a deadline. This led to Nintendo halting all production of new games and content for the peripheral beginning March 1999, and to cancel content and services via a new BS-4 satellite. St.GIGA continued to supply content for Satellaview, broadcasting reruns of older content and making the service only for video games. Satellaview was fully discontinued on June 30, 2000, due to a severe lack of outside support and a dwindling player base, dropping by nearly 60% from its peak in 1997 to about 46,000 active subscribers. One year later, St.GIGA declared bankruptcy and merged with Japanese media company WireBee, Inc.


Technical specifications

A Satellaview device attaches to the expansion port on bottom of a
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
, similar to the
64DD The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The ...
or the
Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...
. Its power transfer bracket supplies the Super Famicom. The peripheral expands the Super Famicom with 1 MB of ROM space and 512 kB of
RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...
. A Satellaview device is packaged with a custom four-way AC adapter and AV selector, connecting the console to the required BS tuner. Game and broadcast information is stored on 8 MB memory packs, inserted into the top of a special application cartridge. These memory packs can be rewritten with new content, including by certain Super Famicom games, such as ''
RPG Maker 2 ''RPG Maker 2'' is the third PlayStation version of the ''RPG Maker'' series, following the original ''RPG Maker'' (and the Japan-only ''RPG Tsukūru 4''), the first version of the series to be released for the PlayStation 2 and the overall fifth ...
''. A vintage user purchased (or rented for six months at ) a BS tuner from St.GIGA, paid monthly fees to St.GIGA and Nintendo, and bought a satellite dish. The requisite system cartridge, titled ''BS-X: Sore wa Namae o Nusumareta Machi no Monogatari'' (commonly translated as ''BS-X: The Town Whose Name Was Stolen''), serves as both an interactive menu system and as its own game. The game features an ''
EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...
''-like hub world, based on buildings representing each of Satellaview's services. Players can create a custom avatar, purchase items found in stores scattered across the map, play minigames, read announcements by St.GIGA and Nintendo, and participate in contests. The cartridge increases the Super Famicom's hardware performance with extra RAM.


Games and services

A total of 114 games were released for Satellaview; some are remakes or updates of older Family Computer and Super Famicom games, and others were created specifically for the service. Nintendo's popular franchises include ''
Kirby Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby House (disambiguation), various houses in England and the Unit ...
'', ''
F-Zero is a series of futuristic racing video games originally created by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development, Nintendo EAD with multiple games developed by outside companies. The F-Zero (video game), first game was released for the Super Fa ...
'', ''
Fire Emblem is a fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Famicom in 1990, the series currently consists of sixteen core entries and five spinoffs. Game ...
'', ''
The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'', and ''
Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...
'' Nintendo's original games include '' Sutte Hakkun''. ''
EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...
'' creator
Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website and company '' Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'' ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo' ...
designed a fishing game called ''
Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1 is a fishing video game developed and released only in Japan for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom on February 21, 1997 and updated for broadcast as eight different episodes on the Satellaview subsystem between April and Nov ...
''. The previously unreleased ''Special Tee Shot'', later reworked into ''
Kirby's Dream Course ''Kirby's Dream Course'' is a 1994 sports video game, miniature golf video game developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). A spin-off of the ''Kirby (series), Kirby'' ...
'', was released. Third-party games include Squaresoft's ''
Radical Dreamers ''Radical Dreamers'' is a 1996 text-based visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Square for the Satellaview, a satellite peripheral for the Super Famicom. It forms part of the ''Chrono'' series, acting as a side story to ...
'' and ''Treasure Conflix'', Pack-In-Video's ''
Harvest Moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...
'', Chunsoft's '' Shiren the Wanderer'', Jaleco's '' Super Earth Defense Force'', and ASCII's '' Derby Stallion '96''. Soundlink games were broadcast with live voice acting by radio personalities and commentators. Unlike other Satellaview games, SoundLink games could only be played on a live schedule. Nintendo often held tournaments for certain games, such as ''
Wario's Woods ''Wario's Woods'' is a puzzle video game, puzzle video game developed by TEC and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan and North America in 1994 and Europe in 1995. A spin-off of the ''Mario (franchi ...
'', that allowed players to compete for prizes. Alongside games, Satellaview subscribers could access many other different services. Free magazines included video game publications like ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' and ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' and general Japanese publications focusing on news, music, or celebrity interviews. Soundlink magazines included commentary, often by popular Japanese personalities, such as Bakushō Mondai and
All Night Nippon is a Japanese radio program broadcast by Nippon Broadcasting System and other radio stations from 1–5 am (JST). It preempts broadcasts from TBS Radio's programming heard on stations under both JRN and NRN (TBC Radio, CBC Radio, etc.). ...
. St.GIGA broadcasts included "Tide of Sound" nature ambiance and other music. A special newsletter by both St.GIGA and Nintendo included service updates such as contests and upcoming events.


Reception and legacy

Though having amassed a larger playerbase, and being widely-successful for St.GIGA, Nintendo viewed Satellaview as a commercial failure. The rise of technologically superior consoles such as
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
,
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
, and
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
, made consumers reluctant to purchase Satellaview, especially due to its exclusive availability via mail order delivery or specific electronic stores. Retrospective feedback on Satellaview has been positive. ''
Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...
'' magazine applauded the peripheral for its technological achievements, providing an early form of online gaming decades before the advent of services such as
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...
. It commended the overall quality of the game library, citing the definitive ''BS Legend of Zelda'' series. ''Nintendo World Report'' liked its uniqueness which will likely never be replicated on modern video game consoles, and its library of games and services. ''
Shacknews ''Shacknews'' (originally Quakeholio, then ShugaShack) is a website that hosts news, features, editorial content and forums relating to computer games and Video game console, console games. It is currently owned by a company called Gamerhub Cont ...
'' listed it among Nintendo's most innovative products for its technological accomplishments and pioneering of online gaming. ''
Kill Screen ''Kill Screen'' (stylized as ''KILL SCREEN'') was a print and online magazine founded in 2009 by Jamin Warren and Chris Dahlen and owned by Kill Screen Media, Inc. It focused on video games and culture, but also included articles based on ent ...
'' labeled Satellaview as "perhaps one of the most crucial early experiments in combining games with storytelling", specifically the Soundlink games and voice acting. They were disappointed at the loss of the entire Soundlink live content library upon discontinuation. ''Video Games Chronicle'' called it "an impressive and ingenious idea for the time, and an innovation that we see to a lesser degree now in terms of interactive television and episodic game installments from modern studios". In 1999, Nintendo released a spiritual successor to Satellaview for
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
, the
64DD The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The ...
and its Randnet Internet service. Originally announced in 1995, a year prior to console launch, Randnet had many similar features, such as a Nintendo newsletter and online gaming, plus chat and email. Nintendo attempted to have St.GIGA transition from Satellaview to the 64DD, however, when St.GIGA refused, Nintendo instead partnered with Japanese media company
Recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...
to form Randnet. The 64DD was a commercial failure. Satellaview has a large cult following since the late 2000s due to most of its content having been lost after the service was closed. Many video game preservationists and Nintendo fans have searched for memory packs to recover game data and preserve it online. Fans have created custom
private servers Strictly, a private server is any machine or virtual machine used as a server that is privately administrated. Colloquially the term is nearly-exclusively used to refer to independently operated, unofficial servers for video games. Private Server ...
that work with the official BS-X application cartridge, and translated certain games such as those from the ''
Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'' series. In retrospective years, publications have raised concerns about the permanent loss of much Satellaview content, specifically live audio from Soundlink games and digital newsletters.


See also

*
Nintendo Power (cartridge) was a video game distribution service for Super Famicom or Game Boy operated by Nintendo that ran from late 1996 until February 2007. The service allowed users to download Super Famicom or Game Boy titles onto a special flash memory cartridge f ...


Notes


References

{{portal bar , 1990s , Video games Modems Online video game services Super Nintendo Entertainment System accessories Video game console add-ons Japan-only video game hardware Products introduced in 1995