In 201X, not long after the Xbox One and Playstation 4 had been released, the inevitable happened. The videogame industry all but collapsed under the glut of increasingly cookie-cutter first person shooters and certifiably insane focus on hyper-realistic graphics to the detriment of simple gameplay innovation, with a heaping helping of so-called copy-protection on top.

It was 1983 all over again, but worse in so many ways. The public had all but lost faith in the Big Three; Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. Microsoft had their home computer software to fall back on, and Sony had other divisions, losing only the game console market. Their media players no one could deny.

Nintendo was the only one left. It took many years of jumping through the most elaborate corporate hoops imaginable, but they managed to stay afloat. Investors were wary, but Nintendo did have an awfully impressive track record, and if they said the investors would not be sorry… most of them would trust the former playing card producers.

Near the tail end of 201X, a year or so before the ponies would arrive, Nintendo unveiled their new system. They had studied the past well – not just their own, but that of their rivals and partners alike. Consumer feedback that usually went unread, actual living conditions of all the major demographics…

They even marketed the system under the same name it was developed on, unlike the Ultra 64, Nitro, or Revolution.

With a renewed focus on innovative, simply fun games, the new system struggled a bit to gain the foothold its investors hoped for, but in the end it managed to rise from the ashes of the Great Videogame Crash of 201X.

The Phoenix had risen.

But everything changed when the ponies arrived.

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“Fluttershy, darling. It’s so good of you to come and visit!”

Rarity, ever radiant, reclined on her favorite couch in the private area of Carousel Boutique, slightly off-center to make room for one of her best friends.

“It’s nothing, really,” Fluttershy squeaked. “You wanted to show me something, Rarity?”

“Why yes. I’ve decided, after a substantial amount of deliberation, to invest in a video game system.” Rarity waved a hoof in the general direction of the shiny flat-screen television set mounted to the wall. A small but ornate cabinet sat below it, housing what was pretty much the only video game system on the market.

“Wait… I’ve seen one of those before,” Fluttershy realized. “I thought the controls were too tiny for a pony to use? Why would you have one?”

“That used to be a problem, darling,” the dressmaker acknowledged. “But you know how ruthless businessponies can be. Or businesshumans?”

“Businessmen, I think they’re called,” Fluttershy offered.

“Thank you, Fluttershy. Now, when we came to this world, it didn’t take the company behind this wonderful device long to realize there was a major un-tapped demographic.”

“That sounds so nice for them,” Fluttershy mumbled through an honest smile.

“Indeed! So, you know what they did?” Rarity asked energetically.

“Not really. I don’t watch TV very much so I miss a lot of advertisements.”

Rarity shrugged and patted her friend on the head. “That’s perfectly alright, darling. See, what those geniuses did was to make a special pony edition of the glorious little thing.”

Fluttershy perked up, despite feeling slightly insulted by the patting. “What’s a pony edition, Rarity?”

Rarity floated a booklet from the cabinet towards Fluttershy. “From what I understand it’s the base system, but it comes with larger controllers, specially designed by a pony, for ponies.”

“That’s nice,” Fluttershy whispered. “Anything else?”

“A different set of pack-in games, I believe?” Rarity answered uncertainly. “I think the regular edition comes with a game about that one portly man with the ghastly overalls. I’m not sure what the other game was. Racing or something.”

Fluttershy recognized the description and quietly wondered how Mario had survived the Videogame Crash. “So, what does the pony edition come with?” she asked as Rarity used her magic to turn on the TV and console.

“It has something called ‘Puzzle League’, I think, and this utterly delightful little game.”

On the TV screen, a short clip played as the console initialized various subsystems, showing an Equestrian phoenix rising from ashes that were just off the bottom of the screen. The bird smoothly changed into a more cartoon-like, two-dimensional style, then into the logo of the Nintendo Phoenix. When the sound faded out, the logo turned around on its axis, changing into a game disc that started spinning up, with a small line of text on the bottom reading “START – Menu”. When the disc reached full RPM, the screen faded to black.

Fluttershy was not prepared for what happened next. A bright, upbeat song came forth from the TV set, accompanying an equally bright title screen.

Rhythm Heaven Rebirth – Press A to Start!

Rarity floated a controller over to the couch. It was wireless, with no more than four marked buttons and a directional pad. The physical shape of the device and the specific layout of the buttons were entirely customized to make it a reliable input device for ponies. Rarity placed it within reach. A small strip of lights on the device lit up and blinked once, leaving just the leftmost lit, indicating that this controller was for the primary player. Rarity tapped the button indicated on the screen. A panel appeared on the screen, showing six tiles. Two of them had a little portrait and some statistics in them, saying those were saved games for Rarity and her little sister. Below the tiles, there were buttons labeled “clear”, “copy”, and “mods”.

“Would you like a go at it, darling?” Rarity asked as she selected the third tile, the first one that was empty. Fluttershy nodded, intrigued by the game’s presentation. Rarity pressed the button again and quickly set up a profile for her friend to use.

Another screen appeared, showing a single, relatively small tile labeled “Rhythm Training”. Rarity selected it and placed the controller on Fluttershy’s lap.

“This first part should be easy for you, darling. After all, you have your birds.”

“I’m not actually sure it works that way, Rarity. But if you say so,” Fluttershy meekly denied. A simple cartoon character that neither pony was certain was entirely human appeared in front of a curtain, explaining through a speech bubble the general controls for the game.

“But first, let’s see how good your rhythm is right now. Hit the A button in time with the beat,” the creature explained as the curtain rose, revealing a beeping contraption with an indication screen. As the brilliant executive who got the idea for a pony edition expected, Fluttershy was quite good at keeping the beat once she had the timing offset down. The creature was certainly impressed.

“Now, sometimes you’ll need to press A and B together, but you’ll know when. Please enjoy the game!”

“I will, thank you mister creature,” Fluttershy squeaked as she dismissed the final line.

The earlier screen returned, and a second little tile appeared next to the earlier one. This one was labeled “Karate Mare”, which intrigued Fluttershy.

“Rarity, why is this one named ‘Karate Mare’?” Fluttershy asked. “I didn’t expect pony games.”

“It’s modified, darling,” Rarity explained. “You can get a… thing from the internet that replaces a few things. Surely you’ve seen the ‘mods’ button earlier? I think this was ‘Karate Man’ first. But that doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“I suppose it doesn’t,” Fluttershy agreed as she pressed the button. On the screen, a simply-drawn earth pony stood on the left side, facing away, wearing a martial arts outfit. A box appeared to explain the game – the aim was to kick away all the stuff that’d fly in, to the music. It sounded pretty straightforward. When Fluttershy dismissed the box, a simple drum line started playing. On the beat, an apple flew towards the eponymous Karate Mare, who bucked it away when Fluttershy hit the button.

“This should be easy,” Fluttershy remarked. Shortly, the training session was over, and a much more impressive, somewhat faster song started playing.

As Fluttershy played (and seemed to beat Rarity’s score), Rarity pondered the act depicted on her TV screen. “Fluttershy, darling?”

“Yes?” Fluttershy acknowledged on the off-beat.

“Do you suppose Applejack would like this particular concept?”

“Maybe…”

“I think she’d like it more if she were the one actually bucking instead of just pressing a button, though.”

“You’re right – that does – sound like – something – Apple – jack would – do! Oh, is the song over already?”

“If only because she doesn’t even have a TV to play it on,” Rarity mocked. “Oh, that wasn’t very nice of me to say, now was it?”

“Shame on you, Rarity,” Fluttershy lightly scolded as she tapped Rarity on the head, “shame on you.”

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Twilight threw her controller – the regular model for humans because she had her magic – out the nearest window as the console’s built-in online store mocked her. “A hundred and fifty bits for a development kit?” she exclaimed. “What a rip off!”

“Oh, chill out, Twilight,” Spike admonished his royal pseudo-sister. “A hundred fifty for an official kit that runs on a system with pretty tight anti-piracy measures sounds pretty good when you think about it.”

“And why in the name of Luna’s left butt cheek would that be ‘pretty good’, Spike?”

“You know, Twilight, I would’ve thought you’d study the company’s history more. I mean, all of this did sort of start with you studying history, after all…”

Author's Note

The code names listed are those of the Nintendo 64, DS, and Wii. And what's this? Support for mods on a console?

History lesson: until the 3DS, no Nintendo product had an official development kit for indies to use. The 3DS hasn't, at this moment, gotten an unofficial kit like pretty much all the others have, because it has some seriously tight anti-piracy measures in place involving a lot of per-system signing. So if this hypothetical console has 3DS-level measures, and Nintendo allows indie development, then that must be through an official development kit. Having it cost ¤150.00 would balance it out well, I reckon. Speaking as an indie developer who has dabbled on Nintendo systems.