Nintendo is often considered the king of video games, mainly because their original characters have endured for decades. Mario, Luigi, Link, Bowser, Donkey Kong and the rest of Nintendo’s crew are timeless. However, the brand is far from perfect. Their infamous falling out with Sony that ultimately led to the creation of the original PlayStation was their biggest misstep, but there have been others as well. While not as well-documented, a disagreement with Nintendo and long-time developer, Argonaut, could have led to the creation of a unique 3D Yoshi racing/platform game on the Super Nintendo. Instead, years later and harnessing the power of the PlayStation, Saturn and PC, Argonaut Software instead created the adorable 3D platformer Croc: The Legend of the Gobos. A game that eventually sold over three million units on the PlayStation alone, it’s one of the earliest examples of 3D platform gaming and one of the most successful mascot-centered games of the era.
While the creation of Croc is important, the relationship Argonaut had with Nintendo played a key role in the eventual release of the game on every major console at the time, except the Nintendo 64. Responsible for designing the FX chip, an expansion of sorts that made Super Mario RPG…
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Patrick Hickey, Jr., is the founder and editor-in-chief of ReviewFix.com and a lecturer of English and journalism at Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York. Over the past decade, his video game coverage has been featured in national ad campaigns by top publishers the likes of Nintendo, Deep Silver, Disney and EA Sports. His book series, "The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Game Developers," from McFarland and Company, has earned praise from Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Daily News and MSG Networks. He is also a former editor at NBC and National Video Games Writer at the late-Examiner.com
